[Entering Level 20.]
I’d gotten a little excited when I saw Level 20, but there was nothing particularly special about it.
If I had to name one thing, it was that the monster serving as the Gatekeeper was ridiculously cute.
On the opposite side of the arena sat some unknown life-form covered in white fur, like an enormous ball of cotton.
Two bright, sparkling eyes were set into that puffball.
I checked its Status Window.
【White-Furred King Cotton Bug】
【Level】: 30
【Performance Score】: 35,000
Wow.
Its Level and Performance Score were both quite high.
It fell a little short of the Iron-Scaled Lizardman, but not by much.
“KERUKA!”
The lizardman beside me let out a delighted cry upon spotting the Cotton Bug.
Pointing at it, he chattered away nonstop.
“KERUDANEMA KEKERURADYA KEKUKUKUKA!! KERUKAM?”
Naturally, I didn’t understand a single word.
When I shrugged, the lizardman let out a small sigh before immediately charging toward the Cotton Bug.
“What are you doing?!”
Even the Minotaur was dead now.
At this point, I couldn’t afford to lose even one Puppet.
Worried that the lizardman was about to unleash another merciless beatdown, I hurried after him.
But what happened next was completely different from what I expected.
The Iron-Scaled Lizardman leaped into the air and hugged the Cotton Bug.
“KERUKA!”
The Cotton Bug didn’t show the slightest hostility either.
Its innocently blinking eyes curved into crescents, as though it were smiling.
“What? Do they know each other?”
Anyone could see that the two were pretty close.
Did lizardmen keep Cotton Bugs as pets in their world or something?
I had no idea.
Even as a regressor, I couldn’t know what a lizardman’s daily life was like.
In my previous life, I’d only encountered lizardmen a handful of times.
While the two got along affectionately, I quietly approached them.
I wanted to get a closer look at the Cotton Bug.
Its glossy white fur looked impossibly soft.
Just looking at it made me want to dive in and hug it, like I was standing in front of a life-sized teddy bear.
Then the lizardman gave me a hand signal behind his back.
He extended one finger straight out and made a stabbing motion toward the Cotton Bug.
I had no trouble guessing what he meant.
Is he telling me to stab it with a Puppet Needle?
Right.
What an idiot.
I’d gotten so distracted by the Cotton Bug’s appearance that I’d forgotten for a moment.
I was an Awakened.
And that enormous ball of fluff was the Gatekeeper of Level 20.
There was no reason for the White-Furred King Cotton Bug to be friendly toward me.
I didn’t ask him again like some rookie.
Nor did I hesitate for no reason.
Instead, I pulled out a Puppet Needle and crept toward the Cotton Bug without even letting out a breath.
Noticing my approach, the lizardman hugged the Cotton Bug even tighter and shouted loudly.
“KERURAKAKKA!”
Thanks to that, getting closer became much easier.
Just as I pressed up behind the lizardman, about to drive in the needle—
The Cotton Bug’s enormous eyes turned toward me.
They were flawless, perfectly black eyes.
And within them, I saw enormous rage.
“SKREEEEEEEE!”
Jesus, that startled me.
For something that looked like that, there wasn’t a single cute thing about its voice.
That wasn’t all.
Its fur began to bulge and ripple, as though something was about to burst out from within.
“KERUKAT! KERUKAT!”
The lizardman desperately shouted as he tensed his arms and squeezed the Cotton Bug tight.
I didn’t hesitate.
I drove in the needle.
Kim Daram, a Level 20 Awakened, could move at speeds an ordinary human could never imitate.
“SKREE?”
The Cotton Bug, which had been swelling and distorting like a water balloon clenched in a fist, instantly returned to its original shape.
Then it looked at me with innocent eyes, without a trace of malice.
Hm.
If I hadn’t seen what had just happened, I probably would have run over and hugged it right then.
Once the Cotton Bug calmed down, the lizardman cheered and held out his palm.
“KERUKAM!”
