I’m so curious about Maki and Izumi’s conversation that eavesdropping isn’t enough, I have to turn around.
“Ah, are you curious? Maki is popular.”
“Of course. I immediately fell for her when I saw her. I know her cuteness is popular, but I didn’t know how much.”
“Au…”
“Wao, passionate.☆”
Maki presses her face, looking embarrassed.
I’ve only ever looked at the boards for the 525 and 810 dungeons, not any others. I don’t go there because their stuff isn’t related to dungeons, but they’re typically awful. Ever since I got together with Aki and Maki, boards that supposedly had nothing to do with that were in an uproar.
The original board isn’t for novices to blindly jump in. It’ll be scary for sure… Well, they must have calmed down since then.
“I-I’m sorry Izumi. I don’t really look at that, so I wouldn’t know…”
“Eh, really?”
“You’re really popular. There are ten branches in area one, and you’re number one among over a hundred receptionists.”
“I get that. Maki is cute. Izumi ranks high in area two as well, so she might see you as a rival.”
“W-wait Kasumi! Shh! Shh!!”
Izumi gets flustered, and Maki giggles.
“Really? Fufu, but you’re cute Izumi. You will get more popular soon for sure.”
“…There is no need for flattery.”
“That’s not it. What is your level, Izumi?”
“Thirty.”
“Then it will probably be all right. I think the world will be forced to change today…”
Maki looks at me, and then at Izumi like she’s consoling her.
I understand what that expression meant, but I actually don’t understand this concept of higher levels affecting beauty. All the girls around me were beautiful and cute to begin with… They became more charming as they leveled up, but didn’t change on a fundamental level.
Do I just feel that way because I have a good eye?
“Y-you’re scaring me.”
“Fufu.”
Level thirty… Maybe it would be a good idea to have their first target be a rare II instead of a regular rare. We keep advancing as I think, but I stop when I sense a presence up ahead.
We’re almost at the ascent, and the red mark I saw on the map before we left should be around here. It wasn’t moving at all, so it should be here if it hasn’t moved…
Now where is it?
“Hm…”
In front of me I see an uphill rocky slope and nothing else. I don’t see the presence that should be here.
“Big brother?”
“…Is that it?”
Rock and sand, perfectly mimicking the ground. This camouflage is so good, that I wouldn’t know it was there if I wasn’t already aware.
＊＊＊＊＊
Name: Hide hunter
Level: 35
Physical Strength: 380
Dexterity: 450
Constitution: 180
Agility: 340
Magic Energy: 200
Intelligence: 200
Luck: None
Arts skills: Hiding Lv1, Presence Obstruction Lv1
Equipment: None
Drops: Hide hunter camouflage film
Magic stone: Medium
＊＊＊＊＊
“Uoh, a regular monster with a medium magic stone. Like the forest bear, but this is clearly stronger and has nice skills.”
“Eh, a monster? Where!?”
“…I have also found it. Good job elder brother! You noticed its presence so quickly from this distance.”
“Oh, you’ve already got it? Nice going, Hazuki.”
I tap her head, and she fidgets.
“Uu… I want to be praised too, but my ability to find things is nowhere near Hazuki’s… But I can’t find it…”
“Come on Kasumi, they’re straight ahead.”
“Uu…?”
As I mess around with Hazuki and Kasumi, the others also line up and start looking.
Aki and Maki know about the monsters here to some extent, and Aira is Aira. They don’t look for it like the others, and instead watch over them from a little further back.
Haru also spots it, and since the others reached their limit at the fifty meter mark, they decide to get closer.
“…Ah! Is that it? It’s like a lizard facing right!”
“Oh, correct. Good job noticing it from forty meters.”
“Hehehe.”
But at this distance, only Kasumi notices the camouflaged lizard. Ayane and Irina, and Renka and Izumi can’t find it. Its name tells me it’s the kind to hide and attack, but I wonder.
“Aki, Maki, you can tell us now.”
“Okay. There’s not much we know though.”
“They have the highest levels and stats out of all the regular monsters in the beginner dungeon. And their peculiarities mean normal adventures don’t approach them out of fear of accidents.”
“They’re higher than the golem variants. Normal adventurers avoid those bears, so it’s normal that they don’t mess with something of that level… Do you know how close we can get before they attack?”
“No, that’s not been investigated one bit.”
“Then go ahead, Shouta!”
“Okay. Roll the camera, we should record the base monsters too.”
“Yes.”
“Yes!”
I step forward, and it doesn’t budge even when I’m twenty meters away. Everyone advances this far, and confirms the positions of the hide hunter.
At this point, they can all see it. I think this Hiding works like Aira’s Invisibility, in that the effect loses power when people know they’re there.
I slowly approach, and pass by the hide hunter. When I cross three meters, it opens its mouth like a crocodile and attacks. I jump to evade, turn in the air, and cut its head off.
“Wah…!”
“Amazing!”
“Crips!”
As they praise me, I think about this floor again.
These lizards are more troublesome than the fighting bears on the third floor everyone avoids. The bees that swarm and bring rare monsters if you touch them. The big hordes of goblins that form groups of at least then.
No wonder no one investigates this…
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