Another one has fallen. I've overthrown a dozen demon apes and advanced several levels. Despite having defeated quite a number of demon apes, in fact my level increase was not as much as the demon apes I defeated.
The higher the level, the greater the intake for me to advance to a higher level.
Whoops!
“The edge of the Valley of Skeletons is still not visible…” I say after descending from a tall tree branch to look around the area.
Valley of Skeletons, I thought I would find many skulls in this valley. But as far as I've gone, I haven't seen a single skull. In fact, most of the ones I meet or rather attack me are demon apes that seem to live in this valley.
When my feet just landed on one of the supports, a scream sounds so loud. I believe, the scream came from a woman who is not far from where I am.
Suddenly, I rush to the source of the sound. Having heard that scream, I know it was a scream of fear of something. Clearly, something is threatening her.
[Swift Movement]
The Agility Master skill activates automatically as soon as I activate this active skill I'm currently using. The beginning of use did make it difficult for me to control, because I moved so fast. But now, I'm quite used to the speed of movement capable of splitting this wind.
Then not long after I sped away, a girl seems to be cornered by two men. Of course the girl had shouted, because now the two men are having evil intentions against her.
Moving as fast as lightning, without them noticing, my legs are ready to give a kick to two heads at once. With a single push of the foot to the right and left, the two men bounced towards each kick I made.
The girl is still hiding behind her hands, afraid that the previous two men would harass her. When a hand touched her hand, the girl suddenly kicks forward with all her might.
And a shrill scream is heard. That's me who got a kick in my cock from the girl I helped.
"What are you doing? Is this how you thank me?” I scream in a muffled voice, clutching my pubic area as I bend slightly, hoping it would take the excruciating pain I am feeling.
The girl peeks between her fingers before raising her eyebrows, because she doesn't remember the man who just got kicked from her is one of the two men who were about to harass her.
"Who are you? And where are those perverts?” asks the girl without feeling guilty after she looked around, not finding two men who were about to harass her.
“You… Argh!!!” I point in disbelief at the girl. I take a deep breath to calm myself, feeling that it would be a waste to demand such an ignorant girl apologize to me.
Then, I pointed in two opposite directions before I point at my own eyes as the interpretation of my next words “Hey… Open your eyes widely!”
The girl is stunned for a moment, because she find it strange that my attitude seems to show annoyance and not interest in her like the two perverts before. Then, she immediately acts as if dazzles by the sunlight to look in the one direction the perverted man was.
“Oh!? Yes, there really is someone there…”
"Looks like it's safe huh? That means, I say goodbye..." I say, who is about to leave, annoyed that I feel unappreciated.
"Wait! Wait! I-I'm sorry, for kicking that earlier…” said the girl in an awkward tone while pointing at the direction where the kick hit me. “… Also, thank you for saving me…”
The annoyance disappeared instantly, I smiled before nodding. Then, I, who is ready to jump back get failure to find words from the girl behind me.
“Kennomaru Hiro, is that your name?” asks the girl suddenly, leaving me stunned for a moment.
"How did you know my name?" I ask back without responding to the girl's question, because my reaction could clearly be seen that the girl's guess is right. I look at her sharply and probingly, unconsciously I walk towards her slowly.
The girl feels sorry for asking things she didn't need to ask, because she clearly knew that my name is Kennomaru Hiro. Now, she is afraid of what I would do next. “D-don't come any closer!!!” she cries timidly, she closes her eyes in frightened.
I stare at her blankly, I don't know how I should react to a girl like that. Plus, I just realize that I was walking towards the girl. I stopped walking before asking her the same thing again.
“Everyone who looks at the broadcast screen will definitely recognize you…” the girl replies in a stuttering voice.
I cringe after hearing the novelty, because so far I have never once seen anything like a screen or anything other than the one in front of him. “Broadcasting screen? What's that?" I ask in surprise.
"You don't know? Yesterday, a broadcast screen appeared not far over there…” the girl points.
I glance in the direction the girl is pointing for a moment, then I look back at her. "Okay, I'll check. Then, see you later..." I say waving before leaving.
The girl looks like she wants to stop me from leaving, but she doesn't feel like she has the right to. What's more, she knows I have sufficient ability to protect myself. Or, rather, she is the one who felt safe around me. It makes her feel reluctant to separate, afraid that later she would meet again with perverted men like the two men before.
