"Ugh…," I clutched my head, groaning, "How much did I drink last night?"
I was in the kitchen drinking a glass of water.
"Marin," Marie said from behind me, "Are you going to a Dungeon today?"
"Huh? Yeah," I responded, turning around.
"...What level is it?" Marie asked, furrowing her brow.
"It's only Green," I said with a wave of my hand, "Don't worry."
"Yeah but the last Dungeon was also Green!" Marie said loudly, "You almost died!"
I could only stay silent. Marie was worried about me. If I had to be honest, if it weren't for the new Skill that I got, then I might've considered quitting. Yeah, the pay is pretty good even for an E-Rank. Yeah, it would be pretty hard to get a job that pays well since I never finished high school. But, I also didn't want to stress Marie out. If I got injured, then Marie would have to do something to take care of Dad and me. If I got killed, then Marie would be left alone.
The only reason why I decided to keep being a Hunter even after almost dying so many times was because there was a hope in me that I could get stronger and take better care of my family. My hope held out for years, and now, I finally have an opportunity to get stronger.
"I'll be extra careful, Marie," I said with a smile, trying to reassure my sister, "I promise."
"...," Marie looked down, "W-whatever… Just don't die or something."
After that, she went to her room. It was Sunday, so she'd probably just stay home for the whole day.
I left the apartment with my sword and a bag for magic stones and Monster parts. I also had a backpack with some supplies. At the last Dungeon, I didn't dismantle any of the Monsters since we were on a limited amount of time and there were other people with me. However, today, I'd be entering a Dungeon by myself since I didn't want people to see me using my Skill. I've entered Dungeons by myself countless times, but sometimes, it's more difficult to get permission to go into one on my own. Or course, I never told Marie about it.
I've never killed a Dungeon Boss on my own before, but I was definitely capable of surviving inside of a Green or Blue Dungeon and fighting against the Monsters in those levels of Dungeons.
Today, I was planning to use my new Skill, Envy of a Glutton, against the Monsters in a Dungeon. When I used it on Uma, my Strength Stat rose. I'm hoping to be able to increase my Stats first before getting Skills, but I don't think I can control the Envy of a Glutton Skill.
I didn't run into Uma when I left the house, so I thought that he must have a day off or something. I made my way to the train station that I usually went to and got onto a train that would take me to a big city called City Zero. It was the city in between City C and City B, and was actually built during the time of recovery after the Shatter.
City Zero was a big and clean city, but since it was so new, it looked pretty different from all the other cities. Apparently, there is also a lot of crime activity there. I haven't been there much. I've only gone there for a couple Dungeons, but from what I remember, it's pretty nice if you don't encounter any suspicious people.
According to what I learned in high school a long time ago, City Zero used to be a fort. People used it to defend against hordes of Monsters that would flood from a certain Tower near City C. City C and some other cities around it used to be ravaged by Monsters that came from the Tower nearby.
I looked outside a window on the train. Outside, I saw the Tower that used to spew out a continuous stream of Monsters in the city I lived in. This was the first and only Tower that has ever been cleared completely. I don't how they did it, but somehow, the Hunters of the past were able to stop Monsters from coming out of the Tower.
Although none of the other Towers have been cleared completely, it's not like they always spawned Monsters either. Some of them were partially cleared, and even the ones that haven't been touched much aren't too active. It seems that they've calmed down over the years since their appearance.
It didn't take long for the train to reach City Zero. I got off the train and left the train station. The moment I entered City Zero, a setting that wasn't too familiar to me met my eyes. Looking up, I saw towering skyscrapers, the sunlight reflecting off the windows that were all over the buildings. On the streets, there were a countless number of cars and people. The noises that filled the air here completely contrasted what I would usually hear in City C.
While traversing the bustling crowd, I looked at a digital map on my phone, making my way towards where the Dungeon Gate was located. Eventually, I found myself in an alleyway. Floating a couple inches off the ground in the alleyway, was a green Dungeon Gate shaped like an oval.
"You're Marin Skye?" a Dungeon Manager came up to me and asked.
I nodded.
"E-Rank, right?" he asked, looking down at some paper.
"Yes, that's correct," I nodded again.
"Alright," he nodded back, "How much time do you want inside the Dungeon? Please note that once the allotted time has run out, people from the Hunter Association will be sent to find you."
"Of course," I responded, "I'd like to have 5 hours in the Dungeon, please."
"...Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, "I'm an E-Rank, but I know my way around a Dungeon."
"If you say so," he nodded, "Alright. It is 9:37 right now. Be sure to come back on time."
After that, the Dungeon Manager left me alone as I quickly double checked that I had everything prepared. Then, I entered the Dungeon.
The moment I entered the Dungeon, a warm wind brushed over my face. I found myself out of the big city, surrounded by a green field of tall grass. I took a deep breath of the fresh air. Yes, this is exactly how it was described.