I reached out and slapped my palm against his.
SMACK!
“Nice!”
It felt like we were finally starting to work well together.
Iron-Scaled Lizardman.
You’re officially getting an extension on your Puppet Needle.
Now then, it was time to check the long-awaited reward for Level 20.
When I pointed outside the arena, the lizardman took the lead and guided the Cotton Bug out of bounds.
As expected.
You’re good at this.
I was almost disappointed by the thought that I’d have to part ways with him once this Stage ended.
[Level 20 has been Cleared.]
[Rewards will now be distributed.]
┕ Purified Red Fruit X 5
┕ Mana Orb X 5
┕ System Pouch
Hm.
Just like at Levels 1 and 10, the only extra reward this time was another System Pouch.
What a disappointment.
This was the reward for Level 20.
Saying I hadn’t expected more would have been a blatant lie.
Still, there was a saying, wasn’t there?
Always let regrets go quickly. Hold your convictions for a long time.
There was nothing to gain by standing in front of an underwhelming reward chest and sulking over it.
I checked the System Pouch first.
[System Pouch]
┕ Stores various items.
┕ Storage Capacity: 2.5m³
It was an ordinary System Pouch without eyes.
I pulled out the eyed System Pouch I’d kept tucked inside my clothes.
“Can you eat this too, by any chance?”
I waved the newly acquired System Pouch in front of the eyed pouch.
At once, veins bulged across its eyeball.
Its opening snapped open and shut wildly, as though it wanted to swallow the new pouch immediately.
I didn’t drag things out any longer.
I stuffed the new pouch into its mouth.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
It really did eat with gusto.
A short while later, I checked its Status Window.
[System Pouch]
┕ Stores various items.
┕ Storage Capacity: 5m³
As expected, its capacity had increased by exactly what it had eaten.
I put the Mana Orbs and Red Fruits into the pouch one after another.
Then, struck by a thought, I handed one of the Red Fruits to the lizardman.
Unlike Earth’s Awakened, otherworldly creatures encountered through the System had no Encroachment Rate.
But Purified Red Fruits were still treated like miraculous medicine among them.
“KERUKAKAKAKAT!”
Sure enough, the lizardman’s reaction was passionate.
You bastard, if you liked them this much, you could’ve asked earlier.
Had you really been holding back without saying a word this whole time?
Feeling pleased with him, I took out one more fruit and handed it over.
“KERUKAT!”
We would be parting ways soon anyway, but this was a gift to reward him for all his work.
Even in my previous life, I’d often given Red Fruits to my Puppets.
They were living creatures capable of tasting things, after all.
And no matter how miraculous the medicine, nobody wanted to eat something that tasted like cement or mold.
But the ones I gave him were Very Sweet Red Fruits.
They were so sugary that if you left them out in the open, their sweet fragrance filled the air in no time.
Maybe that was why.
The Cotton Bug, which had been waiting outside the arena, was doing its best to get back inside.
Of course, the transparent barrier kept it from getting anywhere.
Fine.
You can have some too.
You shouldn’t be stingy when it comes to food.
I tossed two fruits over.
The Cotton Bug leaped into the air and opened its mouth wide.
…Did I just see something horrifying inside all that fur?
Never hug a Cotton Bug.
I engraved that rule into my heart once more.
Then a notification appeared.
[The experience of all possessed Traits has increased by 10%.]
[Manipulation] Puppet (LV 3) New!
[Unique] System Observer (LV 3) New!
I was deeply moved.
Trait Level 3 only two days after Awakening.
System Observer, especially, had only ever reached Level 3 even in my previous life.
As far as that Trait was concerned, I had caught up to my former self in just two days.
[Unique] System Observer (LV 3) New!
As expected, though, System Observer hadn’t changed apart from the Level display.
No Skills had been added.
No explanation either.
That was fine.
I already knew every change up to Level 3.
From now on, I could check a target’s Trait, Level, Encroachment Rate, Ranking, and Performance Score.
