Chapter 20

I’m back everyone….

Sorry, I’m very busy with my work for the last 2 weeks.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Haruki decided to hunt raccoons which had a higher unit price than the House Centipede, as he felt uneasy looking at his low credit balance.

In addition, Karen also accompanied him today.

“Karaboshi-san, you defeated the BOSS here, right?”

Karen asked him in a weak tone when they were on their way to the 3rd floor.

Her tone was like blaming him for leaving her out.

“How do you know about that…….”

“It’s from your blog.”

“Ah!”

Came to think of it, she knew Haruki’s username.

Haruki’s back was drenched with sweat.

Is it better if I subjugate it with her?

Regarding defeating the BOSS, Haruki didn’t think anything of doing it alone.

Of course, he wanted to know the extent of his ability, but he didn’t have to deal with the BOSS to do it.

“Am I…… a burden?”

“Ah, it’s not like that. I just did it without thinking.”

Haruki frantically tried to calm her down.

It seemed like Karen misunderstood, she thought that she wasn’t invited to defeat the BOSS because she wasn’t needed.

Unnecessary.

The presence and treatment are similar to air.

Haruki really understood the pain in that position.

Before he put on the mask, no one noticed his presence if he didn’t speak loudly.

Ah, my presence won’t affect anything, right?

The earth is still spinning even though I do not exist, right?

As he was too sad, his thought became like a philosopher.

“I want to be stronger…….”

It was due to her murmur that Haruki felt like his chest was being pierced.

Moreover, Haruki knew that the stronger he was the more his presence would increase.

“That’s right. For that, the first step is to hunt raccoons. Today we will hunt them down completely.”

“Yes!”

Has her feeling improved or is she just pretending?

The stick which Karen bought let out a loud sound.

It seemed it was too soon for Karen to defeat a raccoon alone.

She couldn’t keep up with the raccoons’ speed.

Her magic attack could hit it if it was launched from a distance. However, her blunt attack couldn’t hit it when it approached.

Karen’s tactic was strong if she could hit it, but her ability was not enough.

Should I increase her blunt-weapon skill?

But, even if I do, she still doesn’t have enough Strength to deal damage and Agility to match speed.

If I’m not mistaken, she has 2 skill points left.

Haruki took out the skill board to check Karen’s total skill points.

Previously, he left 2 points after allocating her skill points secretly.

However,

Skill Point(s): 2→3

Eh?

It becomes 3 points.

“Ah, the rare monster.”

The additional 1 point was gained after defeating the rare monster.

Haruki really forgot about it.

She will have enough power to fight as a vanguard if I allocate her skill points to a blunt-weapon skill, but is that the right thing?

She has a rare advantage, the magic.

Therefore, it’s also good if I improve is as her main skill.

I want to discuss what skills need to be improved, but this magic tool is a double-edged sword.

If the information got out, there must be a day when she can’t use her magic to fight.

It would be better if there were adventurers who said, “Please increase these skills.”

However, that didn’t mean the group that wanted to take the magic tool from Haruki’s hands even if they had to kill him would not appear.

This is really troublesome.

It’s troublesome to think about various countermeasures.

Haruki was still a beginner in making countermeasures.

If an intermediate adventurer appeared, it didn’t matter whether there was countermeasure or not, everything would be finished only with brute force.

For a while, I can’t talk about this magic tool to others.

Maybe it will happen someday.

But, not now.

For now, I have to allocate the current points and think of other countermeasures.

“……Yup.”

That method seems better.

I have to set a countermeasure that can help her to let out more than 100% of her current strength.

It will be a good experience if she can pass it. Furthermore, it will also be an exercise to solve problems.

Moreover, there was a possibility that her skill would grow naturally.

That’s the real charm of the strategy guide.

It’s a waste if I forcibly improve her skill.

Haruki who had thought of the pros and cons decided to become vanguard.

He rejected the idea of capturing and beating it as he did when facing the House Centipede due to his lack of strength.

In order for Karen to be able to kill it gradually, Haruki decided to move forward to cut off the raccoon’s escape route.

Knowing that it would be cut down if it fled, Karen’s attacks gradually began to hit it.

“……I see this is also interesting.”

How to destroy an opponent when it tries to run away?

How to follow Karen’s timing from her breathing?

Haruki’s moves would decide the life or death of the raccoon.

The actual result finally appeared.

Being a vanguard is about technique.

This is something that can’t be felt when hunting alone.

By activating parts of the brain which were previously rarely used, he felt a comfortable feeling of fatigue.

Good.

This’s really good!

Haruki, in his distraction, finally cornered the raccoon.

Haruki’s attack hurt the raccoon’s skin.

The raccoon which was busy turning his awareness towards Haruki.

