Now, when you py games, there are some terms that become familiar in a way, but have you ever heard this one?
**Solo.**
It’s a word often used in activities like solo performances or pying music, but in online games, it mainly refers to pying and clearing the game alone.
Another term for it might be "botchi" (loner), but when it comes to quietly enjoying the game by yourself, pying solo is more rexing. It also tends to yield higher experience points from monsters and significantly boosts your income.
The downside is that the effort that would normally be shared among a party falls entirely on you. There are many things you can’t do solo that you could in a group. While solo py is something even beginners can attempt, it’s more suited for seasoned pyers.
Now, you might wonder why I suddenly brought up this topic.
---
“Alright, I’m ready.”
I equipped my beloved bamboo spear and leather armor. Thanks to the profits from the rice toner, I had some extra funds, so I took the opportunity to buy this gear. For my footwear, I went with a pair of sturdy boots.
Here’s my current status:
**Liberta – Css 1 / Level 50 Base Stats: HP: 60 MP: 40 BP: 0 EXBP: 0 Skill 1 / Skill Slots: 4 Spear Mastery – Css 5 / Level 33**
And with my current equipment:
- **Bamboo Spear of the Weak** - **Leather Chestpiece** - **Leather Boots** - **Pendant of Teleportation** - **Bracelet of the Weak Practitioner**
I also packed a backpack with food and a cloak for sleeping.
“Hey, are you really going alone?”
Nell, who had been watching me prepare for the trip, spoke up with a hint of dissatisfaction. I turned my head to see her wagging her tail and swinging her legs, narrowing her eyes as she gred at me.
Her attitude clearly said, *I’m not happy about this.*
“What can I do? Both Jink and Teresa didn’t give me permission for this trip.”
It was a helpless gesture on my part, signaling that there was nothing I could do.
“But it’s unfair for you to go on an adventure alone, Liberta.”
“Think of it as my parents worrying about me. I wanted to hire guards, but Dent and the others are out on a guild mission and aren’t in town right now. Who knows when they’ll be back?”
Next to her, Amina puffed out her cheeks in a simir manner, looking equally displeased as she stared at me.
This time, I’d be venturing outside the city alone, without any guardians. In situations like this, everything comes down to personal responsibility.
Both Jink and Teresa were worried about me, but in the end, there wasn’t much they could do. They’re my benefactors, not my legal guardians.
For Nell, though, they’re more like a restraining force.
“Why aren’t they here at a time like this?”
“The timing’s just bad.”
“Well, they have their own lives too. It’s not like they’re dedicated solely to us, right?”
With my parents opposed and Dent, the only one who could potentially negotiate on my behalf, currently away in the royal capital, there was no other option.
Why? Because they’re adventurers too. This time, they’ve joined a merchant caravan as guards and are far from the capital.
So, unlike usual, we couldn’t hire them as escorts.
What’s more, this caravan mission is taking them quite far, and they won’t be back for at least a month.
Waiting for them to return would be a waste of time.
Since I’ve built the Angler, I need to take it to a pce where it can be used.
However, moving with the Golem is a challenge. The Angler is a multi-legged machine, but its total weight is considerable. Its speed isn’t particurly fast—just slightly quicker than walking.
Traveling to the destination and back would require overnight stays, just like before. A round trip would take at least a week.
Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t granted permission for such a long-term outdoor excursion.
“Don’t worry, I’ll come back soon and take you out with me.”
So, this time, I decided to go solo. My pn was to head to the destination and pnt a marker for the Pendant of Teleportation.
“In the meantime, keep grinding Mochi to raise your proficiency, okay? I’ll be out there fighting monsters and leveling up my skills too.”
“I know, I know. Just… be careful. If you don’t come back, I’ll cry.”
“Yeah, that’s sweet, but also a little scary.”
“I’ll cry too!”
“Alright, alright, no need to threaten me. I’ll make sure to come back safely.”
