I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Level Up With In-app Purchases – 69

EP.69 Hunting Monsters in the Contaminated Zone (2)

Rustle— Rustle—

Buzz buzz buzz— Slap!

“Ugh… I got bitten by a bug.”

When she decided to hunt monsters for her sister, she never imagined she would be doing such grueling work.

‘What was it that my second older sister used to say to me?’

“You don’t know because you’ve never enlisted.”

‘Tsk…’

Ariane always felt hurt whenever her sister said such cold words.

She even felt angry, feeling disrespected.

But because it was her sister, she tried to get along well without getting angry, letting it go in one ear and out the other. Now she thought that maybe it wasn’t just said out of dislike for her.

“Sister must have meant it sincerely.”

It’s only natural to look down on a younger sibling who hasn’t experienced these things.

“It’s so hard…!”

It’s not like there was anything special about going with the mercenaries.

But finding direction and forging a path alone turned out to be much harder than expected.

The bugs sticking to her face and body were unpleasant, and constantly having to check if she was going the right way was incredibly tiring, keeping her nerves on edge.

“Is this what life is like when you enlist?”

In a year’s time, she was destined to spend 10 years roaming the contaminated zones hunting monsters.

Even moving alone for a single day was making her head spin, and her sister had been doing this for years already.

“From now on, I should listen more carefully to what she says.”

Who would have known it was true? She thought it was said out of spite.

“What would I have done without the mercenary boss? Ariane is so lucky.”

Nod, nod!

She praised herself for her good fortune.

If it weren’t for the mercenary boss, she’d still be struggling in the city.

“I’m so glad I agreed to deliver that letter back then!”

Fran’s request, from such a brief encounter.

Actually, she had asked to deliver a letter to another friend and relay a message on her behalf.

But wanting to become closer to Fran, she impulsively volunteered to deliver the letter herself.

“And that’s how I got to meet the mercenary boss!”

Without the mercenary boss, it would have been impossible to come kill the monster that attacked her sister so quickly.

She thought she must definitely repay the mercenary boss.

And Fran too!

She walked briskly on her own.

Since she didn’t need to match the pace of ordinary people, the distance was rapidly decreasing.

‘If only it hadn’t gotten dark, I could have gone straight to kill it. What a shame.’

Finding herself alone in the contaminated zone, she realized just how dangerous this place was.

Even she could lose her life here if she let her guard down.

Keeping her guard up, she recalled what the mercenary boss had strongly advised.

“When it looks like it’s getting dark, find a suitable place to set up camp!”

He said she needed to make a place to spend the night before it got completely dark.

She diligently followed the mercenary boss’s instructions.

‘I still don’t know much. I have to act as I was taught.’

If she didn’t follow the mercenary boss’s instructions, she felt she might be completely devoured by something unknown in this forest where it’s hard to find direction.

That’s right.

‘I’m scared…’

She had entered the contaminated zone confidently saying she could do it, but in reality, she was completely on edge.

The thought of having to make her own sleeping place was daunting, and she was scared of even taking a short nap in this place.

She was experiencing brain freeze, having to do everything by herself in a situation where before, a sleeping place would appear just by standing still.

“What should I do first..? Ugh!! There’s so much I was told to do, I don’t know where to start. I need to remember, Ariane!! Focus!”

Um… first, he said to find a suitable place to sleep.

What’s a suitable place to sleep?

“A place with even ground. A good position where I won’t be ambushed. He said under a rock isn’t bad because even though there are lots of bugs, it won’t attract monsters’ attention… how many bug-repelling scrolls did I have…?”

All the instructions the mercenary boss had given her were jumbled up in her head.

She had to grasp her head and tackle things one by one.

First, she put down her bag that was about to burst and rummaged through it.

“I need this, and this too…”

How fortunate it was that she didn’t have to fear monster attacks thanks to her stealth ability!

Focusing on setting up camp for the first time, she steadily prepared to spend the night.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

“Hmm.”

It’s taking longer than expected.

“Did she get lost after all?”

Currently waiting for Ariane with the mercenaries.

If the plan had been executed normally, Ariane should have arrived several hours ago, but she hadn’t shown up.

As feared, she must be moving in the wrong direction.

Still, since she was told never to go west, it was possible to guess that she might have moved east far enough to pass us by.

“Please stay here quietly. If you leave this position, we won’t be able to protect you.”

Thinking to myself, “So the day has come when I have to use this,” I installed the highest-grade campsite barrier that only nobles use, and then stood up.

There was one method I had prepared for any unforeseen situations.

It was also a method very suitable for me, who had awakened psychokinetic powers.

It was climbing trees.

“Whew, this is quite intense.”

I wrapped both hands around the trunk of a large tree and used my psychokinesis to pull my body upwards.

After constantly training to handle psychokinesis, I became much more comfortable using the ability compared to when I first started.

