"Ahh-ahh-ahh!"
The monkey's angry screech reverberated through the forest, and they all began chasing me with fierce determination in their eyes.
Shit shit shit shit, I have to run. I can't possibly defeat this many monkeys on my own. Even with Truck's help, it'll be tough.
I started to run with all my might. They started to chase me, that's not the only thing. They even started throwing stuff at me.
Most of them threw the brown, gooey, and stinky thing at me. I managed to avoid most of them but still, some managed to hit me.
I have to somehow find a way to escape this shit storm, literally. They were starting to get very close to me, I don't know what would happen to me if they managed to catch me.
Thinking about that sends a shiver down my spine. The sun was starting to set, suddenly the System Screen popped up.
*Your SumMon's cooldown time is completed.*
Finally, some good news after all this time. I need to increase my speed as much as possible.
The monkeys were getting very close. One of them was reaching for my leg, attempting to make me trip and fall.
It came dangerously close to my leg, and it would have succeeded if I were even a second late. I activated the skill.
*Skill Share - Acceleration*
Suddenly, my speed increased, but this is not enough. To escape, I need to run as fast as possible. Run, DoDo, run.
*Acceleration*
*Acceleration*
*Acceleration*
*Acceleration*
*Acceleration*
After six successful Accelerations I was as fast as a fuc- what I meant to say was, I am the flas- not that one as well. What I really meant to say was, I am Speed.
*Ping*
*Ping*
*Ping*
*Ping*
*Ping*
While I was running away from the monkeys, I was getting bombarded by notifications. Isn't there any way to shut this thing up? It's starting to get annoying.
After running like a madman, I somehow managed to successfully escape the forest, and the monkeys stopped chasing me once I left the forest.
*Huff Huff Huff*
I laid down on the ground and gasping for air and was covered in my own sweat and the brown, gooey, and stinky thing of the monkeys. My sweat made that smell even worse. Goddammit, what did I do to deserve this?
Finally, after catching my breath, I finally managed to summon Truck again. For some reason he was shocked.
"Wha-what happened? Where are we? What happened to you? You look like you are covered in sh-"
"Alright alright, that's enough of that", I interrupted him before he finished his sentence. And asked him.
"Why do you look so surprised?"
"Well, actually I was sleeping when you summoned me"
"What? You can sleep?"
"I was surprised as well at first but actually there was nothing for me to actually do when I am unsummoned so I just slept"
"Hmm… What does it actually look like when you get unsummoned? Are you trapped in some kind of alternative dimension with nothing there except vast emptiness, just like my heart?"
"What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you sound like a teenager trying to impress everyone but ending up embarrassing themselves?"
"Well, that was oddly specific. But come on, tell me, what does it look like?"
"Well, actually, it's pretty nice. When summons like me get unsummoned, we actually go to a place called the SumMoners Nexus."
"The SumMoners Nexus? What's that?" I asked curiously.
"Well, it's basically where all the unsummoned Monsters go. It's a very big and beautiful place that's below the Earth's surface. That place is so huge that it has its own weather system and climate inside."
"What? There's a place like that? Can I visit it somehow?"
"Hmm… I'm not sure. As far as I know, only the SumMons can enter that place."
"Well, whatever. For now, let's get out of this place."
I told Truck but he interpreted me for some reason.
"Actually, I wanted to ask you something."
"Hmm… what is it"
"As I have mentioned before, I am not the only one inside SumMoners Nexus, there are others summons as well, I tried talking to them but no one seems to understand me."
"I see, so what do you want me to do?"
"Actually, I found a skill called Linguistics which allows you to communicate with anyone, no matter if you are a person of any race, a demon, or even a monster."
"Ok, why are you saying this to me?"
"Actually, I want to buy that skill because It's kind of lonely there without anyone to talk with"
"If you want to buy it you should just buy it. Why are you asking this to me?"
"Well, the thing is, that skill will not work on monsters unless it reaches rank C, which can be easily achieved by using the P.O.W.E.R Points."
