NOVEL WEB Chapter 62
Chapter 62 – Ascendance (2)
“A long time ago, due to the collapse of the demon realm, magic spilled over and mutated numerous creatures. If we don’t continue hunting those monsters, we who live outside won’t be able to survive.”
“…Are you talking about that giant dragon?”
“Exactly. It’s a monster that mutated from an ordinary lizard.”
The girl who introduced herself as Tina led them effortlessly, and she didn’t stop talking.
Riena tried to memorize that convoluted story, knowing that if she could memorize it, understanding it wouldn’t take long.
‘The mutants they speak of, or creatures, are a different kind of monster than bugs. However, they might help us in dealing with the bugs.’
Riena recognized that bugs and mutants were different kinds of monsters. However, as Tina described hunters who specialize in capturing those mutants, Riena instinctively judged that she might learn techniques to use against the giant bugs, just like she learned skills.
She had grasped a way to bridge the gap between the game world and reality.
“Do you want to become hunters too?”
“Huh? I didn’t say anything… ah.”
When Tina suddenly turned around, Riena flinched but then understood, seeing the raccoon walking beside her. Tina was talking to him.
Even when he was acting as a knight, he had communicated with others like this. Riena regretted that she couldn’t hear his voice, but for now, she had to be satisfied just to be with him.
“Anyone can become a hunter. There’s no limitation. If you don’t have the skill, you’ll just end up being hunted instead.”
“How strong is that dragon from earlier?”
“With my A-rank skills, I can handle it.”
Tina smiled smugly at Riena’s words as she glanced back at the group dismantling the corpse behind them.
Riena couldn’t catch the full extent of it, but she knew A-rank was quite a high rank. In the game, Tina, who appeared as a major NPC, was a strong hunter.
‘Was it similar to that black spider?’
Riena compared the sensations left in her wriggling hands with the Blue Drake she had just encountered and the spider-type bugs they had hunted in the bug nest.
In her judgment, it felt similar to the giant spider wielding poisonous weapons.
“Over there is our city.”
And at that moment, they stepped out of the forest and saw the city built by hunters. It was the same place as in the game, but Riena’s eyes widened at the sight of a city that had a different form than the medieval fantasy held by Dark Blood.
*
‘It was originally a game with a high level of freedom. Is it going to be the same?’
Tina guided them to the city. This is the city where every player inevitably arrives first. They could easily move on to other places, but getting equipped with basic skills and equipment here was a common strategy.
As a city built by those who freely utilized the spoils of giant monsters, it looked like an ordinary fantasy game street to the others, but Riena seemed to be in awe of the city, much like when she first arrived in the Dark Blood world, looking around in amazement.
“That’s the place to receive quests.”
‘Hunter Association.’
The place Tina led them to was a large building in the city center. Most of the gameplay in this game revolved around hunting enemies, selling the spoils, or crafting equipment.
The association was the place that granted the qualification to hunt those enemies and gave rewards. Players would inevitably come and go there throughout the game.
“You don’t need qualifications to become a hunter. Just prove yourself. If you do that, you’ll get rewards and rank, so just go and hunt monsters to prove yourself.”
The man who introduced himself as Brant from the association gave them a quest with words similar to what I had researched beforehand. It might not be visible to Riena, but I could already see the quest he had given.
If we just stopped here and went out to complete the quest, it wouldn’t be too different from the existing games.
“Hmm, that armor you’re wearing. It’s definitely made of metal. I can feel a special power coming from it.”
Brant said, his eyes sparkling. He was referring to Riena. He had recognized the power of an armor created from a different genre of game at a glance.
“The corpses of mutants full of magic power make excellent materials. It’s also one of our jobs to buy that. Are you considering selling that armor you’re wearing?”
“–. —.”
He asked straight up if she was thinking of selling the armor. Although Riena seemed flustered and I couldn’t hear what she was saying, she appeared to be refusing by waving her hands.
“—?”
Instead, she took something from her bag. I wondered if she carried something like that; it was none other than one of the sharp fangs of the spider-type bug they hunted in the bug nest.
“Oh.”
Riena had instinctively pulled it out, thinking the bug was similar to the creatures in this game, and Brant showed interest in it as well. He came closer, took it, and examined it from all angles.
‘Originally, my plan was to learn how to fight giant monsters and crafting techniques to deal with the spoils from the bugs I had defeated.’
After showing Brant the bug’s byproducts, he looked intrigued and requested her to sell it.
Right after that, a selection appeared in front of me, and after pondering for a moment, I decided to sell the items.