This Dungeon wasn't found too long ago. I did some research and I learned a bit about this Dungeon before I decided to enter it. This is a Dungeon with a pretty safe environment. Here, the only Monsters that should show up are rabbits. I thought that after killing the rabbit Monsters, I could dismantle them, and I could also use my Skill on them.
That's why, in my bag, I also brought along some stuff that I could use to wash rabbit hairs. After that, I could eat them and gain the rabbit Monsters' Stats and Skills. It's a pretty genius plan if I do say so myself.
I looked around. All I could see was tall grass in all directions. I knew that if I tried to go too far out, then I'd be stopped by some sort of invisible barrier. That's how it was when there was a Dungeon like this. There would be an invisible barrier that would stop you from going too far away from the Dungeon Gate. The Dungeon Boss would always be within those invisible borders.
In this tall grass, it would be difficult to spot any rabbits that could be approaching me. There was only one thing that I could think to do. Honestly, I was kind of surprised that no one else did this.
I unsheathed my sword. Then, I took a couple steps away from the Dungeon Gate. After that, I swung my sword in a wide arc. I swung my sword a total of four times in order to cut down the grass around me. When I was cutting down the grass, I accidentally killed two rabbit Monsters that were hiding. That's when I noticed something.
"Hold on…," I said to myself, looking at the rabbit corpses, "Why are they both hairless?"
The rabbits Monsters that I killed were completely hairless. I couldn't see a single strand of hair on their bodies. Now that I think about it, the weather in this Dungeon is pretty warm…
"If all the Monsters in this Dungeon are hairless, then how am I going to use my Skill on them?" I wondered aloud, "There's got to be at least some Monsters with fur in this Dungeon, right? I really don't want to eat any Monster flesh… at least not yet…"
Sighing, I started dismantling the rabbit Monsters. They were pretty small, about the size of actual rabbits, and I've done this a bunch of times before, so it didn't take long. After I finished, I put the dismantled parts into the bag that I had. Later, I'd go to the Hunter Association Office and trade these in for some extra profit along with the magic stones that I'd get.
In this field of grass, there's no way that I'll be able to sneak up on any rabbit Monsters, especially since I'm much larger and easier to spot than them. It also might be difficult for me to see them.
Here's what the Monsters will most likely do. They're rabbits, so they are fast and small. With their sense of smell and hearing, they'll be able to find me pretty easily and try to sneak up on me. These rabbit Monsters have really sharp teeth and powerful jaws, but I can also defeat these rabbits with one well-aimed strike with my sword.
I think it'll be best to clear out some grass and stay in one area. If I end up running into a group of rabbits, then it'll be hard to deal with them. Here, I'm pretty close to the Dungeon Gate, so if I need to, I can run away. Hopefully, if I stay here and kill enough rabbits, then the Dungeon Boss will also show up eventually. It would be great if I could eat a part of the Dungeon Boss.
I cleared out some more grass with my sword. Then, I stood still with my sword in both hands. I focused my ears as I waited for a rabbit Monster to appear.
It didn't take long for a rabbit to try to attack me. Hearing the slight rustling of grass, I turned my entire body towards the direction of the sound. The moment I did, I saw something coming towards me.
If it weren't for my experience, then I would've freaked out. I kept calm and waited for the Monster to get closer. The brown rabbit Monster jumped from the grass, baring its sharp fangs at me. However, before it could reach me, I swung my sword in a diagonal arc.
My strike reached the rabbit, splitting its entire head. I killed the rabbit, but there wasn't time to rest.
The moment I killed the rabbit, I heard the sound of rustling grass again. This time, it was directly behind me. I pivoted my foot and turned around, preparing to slash with my sword.
As I turned, I saw another rabbit flying towards me, its red eyes gleaming. I took a quick breath before swinging my sword at the rabbit. Its body was bisected in midair by my blade as it made a squealing sound before dying.
Before I could even recover from my attack, I heard the sounds of grass once again. I quickly prepared my sword for the upcoming attack. This time, two rabbits appeared, though they both jumped at me from the same direction.
I was able to kill one of them in midair before narrowly dodging the other one's fangs. It landed on the ground and leapt back towards me, trying to catch my body with its teeth.
It was too fast to dodge, so I raised my sword up to block. The rabbit landed on the flat of my sword. It screeched as it chewed on the metal. Before it could do anything, I slammed my sword into the ground, crushing the rabbit Monster underneath the cold metal of my blade.
That was the end of the rabbits' assault on me. My brain was in overdrive, but this wasn't the first time that this happened. My endurance and defense were dependent on my Vitality Stat which was 9 right now. If it weren't for my upgraded Strength Stat, then I'd have a much harder time wielding my sword to fight so many fast Monsters by myself.
I stood in the same spot, catching my breath. In total, I've killed 6 rabbits despite only being here for less than an hour. I looked at the rabbit corpses around me before sighing. Only one of them had any fur…
"Today's going to be a long day isn't it?" I asked no one in particular.