"Oh yes. Actually, why didn't the perverted man wake up? But, thank goodness…”
...
People seems to be talking, then my attention is immediately drawn to the big screen on a large block-shaped stone that rose about 2-3 meters high and somehow the rock penetrated into the ground. On the screen displayed a leaderboard with the name written in the first place, Kennomaru Hiro who is myself.
"No wonder. But, how could that girl know that it was me? In fact, there is only a name there..." I mutter, who is currently behind the thick leaves, sitting on a tree branch to observe the surroundings without needing to appear.
Putting aside how the girl was able to recognize me, I clearly have to be careful when meeting other people.
Getting an extraordinary achievement and being known by many people, it is not impossible to invite meaningless problems. Like, there are people who are jealous of my achievements or maybe even worse to the point of doing bad things to me. Of course, I don't want that to happen.
Because without knowing anything and suddenly getting hate speech from other people is not a pleasant thing. It's a different story if I know what I have done to someone is wrong, then I will accept it gracefully.
What's more, I most dislike those who like to lick and take advantage of other people's achievements to be used as stepping stones to soar high.
"I wish I could hear what they are talking about..." I mutter.
Shortly after I muttered and was about to leave because it turned out to be just a useless feature to be a cause of contention, a new screen appeares below the screen showing the leaderboard and still in the rock area.
The appearance of the new screen caught the attention of the people down there or perhaps they have been waiting for it to happen because they had known beforehand.
I just stare from my hiding place with a blank stare, because I couldn't read anything written on the screen. I don't know if I should be sorry or what, what’s clear to be ranked number one and famous will turn out to be a nightmare.
'No wonder I feel comfortable in a mediocre life in the real world...' I smile slightly imagining how my monotonous life would be in the real world and I am fully aware that now I am dreaming.
However, my hunch tells me not to act casually. So, I take careful steps not to throw fire unnecessarily.
The screen that just appeared until nightfall still hasn't disappeared, I'm waiting for it in my hiding place just hoping the people down there will leave soon. But, in fact some and even new people come also stay around the rock that raises the screen.
Hearing the rumbling sound and feeling hungry, in the end I wait for nothing. I took a deep breath before moving away from my hiding place to do some hunting.
Being able to move swiftly, master the terrain, and have a sharp weapon allow me to easily find a bird perched not too far after I started the hunt. There is some dry land that’s suitable for building a fireplace, but not suitable for a place to spend the night.
With my prey in hand, I go to find a place to rest.
It had been a few days since I had a strange dream, which was a dream about the Trial of Heroes and an amazing fantasy world. I just realized one very important thing, the dream I had was affecting my physical body.The wound I received when I first received the surprise attack from the demon ape I just realized was on the back, the back which was my physical body and not the body in a dream. From the start, I did feel that there was something odd about the dream. But from the bottom of my heart, I always try to deny my thoughts.And most importantly, I felt a change in my body. The sensation when the body in the dream world had a drastic increase in dexterity, apparently happened to my physical body as well.It's hard to believe that I can move so fast, fast far beyond the world's recognized athletes.I realized it too late, because the first sensation I had was when I first experienced an increase in body agility. So when I woke up at that time, I didn't feel anything strange. Of co
I immediately plop down on the bed as soon as I got home without minding my unchanging clothes. The comfort provided by this simple bed made my eyelids feel heavier, until they finally closed. But as usual, instead of falling asleep into a dream world that is just a fantasy, I wake up again in a dream world that felt real. I want to cry, because I'm really tired of all this. Not so different from in real life, the drowsiness hit me again. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I tried to sleep, my consciousness remained awake. The longer I closed my eyes in a conscious state, the more sore my eyelids felt. “Sigh... How annoying...” In the end, I am only required to accept all that happened gracefully. Silence will not solve the problem. So, I just need to live this life with passion. No matter how mentally exhausted this is, I have to keep moving forward. Imagining an illustration of a face that had recently been engraved in my mind, I step steadily to go to the Holy Altar. Th
