[Level has increased by 1.]

[Dexterity has increased by 5.]

[Swiftness has increased in level. Lv. 4 to Lv. 5]

[Strength has increased by 2.]

[Wisdom has increased by 2.]

…………………………………………………………………

Monotony. Pure repetition. They attack, I dodge or block, then I stab or cut. Blood comes out wherever I hit. A simple way to cut down their numbers.

I wasn’t expecting there to be so many. The request had clearly stated that there was only a small pack. I assume that somebody had found a small group of these vermin and had been too weak to take care of them, so the request was put on the board.

Of course, I’m not complaining. I can easily handle hundreds of these guys at once. It’s just that if somebody with lesser abilities than me had come to finish this request, they wouldn’t even be able to survive the initial onslaught. I think a party of Class B’s would be necessary to finish this, assuming they didn't have skills similar to mine.

Stamina would be an issue here, but thanks to my high constitution, my stamina hasn’t dropped much at all. If I had to continue for much longer, perhaps I would tire, but for now, I’m fine.

I haven’t counted how many Chompies I’ve taken down so far, but I know it’s a lot, because of the scattered bodies on the battlefield.

I just dodge, cut, dodge, cut… and so on.

Keeping myself safe from all harm while inflicting what injuries I can to the army of Chompies.

Ten more come out of the cave that they reside in. This is the place the map sent me. It took about half an hour travelling straight from the city. I passed thinly forested areas, small hills, and finally arrived here. The surrounding area is an elevated terrain. A hill, on top of which is a cave that descends into the ground. I can’t tell how big it is from here, but since this number of enemies came from it, I can say with some certainty that it is quite large.

“Rek!” Another is cut by my knife and falls to the ground.

I don’t think this battle will last much longer. In the beginning of the fight, most of the Chompies rushed out at once, forcing me into a defensive battle where I was more focused on blocking and dodging. Now, I can deal more attacks, because of how few there are.

Five Chompies…

Three…

One.

I pant lightly. That was a big battle. Dozens of Chompies lay dying or dead on the bloodied, grassy floor.

‘How am I going to bring all this back? I don’t think I can fit this all in my inventory.’

I asked the System how much stuff I could store right now, and it said, “One meter cubed at level one.” So not that much.

“RAAaaAWR!”

What is that? It sounds like a Chompy, but bigger.

A large silhouette appears from the entrance of the cave. Ha! It really is a big Chompy!

‘Appraisal.’

[Command Received.]

[Activating Skill – Appraisal.]

Race: Bitey

Gender: Male

Level: 10

Age: 4

Condition: Enraged.

Condition Effects: Poor Judgement (Enraged).

HP: 256/256

MP: 6/6

Strength: 45

Intelligence: 6

Wisdom: 5

Dexterity: 11

Constitution: 32

‘High strength and constitution.’

“REEEEH!” It spotted me.

It charges. It isn’t that fast, but I know it isn’t a force to be reckoned with. If I get hit, I think it would take off half my HP. No joke. Fourty-five strength combined with its large frame. I can’t dream of safely taking its charge head-on.

As it nears, I jump to the left, causing it to brush past. While it passes, I slice through the air at its underbelly with the sharp edge of my short blade. Its skin is so tough that the blade glances off the surface.

“Wow, you’re tough, aren’t you?”

The two meter tall monster digs its claws into the ground, turns around, and charges me again. It won’t work on me, I already know that. But I guess this guy doesn’t have any better way to take care of its prey.

I dodge again, but this time to the right. I attack differently, spinning on my heel to do a 180. This is in order to hold my blade upside down and stab it into the beast before pulling it lengthwise, across its side. It works better than I’d hoped, leaving a long, heavily bleeding tear in its skin. Are those intestines? Yep. I definitely cut completely through its skin this time.

“GRAHH!” It lets out a short burst of noise before falling to the ground, failing to recover itself before crashing hard into the ground.

Blood trails from the wound in large rivers. I watch to make sure that it can’t move anymore. My caution is necessary, as at that moment, it pushes itself away from me while still laying on the ground, but it cannot move quickly at all. The wound I inflicted is too severe for it to even get up and charge again. I take a few steps toward it, entering its attack range.

