Item drops?
Natsuyu discovered an important mechanic.
He didn’t need dedicated hunting skills—this IS part of [Resource Gathering]!
Logging and mining weren’t the only ways to gather resources.
Hunting monsters also produced resource drops!
The Appraisal ability even revealed what items a monster would drop.
This was insanely useful.
The Round-Headed Spider’s combat power wasn’t high; with a Physique of 0.7, it would be completely crushed by Natsuyu’s 1.2 Physique.
The spider nest in front of him held at most 3 Round-Headed Spiders.
Clearing them out meant completing the next node in the Combat Achievement Tree, gaining Exp, and leveling up to Level 4!
Speaking of Appraisal…
Natsuyu secretly glanced at Yukino.
‘Should I use Appraisal on her?’
Natsuyu was extremely curious about Yukino’s three-dimensional stats.
Especially Charisma—between the narcissistic Yukino and Natsuyu himself, who had the higher Charisma score?
‘If Yukinoshita’s combat stats are decent, I could bring her along to raid the spider nest directly.’
Natsuyu wanted to scan Yukino’s status panel.
This was also in the best interest of team coordination—knowing exact stats would make task assignments far more efficient.
However, scanning Yukino’s private stats without asking felt like a moral boundary violation.
‘I want to do things the right way.’
Natsuyu paused for a moment, then asked casually:
“Yukinoshita-san, if I wanted to ask for everyone’s detailed physical data and status, would you be willing to tell me?”
Doing things right didn’t mean NOT evaluating Yukino’s data.
Getting her consent first—that was the honorable way!
Yukino’s eyes instantly narrowed into sharp slits.
She shielded her chest—which was now obscured by her backpack—with both arms, her expression turning cold as she whispered:
“Are you finally going to reveal your true motives after gathering so many pretty girls?
You’re a teenage boy after all; it’s natural to have such desires when seeing a beauty like me, but still…”
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”
Natsuyu immediately snorted, lowering his voice to scold her:
“I’m talking about combat data like physical fitness!
You silly woman!”
Yukino felt embarrassed, clearing her throat with a slight huff to cover it up:
“Well…
isn’t it because your phrasing was so ambiguous?”
“Requesting data on our physical fitness is entirely reasonable.
I agree, and I will share my information now.”
To quickly change the subject, Yukino began reciting her stats and credentials: from ranking #1 in high school mock exams, proficiency in various musical instruments, 7th-degree amateur black belt in Aikido, cooking and housework skills, to her 100-meter dash time of 13.5 seconds in P.E., her height of 1.64 meters, and her lack of long-distance stamina…
Natsuyu completely ignored Yukino’s self-absorbed flexes.
Having confirmed that Yukino didn’t mind sharing her info, Natsuyu silently activated his Appraisal skill!
Show me this woman’s status panel in three seconds!’
[Yukinoshita Yukino — Level 0 (Exp: 0/10)]
[Physique: 0.8 (Healthy teenage girl build)]
[Soul: 0.9 (Relatively low mental resilience)]
[Charisma: 1.2 (Hostile towards all living creatures)]
[Ability: Cat Transformation]
Having finished dumping her specs to change the subject, Yukino grew increasingly confident, ending with an elegant, haughty smile:
“I admit that I am indeed exceptionally gifted.
I only ask that Natsuyu-kun refrains from developing any foolish romantic feelings toward me; that would be for the best.”
“Pfft…
haha…
mmmph!”
Natsuyu desperately tried to hold back his twitching mouth.
His face contorted into the classic “suppressed laughter” meme as his shoulders shook wildly.
‘Narcissistic?’
‘Cute?’
‘HAHAHAHA!
Your Charisma stat isn’t even as high as MINE!’
Her face was no less beautiful than his, and her figure was certainly slender.
He guessed that being a bit “flat” deducted a point, or perhaps Charisma also measured natural affinity.
Regardless, seeing Yukino—who had a Charisma score of ONLY 1.2—haughtily warning Natsuyu “don’t fall in love with me” when Natsuyu himself had a Charisma score of 1.3…
The comedic irony reached absolute perfection!
He couldn’t stop himself from wheezing!
‘You’re so full of yourself, I thought your Charisma would be way higher!’
‘So that’s all you’ve got?!’
‘Yukinoshita, you really ARE just a small fry~!’
Yukino’s smile froze as her mind went blank.
Seeing Natsuyu trying so hard to muffle his laughter, an inexplicable fire surged in her chest.
She clenched her small fists, asking with an icy face:
“What are you laughing at?”
“Oh, nothing…
pfft…”
“You can’t even speak properly!”
“…Pfft!
Sorry, I couldn’t help it, haha!”
Natsuyu grinned widely, wisely avoiding bringing up the topic that offended Yukino.
A Stone Axe materialized in his hand as he got straight to business:
“I’m going to test the Round-Headed Spider’s combat strength to gauge what we’re up against.
Stay by my side and keep an eye on your own safety.”
“You want to fight a spider that big?!”
She remembered Natsuyu as a cautious, reliable leader—why was he suddenly acting so reckless?
“What if you get hurt?
We don’t have any medical supplies to treat wounds.
If a bite gets infected, it’ll be catastrophic!
If we need to test the Spider Monster, we can bring everyone along.
Safety in numbers!”
Natsuyu nodded:
“You’re right, but I never said I was going into melee combat with the spider.”
Yukino blinked in surprise.
She watched Natsuyu stand tall, lightly tossing the heavy Stone Axe between his hands twice, flashing a bright, confident smile:
“Have you ever played axe throwing?”
“I’ve never done it before, so I’m gonna give it a shot today.”
How stupid would someone have to be to fight a venomous giant spider in melee without any armor?!
With tools in hand, of course he was going to use a sneaky ranged surprise attack!
The Stone Axe weighed around 5 kilograms (10 catties).
If thrown with full force, let alone a Round-Headed Spider with only 0.7 Physique, even Natsuyu himself with 1.2 Physique wouldn’t be able to tank it with raw flesh!
“Throwing axes…?”
Yukino’s eyes lit up:
“That’s actually a very clever tactic.
We can try it.”
Then she realized she had been persuaded by Natsuyu once again.
It seemed like every single time, Natsuyu managed to convince her using flawless logic she couldn’t refute.
Yukino stared at Natsuyu’s side profile, feeling that this boy with the sweet, handsome smile possessed an almost terrifying level of emotional intelligence…
Even her formidable sister, Haruno, couldn’t manipulate conversations so effortlessly.
Natsuyu moved with cat-like stealth, creeping toward the spider nest.
Between them and the spider nest ran a small stream about one meter wide and half a meter deep.
The spider nest sat about ten meters beyond the bank.
The rushing sound of the stream masked Natsuyu’s footsteps.
Natsuyu stood on the stream bank, feeling the refreshing cool mist spray against his face.
Clear-headed and focused, he locked his gaze onto the Round-Headed Spider ten meters ahead.
Yukino crept up beside him, quietly pulling a Wooden Axe from her [Simple Backpack].
Gripping the handle tightly, she raised her arms in a battle stance, ready to support him at any moment.
Natsuyu took a practice swing, counting down in his mind:
‘Three, two, one…’
His legs bent sharply, anchoring his center of gravity into the soil.
Rotational power surged from his core—twisting his waist, pivoting his shoulders, and drawing his right arm back like a fully drawn warbow!
A split second later, the heavy throwing axe hurtled through the air!