When people think of familiar actions in RPG games, leveling up is probably one of the first things that comes to mind.

  If you don't get stronger, you can't defeat the boss.

  So, if you gain experience and level up, you can defeat the boss.

  This is a common pattern in RPGs.

  Some people even challenge themselves with low-level clears, but even then, they usually do some minimal leveling up.

  So, why am I suddenly bringing this up?

  "Hey, kid, you had fun st night, huh?"

  "Yes, it was a fun story!"

  "Yeah! It was fun!"

  "..."

  It's because today, we're going to tweak that leveling process a bit.

  The dialogue sounds like something you might have heard before, but since it's between kids, nothing inappropriate like what dirty adults might think of could have happened. Amina innocently enjoyed the nighttime conversation, while Nell is gring at Dent-san.

  This highlights the difference in sexual knowledge between Amina and Nell, but I'm not foolish enough to point that out.

  Without touching on that, I went to help Mile-san prepare breakfast.

  "Dent-san! I'll tell my dad about this ter."

  "Ugh, come on, miss, that's not fair!"

  "We're your employers! We respect you, but you need to understand there are things you can and can't say!!"

  "Mile-san, are those two okay?"

  "It's punishment for saying weird things to the kids. I'll also have a word with the receptionist."

  "????"

  "You don't need to know yet."

  Behind me, the scene of an adult being scolded by a girl unfolded. Mile-san dismissed it as Dent-san's own fault, and Amina, who didn't understand why Dent-san was being scolded, tilted her head in confusion. But Pid-san lightly shook his head and said it was better she didn't know.

  "Hey, miss, this piece of meat is bigger."

  "...Don't think you can win me over with something like this."

  Even during breakfast, Dent-san was careful around Nell.

  "Alright, let's shake it off and get back to leveling up today!"

  "Yeah!"

  "...Sure."

  And so, we returned to the Haniwa spot.

  We were about to start leveling up the same way as yesterday, but unlike the energetic Amina, Nell seemed a bit off.

  "Did Dent-san properly apologize?"

  "He did!!"

  I thought she might be upset about the earlier inappropriate comment, but Dent-san insisted he had apologized properly.

  "Yeah, as an adult, it's questionable, but he bowed his head multiple times without caring about pride or reputation."

  "If being stubborn and disliked by our employers would lower our evaluation, I'd rather just apologize honestly!!"

  A gnce at Pid-san confirmed that Dent-san had indeed reflected on his actions.

  Given this attitude, it's clear he seriously apologized.

  So, is she still just a bit bothered?

  "Nell, are you okay? If you're not feeling well..."

  "I'm fine. I just didn't sleep much st night because I was thinking about some things. In fact, I want to move my body a lot right now, so don't worry."

  "Really?"

  I was worried and asked, but she said it was fine, so I decided not to press further.

  "Alright, you two, equip those today."

  "Got it."

  "One Plus Thirty is enough, right?"

  "No, we'll probably equip more ter, so let's start with two to keep the level difference in check."

  Since she seemed physically fine, I reached into the leather bag and pulled out an emblem beled "Weak."

  "Hey, that's—"

  "Are you seriously going to equip that?"

  The Mark of the Weak. Naturally, Dent-san and Pid-san knew the effect of this item.

  An item that lowers your level.

  Since it also reduces stats, they tried to stop us from equipping two of them.

  "Yes, we're equipping it."

  "We were fine yesterday. And as you said, we're moving as a trio, so don't worry."

  "In fact, we'll take down even more than yesterday!"

  "Well, yeah, but still. You worked hard to level up, and now you're okay with this?"

  "We follow our employers' wishes, but if we judge it's dangerous, we'll stop immediately and return today."

  Common sense would agree with them, but based on my knowledge, this is the optimal leveling method.

  Instead of equipping the Training Bracelet, we equip two Marks of the Weak Plus Thirty.

  This does lower our stats.

  But it also grants us one significant benefit.

  "Alright! Let's go!"

  "Yeah!"

  "Sure."

  Today, we're energetically using slingshots!

  The first one is a regur Haniwa.

  We hit it with a stone, and it comes toward us.

  Then Nell shoots it with her slingshot as it gets closer, and Amina finishes it off.

  The same pattern as yesterday.

  Next, we shoot a dropped item that looks like a snail shell, defeating a Haniwa with a shell on its right shoulder.

  Then, we shoot a dropped item that looks like a belt buckle, defeating a Haniwa equipped with something resembling a transformation belt.

  "We leveled up!!"

  "I leveled up too."

  "Wait, already?"

  "Were we already close to leveling up yesterday?"

  We leveled up so easily.

  Normally, since we leveled up at the end of yesterday, it shouldn't have happened this quickly.

  "Alright, let's keep this up!"

  "Okay!"

  "Sure."

  Nell seems a bit off, but the benefits of equipping the Mark of the Weak are clearly showing, so we'll continue leveling at this pace.

  "Leveled up!"

  "Huh?"

  "I leveled up too."

  "Hmm?"

  "Next."

  The Mark of the Weak is generally considered a fwed item that lowers your level, reduces stats based on the lost level's BP, and limits you to gaining only one level even with massive experience. But besides granting the Indestructible skill, it has another hidden benefit.

  It secretly lowers the experience table.

  The experience table.

  It's the standard for measuring how much experience is needed to reach the next level.

