As expected, it seemed I was more suited to fights where I took things than fights where I protected them.
‘I don’t have anything to worry about, so this is comfortable. This is great, isn’t it?’
Having handed all the magic stones and chips over to Yeon Haneul, I had nothing to lose.
In contrast, the examinees carrying magic stones and chips had to play it safe.
That difference…
“Roar. The lion cub is right here.”
“Guhk!”
“Urgh…”
…allowed me to overwhelm the battlefield.
Even if the examinees who had gathered to hunt the boss ghost rabbit attacked me together, they were no match for me.
Six had already been sent flying.
The rest were no worthy opponents either.
Whoosh!
Crackle!
Just then, my Evasion Instinct activated.
Following the instinct’s appeal, I turned my body and knocked aside the flying dagger.
Then I kicked off the ground.
Lion’s Fierce Assault
A charge skill that advanced in a straight line.
Closing the distance to the one who had thrown the dagger in an instant, I slashed my sword upward.
Crackle!
Blue lightning surged upward as well.
My sword shattered his weapon, and the blue lightning cut him diagonally.
The electric shock, adjusted so it wouldn’t kill him, knocked him unconscious on the spot.
Crackle!
I shifted direction on my heel.
There were other examinees nearby.
I planned to take down everyone left with Lion’s Fierce Assault.
And with a six-hit combo like that…
“Thanks. I’ll be taking these.”
…I knocked down all the examinees.
After confirming there were no enemies around, I sheathed the Ultramarine Sword.
Meanwhile, Go Eunbi was rummaging through the belongings of the fallen examinees.
“Eunbi, how is it? Did we get anything?”
“Ta-da! I got four chips and some magic stones!”
Go Eunbi showed me the spoils.
It was a fairly decent haul.
“Good job. We’ll hold on to the chips for now, and show the magic stones to Haneul.”
“But we don’t have many bundles to wrap the magic stones in. What do we do?”
“Do we need to worry about bundles?”
“Huh?”
“There are plenty right here.”
To help Go Eunbi understand, I pointed at the fallen examinees.
But she didn’t seem to get it.
She tilted her head.
“We just have to strip these guys. We can wrap the stuff in their clothes and send it.”
“Ah… Did I just hear that wrong? Gyeonu, what did you say?”
“I said let’s strip these guys.”
“So I didn’t hear wrong… How about we look for another way?”
“Do we need to look for another way? There are clothes lying all over the place right here.”
“…”
“I completely understand how you feel, Eunbi. If it were me from a few years ago, I never would’ve dreamed of thinking like this.”
“What happened a few years ago to change a person like this?”
“It was all to survive. How nostalgic.”
“Weren’t you from the Divine Sword Do Family? Did your family fall so far that you had to steal other people’s clothes to wear?”
“What are you talking about? My family’s well-off.”
“Ah, right… I was just saying it because I’m so flustered right now. Go on.”
“This is something I realized a few years ago.”
“Yeah.”
“To survive in a world where the strong prey on the weak, you have to devour before you’re devoured. Especially in the world of Hunters.”
“So?”
“If those guys were in our position, they would’ve tried to strip you and me too.”
“…Hey, Gyeonu?”
“What?”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little too paranoid?”
“You think guys who tried to steal other people’s magic stones wouldn’t steal our clothes too?”
“When you put it that way, it’s not like there’s no logic to it…”
“And these guys lost to me.”
“Yeah, they did.”
“If they lost, then they should have everything taken by me.”
“Hey, didn’t you come here to become a Hunter, not a villain? Did you come to the wrong academy?”
“In the animal kingdom, the victor always takes everything from the defeated.”
“We’re not animals. We’re people who have reason and live by the laws of society. Not animals…”
“That’s why you must never lose, not even once. The moment you lose, it ends there.”
“Wow, it sounds plausible, but it’s total bullshit.”
“Roar.”
“Was that supposed to be a lion sound?”
Go Eunbi looked utterly dumbfounded.
I shrugged at her and walked toward the examinees.
“Are you really going to strip them?”
“Haven’t you heard this saying?”
“What are you going to say this time?”
