You didn't expect this, did you? I've time-traveled again!

"what?!"

"Aqua, be good."

Aqua pouted, "Since it's Takeshi who said it, I'll do as he says."

"Yes, very well-behaved."

Suoh Takeru nodded in satisfaction. "Let's call it a day. Tomorrow we'll go buy equipment and then officially debut as adventurers."

"Oh!"

"Oh!"

The two cheered and then fell asleep immediately.

P.S.: I've added some of my own understanding, changed the original pace, and highlighted my role as a latecomer.

By the way, could you give me some votes? Recommendations, favorites, anything is fine!

My new book is launching, please take good care of it!

Chapter 008 First Adventure Ends in Disastrous Failure

Why did it turn out this way?

"Having excellent equipment and cheat-like abilities, these two complementary things overlapped, yet the mission wasn't completed efficiently..."

"Why is this happening?!"

In the starting village of Axel, Suoh Takeshi, Aqua, and Sato Kazuma knelt on the main road, soaking wet and sticky, their vacant eyes revealing endless confusion about the future, staring blankly at the sky.

"Looking up at the sky~"

"Waaaaah~ Sobbing~ Waaaaah~"

Aqua kept crying.

She felt wronged. Despite being a goddess, she lacked the dignity befitting one, and instead, she was thoroughly ravaged by the low-level monsters in the beginner village.

Kazuma Sato disdainfully stepped aside, pretending not to know him. Takeshi Suoh also tried to leave but was held tightly by Aqua and couldn't move. Passersby looked over with strange eyes.

Forget it.

There's a saying that goes, "As long as I don't feel embarrassed, then it's others who are embarrassed."

Good heavens, he's become an old Ah Q.

"Aqua, don't cry, let's go take a shower first."

Suoh Takeshi comforted Aqua, who was still crying, and pulled her up from the ground. "Being all dirty is bad for your goddess image. We'll talk about the squad after you take a shower."

"Mmm." Aqua stopped crying.

The three of them headed to the public bathhouse and had a thorough cleaning.

The story begins with buying equipment yesterday.

"10 Eris is especially important for us as novice adventurers. We certainly won't have to worry about equipment, but there's one issue I want us to consider."

Suoh Takeshi tossed the money bag up and down and said to the two men, "The issue of choosing which equipment to keep is very important!"

"Equipment selection?"

"What do you mean?"

Aqua and Kazuma Sato looked on in confusion.

"10 Eris could indeed arm us to the teeth if we just bought ordinary beginner gear, but we'll soon be replacing it again."

This is similar to the character development, leveling up, and monster-fighting gameplay in Japanese RPGs.

The protagonist is a hero who defeats the Demon King. He starts at a very low level, but as he embarks on the path to defeat the Demon King, his level will gradually increase, his skills will become stronger, and naturally, his equipment will also be upgraded generation by generation.

You can't expect a hero to fight the demon king with a little wooden stick, can you?

It has to be at least a holy sword!

If the 10 Eris in front of them were their own, it wouldn't matter, as long as they could accumulate enough equipment for the next stage before leveling up to a certain point.

Earn money – invest in equipment – ​​earn more money – invest in equipment again, and this creates a positive cycle.

However, the current problem is:

The money wasn't their own; they borrowed it from Wiz.

After painstakingly leveling up and finally saving enough money to buy the next stage of equipment, all I could use was to pay off my debts.

This will lead to a gap in equipment.

You might be thinking, "Isn't there also the upcoming 'Cabbage Harvest Battle'?"

Indeed, the harvest season will bring a considerable amount of extra income.

But it's nothing more than patching up existing deficits with future money.

Ultimately, we still have to pay the price for what we have now.

But if you use your money wisely, buying one or two high-level pieces of equipment instead of several low-level ones, wouldn't you be able to save money?

Then we'll move past this stage and head straight to the next.

Surely everyone understands the principle that if you're quick at one step, you'll be quick at every step.

but!

That's where the problem lies!

……

All three were novice adventurers, and in order to develop their teamwork, they chose a quest that novice adventurers always do.

—To subdue the giant toad.

The giant toad, or rather, the giant frog, is a low-level monster that frequently attacks cattle and sheep in farmland, and the saleswoman said that even 'fully armed' newbies can easily defeat it.

Suoh Takeru's katana, worth 4 Eris, and Sato Kazuma's bow and arrows, worth 3 Eris, and his short dagger, worth 2 Eris, couldn't even kill the monsters in the beginner village?

Incidentally, Aqua is carrying a staff worth 5 Eris.

As a goddess, she could do without a staff, but seeing that the other two had new equipment, she cried and begged Suoh Takeru to buy her one too.

There was no other way but to buy her a staff as well.

This staff is nothing special; it's just pretty.

5 Eris, heartbreaking!

The three of them set off from the starting village and arrived at the plains, where they saw three giant toads standing on the grass.

200 meters away from the giant toad.

Suoh, holding his katana, said to the two, "Aqua, bless me and I'll lure the monsters and hold them back. Sato, you can use your longbow to take them down one by one."

"it is good!"

"Leave it to me!"

Then, Aqua cast a blessing enhancement spell on Suoh Takeru, who then leaped off the ground at incredible speed and charged straight at the three giant toads.

Suoh Takeshi's role is very clear: to act as bait to attract the attention of the monsters, creating an opportunity for Sato Kazuma to kill them.

Of the three, he had the best physical abilities and was the most suitable candidate to be the bait.

Suoh Takeru had no intention of attacking with his sword. He only held the sword in his hand as a precaution. He knew that he didn't have any skills at the moment, and if he did, he would just be swinging the sword randomly. Such chaotic swinging could easily put him in danger.

So all you have to do is keep running!

The blessings Aqua bestowed were all enhancement spells related to lightness and endurance.

"Sato-kun, now's the time!"

As they drew his attention and aggroed him, the three giant toads lined up in a row to chase after Suoh Takeshi, revealing the perfect opening and time to attack.

"Oh, watch this!"

Kazuma Sato's eyes narrowed, he drew the bowstring taut and released the arrow.

'call out!'

The arrow shot straight at the giant toad behind Suoh Takeru, and then... it missed...

It missed?!

What a mistake!

"What are you doing, you good-for-nothing Kazuma?!"

"Ah?"

Aqua cursed loudly, and Kazuma Sato stood there dumbfounded. He never expected that he would miss. Shouldn't he have been the one to carry the whole game and become the MVP?

"Ah, I see. I don't know how to use a bow and arrow~"

Kazuma Sato is currently only a level 1 adventurer and has not yet learned any archery skills, so of course he cannot hit targets from a great distance.

Even Suoh Takeshi forgot this!

Finished!

Suoh Takeru was no iron man either, and gradually his strength gave out. He was swallowed whole by the giant toad that caught up from behind.

"Wu, I'm here to save you! Damn it, Divine Light Fist!"

Seeing Suoh Takeru being swallowed, Aqua immediately ran over from a distance, her hand glowing with light as she punched the giant toad's belly, creating waves of fleshy texture.

Aqua failed to penetrate the enemy's armor!

Strike-type moves have no effect on the giant toad!

"...wait, looking closely, toads are actually quite cute." A sense of déjà vu washed over her again, and then Aqua was swallowed.

"Suoh-senpai!!! Aqua!!!"

Kazuma Sato, the only hope, rushed over to save the world. Since he couldn't hit the target with his bow and arrow, he decided to use a short dagger instead!