VR Game “Hero of Occupations.”
It wasn’t until I had lived ten years in this world that I realized it was the same world from that game I once played.
(I really worked hard for this, didn’t I…)
In order to meet the requirements for my desired occupation, “Bounty Hunter,” and to secure a profession with decent abilities—since it requires a certain amount of life experience in this world—it took me five years to acquire a “Sub Job Slot,” which wasn’t widely known in this world.
“Hmm. I guess I’m someone who can put in a lot of effort.”
Things that were doable in a game because it was just for fun become a lot different once they materialize in reality—after all, things like taking care of bodily functions and laundry were conveniently omitted in the game.
In my previous life, the only times I operated with a long-term perspective were during exam prep and job hunting.
So the fact that I’ve been steadily accomplishing my goals like this has brought me a sense of deep satisfaction that’s hard to believe.
I felt more moved by acquiring the skill I aimed for than when I dated my ex-girlfriend Cotton—or at least, I want to believe that.
“So, I’ve got four skills I can equip now.”
Looking at the fruits of a month’s work… on my Status Device, I started thinking about what to do with the skills I’d obtained.
—Skill: “Swordsmanship I”
—Skill: “Physical Enhancement I”
—Skill: “Goblin Language”
—Skill: “Hardening”
—Skill: “Withdraw into Shell”
—Skill: “Regeneration I”
—Skill: “Fire Magic”
・
・
・
And 47 more.
These were skills I acquired from the monsters that approached the city walls during the past month. The quality of the skills ranged from trash to highly useful.
The ability to obtain monster skills was the very reason I chose the profession often referred to as one of the lowest—”Bounty Hunter.”
Though, to be fair, the “Bounty Hunter” profession only seems low-tier when compared to heroes. It’s not actually that bad, and once its true potential for obtaining monster skills is realized, it’s far stronger than a hero—no, in my opinion, it’s practically a cheat-tier class.
However, people look down on me because the requirements for unlocking this cheat-tier power aren’t widely known in this world…
By the way, the requirement is this: I needed to set my main job as “Bounty Hunter”—which I qualified for by defeating a goblin bounty monster, thanks to my ex-girlfriend Cotton designating the goblin that was raiding her fields as a bounty for one copper coin. After I killed it, I unlocked the class.
Then, I set my first sub-job as “Hacker”—this class can be obtained by becoming a speaker of the ancient language, which is actually Japanese… so I already had access to it. The reason programming isn’t required to be a hacker in this world is that ancient tools from the past need Japanese to be operated.
From there, I acquired the “Magic Stone Seizure” skill as a Bounty Hunter, and as a Hacker, I acquired the “Hacking” skill. With these, I could unlock the cheat-tier composite skill “Magic Stone Hack.”
It’s a complex and tedious process, but this composite skill was considered an official cheat in the game.
It’s no wonder that no one has discovered such an official cheat skill in this world. No one in their right mind would choose the low-stat “Bounty Hunter” as their main class alongside the low-stat “Hacker” as a sub-job. The only reason to choose Hacker is for its special equipment, and there’s nothing standout about the Bounty Hunter class except that it can equip any gear.
The low physical stats of a Hacker mean that gaining proficiency in swords or spears would be meaningless. If I really wanted to engage in close combat, I might as well choose the Hero class instead.
In the VR game “Profession Hero,” there are countless complex skills like this, and the ultimate goal was to deepen my understanding of those combinations to clear the end content.
I had also invested a significant amount of time into it, but I learned about these skills only after other eccentric players posted them on strategy websites sites.
This combination was, after all, practically unimaginable from a common-sense perspective.
The performance of this skill certainly matched the rigor of its discovery conditions.
After all, if I possessed the Magic Stone Hack skill, I could obtain skills that monsters used in their lifetimes from the magic stones they dropped, using the Hacking skill of the Hacker class.
