Kumodesu

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One.

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Two.

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Three!

Awesome!

Up three levels at once.

I really wanted to celebrate right then and there, but I didn't have time to think. As the smoke cleared, I caught a glimpse of nearly a hundred fire lizards rushing this way. With wounds still on my body, I ran without hesitation.

Who would've thought just going out for a little stroll would bring in such a huge reward? Just one mutated creature was enough to push me up by three levels!

I have to admit—killing it was completely unplanned. Honestly, I still don't think I'm strong enough to fight head-on with any kind of mutated creature.

I only managed to kill it thanks to a lot of fortunate circumstances, so there's no room for arrogance here.

I followed the familiar path back to the fifth floor.

I originally intended to keep hunting, but having earned such a great reward only made me want to slack off for a bit.

If life kept going like this, it'd really be quite leisurely.

At that moment, a voice rang out from inside the journal. Of course, it was Mr. Loyral.

"What's the matter, Mr. Loyral?"

"We don't have much time left!"

Huh?

Hearing that made me jump, thinking I'd somehow messed everything up.

"I checked again and found that the Soul Protection Ring on Seryl has deteriorated significantly. It'll completely shatter in about five months."

Huh???

What do I even do now!?

Ugh, there's nothing I can do but accelerate the progress and obtain the skill!

"Got it. I'll head out to hunt again."

Let me repeat—this life isn't all that leisurely.

"Sorry for putting pressure on you, but there really isn't much time left."

Mr. Loyral did seem guilty for pushing me like this, but I know he's out of options. As for me, since I've promised to help, I should give it my all.

To speed things up, I decided to hunt on the fourth floor. I barely encountered any trouble there anymore, so I could move freely, making the hunt much more efficient.

...

It's been four days, and I've been hunting non-stop.

Over the past four days, I've almost completely wiped out all the creatures on the fourth floor, so now I've moved up to the third floor to continue my journey.

I haven't returned to the fifth floor even once. I've got everything I need here—more than enough food—and I barely need rest thanks to the [Sleep Resistance] skill that allows me to stay active continuously.

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Phew...

Finally leveled up.

Even though I killed so many monsters, they were too weak to give me much experience, so it took me four whole days to gain just one level.

Maybe I should go back to the sixth floor...?

I'm still a bit torn.

That mutated creature that boosted me by three levels is still very memorable...

Oh, but before I continue, there's something I need to do.

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Okay, done!

I was going to support [Appraisal], but then I remembered that if I want to deal with the spirits in the future, I'll need a skill called [Soul Attack Immunity], and I suspect it evolves from [Soul Attack Resistance]. So I decided to level that one up first.

Honestly, this skill is truly a godsend.

One more support and I should be able to evolve it. If that nets me [Soul Chain], that would be absolutely perfect.

So I decided to return to the sixth floor after staying here for another two days.

As usual, I began by carefully observing my surroundings, then finding a safe path for myself and avoiding species that move in large groups.

The creatures here were either at my level or stronger, so I had to be extremely cautious. No room for swagger like back on the fourth floor.

Suddenly, I spotted a group of about a dozen monsters, and since there wasn't a mutated one among them, I charged in to fight.

These creatures had four legs. Their rear resembled a lion's, but the front half looked like a horse, with a mane stretching from head to torso. They even had two tails that looked like those of a pangolin.

What kind of bizarre creature is this??

I don't know either, but whatever, I don't care what they are—they're going into my belly.

Their main method of attack was ramming with their massive bodies, which made dodging easy for me. Sometimes they used magic, but it didn't really pose a threat.

If there was anything troublesome, it was their coordination. They worked together so well that I took a few hits myself. Still, I managed to clean them up.

I kept moving forward and came across another pack of creatures. These ones were completely black, so I couldn't even describe what they resembled. But they did have a notable feature—a sharp, poisoned blade at the end of their tails.

I got slashed when I let my guard down, and the poison spread instantly, but thanks to my [Poison Resistance], I only felt slightly paralyzed.

Besides using their tails, these creatures were excellent jumpers. They ran super fast and bolted the moment they realized they were losing.

Cowards, huh...

They were clearly larger in number and bigger than me, yet they ran from a spider like me?

Actually... that made me feel pretty proud.

Hehe...

Their jumping abilities were incredible, so the only challenge was catching up. But in terms of speed, no way I'd lose, so I didn't need too long to take them down.

Two successful hunting trips in a row really boosted my confidence, so I ventured even deeper.

At a massive fork in the path, I encountered another group of creatures. But this time, they had a mutated one, so I had to retreat.

Not because I was scared, but...

Okay fine, I was scared!

But everything has a reason!

I used [Appraisal] on them and found that even the regular ones had HP equal to mine, while the mutated one had three times more. If I fought them, I'd die for sure.

Come to think of it, even though I've been leveling up constantly, my stats haven't increased that much. When I run into creatures with higher stats—even at the same or lower levels—I still have to think twice before engaging.

Could it be that spiders inherently have low base stats???

I think I need to find another spider to compare.

I'll deal with that later.

For now, I picked another path to continue hunting.

In the blink of an eye, a whole month had passed.

Just as I finished off one final creature, a system message popped up.

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Nai wa!!

Finally!

That was rough...

Over the past month, I've been hunting non-stop without returning to the fifth floor even once. Along the way, I gained two more levels, and several skills were leveled up thanks to that: [Loyalty], [Faith], [Enhanced Tactile], and [Corrosion Resistance].

Unfortunately, none of those were particularly useful.

As for combat-related skills, they've also leveled up quite nicely.

[Heaven's Net] +1 level

[Venomous Fangs] +1 level

[Paralyzing Evil Eye] +1 level

[Adamantine Body] +2 levels

[Focus] +1 level

[Sensing] +1 level

[Heaven Eye] +1 level

[Big Eater] +2 levels

What a month!

Honestly, this might be the most exhausting skill I've ever had to grind for.

I don't even know how many creatures I've killed, but I'd say... a lot. I went back to the fourth floor twice, cleared it each time, then returned to hunting on the sixth floor.

Now that the objective is complete, I've decided to return to the fifth floor to consult Mr. Loyral about the next step.

I only have four months left to obtain that [Virtual World] skill, so things are getting pretty intense. Even though Mr. Loyral isn't rushing me too hard, I still feel the pressure.

After all, I've already received quite a bit of benefit, so if I don't help in return, it'd feel... wrong.

Haizz...

Why can't I just live like a normal spider...?