“grEHh!” It takes a bite at me, but I take a step back, prepared for it.

As its head approaches close to me, it starts dropping, and eventually hits the ground without pulling back. It has lost so much blood so quickly, it’s weak already. It breathes heavily, in short encumbered breaths.

“Just stay still and let me finish you.”

I don’t think it can make a conscious choice to let me finish it off. It roars. It can tell that its life is in my hands, and that he can’t do a thing about it.

I take my blade and sink it forcefully into the neck of the Bitey, ending its life.

[Level has increased by 1.]

…………………………………………………………………

[Inventory has increased in level. Lv. 1 to Lv. 2]

After putting the materials of the Bitey and a few Chompies into the Inventory, I was quickly greeted by this message.

‘How much can level two fit?’ I ask.

[An Inventory at Lv. 2 can fit 2 m^3. The Inventory can fit its level equal to its value in m^3.]

So I can fit twice as much now. It’s not enough for all the Bitey and Chompy materials, but it is enough for most of it. I’ll get as many materials as I can. I will make sure to leave some room for the rest to become mana cores.

…………………………………………………………………

My inventory is completely full of leathers, bones, teeth, and cores.

I sigh. That was an interesting request. Many more monsters than what was reported, and a monster that wasn’t even known to be here.

I walk to the bottom of the hill, and hop onto my hoverbike that I had left there. It’s then when I remember something.

The cave.

What’s on the inside? Is there anything but dirt and stone? I’ve already killed all the monsters that came out of it. It should be safe inside.

I step back off the bike. Overcome by curiosity, I head back up towards the cave’s entrance.

As I get closer, I can smell the exposed earth, mixed with the scent of the recent bloodbath. The entrance is more wide than it is long, leading into a long passageway that descends deeper into the earth than I can see with the minimal light that manages to peek in. The top of the entrance has an overhang that blocks a large portion of the light that could otherwise be used to see what lies in the darkness.

I step into the subterranean zone. Further and further into the darkness, until I can’t use my sight anymore. My Mind Sense is helping a lot. I’d be tripping everywhere if not for it. The ground is uneven and rocky.

Soon, though, the ground becomes more regular, and there are less loose rocks around.

Not long after that, the ground becomes much easier to walk on. The ground has lost its irregularity and does not have any loose rocks dotting the area like before. I take a few more steps forward, and I sense a barrier directly in front of me. I can tell that it extends like a wall blocking me from going deeper. Not a physical barrier, but something similar.

[You have administrator privileges. You may open the dungeon.]

… Dungeon? And administrator privileges? I don’t know enough about this. I really should leave. If I were to get trapped down here, I might not be able to escape. I don't have any supplies. And who knows if I’ll encounter any monsters down here?

So, I start the long walk back up to the surface to head back to the city.

…………………………………………………………………

The hoverbike makes a whirring noise as it slows. I turn and stop the bike in the alley beside the Hunter’s Association. I hop off, and walk inside.

The familiar sight of the lobby fills my vision. I walk to the counter and greet the clerk there.

“Hello. I have some materials and cores to sell.”

“What monster and how much?”

“Many Chompies and a Bitey. There is quite a bit. I don’t think it will fit on this counter.”

“Alright, we can use one of the commons table.”

We walk over to the largest table in the common area. I start to pour out the items crammed into my inventory. Soon, the table is filled with the assorted materials. The man’s eyes are filled with wonder.

“How did your team discover such a large nest of Chompies? Normally, there are only 10-15 Chompies at the most. Not only that, but there was a Bitey there as well?”

“I don’t have a team. I took these on myself. I thought there was only going to be around eight Chompies. The request said it was a small nest.”

“You went there thinking that there were only a few Chompies, but took out several dozens, and a Bitey?”

His face is filled with disbelief and confusion. He starts to go through the materials one by one, and eventually starts talking again.

“If you’re selling all of this, I think an appropriate price is 5 Small Gold and 23 Small Silver. As the actual amount of monsters in the nest was different than reported, I am including compensation for the request having the wrong difficulty assigned to it.”

“The association pays more if the request is harder than they thought?”