At that moment, a magic attack came.

At first, there were many difficulties, but the battle formation became really suitable for both of them after they learned the trick.

When fighting alone, he couldn’t feel a sense of stability like this.

Solo hunting is good, but doing it with a team is also interesting.

Haruki found the true charm of team hunting and increased his concentration, killing nearly all raccoons on the 3rd floor.

“You know….” (Karen)

After the hunt was over, Haruki was kneeling in front of Karen.

Karen’s face looked scary.

Haruki felt sacred as he felt Karen’s gaze could penetrate the mask.

“It’s okay if you are too absorbed with the hunt, but please don’t fall!”

Well.

Haruki, who was chasing after a raccoon didn’t realize his exhaustion because he was concentrating so hard.

As a vanguard, he must cut off the raccoon’s escape route, solo fighting and group hunting techniques were so different.

Haruki understood this, moved without self-awareness, and fell in the middle of the maneuver.

He who hunted and kept chasing raccoons for 5 hours without rest, no matter how much his physical abilities are strengthened, even falling can’t be helped anymore.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm?”

No, Karen’s smile is scary.

“…… I’m really sorry. Next time, I’ll be careful.”

“Are you really sorry? What will you do if I’m not there?”

“Good grief,” Karen folded her arms and puffed her cheeks.

But actually, she showed a relieved expression.

If she had a tail, she would shake it to and fro.

*Swing swing*, sounded like a tail swinging with pride, relieved that Haruki survived.

But the most important thing was the feeling that her presence could help others.

This time, Karen was the one who helped Haruki.

Before, she thought that she was only a burden to Haruki, but now she realized that she could help him.

Even though she didn’t show it, Karen was really happy.

However, that was really close.

The raccoon which tried to bite the fallen Haruki was held back by magic.

He would have died if Karen was still her old self.

But, Haruki– who manically hunted monsters before… He could only kill all the raccoons solo because he had been at a higher level.

Besides that, it was also thanks to Karen’s new stick.

Her magic seemed like it had increased by one point and produced concentrated pressure before being fired.

With the previous club, she couldn’t fire her magic if she didn’t fully concentrate.

But with the new stick, the magic seemed to gather at its end without any obstacles.

Its strength and speed definitely increased by around 30%.

That stick seems like special equipment for a mage.

That was thanks to Haruki, a treasure like this could be bought with only 35,000 yen.

If he didn’t cut the price, she would need to pay 1,000,000 yen!

It’s impossible for Karen to obtain it.

If it’s posted on “Let’s Be”, surely in an instant the crowd of adventurers will split apart.

However, Haruki’s action had helped them overcome it.

He faced adventurers earlier that he didn’t know who actively hunted on the 9th floor of Chikaho…  just to save Karen!

Plus, he never mentioned Karen’s name on the blog.

There was no sign that he had helped someone.

If he stated that he had helped someone, it probably would increase his blog’s visitors.

Helping people is the adventurer’s job.

Just as no firefighter will boast after helping someone, nor will a doctor after saving a life.

It is a natural thing that doesn’t need to be spread.

However, it is a rare thing for adventurers.

They exaggerated the reality to get ranking points every day.

The reality was changed in order to get a good rating.

If he stated that he had helped someone from a Monsters Rampage on the blog, Karen would definitely not follow him like this.

Well, the girl seemed to be curious about the disgusting mask that he was wearing, but she never felt the same disgust from him.

Karen’s gaze was similar to the shield user’s on that team.

She was also curious about his dagger use.

He wore a strange mask and a minor weapon.

Although he helped people without thinking of his own life, he as an adventurer who didn’t use the opportunity to boast.

These were enough reasons for Karen to become interested in Haruki.

However, she still had anxiety.

Sometimes, she felt Haruki disappear from her sight without warning…….

He was also very boring.

But he still showed his emotions.

Like when fighting with House Centipede, when finding a magic bag, or when fighting with Centipede.

Then, he looked very excited.

But that emotion had disappeared somewhere.

It was the same shortcoming that Karen has.

His emotions must have broken when the Monsters Stampede occurred.

If he had thoughts that she wasn’t needed …

So that moment would not arrive, no matter what, Karen needed to improve her usefulness.

I don’t want to lose that again. (Karen)

Haruki noticed an oddity as they headed for the gate after the raccoons’ hunt was finished.

“Is it an earthquake?”

“Hmm!”

Haruki’s leveled-up intuition told him that the ground had moved, ever so slightly.

Haruki centered his focus and concentrated, I don’t feel a strong aura from there.

Next-to-him, Karen’s face turned blue. Looks like she was weak to the earthquake.

The earthquake immediately subsided.

The earthquake was only on a scale of 1. It was just a small tremor.

