Chapter 16 Choosing Triss as a Character Is Basically Normal+ Mode

Chapter 16

One year passed by like a plotless novel…

At the forest near Serathul Town, along the path to the big city, a low-risk Rank G-F zone.

The Slime Sentai gang: Pink Slime, Orange Slime, Green Slime, Blue Slime, Red Slime.

Rab (a rabbit?). Wild Rab (wild rabbit?).

Wild Boar (boar). Wild Pig (wild pig? Wait, what?).

Wolf (wolf). Wild Wolf (wild… wolf?).

Picho (giant ostrich?). Wild Picho.

And a bunch of others that are hard to describe. Just picture the kind of animals you'd expect in a forest, plus some weak roadside monsters from a game. It's the kind of village you'd find before hitting mid-level zones in an MMORPG you'd reminisce about.

Today was a bright, clear day.

A pile of 11 Wolf corpses lay in a row. The last two things standing were the final Wolf, critically injured, and a familiar tomboyish girl with a slightly sweet face. Her hair had grown a bit past her shoulders, and she was slightly taller than last year. She wore a cheap adventurer's outfit and held the cheapest sword from the weapon shop.

Yup, that's right—she's Triss (me).

"Take this!!"

Slash!

"Yelp!!!"

[Triss gained 42 EXP, 48 SkillXP]

[Triss LV UP: LV.35 → LV.36]

"Phew, finally leveled up! Pant, pant…"

Triss (me) collapsed to the ground after risking it all against a huge wolf pack and taking down the last one just in time to level up.

Triss's body had filled out a little, with sweat trickling from her face, neck, arms, and thighs. I was so thirsty I couldn't stand it.

"Leveling up is such a pain… Water… Gulp, gulp! Ahh!~ So refreshing!"

Hmm… If some guys saw this water-drinking scene, they'd probably call it a bit erotic. But since it's my own body and Triss's brain running the show, I don't feel a thing…

Over the past year, I've tried a ton of stuff—everything I could think of. I wanted to test all sorts of things in this world, including the limits of the skills I came with, my ultra-broken CurseHBless, and skills I copied from others. I'll tell you about those when I get the chance. For now, let's stick to what we all know and see.

Like Triss right now…

Alright, to be safe, using Triss's upgraded area-scanning ability and my own cheat-level power, I confirmed no one's watching. After drinking water, Triss (me) pushed herself up and walked around the wolf corpses.

Poof!

Ten wolf corpses vanished into my dimension for later use. I left the two weakest-looking ones for Triss to skin and take home to sell for family funds.

Snip, slash!

Triss (me) expertly skinned the wolves. Wolf pelts fetch a decent price, enough to keep Mom and Dad from struggling. The meat? Honestly, wolf meat in this world doesn't taste half bad, but Triss isn't a huge fan. So, we sell it too to boost the household income…

Oh, and storing wolf corpses in my dimension? It's not just because I want to—my storage is overflowing! But leaving them to rot would be a waste, and carrying them all is impossible. Zero Waste, right, dear readers? Haha!

Rip!

"Ugh… Messed up the cut. Blood splattered on my clothes…"

No need to talk about my other antics. Just focus on what everyone sees in this scene: Triss and her daily life.

If we're talking game difficulty, a character like Triss would be around Normal+, maybe edging into Hard.

Her stats, skills, and background are all pretty average, which should make her Normal Mode. But the lack of proper education, no skilled mentor to guide her, restrictions to keep the adults happy, and living in a village instead of a big city with learning opportunities? That means no clear path to grow step-by-step. So, I'd rank the difficulty of living, growing, or choosing Triss as a character as Normal+ Mode.

Triss's parents were super worried about her at first. But after signing a contract and registering her as a junior adventurer at the village guild—hunting monsters only from 7:30 AM to 12:30 PM daily, staying within Rank F zones—they felt at ease.

Oh, if you still remember, from that day until now, Triss has only gained 18 levels. Even though Triss (me) grinded like crazy for those 4 hours a day (5, actually, but subtract walking to and from town), and even sneaked into the riskiest spots in the safe zone, getting mobbed by monsters often (without me cheating with skills or powers, since I wanted to learn about this world and live like a normal person—except when storing stuff for later use).

"Alright, let's allocate stats while I'm at it. Status!"

[Status]

Name: Triss | Gender: Female | Age: 11 | LV.36 | SLV.25

Stat:

Str 43 | Vit 20 | Wis 40 | Mag 5 | Agi 80 | Dex 100

HP: 650/650 | MP: 225/225

Class: Village Kid

Skill (2):

[Hawk Eye] 3

[Wolf Nose] 3

[Focus] 2

[Stealth] 3

[Status]

"Ugh… Looking at this makes me feel defeated."

Triss (me) grumbled after allocating stats, packing all the gear into a bag, and heading back to town, which would probably take about…

Rumor has it the strongest demon in this world is Level 9999, a boss with maxed-out stat growth and tons of rare skills.

Ordinary humans here, even with opportunities, determination, gear, and grinding like mad from childhood, fighting in high-risk zones like it's an RPG grind, might hit Level 500-600 by age 20-25. But that's just a "what if." The higher your level, the harder it is to gain more. The risks pile up, and in this world, if HP hits zero, you're not instantly dead, but you're out of commission. One more hit, and you're done. Vital spots like the heart, head, or neck? If you don't protect them, HP doesn't matter—you're dead almost instantly. So, grinding like I imagined with game logic to take on a Level 9999? Probably impossible…

What would it be like without my cheat powers? Honestly, those "broken" powers are only broken compared to regular people in this world—on a whole different level, sure, but still nowhere near enough to beat that Level 9999. Why didn't the goddesses give heroes powers to crush it outright? I've got a guess, but I'm not saying yet. Don't wanna look dumb if I'm wrong…

Oh, almost forgot to tell you, dear readers! Over this past year, "other me" has met some otherworlders too. I'll share those stories in later chapters.

Triss passed by adventurers heading to town, some guards, and finally reached home.

Creak! Thud!

"You're back, Triss! Lunch is ready. Oh no, you're covered in blood! Are you hurt!?"

Mom… a woman nearing 60, whose face clearly shows she must've been quite a beauty in her youth, gave me a wonderful smile.

Ahh, coming home to something warm like this feels so good…

"I'm back, Mom! Haha, Triss isn't hurt. Just messed up skinning a wolf."

"Oh dear, come here. Let's clean you up."

"Got it~"

Geng (True Body): HP-6 … HP+3

Oof… Here we go again…

Next chapter, let's talk about Grace (me)! I bet you're all dying to know how that sweet-faced boy's been doing over the past year!

End of Chapter 16

Choosing Triss as a Character Is Basically Normal+ Mode