Chapter 124
Right now, I'm racing through the city on my motorcycle.
"I'll be entering the Extermination Zone soon..."
The "Extermination Zone" displayed on the mayor's map.
It refers to an area roughly one kilometer in diameter, centered around City Hall.
Once I enter it, there's a very high chance I'll run into the ant monsters and the Golem.
But even so, I have no choice but to go.
"If I remember right, Nishino and the others said it was around here..."
I haven't headed to City Hall. I've come to the nearby shopping district.
I stop the motorcycle and put it in my Item Box.
From here on, I'll be on foot.
"...This place is awful too..."
"Kyuu..."
The shopping district is in a terrible state.
Every shop has been ransacked and left in ruins, but what stands out even more are the corpses.
Horrific corpses that make me want to cover my eyes lie scattered everywhere.
The stench of blood and decay numbs my nose.
But seeing those corpses no longer makes me feel anything.
"It must be the effect of 'Mental Pain Resistance'..."
The smell is awful. I need to be careful not to slip in the pools of blood.
That's about all I can think.
"Skills are amazing, but... I feel like I'm losing my humanity..."
The ordinary human sensibilities one shouldn't lose.
It feels like the higher-level Skills are easily overwriting those things.
Well, I've seen more corpses than I can stand over the past few days,
so I guess I've gotten used to them, too.
I walk through the shopping district, passing pigeons and crows pecking at corpses.
I should get ready soon.
"Kiki, give me a buff."
"Kyuu."
The jewel on Kiki's forehead glows red.
Then a faint light envelops my body.
I check my status.
Kudo Kazuto
Level 19
HP: 210/210
MP: 58/58
Strength: 157 (+18)
Endurance: 153 (+15)
Agility: 338 (+55)
Dexterity: 308 (+40)
Magic: 35
Magic Resistance: 35
As expected, since my base stats are high, the boosts to 'Agility' and 'Dexterity' are high too.
The stats Kiki's support magic boosts vary each time, but on average, they increase by around ten to twenty percent.
"All right, Aka, you're next."
"... (shakes head)"
Aka grips the butcher's knife while disguised as an orc.
That should do it for preparations.
"I want to gain at least a few levels before heading back to City Hall..."
I don't want to run into the Golem or a Named-class monster, but we shouldn't be easily outmatched by anything else now.
'Search,' 'Danger Sense,' and 'Hostility Detection' all react.
"...They're here."
I sense the presence of monsters.
There's more than one.
(Ten... no, there are more than twenty.)
Quite a lot.
I can sense them, but I can't see them.
In that case, they're probably hiding underground.
If I can sense them, then they aren't the Golem.
I feel relieved inside.
They're almost certainly ants.
The ground rattles.
"All right, let me earn some experience."
This time, I've deliberately turned off my stealth-type Skills.
I'm using myself as bait to lure the monsters in.
It's the exact opposite of how I've acted until now.
But now that I can't get my hands on the Self-Defense Forces' weapons, and I know there are even stronger monsters in other towns and prefectures, I can't keep doing things the way I always have.
If I'm afraid of taking risks, I won't get anywhere.
The ground splits with a crack.
Several holes appear around me.
"Gyyyyyy!!"
Then a huge number of ants emerge from the holes.
Giant ants, each as large as a person.
The giant spider was bad enough, but why do enormous bugs like these stir up such fear?
Holes open all over the ground, and the ants crawl out one after another.
"Kiki, hold on tight!"
"Kyuu!"
I wait for the ants to approach.
Not yet.
A little longer. Just a bit more.
"Giii!"
"Ksh! Ksh!"
The ants click their mandibles threateningly.
There must already be dozens of ants aboveground.
A black torrent fills the area around me.
At its center, I murmur softly.
"―――Item Box, open."
I pull a utility pole out of my Item Box and plant it in the ground.
I plant it in one of the holes the ants just emerged from.
"Gii!?"
