CH 124

Currently, I am traveling through the city on a bike.



“I’ll be entering the Subjugation Area soon…”



The “Subjugation Area” which was labeled on the Mayor’s map. It is a region centered around the City Hall and has a radius of 500 meters. By being within the borders of the Subjugation Area, the chance of encountering the golem and the ant monster rises dramatically. Even so, I must enter it.



“Nishino and his friends told me that it is around here…”



Instead of heading to the City Hall, I have arrived at the Shopping District. After coming off the bike, I store it within the Item Box. From here on out, I will be walking.



“It’s quite bad here as well..”



“Kyuu…”



The Shopping District is in a terrible condition. Not only are the stores all in tatters, dead bodies that would make one close his or her eyes are littered all over the ground. The smell from all the blood is making my nose numb.



However, despite seeing so many corpses, I feel indifferent.



“This should be due to ‘Mental Distress Resistance’.”



‘It smells bad. I should be careful not to slip to the blood.’ I only have such impressions.



“The effect of the skill is great and all, but it’s almost as if I’m gradually losing my humanity…” Emotions which I should possess as a human. It feels like the high-ranking skills are painting over such emotions. But then again, it is a fact that I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies during the past few days, so I’ve gotten used to it to a certain degree.



I walk through the Shopping District while pigeons and crows feed upon the dead. I should get ready.



“Kiki, please buff me.”



“Kyuu.”



The jewel on Kiki’s forehead glows red. The next moment, a faint light wraps over my body. I check my status.



Kudou Kazuto



Level 19



HP: 210/210



MP: 58/58



Strength: 157 (+18)



Endurance: 153 (+15)



Agility: 338 (+55)



Dexterity: 308 (+40)



Magic: 35



Magic Resistance: 35



As my “Agility” and “Dexterity” are both very high, they have increased substantially from the buff. While the extent of Kiki’s buff is not fixed, it increases a person’s status by an average of 10%~20%.



“Good. Now, Aka.”



“Furu furu.”



I wield the high orc’s knife which Aka has disguised into. With this, I’m ready.



“I’d like to increase my level before returning to the City Hall…”



Except for named individuals like the golem, we should be capable of handling most monsters without any problem.



“Enemy Detection”, “Hostility Detection”, and “Crisis Detection” all ring a bell.



“…They’ve come.”



I can sense their presence. There are many of them.



(10…No, there are more than 20 of them.)



That’s quite a huge number. I feel their presence, yet I don’t catch them in my line of sight. Since that’s the case, they must be hiding underground. I can feel their presence, which means that I won’t have to face the golem.



I heave a sigh of relief. They’re most likely the ants. The ground rattles as it begins to shake.



“Now then, thanks for the experience.”



This time around, I have purposefully turned off my stealth-type skills. It’s for the sake of attracting monsters while acting as bait. It’s the complete opposite of what I have been doing until this point in time.



I can’t limit myself to what I’ve been doing as weapons from the Defense Force are no longer obtainable and stronger monsters might be present in other cities and prefectures.



If I keep avoiding risks, I’ll never be able to advance. A crack forms on the ground and holes begin to form one after another.



“““Gyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”””



Subsequently, a lot of ants emerge from the holes. The ants are as big as humans. It’s been the same case with the giant spiders, but I wonder why large insects are so scary.



There are numerous holes on the ground, and ants are pouring out without end.



“Kiki, hold on tight!”



“Kyuuu!”



I wait for the ants to arrive.



Not yet.



A little more.



Just a tiny bit more.



“Gyiiii!”



“Kishii! Kishii!”



The ants try to intimidate us with their fangs. 10 or so ants have already climbed out. The surrounding area has already been dyed in black by the color of the giant ants. Standing in the middle of the sea of ants, I mumble softly.



“Item Box, Open.”



What comes out of the Item Box is a telephone pole which I jam on the ground. The location where I jam the telephone pole is the hole where the ants have previously come out of.



“Gyii?”