According to Brant, the byproducts of the bugs were items that were quite difficult to process at an ordinary level. Given the identity of those monstrous creatures that could even penetrate monitors, they were surely different from ordinary monster byproducts.
Although it was an unexpected proposal, even if the residents learned crafting techniques, they would still need time to improve their mastery, so if I could sell the bug’s byproducts to the association during that time and make a profit, there was no reason to refuse.
‘While those who would learn crafting from the materials obtained through hunting level up their skills, I could sell the bug’s byproducts.’
No matter how I thought about it, things were going quite smoothly. For today, I planned to take Riena with me to hunt the weakest creatures first to get accustomed, and then, together with those to be added later, create a party for activities to establish another cycle.
“Oh.”
[lv 2 Bug Emerges] [lv 5 Glitch Emerges]
However, saying I would sell the bug’s byproducts meant I would have to keep hunting bugs to do so. Startled, I gasped at the enemies that appeared on my desktop.
“—!”
An emergency order was issued in a village that hadn’t even built the shelters for the newcomers yet. A black fissure appeared right in the center of the southern plains of the village, and strange, wriggling monsters began to emerge from it.
After handling the nest, it had been quiet for a while, so I wondered when another would appear. Even though I expected it, seeing them suddenly emerge like this left me anxious.
‘How many people can fight now?’
I hurriedly unfolded the chart I had organized on the residents’ statuses. The residents, led by Balun, were preparing to fight on their own, but those currently assigned to the game wouldn’t know anything unless I informed them.
Fortunately, almost all the warriors were in fighting condition. Including Rasen and Shura, who were fighting in the dungeon of the underground world, I brought out all the warriors, even bringing Riena, our strongest force, outside just in case.
They were startled, but many had experience fighting bugs, so they quickly grabbed their weapons and headed to the fighting positions.
‘What exactly are they? They look like wasps on the outside.’
The bugs and glitches that appeared were flying in the sky. With slender bodies, sharp stingers, and terrifying jaws.
The bug covered in a black carapace looked like a mini-monster compared to the residents, and the lv 5 glitches had protruding snouts, resembling mosquitoes.
“—. –.”
Maybe because they could fly, the residents decided not to ride horses but to fight around their houses and the castle walls.
The walls that the transporters built rushed to serve as a reliable fortification. The residents who could fight climbed there and drew their bows to aim at the flying enemies.
My trembling hands had no means to help right now. I had no choice but to trust the residents who were now staring at the enemies with steady eyes.
“!!!”
The rapid assault of the enemies came crashing down.
The simultaneous arrows shot across the sky struck the bodies of the bugs, but most ordinary arrows ricocheted off their carapaces, with only a few lucky ones penetrating through to knock them down.
The attacking bugs reached the walls where the residents were fighting, causing them to stumble, fall, and get pierced.
“So fast…!”
I sighed as I confirmed that there was someone who had changed to a deceased status on the status chart. An unarmored ordinary resident had participated in the fight and was sacrificed.
However, even after the assault that crashed with the mass of accelerated flying creatures, the residents held their ground firmly.
“–!”
Flaming fireballs flew in one after another, burning a bug that was trying to crush one soldier with its sharp stinger. It was magic cast by Rasen.
Then, Lakum with a spear charged forward, piercing the body of a nearby bug, while warriors on the other side rushed in, taking down one flying bug after another.
This was the moment when I had finally awakened the talents of the warriors and promoted them.
Even the dread bugs were wounded by Riena’s sword, which struck with poison stingers thicker than any spear, and that massive corpse fell under the wall.
‘I think we can win.’
I let out a sigh of relief watching Riena leap after a bug with its wings cut off, aiming for the creatures trying to fly away.
Surprised by the sudden appearance of airborne enemies, the residents had sustained some damage, but they managed to hold the line without breaking.
If the numbers had been smaller, or the strength weaker, they surely would have suffered greater casualties.
“—, —-.”
Once all the mosquitoes-like glitches were taken out, the residents charged towards the fallen bugs.
The bug, having its wings cut off by Riena, thrashed around, releasing tentacles from its chest and resisting, but only a few warriors got knocked away by those tentacles.
‘Gotcha.’
While Riena held onto a stinger with all her might, Lakum rushed in, stabbing the shining spear through its neck to end its life.
Everyone looked flustered from the sudden battle, but perhaps because they had just been discussing byproducts, I confirmed what the dead bugs and glitches had left behind.
Indeed, the bugs left behind quite a lot of byproducts including their stingers and carapaces. Even the glitches, which had been leaving nothing until now, seemed to have left some traces this time since they were of a higher grade.