Turning away briefly from the hordes of monsters already closing in at the foot of the hill, I scanned my surroundings from left to right.
Although the system had indeed given me a way out of this mess I found myself inside, I still had to look for a contingency plan in case everything went south.
However, no matter how much I looked around, I couldn’t see anything but grassy plains, now shrouded by the black matter drifting alongside the horde of monsters.
’No route there, I guess.’
I turned back to face the monsters, a frown tugging at my brow.
The first wave of the horde alone numbered well over a hundred, not even counting the rest trailing behind them, led by a strange monster seated on a throne carried by the others.
"System, can you calculate how many monsters are heading toward me right now? And how much would they sell for?"
For a long moment, the System remained completely silent.
Then an ominous gust of wind swept past me, carrying the unsettling sensation that someone was floating directly behind me, their hand resting on my shoulder.
[Host... I’m sorry. I know I said we’d fight this together, but it seems the consequences of my actions came sooner than I thought.]
"System?"
[Please... just don’t die, alright? I’ll be back as soon as I can.]
I inhaled sharply. "Okay, do your thing. If I die here, just know it’s on you."
[...]
[You’re shameless to the end, aren’t you?]
I let out a long exhale. "Just be fast and come back. I need to sell these bodies as soon as possible."
[Don’t worry. Even without me here, you’d still be able to. You just wouldn’t be able to converse with it.]
It paused.
[And, Host... next time I log back in, can you call me Luna? I think I quite like that name. Not that it’s my true name or anything.]
"Hey," I answered firmly. "Don’t get yourself into further trouble because of me, okay..."
I hesitated, not knowing exactly how to finish the sentence. Honestly, this sentimental crap was never my thing. Maybe it was because of the dungeon, or perhaps the [Frenzied Frailty Curse] was still in effect, but my lips parted before I knew what I was saying.
"Just be safe, Luna."
[...]
Several letters flickered across the System’s display, appearing and disappearing as though it couldn’t decide what to say. After a few seconds, they vanished, replaced by a single thumbs-up emoji.
I exhaled a quiet laugh. "Fucker."
Once the System vanished from my view, the strange sensation of someone floating behind me faded with it, leaving a hollow ache in its place.
I pushed the feeling aside and focused on the horde.
The first goblin had already reached me, lunging into the air. With a casual flick of my hand, one of my daggers shot forward and pierced clean through its throat.
Ding!
[You have slain: G-rank (Low) Goblin.]
[You have earned 5 Experience Shards.]
’Luna...’ I thought, a faint smile tugging at my lips as I used telekinesis to lift myself higher into the sky. ’I’ll give you credit for one thing.’
I knew the System, or rather, the person behind it, couldn’t hear me, but I felt like I had to say it anyway.
’You managed in two days what very few people could accomplish in years.’
Another goblin rushed forward, an ant-like creature scuttling alongside it. Its glossy shell caught the dim light, sixteen legs moving beneath its body, each one thick as an ankle.
’So...’
The creature snarled at me, its mandibles clacking together repeatedly.
’For my sake...’
I stretched out my hand, ready to strike the moment they closed in.
’Please come back safe.’
The suffocating feeling in my chest, perhaps lingering from what I’d said to the System earlier, finally faded as I reached the peak of my ascent.
When I looked down at the goblin and ant, my blood ran cold.
The ant that had been rushing toward me suddenly dropped low, allowing the goblin to leap onto its back and use it as a springboard, launching itself toward me.
’Shit.’ Panic flared beneath the surface, yet my body betrayed none of it. Instead, my lips curled into a smirk.
’These things... they’re intelligent?’
Although I’d been living in this world for a long time, I’d never learned much about how it worked. Coming from a poor background, I simply never had the opportunity to learn much beyond what was necessary to survive.
Even with that gap in my knowledge, there was one fact known even among the people living in the trenches: low-ranked monsters weren’t supposed to be intelligent.
That was, after all, one of the primary traits separating them from high-ranked monsters like the leviathan beyond the walls.
But the monsters in front of me were clearly showing signs of intelligence. Even if it wasn’t fully developed, they were without a doubt beginning to develop some form of consciousness.
The reason this excited me so much wasn’t because smarter monsters were necessarily weaker, nor was it because they would sell for a fortune if I took them to the Hunter Association Main Office. It was because intelligent monsters naturally had more value than standard ones.
With my arm still outstretched, I sent three daggers forward, spinning them around one another like the blades of a fan.
The goblin, already airborne with its rusty knife aimed at me, struck the spinning blur and was flung backward, slamming into its companions.
I raised my hand high, guiding the long, black wooden box my mother had given me down from the top of the valley, sending it crashing onto the two below.
Boom!
The box slammed into the goblin and the ant with a deafening crash, blood spraying across the grass. Yet at the center of the wreckage, the box stood upright, completely untouched without a single scratch.
Ding!
[You have slain: G-rank (low) Goblin.]
[You have earned 5 Experience Shards.]
Ding!
[You have slain: G-rank (mid) Green-Blooded-Ant.]
[You have earned 10 Experience Shards.]
"Guess it’s made of top-tier material." I clicked my tongue and turned to face the several goblins and ants now rushing toward me.
"Hey, auto system, sell the three monsters around me in the system store."
[Selling monsters....]
The three monsters around me vanished in an instant. Almost immediately, the system chimed again.
Ding!
[Two deceased G-rank (Low) and one deceased G-rank (Mid) have found two buyers.]
[Host, which buyer would you like to sell to?]
Another goblin broke from the pack and rushed toward me. I swiped my hand to the left, and a dagger shot forward, piercing straight through its chest.
"Just sell them to whoever’s offering the highest amount."
[Affirmative.]
Ding!
[Account ending in XXX has sent money worth: 230,000 SC.]
My eyes widened. "Two hundred and thirty thousand?"
[Is there anything you would like to purchase?]
I smirked. "Buy a dagger set with five or six daggers, and grab as many rusty swords as you can."
At first, I hadn’t quite believed I’d be able to pull this off.
But now?
I felt nothing but confidence.
If I could somehow take down all these beasts, I might actually catch a glimpse of the light beyond F-rank.