Next came Puppet.
【Trait】
[Manipulation] Puppet (LV 3)
└ Summonable Quantity: 4
└ Duration and Recharge: 3 hours
└ Controls the target pierced by the needle.
└ Extrasensory communication with Puppets is now possible. New!
└ Duration: 20 minutes
└ Strengthens physical abilities by driving a Puppet Needle into your own body.
└ The enhancement increases according to the number of needles used.
The number of Puppet Needles had increased, and their duration had grown longer too.
I could also now exert stronger power according to the number of needles I used at once.
The side effects probably wouldn’t be trivial, but in an emergency, it was an incredibly useful Skill.
More than anything, though, I could now communicate with my Puppets extrasensorily.
I spoke to the lizardman, who was carefully chewing through his fruit as though it were precious.
“Is it that good?”
“Yeah. It’s so delicious!”
The lizardman was still speaking in an incomprehensible language, but through the power of the Skill, I understood him perfectly.
“We need to get ready now. We’re moving on to the next Level.”
“Yeah. Iron Scale is always ready!”
Reassuring.
All right, let’s go.
[Would you like to proceed to the next Level? Selecting No will automatically end the Stage.]
[Yes / No]
“Yes.”
*****
[Entering Level 21.]
The instant I entered, I was overwhelmed by a thick, suffocating killing intent unlike anything I had ever felt in either my previous life or this one.
Barely managing to lift my head, I looked across the arena.
Something shaped like a human stood there with its back straight.
Two long horns rose from its forehead.
My instincts screamed that I was in danger.
Even checking its Status Window felt like a waste of time.
At the edge of my vision, I saw the Cotton Bug backing away in terror.
Only the Iron-Scaled Lizardman beside me found the courage to step forward.
No. We can never win.
I quickly grabbed the ties of the lizardman’s armor and jumped out of the arena.
[Level 21 failed.]
[The Stage will now end.]
The messages announcing the Level failure and the end of the Stage appeared at once.
In a few seconds, I would return to reality.
But those few seconds crawled by unbearably slowly.
The Level 21 Gatekeeper, left alone in the arena, began walking toward us.
It seemed not to fully understand the situation yet.
Its eyes held more confusion than hostility.
Please don’t come over here, you bastard.
Moving recklessly felt like it might provoke him.
Frozen in place, I checked his Status Window.
【Rough Sky Tribe — Kirzabel】
【Level】: 99
【Performance Score】: 666,666
What the hell was I looking at?
Level 99, with a Performance Score of 666,666?
What was the highest Score I’d ever seen in my previous life again?
Fuck.
How was anyone supposed to beat that?
Maybe Level 21 hadn’t been designed to be Cleared in the first place.
The closer he got, the harder my entire body shook.
My pride as a regressor with twenty years of Hunter experience cracked without mercy.
Then the lizardman and I began to turn translucent.
Whew.
Now, the Stage’s physical force could no longer affect me.
I’m not shaking. I’m warming up to build momentum!
Once I knew I was safe, I immediately claimed a mental victory.
It helped with self-improvement more than you might think.
Perhaps my sudden smile offended him.
Kirzabel raised one hand.
Then a blazing fireball appeared above his palm.
It was the size of a house.
He’s insane.
Watching the ball of fire fly toward me, I decided I should stop smiling recklessly in the future.
My vision turned a brilliant yellow, but there was no pain.
I was about to return to reality.
Ah.
Come to think of it, I never even told the Iron-Scaled Lizardman he did a good job.
Iron Scale, you worked hard.
I had fun because of you.
Live well.
I closed my eyes.
*****
When I opened them again, a familiar sight filled my vision.
But unlike before I entered the Stage, the area around me was empty.
I turned my head and looked around.
A group of people was rushing toward me from a distance.
Then an unfamiliar voice rang out.
“He’s finally out! The last participant has emerged!”
Hm.
Just as expected.
I was in first place.