Chapter 32

A soft green light descended upon Derek, and moments later, his eyes widened in surprise.
“Oh, wow! It doesn’t hurt at all now!”

“I may not look like it, but that’s a healing skill. It’s only a low-tier one, but surprisingly effective.”

Even as he laughed, Ethan maintained a polite tone, as if showing deference by habit. It felt a bit wasted on someone like him, but if that’s what he wanted, so be it.

“호찬! Get over here and collect the magic stones!”

“Huh? Oh, yes!”

Half-dazed, Nathan stumbled over. Despite witnessing battles all day yesterday, the combat scenes still seemed to overwhelm him—though, judging by his expression, it was more excitement than fear.

As he inspected the corpses, his expression twisted awkwardly.
“Um, could someone cut these open for me? I don’t have the tools.”

“Wait a sec. I’ll give you my old sword.”

“Thanks!”

With a bright grin, Nathan took the blade from Ethan and began cutting into the corpses without hesitation, reaching deep into their chests.

Soon after, he turned to Justin, holding a small gemstone.
“Is this the magic stone?”

“Looks like it.”

The gem’s colors were like smudged paints swirled together—just like the ones from the game’s images.

When Justin took the gem, a description appeared before his eyes:

〈Magic Stone〉

• Category: Exchange Item
• Details: A low-quality magic stone harvested from weak monsters’ hearts. Serves as basic currency in stores and is the standard for all transactions. Its low value reflects its inferior quality.

“Bingo.”

Once confirmed, Nathan moved quickly from corpse to corpse, gathering the stones with ease. His hands were stained with blood, but he wiped them off with a satisfied smile.
“All done!”

“Good job. Hey, don’t you have a weapon? Didn’t pick a class yet?”

A kid this quick to adapt should’ve selected a class from the beginning, yet he didn’t even have a basic weapon.

At the question, Nathan’s face darkened.
“I did choose Warrior… I even got a sword.”

“Then why didn’t you have it when you joined us?”

“My parents made me leave it behind. Said it was too dangerous…”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.”

A reasonable reaction from his family, but common sense was a luxury in this world. At least Nathan had the sense to act swiftly, and that alone made him valuable.

‘Surprisingly good teamwork so far.’

Of course, Ethan and Justin worked seamlessly together, but even Derek pulled his weight. And Nathan wasn’t just keeping up—he was actively helping.

If things kept going this smoothly, they might just form a long-lasting team.

Suppressing a smile, Justin moved forward.

“That’s because this Imp Summon skill evolves as it grows,” Justin explained.

Some skills, like his Black Missile, had the potential to evolve. Imp Summon was one of them. As his level increased, the type of demons he could summon would grow stronger. Conversely, at lower levels, the skill could only summon weak creatures like Imps.

“Ah, I see. So it’s a skill that gets better later on,” Ethan said, trying to sound optimistic.

“It’s still useful, depending on how you use it,” Justin replied.

Even so, Ethan could only force a weak smile, clearly unconvinced that the skill was anything but useless. His reaction wasn’t unexpected; Justin understood the skepticism and let out a small chuckle before informing the other two.

“Uh… Congratu—congratulations,” Derek said awkwardly.

“Is it a good skill?” Nathan asked, tilting his head in confusion, unfamiliar with the concept of an Imp in the game world.

Justin merely replied that it was “decent enough” without going into detail. There was no reason to waste a summon attempt just to demonstrate it.

‘The skill has a daily usage limit, and even Energy Drain can’t recharge it.’

This sort of skill refreshed only after a full day had passed, and no amount of effort could recharge it beforehand. Unless it was near midnight, using it now would be wasteful. For now, he decided to hold off on experimenting with the Imp and continued relying on Black Missile.

He knew the time to use it would eventually come soon enough.

They encountered another battle not long after. Four hobgoblins again—an all-too-familiar opponent by now. The fight ended quickly and efficiently, and as Nathan bent down to collect the magic stones, his eyes suddenly widened.

“Guys! It’s gone!”

“Gone? What’s gone?”

“The curse! The Sloth Curse—it’s gone!”

“Hey, congrats!”

His joy was so infectious that it seemed like he might start jumping for joy. After all, he had only been tasked with collecting magic stones so far, unable to join the actual battles.

‘He’s finally free of the curse, but without participating in fights, his experience gain and leveling have been painfully slow.’

Though this world lacked formal party or team systems, experience distribution followed clear rules: Those who actively participated in battles gained the most experience, while non-combat roles received significantly less. Among combatants, the ones contributing the most damage earned the largest share of experience points.

Naturally, this meant Justin leveled up the fastest, followed by Ethan and Derek. Nathan had only been scraping together whatever experience trickled down from the group’s victories. Now, at last, the curse was lifted.

“Does this mean I can finally join the battles?” Nathan asked eagerly.

“Not yet.”

“What? Why not?”

“You could handle goblins, maybe, but hobgoblins are too dangerous for someone at Level 1. Wait until you’re at least Level 3 before you join us in combat. Until then, just keep collecting magic stones.”

“Oh…”

Though disappointed, Nathan seemed to recognize the logic behind the decision and didn’t argue.

“Any sign you’re about to level up, Ethan?”

“I think one or two more battles should do it,” Ethan replied thoughtfully.

“And you, Derek?”

“I just hit Level 7.”

Derek tried to suppress the smug grin creeping onto his face. From being stuck at Level 3 for so long, he had suddenly skyrocketed ahead.

“Alright, let’s wrap things up after Ethan levels up. Everyone must be getting tired from syncing up for the first time, so let’s not overdo it today.”

This quest likely had a time limit, but given the apparent requirements, they’d probably have at least a week to complete it. Rushing would only lead to unnecessary risks.