Chapter 05
—This should be enough.
“Are you just saying that, or is that calculated?”
—Of course it’s calculated. The shelter you built is the most efficient and appropriate one that can be made in the current situation.
The first thing I did after entering the second floor was build a shelter.
Since I mainly use long-range weapons, I must be most cautious of enemies approaching from unseen places.
The shelter I created by installing various structures inside a small nearby cave might not perfectly hide me, but it could at least prevent me from being attacked from multiple directions at once.
—Now let’s go find a rare monster.
“If we’re going to search for monsters directly, then what was the point of building a shelter?”
Leaving a carefully built safe hunting base just to wander around — that sounded foolish.
—Rare monsters likely don’t respawn. The most efficient strategy is to move actively in the early stage, then return to the shelter and hold out in the late stage.
Lucy is obviously smarter than me, but something still bothered me.
“What’s your basis? We don’t have any information about the second floor.”
Now that even the rumor about floors 2 to 5 having boss monsters was proven false, information from the first floor was useless.
—If I explain in detail, your head might explode. By comparing the monster level of the first floor and the second floor, we can estimate the strength of rare monsters. They’re meant to be hunted, so they won’t be overwhelmingly strong. There is risk, but it’s acceptable.
“So that means there is risk.”
—Master, I believe staying still is the real risk. I think you can go beyond the second floor — to the tenth floor and even further. Will you give up a chance to grow?
Lucy’s words were not comforting.
Yet strangely, they gave me more courage than any reassurance.
‘Lucy is right. Staying still is the real risk.’
The Tower is stingy when it comes to growth.
Clearing a floor gives no reward — it’s considered natural for a climber.
Rewards are given only when you achieve something on that floor.
The Tower becomes harder with every floor.
And I would give up a chance to grow?
Especially as an Earthling with no other source of growth?
“You’re right. Not going after rare monsters is the bigger risk.”
Even if I die, I’ll just return to the first floor.
A penalty for not getting bonuses next time?
If I do nothing now, that itself is the penalty.
—I will begin the search protocol.
My eyes can only look forward.
Lucy cannot.
The Lucy I see is just a hologram. In reality, she gathers and analyzes information from all directions at once.
If a human tried that, their brain would probably burst.
But Lucy is artificial intelligence.
—I cannot detect direct monster presence, but I’ve traced movement patterns.
Yellow lines appeared in the air.
—Unfortunately, there are no traces estimated to belong to rare monsters.
“How can you tell whether it’s rare or not?”
—Simple. If multiple traces suggest the same type of monster left them, then there are likely many individuals of that type. That means it’s probably not rare.
“I think I get it.”
Staying alert and ready to shoulder the rifle at any moment, I scanned my surroundings.
Lucy quickly found a new trail.
—I think I found one.
Following the green line, I soon spotted a gorilla that looked incredibly sturdy at a glance.
“This seems better than most detection skills.”
—I’m not the same as before. My performance improves daily. Still, without data, I can’t analyze the enemy’s exact weakness.
It didn’t matter much.
Every living creature shares one weakness.
—Click.
If this were an open grassland, I could shoot from 1 kilometer away.
But this was a forest.
Lucy detected the enemy at around 400 meters.
I had to worry about being noticed.
—Executing shooting support protocol.
“Hu…”
As I calmly exhaled, the crosshair quickly stabilized.
‘Maybe I actually have talent for shooting.’
Lucy calculates the aim.
But maintaining it without shaking is my skill.
—You definitely have talent, Master. Your aim doesn’t shake, and your recoil control is excellent.
The crosshair locked onto the center of the gorilla’s eye.
—Bang!
The mana-filled bullet instantly pierced the monster’s eye.
‘So there aren’t monsters that shield their eyes with mana yet.’
I had seriously worried about the bullet being blocked by a mana barrier.
Thankfully, that didn’t happen.
—Kuwaaaaa!
