After waiting for a few moments, I sneaked out of the village and headed to the Grand Canyon.

Levi magically appeared at my side. “Where are you going? The night is about to fall. The canyon is a dangerous place at night.”

“It is just a waste of time for me to return to my house right now. I would rather stay away from the village until they come to a consensus. Besides, who told you that the canyon was dangerous at night? They are the safest during the night.”

“Impossible! My understanding of the tower is that the most powerful monsters usually hunt during the night in the wild areas. It should be the same for the canyon.” Levi replied.

I smacked my lips, looking unimpressed. “That is the case for the upper floors but not or the zeroth floor. The monsters do not face any danger in the canyon; we humans, are the only threat they will ever face. As a result, they generally do not keep their guards up at all times. Like any other living beings, the monsters also need to sleep sometimes.”

“My goal this time is to quickly take advantage of the fact that most monsters are unaware that humans have taken over the village. I will wait for them to fall asleep and then…” I made a cutthroat gesture, showing my intentions.

“I will make a real killing this time. Why do you think I spent so long asleep during the day? Now, with your help, it should be very easy to locate the monsters, even in the dark.”

“Wait, what? Why am I getting involved?” Levi exclaimed.

“Did we not already agree that you will help me find the monsters so that I can grow quicker? I would never dare roam around the canyon at night alone but with the help of a fairy, I will never get lost.”

“… Aren’t you abusing a little too much of our agreement? I also need to sleep. You should have warned me earlier.” Levi said unhappily.

“Well, seems like you do not mind being laughed at by your peers. I supposed they did not mock you at all after seeing the daily ranking earlier.”

“…”

“That’s a low blow, human! Fine, follow me!”

A smile blossomed on my face as I hastily followed behind Levi. However, my good mood soon disappeared.

That night was the longest night I’ve experienced for a very long time. I sneaked around the canyon, moving from monster nest to monster nest, slaying every single one I encountered. Levi worked me to the bone; he could easily detect the presence of monsters and would make sure that I had no rest between each monster nest. It was the only way he could get back at me.

Under the cover of the night, I became bolder and aimed for the sleeping ogres. I only failed my sneak attack once but fortunately, managed to defeat the ogre after suffering from a few blows. The 43 mana stones in my pocket turned into 135 mana stones over a few hours.

“Hurry up, human! I found another ogre sleeping alone not very far from here.” Levi said sadistically.

I was beyond exhausted at this point. “I need to rest now. I pushed myself a little bit too much. When you want to guide me, you really know where to find the monsters.”

“Don’t make excuses and get to work. You were so proud and confident. Yet, after just a few hours, you are already in this pathetic state.”

“Easy for you. My arms hurt from thrusting my spear in the throats of the ogres. How long has it been exactly? Remember to keep track of the time. I do not want to end up encircled by the monsters when they are going to wake up.”

“Don’t worry. There are still a couple of hours before dawn. We have more than enough time to kill at least a dozen of other monster nests.” Levi laughed evilly.

I sighed. “No. It won’t be good for my body right now to continue. My stamina is still too low. I think we should return. Once at the merchant tower, I will transfer fifty points to you as your payment for finding the monster nests.”

“Tsssk Tsssk! Stop trying to look for excuses… Wait, what did you say? fifty points?” Levi almost choked.

“Yes. You were very helpful, and I earned about two hundred points tonight. Not sure how much but I know that I would not have been able to obtain that much without you finding the monster nests. Fifty points is a fair price, don’t you think?” I replied with a tired expression.

“Only 50 Points? I had to fly over ten miles to get this information and you are only giving me fifty points for that?” The fairy exclaimed but the excitement in his eyes could not be hidden.

I chuckled. “Fine, then nevermind. I will take back what I just said since you are not grateful. Let’s go back to hunting, shall we? Where was the next monster nest?”

“Wow! Wait. You cannot go back on your words like this. Let us return to the village. You deserve some rest after working so hard. I am extremely grateful for the fifty points. Thank you so much!” His attitude quickly changed as he panicked. These fifty points represented the light at the end of the tunnel for Levi; how could he let them go so easily. “Let me guide you. This is the safest past to return to the village.”