Their serious decrations of tears made me feel loved, but also reminded me to be careful so I wouldn’t let them down.
“Well then, I’m off.”
“Alright, take care.”
“Bring back souvenirs~”
The thought of not being able to return for a while made me feel a little lonely. Realizing this, I smiled, thinking about how much I’ve grown attached to this world and this pce.
As the two of them saw me off, I headed west. Near the western gate, I entered a certain shop.
“Welcome—oh, just a kid?”
“Yes, I’d like to rent a mount.”
“Rent a mount, huh?”
“I have the money.”
“Of course you do!!”
This was a rental shop for mounts, something that existed even in the game era to speed up field travel.
Here, tamers made a living by renting out the monsters they’ve tamed.
The shopkeeper initially gave me a suspicious look when a kid came in asking to rent a mount, but when I showed him my bulging wallet, his attitude changed faster than a drill.
“Kid, do you know about mounts?”
“Yes, though I don’t know what kinds you have here.”
Back in the game era, the mounts avaible in the shop would randomly change depending on the time of day. Sometimes, the one you wanted wouldn’t be there when you went to rent it.
This rental shop was a point of frustration among pyers for its unnecessary realism.
In the end, most pyers ended up getting their own mounts to avoid the inconvenience.
“Well, all the horses are out. The bird types left early this morning.”
“Do you have any wyverns?”
“Hey, hey, there’s no way a Css 3 tamer like me could handle something that dangerous.”
“That’s a shame.”
Among pyers, wyverns were the most convenient mounts. They were fast and strong, and aside from their high food consumption, they were quite useful.
However, even though they’re considered the weakest among dragon types, they’re still mid-tier monsters at Css 5.
I asked half-jokingly, but the shopkeeper ughed it off as a joke.
“What we have left are a deer, a cow, and… a turtle.”
“Hmm.”
I was led to the stables. Each mount had its own space, but they all seemed to live in the same building.
The so-called “deer” wasn’t the kind with branching antlers that I was familiar with, but rather a species closer to a chamois, with two short horns.
However, it was much rger than a chamois, with a build strong enough to easily pull a sled.
**Tackledeer.**
A Css 2 monster. Its defining trait is that it’s non-aggressive—when combat starts, it either runs away or charges headfirst. Dealing with it isn’t particurly difficult.
But its movement speed is quite impressive.
The remaining cow-type and turtle-type monsters were more suited for carrying heavy loads.
At least there’s a fast-moving monster left.
“I’ll take this one.”
“Sure thing. This one costs 100 zeni per day.”
“Then, for a week.”
“That’ll be 700 zeni. You can just feed it grass from the area.”
“Got it.”
Horses are popur, and the fast-moving birds are even more so, despite being more expensive. Considering the possibility that there might not have been any mounts avaible at all, this was good enough.
“Listen, make sure you come back after seven days. If you run into trouble, just run away, got it?”
The Tackledeer seemed to understand the shopkeeper’s commands. It nodded obediently and allowed the saddle to be fitted without protest.
This must be the effect of the taming skill.
Back in the game era, mounts were more like companions that followed your commands. But seeing how well you could communicate with monsters like this made me think that maybe getting a taming skill wouldn’t be so bad.
Though, with my limited skill slots, going down that route would mean committing to a full-on tamer build.
“Here, don’t let go of the reins. Wait, can you even ride, kid?”
“I can ride, don’t worry.”
I pced my foot in the stirrup and smoothly mounted the Tackledeer, which was sturdier than I expected. It was a motion I’d done countless times in the game era.
Unless it’s some exotic mount, the riding method is basically the same.
“Whoa, kid, do you have a riding skill?”
“No, I don’t have anything like that.”
When I tugged on the reins, it obediently followed my lead. It seemed to have a calm temperament.
When I patted its neck, it let out a happy sound.
“Hmm, well, as long as you don’t treat it roughly, it should be fine.”