“I am Elrene Viane, the only daughter of Duchess Elrumy Viane…” Elrene, the girl I saved that time I meet her again. She introduces herself gracefully as if she really is the daughter of a noble in medieval Europe. I don't know how to respond, because this girl named Elrene could actually be playing a trick on me by acting so gracefully. In the end, I just waved before turning my attention to the broadcast screen. Staring at my Iron Knife for a moment, then I look back at the broadcast screen on the stone block. “Perhaps, someone has already completed the first mission…” I mutter. I turn my head for a moment without saying anything to Elrene. Looking back at the broadcast screen, a line containing the details of the first mission I touch. Then, a new screen appears to display the contents of the details of the first mission. A button to report the progress of the mission completion appears at the very bottom of the screen, then I press the button after I considered it to actually
The second mission never be appeared. I just found out from Elrene that no matter how fast one completes the mission, to go to the next mission one has to wait for all the Hero Candidates to successfully complete the current mission. If the Hero Candidate is declared unable to continue to participate in the Trial Of Heroes for some reason, the next mission will be continued with the decision that the Hero Candidate who is unable to complete the current mission is declared failed and will be thrown to a random place. Random places, sometimes arriving at the most terrible places, sometimes arriving at the happy places to live a normal life. After a few days passed, for the umpteenth time I wake up in a dream that I do not know what it is. Luckily, I now have the Ghost Sprinter Gear which one of its functions can restore my mental fatigue and strengthen it instead. In the end, I fall asleep in the dream world after nightfall and wake up again in the real world to welcome the cloudy
Noticing my arrival, the woman turns her head. Then, she flashes a smile that I swiftly carve into my mind."H-hi..." I greeted after walking towards her."Hi, we meet again..." the woman greets me back.I chuckle and scratch my sideburns awkwardly.Learning from past experiences, I immediately sit beside her without needing to ask her permission. I may have done a heroic stunt not long ago, but I'm still myself.Being near this woman who had captured my heart makes me feel an extraordinary sense of nervousness again.Faintly visible, my fingers are trembling slightly.Stealing glances in silence at the woman beside me, my heart is pounding even more. Beads of sweat start to form on my forehead. My breath feels heavy for some reason, even though when I saved the previous pair of mother and child it didn't make the rhythm of my breath shake.I want to scream to let go of all this nervousness, but I can't do it.I want to have a small talk with her, but I don't know what to say.I want
One day, two days, three days passed, I did not meet her again at the same time in the same place.However, today it seems luck is on my side. The woman I missed seems to be standing waiting for the bus as far as I walk towards her. I've been going home by bus for the past few days, because this is what I expected to happen.The previous two meetings, I didn't have the readiness to be able to venture to ask her name. But now, I'm ready for it.I see, the woman does not notice my presence. Even standing behind her, I still do not notice her. So, I touch the woman's shoulder with my index finger hesitantly to get her attention.Feeling someone touches her shoulder, the woman looked back before flinching slightly to see me standing not far from her."Oh hi? Do you need something with me?”I’m shocked after discovering, the face I see right now is not the face that had been engraved in my mind."Ah!? I'm sorry, I'm wrong. You’re not her...” I awkwardly mix with embarrassment shaking my he
Finally, the second mission appeared after a long wait. [Stealth] Using the skill I just activated, I was able to blend in with other people without anyone noticing my presence. So, I found out that the appearance of this second mission wasn't from the hidden Holy Altar or let's say it like that. In fact, the Holy Altar that was previously only I knew about started being visited by people a while ago. I knew, this second mission is quite challenging after I knew the objective of the mission. This monster that I just took down is a monster that has just appeared with a new level. It is one of the signs of the start of the second mission, which is to stay alive for the allotted time or defeat as many monsters as possible. The time for the completion of the second mission has been confirmed, a month from now. This is a sign that the second mission will be completed simultaneously, not individually. For those who are able to defeat the monsters will be rewarded with something that
Barking sound from behind really gives tremendous fear to a group of people who are trying to escape from being chased. Behind there, there are so many monsters that look like dogs, but there are a few things that make them different. Moreover, the two pairs of legs, the front and the back, have links formed by skin or something and looked very thin but also very elastic, which allow the monsters to float for some time and still move quickly. With just one jump, the monsters are able to pass through many tree branches in order to catch up with the few people ahead who they are hunting. Time is an important factor in the pursuit. As time passed, the distance between them and the group of people they are chasing is eroding. I don't know what their fate will be. The reason they run away, of course, is because they wouldn't be able to survive against the swarms of monsters that are chasing them. ... The tree branch shook slightly after a foot stepped on it in a very short time and jus