I was amused by the fairy’s attitude. ‘This is how the guides should have been in the first place. Instead of squeezing as much juice as possible out of their hosts, they should have done their best to help us succeed and be rewarded later on by the hosts. This was how the relationship between the guides and the hosts had been until the guides turned lazy and started to take advantage of the situation.’

‘Giving 50 points to Levi is a lot but I am still earning a lot more than I originally expected. Plus with the 10% bonus I receive each day, it won’t be long before I get in a position to leave.’

…

I returned to the village guided by Levi and did as promised. The fairy was over the moon after finally receiving its first points. As for me, I felt tired but was very satisfied with my harvest. I now had 135 mana stones and 292 Points.

Inside the merchant tower, I noticed that a piece of paper has been posted on the announcement board.

‘Interesting. Eric has already made some arrangements for the monster rush tomorrow. But nothing has been said about hunting in the canyon yet. I suppose this will have to wait for when some conflict arises there.’

The teams have all been allocated a number and would be fighting the monster rush in turn. There were exactly fourteen teams with six to ten members. Tomorrow, all the odd-numbered teams would fight against the monster rush. On the next day, all even-numbered teams would defend the village. The day after, it would once again be the odd-numbered teams turn and so on.

The teams were the same one we came here with. I was assigned to Team 2 with Jake and the others. Eric’s team was Team 1.

I did not mind this arrangement. During the battle earlier, most of the participants did not even get to attack the monsters as only the ogres and the golem represented a significant threat. Most of the coyotes died after a few hits, especially when spells were used.

As for the team number, I was glad to be defending the village on opposite days to Eric’s group. I suspected that he did so on purpose, trusting that under my watch, the merchant tower would not fall.

I yawned and went back home after grabbing a snack. My sleeping schedule was already a complete mess and was going to stay like this for a little while; until the monsters would no longer sleep defencelessly at night.

…

The next day, I woke up when the sun was already high in the sky. I slept like a log, but my muscles screamed in pain as soon as I got off the bed. It has been like this every day since I entered the tower.

‘It has been a while since I’ve taken a bath or even just brush my teeth. I feel disgusting.’

‘It should not hurt to purchase a few cleaning items from the merchant tower. It will be good for me to feel cleaner and more comfortable.’

I left my house shortly after and headed to the merchant tower. I bought myself some croissants for a late breakfast. Then, with Levi taking the lead, I once again headed to the canyon.

The village was already empty at this time of the day. Everyone was at least trying to gather a few points.

The canyon felt different than yesterday. There were a lot of people roaming around, even at the entrance. The coyotes were being mercilessly hunted down. I could feel the competitive spirit between the groups. Even as I moved deeper into the canyon, the same scene could be seen.

‘The canyon is not large enough for one hundred people to hunt at once. Although they are not fighting each other yet, I can see that the different groups have become hostile to each other to some extent.’

I walked deeper into the canyon where I found my team killing the slimes.

“You guys are killing slimes? Why are you not hunting the coyotes as I advised you?” I asked, a little bit annoyed by their decision.

“What is wrong with hunting slimes? They are so weak that a single spell is enough to deal with them.” James said, crossing his arms.

“Yes. I don’t see why you told us not to hunt slimes yet. Eric’s team is also hunting slimes so I thought it would be a good idea to do so. The slimes are easier to kill than the coyotes; we do not need to run after them at all.”

I sighed. “Sure. Do as you wish then.”

“Wait! Explain to us why you would rather have us hunt the coyotes. I think we have the right to know, right?” Marie said with her usual unfriendly tone.

“The reason is simply that it is more efficient for you to hunt the coyotes right now. You can kill the slimes, but it requires you to use a spell. By doing so, you are essentially negating the mana stone you will be receiving after killing the slime, meaning that by killing a slime, you only get one point.”

“However, if you were to kill a coyote, first, you don’t need to use spells and therefore, the mana stone obtained can be considered a net profit. Then, the coyotes leave behind their bodies after they die and with Jake, you should be able to collect a good amount of fur and meat. Their body is worth about two mana stones.”

“Therefore, for each coyote killed, you can receive one point and three mana stones. Furthermore, the coyotes are generally more common than the slimes. Without an enchanted weapon, hunting coyotes is the fastest way to increase your wealth.”

“But more importantly, you are screwing me over by killing all the slimes!”