“People leave behind their names when they die…”
“And tigers leave behind their skins?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Monsters leave behind magic stones.”
“They’re still people…”
“Anything that tries to harm me is a beast or a monster.”
“…I’m a person, right?”
“For now.”
“Gyeonu, don’t say scary things… Why am I ‘for now’?”
“When the hunting dog finishes the rabbit hunt…”
“So you were planning to discard me… Sob, that’s too much. I’m not a dog.”
“But you do look like a Welsh corgi.”
“Huh? Is that a compliment?”
“That depends on how you take it.”
“Are you saying my legs are short? I’m telling Haneul.”
“Let’s stop joking around here. Hurry up and help me strip their clothes.”
“Ah, whatever! Fine!”
Still, I had a conscience too.
We decided to strip only the examinees’ tops and use them as bundles to wrap the magic stones and chips.
There wasn’t time to strip them completely.
We only stripped a few who were nearby.
“You know where Haneul is, right?”
“I just checked.”
“Then send them to Haneul.”
“Okay!”
Go Eunbi shot an arrow into the air.
Yeon Haneul, who should be somewhere nearby, would receive it well.
Soon after, we decided to continue searching for the boss ghost rabbit.
Finding it wasn’t hard.
Rooooar!
“There it is.”
The boss ghost rabbits let out loud roars whenever they appeared.
So if you listened carefully, you could detect their presence.
I decided to move and search for the one that had appeared nearby.
The examinees who had heard that sound were surely heading toward it.
It was a race against time.
So, to hurry our steps…
“Kyaa! Wh-what are you doing!?”
“Stay still. You might fall.”
I lifted Go Eunbi up and slung her over my shoulder.
Suddenly hanging from my shoulder, she flailed her arms and legs.
“Do you really have to go this far!?”
“If I run while worrying about you, we’ll be late. It’ll be uncomfortable, but bear with it.”
“Wouldn’t a piggyback ride be better…”
“It’s inconvenient for swinging my sword.”
“I must be heavy…”
“Don’t worry. I can run just fine even with Haneul on my back.”
“When you say it like that, it makes it sound like Haneul is heavier than me… And what are you, Inuyasha? Running with someone on your back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Gyeonu, sit!”
“We don’t have time to joke around right now. I’m running.”
I manifested the mana within my body.
Kicking off the ground, I ran in the direction where the boss ghost rabbit had roared.
Before long, I saw it.
Rooooar!
“Ugh!”
It was fighting examinees.
Taking them in with my eyes, I lowered Go Eunbi from my shoulder to the ground.
“I feel like I’m going to throw up…”
“Don’t exaggerate. I’ll go first and deal with it, so you follow slowly, Eunbi.”
“Okay…”
Go Eunbi staggered.
But I didn’t think this was enough to exhaust her.
Because the status window told me so.
[Personal Information]
Name: Go Eunbi (Female · 17 years old)
Alias: “Self-Proclaimed” Loner
Affiliation: Doan Middle School
[Possessed Gift]
(Unlock Condition: Mana 60 or higher)
[Physical Abilities]
Stamina: 47
Strength: 45
Endurance: 36
Agility: 43
Mana: 38
Luck: 44
Remaining Points: 0
She couldn’t compare to me or Yeon Haneul, but her numbers weren’t bad.
There was no way she was exhausted from just that.
Leaving the rear to Go Eunbi, I immediately charged into the battlefield.
“Damn it, who are you!”
“We’ll deal with it, so get lost!”
“Don’t steal it!”
The examinees who had been fighting the boss ghost rabbit first shouted in irritation.
I ignored them.
‘Steal, my ass.’
It belonged to whoever took it down first.
I quickly passed the examinees who felt threatened by its punches and couldn’t recklessly approach it.
Then I ran straight toward the thing.
[You have encountered monsters.]
[Boss Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 02, Field Boss) x 1]
[Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 6]
[Blue Ghost Rabbit (Rank. 01) x 2]
[…]
It noticed me too.
Its face twisted grotesquely as it howled to intimidate me.
Roooooar!
It could be called presence pressure.
