The Sun rose, signalling the next morning. After freshening up and having breakfast, Hunter made his way to the front desk and finally got discharged. His doctor told him to return if he felt any pain from his arm and to not ignore it.
Upon agreeing to the doctor if he's in need of medical attention, Hunter thanked the doctor and the nurses, leaving the hospital, making his way to the Hunter Guild.
In only a few minutes, Hunter arrived at the front desk of the Hunter Guild and stood in line. The hunters, males and females, had their eyes fixed on Hunter, making him slightly uncomfortable.
'What are they staring at...?' he asked himself.
[Fresh meat]
'But... I'm not a new hunter...'
[Of course you aren't. But, according to them, you're a new person. Your hair is slightly darker and your eyes are no longer brown. Plus, you've gotten taller from the last two days. You might as well call yourself a new man. Not to mention those ugly freckles-]
'What's your deal with my freckles, System Rosana?' Hunter inquired as he squinted his eyes.
"Next please," the receptionist said, prompting Hunter to step forward.
"Hey there, Amelia," Hunter greeted the receptionist with a gentle smile.
"Hey, how's it go-" Suddenly, Amelia ceased greeting Hunter and widened her eyes as she turned from her computer to look at him.
"Mh? What's wrong?" Hunter inquired, clearly concerned about the facial expression on Amelia's face.
"Oh, sorry..." Amelia apologized with a wide smile on her face. 'Who is this? And, how does he know my name...?' she asked herself. "What brings you here?"
"I'd like to enter a tier 16 dungeon," replied Hunter.
"Okay..." Amelia said as she typed on her computer. "Any specific type of dungeon you'd like to explore?"
"Any dungeon is fine."
"Great. Let's see your hunter licence," said Amelia as she held out her hand.
After reaching into his pocket, Hunter handed Amelia his hunter licence. Amelia gently took it and looked at the name. Her eyes widened after seeing who the man standing before her was.
"Hunter?! Hunter Quinn?!" she exclaimed as she looked at Hunter.
"Uh... yeah..."
"What the hell? I thought you had brown eyes. And your freckles are gone too..."
"It's a long story... Can I get that...?"
"Oh, right! Of course!" said Amelia as she scanned Hunter's licence and handed it back to him afterwards. "You already know the drill. The Hunter Guild will take 40% of the loot you find in the dungeon."
"Of course. I'll see you around."
As Hunter walked away, Amelia looked at him and felt her heart beat a little faster.
'He was cute before, but now... He's a damn stud...' she said to herself as her cheeks slightly reddened.
"Excuse me..." a lady spoke to the distracted Amelia.
"Oh, sorry! How can I help you?" she quickly replied with a gentle smile on her face.
As mentioned before, the Hunter Guild will take 40% of the loot Hunter finds. There are two reasons for this. 1, Hunter is still below tier 10, which is when the Guild starts taking only 15% and 2, Hunter isn't signed by a hunter agency.
Hunters signed under an agency are paid directly by the agency and only explore the dungeons the agency has. But, if they choose to explore dungeons from hunter guilds, the guild only takes 5% from them and an additional 3% from the agency.
The reason behind the small percentage is that if a hunter agency promotes a certain guild for their cheap business, the Hunter Guild is more likely to receive more hunters and could potentially become an organisation.
Knowing all that, Hunter stood in front of a wooden dungeon door. Facing his palms towards the door, allowing his energy to flow around his hand, he opened the dungeon door and smelled the scent of fresh, wet grass.
[Time to set up your objectives]
[Objectives set!]
{Kill 100 Venus Fly Traps [000/100]
Kill 100 Mutant Moths [000/100]
Kill 50 Giant Grasshoppers [0/50]
Kill the dungeon master [0/1]}
"A forest dungeon. Is this how many monsters there are in this dungeon?" queried Hunter as he stepped into the dungeon.
[Negative. The numbers on screen are simply a guide. Once you've successfully completed all your objectives...]
Suddenly, Hunter heard the dungeon lock behind him, spooking him.
[You won't be going anywhere...]
"Did you just lock me in here with monsters that are stronger than me?!" exclaimed Hunter, forcing System Rosana to appear in its orb form.
[You killed a pack of dark panthers the other day. A few Venus Fly Traps should be easy, Hunter Quinn. Besides, this should allow you to grow stronger at a much quicker rate.
