《Opening status...》

--------------------------------------------------------

Name: Karshak

Race: Greater Canisfang

Gender: Male

Lvl: 120

HP: 10000/10000

MP: 4990/5000

SP: 7990/8000

-------------------------------------------------------

[Kurushimi: L- Lvl. 120?!]

Kurushimi was bewildered at the incomprehensibly high level of the greater canisfang. She was on the very edge of the forest and the monsters she had seen were comparably weaker here than deeper in.

The difference between the large crystal area with the unbelievable amount of canisfangs that she had visited in her second run, and this area she was in now was enough evidence to say that the levels and scale of monsters in this direction were weaker. And most of all, it only made sense that deeper into the forest there should be stronger monsters.

But what laid before Kurushimi’s eyes was just too large of a contradiction! The highest level monster she had seen so far, and by a long way too, was also at the edge of the forest? That simply didn’t make sense! All of Kurushimi’s previous thoughts that perhaps this world wasn’t so bad after all instantly vanished.

-Kar… shak?

And there was one other thing Kurushimi noticed. The strange fact that this one actually had a name. She had yet to encounter any monsters with a name. So far they had only been called by their species name and didn’t actually have any individuality. If Kurushimi couldn’t tell by Karshak’s level, this was enough to tell her that this one was really special.

Karshak roared as he lunged forth, his weight barreling towards Kurushimi.

-Shit, I need to dodge!

Kurushimi couldn’t get hit by the attack. If she did, she would be easily flattened in an instant. But this large and heavy greater cansifang was abnormally fast. The way Karshak moved seemed to defy the laws of physics itself.

《Used skill: 『Evade Lvl. 1』!》

Not even a second had passed and ‘Evade’ had already activated. Her perception and brain functions rapidly increased, making everything around her slow down. Amazingly, Karshak’s slowed movements only looked to have been lessened to normal speeds to Kurushimi.

Kurushimi did her best to jump out of the way, making sure not to waste any time she had. Kurushimi was only able to dodge Karshak partly and received a heavy blow from the side of Karshak’s claw.

“GYAH?!”

Spit and blood flew out of her mouth as she rolled off to the side. A large wound across her hip was visible through the ripped fabric of her clothes. If you looked in, you could potentially even see a bit of her ribcage.

Coughing and attempting to regain herself, Kurushimi quickly observed the damage to her health bar.

《HP: 7/33》

《MP: 21/23》

《SP:16/19》

[Kurushimi: Isn’t that too much damage?!]

Karshak’s claw hadn’t even fully hit her and yet she had almost lost her entire health bar. There was simply too much destructive force behind a single attack. It was to be expected of a Lvl. 120 but that didn’t make it any less unfair.

Kurushimi quickly looked around herself in an attempt to find a good hiding spot. If she received one more attack that was even half as deadly as the last, she was definitely dead. In her current state, her mobility was hindered by a large wound. This meant she wouldn’t be able to dodge the attack again.

As Kurushimi looked back at Karshak, she noticed his bloodlust-filled stare. At this rate, even if she did find a spot, she wouldn’t be able to hide for long. Especially with the 30% movement slow debuff.

-How long is this debuff going to last for anyway?!

Kurushimi was only getting increasingly more annoyed. It felt like so long ago that she had been afflicted with the ‘Predatorial roar’ debuff, yet she was still under its effects! Kurushimi opened her status to look at it in an attempt to get some information.

《HP: 7/33》

《MP: 21/23》

《SP: 16/19》

《Currently under status effect ‘Predatorial roar’.》

《Remaining time left: 4 minutes.》

[Kurushimi: 4 minutes huh? ...just need to survive for 4 minutes]

The debuff would last for 4 minutes until it went away. Kurushimi knew she had no chance in hell of defeating Karshak. Therefore, the only method was to run away. But she was being prohibited from doing so by the 30% slow.

Kurushimi had began to lose her will and was about to potentially accept death again, but after seeing the time left she had rekindled her hope. If she could survive for 4 minutes, she could perhaps escape and avoid death. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get away after the 4 minutes but figuring that out came later. At the moment she had to figure out how to actually survive for the duration.

Kurushimi wanted to hide behind something like some foliage or a tree and wait out the time, but if Karshak saw her she wouldn’t be able to hide would she? So she needed to stop him from seeing her. Like through a distraction or temporarily blinding him.

In between where Kurushimi stood and where Karshak stood, there was a trail of blood-soaked grass. The grass began to move until the blood slowly separated from it and began to float in the air. Karshak growled cautiously at the sudden unnatural movement.

《Used skill: 『Blood magic Lvl. 2』!》

The blood that was at one moment completely stationary in the air began to violently throttle towards Karshak. Lots of the blood barraged Karshak. Although, the violent storm of blood barely even scratched Karshak. Kurushimi couldn’t see Karshak’s endurance stat with ‘Appraisal’ but it was glaringly obvious it was high.

But damaging Karshak wasn’t Kurushimi’s goal. Kurushimi had already accomplished what she wanted to do. A large volume of the blood had gotten into Karshak’s eyes. Canisfangs generally had small eye holes and Karshak was no exception.

Karshak would be completely blind for a short duration by Kurushimi’s blood. Kurushimi took this chance to dash backwards and take cover behind a tree. There were many trees in the area and it would naturally take Karshak a long time to find her. Kurushimi would now play the waiting game until the debuff ran out.

Slumped against the tree, Kurushimi used her spare time to take deep and long breaths. Kurushimi actually didn’t have much time herself. She was currently under the bleeding effect and needed to suck the blood of something to cleanse it.

Though Kurushimi had enough time to wait out the debuff, would have to be quick in her escape afterwards so she could find an easy target to bite.

[Kurushimi: Seriously though… Lvl. 120? What even is that? How can a monster get to such a level?]

[Voice-san: With its high level and unique name, it is likely that Karshak is what could be called a ‘boss monster’.]

Voice-san suddenly popped up to give an explanation for Kurushimi’s question. The question itself was originally meant to be rhetorical but the mention of a new term interested her.

[Kurushimi: Boss monster huh? ....What is that then?]

Kurushimi began to talk slowly with Voice-san, stopping to breathe in between her words. She was also hoping the conversation would distract her mind a bit from the pain of her sliced open hip.

[Voice-san: A ‘boss monster’ is a monster that has been officially recognised by the system as a monster that has reached a certain level of strength and gained a certain level of fame. Any monster has the potential to become a boss monster and ownership of the title grants boosted strength only rivaled by other boss monsters. Humans and non-boss monster monsters generally require large numbers to rival them. Simply put, you are no match for it.]

After listening to Voice-san’s explanation, Kurushimi’s heart rate had greatly lessened from when she first met Karshak. She was initially shocked with the sudden entrance of a being of Karshak’s level but she was calmer now. She could even have a casual conversation with voice-san.

Despite the fact she was in a very dangerous situation, Kurushimi felt unusually calm. Comparing now to her first and second runs, she was a lot more panicked before. Though Kurushimi felt it was weird, she accepted it. As in the current situation, panicking would mean her death.

-Perhaps I’m just adapting to this new world. Humans are surprisingly adaptable creatures after all! Well… I suppose I’m not human anymore, so that doesn’t really apply to me.

Kurushimi lightly laughed to herself until she heard a large crash behind her. It sounded like a tree had been bashed in. Kurushimi put on a serious face and looked back to observe Karshak’s actions.