Chapter 47
While hiding myself, I watched the orc intently.
The orc kept looking around.
...Is it looking for prey?
No, even so, its movements are unnatural.
It was as if it were wary of something.
The orc kept twitching its nose.
"Tch! ...Snort!"
Then its gaze turned toward me.
No way―――had it noticed me?
"Fwoooooooo!"
The orc readied its weapon and came toward me.
It moved without hesitation.
...No doubt about it. This bastard knows we're here!
Come to think of it, pigs have a better sense of smell than dogs, right?
Does that apply to orcs, too?
Damn! So Stealth-type Skills don't work on orcs, either—not just Shadow Wolves! This is the worst.
Cursing inwardly, I steeled myself.
Fortunately, 'Enemy Search' detected no other monsters.
'Danger Sense' wasn't sounding much of an alarm, either.
The orc was about as strong as a Shadow Wolf, or perhaps a little stronger.
Besides, there was only one of them.
If I fought calmly, I had a good chance of winning.
Since 'Stealth' didn't work, there was no point in staying still.
I ran toward the orc.
"Fwooooooo!"
The moment it saw me, the orc sped up, too.
The distance between us rapidly shrank until it entered the effective range of my Skill.
Now!
"Momo!"
"Woof!"
Momo burst out of the 'Shadow.'
It extended its Shadow to try to restrain the orc.
"Fwooooooooo!!"
But the orc forcefully swatted the Shadow aside with the cleaver in its hand.
Not bad. But it slowed the orc down enough.
This will finish it!
I sent a piece of heavy machinery crashing down toward the orc's head.
"Tch!?"
The orc was startled by the enormous mass that suddenly appeared.
It reflexively tried to flee, but it was too late.
Momo's 'Shadow' blocked its path.
The orc desperately tried to resist, but it could no longer escape.
But that will be the end of it.
Judging from the battles against the JSDF and the people at the shopping center, ordinary orcs aren't all that durable. Unlike 'that guy.'
With this much mass, it should be able to crush the orc.
I was certain of victory.
...Huh?
But at that moment, 'Danger Sense' sounded an alarm.
The orc had 'thrown' the cleaver in its hand at me.
It was clearly aiming for me.
The blade raced toward me at tremendous speed.
This is bad... This is really bad!
Realizing I couldn't dodge it, I tried to create a wall with the 'Item Box.'
"―――(shiver)!!"
But Aka moved before I could.
Aka, which had been 'disguised' as my clothing.
Its body suddenly swelled up, catching the flying blade.
The cleaver lost its momentum, was swallowed by Aka's body, and stopped before falling to the ground.
The orc stared at the sight in a daze.
Then the huge mass crushed it.
≪You have gained experience.≫
The heavenly voice announced that the orc had died.
That was close... Just in time.
My heart pounded, and a cold sweat broke out on my back.
"Thanks, Aka. You saved me..."
As I thanked and petted it, Aka happily trembled.
"Phew..."
...I let my guard down.
I relaxed at the very end.
My opponent had exploited that opening.
Once again, I was reminded that I was fighting real monsters with wills of their own.
They were fighting for their lives, too.
If they didn't want to die, they would resist to the very end.
I retrieved the heavy machinery and picked up the magic stone and cleaver that had fallen to the ground.
When I put them in the 'Item Box,' they were displayed as 'Orc Magic Stone (Small)' and 'Orc Cleaver.'
"Momo, sorry, but can I give this magic stone to Aka?"
"Woof."
Since Momo nodded, I handed the magic stone to Aka.
As a token of thanks, it was hardly enough, but I wanted to give this magic stone to Aka anyway.
Aka happily trembled as it absorbed the magic stone.
"Well then, shall we get moving...? Hm?"
The moment I tried to stand up, 'Enemy Search' detected something again.
It was coming from the same direction the orc had come from.
This time, there were many of them.
"Could it be the pack of orcs from earlier...?"
I used 'Telescopic Vision' to look in the direction detected by 'Enemy Search.'
Then a pack of Shadow Wolves came into view.
There were quite a lot of them—more than ten.
The Shadow Wolves were coming this way, sniffing the ground.
...Could the orc from earlier have been running away from them?
If so, that would explain its unnatural movements.
Are the monsters fighting one another, too?
No, I'll think about that later.
I have to leave this place quickly.
Taking on that many Shadow Wolves would be a losing proposition.
"Damn... Do we have to retrace our steps again...?"
We'd come all this way, only to turn back.
Reluctantly, we headed back in the direction we'd come from.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the apartment building―――.
Ichinose Natsu was looking at the email screen.
There was no reply.
What on earth had happened?
Could Kudou-san be fighting monsters?