If you just turn tail and run, there's no way you'll actually be able to fight stronger hunters. And trust me, you will find stronger hunters]
Hunter kept silent and sighed in pure exasperation. His system was helpful but it was also extremely infuriating. It was forcing him and putting him in dangerous situations. But, he also understood that that was the only way for him to actually get stronger.
He reached into his [Infinite Inventory] and pulled out his Steel Dagger. Upon observation, Hunter realised that his dagger wasn't too durable. It would break as soon as he's killed atleast 150 monsters.
But, he would worry about that when the problem actually arose. And so, he continued walking through the dense forest dungeon.
The dungeon was covered in multiple vines, tall trees and bushes half the height of Hunter. There were no animals nearby, as expected of a dungeon filled with Mutated Moths and Giant Grasshoppers. Hunter traversed through the dense forest, slashing the vines and bushes as he walked.
As he continued walking, he suddenly felt his leg getting tangled in a vine. No problem. He cut it and stepped forward, continuing his traversing. But, he felt his other leg get tangled and he stopped moving. He looked at his leg and squinted his eyes in suspicion.
Something was going on, and he didn't like it.
Hunter, once again, cut the vine trapping his leg and continued walking. This time, however, both his legs got tangled by the vine. All of a sudden, Hunter was flung into the air, screaming and hanging upside down.
"What the-?!" he exclaimed as he looked below him.
His eyes widened and his heart began pounding out of his chest. Below him was a giant Venus Fly Trap. It's mouth was wide open, showing its sharp teeth and fangs on each end. Its tongue slashed back and fourth, slobber leaking out of its mouth.
Hunter's eyes widened as he was being lowered by the vines that trapped him.
"Shit! If I cut the vines, I'll just end up landing inside this monster's mouth! But, if I don't do something, I'll get eaten! What do I do?!"
[Nothing. You clearly don't have a spell that allows you to burn monsters that are susceptible to fire attacks]
Hunter faced his palm towards the Venus Fly Trap's mouth and blasted his Black Flames, immediately incinerating the monster in mere seconds. The vines binding Hunter's legs released him, causing him to fall on his face.
"Ow..." Hunter said as he picked himself up and rubbed his face. "Whoa. These Black Flames are powerful. It turned into ashes in mere seconds..."
[Unlike Red or Blue Flames, White and Black Flames burn eternally, until they kill what they're burning]
"Wow. So many flame varieties..."
[Right? What a time to be alive]
{Kill 100 Venus Fly Traps [001/100]
Kill 100 Mutant Moths [000/100]
Kill 50 Giant Grasshoppers [00/50]
Kill the dungeon master [0/1]}
Hunter continued walking. 2 minutes later, his legs were wrapped in vines once again. He was once again, got lifted into the air and hung upside down. A Venus Fly Trap showed itself and opened its mouth widely, slowly lowering Hunter towards it.
Hunter burnt the Venus Fly Trap and fell on his face once again. An additional minute later, he was once again, captured by a Venus Fly Trap and quickly burnt it to ashes. This happened for a good while until Hunter became aggravated after being trapped more than 10 times.
Catching his breath, Hunter asked, "System Rosana... You got any info on Venus Fly Traps and how to safely kill them without getting trapped?"
[Venus Fly Traps use a significant amount of energy juts to open and close their mouths. Simply find a way to exhaust its energy and it'll die on its own]
"That'll take too long. I want to get out of here as soon as possible..."
[Would you prefer getting flung into the air rather than safely pruning them?]
"... What's the best way to quickly locate a Venus Fly Trap?"
[The vines of a Venus Fly Trap are slightly brown on their end, depending on how long its been since they've had a meal. Considering that you're a tier 18, I'm assuming it's been a while since they've eaten]
Hunter smirked and climbed a nearby tree. Once he was at the top, he began surveying the area until he found a brown vine. He faced his palm towards the vine and created a small fireball. Then, he shot it, making the Venus Fly Trap reveal itself and open its mouth widely.
'If I can't close its mouth repeatedly, I'll just prune it by cutting off its head!' Hunter said as he coated his dagger in Black Flames and threw it like a boomerang.
It quickly made its way towards the monster's nape and pruned it, causing the trap to quickly dry out and die.
{Kill 100 Venus Fly Traps [015/100]
Kill 100 Mutant Moths [000/100]
Kill 50 Giant Grasshoppers [0/50]
Kill the dungeon master [0/1]}