“Are there people who treat them roughly?”
“Yeah, there are. Those kinds of people get refused by the mounts, so we turn them away. Just the other day, some brat named Dass tried to rent one of our horses, but he couldn’t ride properly, and the horse didn’t like him. We turned him down.”
“Oh, I see.”
Back in the game, you could rent mounts as long as you had the money.
“By the way, what’s this one’s name?”
“Shikako.”
“Shikako?”
“No! Shikako.”
“Ah, Shikako?”
“Yeah!”
I never thought there’d be a chance of being refused, and the fact that I knew the person who got refused made me chuckle. With that, I headed toward the shop’s exit.
Mounted on Shikako—whether it’s a Japanese or Western name, I’m not sure—I set off on my first solo adventure in a while.
“Well then, I’ll be borrowing her.”
“Yeah! Take good care of her!!”
I didn’t gallop through the town, but the shop was right next to the city gate. Shikako seemed to realize we were heading outside and started moving forward eagerly.
She wanted to run outside. Being cooped up in the stable must have built up that desire.
The gate guards saw me off as I stepped outside alone for the first time in a while.
“Alright, first…”
As I checked which way to go, I noticed Shikako gncing at me repeatedly.
“Let’s run a bit that way.”
“?”
She seemed to be asking, *Aren’t we going to run? Aren’t we?* So, I gave her the signal to pick up the pace.
Satisfied, Shikako broke into a gallop, her movements full of life—something you wouldn’t feel in a game.
“Whoa, I’ll need to ride properly for this.”
It had been a while, and the difference from the game was noticeable. Adjusting to Shikako’s pace, which wasn’t full speed but still quite fast, I couldn’t help but smile.
“But, you know what? This is fun.”
Unlike my game character, my current body is that of a child who’s slowly building muscle. My stats are much lower than in the game, and my equipment is shoddy.
It’s like I’m just starting to properly develop my character.
Maybe that’s why it reminded me of when I first pyed FBO and struggled to learn how to ride a horse.
Back then, I compined about how inconvenient horses were, saying it’d be faster to just run on foot. But I still worked hard to learn how to ride, and the thrill of my first gallop came rushing back.
“A little fun won’t hurt, right?”
Thinking about it, I hadn’t really done anything purely for fun since coming to this world. Most of my activities were reted to training or leveling up. I’d done some shopping and snacking as breaks, but I hadn’t truly pyed.
“Alright, Shikako, let’s go all out for a bit.”
“?”
I gripped the reins and shifted from a trot to a gallop. Shikako happily accelerated, and the feeling of the wind rushing past felt natural—something you couldn’t experience in a game.
It was like I was savoring freedom. For this moment, I felt a sense of liberation.
No, it’s not that I felt confined in this FBO-like world. I knew this was reality, and I was fully aware that I was alive.
But maybe, somewhere deep down, I’d been living with a sense of tension. Maybe I’d been looking at this world through a detached lens.
“Hahahaha! This is fun!”
“Meeh!”
“Hey, that’s a goat’s sound, isn’t it!?”
I realized there was no need to overthink things. The rigid parts of my mind seemed to loosen during this sprint.
To an outsider, it probably just looked like a kid riding a Tackledeer down the road at full speed.
Near the royal capital, there were no monsters, and the road was busy with travelers. People probably saw me as just a kid and watched with mild amusement. But for me, it was a rediscovery of how much fun simply running could be.
Maybe the norms of adulthood had made me forget how to purely enjoy things.
I don’t know, but it felt like I was genuinely having fun for the first time in a while.
My passion up until now wasn’t a lie, but the intensity of this moment surpassed anything I’d felt before.
So, I kept running until I was satisfied.
“Ah, my butt hurts.”
“Meeh?”
In the end, I ended up riding Shikako longer than I’d pnned, and my rear paid the price—a kind of damage you’d never experience in a game.
