Chapter 13: The Quest to Get an Empty Bottle

Original: Chapter 13: The Quest to Get an Empty Bottle

I walk toward the back of the plaza’s center. It’s the place where many stone tablets are protruding from the ground. Each of those tablets has a different quest carved into it.

Among those tablets, I’m searching for a quest that offers an empty bottle as a reward.

I’m not good with crowds, so I check them in order starting from the less crowded areas.

After checking about ten tablets, I finally find the quest I’m looking for. I carefully read the request details.

“Hiiii~. How’s everyone doin’~? It’s me, the Dungeon God. This quest is a must-clear level, so make sure you don’t miss checking it out☆ So, if you keep walking all the way down Passage 6, there’s this place overgrown with grass, right~? Well, there are these Monster weeds that look like walking grass, so could you take out five of them for me~? Those guys, like, keep respawning regularly and are seriously annoying, y’know~. When they’re around, flowers can’t bloom, so it’s a huge nuisance. So, please exterminate them☆ Reward: Empty Bottle (※This is a must-clear level, yo!)”

Whoa. The Dungeon God, same energetic vibe as always. Maybe because the Dungeon is dimly lit, she ended up developing a bright personality instead.

“The recommended conquest level for this quest is 5, huh.”

Five… that’s the same as the Fire Ant’s recommended conquest level, right? Scary. But, my current Level is much higher than it was back then, so I should be fine.

I accepted the quest.

My empty bottle is currently empty anyway, so just in case, I start making a Potion now using 〈Potion Create〉. If things get tough, I’ll feel safer knowing I can drink a Potion to recover.

Though, I really hope it doesn’t come to using a Potion…

Thinking that, I trudge along and enter Passage 6.

“Alright, I’m definitely gonna get that empty bottle!”

Clenching my fist tightly, I walk deeper into the passage.

After walking for about 20 minutes through the passage, I arrive at the overgrown area. Even though it’s a Dungeon mostly of dirt, this place is full of knee-high grass.

Do I have to go into that grass…?

“Oh, right. There’s the option of wearing a tracksuit.”

There are four high school girls, all wearing tracksuits under their skirts.

Wearing a tracksuit under a skirt isn’t very cute, so I don’t like it, but for a place this overgrown with grass, I guess it’s the right choice.

“Hey~, found any Monsters yet~?”

“Not yet~”

The high school girls are grabbing weeds and trying to pull them out. If those react, I guess that means they’re Weed Monsters, huh.

Let me observe for a bit.

The four high school girls have spread out and are bending forward, searching for Weed Monsters. Their school uniforms are shiny and new, so they’re probably all first-years like me.

“Ah, there’s one over here!”

Whoa, grass suddenly shot up from near one of the high school girl’s feet. Wondering what it was, it seems that was the Monster.

A round root popped out from the soil. That root had two cute-looking eyes.

And the two other extending roots must be its legs. The long green grass probably looks like extremely long hair.

“Ugh!”

“Whoa, you okay?”

Sc-scary. The green grass extended and started choking one of the high school girl’s neck.

As expected of a Dungeon. There’s proper life-and-death struggle here.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! What do we do, what do we do? Does it hurt? Does it hurt?”

“Hey. It’s not the time to be screaming now, is it? We have to help her quickly.”

The high school girl whose neck was being choked by the extending grass had her eyes tightly shut, enduring it. She was in a state of waiting for help.

The other three immediately rushed over.

Each had a Survival Knife in hand. Scary——.

The high school girls used their Survival Knives to cut the grass, stabbed the root, and the three of them together slashed the Weed Monster to pieces. High school girls, scary——.

The Weed Monster seemed to have run out of strength. It collapsed with a thud.

The rescued high school girl was coughing exaggeratedly. Maybe her neck was squeezed tighter than it looked.

“Guh, cough, cough, cough… Ah—, I thought I was gonna die.”

“Are you okay? We’re only Level 3, maybe it was still too early for us?”

“Hmm… no, I’m fine. I was just a little surprised. Can you dismantle that Monster?”

She’s starting to say something scary. Her eyes look dark and frightening.

“I think I saw on a strategy site that inside the round root, there’s a very rare chance of finding a Mana Gemstone. Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be anything particularly good, and no edible parts either.”

“You were thinking of eating it~?”

“Visually, if you boiled it, it might be tasty?”

“Let me know your review.”

“You eat it too~”

Ahahaha, laughter broke out.

One of the high school girls crouched down. Then, using her Survival Knife like a kitchen knife, she split the root clean in two. That was kinda brutal.

“No Mana Gemstone.”

“Well~, we don’t need it anyway. Even if you sold it, it wouldn’t fetch much money.”

“That’s true too. You can get them anywhere.”

“Let’s look for the next Monster~”

The high school girls, chatting cheerfully, resumed their search for Weed Monsters.

They seem to be having fun… Quite different from me, struggling alone.

I wish they’d let me join them——. Just kidding. I won’t say it. If I were the type to say that, I wouldn’t have been alone for years.

“Well then, I should start looking for Weed Monsters too.”