The village shrank behind them, swallowed by the fields and forest. JP's pack weighed on his shoulders, filled with crystals, herbs, and the survival gear he had painstakingly bargained for. Beside him, Lyra walked light-footed, her cloak fluttering like a shadow.
"Doesn't your pack feel heavy at all?" JP groaned, shifting his load.
Lyra didn't even glance at him. "Maybe you just have weak shoulders."
"Excuse me, I carried spools of copper wire for a living back home. You ever carry a thirty-meter coil of 14-gauge stranded?"
She raised a brow. "...I don't know what that means, but clearly you're still complaining."
By dusk, they set camp near a stream. JP hammered Alchemy Pulse Stakes into the ground. The faint hum of electricity filled the air, scattering small critters that tried to creep near. When one rabbit with stubby horns nosed too close, it yelped and bounded away, fur puffed.
Lyra smirked. "I admit. It works."
JP grinned. "See? Electric fences, isekai edition."
Later, as they ate hard bread and dried meat, JP opened his status board.
Name: JP (Electrician → Alchemist-Inventor)
Level: 8 → 9
HP: 130 / 170
MP: 100 / 130
Strength: 16
Endurance: 18
Dexterity: 19
Intelligence: 23
Luck: 10
He whispered, "Level up! Ha! Eat that, newbie adventurers."
Lyra glanced at him flatly. "Are you talking to your bread again?"
"…No."
That night, under the stars, JP couldn't help but feel alive. The road was dangerous, yes, but it also meant freedom—and money.