Is it possible that it’s a Monsters Rampage from a rare monster? I should be aware of my surroundings, but there were no signs of chaos being felt.

“It’s an earthquake, right?”

“Indeed, that seems to be what vibrated the dungeon.”

A dungeon could also vibrate due to an external factor.

However, dungeons are very unnatural things.

If it’s a detonated nuclear bomb, the damage will only cause the entrance to be slightly wider.

It can’t be helped if he thought about things that are not related to the earthquake.

“Is that a large earthquake?”

Vibration in dungeons was small, but this situation couldn’t be laughed at because the damage caused could be large.

Haruki went to the surface through the gate and sighed in relief; he could see no tremor impact on the region.

The total results of today’s hunt are 178 monsters.

If I hadn’t fallen down while hunting, there would be around 200 monsters in total.

I hate myself who fell.

Thank you to the magic bag, the time spent to bring material over-burden to the surface is largely cut off.

It caused the efficiency increase.

If my house is not close to a dungeon, it would take an hour just to transport and sell it.

For advanced adventurers, one hour could be used to earn 1,000,000 yen.

Well, their actions value is about several hundred million.

He earnestly thought like that.

The magic bag was held by Karen.

She hesitated when she thought of him who used a strange mask while wearing the pouch–.

She doubted his strange sense, the usefulness of the pouch, or both.

Besides, the item price could cause other parties to covet the item.

It would be better if the magic bag couldn’t be recognized from its appearance in an instant.

That was why Haruki let Karen wear it.

Even if a woman wore a pouch like that, no one would suspect that it was a magic bag.

Raccoon claws, if combined from the legs and arms, totaled 18 claws, but the only usable materials were the two longest claws on the paws.

It was 500 yen per claw without a scratch, and the highest would be 1,000 yen per claw depending on the form.

“Gu gi gi …….”

There is a total of 356 claws.

The selling price is 156,100 yen, Akane hatefully grinding her molars.

That was 20% of the price of equipment purchased today.

It could be predicted that he could get all of his money back if he earned the same quantity in 3 or 4 days.

While the new equipment would not come in 1 week.

This time, Akane will lose no matter what she does.

“…Huff.”

“Grr…!!!”

I can see my victory.

Akane’s face which had a forced smile turned red as she banged on the counter.

She bared her teeth and glared at him as if saying, “Just wait and see!”

The atmosphere was quite bloodthirsty.

But, a relationship like this probably would give good results.

She desperately wanted to outwit Haruki.

To trick him, she didn’t have any other way besides supplying the strongest equipment.

Well, please fight as hard as possible. (Akane)

“…… Ah, that’s right. Are you okay with the earthquake?”

“Earthquake? Did that happen?”

Was the scope so small that she didn’t feel it?

Well, it’s okay then.

If a large earthquake occurred, the first object to collapse would be this prefab.

That was because the foundation of this prefab was only small concrete blocks. Moreover, it was easily taken off as it was just filled in without additional reinforcement.

Thanks to the existence of this shop, my income efficiency has increased exceptionally.

Therefore, he was relieved as there were no accidents.

It was also useless to worry about her because her aura seemed lively.

No matter what, she had the power to beat up adventurers easily.

Haruki left the shop while waving his hand.

*********

【Earthquake】 The Earthquake Occurrence Documentations Report 50 【Scary】

54 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Emishi)

An earthquake occurred-!

55 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Edo)

It happened here, too-!!

56 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Edo)

>>55 Liar

I didn’t feel any tremor.

57 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Edo)

>>56 It really happened.

I felt an earthquake with a scale of around 1 in the dungeon.

58 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Edo)

Is that true?

I didn’t feel it at all.

59 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Dewa)

I also felt it.

That small earthquake happened when I was in the dungeon.

60 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Nagato)

Was it happening everywhere in Japan?

61 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Emishi)

Was that earthquake only about 1?

62 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Tosa)

On the surface, I didn’t feel anything.

63 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Emishi)

Was that only happen in the dungeon?

64 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Michinoku)

Was that really happen?

65 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Emishi)

The dungeon can be called as an underground world.

So, there is a probability that every land is connected.

66 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Harima)

>>65 What a great romantic imagination.

Each adventurer entered different dungeons, as their love bloomed deeply under the ground.

67 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Bizen)

>>66 Wh!

68 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Bizen)

I’m not gay!

69 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Emishi)

Anyway, I’ll share the seaweed.

As it’s disgusting, let’s share it with other front-liners.

70 Name: Nameless Radar that Sensing the Earthquake (Edo)

>>69 Okay~

Chapter end

Proofread for Asian Hobbyist by Fenring  (Btw, I’m not correcting any of the web chatter.  It’s impossible for me to tell what’s deliberate and what’s erroneous.)