2023.08.02.
My first impression of the Blue Starlight Valley was a single thought.
"A jungle?"
Mom had told me many stories about dungeons, but she had told me the most stories about the Blue Starlight Valley.
Contrary to Mom's words that it was like peering into a tiny universe, it was neither mystical nor beautiful; it was like an ordinary jungle taken straight from nature.
Only the trees filling the surroundings were much larger. So large that even when I lifted my head and looked up for the longest time, I couldn't see the top.
'To grow to this size, wouldn't it take hundreds of years? No, thousands of years…….'
Guerrilla Gates that appear without warning are at most the size of a city no matter how large, but dungeons are the size of a continent even at low ranks.
People speculated that dungeon entrances served as portals connected to other planets. That was how vast dungeons were.
But the Blue Starlight Valley was an S-rank dungeon, no less.
Furthermore, it was the only mysterious dungeon that had yet to be fully conquered.
When I examined my surroundings more closely, plants I had never seen in my life caught my eye.
Mint-colored flower buds repeatedly expanded and contracted as if they were alive and breathing.
"Uwah……!"
When I lightly touched one out of curiosity, it exploded like scattering dandelion seeds. Butterfly-type monsters spewed out from inside.
"Ah, you scared me."
Their wings had a bluish tint.
I know that a system window pops up when monsters appear.
Perhaps they weren't judged as threatening, but there was no change in the system window.
'Wait, did I really awaken?'
The situation had happened so suddenly that I began to doubt whether I had really awakened.
"Status window."
Awakened ones can see a status window that quantifies their physical abilities. It was the most certain way to determine whether one had awakened.
[Name: Yubom
Class: Campground Owner
Level: 1
Exclusive Skill: Pitch Tent (F)
Stats: Stamina 5, Dexterity 5, Health 5, Charm 10, Luck 5]
It seemed I really had awakened.
"Crazy……."
I couldn't contain my shock the moment I saw the status window.
I had roughly expected it from the unfamiliar class name 'Campground Owner' and the skill rank, but the stats were utter trash.
A Hunter's rank is determined by their exclusive skill's rank.
But as you can see, I'm F-rank…….
Levels rise steadily as experience accumulates, but skill ranks are hard to raise. If level is the result of effort, rank is said to be the realm of innate talent.
Looking at the stats, most didn't even reach 10, the F-rank limit.
But there was one stat sitting right at the cutoff line.
'Why is Charm the only one at 10? And why are the rest of the stat names like this?'
Hunter stats are usually classified as Stamina, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Luck.
But instead of Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, there were Dexterity, Health, and Charm. They were characteristics I had never heard of before.
I pressed the '▼Detailed Description' tab at the very bottom of the status window.
[Stamina represents 'amount of energy.'
Dexterity represents 'work speed.'
Health represents 'recovery speed.'
Charm represents 'popularity.'
Luck represents 'fortune.']
Perhaps because the class wasn't combat-specialized, the abilities seemed different too.
'But of all things, why is Charm the high one…….'
Charm didn't seem like it would help much with my class either.
I had no idea how to use the exclusive skill, Pitch Tent. And I didn't know why on earth I had to build a campground in a dungeon.
It was a confusing situation in many ways.
'But what should I do from now on?'
[Quest
- To build a campground, you need safe land. Establish a campground in a place without obstacles.
Campgrounds serve as shelters.
- Completion Reward: ???]
Right then, a quest arrived.
Quests were a system that helped raise Hunters in the early stages of awakening.
However, not just anyone received them. I had heard that only Hunters chosen by the system, those who received the system's love, received quests.
Mom said she had also exploded in growth early on thanks to these quests.
It was an ironic situation to awaken me as F-rank and then give me quests.
"But campgrounds serve as shelters? That's huge, isn't it?"
I had heard that shelters are safe zones in dungeons where Hunters can rest. Monsters cannot enter that domain.
Moreover, the air in dungeons contains components that corrode outside food, making it spoil easily, but being inside a shelter blocks those components.
Staying there and waiting to be rescued was the best choice in the current situation.
And one more thing Mom had told me.
'In the Blue Starlight Valley, monsters become much stronger at night when they receive the energy of the starlight. So in that dungeon, people generally don't hunt at night if they can help it.'
When I checked my wristwatch, it was pointing at 5:32. Seeing as it was getting darker, the dungeon time seemed similar to outside time.
I had to establish the campground before sunset.
The 'Establish Campground' button at the bottom of the system window blinked. Without hesitation, I pressed it.
[You cannot build a campground here.
Reasons: Terrain is narrow, monsters are present within the lot, scenery is poor, no lumber available.]
"……."
So pressing the button didn't mean it would just establish it for me. The system listed the reasons it couldn't be built, as if it had been waiting.
"But there are…… monsters?"
The moment I saw that text, goosebumps rose all over my body.
Once I became conscious of it, I became so scared that I couldn't move a single step.
If I ran into a monster in this state, I'd be killed instantly within a second.
"I'm dead…… I'm so dead."
Ding!
While I was in deep despair, system notifications rang out in succession.
[Congratulations! Conditions have been met. You have acquired the sub-skill 'Body-Hiding Loser (C)'.]
[Congratulations! Conditions have been met. You have acquired the sub-skill 'Bring the Sack (A)'.]
