Chapter 111: While Running, Frustration is the Best Fuel Part 2

Putting aside the fact that for quite a while I was running around without any waist equipment put on, it seems that quite a lot of my skills got to a high level or even underwent a change. Some others even reached a level so high that they could be changed into quite a few things. But the thing that drew my attention the most was the level ninety nine extended and the number right next to it.

I was aware of the fact that the update that went live during our fight with Wezaemon released the level cap. So I guess that “Extended” means that as of right now my own level was going to be even bigger than ninety nine, right?

No, thinking about it logically, ninety nine still means ninety nine. I can’t possibly imagine that a single Golden Scorpion would let me level up more than twenty times. So the larger group of crystal scorpions must have had something to do with it. But aren’t those numbers a little bit dangerous.

Thanks to being creative like that, I could earn levels in a much better way than catching some stupid fish or lobsters. Damn, if I’d checked that before leaving Rabbitz, I could have gone to the Gardener and done something with all those skills. But I mean, if I don’t open that level cap and go past ninety nine, I won’t be able to level up anymore or do anything else, right?

This means that Sanraku had to beat yet another adversity before he could reach completely new heights. Once I get this business done, let’s do just that.

「DISTURBANCE!」

I have no time to deal with small fries like that. And so I decided to ignore the iron golem that flashed right next to me at the edge of the status menu screen. …… It was a golem, right? I’m not so sure, that’s why I’m asking.

It will take some time to comprehend all the changes and organize my skills again, but now that I have achieved level ninety nine, reaching Fiftsia shouldn’t be all that hard.

It was also a great help to know that this dungeon’s layout was like a tunnel. If I started at one end of it, the only thing I needed to do now was to dash straight ahead towards the other end, without any sidetracking alongside the way.

According to what I heard, there are two major roads that lead towards Fiftsia. One of them, the shorter but harder one, is called “Route Five” and leads from Fourthia. The other, longer but safer road leads from Fourthia to Sixthia and is called “Route Six”. And even though it is safer, wasting time is something I absolutely couldn’t allow myself to do right now.

I continue to dash through the dungeon while managing my stamina bar, putting together a plan while I was at it.

First of all, the important problem that has suddenly surfaced out of nowhere. For the sake of my own convenience, the “Akitsu Akane problem” shall be postponed until I deal with a matter at hand. Besides, since I have no idea when the guy might show up, the only thing I could do was to wait for Emul’s report.

Next, my journey towards Fifthsia…… let’s call it “Fifthsia’s RTA” for convenience’s sake. I am going to burst through this dungeon on my own, and then be joined by that person somewhere alongside the way, and we shall reach our goal together.

Originally we were supposed to do a quest around this area, one that was related to the “Epic of the Vorpal Bunnies” EX Quest, but unfortunately circumstances being as they are I was forced to postpone that as well.

If you were to ask me why I was in such a hurry, it’s because I promised Rust and Mold to meet with them at Fifthsia tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.

In order to let Rust ride the power armor in this game I need to convince both Pencilgton and Katsu. In order to do that, I was planning to use the “Kutanid of the Abyss” as a bargaining chip, but for that to actually hold any worth I needed to first verify if that info is accurate. That’s why we’re meeting in Fifthsia like that. To undergo the Quest “Punching the Apostle of the Abyss.”

Despite becoming “friends” recently, together with Rust we were still more like strangers. We are not friends here in ShanFro and we are not on good enough terms to exchange e-mail addresses. In other words it was my bad, because if we exchanged addresses, we might have made plans in some other way than simply with our mouths.

That’s the gist of it. If we don’t verify the information regarding the “Punching the Apostle of the Abyss”, we might lose our only clues regarding another Unique Monster.

「I shouldn’t have agreed to do this so soon right off the bat!」

If I had more time, it would be a whole different story.

Or, if I had more info from other people’s experiences I could have avoided the mistakes they have made, but that is a privilege I couldn’t afford right now.

「What……」

I then looked ahead and after noticing something my whole body came to a halt, only to jump back and assume the “battle position”.

「DNA SCAN, COMPLETE. NO MATCHES IN DATABASE. MODE SWITCH. CODE SCAN. NO MATCHES. REGISTERING AS THREAT. CALCULATING THREAT LEVEL.」

Then, a huge machine landed in the place I was just a moment ago. It was huge and chunky, but aside from that it looked just like a human, without any extra parts or weapons or anything that would betray its threat level when it comes to combat. Instead, it looked right at me and declared in a cold, emotionless robotic voice.

「EXTERMINATE.」