"So, you are asking me whether to buy that skill or not?"
"Yes, because the total comes to around 1000 points, and I am at level 5, so I have a total of 1500 points."
Hmm… that's kind of expensive but I kind of understand what Truck's trying to say, as his summoner I should allow him to have it.
"Alright, you can get that skill, but you should work harder to compensate for that."
"Thank you. To be honest, I thought you would not allow me to have that skill because it's a huge waste of points."
"Well, to tell you the truth, it really is a huge waste of points. But I can understand where you are coming from. I know how it feels to be alone with no one to talk to," I continued.
"But you should not buy it until we reach the Random Town"
"That's fine with me, anyway you smell like shit. Even though I don't even have a nose you still stink a lot, what happened to you?"
*Sighs*
I sighed and said, "Don't get me started"
I explained everything that happened until now.
"Wow! You really went through a shit storm huh, how did you manage to get yourself in this kind of situation when I was gone for just a few hours?"
"It's not my fault. I came to Verdant Grove to collect some herbs for a quest, and suddenly they started attacking me because I may or may not have killed one of them."
"So, did you get any herbs?"
"Now that I think about it I was being bombarded by notifications when I was running for my life, let's see how much Renewmint I got. Inventory"
The familiar blue screen popped up and I checked the Inventory for the Renewmint there were a total of 569 Renewmint inside. Nice! Suddenly another screen popped up
Quest: Gathering
Collect 500 different herbs from Verdant Grove.
Quest Completed!
*Generating Reward Compendium. Compendium successfully generated. Adding a new feature to the Status Screen. System update in progress.*
*Update Successful! *
Great! I finally got the Compendium, and now that's one quest cleared. What does the other quest look like, "Quest Window". The familiar screen popped up once again.
Quest: Hunting
Hunt 500 different monsters from the Verdant Grove and collect their Energy stone.
Number of Monsters Hunted: 1/500
Number of Energy Stones Collected: 1/500
Reward: 1000 P.O.W.E.R Points
Hmm... I've only killed one monster and collected its Energy Stone. Unlike gathering quests, hunting quests seem like they'll take a long time based on this.
Well anyway, I am very tired because of all the running because of the monkeys let's go back to Random Town, turn in the quest, and get some rest. I got onto the Truck and started driving.
…..
After a few hours, I reached the outskirts of the town. This time, it only took me half the time it took to reach Verdant Grove.
"Truck, I am going inside the town, so I am going to unsummon you. You can buy that skill you wanted now, I will talk to you later"
"Alright, Good Night"
…..
After a few minutes, I reached the Adventurer's Guild, I entered and I saw Ember sitting at one of the desks. I approached her and greeted her.
"Hello Ember, I have completed my quest and would like to turn it in. Also, I managed to gather more than ten Renewmints. Can I turn those extras in together with the others for the quest?"
She saw me looking happy for some reason and started speaking, "Certainly, Mr. He— I mean, Mr. Doyama, Renewmints are always in demand. We are happy to have more, and, of course, we will pay for them accordingly."
I see then thats great, "Inventory". I opened my inventory and took out the Renewmints, placing them in front of Ember. Since there were more than five hundred of them, they formed a small green mountain.
She was shocked and started to stutter, "Mr-Mr. Doyama, when you said 'extra,' I thought you meant like three or four extras. How much is in this whole pile?"
"Hmm.. a little over five hundred I guess"
"Five hundred!" Her loud voice echoed throughout the guild, and everyone started looking at us.
Realizing the attention, she composed herself and continued speaking, "Sorry about that, Mr. Doyama. I was a bit shocked to learn that you managed to gather more than five hundred Renewmints in such a short time. Please wait a minute while I calculate your reward."
After a few minutes, she returned with a large bag and placed it in front of me, explaining, "Sorry for taking so long. There were quite a few Renewmints, so it took some time to count them all. Here's your reward: 11,380 coins."
"I see, then—wait, how much did you say it was?"
"It's 11,380 coins," she told me with a smiling face.
I took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs, "It's over 9000!"