‘Tra-la-la~’
Savoring the freedom I had regained after several days, I rolled my body with all my might.
[The level of the skill ‘Roll (lv. 2)’ has increased.]
[The level of the skill ‘Leap (lv. 1)’ has increased.]
‘Nice. Very nice.’
Movement skills definitely level up fast, probably because I use them around the clock.
It’d be great if the other skills went up a bit too, though.
‘What’s this place now?’
It was clearly broad daylight, yet at some point, light stopped filtering through and the surroundings turned pitch-dark.
Looking up, layers of what looked like white film were blanketing the sky.
‘Spiderwebs?’
The surrounding trees were also densely tangled in webs.
‘Is it spiders this time?’
I had actually been thinking it would be nice if bug monsters showed up.
Bugs are generally small and weak, so I figured they’d be easy to hunt even if they were monsters.
Between my base level and skill levels, I’ve got a whole mountain of things to raise.
‘To think I came all the way to a fantasy isekai only to be grinding.’
How romantic. As expected, grinding is the baseline!
I’m one of those people who takes the phrase “if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it” to heart and puts it into practice.
Since it has to be done anyway, it’s far more efficient to get it over with quickly than to waste time whining.
‘Of course, that’s assuming the reward is guaranteed.’
And right now, they are, aren’t they?
Because the more monsters I hunt, the stronger I get.
Plus, I’ve been holding onto the hope that if I keep gathering skills, I might eventually become something resembling a human.
When that day comes, I’m heading straight for a civilized city.
Living as a pebble hasn’t been all bad, but there’s no way I can give up the joys of eating and drinking.
‘Fried chicken and beer! Burgers and cola! Spicy chicken feet and soju! How could anyone live without eating those?’
If I had completely forgotten the tastes, that would be one thing.
Having nothing to do for the past hundred years but think and imagine only made the craving run deeper.
‘This won’t do. I need to hurry up, hunt, and level up.’
Still, with so many homes around, why haven’t I seen a single glimpse of the homeowners?
‘Excuse me. Is anybody home?’
Chirp, chirp—
‘Oh my, aren’t you a cute bird?’
Instead of the homeowner I called for, a colorful little bird flew down.
The bird landed on the ground to eat a fallen fruit.
Then it hopped in quick little strides right in front of it.
‘Gasp.’
The ground heaved, and a hidden spider swiftly snatched the bird, drove its venomous fangs in, and dragged it down into its burrow.
It was something that happened in an instant.
To the point where I would have missed it if I had eyes to blink with.
‘No wonder there were only webs and not a single spider in sight.’
It seems they were hidden underground, which is why I couldn’t see them.
I almost got kidnapped by a spider this time.
‘Completely seamless.’
The entrance to the spider burrow was practically undetectable unless you inspected it closely.
They likely lie in wait and sense prey through vibrations.
‘Nice, isn’t it?’
Creating faint vibrations was something I could do too.
Besides, when the spider emerges, its head comes out first, making it prime for an attack.
I doubt its venomous fangs could pierce my stone body anyway.
My durability has just fully recovered, so this is even more doable.
‘Shall I give it a try?’
The burrow the bird just got dragged into is probably occupied with a meal, so I looked for another spot.
‘Looks like this is one.’
Looking at it now, the fruit lying on the ground earlier hadn’t been an accident.
Right in front of this burrow’s entrance sat a similar fruit, perfectly suited to lure small animals.
‘Are you fishing or something?’
I hopped lightly in front of the fruit.
Just like ringing a doorbell.
Heave—
With that, the earth lifted like a pot lid.
Just as I thought, it really does sense vibrations.
My eyes met the homeowner, who had rushed out in barefoot haste.
‘Delivery is here!’
The spider jerked its head side to side, hesitating.
Then, seeing no prey, it took steps backward to retreat inside.
‘Excuse me, wait a second!’
Without missing that split-second opening, I launched my body forward.
‘You still have to pay the delivery fee!’
Thanks to the higher levels in Roll and Leap, I pulled off home invasion in an instant.
Smack—!
Struck squarely on the head, the spider was forcibly returned home and breathed its last.
[Would you like to activate Blessing of Predation (lv. 1)?]
[You have predated the magic stone of a Burrow Tarantula (lv. 13). Absorbing magic power.]
Payment received in full, dear departed customer~!
Thank you for choosing us, and please order again next time!
Of course, you won’t be able to anymore, but lip service is a must in the service industry, right?
‘Though it’s RIP, not Lip.’
Sadly, I couldn’t pocket a tip.
Because my skill points are sitting at zero, you see.
‘Still, at this rate, I’ll level up in no time.’
Having successfully wrapped up my first hunt—no, customer service—I gained a surge of confidence.
‘Now, where might the next customer be~’
I rolled along while diligently scanning the ground to track down any potential customers that might be out there.
* * *
About ten hunters were traversing the forest.
Those at the vanguard showed signs of tension, but the ones trailing behind looked rather relaxed by contrast.
“Everyone stop for a moment.”
“What’s wrong, Captain?”
Luard, who was in command of this expedition, began scrutinizing the surroundings thoroughly.
“Wasn’t this Egg-eater territory?”
“That’s right. Huh? Now that you mention it, why isn’t there a single one in sight?”
The Great Forest of Wiror, which they were surveying, was so vast and packed with trees that it was called a sea of trees, making landmarks difficult to distinguish.
Because of this, they navigated using the monsters native to specific areas as waypoints.
“Their numbers do temporarily decrease during the spawning season. Though it only looks that way because they hide away to protect their eggs.”
“Even so, this feels far too barren.”
“What’s the problem? Isn’t it better if monsters are gone?”
