arc2 · 026-ch26

Episode 26: The Grassland Assassin

　After fighting Wooden Goblins and Wooden Ogres, Suzuka wandered in search of the next monster. The dungeon is vast, and Floor 1 that Suzuka is currently exploring is said to be roughly the size of Tokyo's 23 wards combined.

　Because it's that big, encountering other explorers is rare. Especially for exploration from District 2 of Floor 1, since people from training facilities don't go there, mostly Explorer High School students are active. So, it's possible to hunt freely.

　Today he spotted two explorer parties, but hasn't seen anyone since then. Despite summer break and many people exploring, not bumping into anyone feels refreshing.

　The biggest reason he doesn't want to meet other explorers is that Suzuka is operating solo, so there's a fear of being accosted.

　While Explorer High School students might be educated, there could be those with personalities who enjoy bullying the weak. Even if he gets strangely provoked, since Suzuka is alone, he fears being outnumbered.

　In reality, conflicts between explorers are common, and since it's hard to leave evidence inside the dungeon, there are many cases where people have to endure injustice. If he gets harassed by people like that, it would be unbearable.

　As a countermeasure, it's recommended to fly a drone to record footage, but Suzuka's wallet makes purchasing expensive drones difficult. As a minimal countermeasure, perhaps he should buy a camera that doesn't interfere with exploration, like a GoPro.

　He might be overly wary of other explorers based on hearsay information, but it's better to be cautious than to fail by not being cautious. He doesn't have any explorer acquaintances, so not being able to know the details there is frustrating.

　With that background, he's decided to operate cautiously until his immediate goal of level 100. It's said there's a clear wall at level 100, and whether or not he can cross that wall will change his value as an explorer.

　This is because beyond level 100, you can learn a special skill called "Existence Evolution." Existence Evolution is a skill that pushes your existence up one rank, and it's said that those who haven't learned Existence Evolution can never win against those who can.

　To achieve that goal, Suzuka wandered Floor 1 District 2 in search of more monsters.

"You guys are getting boring though"

　Even as he sighed, he easily scattered the group of Wooden Goblins that charged toward him.

　There are three monster types in District 2, but Ogres appear most frequently among them. Wooden Goblins trying to steal luggage or those clinging to the magic iron pipe, he turned them into smoke one after another, finding them annoying.

　After several such battles, he finally encountered a different monster.

　One-Horned Rabbit: Level 8

　A rabbit with a single magnificent horn about knee-height. If it's this size when sitting, it would be smaller than a Kettle Raccoon when running. Being a quick monster type, he should proceed without lowering his guard.

　It hasn't noticed Suzuka yet, munching on grass. While rabbits might run away when humans approach, he approaches thinking monsters would be different, right?

　He kept his guard up so he could chase if the One-Horned Rabbit fled.

　Step by step, he approached. The One-Horned Rabbit still hadn't noticed. Just when he thought it would notice him soon, he felt a bad premonition.

　The moment he thought that, something was already moving. He felt the presence of something approaching at high speed. While jumping and rotating as if doing a forward roll, he saw another One-Horned Rabbit leaping out from the nearby grassy patch.

　The One-Horned Rabbit, with fierce red eyes glinting with killing intent, charged to pierce with its magnificent horn toward where Suzuka's feet had been just moments before. Suzuka captured its appearance in slow motion as if it had entered the zone. His Thought Acceleration skill must be working.

　Timing it as it passed beneath the jumping Suzuka, he smashed the magic iron pipe against the One-Horned Rabbit's side. Though he had aimed for its face, the One-Horned Rabbit's speed was superior, so it became a body attack.

　An instant's occurrence. While feeling impressed with himself for landing an attack at the moment of crossing, he looked at the One-Horned Rabbit and saw it kicking up dust as it rolled and turned to smoke, which was then absorbed into him.

"That was close!! I almost got killed!!"

　It might have aimed for his legs because he's small, but if his legs were damaged, he would have been slowly tortured to death after losing his mobility.

　He managed to avoid it, which is good, but Suzuka's heart pounded violently from the unexpected attack.

