Chapter 12 – Hound Dog

○Еуe of Insight

Dеsсriрtiоn: А Magic Еуe imbued with thе latent аbilitу tо sее thrоugh everуthing. Grants the tаlеnt of insight tо its usеr. Ноwеver, thе Mаgic Eуе skill саnnot be usеd with this alоne. One must drаw оut the ability through thеir оwn power.

At first glanсе, it appears tо bе a high-raritу item.

Ноwеvеr, the icon’s aрpeаrаnсe is literаllу а pair оf eyеballs.

Imagining the eуеballs emеrging frоm his inventоry and sеttling into his hands, Asutо shudderеd.

—Нow am I supposеd to usе this?

“Неy, I gоt something саllеd an Eуe оf Insight.”

“Оh, а Маgic Еуе was in thеrе? Lucky! That’s an incredibly rare item!”

“I-Is that so? So how do I use this?”

“Magic Eye-type items just need to be taken out of your inventory.”

“Really? I don’t have the courage to catch eyeballs with my bare hands if they come flying out.”

“The guy who just pulled off that incredible battle doesn’t have that much courage? You’re quite the comedian.”

“That and this are separate issues.”

“What’s the difference? Honestly, humans are strange creatures.”

Amy shrugged as if to say “good grief.”

What an irritating attitude.

“When you take it out of your inventory, the Magic Eye talent itself gets integrated into your eyeballs. The eyeballs won’t actually appear in that space, so don’t worry.”

Taking a deep breath, Asuto removed the Eye of Insight from his inventory.

(Please don’t let eyes come out)

At that moment, a slight discomfort appeared in his eyeballs.

It felt like wearing contact lenses without prescription.

But the discomfort quickly disappeared.

“…Has the Magic Eye been applied?”

“I think so.”

The Magic Eye display had disappeared from his inventory.

The Magic Eye had indeed been integrated into Asuto’s eyeballs.

But the change was remarkably minimal. It was so slight that he doubted whether it had been properly used.

“My vision hasn’t changed at all.”

“Of course not. What was transplanted into your eyes is the Magic Eye’s latent ability. If you doubt it, check your skill section.”

As told, he displayed his status.

There, the words ‘Eye of Insight’ had newly appeared.

○Name: Yuki Asuto (20)

Level: 23 Aptitude: Assassin

Rank: E SP: 15

Held G: 1504

○Physical Ability

Strength: 33 Stamina: 25 Magic Power: 4

Spirit: 4 Agility: 48 Perception: 24

○Skills

・Basic Dagger Arts Lv3 (37%)

・Evasion Lv3 (21%)

Leap Lv2 to 3 (7%)

・Memory Playback Lv2 (21%)

・Eye of Insight Level 1 (0%) NEW

・Return Lv1 (31%)

“I see, so Magic Eyes are treated as skills.”

Relieved to know the Magic Eye hadn’t disappeared, he let out a sigh of relief.

From the proficiency display, he could tell that continued use would improve its performance.

However—

“How do I use it?”

“For the Eye of Insight… that’s right, try staring intently at a weapon.”

Asuto looked at his dagger.

After staring for a while, a faint window floated up in front of the dagger.

○Iron…sword

Att…

Description: Iron…, blade length…sword. Easy to use, but sharpness…is good… …

“I see, so this is the effect of insight.”

The Eye of Insight seemed to have an effect similar to Appraisal.

(This is useful)

Convinced, Asuto headed toward the Gate entrance while using his Magic Eye.

On the way, he collected Magic Stones.

The Soldier’s corpse had already disappeared.

It had been swallowed by the dimensional rift.

It’s said that when you die inside a Gate, you get swallowed by the dimensional rift.

When swallowed by the rift, regardless of whether human or monster, a Magic Stone equivalent to that being’s existence power is born.

Some Hunters call this phenomenon “Gate Internal Equivalent Exchange.”

Without Return, Asuto would have also transformed into a Magic Stone.

Imagining the small Magic Stone that would have been born in his place made him a little sad.

The Soldier’s Magic Stone was about the size of an index fingertip.

Even something like this could be sold for a decent price.

Magic Stones are currently used as energy in various fields.

In Japan, where the population had drastically decreased and all balance had collapsed, Magic Stones were indispensable energy resources.

After collecting everything, he counted the Magic Stones.

The number reached 45.

For a Solo Hunter, this was quite a number of Magic Stones to obtain in a single hunt.

When Asuto returned to the surface, the Gate closed shortly after.

With no life forms remaining inside, the alternate dimension lost stability and vanished.

He reported the successful conquest to the Hunter Association and was about to head to a Magic Stone buyback shop when it happened.

Two Hunters appeared before him.

“Hey, sorry to bother you when you’re tired from conquering a Gate.”

“Are you the only one who survived conquering that Gate?”

“…Huh? Who are you guys?”

“Hey, we’re members of the Hound Dog Guild!? Watch your mouth!”

The man glared at him with thuggish eyes.

—No, they were actually thugs, no mistake about it.

From his previous knowledge, Asuto knew them very well.

What they had done before, and what they were about to do…

“You came back alone after losing your companions, right? How pitiful. But is it right for someone who let their companions die to monopolize the rewards?”

“Don’t you feel sorry for your dead companions?”

What are these two talking about?

The conversation was proceeding based on a misunderstanding, but it was too ridiculous for him to feel like correcting it.

“Hand it over.”

“…Huh?”

“You’ve got lots of Magic Stones, right? Hand them over.”

“And hand over the clear rewards too.”

“What nonsense are you—”

Thump!

Suddenly receiving an impact to his abdomen, Asuto was blown backward.