It was a brash question from a rookie joining an expedition to the Great Forest for the first time.
Hearing this, Vice Captain Elaine let out a hollow laugh and said.
“Of course that’s a good thing. The issue is why they vanished, kid.”
“Could it be territorial disputes, or maybe they died of old age?”
Another rookie rode the momentum, raising a hand and chiming in with confidence.
Elaine found their frivolous attitude—looking as though they were on a field trip from the academy—rather irritating.
Yet, knowing that a single lesson in the field carries more weight than a hundred words, she forced a smile and let it slide.
“How wonderful it would be if the reason were so simple. Then we wouldn’t have to bust our asses like this, now would we?”
“Captain! Come over here for a second!”
Sure enough, it didn’t seem to be such a simple matter this time around either.
At the call of the scout who had gone ahead to inspect the perimeter, everyone hurried toward him.
“Good grief, what is all this?”
“Ugh. The stench of rot is nauseating.”
Decaying carcasses of Egg-eaters lay strewn about everywhere.
Most had been dead for quite some time, making them barely recognizable.
“At least the carcass over here looks the most intact.”
Even that was only barely holding its shape, but it was enough to deduce the cause of death.
“Looks like its internal organs ruptured from the inside.”
“Did it eat something bad?”
“Urk—”
“….”
A few of the rookies couldn’t stomach it and threw up.
Reacting like that over something this trivial; it was obvious they wouldn’t last long.
“…Anyway. Even so, dying in groups like this is strange.”
Luard nodded in agreement with his assessment.
For Egg-eaters, whose staple food is eggs, to be found dead like this was a phenomenon he had never seen before.
“Could a new monster have appeared?”
“It’s possible.”
Luard was a veteran hunter with over a decade of experience, renowned in the field.
Even having encountered countless monsters throughout his career, there were still far more species he had never laid eyes on.
That was how common the emergence and discovery of new monsters truly was.
“What about magic stones?”
“No reaction.”
“Well, it’d be stranger if the magic stone were still intact after rotting this badly.”
“Any other traces?”
“No matter how much I search, there’s nothing suspicious.”
Ordinary monsters inevitably leave traces behind.
Things like footprints, saliva, or fur.
There were plenty of tracks from other small monsters that had gathered to scavenge the remains, but traces belonging to the actual predator that made the kills were nowhere to be found.
“…We’d better stay sharp. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Dealing with the Queen Spider alone is a handful, and now we have an unidentified monster to worry about. This expedition isn’t going to be easy on any front.”
By this point, even the rookies who had been putting on airs of bravado began to tense up.
All the evidence was painting a picture of an overwhelming and terrifying entity, unlike anything seen before, in their minds.
“Captain. How about we just withdraw? Wouldn’t it be dangerous with our current numbers?”
Mashar asked, shooting a discreet glance toward the rookies whose faces were pale with fear.
Luard wished he could do just that, but they had already ventured too deep.
They were only a short distance away from their destination, and missing this window could make the subjugation considerably harder.
“You know the subjugation force can only mobilize on schedule if we finish our recon as quickly as possible.”
“That’s true, but…. Understood. I’ll keep a closer eye out.”
“Thanks. Just in case, let’s take one corpse.”
“I’ll grab it. The cleanest one.”
Elaine lifted the snake carcass with the tip of her spear and slid it into a sack enchanted with preservation and weight-reduction magic.
“Let’s move.”
* * *
Thud—
‘Hello! It’s the on-site delivery service!’
Armed with a radiant smile and boundless hospitality, I knocked on the door.
To the customer who swung the door wide open as if waiting, I delivered a gift straight from the heart.
‘The complimentary gift is eternal slumber!’
[You have predated the magic stone of a Burrow Tarantula (lv. 12). Absorbing magic power.]
[Level Up! You have obtained 2 Skill Points.]
‘Whoa, it finally went up.’
To think I finally leveled up after taking down what felt like dozens of them.
Leveling up is definitely getting tougher.
‘Am I level 15 now?’
——————
[Pebble Lv. 15]
Magic: E+ Durability: D
Blessing: [Predation (lv. 1)]
Skills: [Roll (lv. 3)] [Poison Mucus (lv. 1)] [Stealth (lv. 1)] [Leap (lv. 2)] [Headbutt (lv. 2)] [Weakling’s Sense (lv. 1)] [Gigantification (lv. 1)] [Cuteness (lv. 1)] [Regeneration (lv. 1)] [Eye of Discernment (lv. 1)]
Possessed Skill Points: 4P
Titles: [Waiting Stone] [Ecosystem Disturber]
——————
A few skill levels went up, and my status window looked far more loaded.
They say quality over quantity, but right now, quantity comes first.
‘My heart feels rich.’
With a nimble tumble, I set off in search of the next prey.
* * *
Hunting frantically, it seemed I had wandered fairly deep inside.
‘That buddy has quite the peculiar shape.’
Curious about the shape of the rock ahead, I rolled closer to get a better look.
Halt.
‘…What in the world is this.’
It wasn’t that the shape was unusual, but because it was melting like ice cream.
A rock melting? It was something so beyond imagination that I froze dead in my tracks.
Even now, it was melting down with a grotesque sizzling noise beneath a green liquid.
There must be a monster here that possesses corrosive venom, melting whatever it touches like hydrochloric acid.
Sizzle—
To my ears, that sound sounded like the dying screams of a rock.
‘Haha. I think I’ve hunted enough around here, so shall I run away—no, make a tactical exit?’
They don’t say “too much is as bad as too little” for nothing.
‘Yep. Going back is the smart move.’
It was right when I steeled my resolve and turned my body around.
That I came face to face with a colossal, overwhelming terror I could never have imagined.
Comments (0)