Or had Kudou-san simply forgotten to reply?
"Could I have sent too many emails...?"
Forty-five emails to someone she'd barely met might have been too much.
Only now did she realize it.
"I hope Kudou-san doesn't think I'm a pain..."
She had finally found a potential party member—and a cute dog.
If possible, she wanted to get along with them. And pet that fluffy dog.
Maybe she should hold back on sending emails a little.
"For now, I guess I'll wait for a reply..."
She would at least check her email every few minutes.
Until then, she would level up.
"Kudou-san, the dog's owner, seemed like a pretty good person, too. I really hope he'll let me join..."
Her impression of the dog's owner hadn't been particularly good, but it seemed to have improved somewhat as they exchanged emails.
Loners were basically quick to take a liking to anyone who paid attention to them.
But she didn't remember what he looked like. She remembered Momo, though.
"Ah, there it is..."
She spotted a monster through the scope.
It was a Goblin.
There was only one. An ideal target.
She lined up the sights and pulled the trigger.
Just as intended, the bullet pierced the monster's forehead and killed it.
≪You have gained experience.≫
"...Mm, smooth sailing."
After that, she continued defeating Goblins and Lesser Wolves to gain experience.
"This gun really is strong..."
She lovingly stroked the barrel of her trusty gun.
"It more than makes up for my pathetic stats."
All of her stats were low.
Most were in the single digits, with only her MP reaching double digits.
This was because of the Job she had chosen.
"Aw, I really shouldn't have chosen 'Shut-in'..."
She had chosen the Job 'Shut-in' on a whim, out of curiosity.
The moment she chose this Job, all her stats dropped across the board.
Perhaps because of the Job's effects, her stats barely changed even when she leveled up.
"But if I hadn't chosen this Job, I wouldn't have gotten this gun or the other Jobs and Skills..."
The Job 'Shut-in' had lowered all her stats.
In exchange, she had gained two special Skills.
"Maybe I'll do it one more time to celebrate."
She selected a certain Skill from the Skill list.
It was one of the two Skills she had acquired when she chose 'Shut-in.'
When she selected that Skill, a 'box' about one meter in size appeared in front of her.
The box was a transparent case containing several round spheres.
It was a capsule toy machine, commonly known as a gacha.
≪Would you like to spend 1 SP to spin the gacha?≫
An announcement sounded in her head.
She selected Yes.
The Skill 'Gacha' let her spin the gacha three times at the cost of 1 SP, allowing her to obtain various prizes.
The prizes ranged from food and daily necessities to even Jobs and Skills.
She had obtained the Skill 'Email' from this gacha, too.
"Now, I wonder what I'll get..."
Turning the lever, she got a white capsule.
"A dud..."
White capsules were low rarity.
When she opened it, it transformed into cup ramen.
Three packets each of the red and green varieties were bundled together.
She was happy to get food, but it wasn't what she wanted right now.
The second spin.
This time, a blue capsule came out.
"Oh, this could be pretty good."
When she opened the capsule, an announcement sounded in her head.
≪You have gained 1 SP.≫
She pumped her fist internally.
The 'Gacha' could also provide SP and JP this way.
Since she had gained one point, it was effectively the same as playing the gacha for free.
"One last spin..."
Her heart pounding, she turned the lever.
A black capsule came out.
Her smile deepened.
Black capsules were more likely to contain high-rarity items.
Excitedly, she opened the capsule, and an announcement played in her head.
≪You have acquired the Skill 'Physical Enhancement'.≫
"Yes...!"
She celebrated with her whole body.
She had finally obtained the Skill she'd wanted.
When she checked her Status, her Strength and Durability had increased.
"Now it'll be easier to move..."
This gacha session was a huge success.
The last time, she had ultimately failed to obtain a stat-boosting Skill.
All she had gotten were trivial things like a 'Pencil,' 'Nail Clippers,' and 'Vitamins.'
That was why getting this far had been such a struggle.
But now that she'd obtained the Skill she'd longed for, things should improve at least a little.
In a good mood, she resumed leveling up.
Then something caught her eye in the scope.
"...What's that?"
It was a group of Orcs.
There were more than ten of them. That's a lot.
Moreover, there was one individual among them who was clearly different.
An orc with copper-red skin, considerably larger than the others.
"I don't think I can handle that..."
She might be able to hunt one alone somehow, but a group would be too much.
Besides, that copper-red orc was clearly on a different level of strength.
She couldn't handle it herself.
"Where are they headed?"
They didn't seem to be wandering around aimlessly.
It seemed they were heading somewhere.
"That building over there..."
She opened the Map and checked the buildings in that area.
Then the one that caught her eye was―――.
"―――A home improvement store...?"