  For example, going from level 1 to level 2 might require 10 experience points, and from level 2 to 3 might require 30.

  The amount needed increases as you level up.

  This is the experience table.

  The Mark of the Weak forcibly lowers this experience table.

  Originally, we were at Css 1/Level 9 yesterday.

  So, our current experience table should be for Css 1/Level 9 to reach the next level.

  The experience table for leveling up after defeating three Haniwa should have been long surpassed.

  But we leveled up so easily.

  The reason is that by equipping the Mark of the Weak, our status is now Css 1/Level 0.

  Internally, it's Css 1/Level 9 (-61).

  This mechanism shows that the level-down effect of the Mark of the Weak isn't an actual level decrease but rather a bad status effect that simutes a level drop.

  The proof is that removing the Mark of the Weak returns us to normal.

  This demonstrates that internally, our level remains the same.

  But the status dispy shows Level 0.

  It's as if we have no level.

  And furthermore, we're leveling up with the experience from low-level Haniwa.

  When this was discovered in the game, everyone thought it was revolutionary.

  At first, it was thought to be a bug, but removing the Mark of the Weak showed that our status level had indeed increased, and we retained both BP and EXBP.

  In other words, the level-down effect of the Mark of the Weak also lowers the experience table, making leveling easier.

  The downside is that you can't remove it for 24 hours, but when facing a boss or during critical moments, defeating the enemy takes priority over leveling, so you wouldn't equip the Mark of the Weak anyway.

  This undoubtedly revolutionized leveling.

  "Alright, next!!"

  "Let's go!!"

  "Anytime!"

  With the lowered experience table, our levels keep rising.

  This even boosts Nell's mood, which had been a bit off.

  Moreover, the level-down effect of the Mark of the Weak doesn't affect one area.

  "Hey, Pid. Are they really moving like they've leveled down?"

  "...They seem to be moving better than they did at the beginning yesterday before leveling up."

  "Right?"

  That area is EXBP.

  EXBP is essentially extra BP gained by meeting certain conditions when leveling up.

  Regur BP is tied to leveling up, so if your level drops, that BP's effect is lost.

  But EXBP is, as the name suggests, extra, additional, and beyond what's necessary.

  It's not tied to your level.

  Some analysts specute that quests are generated for each level, and meeting the conditions releases EXBP.

  It's not a level-up reward but a quest reward for meeting conditions.

  That's why it's unaffected by the Mark of the Weak's level-down effect.

  I thought about doing this earlier, but having some stats secured makes hunting easier.

  So yesterday, we only used the Mark of the Weak synthesized with a weapon.

  By the way, during the game's era, some pyers tried to see if they could gain EXBP again by lowering their level and re-meeting the conditions. But using a method that reliably lowers your level resets all stats, including EXBP.

  So, in the end, it was a wasted effort.

  Infinite BP was, unsurprisingly, unattainable.

  Learning from that failure, we leveled up a bit and used EXBP to supplement our stats, ensuring we were stronger than the Haniwa.

  Thanks to that, we created an environment where leveling up is easier, faster, and more efficient than yesterday.

  Leveling up smoothly also feels good.

  Dent-san and Pid-san are suspiciously watching us, but they don't seem to want to interrupt our leveling to confirm, so they're quietly observing.

  Currently, we're maintaining an experience table where defeating three Haniwa levels us up.

  This remains true even as we step into the final area with ten levels left.

  Based on my game experience, leveling up isn't that hard.

  What's tedious is raising skill proficiency.

  There's no way to lower the experience table for that.

  It's purely a test of patience.

  So, we'll maximize efficiency where we can.

  That said, this leveling method is only easy in the early game. Even with the experience table fixed at its lowest, the required experience skyrockets as your css increases, and finding enemies that meet EXBP conditions becomes more troublesome. At best, this method works until Css 5.

  "Level has reached the上限値. As a reward, one skill slot has been unlocked."

  That's when the real training begins.

  "We're done!!"

  "Ah, we just made it."

  "We barely reached our goal."

  Using this trick to minimize the experience table, we started in the morning and finished leveling just in time to return.

  After confirming the final level-up and hearing the reward of an unlocked skill slot, our Css 1 leveling was complete.

  "No way, did you really finish?"

  "It's hard to believe... but it looks like they're done."

  "Hey, if this is true, the rookies would cry if they saw this. Yesterday and today, it only took one day. All those guys desperately beating up goblins would feel like their efforts were wasted."

  Stretching to relieve some fatigue, all that's left is to ride the carriage back.

  Dent-san and Pid-san's stares are intimidating, but whether I'll teach them this method depends on the negotiations on the way back.

  Teaching them would likely bring a lot of trouble, so it's better to wait until we're a bit stronger.

  Now, how should I dodge their questions?

  "Next is skill leveling... the grind awaits."

  And other hardships await us too.

  Once you level up, the next step is skill training.

  To reach Css 2, you need to master at least one passive skill.

  Thanks to the css level cap, we gained an additional skill slot, bringing the total to four.

  The slots obtainable in Css 1 are from cssing up, mastering a skill, and reaching the level cap.

  You can't move to the next css without these.

  So, while it's a bit of a downer for the young dies, we'll prepare for the next step.

  "Let's do our best?"

  "......"

  I think those empty eyes will continue for a while, huh?