I Level Up With In-app Purchases

I Level Up With In-app Purchases – 72

EP.72 Hunting Monsters in the Contaminated Zone (5)

Thump!! Thump!!! Thump!!!

“Shit…”

The curses keep coming out.

It was a situation where vulgar swearing was inevitable.

It might have been because I wandered around too much while leaving a trail of blood scent.

Woof woof woof!!!!

Crack! Crack!

Kiyou~! Kiyou~!

All sorts of cries were circling around me.

Maybe it wasn’t Ariane who underestimated the contaminated zone, but me.

It seems I drew aggro once by flying through the sky making a racket, and then drew aggro again by leaving a scent of blood while bleeding.

And the result?

“Haha. It’s a mess.”

It had turned into a complete mess.

There were also flying monsters in the contaminated zone.

In the game, you might be able to purify an area by facing just a few monsters in a stage field, but in reality, you have to face dozens of monsters, incomparable to the game.

And I was in a position where I had to face not dozens, but five monsters.

This was because the monsters, who usually respected each other’s territories, had abandoned their areas to chase after me.

Thanks to that, three types of monsters were now baring their teeth at me.

‘The moment I go down to the ground, I’m dead.’

In fact, even hanging from a tree wasn’t particularly safe.

One of the five monsters targeting me had wings.

But the only winged one didn’t seem to have any intention of hunting me yet.

That was probably the confidence of being able to catch me anytime.

Feeling unnecessarily heated, I shouted at the bastards on the ground who were drooling while staring at me.

“You sons of bitches, you can’t climb up here. No matter how much you bark, you can’t eat me.”

Woof woof woof woof woof!!!

…They couldn’t understand what I was saying, right?

The foaming dogs spun around in circles, barking frantically.

Crunch!

Yelp!

And as if displeased by their seizure-like behavior, the rhino-like monster—the Perongpa I had caught once during my mercenary activities—attacked the wolf-heads.

‘That’s got to hurt the ribs.’

The thick-looking skin was torn by the horn, bleeding profusely.

I’m not sure if you remember, but Perongpa is the one that uses this ability.

I also remember that its delivery price was 43,000 won.

‘One gacha pull… I could probably catch that one now if I tried.’

There’s one Perongpa, and three wolf-heads.

I wasn’t sure which of them was stronger, but I was hoping the Perongpa with fewer numbers would win.

Judging by how they were having a standoff over ‘me’ as prey, I guessed their abilities might be similar.

‘Should I have caught it instead of running away? No, catching the Perongpa wasn’t something I did alone. It would have been difficult without the help of the mercenaries. Even if I’ve awakened, it’s dangerous to rely too much on my strength and act recklessly.’

The wolf-heads bared their teeth at the Perongpa that attacked them, but didn’t readily counterattack.

If it had been just them, a fight would have broken out long ago.

But because there was one more creature among them, the fight wasn’t happening.

Kiyou~! Kiyou~!

“Damn, that cry is disgusting.”

Kiyou~! Kiyou~!

It’s a creature reminiscent of a large crow.

As if it heard what I said about it, it widely opened its beak and stuck out its tongue, laughing with a “kyaruruk” sound.

Kyaruruk~ Kyaruruk~

…This bastard is definitely mocking me.

This one was bigger than both the wolf-heads and the Perongpa.

Instinctively, I thought I couldn’t beat this one.

Even if I plastered it with scrolls.

That creature knew it too.

It could snatch and kill me in an instant, but it didn’t.

‘That’s 100% just posturing to mock the ones below.’

That one is probably full.

It’s thinking of killing me for fun, but since there are two more creatures aiming for me, it wants to tease those two.

When it comes to nasty personalities, no profession can match mercenaries.

‘It’s probably waiting for the two monsters to start fighting.’

Then it will snatch me and show me to them while cackling.

It’s frustrating, but thanks to that creature’s playfulness, I’m still breathing.

If not for that, I would have been snatched by its talons and had my heart pierced long ago.

‘What should I do.’

Even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you can survive if you keep your wits about you.

I had to find a way to survive from now on.

‘The leisurely one is annoying, but…’

If I mess with that one, I’m instantly screwed.

I rummaged through my bag, thinking about what I could do.

And I found an item that might have some potential.

‘Fireworks.’

How about using these fireworks to draw attention?

The situation is already a mess, so what’s the harm in making it even messier?

If I’m lucky, Ariane might come my way, or even a being that even that arrogant crow monster can’t handle might appear.

‘At the very least, I can’t let time pass in this state.’

If that happens, I’ll die for sure.

‘If I were with Ariane, we might be able to do something about that arrogant bird bastard. He’s overpowered after all.’

Come on, Ariane!!

I lit the fireworks with hope.

Fizzzzzzzzz-

The fuse burned quickly as I raised my hand holding the fireworks skyward.

Whooooosh! Bang!

Whoooosh! Baaang! Bang! Bang bang!