"Huh? Body-Hiding Loser? Bring the Sack??"
I had suddenly acquired skills. And one of them was an A-rank skill.
[Body-Hiding Loser (C) (ON/OFF)
- Admit it. You are a body-hiding outcast!
In exchange for throwing away your pride, your survival rate is increased.
- Effect: Stealth
- Cooldown: 5 minutes
- Skill is cancelled upon physical contact with monsters.]
The description was oddly unpleasant. But to be able to conceal my body.
Furthermore, it was an on/off skill with no duration listed. As long as I wasn't hit, it seemed to stay active…….
"Amazing……!"
It seemed the system didn't intend to leave me to die like this after all.
[Bring the Sack (A)
- There are far too many cute and pretty monsters in the world.
Put them in a sack and kidnap them to the campground!
- Effect: Capture
- Condition: Favorability 50% or higher
- Capture Slots: 1
- If you name a captured monster, you can give it commands.
- Captured monsters help with campground life.
- Inventory and system windows are shared with captured monsters.]
"What do you mean, favorability? What is this capture……"
Favorability was an important attribute for Tamer Hunters. I had heard that if favorability reaches a certain level, taming becomes possible.
"So is this a skill similar to Taming? But I don't particularly want to capture monsters?"
Of course, it would be nice to capture monsters and use them as bodyguards. But I need to be able to handle them to some degree to catch them and raise their favorability or whatever.
For an F-rank Hunter, approaching monsters in an S-rank dungeon was difficult enough.
"System, I know you want to save me……. But I don't want to go on adventures if I can help it."
This wasn't a game. You don't come back to life when you die.
I needed to make a realistic decision.
"Body-Hiding Loser ON."
I set aside capture and used Body-Hiding Loser. Then my body turned transparent and the energy bar located at the bottom left decreased.
Among stats, Intelligence is usually associated with the mana used when casting skills, but since I didn't have an Intelligence stat, Stamina, which represents energy, seemed to be consumed instead.
'Such a strange class, seriously…….'
I took steps one by one. Body-Hiding Loser didn't hide footsteps, so I had to walk as quietly as possible.
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' has appeared.]
For the first time, a monster notification rang in the system window. A group of monsters made of blue feathers flew through the sky.
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' senses a presence.]
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' is on high alert but cannot find anything.]
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' is bewildered.]
The harpies' upper bodies were fairy-like and their lower bodies were shaped like birds.
Their claws were like hooks, so sharp that even a graze would shred a body to pieces.
'Their rank is low compared to the dungeon rank, so they seem like small fry…….'
But even small fry here would be fatal to me.
They hovered around me, looking every which way.
Still, perhaps because they really couldn't see me, they merely squawked, caw, caw! and couldn't approach.
'This is amazing. They really can't see me!'
Only now did it feel real that I had awakened. I gradually grew more confident in my steps.
"Kyak, kak, keeeek!"
The more my presence intensified, the more the harpies shrieked in excitement. It was good that they couldn't find me, but the terrible screeching made my head throb.
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' is obsessed with you.]
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' vows to find you at all costs.]
'Why is it making vows? It can't see me! Give up already!'
The harpies circled in the air, continuing to track me. As if they simply couldn't give up, they gradually descended below the trees.
'At this rate, won't they brush against me?'
Body-Hiding Loser is cancelled upon contact. The harpies' flight speed was so fast that I couldn't help but flinch.
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' senses a crisis.]
['Blue Starlight Harpy (B)' is fleeing.]
'What?'
The harpy flock suddenly changed direction. Flapping wildly, they raced each other and disappeared into the distance.
'What crisis? What kind of crisis would make even monsters flee in terror!'
I slowly stopped walking and surveyed my surroundings. My curiosity didn't last long.
Soon after, something with a heavy presence approached, going thud! thud!
['Blue Starlight Teddy (A)' has appeared.]
'……Teddy bear?'
The monster looked like a plush doll befitting its name. Its blue cloth skin looked soft enough to sink into if pressed.
A pink ribbon was tied around its neck.
"Teddy……."
At the voice I muttered thoughtlessly, the monster's ears twitched.
'There are so many cute monsters in the Blue Starlight Valley.'
'Really?'
'Of course. The teddy bear doll that Bomi is holding is also a Blue Starlight Valley monster.'
'Wow. I want to see it too!'
I had said I wanted to see it while talking with Mom when I was little, but I hadn't expected a meeting like this. The real body of my attachment doll, Teddy, was much larger than I thought.
['Blue Starlight Teddy (A)' detects a voice.]
It was bigger than the trees surrounding the area, bigger than a three-story building.
'Is it about 15 meters…… Damn it.'
[Nothing is visible to the 'Blue Starlight Teddy (A)'.]
Knowing the general direction but unable to see, the teddy frowned in frustration. Tilting its head several times, the teddy's eyes changed.
['Blue Starlight Teddy (A)' activates 'Berserker Mode (A)'.]
['Blue Starlight Teddy (A)' begins rampaging.]
Crimson eye lights flashed threateningly.
"Krrrrrrrrrrrrr―!!"
Suddenly, a roar that seemed to split the sky surged forth.
Mom, just what part of this is cute…….