"Calm down, calm down. More importantly, since I took it down with one hit, is this a paper armor full-speed build type?"

　From the feel of his hand when attacking, he concluded it has low defense.

　The first One-Horned Rabbit he discovered was glaring at Suzuka with glinting eyes as if bearing a grudge. Whether it's angry because it started in a two-formation and its partner got killed, angry because the surprise attack strategy failed, or simply because it hates humans, who knows.

　Its face had nothing to do with a cute rabbit—it was a monster's face.

　The staring contest was brief. The One-Horned Rabbit started moving at high speed as if sliding across the ground. It's not the reckless charge like Drunken Sheep. Running irregularly around Suzuka, occasionally hiding in grassy patches to escape Suzuka's search, it continued moving.

　Suzuka watched carefully not to lose sight of that appearance. Accelerating his thoughts, he concentrated. Deeply, deeply concentrated, relaxing his body so it could respond from any direction, all while remaining prepared.

　At the same moment the One-Horned Rabbit circled behind him, it changed trajectory and aimed at Suzuka. A perfect attack from the blind spot behind. The One-Horned Rabbit was certain it had killed him.

　However, the instant the One-Horned Rabbit changed direction, Suzuka was already facing toward the One-Horned Rabbit. Suzuka had factored in the One-Horned Rabbit's movement, rhythm, and timing, and intuitively guessed it would come here.

　Turning toward the One-Horned Rabbit with movement like future prediction, he swung the magic iron pipe horizontally, parallel to the ground.

　The One-Horned Rabbit couldn't avoid the magic iron pipe swung at just the right timing, got hit hard on the side, turned to smoke, and was absorbed into Suzuka.

　Suzuka had taken down the second one, but he didn't let his guard down. There might be others, so he carefully looked around, but there were no One-Horned Rabbits in his field of vision or by presence.

　He judged there would be no further pursuit, drank tea from his canteen to take a breather, and finally calmed down.

"Phew... That gave me a scare~"

　Looking back at the battle just now. Just when he thought he found one One-Horned Rabbit, another One-Horned Rabbit hiding in the nearby grass launched a charge.

　Whether it happened to be hiding nearby or it was a strategy, he doesn't know. But One-Horned Rabbits are famous as beginner killers, so the coincidence line might be thin.

"So that's the Grassland Assassin. Quick, small target hard to attack, and I can see why people avoid them"

　In Floor 1 District 2, there are three monster types. Ogres, rabbits, and wolves. But most explorers skip rabbits. He felt he caught a glimpse of the reason.

"Now that I look at it, this entire area has a lot of tall grass growing. Is this their territory?"

　Avoiding One-Horned Rabbits is easy, just avoid areas with tall grass like where Suzuka is right now. If you advance carelessly, like just now, your feet get pierced by a One-Horned Rabbit hiding in the grass shadow and you get tortured to death.

　If you have numbers, you can entrust your back, making it easier to handle, but rear guard jobs become a burden. Until you level up enough that your defense stats exceed One-Horned Rabbit's attack power, they're said to be opponents you should avoid.

　But Suzuka is different.

"My level went up from that battle, but my swordsmanship skill didn't go up, huh? I felt like I almost grasped it"

　Because the target is small, precision is required even for magic iron pipe attacks. Whether he acrobatically took down the first one or took down the second one with a single hit, he was able to focus more than usual on attack trajectory and timing.

　He felt he could get a sense that if he could do battle a few more times, his swordsmanship skill would go up.

"Alright! I'll start by clearing the rabbits first!"

　There are two area bosses in District 2. A rabbit-type area boss and a wolf-type area boss. Since Suzuka has no option to avoid One-Horned Rabbits, he decided to focus on rabbits first to train his swordsmanship and make progress on conquest.

　Originally, Suzuka is an optimistic thinker. Even though the battle with One-Horned Rabbits just now could have resulted in a fatal wound if he made even a slight mistake, since he didn't get one, he doesn't dwell on it.

　Because of that optimistic thinking, he's exploring the dungeon alone, but the question is how far that thinking will work. Suzuka's exploration has only just begun.