The monsters, who had been in the midst of a standoff, were startled by the sudden loud noise and stopped their confrontation to flee.

Flap flap! Flap flap!

The same went for the crow monster that had been targeting me.

It was comical to see it flapping its black wings in surprise.

“Now you can’t just keep messing around, can you?”

All that was left now was to watch the aftermath that these fireworks would bring about.

Boom!! Boom!! Boom!!

Grrrrowl~!!

Kiyou~! Kiyou~!

The monsters, startled by the fireworks, belatedly let out cries revealing their wariness.

The three-headed wolf, sensing danger, quickly disappeared, leaving only the crow monster and the Perongpa.

With the wolves gone, the Perongpa started ramming its large horn into the tree I was sitting on.

Boom! Thud! Boom! Thud!

Crackle crackle

The tree couldn’t withstand the Perongpa’s horn for long.

Just before the tree fell, I used my psychic power to move to an intact tree.

When the Perongpa couldn’t see me in the fallen tree, it snorted, “Puff! Puff!”

Having chased away the wolves, it must be frustrated that it couldn’t catch its prey – me – as I kept slipping away.

‘I can’t just let myself be caught. Judging by that thing’s behavior, it seems like it’s drawn the aggro of something terrifying…’

The Perongpa should have run away instead of focusing on me.

Why else would the crow monster, which had been leisurely watching us, suddenly become tense and wary of its surroundings?

It looked ready to spread its wings and flee to the sky at any moment.

Judging by that creature’s attitude, there was no doubt that something ominous was approaching.

Trusting my sense of danger, I hid myself in a large tree, suppressing my presence as much as possible.

Thump thump thump-

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

“???”

And just as a question mark finally appeared on the face of the most oblivious Perongpa,

A massive shadow, pushing aside trees with sheer force, instantly snatched the Perongpa’s side.

Crunch!!!!

Squawk!

With a short scream of agony, it vanished in an instant.

“…..”

“…..”

Gulp -!

Unbelievable as it was, all I saw was just a shadow.

That shadow had ‘mouthed’ the Perongpa and disappeared.

Just how huge must it be to fit a Perongpa in one bite?

‘Have the nobles been dealing with such monsters all this time?’

I felt the need to offer a prayer for a moment.

Though I wasn’t a believer, I thought that humanity’s survival so far must have been due to divine mercy.

‘How do you take down something like that?’

I sighed deeply and checked my still trembling hands.

It was lucky that the unidentified massive shadow had been satisfied with just one Perongpa and left.

Though I couldn’t help but feel a bit of regret that it hadn’t been the crow bastard that got eaten instead of the Perongpa.

The crow monster, which had survived at the brink of death thanks to its instincts far stronger than mine, let out a deep sigh as its stiffened body relaxed.

It’s a living being too, after all.

It was only natural to feel relief at having survived.

‘I need to run away…’

The problem is, my situation isn’t any different from that thing’s.

I know this is my only chance to escape, but my legs won’t move.

On the contrary, the crow monster was recovering from its paralysis faster than I was.

“Shit.”

Kiyou~ Kiyou~ Kiyou~

It spread its wings.

Its wingbeats were sluggish at first due to the paralysis, but soon its sturdy wings lifted its heavy body into the air.

And finally, it charged towards me.

Swoooosh -!!!

【 Fatal Strike 】

As I sensed my impending death, biting my lip hard and preparing to use my psychic power to the fullest to repel the creature,

Its head fell off with a snap!

“?!!”

“Phew. Success!”

The one who saved me was a small-bodied girl.

Surprisingly, it was a familiar technique I had seen in the game before.

The girl, her eyes sparkling – no, with dark circles and looking a bit haggard – blinked and approached me.

“It really is you! Mr. Mercenary Boss! I thought I might be hearing things because I missed you so much, you know? But that couldn’t be! You set off those fireworks, right?”

The girl looked at me, hopping up and down on the spot to express her joy.

The dagger in her hand was drenched in the blood of the monster she had just slain.

I swallowed once to loosen my stiff tongue and called out the girl’s name.

“Ariane.”

That’s right.

The girl who saved me was Ariane.

The girl I had been desperately searching for had come to find me after hearing the sound of the fireworks.

“Hehe! That’s me! I thought I was going to die stranded here. How did you manage to call for me at just the right moment? That’s my bag, right?! Ah! I’m hungry! Thirsty! Is there any food left in the bag?”

Ariane barely acknowledged my thanks and skillfully spotted her bag, snatching it away.

Then she rummaged through the bag, first pulling out food and stuffing it into her mouth.

“Ahh~!”

She gulped down water in one shot too.

Munch munch munch munch -!

She was stuffing her face until her cheeks bulged out.

Having starved for two days, Ariane seemed to have lost her mind at the sight of food.

I needed time to relax as well, so I didn’t try to stop Ariane from eating so wildly.