A group went ahead, leaving the other group to buy time, but the fact that more than half the people in the first group was made up of elderly people and children, meant that they were not moving as fast as they wished.
They advanced at a slower pace than they expected, but felt some relief when they saw the other group running towards them from behind.
“Thank goodness you’re all right. We’re going slowly, but without any problems in…”
The old lady greeted them with a smile, as she saw that they were not only not harmed, but Melt even held a boy that had been left behind. But then she realized that Yuugo was nowhere to be found.
Melt handed her the boy, and spoke with a very quiet tone.
“…Yuugo was taken by the mist, to save this boy… I couldn’t do anything…!!”
“…I see. Don’t blame yourself. Both of you did your best. That’s how you managed to save this boy, so be proud.”
The old lady threw Melt some praise, to console her as she struggled with leaving Yuugo behind, and sacrificing one person to save another.
Zenon Ash saw this back and forth from the corner of his eye, and chuckled on the inside.
(Yes yes yes! That scum is done for! Now he can’t get between me and Melt!)
Not only was he not worried about Yuugo being swallowed by the mist, he rejoiced from the bottom of his heart.
It made sense. It was none other than himself who orchestrated this situation.
The moment Melt’s attention turned to the boy, Zenon hit Yuugo’s back with magic to send him towards the mist.
Then he stopped Melt from going to his rescue, while pretending to be doing so with good intentions, and bought just enough time for the mist to engulf Yuugo.
It was all according to plan. That whole defensive battle was partially to eliminate Yuugo.
(Damn scum…! I’m the one who should’ve gotten that lucky pervert scene, and saw Melt naked! And he took it from me…! No matter, he’s gone from this event now. Now I just have to settle this incident as the main character.)
He mumbled about his personal frustrations, but pulled himself together, thinking that the main event was still to come.
Things had not been going as Zenon wanted, thanks to Yuugo’s interference (also known as heroic deeds), but he was gone from the party. Zenon could now do what he wanted.
As a reincarnated student, he alone knew what was to come.
He formulated a plan based on his knowledge of the game, and could not contain his excitement over the scenario finally going the way he wanted.
(I also know what to do now! Being an invincible reincarnated otherworlder thanks to knowledge of the game really is the best!)
This quest to make deliveries to shacks was famous even among Luminous History.
There was the chance to increase Melt’s favorability, and enjoy a lucky pervert scene with her, but it was mostly famous thanks to the bait-and-switch event.
Players would think it was just about deliveries in the Yum-yum Mountain, but were then attacked by zombified villagers. Everyone felt shocked by this sudden turn into something like a horror movie, which made it memorable.
What happened on this mountain? While Yuugo and Melt put what pieces they had together to try to figure it out, Zenon already had the answer.
(There’s no way they’d realize this involves a monster armor beast. I was scared the first time too.)
It would be more correct to say that his mind was so busy with the lucky pervert scene from before, that he could not think about anything else, but that was not important.
The culprit behind this case, and the source of the red mist, was a monster armor beast.
Toad Stinger… That was the name of the culprit.
This monster armor beast was like if the mushroom monster Matango had the power of bees. Being a combination of these two monsters gave it many abilities.
Firstly, both types of poison were made stronger. Being both a poisonous mushroom and a bee that carried poison made them very compatible.
But this particular Toad Stinger could be said to have the worst combination of abilities.
This Matango, the mushroom monster that was the main body, possessed sleeping spore. Anyone who inhaled it would get the sleep status condition.
This was not so scary, but… The problem was the ability of the bee monster that possessed it.
Some bees used a neurotoxin to control whatever they stung.
The bee monster that possessed the Matango had said ability, and when both their abilities were combined, they gave birth to a terrible monster armor beast.
The moment people inhaled the Matango’s spore, they were assaulted by the sleep status condition. And once they were stung in that defenseless state, they became dolls the monster armor beast could control at will.
If this was explained this way, it would answer all questions.
What looked like a mist was actually Matango spore, and people swallowed by it became crazy because the poison of the monster armor beast was injected into them when it stung them.
Toad Stinger used humans to reproduce, so it was using people it captured to capture even more.
People who knew nothing about this quest fell into a state of fear and panic… But a reincarnated student who speedran the game knew exactly what was going on.
And so, he felt no panic, and accepted this quest with a clear plan in mind.
Why did he accept the quest in the first place? The lucky pervert scene with Melt and her favorability played a part, but the main reason was something else.
Basically… He wanted to use this opportunity to gain experience points.
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And when Yugo kills it you’ll get nothing, as fun as watching Yuugo one-up Zenon/Seto I kind of want to see the other “main characters” already
If you think Zenon was scum, just wait till you meet the others.
You will want to strangle the s**t out of them.
Well I will not discriminate and strangle each and one of them equally, the fact the author let zenon get a pass, it piss me off, if you going to make the other reincarnations villains, keep it consistent.
Since yu gu body was full cover he will just casually kill that toad. Hope it not slippery
He let the villagers get infected so that he could get experience, right?
After listening to him explain how this monster works, you realize his plan to kill Yuugo is so f*****g dumb🤦🏾♂️. Imagine if our MC did get taken over, Yuugo is the strongest person there by far and bear someone who had you on the floor spasming 😭. So what do you think will happen if he turns to the enemy side in this moment 🙎🏾♂️.