The Strongest Monkey

The next day.

I’d thought about things all night, but came up with nothing good.

Rirya, who’d stayed up with me until dawn, dozed off while rowing, so I carried her up to the loft bed and tucked her in properly.

Arisa, asleep, had smiled faintly—an Angel’s Smile—some instinct sensing her mother was nearby.

Rirya was murmuring happily, face relaxed, content.

The smiles of mother and daughter were wonderful. I could’ve stared at them forever.

But I didn’t want to intrude, so I quietly stepped away and descended from the loft.

I slipped out the house without a sound.

Morning air, crisp and fresh, filled my lungs.

I took a deep breath, then started walking slowly.

"Weapons, huh."

I was still stuck.

Since arriving in this world, I’d made all sorts of things—but almost all were either things DORECA could make, or based on those.

I thought, no, I need to make something completely original—but nothing clicked.

“Hmm… maybe it’s better just to make another thing DORECA can make. Or ask Nina to handle it with some Eternal Slave upgrade.”

Suddenly, that idea felt faster.

Wait—do I even need to stress over this?

Is a weapon even necessary in the first place?

I pull out DORECA, stare at it closely.

This is my power. Anything I want, I can make. This is my greatest strength.

“Ah… no, that’s not it.”

My greatest strength—was the smile of a slave. That part must never be wrong.

Anyway. Making things is my power. Compared to that, weapons… well, worrying about them probably doesn’t matter much, does it?

…Yeah. Maybe that’s true. Really might be.

I’ll try going without weapons for a while. Start treating it like I’m doing it without weapons from now on.

It felt like the scene before me unfolded, at least as far as feeling went.

Shifting gears, I wandered the island.

After walking a while, I came upon a creepy forest.

Forest, huh. Maybe I’ll poke around a bit.

If it’s dangerous, I’ll just leave it be. No point messing with it.

After all, this island’s gonna be remade into a Demon King’s domain soon.

From the standpoint of keeping intruders out, it’s better to leave the danger untouched.

So I stepped into the woods.

A humanoid zombie came out. I tore it apart with my bare hands.

Another zombie—dog or wolf, didn’t matter—emerged. Its ribs stuck out, eyes dangling loose.

I dodged the lunge and punched it in the belly. Split it clean in two.

A bird zombie showed up too—red eyes, teeth in its beak that were unnaturally long. Visually, it was unsettling.

I took them down one by one, moving forward.

Yeah… leaving it like this is probably best. Better not touch it. Just leave it be.

Zombie Island. Zombie Forest.

A dungeon at the foot of the Demon Lord’s castle—passable, at least.

“Huh.”

Now a monkey shows up.

Fierce expression, claws sharp enough to cut stone. Shreubiju.

Defeat it, and it turns back into a human. The most familiar monster around now.

And the first non-zombie monster we’ve seen on this island full of zombies.

Feels a little fresh.

Fresh, but still… can’t just leave it like this. Defeat it. Turn it back into a human—

“Gah!”

For a split second, I didn’t even know what happened.

A sharp impact—my whole body flung sideways.

My back hits a tree—cracks, creaks, a few branches snap under the force—finally stops.

I push myself up on my hands, bile rising in my throat… spits blood.

“Huh…”

Groaning, I fished out the emergency potion I always keep on hand and downed it.

My strength surged back—my head spun, but I managed to piece together what had just happened.

I looked in the direction I’d been flung.

A monkey. Jumping up and down, chattering with glee.

“Was it this thing?”

I couldn’t believe it.

Shreubiju—supposedly the weakest monster in the game. Even a normal human could take it down—probably a child could, if they were lucky.

It looked fierce, had sharp claws—but honestly, it was all show. A complete fake.

To be beaten by something like that? I just… couldn’t believe it—

“—!?”

This time, I had the distance. I reacted.

The monkey lunged at me with terrifying speed, slashing with its right claw.

Distance meant nothing—it was on me in an instant. Too fast to dodge.

I crossed my arms to block.

A searing pain—then I was flung backward again.

Pulled the panacea from midair and swallowed it. Stock ran out.

Landed. Saw the monkey again, screeching and scratching at the ground.

No mistake. This one did it.

This one… is strong.

Strong even considering I was defenseless. Actually—

“Best opponent I’ve ever faced, man.”

Stronger than the scorpion, stronger than Eluka, stronger than Maxim, stronger than the dragon.

Stronger than the Demigod… stronger than Saint Night.

Felt it. This monkey’s stronger than any of them.

“Then no holding back.”

Wiped blood from my lips with the pad of my thumb. Pulled out DORECA.

In every sense, this one can’t be ignored. Decided to deal with it.

“Twenty iron swords.”

A magic circle bloomed, encircling the monkey from every side.

Then, emergency production with magic power.

Shikin. The magic light flared—swords materialized.

Right there in space—forced through the monkey’s body, forged in its wake.

Created in the state of being pierced. An unavoidable long-range attack!

One of DORECA’s applied techniques— the monkey turned into a hedgehog.

"Uwky!"

The monkey growled. In an instant, the sword cracked and shattered, rolling across the ground.

"Wait, wait— isn’t it working?"

"Uwky!"

No, it is working. The monkey’s clearly furious. So it *is* working.

Then— I thought, maybe more—

"——!"

My vision blurred. I was flung forward, off my feet.

Attacked from behind. The last thing I saw was the monkey’s form blurring, vanishing.

A strike from behind, moving faster than I could track. Speed— completely outstripping mine.

"B-bottle of universal cure..."

I confirmed the magic circle clinging to me (,,,,,,). Emergency mana production.

I forged the universal cure directly inside my body. I felt the surge— vitality returning in an instant.

Adjusting my posture mid-air, I raise DORECA higher.

"Steel sword."

"Ukky!"

The moment the magic circle surrounded it, the monkey dodged at blinding speed.

Too fast—too fast to react before it was even made. The magic circle hung in the air, useless.

"Ku…"

I land, turning toward the monkey.

Was it my imagination? It looked smug.

No. Not my imagination.

"Damn it… you’re gonna pay for that… you little—"

My temple throbbed, a vein pulsing. I could feel it.

I lost it.

For the first time in ages, I lost it.

"Fine… if you’re gonna talk like that…"

I rise slowly, squinting at the monkey.

"I’ll show you what I’m really made of—this is my power."

I raise DORECA, take one deep breath.

And unleash a flood of magic circles.

Not just one or two. Not a hundred. Not two hundred.

The entire forest—completely, utterly covered.

A vast, dense swarm. Nearly a thousand. An endless sea of magic circles.

Magic light flickered everywhere. Arrows scattered wildly.

The forest stirred. Zombies groaned from all around.

The monkey panicked. Scanned frantically in every direction.

Then bolted. Vanished at its usual breakneck speed.

"Too easy!"

No matter where it ran—thick with magic circles. Injected power into one, summoned an iron blade.

No stop. Kept moving.

More circles ahead.

Summon. Summon. Summon again.

Soon, dozens of iron blades pierced its body. The monkey fell, flopped on the ground, and went still.

Seriously. Took me too long.

Erased all remaining circles. Returned everything to normal.

Said, still wary, thought.

What the hell was that monkey? Native to this island?

If things like that were just… wandering around… well, that’d make the Demon Lord’s island promising. But still—too much trouble.

Huh. What now? I was thinking—

The monkey finally expired, its body wrapped in light.

"Ah… so it’s actually turning back into a human—wait."

I was stunned. Properly stunned.

Turns out, it wasn’t a human that came back from the monkey form.

That—was the Goddess.