Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

56  Not really

"Mom! Come and look at this!" Fay shouted in excitement when she managed to find one of the nicer dresses that she picked out when we were deciding what to bring and what to leave for later. She was currently dressed in the Chinese Qipao, giving me a great view of the sides of her thigh with how the cloth of her outfit cut open and only covered the front and back. On the other hand, her mother donned an elegant, late-night dress that she coupled with an expensive, fur scarf that she loosely wrapped around her shoulders. 'Just give her glasses and she could cosplay Marlyn Monroe,' I thought, rolling my eyes before turning them back to the less pleasant but much more necessary part of the day. While the girls busied themselves with the clothes and all the lovely poses they could strike in those, I had my hands elbow-deep in blood and guts from extracting any potential valuables from the corpses in the field. I was looking for anything, any item that could possibly fetch a nice price back on earth. Anything… outside of armor and swords, as those two types of items were too distinct and too regulated back home for me to bear the risk of carrying them around. Sure thing, they could be worth a huge amount of money if sold to some collectors… but they were too real. They lacked the flair and craftsmanship of the replicas people would buy for quite considerable sums. Even though they were all made with durability and efficiency in mind… when compared to machine-produced goods, they were clearly lacking!

'In a sense, I could make bank by selling earth-produced weapons here, but…' My eyes wandered away from the corpse I was dealing with and back towards the girls. I took a deep breath before turning my head back and returning to my job. 'Yeah, right. And who I would be selling those weapons to?' I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of this idea. In theory, I didn't really have to worry about this topic yet. With how the valuables I was looting right now could easily last us another two or three months, there was absolutely no need for me to try to forcefully figure everything out right this very moment. But with nothing to think about, I scoured the items left behind by the attackers and the areas around in case they dropped something… I couldn't help but keep thinking. 'Also, what's with her claiming we cannot cross that starlight plain?' I thought, my attention turned back to the most interesting point in Fay's mom's story besides the nearby kingdom of adventurers. 'I know there are some more intense spots, I know it messes up with one's perception a bit…' I shook my head, trying to wrap my mind around the dangers that could deter even someone as powerful as Fay's mom. Maybe there was something I couldn't see that lurked in the depths of this plain. Or maybe it was the opposite, my ability to see where the light of the stars would shine with its full intensity, which allowed me to cross the plain without frying my brain the second I would step into one. Or maybe it had something to do with how moving through that space appeared to mess with one's perception of time?

'Well, that still leaves me with the idea of finding a good herb…' I thought, only for my mood to sour on the spot. I couldn't really expect some legendary plant to grow all over the place, allowing me to brew high-class potions that could as much as restore a missing arm in a mere instant. That sort of ridiculous coincidence would be too much for me to accept. But I had no doubt there were some types of smaller, more popular herbs that bore much slighter effect… but one that could still be valued on earth. Still, whether the plants using the power of magic would triumph over years of precise, selective breeding of the plants back home… That was a whole different question. 'And thinking about that starlight plain…' My thoughts once again bounced back to the topic that intrigued me. 'I wonder if I could level up by exping in one of those brighter spots. If needed, I could even dump those current points of mine into endurance and try testing it out then!'

But all of that was something for later. Whether or not I would visit the plains, whether I would try to temper myself just a little bit further in the light of the stairs in my bid to reach the fifth level… All of those ifs and buts could wait until tomorrow because for today I had my schedule pretty much filled. Before long, I cleared out the last of the corpses before hauling all the loot to a single place and spreading it down on the ground to make it easier to assess the whole picture at once. Yet, before I could even call for Fay and her mom…

'Should I focus on looking for those herbs? Or maybe try going for the training?' Instead of looking at the valuables, my eyes wandered off, and looked into the darkness hidden in the deeper parts of the forest. 'Maybe I could try my luck at getting my level up in the… more common way?' The battle from before proved I could gain experience by killing fellow humans. And well…

All the three intrusive thoughts that kept coming back to my mind were strictly related to each other. After all, all the founding ideas behind them… came from the list of my missions that I've known about ever since my system properly woke up!

Escape the starlight plains. Survive on the starlight plains. Uncover the secret behind the Starlight plains. I've yet to complete a single one of those three. And quite damn noticeably, while varying in difficulty… Those missions still bore the title of "Main mission." And that only made it harder for me to believe those plains to be uncrossable, not with the main mission of my system directing me right in that area!

Then, came the set for the suggested mission. To find three precious herbs in the forest that would accelerate my growth. To reach level five before leaving the forest so that I could gain a special title. And lastly, with a "Are you fucking serious" level of difficulty, the one and only mission I've completed thus far. "Find a Celestial guardian and gain its blessing."

I muttered, raising my eyes to the sky before finally bringing them back to the valuables. And in what felt like a single instant, I could pretty much tell what worth those items would stand at. 'About four months,' I translated the amount of money I could get for all the things I've lotted into how long I could keep entertaining Fay without paying any mind to the fiscal cost of doing so. And while it was only a rough estimate, it still gave me a general idea of what situation I was in. "Well, I guess I can just go with the easiest of them all," I muttered to myself as I raised my eyes and waved at the women to summon them closer. "And that leaves escaping the starlight plain or finding out three precious herbs…"

And with the girl's arriving…

"I'm done. We can head back now," I informed the girls, giving them a short moment to glance at what I've gathered before throwing it all haphazardly into a lonesome bag and throwing it over my shoulder, ready to go. "Don't you want to bury them?" Fay's mom asked as soon as we made our first step, her eyes brimming with cold curiosity. I took a deep breath and twisted my hips, taking a quick look at the decaying corpses of those who dared to raise their weapons at Fay. Out of nowhere, the small bag filled with valuables appeared to turn lighter. "No," I replied while shaking my head a little and focusing on what was ahead. "Not really."

Those weren't the bodies of people I'd just randomly seen dying. Those were the decaying bodies of those who dared to raise their hands and weapons at my woman, putting her in serious danger as a result. To some unknown strangers, I was willing to offer both mercy strikes to put an end to their intense pain and even some comfort. Then, I would work my ass hard to give them a proper resting place!

But those people? Who threatened to take the one good thing in my life away from me? And for something as silly as revenge, at that? No, I had no intent of burying them. And if it was up to me, they could rot as they were until all eternity would come to pass. Plan for today: 3 daily (wpc bonus included) and 3 bonus chaps

1/6n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om