Monster Hunt

The next day.

It was already afternoon when Jay was outside, checking his phone. There were no messages, emails, or calls he missed. Even if it had been just one night since then, he thought that the police or one of those involved in yesterday's incident would try to reach out to him. And since there was nothing from them, Erik and Jay could dedicate their time to another matter.

"Are you done with your preparations?" Erik asked after entering Jay's field of vision. Like always, he wore no armor, but this time, a golden axe with a white cutting edge was attached to his back.

"Yes." Jay responded indifferently. "Is your weapon repaired now?"

"It's good to go!" Erik proclaimed with a big, proud smirk as he swung it around playfully, as if he wanted to show off. He had gone out earlier than Jay so that he could pick up his weapon which had been under repair for a while.

Jay shrugged his shoulders, seeing his overjoyed friend.

"Let's head to the West Gate then."

The two men had agreed on meeting in the city once Erik had fetched his weapon, finishing their preparation for today's task—exploring the Tutorial Section's Western Woods. It was the area behind the West Gate. True to its name, the area was mostly a large forest space. However, compared to the Southern Fields that were beyond the never-ending separation wall, the monsters residing there were a lot more dangerous and powerful.

"You hear that? He seriously wants to go there even if he can't even handle slimes?"

Erik and Jay had only taken one step before they noticed the stares and whispers of those around them. But to Jay's surprise, even Erik tried to hold in his chuckle.

"Don't you dare laugh...! It's your fault that it turned out like this!" Jay complained, glaring at his friend. In order to get closer to Ella, Erik came up with the idea to make Jay appear like a complete newbie who could not even handle weak monsters in the Southern Fields. Ella, who had been a Guide, would have surely reached out to him and let her guard down.

"Just ignore them. It won't take long until everyone forgets about it." Erik replied, although he was clearly enjoying the embarrassment his comrade had to suffer.

It was then that the same bulky, bald man from yesterday crossed their paths. His expression was as intimidating as always, but compared to last time, he did not emit hostility.

"You." he addressed Jay sternly. "You are faking it, right?"

Since he had confronted Jay after making fun of him, he knew first-hand that Jay was not someone who could be defeated by some monsters from the Southern Fields.

"You are..." Jay muttered, checking the man from head to toe.

"He's the one who got embarrassed by you yesterday." Erik chimed in with an innocent smile. "Are you here for revenge?"

The bald man was furious about those comments, but he took a deep breath to control himself.

"I just wanted to confirm my theory." he stated, his expression softening up a little. "I don't know why you did it, but you let yourself get defeated on purpose, am I correct?"

"Seems like I'm busted." Jay responded, relaxed. "It's true. I did it on purpose."

Jay scratched his cheek awkwardly as he smiled.

"You... You're different from yesterday." the man remarked, squinting his eyes. As if he wanted to find out the thing that was different, he unconsciously closed the distance.

"Why are you getting so close all of a sudden? Back off." Jay said, slightly taken aback.

"Perhaps you were in a bad mood yesterday? No... There's more to it..."

"Get closer, and I will punch you, you hear me?"

"You seem so—Argh!"

When Jay began to feel the man's breath, he immediately punched the man in the face, sending him flying.

"I warned you." Jay commented, clicking his tongue afterward. "Let's go, Erik."

Erik smiled in satisfaction as he followed Jay. Just like the bald man, Erik also had noticed the subtle changes in Jay. Since absorbing Ella, he appeared more approachable and kinder. He had softened up, discarding his previous image of an emotionless and cold robot.

"That's how it should be." he muttered under his breath.

It did not take long before the two entered the Western Woods through the West Gate. But instead of a normal forest full of trees with green leaves, a dreadful forest awaited them. It was almost as if they had entered a completely different place. There were no signs of any leaves on the trees or on the ground. Faint mist engulfed the ground, adding to the chill and grim atmosphere of the place.

"I really don't like this place." Jay sighed, dropping his shoulders before he entered the forest. It was not that he was scared; he simply did not like the place since it was both inconvenient to explore and fight in due to the unstable footing and narrow space.

"But we don't have a choice, do we?" Erik replied, also unmotivated. "For our quest, we have to find the mutant and kill it."

However, the problem the two had to face was that there was no entry about a mutant wandering in the Tutorial Section. After having explored each area in the section, people released a public document about what monsters to expect in each area. But without any clues about the mutant, Erik and Jay had to search for it on their own.

