TRGBH 10

Chapter 10

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Another strange thing was that the vision of these eyeballs was also shared with me.

Thanks to that, I could closely observe the Lizardman’s extremely confused expression.

You bastard, you’re confused?

This is exactly when you need to stay calm if you want to survive for a long time!

I quickly summoned a Puppet Needle in my right hand and thrust it toward the Lizardman’s exposed thigh beneath the shield.

But the Level 32 Steel-Scaled Lizardman with a Performance Score of 40,000 was by no means an easy opponent.

It instantly shifted its center of gravity backward and easily avoided my attack.

The level difference was simply too great.

Even though I had targeted the moment when the enemy was confused, it was difficult for me to land a hit with my current physical abilities.

But once again, something unexpected happened.

Before I even had time to feel disappointed, the shield attached to my left hand unraveled like a ball of thread and shot forward, wrapping tightly around the Lizardman.

The Lizardman struggled violently, but it wasn’t enough.

In no time, it was completely bound and brought before me.

“Kerukat! Katto!”

It shouted something I couldn’t understand, as if complaining that this was unfair.

“Sorry. I’m just as confused about what’s happening right now. Anyway, let’s get along from now on.”

I stretched my right hand toward its neck.

The Lizardman’s neck was completely covered in steel-like scales, but the Puppet Needle slid in smoothly like an injection needle.

The Lizardman’s fierce blue eyes gradually calmed down.

It flicked out its tongue and licked the tip of its nose.

I greeted my new companion.

“Hello?”

“Kerukam!”

I didn’t know what it meant, but I could clearly understand what it was trying to express.

Yeah, yeah. I’m glad to meet you too.

Let’s get along.

Perhaps it sensed the sudden change in the enemy’s attitude?

The tentacles tightly wrapped around the Lizardman slowly loosened.

Then they quickly shrank as if being absorbed into my left hand.

Before I knew it, my left hand had returned to its normal appearance.

All those eyeballs had disappeared as well, except for a single one remaining at the tip of my index finger.

The lone eyeball blinked as it stared at me.

I couldn’t sense anything special.

There was no strange voice suddenly ringing inside my head, nor were there any new lines of dialogue appearing in my status window.

There was only that eyeball, staring directly at me.

But the blinking of that eyeball was gradually becoming slower.

It was as if it were desperately trying to fight off overwhelming sleepiness…

I hurriedly shouted.

“Can we meet again? If yes, blink once. If no, blink twice!”

The eyelid slowly opened and closed once.

“Is there some other way for me to summon you?”

The eyelid attached to my index finger slowly closed.

Then it disappeared as if sinking into my skin.

There was no longer anything here that could answer me.

‘What the hell are you?’

I thought the knowledge I had accumulated during my 20 years as a Hunter was by no means shallow…

Yet I couldn’t figure out what that thing was.

However, one thing was certain.

The true source of the 15,000 Performance Score was that eyeball.

The reason my newly acquired Tentacle trait was classified as a Summoning-type trait instead of an Evolution-type trait could also be explained by that eyeball.

In other words, some kind of being in the form of a tentacle had been summoned into my left hand.

Of course, I wasn’t exactly happy about having another unknown being residing inside my body.

But it was an undeniable fact that I had survived because of that being.

I didn’t know what effect that eyeball tentacle would have on my body in the future, but for now, there was no doubt that it had saved my life…

I opened my status window.

——————————

【Corruption Rate】: 0%

——————————

Fortunately, my Corruption Rate was still 0%.

Now that I think about it, I should finally reveal this.

My Corruption Rate never changes from 0%.

Every Awakened has to fight an unavoidable fate called corruption the moment they awaken.

And they have to fight it for the rest of their lives.

But I had stepped one step away from that fate.

It was all thanks to the [System Observer] trait.

Besides allowing me to view the status windows of targets and see the hidden information called Performance Score, the System Observer had another incredible ability.

—It completely blocks System Corruption at its source.

Just as the name of the trait suggested, no matter what happened, I could remain one step removed from the System and stay in the position of an observer without being corrupted by it.

