Before the Tutorial Starts: A Few Things I Can Do to Keep the Bosses Alive, Vol. 1 by Kotatsu Takahashi and Kakao Lanthanum

Author:Kotatsu Takahashi and Kakao Lanthanum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yen On

“Enemy avatars detected,” said Albi. “Five in total. Three Goblins, two Kobolds. How unlucky.”

“You said it…”

Seriously. I knew they hadn’t done it on purpose, but these guests had rotten timing.

“I’m in a hurry. Maybe they’ll listen to me if I beg them to let me pass.”

“They’ve come over hoping to gain experience points. Do you honestly think they’ll let their prey escape so easily?”

I responded with a sarcastic chuckle and a sigh.

While adventurers enter dungeons looking for energy or treasure, spirits appear for only one reason: to grow.

In RPG terms, spirit growth was akin to leveling up. A spirit’s one true purpose was to continue growing until they were able to ascend to a higher level of existence. This impulse superseded both ethical concerns and worldly desires. It was their ultimate calling.

Albi was no different. No matter how special and rare she was as the secret boss, the main reason she had so easily agreed to help me was because she, like all spirits, was completely obsessed with leveling up.

If a spirit was presented with the opportunity to grow, they jumped on it without hesitation. The details didn’t matter. Getting stronger, gaining renown among their peers, finding a sense of self-worth—these were the things that motivated all spirits.

And so these green-skinned Goblins, with their rusted swords at the ready, and the cute, bow-wielding Kobolds currently staring me down were here for one reason and one reason alone: to level up. I must have looked mighty tasty to all of them.

But I’m not about to lie down and become dinner.

I pulled my sword out of the scabbard at my back and held the blade aloft. It was a massive two-handed weapon about five and a half feet long.

As soon as I brought out this instrument of spirit destruction, the Goblins’ expressions changed.

The enemies who appeared inside dungeons in Dungeon Magia were akin to avatars. Their real bodies never left the Astral Plane. So even if they lost, their lives weren’t truly at risk. The producer of Dungeon Magia once explained how it worked in detail.

“Every time a spirit loses their avatar, they pay for it using spirit stones. To put it in our terms, they lose the equivalent of a month’s salary. Stronger enemies drop more spirit stones because, in a manner of speaking, they’ve been promoted enough to earn a higher salary. In short, each of them pays an equally painful penalty to dungeon management regardless of their lot in life. Then a portion of what they’ve paid goes to the adventurers. And that explains why all of them are so eager to fight you. Ha-ha.”

So, there you have it.

I wasn’t about to start pitying them, but having to cough up an entire month’s wages every time you got killed sounded pretty crappy. You wouldn’t catch me in a dungeon if that much cash was on the line.

But it was clear that these spirits were more worried about leveling up than money. Even with a massive sword pointed at their faces, they only faltered for a second before assuming battle formation.

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