"What about that Glenn person? Did your other broker find anything yet?" Jay asked, trying to find a way to escape the need to explore the forest.

"I sent him the picture last night. It will most likely take a few days until we hear back from him." Erik responded. "So let's use that time to clear this quest."

If he wanted to find his other selves, he had to eventually travel to the tower's other sections. For that, he had to clear the Tutorial Section's quest first. Therefore, Jay took a deep breath to steel his resolve for the quest.

"Let's just get this over with quickly." he said, stretching his limbs.

Then, emerging from the tall trees was a white bear. It was taller than a two-story house, muscular and toned—atypical for a normal bear—and had glowing red eyes. With its big fangs, it was looking at them as if they were prey, with drool slipping out of its mouth.

"Look, a Hunter Bear." Erik said, unfazed.

A Hunter Bear rarely appeared before other people and hid most of the time in its environment, waiting for its prey to let their guard down. They were unusually quick on their feet and possessed the strength to kill people with just one swift strike.

"Let me handle this one." Jay declared confidently, taking a step forward. "This is a good opportunity to train my skill."

Sensing that it was underestimated, the Hunter Bear let out a deafening roar and chased after Jay. And even though it destroyed the trees in its path with ease as it swung its arms, Jay remained composed. Jay dodged the bear's wild attacks by jumping to the side. He continued to do so until he finally found an opening.

Jay launched a kick to its chin and followed up with a punch to its hard abdomen. The bear felt the pain, but instead of groaning in pain, it grumbled in anger.

At the same time, Erik sat on the soil, watching the spectacle as if it were an action movie. Even if Jay were to struggle, he decided not to help. However, he quietly counted each attack Jay had landed.

"Three... Four..."

Jay managed to land further hits, but the bear did not seem to be in great pain. Still, Jay did not seem concerned with the fact that his attacks barely hurt his enemy. Knocking out his opponent with heavy attacks had never been the goal.

And then, all of a sudden, the bear stopped rampaging. After having been hit for the sixth time, the bear lost its footing and fell on its back. It growled weakly as it tried to move.

"His skill is as scary as ever." Erik huffed in astonishment as he watched Jay approaching the monster that could not move an inch.

[Exclusive Skill: Hexacution (Stage 2)
Hit the target with six consecutive magic attacks to bring their mana to zero and hit them with six consecutive physical attacks to bring their strength to zero.]

Jay took a peek at his status window. Everyone inside the tower possessed a special power that was unique from person to person—an Exclusive Skill. It was a power that could not be duplicated or traded and could be literally anything. Even if it started out as a weak or generic ability, it could still end up as a broken ability depending on how it was used or at what level it was.

"Still Stage 2, huh?" Jay murmured in disappointment before cutting off the bear's head.

Meanwhile, at the rooftop of a high school located in the Tutorial Section.

"H-hey, is it really fine to go onto the rooftop...?" a nervous high school girl asked. She was led by the hand of a fellow male student whose strides appeared confident.

"There's nothing to worry about, babe! An upperclassman of mine told me that there's no one at this hour!" he tried to reassure her.

"And thanks to some careless teacher, I got these keys...!" he chuckled slyly, unlocking the door to the school's rooftop.

That young man had waited for this moment the entire day. He wanted to show his girlfriend the sight of the starry sky from the rooftop, hoping to build up a romantic mood. However, when he opened the door, that romantic mood was the last thing he would worry about.

With a silent growl, the thing in front of the young couple turned its head to them. Their legs gave out, and they trembled in fear as the raven-black entity approached them. It was unlike other creatures they had learned about and clearly more frightening.

It possessed features belonging to different monsters of the Tutorial Section. Its ball-shaped head possessed no eyes or ears, but instead it had a mouth with sharp teeth belonging to a shark, whereas the torso and antlers were from a deer. The left arm appeared to be that of a bear and its right arm was identical to that of a human. The thighs were built like those of rabbits, with the feet being similar to those of an eagle. It stood on two feet and expanded its bat-like wings as it let out a distorted roar.

"H-help—"

Using its serpent-like tail, the monster that was as tall as an elephant snatched the couple that was running toward the exit. The almost faceless creature crushed the couple in an instant and devoured them while turning its head to the high and modern buildings of the Tutorial Section. With red blood trickling from the corner of its mouth, it grinned widely.

It had arrived—with an insatiable hunger.