Chapter 53 – Incense of Awakening

But that was ехpeсted.

Bеnding dеерlу, hе spun sidewаys.

Asutо kiсked thе bеаst’s suррorting lеg with all his might.

“——Guh!?”

Тhe leg bеаring its full wеight sliрped.

Тhe bеast lost its balаnсe and fell.

In that орening, he slashed with his daggеr.

“Тch.”

The attaсk hе thought would bе deсisivе wаs blоcked by its arm.

Аs exресted of а bеаst. Its split-seсond judgment аnd agility were tеrrifуingly high.

But thе hаnd that blоcked his аttack would likеly bе unusаble now.

The wrist, sevеred dоwn tо thе bonе, had narrоwlу аvoided bеing cоmрlеtеlу cut оff, hаnging оn by а thrеad.

The white body was stained crimson with blood.

In the stench so thick it seemed to dye even the air red, Asuto saw the intensely shining Light of Mortality.

Faster than thought, his body moved.

The opponent moved too.

In a slow-motion world, Asuto’s and the beast’s attacks intersected.

——Stab!

Asuto’s dagger pierced the beast’s chest.

The beast’s attack passed by the side of Asuto’s cheek.

Its unstable one-armed state had interfered, slightly disrupting the balance of its attack.

“…………”

It glared at him with eyes mixed with regret and rage.

But that too was brief.

The beast soon crumbled and breathed its last.

New Feat Achieved.

Solo Defeat of a Mutant Boss in a B-Rank Gate

Reward: ALL Status +5

“……Phew.”

After confirming it was definitely dead, Asuto released his Zanshin.

He sheathed his dagger and scrutinized the form of the White Beast.

“Hey, Amy. What was the name of this Monster?”

“Huh? I don’t have every single Monster memorized either, ya know.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. These guys are inhabitants of a lower stratum than Earth. We don’t have direct dealings with ’em, so there’s no way for me to know their names.”

“That makes sense.”

It’s said that Monsters appear from another dimension.

From Earth’s perspective, above is the world of Amy and the other Angels. Below is the world of Monsters.

Because Amy knows so much about humans, it’s easy to forget, but before the Outbreak, it wasn’t even possible to perceive the existence of other dimensions in the first place.

It’s no wonder he doesn’t know its name.

“Should I try looking up its name?”

He took out his phone and opened a browser.

However, it wouldn’t connect to the internet.

“Ah, right. No signal.”

There was no way to look up the Monster’s name right now.

He didn’t know its name, but it was a formidable foe. If he harvested its Materials, he could probably sell them for a high price.

Just to be safe, he checked for Monster presence.

He then realized there were no Monsters in the vicinity of this building.

It seemed that with the defeat of this White Beast, the other Monsters had fled far away.

“Maybe this guy was the head of the pack.”

Asuto took out his dagger——

“…………”

He got into position, but he had absolutely no idea how to harvest it.

After pondering for a while, Asuto opened the Gold Shop.

“Hey, Amy, teach me the Dismantling Skill.”

“……Kukuku. It seems a situation has finally arisen where my power is needed! Ah, but what should I do? Should I teach you? Lately, Asuto, you’ve been pretty harsh with me, so maybe I won’t teach you.”

“Don’t mess around. Teach me, quick.”

“Tch. With that attitude, I won’t teach you!”

“I don’t need to ask you to know anyway.”

“Then why did you ask!?”

“Just felt like it.”

“How cruel. I, a lowly human, have been toyed with……. Now I’ll never be able to get married!”

She hung her head dejectedly in mid-air.

Ignoring Amy, Asuto tossed a Skill Scroll into his Cart.

Possessed Gold: 50329 → 49829

Used Skill Scroll No. 878905

Acquired Monster Dismantling

Now dismantling would be easier.

All that remained was to effectively utilize the dismantling knowledge in his memory while harvesting the Materials.

“……Alright!”

Pumping himself up, Asuto gently thrust his dagger into the beast.

○

“Fwaaah.”

Asuto let out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes.

Since then, he hadn’t slept a wink.

At night, the Monster-Repellent Spray is ineffective.

If he were attacked while sleeping, his Return might activate without him knowing.

He didn’t want to go back like that, so he decided not to sleep.

All-nighters were something he’d experienced many times during his previous day-laborer days.

His longest record was working for three days straight without sleep.

(After that, he caught a cold, and the medical expenses wiped out his entire paycheck, so he swore he’d never go all-out on an all-nighter again.)

One or two days of all-night work was nothing.

(If by chance I get sleepy, I can just use the ‘Incense of Awakening’.)

Incense of Awakening is an Item with a sweet fragrance that can be purchased from the Gold Shop.

The price is a bit steep at 100 Gold each, but its Effect is high.

It can be used for everything from warding off sleepiness during all-nighters to improving mental abnormalities like confusion or temptation. It’s a very excellent Item.

However, just because he has Incense of Awakening doesn’t mean he plans to travel to Fukuoka without sleeping.

That’s because if a living being goes entirely without sleep, it cannot sustain life.

In a sleep-deprivation experiment conducted in America, subjects’ memory significantly declined from the third day, their personalities changed after four or five days, and they became unable to solve simple calculation problems.

If he kept staying awake to avoid Monster attacks, only to lose his judgment and die because of it, that would defeat the whole purpose.

Incense of Awakening is strictly a last resort.

When he can sleep, it’s better to sleep.

Asuto carefully sprayed himself and lay down.

Once the sun rose, the Monster-Repellent Spray would be effective again.

Even if he slept soundly, he wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked by Monsters.

Asuto decided to sleep once and start moving around noon.

Black Company President: “Incense of Awakening…… that’s it! I’ve thought of something good!”

(Oh no.)