Additionally, since the Bounty Hunter class has proficiency with all types of weapons, I could use almost all skills except for those with unique conditions like Aberrant Body.
(There might be some failures in acquiring skills while my hacking skill level is low… but even then, at this early stage, success is still very much within reach!)
In “Profession Hero,” the Hero class is the strongest for light players who just want to dabble. They can easily gain a certain level of strength in story mode.
However, for hardcore players like me, who had extensively played “Profession Hero” in my previous life, that level of strength was somewhat lacking.
(I also initially used the Hero class, but as soon as I completed the story, I immediately changed jobs.)
In the free scenario mode after completing the story or on the hardest difficulty, Abyss, the Bounty Hunter and Hacker classes were essential, as any other class would struggle in the most difficult dungeons, making it necessary to have at least one in the party.
(I’ve seen videos of parties where everyone’s main class is the absolute lowest, Tourist, so I can’t say for sure that it would be impossible to clear, but without the Bounty Hunter or Hacker, you wouldn’t gain the necessary resistances to counteract the terrible status ailments that normal monsters use in the late-game.)
Furthermore…
One of the characteristics of the Bounty Hunter class, which has proficiency with all weapons, is indispensable if I wanted to conquer this world.
Having proficiency with all weapons is essential for countering monsters that have complete resistance to specific weapon types, which are commonplace in the most difficult dungeons.
(In the game, there were times when I would get stuck in battles surrounded by monsters that only allowed attacks from weapons that Bounty Hunters, Adventurers, or Tourists could wield.)
In that regard, one of my childhood friends who chose the Sword Saint class ended up with an awful class from my perspective.
An attacker like the Sword Saint, who can only unleash their true power with swords, runs a high risk of becoming a mere ornament in the most difficult dungeons.
After all, there are plenty of monsters that have immunity not just to slashing attacks, but specifically to sword attacks.
Of course, it’s possible to acquire proficiency in other weapon types as a sub-class, but using weapons other than swords would negate the Sword Saint‘s strengths. In that case, one should have chosen a different class from the beginning.
Moreover, magic is easily countered by magic reflection in the hardest dungeons, and magical attacks lack critical hit checks, resulting in insufficient firepower.
Another childhood friend who had the Sage class was someone I used primarily as a buffer and healer rather than as an attacker when I played.
So, in that sense, having a member who specializes as a “Hunter” with the main class “Dancer” and a sub-class that grants skills for getting allies to act quickly, along with the ability to equip a critical-hit bow that can deal damage against special arrows and the toughest monsters, is much more advantageous than using a “Sage.”
When it comes to healing magic, there’s always the fear that waiting for a healing member to cast a spell could result in them being killed before they can act. This leads to the use of self-healing skills or attack equipment with health-draining abilities, as well as item-based healing being prioritized.
(It’s also possible to have a “Bard” as a sub-class to create a “Saint” with chant reduction abilities, but if the “Saint” is the main class, their maximum HP limit is low, so you have to be careful with HP management to avoid getting instantly killed by area attacks.)
“Profession Heroes” determine evaluation based not on the individual class but on the combinations with sub-classes.
(Well, it might be okay to have one “Hero” in the party, though.)
The “Hero” is essential because I used it in the story due to its narrative-related elements.
In ancient temple dungeons, having a “Hero” in the party is often a requirement for gaining access to certain areas.
However, now that this has become a real-world scenario, such dungeons would probably be protected by the country, so I’m not really inclined to attempt to clear them.
Getting caught for trespassing would be no joke.
“Cotton… why did she choose to be a ‘Saint’?”
Despite my insistence that she should choose a class like “Maid,” which has high max HP and durability, she ultimately succumbed to her immediate desires and picked “Saint.”
If she had been a “Maid,” she could have kept Blaze as her boyfriend, even if it meant turning him into an enemy—no, Blaze probably wouldn’t have pursued Cotton anyway. Unlike “Saint,” the “Maid” has no brand value.
