Although I Am Only Level 1, but with This Unique Skill, I Am the Strongest

I took out the Absolute Lock stone.

The monster from the Arsenic Dungeon, Absolute Rock.

This item, dropped by that monster, grants a nearly invincible state when used.

However, in exchange, one’s movement is severely restricted, making it impossible to take damage, but also impossible to attack the opponent.

It’s useful for observing something or evading a predictable powerful move.

This was the moment for it.

Using the invincible state, I observed the bakeneko’s behavior.

Upon activating the Absolute Lock, I encountered my first bakeneko.

With its two tails waving, the bakeneko charged at me—then suddenly stopped its attack midway, leaving behind a grapefruit as it vanished.

After deactivating the effect, I walked further to the location of the next bakeneko.

Upon encounter, I used the Absolute Lock stone again.

This time, I was relentlessly attacked.

Scratches, bites, body slams—it attacked me with full force.

There was no sign of it disappearing.

After waiting a solid three minutes—about the time it takes to make instant noodles—I deactivated the invincible state and counterattacked.

With a precise headshot, I took down the bakeneko in one hit, and this time it dropped something.

“Hm.”

I started to see the pattern.

I continued on to the next bakeneko’s location.

One after another, I kept encountering bakenekos, observing them in the invincible state.

I discovered that there were two types of bakeneko: those that attacked continuously and would drop something if defeated, and those that stopped attacking and vanished on their own.

The ones that kept attacking would drop something if defeated.

The ones that didn’t…

“It’s time for acceleration bullets.”

From the town of unique monsters, now known as the "Saturnium Dungeon," you could only get one of these rare bullets per day.

The ones that didn’t attack had about a 20% chance of appearing, roughly one out of every five.

With a 20% probability, it’s possible to miss up to ten times in a row when things go badly.

If that happens, a lot of acceleration bullets will be used up—but that’s just how it is.

Tools are consumables, and there’s no point in just stockpiling them.

Use them when necessary.

The same goes for money.

After checking my stock of acceleration bullets, I headed to the next bakeneko’s location.

Upon encounter, I skipped using the Absolute Lock stone and instead used an acceleration bullet.

Then, I waited.

In the accelerated world, the bakeneko slowly lunged at me.

It was incredibly slow, like watching a slow-motion replay.

I waited patiently until the bakeneko’s claw touched my skin.

This was the pattern where it wouldn’t vanish.

After its claw made contact, I easily dodged and shot the bakeneko in the head at close range.

I picked up the grapefruit drop and moved on to the next bakeneko.

Again, using an acceleration bullet—the bakeneko didn’t disappear this time.

Then the next one, and the next… Five non-disappearing encounters in a row.

“Quite a streak.”

Despite the content of my complaint, I chuckled a bit.

The many bakenekos I had encountered, and the numerous dots on the mental map.

There was no difference between the ones that vanished and the ones that didn’t.

They were exactly the same.

In other words, it was all down to luck.

In my opinion, there’s only one way to tackle luck in this kind of situation.

Some people may try changing their methods and rely on superstition, but I don’t do that.

I just keep going—until it drops.

As long as the probability isn’t zero, the only option is to keep at it until it happens.

Resolving myself to this—on my sixth acceleration bullet, I encountered a bakeneko.

It leaped at me and suddenly stopped in front of me.

Even in the accelerated world, I could clearly see it freeze.

After about 0.1 seconds, it began to vanish.

I shot it in the head just before it disappeared.

The bakeneko vanished due to the attack, but there was no drop.

“Alright.”

I was satisfied with the result.

The result was clear.

The bakenekos that kept attacking would drop items when defeated.

Some would stop attacking and vanish, and if defeated before they vanished, there would be no drop.

“The timing for the disappearing ones is really well thought out.”

I was impressed.

Waiting for the disappearing ones means you have to be prepared to take attacks from the regular bakenekos.

For a regular adventurer, this is an unthinkable method.

The adventurers in this world are producers by nature, and their basic philosophy is “stability in repetition.”

A method that requires taking hits is out of the question.

And so far, there’s no way to distinguish between the two types.

In other words—

“Basically, everyone’s drop rate is effectively lowered, including mine.”

I found myself muttering in admiration at how well-crafted it was.

“Heh.”

I felt a bit pleased to see this touch of Nihonium’s mischief. It reminded me of her personality.