That was why I could remain calm even after receiving fifteen consecutive Very Sweet Purified Red Fruits.

I didn’t need to eat Purified Red Fruits in the first place.

Anyway, just in case, I checked my status window.

But my Corruption Rate remained unchanged.

Normally, when another living being parasitizes a person’s body like this, the Corruption Rate would rapidly increase.

But apparently, even that rule didn’t apply to me.

After some time passed, the effect of the Puppet Needle embedded in the Blood Wolf came to an end.

Perhaps because of the large difference in Performance Score, the Blood Wolf continued circling around me even after the effect of the Puppet Needle ended.

Then, it eventually became translucent and disappeared.

Only then did I speak to the Steel-Scaled Lizardman.

“Do you want to step outside the arena now?”

The Lizardman followed my fingertips and walked outside the arena.

[Stage 16 cleared successfully.]

[Reward will be given.]

The reward was the same as before.

A Very Sweet Purified Red Fruit, a Magic Orb, and 10% of all Trait Experience.

And finally, an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

“I actually cleared Stage 16.”

Had anyone ever cleared Stage 16 in the Hunter Selection Evaluation?

As far as I knew, not even once.

No matter how talented a Hunter candidate was or how incredible their God-given trait was, they had all ended their records at Stage 15.

I looked at the Lizardman standing outside the arena and staring blankly at me.

‘Well, how are you supposed to beat that thing?’

The movements it had shown were on a level that even I, in my previous life, could never have taken lightly.

No matter how talented someone was, there was no way a beginner who had awakened only two days ago could defeat something like that.

Not unless they had regressed 20 years into the past and possessed around three traits…

Who are you kidding!

Of course!

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

I burst into loud laughter.

The Minotaur beside me also joined in with a “Moo.”

Anyway, I was worried about what came next.

I couldn’t even imagine what kind of terrifying monster would appear at Stage 17.

If the enemy’s combat power continued increasing at this rate, then I would truly have no chance.

But I couldn’t give up halfway without even finding out.

Even if I couldn’t eat it, I would still go for it.

However, I moved to the very edge of the arena.

That way, I would be ready to jump out at any moment and end the stage.

“Then let’s go!”

“Moo.”

“Kerukake!”

[Would you like to proceed to the next stage? Selecting No will automatically end the stage.]

[Yes / No]

“Yes!”

Contrary to my worries, Stage 17 was cleared so easily that it was almost anticlimactic.

Perhaps the Steel-Scaled Lizardman from Stage 16 had been an irregularity.

The gatekeeper of Stage 17 was a Chimera that was only slightly stronger than the Minotaur.

Slash.

And the Steel-Scaled Lizardman cut off both of the Chimera’s heads in a single motion.

[Stage 17 cleared successfully.]

[Reward will be given.]

[Awakened level increased.]

[Awakened level increased.]

[Awakened level increased.]

[Awakened level increased.]

[Awakened level increased.]

[Awakened level increased.]

…

My level shot from 1 to 15, increasing by a whopping 14 levels at once.

Until now, I had always cleared stages by getting the gatekeepers judged to have left the arena without killing them, so my level had remained at 1.

Everything had been part of my plan to use Puppet Needles to conquer the next stages.

However, this time, the Lizardman had shown its full strength, which had resulted in this.

Since the difference between its Performance Score and mine wasn’t that large, it was able to act much more freely according to its own will than my other puppets.

And because of that, I was now holding my forehead.

“Kerukam?”

The Lizardman approached me and cautiously spoke to me.

“Yeah, you did well. You did really well, but don’t kill them so quickly in the next stage. We need a new companion. Let’s capture them instead of killing them, okay?”

“Kerukokam?”

It seemed like it didn’t understand me very well.

That was because the level of my Puppet trait was still low.

It was only after the Trait reached Level 3 that I would be able to communicate more intuitively with my puppets.

I had no choice but to use every hand gesture and body movement I could think of to tell it not to kill the gatekeeper.

“Kerukam!”

The Lizardman answered confidently.

I could only hope that it had understood me correctly.

Since things had turned out this way, there was no reason to waste any more time here.

I collected the reward and immediately moved on to the next stage.