The movements of the ants stiffen for a moment seeing the telephone pole appear out of nowhere. Making sure that I do not miss the chance, I jump and grab onto the telephone pole. Having grabbed onto the pole, I immediately walk to the top of the pole.



“Haha, this is really convenient.”



Ninjutsu “Wall Walking Technique”. The effect of the skill allows me to walk on walls and ceilings while ignoring gravity. It consumes 3 MP every time I activate it. Using this, I head to the top in one go.



Although it is a useful movement skill, there is an obvious drawback. When moving from one location to another, my foot has to be in constant contact with a surface. If I jump from one building to another, the effect of the Ninjutsu would be lost. In other words, when jumping from one wall to another or from one building to another, I would have to apply the Ninjutsu again.



Unlike the “Art of Transformation”, I could use the “Wall Walking Technique” along with other Ninjutsus, but considering my low MP, I cannot afford to waste it casually.



I reach the top of the pole in no time and look down at the ground. The ants are circling around the telephone pole. A certain ant is trying to break the telephone pole with its fangs while another one is trying to climb the pole by using its comrades as footholds.



In one way another, the scene reminds me of Sports Day. (TN: Referring to pole-toppling event.) “Up here, I can clearly tell where each ant is.”



It’s all going according to plan.



“Well then.”



I unleash “those things” from the Item Box as high and as widespread as possible.



“Gyi!?”



“Gyigyiii?!”



“Gyiiiiiiiiiiiiii!?”



The ants must have noticed that their fields of vision have become dark. After all, a large amount of boulders have appeared on top of them.



—The tetrapods.



Each tetrapod weighs 2 tons. It is a weapon of mass destruction which I obtained near the sea.



“Get crushed.”



Influenced by gravity, the tetrapods begin to fall. The scene resembles a rain of meteorites. The giant ants fail to cope with the sudden danger and are crushed to death by the tetrapods one by one. The ground shakes violently, accompanying the sounds of ants being crushed and of the tetrapods hitting the ground.



“You have gained experience.”



“Experience has reached a certain threshold.”



“Kudou Kazuto’s level has increased from 19 to 20.”



“You have gained experience.”



“Experience has reached a certain threshold.”



“Kudou Kazuto’s level has increased from 20 to 21.”



The Voice of Heaven tells me that I have gained an enormous amount of experience. My level rose by 2 in one go. With how many ants I killed, I guess this is reasonable.



“This is quite powerful.”



I’m impressed by the effect. Carpet bombing over a radius of 30 meters. Well, the tetrapods did not really explode, so I guess it should be called Material Barrage?



Anyway, the effect is tremendous.



“This is a great method to hunt for small fish.”



Despite being flashy and conspicuous, the result is great.



Descending to the ground, I collect the telephone pole, the tetrapods, and the magic stones of the ants. In the Item Box, the magic stones are labeled as “Giant Ant’s Magic Stone (Minimum)”.



“(Minimum) must mean that the ants are at the same level as goblins and zombies.” Individually, they shouldn’t be anything impressive. In other words, they cover their flaws through sheer number.



“Kiki, Aka, want to eat?”



“Kyuu!”



“Furu furu.”



I hand Kiki and Aka the magic stones which I acquired. I set some apart for Momo as well. I’ll give them to her when we meet and then mofu-mofu her as much as I want… “Oh?”



“Enemy Detection” reacts again while I am having such thoughts. From the hole where the ants previously popped up, a new monster appears.



“Kishiiiiiiiiiiiii!”



Its appearance is different from the ants before. A bipedal ant? It looks like the Chimera Ant Queen from Hunter x ◯unter.



“A superior species?”



Unlike the ants from before, this one is even armed. Its four hands are equipped with one-handed swords and shields that one would often hear of in a fantasy novel.



“A warrior ant… an Ant Soldier?”



Other Ant Soldiers appear from separate holes. There are four of them in total. The other side seems to completely recognize me as an enemy. However, this is fine as well. I’ll make sure that I earn a ton of experience here.