Chapter 72: First Duo Quest

Original: Chapter 72: First Duo Quest

I checked the tablets with Miss Himeka. Then, one quest caught our eye.

‘Heya~. It’s me, the Dungeon God, pyon♪ Are you doing quests energetically today too~? So, about this request~, the plant monsters in Passage 7 have been growing like crazy, see~, and it’s gotten really annoying, you know~☆ So I want you to chop them down good and proper, pyon♪ The Subjugation Target Monster is the Eval Woodfolk. Take care now~☆’

Zuko—.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the Dungeon God’s energy level.

‘Recommended Conquest Level: 65 ※This is a Danger Zone (Red Zone) quest, yon♪’

This quest still feels a bit premature for me, but—

‘Reward: 9000 Pon, Skill Points 5 (You want Skill Points, right~? I splurged a bit~☆)’

I don’t want to miss out on the Skill Points.

“Miss Himeka, I think this one is really good.”

“Right, right? The recommended level is high, but is that okay?”

“I wouldn’t have the courage to accept it alone…”

I turned an expectant gaze towards Miss Himeka. Miss Himeka puffed out her chest.

“It’s fine. As your senior, I’ll show you a super cool side of me.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“Alrighty, it’s decided then~♪ We’ll accept it together.”

And so, we accepted the quest ‘Defeat the Wood Monster!’.

Since we accepted it as a duo, it seems we just need to defeat one target monster together. The reward is split, but I heard the Skill Points are properly awarded to each of us.

This is my first duo quest. I resolved to do my best not to be a burden on Miss Himeka.

△

We arrived at the Red Zone of Passage 7.

It’s my first time in the Red Zone of this passage, but since I was with Miss Himeka, we could use the Magic Circle’s Warp. It was super easy.

…Huh? Isn’t it a bit hot?

It’s a heat that makes you want to sweat. It feels humid too. Dense plants block the view considerably. Playful, ape-like voices could be heard from somewhere above.

Th-this is clearly… a…

“Jungle…?”

“Yep. The Red Zone of Passage 7 is a Jungle Zone.”

“A jungle… it’s my first time.”

“Probably most Japanese people are, right?”

“Are there big snakes and stuff?”

“Yep, yep. There are big crocodiles too.”

“C-crocodiles…”

It’s scary, but I also kind of want to try fighting one.

If I were to fight, I’d probably slam my Hammer into its upper jaw with all my might when it opens its mouth. Wait, hold on. I’m pretty sure crocodiles have an incredible bite force. Is there a possibility I’d get crushed along with my Hammer? If so, maybe aiming for the top of its head from above the moment it closes its mouth would be better.

Hmm, I’d like to try it once.

“Little Sayuki, you’re fighting a crocodile in your head right now, aren’t you?”

“Huh? Ah. S-sorry. I ended up doing some mental training without thinking.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I get it~. I do mental training often too.”

“Really? In my image, Miss Himeka seems like the type whose head is full of things like tea, piano, and fashion.”

“That’s probably my disguise to get by in the world~. The real me is a wild, instinct-driven combat-type high school girl~. Oh, perfect timing, monster spotted~. Here goes.”

Miss Himeka equipped her Bow and Arrow and shot an arrow with a beautiful form. The arrow flew through the trees at an incredible speed.

“Was that the Conquest Target Monster?”

“Nuh-uh. That was a completely different monster just now.”

“A monster you wanted to fight?”

“Nope, nope. I just wanted the Experience Points~”

“Eh…? You could defeat it with just that one arrow?”

“It doesn’t defeat it immediately. I applied poison to the arrow with my Skill 〈Poison Master〉, so the monster that gets hit enters a Poisoned Status.”

“I see…”

“And then if you just leave it like that, the poison spreads through the monster’s body and it eventually dies. That’s how I get the Experience Points.”

“I-I see… So that’s how Miss Himeka leveled up. I think it’s a smart method… but don’t they Counterattack?”

“Of course some do Counterattack. But after doing it many times, I’ve memorized the insensitive monsters. Those monsters don’t even notice an arrow sticking into them.”

There are monsters like that… Probably things like hippos or sloths. They seem laid-back.

“It’s sad to think they don’t even notice an arrow sticking into them and just die from poison without realizing…”

“That’s the law of the jungle in the Dungeon. Well, there are monsters poison doesn’t work on, so it’s not an invincible strategy or anything.”

I leveled up by making tons of Potions, but Miss Himeka climbed to a high level using a long-range poison assassination strategy with arrows.

I realized Miss Himeka has had much tougher adventures than me. Even though she looks like an overly beautiful princess-type person. People are hard to figure out. Beautiful roses have thorns, or rather, poison. Anyway, I understood very well that Miss Himeka is someone who is really into the Dungeon.

“Yo, ho, take that!”

Whenever Miss Himeka spotted a monster in the distance, she’d shoot poison-applied arrows, pon pon.

I thought she had great aim, but apparently if the “Technique” stat in your Status is high, it gives a pretty good plus effect to Accuracy Correction.

I had a vague idea that stat was good for making things, but it seems that’s not all. For example, it also has an effect when I swing my Hammer. Apparently, having high technical skill in handling Weapons gives a plus correction to Attack Power.

“I had no idea at all.”

“It’s probably relatively minor info~”

“Where’s your source of information?”

“Strategy Sites. I gather quite a bit of info on my Smartphone in my free time~. Before I knew it, I’d become pretty knowledgeable.”

“I used to look at Strategy Sites a lot too, but I only checked the monster strategy pages.”

“I get that~. I look at those a lot too. They sometimes write surprisingly detailed things about ecology and stuff~”

“Ah, I know what you mean. Once you start reading, you can’t stop, right? The writers seem to have observed so persistently, it’s really detailed. It feels like they could make an encyclopedia.”

For example, what this monster eats to live, whether they live in groups, how they reproduce, what their natural enemies are—there are people who research that kind of thing and post it on Strategy Sites.

It’s a completely different way of enjoying the Dungeon from mine. It makes you think there are all sorts of tastes and preferences in the world.

We entered a Trail. And soon we came out into a relatively wide Area.

It was still the humid Jungle Zone. For a moment, I wondered if I was in the Amazon or something, but looking up at the ceiling, it’s definitely a Dungeon covered in earth. Seeing a familiar sight is reassuring.

Huh, Miss Himeka seems to have found something.

“Little Sayuki, look, look, Medicinal Herbs.”

“You’re right. May I have them?”

Hidden quietly, blending in with the jungle plants, Medicinal Herbs were growing. And three of them, too. If Miss Himeka hadn’t found them, I’m sure I would have missed them.

“Sure, sure. It’d be pointless for me to have them anyway.””I gratefully accept this.”

I pulled up the medicinal herb. So you can get medicinal herbs even in the Red Zone. In that case, it seems like I can focus my activities around the Red Zone from now on.

“All I need now is a slime to make a potion.”

“Hmm, normally I’d spot one or two just by walking around…”

“Something as weak as a slime would probably die quickly in the Red Zone, though.”

“But you’d be surprised. Slimes are living creatures too, you know. To survive the competition, they’ve evolved in the Red Zone.”

“Eh, evolved? Like growing arms or something?”

“Ahahaha. That would be a little creepy, wouldn’t it?”

Miss Himeka laughed at me.

Now that I imagine it, it might actually be pretty creepy. Besides, even if they had arms, a slime probably couldn’t throw much of a punch. Such a weak evolution would be pointless.

“Ah, speak of the devil. Little Sayuki, look over there. There’s one right there.”