[Entering Stage 18.]

As soon as the stage was updated and a new gatekeeper appeared, the Lizardman rushed forward.

“Be careful!”

Slash!

“KUAAAAAAAAAAGH!”

A sound like something being cut apart flashed past my ears.

Then, a terrible scream echoed throughout the arena.

Right before my eyes, a gigantic centipede that looked about five meters long was writhing on the ground, with one-third of its body cut off.

I checked the centipede’s status window.

——————————

【Sandpile Giant Centipede】

【Level】: 24

【Performance Score】: 20,000

——————————

It was the same this time.

The level of the gatekeeper that appeared had only increased slightly compared to Stage 17.

With the Minotaur leading the way, I approached the writhing Giant Centipede.

“Well, it’s still alive…”

But it looked like it was about to die.

I had no proper way to heal the centipede.

There was nothing I could do.

I made a throat-cutting gesture toward the Lizardman with my hand.

It was a signal telling it to finish off the centipede.

“Kerukat!”

The Lizardman’s sword flashed and pierced straight through the centipede’s head.

[Stage 18 cleared successfully.]

[Reward will be given.]

[Awakened level increased.]

[Awakened level increased.]

…

My level increased by another five.

Hmm…

If my Lizardman companion continued performing this well, perhaps I wouldn’t need to put much effort into recruiting new companions.

But I couldn’t recklessly predict what kind of monster would appear in the next stage.

For now, it was better to stick to the strategy I had been using.

“Then, let’s go to the next stage!”

At Stage 19, a gigantic rhinoceros covered in horns all over its body appeared.

“But isn’t this… too big?”

——————————

【Red Plains Battle Rhinoceros】

【Level】: 27

【Performance Score】: 28,000

——————————

The rhinoceros snorted heavily and stomped its hind legs against the ground as if it could charge toward us at any moment.

It was enormous, almost like a tank.

Its outer hide was completely covered in rough, sharp horns, making it impossible to even think about getting close.

But!

Surely, our Steel-Scaled Lizardman could defeat something like this without even breaking a sweat, right?

I spoke to the Lizardman.

“Don’t kill this one, okay? We need a new companion.”

“Keru…”

But its reaction was strange.

Whenever a new enemy appeared, the Lizardman would rush forward before anyone could stop it.

But this time, for some reason, it hesitated and lingered uncertainly.

Taking advantage of that opening, the Minotaur, which had grown impatient after having all the credit stolen from it, let out a roar and charged at the rhinoceros.

“MOOOOOOOOOO!”

The rhinoceros also kicked off the ground with its hind legs and charged forward.

At that moment, the Lizardman grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the rhinoceros’s path.

Soon, the two gigantic monsters collided head-on in the center of the arena.

BOOM!

With a sound like a drum exploding, the Minotaur burst apart like a balloon.

Ah…

Sorry I couldn’t protect you.

Red blood scattered through the air above the arena.

The Lizardman swung its sword and knocked away the droplets of blood flying toward me.

Then it immediately charged toward the rhinoceros.

The rhinoceros had barely managed to stop near the edge of the arena and was turning its massive body around.

The Lizardman’s sword stabbed into the rhinoceros’s rear before it had completely turned around.

KRRRANG!

A deafening sound like metal being scraped rang out.

The Lizardman’s sword, which had easily cut through even the Giant Centipede’s shell, couldn’t even leave a scratch on the rhinoceros’s hide.

But that alone was enough.

The rhinoceros lost its balance from the impact and rolled out of the arena.

[Stage 19 cleared successfully.]

[Reward will be given.]

The Lizardman turned around and walked toward me.

It shrugged its shoulders.

Perhaps it was trying to say that it had done everything it could.

“Yeah. Even I wouldn’t want to fight that thing head-on.”

Well, what could I do?

I had no choice but to move on to the next stage like this.

I opened the reward chest.

Then, before entering the next stage, I reorganized the resources I had.

Right now, I had a Lizardman companion with a Performance Score of 40,000 and two spare Puppet Needles.

I honestly didn’t know whether that would be enough or not.

Anyway, I was moving on to Stage 20.