Vol. 8 - Ch. 427 - Cheers to the end of the test! Let's celebrate it with blasting grace!

The test period was finally over. Which means the long, long seal over the dungeon was also released. Honestly, it was truly a gap as big as eternity. And the next step for us, who were like the fish deprived of water—no, like fish dropped in the desert—was the appreciation party! And so we were here——"An appreciation 'Meowrrior Hunt' party!!!" (Zephyr)

"Yaaaaaa!!" (Lulu)

"Nyaaa!" (Karua)

I declared the ‹Meowrrior› hunt with such intensity that I wouldn't find it strange if I suddenly awakened the skill to shoot beams out of my eyes. The air of the dungeon was almost as soothing as taking a hot bath.

Following me, Lana and Karua, also riding on the same expressway of bubbling excitement, raised their pumped up fists in unison. Hmm, I always believed us to be like minded folks.

Karua, apparently because she had to make her brain work overtime, was in super-duper-excitment mode. Karua and excitement were honestly two poles apart that don't normally cross paths.

Aside from us three, there were also Rika and Ester for this appreciation 'Meowrrior Hunt' party. We swiftly draw our blade—or spear, or dagger—against the 10th floor boss, ‹Meowrrior› and take it down in a matter of seconds.

Phenomenal! It was literally a battle that ended in a flash, perhaps because we had been dungeonomiun deprived for the last two weeks. This time, we also threw away any and all considerations, like saving MP, and used whatever we could do to blast the foe standing in our way.

Phew, it was as refreshing as tiredness melting away in a hot bath.

The result of our impromptu hunt was, in my words, a ‹Gold Chest›.

"Helluva! This is definitely the blessing of ‹Sachineko-sama› for serving him a non-stop offering for the last two weeks! Which is why it's within my right to open it!"

"Whaa! Don't think you can get away with slick words! This is going against equality! And aren't you forgetting that it was ME who had served the offering to ‹Sachinekoa-sama›!? This is definitely a present from ‹Sachinekoa-sama› to me!"

"H-Hold on your horses, you two!"

Lana and I immediately broke into a run for ‹Gold Chest› the instant we caught sight of it. Reaching before anyone else, I was about to lift the right section of the lid, but Lana stopped by holding it down from the left section.

This act of ours had caught Rika, the one at the forefront of being our tank and the one closest to the treasure chest, by surprise, her eyes almost rolling up. Forgive me, Rika. However, this was a battle I had to fight. I was already at the limit of being unable to open any <Gold Chest> for so long.

"Look, my arm is already suffering from withdrawal symptoms after being unable to open the <Gold Chest> all this time."

My arm was shivering. I was sure this was the calling of my arm—that it must seek the opening of a gold chest!!

"Isn't it simply because you're focusing too much power on your hand?"

Rika retorted calmly, but for now, I turned a deaf ear to her.

"What's with that attitude? Did you forget who delivered the finishing blow!?

Yeah, it was her who dealt the final blow when the boss entered his rage mode to bring the battle to a quick closure. It was, honestly, a beautiful finishing touch. Kuh, considering that, I might really not have much say in this.

"Why don't you two just open it together?"

" "(Oh), There's that option as well." "

We instantly withdraw our arms upon hearing Rika's suggestion. Right. We were needlessly washing away in the excitement. That wasn't our original intention. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴøvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Ahem, we started anew, taking as earlier dispute never happened. Lana and I stayed where we were, holding each corner of the lid and shouting '1, 2 and—', we opened the <Gold Chest>.

The weight of the <Gold Chest> after two weeks, the heart-thumping nervousness and the sparkle that dominated the vision—each bit increased the beating of my heart. Hmm, yes. It was this sensation I lived and died for. <Gold Chest> OP!

I peered inside the <Gold Chest> and saw the drop was the same katana ‹Meowrrior› was holding.

"Hurray, the katana came home!!"

"Ohh!?'

Rika raised her stumped voice at my soul-screaming. Finally, the long awaited katana was here. Till the very end, right before the test preparatory period, we had been hunting ‹Meowrrior› whenever we had time.

Honestly, katana was actually quite a normal drop, but we had been held back by the limitation of our ‹Official Hidden Tactic - Boss Farming›, which doesn't work on field bosses.

Hence, we were making a round every day possible, and this was actually our first <Gold Chest> from ‹Meowrrior›. Yup, I am sure of it. This is the effect of offering to ‹Sachinekoa-sama›. Right, I can't skimp on offering after going back.

"My, this is quite an excellent katana."

"This is ‹Renowned Katana - Cat's Tinkering›, boasting the foremost attack among any of the swords you can find in Int-mid dungeons!"

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One-Handed Sword (Renowned Katana - Cat's Tinkering)

‹ATK - 84›

‹Cross-Cat-Crash LV6› ‹Warrior Cat's Upper Slash LV6› ‹Triple Meowlash LV6›

―――――――――――

‹Renowned Katana - Cat's Tinkering› was the bestest among the three katana that ‹Meowrrior› dropped, workable all the way to the Adv-low.

The skills it came attached with were all what other cat monsters or ‹Meowrrior› itself uses. All were active skills. There might arise a question as to whether this katana was really a good match with Rika's tank style. However, that was hardly a consideration; her STR value had already crossed 300. Considering that, she was well capable of using an attack, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, advanced dungeons weren't something she could challenge with her current equipment.

After a moment of hesitation, Rika equipped ‹Renowned Katana - Cat's Tinkering› in her right hand while holding ‹Hexa-Thunder Sword- Beast Lock›, that she received from Karua, in her right hand. The sword ‹Murasaki› she had been using all this while was now her spare weapon.

After receiving our desired drop from <Gold Chest>, our excitement had once again renewed to max, and we continued all the way until F-boss, challenging and defeating it. We left no stones unturned. It was such a blast.

Though greeting us when we finally calmed down and returned to guild, was Sierra. Her gaze was laced with sharpness.