Chapter 22: The Deep Relationship Between Difficulty Change and Drop Rate
ㅤ”――Aaaahhhh!”
ㅤ
ㅤWhy aren’t any drop items appearing?
ㅤ
ㅤRealizing the trick behind it, I cried out.
ㅤ
ㅤ”……It’s gotta be the Difficulty Change, right?”
ㅤ
ㅤThe current difficulty is Beginner. The lowest difficulty.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Could it be……that the drop rate changes depending on the difficulty?”
ㅤ
ㅤIn some games, increasing the difficulty doesn’t just make it harder, it also increases drop items and experience points.
ㅤ
ㅤ（I don’t really like that, though.）
ㅤ
ㅤIf they do that, you end up having no choice but to play on the highest difficulty.
ㅤAs a lover of nul-games, it’s a bit of a questionable system for me.
ㅤ
ㅤBut as a developer, it’s only natural to want as many people as possible to play the high difficulty mode you’ve worked so hard to create. As bait for that, bonus elements limited to high difficulty are prepared.
ㅤOf course, there are also many players who think games should be unreasonably difficult.
ㅤ
ㅤ”If that’s the case, it’s going to be troublesome…… Do I have to raise the difficulty if I want drop items?”
ㅤ
ㅤIn a game it’s one thing, but in a real-life battle where your life is on the line, who would willingly want to raise the difficulty?
ㅤWell, that’s probably why they’re giving preferential treatment to drops.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Ahaha…… I guess I have no choice but to try it out with the enemies around here. I have to raise the difficulty one by one and see how much stronger the enemies get.”
ㅤ
ㅤRight now, I’ve just defeated a little less than a hundred in Beginner mode.
ㅤA hundred is a bit much, but I have to defeat them in groups of several dozen to see how much the drop rate changes.
ㅤThis is especially true since my ultimate goal is the Cockatrice’s rare drop.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Ahaha…… Uu, this is scary. I thought I could play a nul-game.”
ㅤ
ㅤWhy are my expectations always betrayed by the unexpected?
ㅤ
ㅤCursing my own fate, I began the difficulty verification process using the monster house.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ”Ahh, I’m tired……”
ㅤ
ㅤI leaned against the hilt of the sword I had stuck in the ground and caught my breath.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Let’s see…… I have to organize this before I forget.”
ㅤ
ㅤI took out the parchment I had bought in town before coming here.
ㅤPaper was a valuable commodity and surprisingly expensive, but I don’t have a super memory that can handle remembering everything.
ㅤ
ㅤ（I wonder how other adventurers do it.）
ㅤ
ㅤI think they’d at least have paper for mapping, but maybe they don’t take notes beyond that.
ㅤ
ㅤDipping the pen, which was also expensive, into my portable ink pot, I jotted down what I had learned on the paper.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ『
ㅤBeginner: Enemies are very slow. My attack power seems to be about 5 times stronger. I don’t know about damage taken since I haven’t been hit.
ㅤ
ㅤVery Easy: Enemies are still slow. Attack power is about 2 times stronger. Damage taken is unverified since I haven’t been hit.
ㅤ
ㅤEasy: Enemies are a little slow （(about 0.75 times?). Attack power is about 1.5 times stronger. I haven’t taken any damage.
ㅤ
ㅤNormal: Enemies are a normal speed. If my abilities hadn’t increased due to my previous experiences, it might have been dangerous. I think the attacks are appropriate for my stamina. It would have been tough without the Grandmaster’s Blessing. I managed to avoid taking damage. I wonder if the goblins in this world are a little weaker than humans in a one-on-one fight.
ㅤ
ㅤHard: Enemies are a little faster. My attack power hasn’t changed, but the enemies have become a little tougher （(still one-shot, but it feels like it). Damage taken is unverified.
ㅤ
ㅤVery Hard: Enemies become considerably faster. I would have died without the Grandmaster’s Blessing. My attack power hasn’t changed, but the enemies are even tougher. But it’s still a guaranteed one-shot （(definitely one hit). Damage? I’m too scared to take any!
ㅤ
ㅤInferno: Enemy speed is probably doubled. They’ll probably catch me if I try to run. My attack power hasn’t decreased, but it’s finally not a guaranteed one-shot anymore. Need to be mindful of positioning to avoid being surrounded by enemies. If I think of it as a game, it’s a difficulty level that offers a good challenge. I have to remember that my life is on the line, or I’ll be trembling during battle.
ㅤ
ㅤHell and No Future: I’m sorry, please forgive me. I’m too scared to try them.
ㅤ』
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤThat’s how it was.
ㅤStill, who am I apologizing to?
ㅤ
ㅤ”Right, the important thing is the drops.”
ㅤ
ㅤI had collected the drop items and arranged them by difficulty level in the corner of a nearby room.
ㅤFortunately, there weren’t any other adventurers nearby.
ㅤ
ㅤI picked up a nearby glass-like bottle filled with liquid.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤPotion: Heals injuries when drunk. Since it allows you to absorb liquefied Ether, it also has the same effect as Ether Experience.
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤFor some reason, an explanation appeared above the bottle.
ㅤ
ㅤ”It’s only in Easy mode or below, right?”
ㅤ
ㅤIn Normal or above, no information about drop items appears. There are probably items that are cursed, or attract enemies just by holding them.
ㅤ
ㅤ”When you defeat a monster, you can absorb Ether. Is that what they call Ether Experience? It’s easy to understand, but it feels game-like.”
ㅤ
ㅤIt’s good information that leftover potions can be drunk for experience points.
ㅤ
ㅤ”The number of potion drops is……”
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤBeginner 0/98 enemies
ㅤVery Easy 5/34 enemies
ㅤEasy 5/25 enemies
ㅤNormal 11/40 enemies
ㅤHard 14/30 enemies
ㅤVery Hard 18/24 enemies
ㅤInferno 9/10 enemies
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ”If I convert that to probabilities…… No, it’s a waste to use paper for calculations.”
ㅤ
ㅤI did the division on the ground.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Done.”
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤBeginner 0%
ㅤVery Easy 14.7%
ㅤEasy 20%
ㅤNormal 27.5%
ㅤHard 46.6%
ㅤVery Hard 75%
ㅤInferno 90%
ㅤ
ㅤ
ㅤ”There might be some margin of error, but the trend is clear.”
ㅤ
ㅤBeginner is absolutely safe, but there are no drops.
ㅤThe higher the difficulty, the higher the drop rate.
ㅤ
ㅤ”Maybe it’s 100% in Hell. Multiple drops in No Future?”
ㅤ
ㅤNo, I don’t want to try that though.
ㅤ
ㅤ”And then…… there’s that.”
ㅤ
ㅤI approached the other drop items that I had kept separate from the row of potions.