The ants freeze at the sudden appearance of the utility pole.
Taking advantage of that opening, I leap up and grab onto the pole.
Then I race straight to the top.
"Haha, this is handy."
Ninjutsu: 'Wall-Walking Technique.'
As the name suggests, it lets me walk on walls and ceilings while ignoring gravity.
It costs 3 MP per use.
I use it to climb the utility pole in an instant.
It's a useful ninjutsu that enables three-dimensional movement, but of course, it has drawbacks.
First, when moving, some part of my body—more precisely, one foot—has to remain attached to a wall.
Also, the effect vanishes the instant I jump or try to leap to another building.
In other words, whenever I move from wall to wall or building to building, I have to activate the ninjutsu again.
Unlike 'Transformation Technique,' it can be used alongside other 'Ninjutsu,' but given how little MP I have, I can't waste it carelessly.
I reach the top in no time and look down at the ground.
The ants gather around the utility pole I'm on.
Some of them sink their mandibles into it, trying to snap it in half.
Others shove their way past the rest and try to climb it.
It looks like a pole-toppling contest at a school sports festival.
"From up here, it's easy to see where all the ants are."
Just as planned.
"All right, let's do this."
I unleash the things I've stored in my Item Box.
Higher, and over a wider area.
"Gii!?"
"Gigi!?"
"Giiiiiiiiii!?"
The ants must feel as though their vision has suddenly gone dark.
A huge mass of rocks has appeared overhead, enough to blot out their vision.
―――Wave-dissipating blocks.
Two-ton chunks of rock.
My new mass weapons, acquired at the sea.
"Get crushed."
Then the wave-dissipating blocks fall to the ground under gravity.
The sight is like a meteor shower.
The densely packed Giant Ants have no way to respond to the sudden rain of rocks, and one after another, they're crushed beneath them.
The ground shakes violently.
The squelching sound of ants being crushed.
And the sound of the wave-dissipating blocks slamming into the ground echoes all around.
≪You gained experience.≫
≪Your experience reached the required amount.≫
≪Your level increased from 19 to 20.≫
≪You gained experience.≫
≪Your experience reached the required amount.≫
≪Your level increased from 20 to 21.≫
A voice from above announces the massive experience gain.
Apparently, I just gained two levels all at once.
Well, if I take out that many, I guess that makes sense.
"This is really powerful..."
I can't help being impressed by its effect.
A carpet bombing over a radius of about thirty meters.
No, there weren't any explosions. Maybe more like a barrage of sheer mass?
Either way, the effect is tremendous.
"This is perfect for farming weak monsters."
It's flashy and conspicuous, but its effect is just as huge.
I go down to the ground and retrieve the utility pole, the wave-dissipating blocks, and the ants' magic stones.
The Item Box displays them as "Giant Ant Magic Stone (Tiny)."
"If they're 'Tiny,' then they're on par with goblins and zombies..."
Each individual one probably isn't very strong.
They must make up for it with numbers.
"Kiki, Aka, want some?"
"Kyuu~♪"
"...♪ (shakes head)"
I give the many magic stones I've obtained to Kiki and Aka.
I've kept some aside for Momo, at least.
I'll give them to Momo when we meet up. Then I'll give Momo all the fluffy cuddles I want.
"...Oh?"
As I'm thinking about that, 'Search' reacts again.
The nest holes the ants emerged from.
A new monster appears from one of them.
"Kshiiii..."
It looks different from the ones before.
How should I put it? It's an ant walking on two legs.
It looks like the Chimera Ant Queen from Hunter × Hunter.
"A higher-ranking individual..."
Unlike the ants from before, it's armed, too.
Its four hands are equipped with fantasy-style one-handed swords and shields.
"An ant warrior... A Soldier Ant, I guess."
More Soldier Ants appear from another nest hole.
There are four of them.
Apparently, they've fully recognized me as an "enemy."
But that's exactly what I want, too.
Let's earn plenty of experience here.