Thud!
I collapsed to the ground, exhausted after spending the whole day relentlessly hunting slimes.
"I'm sure I've killed hundreds of slimes, so why haven't I leveled up yet?"
"Bro, if you want to level up using slimes, you have to kill at least ten thousand of them."
A passerby casually responded to my complaint.
Gulp!
"Ten thousand?"
"Yeah. It's a different story if you have money—you could buy an experience potion to jump straight to level one."
"I don't have money."
"I know. If you had money, you wouldn't be here."
"..."
The man sighed, then handed me his wooden sword.
"What's this?"
"You should replace your bat with this."
"Why? Isn't a baseball bat better than a wooden sword?"
"It is, but it's too wasteful to use it for killing slimes. A wooden sword is lighter, so you won't use much energy when swinging it. That way, you can save your strength and keep hunting."
"I don't have money."
"It's free, just take it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Look at this—I reached level ten yesterday, and today is my last day here."
He showed me his adventurer license.
"This sword has been with me from level zero to level ten. Maybe our meeting is fate, so I'm giving this sword to you."
"...Fine, I'll accept it. Thanks."
"Mm."
"My name is Akio. What's yours?"
"My name is Weis. I'm a college student working part-time as an adventurer. Nice to meet you."
"Ugh, nice to meet you too."
We shook hands for a moment until we heard someone shouting from the front.
"Weis! It's time, let's go!"
A beautiful woman waved her hand while calling out to him.
"Ah, my friend's calling. Well then, see you. Good luck with your leveling."
I nodded as I watched him leave.
Weis walked up to the beautiful woman and started talking to her.
I couldn't hear what they were saying, but the woman looked shy after talking with him.
"Must be nice… I wonder when I'll ever be like that?"
Bzzz!
My phone suddenly vibrated, signaling a message or call.
I unlocked it and saw a flood of messages from my little sister.
"Are you okay? You're safe, right?"
"Why aren't you replying? Don't tell me you got hurt just because of slimes?"
"Akio! Don't worry, if I awaken next month, I'll go to the dungeon with you."
"Mom's cooking something delicious tonight. If you don't come home soon, I'll eat everything, hehe."
"It's already late. You should go home—Mom is really worried about you."
Reading those messages full of my sister's concern, my heart felt warm—like I was being lovingly embraced by an angel.
I replied to all of them with one message, and soon enough, she sent back a response.
"Then come home quickly. Don't push yourself."
I let out a small sigh, then left the beginner dungeon with the wooden sword in hand.
.....
A moment after Akio left, a grown man appeared, his eyes glowing blue like mystical eyes that could see everything.
"Interesting. That young man has an extremely rare, super-unique ability. I wonder when he'll be able to fully unlock its potential."
The man grinned and disappeared into the darkness of the beginner dungeon.
.....
The following days turned into endless leveling. Do you know how long it takes to reach level one? Not one or two days—four weeks!
The struggle was brutal, but all my effort paid off once I finally leveled up. Since it was my first level-up, my stats didn't change much, but it was enough to satisfy me.
"Oh right, today Yae is having her awakening ceremony. I hope she gets a useful unique ability, not a useless one like mine."
I opened my character status out of boredom to reread the description of Harem Leveling.
Back then, I didn't notice it at all, but apparently there was a tiny note in the corner of the description.
(Cannot be used on blood-related family members.)
"Huh? What the heck?! That means I can't use it even with Yae!"
It felt extremely disappointing, but after thinking it over, the note made sense.
Besides, the ability is called Harem Leveling, not Family Leveling.
"Looks like I'll need to think of another way," I muttered with a wry smile.
Ring!
My phone suddenly rang. I checked the caller ID, and I couldn't help but smile.
"Time to go home!"
I chose to forget about the Harem Leveling problem for now and headed home to celebrate my little sister Yae's successful awakening.
.....
"You're sure you want to go straight to the dungeon?" I asked the young woman beside me, with her long black hair and incredibly cute, sweet appearance.
"A month ago, you also went to the dungeon right away, didn't you?"
"Ugh, that's true, but Yae, don't you have plans with Youmu?"
Yae's eyes instantly turned cold as she glared at me in annoyance.
"Don't bring that up. Youmu is not my friend anymore!"
"Why are you so angry? You two were super close yesterday," I asked, curious.
Yae glanced at me, then sighed helplessly.
"Youmu confessed to me."
"I see… Eh?! He confessed?! That means—"
Yae nodded softly, though her face was annoyed.
"Youmu asked me to date him, but I rejected him because the guy I like isn't him!"
"Youmu must be really sad after you rejected him," I said jokingly.
Yae glared at me and stomped her foot.
"What's that supposed to mean? Do you want me to date Youmu, then sleep with him and do that with him?!"
"No way! As your older brother, I'd never allow my beautiful little sister to be with some guy!"
Ah, crap. I said that out loud.
How would Yae react? I hoped she wouldn't be disgusted after hearing that.
I looked at her—and instead of disgust, what I saw was an adorably blushing face.
Thump-thump!
Damn! What's with that expression? Don't tell me… the guy Yae likes is me?!
Thump-thump!
Just thinking about it made my heart race uncontrollably.
Akio! Get a grip! Yae is your blood-related little sister! No matter how cute, sweet, or beautiful she is, you can't fall in love with her! She's your sister!
After scolding myself, I finally regained clarity.
Meanwhile, Yae was still blushing, trying to calm herself down.
Squish!
"Slime!"
Yae instantly tensed up after I shouted.
"Yae, this one's yours."
Yae nodded blankly.
Then I remembered—Yae really liked cute things.
And although slimes were monsters, they were pretty cute, which made some people reluctant to kill them.
Some companies even started selling slimes as pet monsters, although the adoption rules were extremely strict and expensive.
"Yae, I know what you're thinking, but slimes here are experience points for beginners like us."
Hearing that, Yae snapped back to focus. With determination, she struck the slime until it burst and turned into experience points for her.
"Good, now let's hunt more slimes!"
"Mm!"
We explored the beginner dungeon until noon. Because we were tired and hungry, we decided to look for food around the dungeon area.
"It's crowded. Hold my hand so we don't get separated."
Yae froze for a moment, then shyly took my hand with a blushing face.
... .. .
To be continued…