“Yes. Normally, if a request was more difficult than was reported, and a hunter set out to complete it, there would be a high risk of severe injury or death. So, it’s kind of like an apology. ‘We messed up, hope you can continue working with us!’”

“I see. Apology accepted. It wasn’t much of a problem anyways.”

“Thank you. Anyways, please wait here while I fetch the money.”

He scampers through the door behind the counter, returning a few moments later with a large pouch of clinking metal coins. He walks up to me, and hands me the bag with both hands.

“Please check if the amount is correct.”

“Sure.”

I dump the contents on the table, and count the coins. 5 Small Gold and 23 Small Silver.

“It's the right amount.”

“Anything else I can help you with, sir?”

I pause, thinking about the cave.

“Yes. Can you tell me what a dungeon is?”

“A dungeon? Why? Did you find one?”

“Yes. It's at the place the request said the Chompies were found.”

“Alright. Thanks for telling me. It’s important to note where every dungeon is encountered. Now, to your question. We honestly don’t know what a dungeon is, only that they can open up sometimes and spit out a horde of monsters. They are also known as Sources. They appeared 60 years ago when this all started, and new ones pop up every so often. When they do, they always bring a lot of monsters with it. Really, you got lucky that you were able to handle the dungeon outbreak by yourself, it must have been a small one.”

“That's interesting. Can you tell me more?”

“Actually, no. Like I said, we don’t know what they are. Only what they cause.”

“Has anybody been able to go inside?”

“No. Every time somebody finds the entrance to a dungeon and tries to go in, a barrier blocks them. It says something along the lines of ‘Access denied. You do not meet the requirements to access the dungeon.’”

“When I tried to go in, it told me that I could go in.”

The clerk remains still for a moment before asking, “It said you can go in?”

“Yes. Well, technically, it said I can ‘open the dungeon’.”

The clerk pauses for a moment. Seeming to think deeply about what I just said

“Come back tomorrow, I must speak with my superiors.”

…………………………………………………………………

The sun is lowering below the horizon as I pilot my hoverbike out of the alley and onto the street. I have to travel slowly to avoid hitting anyone in the crowd. I can understand why people have given up on using vehicles in the city.

As I move about the streets, I look around. I see stores and street vendors of all shapes and sizes. Some sell technology, some sell food, and some sell weapons and armor.

‘My knife is getting pretty dull. I should get a replacement.’ I think.

I park the bike in front of a weapons shop and enter. A bell above the door rings as I push the door open.

“What do you need?” A musclebound man asks from behind a short counter with a register.

“I need a new knife.” I reply.

“They’re over there.” He says while pointing to a wall covered in various knives.

I walk over and take a look at what’s available. Short, long, double-edged, single-edged, a variety of knives. I look over all of them before finding something that I really want. A blade of a spear, with a short handle. This one looks like it would work well for me. I can stab and slash with it, which is pretty much all I’ve been doing so far.

I bring the knife over to the big man.

“How much for this one? I also want a sheath for it.”

“5 Small Silver for the blade and 5 Large Copper for the sheath.”

“Here.” I hand him the money.

“I’ll go grab a sheath for that blade.” He points to a doorway on the far side of the room.

He goes through it, and soon, he returns swiftly with a small sheath.

“Try this one.”

He gives me the sheath and I place the blade into it. It fits perfectly.

“Thank you.”

“Anytime!” He laughs.

I leave the shop while fixing the sheathed weapon horizontally onto my lower back, leaving the handle accessible for my one arm. It came with a belt that I can wear over the clothes I have on now. It was also surprisingly easy to put on with Matter Control and one hand.

I return to my bike. The sun has fully set now, but the streets are still lit and people busy, though there are noticeably less people.

I yawn.

It’s been a long day. I became a hunter, and went on my first mission. And it was so much more eventful than it should have been. I want to rest now.

Where’s a place I can sleep?

I look around for a quarter hour and I finally find a place.

A somewhat large hotel. It looks like it's three stories tall.

Going inside, I ask the woman at the front desk for a room. She tells me the price and I hand it to her without any qualms. I travel to my room that's on the first floor and once I’m inside and the door is shut, I flop down onto the bed. It’s not five minutes before I’m asleep.