“Ah… well, it’s too late now. Way too late.”
Why am I even thinking about something that’s already over?
Given that she was a childhood friend I had known for years, it’s not surprising that I feel some lingering attachments, but it’s already been a month since we broke up.
I’ve already moved on and started seeing other women.
Coming to the city, I find there are plenty of better women than Cotton, who can’t hide her countryside clumsiness in her mannerisms.
Besides, I’m currently single and free, so it’s not wrong to have fun with women… but I can’t shake this strange sense of guilt.
(Is it wrong to start seeing someone new right after a breakup? No, that’s normal, right?)
Or maybe I got a new girlfriend quickly to avoid feeling miserable about myself… I push those thoughts aside.
“Stop, stop. Anyway… the skill I’m after is this one.”
I operated the “Status Device” I had been fiddling with, setting the “Dissolve (Young)” skill I obtained today from the rare juvenile monster known as “Wall Snail,” derived from the “Magic Stone Hack” into the empty skill slot for “Skill Acquisition Equipment.”
『Dissolve (Young)』… Consumes MP to deal penetration fire damage. A skill that can grow.
The “Wall Snail” that possessed this skill spawned in the shadows of the walls—due to miasma or the blessings of a dark god, various reasons cause monsters to naturally emerge in this world from nothingness… a high-priority target for extermination.
If left alone, it would dissolve the walls with its powerful acidic liquid.
However, it’s slow-moving and has low defense, so its threat level is pretty low, resulting in a minimal bounty for defeating it.
Although the juvenile version I was targeting has useful skills, its actual threat level is negligible, leading to a bounty of zero.
Additionally, juvenile snails only drop worthless magic stones—worthless stones that have no use other than obtaining skills through “Magic Stone Hack.” Since “Magic Stone Hack” is a skill not well-known in this world, these worthless stones are considered trash that even guilds won’t buy.
Thus, there was no real need to go out of my way to hunt them. I was often mocked by fellow adventurers for hunting juvenile Wall Snails, treating it as if I were slacking off while on the job.
(I was working on other tasks too, you know?)
I also defeated the regular monsters that spawned in the damp, dark areas under the city walls!
Remembering my colleagues’ opinions brings a tear to my eye.
Still, despite their negative opinions, the skills I gained were quite useful.
While the normal Wall Snail has a skill that generates a strong acid on its body, the rare variant has a skill called “Dissolve” that generates fiery slime on its surface.
This skill is exceptionally lethal against close-combat classes, and if you recklessly slash at it with a cheap sword, it can melt the sword instead.
Despite having such a dangerous skill, the rare Wall Snail poses a threat to humanity, but its sluggishness—though it can still outrun an unclassed level 1 human—leads to it being easily exterminated with long-range magical attacks.
However, if a human were to wield such a vicious skill…
(A skilled human using the “Dissolve” skill would be more competent than a hero’s skills. The reason I didn’t flee from Blaze and stayed in the fortress city of Exis was because I was targeting the Wall Snails here.)
Moreover, what’s even more crucial is that what I obtained is a skill that can grow.
(It’s only natural that I could obtain a growth-possible skill because I was hunting juveniles specifically for that purpose… but yes, a growth-possible skill.)
My adventure can finally begin.
“Dissolve (Young)” is one of the staple skills in “Profession Heroes.”
In the “Bounty Hunter” and “Hacker” route, it’s the essential first step for acquiring a main damage-dealing skill.
(Also, “Dissolve” itself is a defense-penetrating skill held by a rare monster. Even in my current state, having just acquired it, it’s much stronger than the high-damage hero skill “Photon Zapper,” which doesn’t work on light-resistant enemies, or the “Fire Sword Technique” of the highly praised “Magic Swordsman” in the city.)
Furthermore, since it’s a juvenile skill, it’s incredibly low-cost. I can use it with my low MP without any problems.
With these thoughts in mind, I decided what skill to acquire next.