Its pressure brushed against my nerves.
But it didn’t work on me.
[You have been exposed to Pressure.]
[All stats decrease by 3%.]
[Skill “Courage Lv 5” activates.]
[Stats decreased by Pressure are preserved up to 13%.]
[Decreased stats are restored.]
[Concentration and evasion rate increase by 13% due to Skill “Courage Lv 5.”]
The effect of the Courage skill was applied.
I could face it without my stats dropping.
And Courage wasn’t all I had.
[Alias “Boss Baby” activates.]
[When fighting a boss monster, the probability of becoming its highest-priority attack target greatly increases.]
[When fighting a boss monster, all physical abilities increase by 10% of their original values.]
Boss Baby, an alias specialized for facing boss monsters.
Having changed my alias in advance to hunt the boss ghost rabbit, I was able to fully enjoy its effects.
My physical stats rose.
[Physical Abilities]
Stamina: 65(62+3) → 71.2(68.2+3)
Strength: 59 → 64.9
Endurance: 55 → 60.5
Agility: 71(68+3) → 77.8(74.8+3)
Mana: 48 → 52.8
Luck: 32 → 35.2
Remaining Points: 1 [+Details]
The first digit of my stamina, strength, endurance, and mana each rose by one.
For the first digit to change, not the decimal, had a special significance.
There was a huge wall between 59 and 60.
Right now, even if only temporarily, I had crossed that wall.
‘And my stamina’s over 70 too.’
Power overflowed.
My fatigue vanished completely.
My breathing grew longer.
I could store strength in my muscles for longer than before.
Roooooar!
Just then, its punch came flying.
Fast.
But that was all.
It wasn’t so fast that I couldn’t track it with my eyes, nor so fast that I couldn’t react.
My eyes were reading the direction its fist was coming from without missing a single moment.
Moreover…
Crackle!
Evasion Instinct activated.
A weak current swept through my body.
That meant it wasn’t threatening.
It was closer to having activated just in case.
Even without relying on instinct, I could dodge its attack.
I slipped all the way into its chest.
Lion’s Spiraling Thrust
I drove the Ultramarine Sword into the sternum between its pectorals.
The attack, imbued with rotational force during the thrust, pierced through the creature as it hurriedly tried to wrap itself in protective coloration.
Pshk!
One strike.
With a single strike, it died.
I pulled the magic stone out from the wound made by the Ultramarine Sword.
“Why? Were you going to steal mine?”
“…”
The boss ghost rabbit vanished.
Turning my head away from it, I asked the examinees who were standing blankly behind me.
They shook their heads.
It seemed they had no intention of fighting me.
Then there was no need to fight them.
I threw the magic stone to Go Eunbi.
“Eunbi, please.”
“Got it! Haneul! Take this too! It’s my heart!”
Go Eunbi fired an arrow.
The boss ghost rabbit’s magic stone quickly left the area.
“Why do you keep telling her to accept your heart?”
“Because I want to get close to Haneul!”
“Why?”
“Haneul is pretty.”
“Mm… I admit that.”
“Right?”
“Anyway, let’s move now.”
“Huh? Already? Can’t we rest just a little…”
“Then someone else might take them. Hurry and come here.”
“Again… Are you going to hold me?”
“Yeah, I’m going to sling you over my shoulder.”
“To think you’d carry me like baggage. You’re tougher than you look.”
Just like before, I draped Go Eunbi over my shoulder.
Then I roamed through the forest searching for the boss ghost rabbits.
Not long after that…
Bang!
“Ah! It’s the signal. It’s the signal flare I gave Haneul. No doubt about it.”
Blue smoke rose in the distance.
It was the signal the three of us had decided on in advance.
It meant we had gathered enough magic stones and chips, so we should stop and come back.
“It’s finally over. Ah, my shoulder’s stiff.”
“Don’t tell me… You’re saying I’m heavy?”
“You’d know that better than anyone.”
“Take this! Forget-it-from-your-memory punch!”
Go Eunbi tapped me with fists that carried no strength.
I stood there and let her hit me.
In any case, that was how we gathered the chips.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Mid-Boss