‘I might have some talent in this area.’

Of course, that doesn’t mean I could catch up to students who have trained for decades.

…Enlisting is absolutely out of the question.

After climbing to the treetop, I looked down at the dizzying scenery below and used my psychokinesis to firmly secure myself to the tree.

While awakened ones are monsters who can jump down from such treetops without a care, I, a newly awakened rookie, needed to be careful not to fall.

‘I need to check what my stats are like.’

Once this job is safely completed, I should ask Sasha to measure my records again at a private training facility.

“By the way, where on earth did this girl go and what is she doing to have no news until now?”

Even though I had climbed quite high up the tree, I couldn’t see anything notable, probably because the forest was so dense.

Was it impossible to climb up a tree to check where Ariane was?

Still, since I had already come up, I decided to wait a bit in case of any unexpected situations.

‘We agreed to set off fireworks if she couldn’t find her way.’

It would be much easier to gauge the location by checking for fireworks from up in the tree.

To minimize the use of psychokinesis, I loosened the psychokinetic grip that had been tightly binding me to the tree.

Swish swish swish—!

The wind blew, causing the leaves to rustle and giving me a thrilling sensation, but as time passed and I started to adapt, I began to think it was actually a good way to kill time.

“The west… is in chaos.”

With my surprisingly improved eyesight, I checked the west and saw faint black smoke rising.

‘That’s probably near the front lines…’

The people over there must be experiencing a completely different time compared to me, who was peacefully killing time.

Somehow, as the wind blowing from the west brushed past my body, I felt like I could smell the pungent scent of blood.

“No, but where is she and what is she doing to have no news until this hour?”

Did she encounter monsters?

It doesn’t make sense that she wouldn’t have encountered any with the tracker in place.

And Ariane did have the target monster right in front of her.

If only someone hadn’t been fighting that monster.

She would have caught it long ago and returned to the group.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

“Nngh…”

Should I just go out and slit its throat?

No!

If they find out I was here, things will get out of hand!

It could have been the perfect crime, but of all things, the monster I was targeting was attacking the soldiers.

If I don’t help now, those people will all die.

It seemed that none of the soldiers had the skills to face that monster.

‘But stepping in would be too much to handle afterwards.’

I knew I shouldn’t be weighing human lives, but the truth was that I hesitated because of my own safety.

‘Aah!’

I should have killed that thing before it came to this.

It was a mistake to be patient and wait to execute the most perfect surprise attack, given that if the surprise attack failed, my own life would be in danger.

‘Who would have thought there’d be soldiers passing by just when I was looking for the perfect moment for a surprise attack…’

The monster, which had been sprawled out as if about to fall into a deep sleep, suddenly changed.

There was no way it would stay still when prey had come near on their own.

The monster pounced on the soldiers in an instant, and as you can see, we ended up in this bewildering situation where we can’t do this or that.

‘Actually, now would be a good time for a surprise attack. It’s completely distracted by others.’

I could tell instinctively.

That if I launched a surprise attack, it would work perfectly.

The problem was what came after taking down the monster.

‘How should I explain this?’

I can’t use stealth again right after using it once.

There would be a delay, and the soldiers would catch a glimpse of me.

‘Why do I have to be so cute… Being too noticeably pretty isn’t good either!’

And as everyone knows, I was a celebrity.

I had been renowned as a genius since birth and loved by many for my cute appearance.

Even if all those soldiers didn’t recognize me, they could soon deduce who I was based on my description.

An academy student suddenly appearing in the contaminated zone?!

‘Ugh…! I’m definitely going to get scolded severely.’

By my parents, by the academy teachers.

They’re already keeping a close eye on me for running away from home, and if they find out my destination was the contaminated zone, they’ll flip out.

Could I really handle the aftermath?

I feel dizzy just thinking about it.

But what else can I do?

There are people about to die right before my eyes.

【 Stealth 】

Swoosh—!

There was no more time to think.

I used stealth to hide without anyone sensing my presence.

And then.

GROOOOAAAR!!!!!!!

I quickly approached the back of the monster as it roared mightily to instill fear in the soldiers.

I had already inflicted poison on the monster while it was fighting the soldiers.

‘Perfect timing!’

It was so focused on fighting the soldiers that it didn’t even notice it had been poisoned.

There was a reason why I had to stack the poison effect five times, so the presence of the soldiers might have been a stroke of luck for me.

Swish swish swish—!

The wind blew where I had passed.

The grass under my feet made no sound as I brushed past, but I couldn’t prevent the wind generated by my movement.

But I wasn’t worried.

I was confident I could finish the job before the monster noticed this sudden, unusual wind.

【 Fatal Strike 】

Slash!!!

The monster’s green blood sprayed in all directions through its sliced neck.

The dagger my father gave me as a birthday present last year deeply cut through the monster’s nape.

It was a powerful strike that instantly severed even the bone.