But another problem appeared.
Unlike the wolves I had hunted before, the gorilla covered its face with its arms and charged at me like a mad beast.
[Estimated arrival time: 20 seconds]
—You can deal sufficient damage to its hide.
“It doesn’t have stopping power, right?”
—Creating an opening and targeting the eye again would be a good strategy.
Click.
Even as the rare monster charged toward me, my mind remained calm.
Was it because I had grown stronger?
Or because I had Lucy beside me?
‘Aren’t those the same thing?’
Lucy is my strength.
There’s no need to separate us.
—Bang!
The bullet struck the gorilla’s arm.
—New input value received. Reevaluating target.
—You can defeat it without specifically targeting a weakness.
Click.
A red dot appeared on the gorilla’s chest.
—Estimated heart location.
Since it was covering its face with thick arms, aiming at the heart was not difficult.
—Bang!
The mana-loaded bullet struck its chest.
It pierced through layers of muscle but did not directly destroy the heart.
However, it was enough to make the gorilla lower its guard for a brief moment.
—An opening—
Before Lucy could finish, my rifle was already aimed at its other eye.
—Bang!
The gorilla lost its vision completely.
It charged toward me based on memory, but without sight, it was no longer frightening.
—Bang!
After several shots to the heart area, the gorilla collapsed.
[Number of rare monsters defeated: 1]
This window looked slightly different from Lucy’s.
It seemed the system was tracking it directly.
“That was easier than I thought.”
—That’s because you fought well. You were faster than me.
“Thinking is faster than talking.”
This hunt gave me confidence.
‘All rare monsters are dead.’
—Bang!
A loud gunshot echoed through the silent forest.
—Bang! Bang!
After several shots, silence returned.
It had been 48 hours since the second floor began.
Climbers surviving nearby understood what the sound meant.
“Looks like another one got killed.”
Because of the owner of those gunshots, there were almost no rare monsters left in the area.
The climbers had begun calling the one who hunted rare monsters without ever showing himself —
the “Black Reaper.”
“What kind of guy is he? If he’s hunting from far away, he should move quietly. Why make such loud noises every time? Hunting is about silence.”
An elf woman with long ears stroked her bow as she spoke.
“A gun is naturally like that. It uses explosions to kill enemies. It can’t be quiet.”
“You know more than I expected.”
“It’s a weapon from my world.”
The man speaking with the elf was from Earth.
‘There are people like that on Earth too.’
Earthlings generally have weaker physical abilities.
Without a good unique skill, it’s hard to even clear the fifth floor.
Yet someone strong enough to dominate rare monsters from the second floor already existed.
“Regardless of the noise, the fact that he’s never been found means he’s an excellent hunter. I’d like to see his face.”
The elf, Narsa, considered herself an excellent hunter.
But hitting a monster’s eye from over 1 kilometer away was impossible even for her.
“Should we follow the direction of the gunshots?”
“I don’t want to see him that badly.”
Though the loud sounds gave a rough idea of his location, no awakened individual nearby targeted the Black Reaper.
Within 500 meters of where he was presumed to live, monster corpses were piled up.
He hadn’t placed them there intentionally.
They were simply the result of sniping every monster that approached.
There was no guarantee he would shoot a climber who entered that area.
But there was no reason to take the risk.
[50 hours have passed since entering the second floor.]
While hunting ordinary monsters nearby for points, a notification window appeared.
[Additional announcement: From now on, boss monsters will randomly spawn in certain zones. If you are not extremely confident in your abilities, we do not recommend attempting to hunt them. However, if you succeed, you will receive significant rewards.]
“You’re not going to try, right?”
“No. I’ve hunted enough rare monsters. I’ll be satisfied and move on to the third floor.”
But their wish was not granted.
Because the boss monster spawned right above them.
—Shiiiiiiiii!
A snake formed in midair and attacked them.
Just as they tried to escape—
—Bang!
