155 The reason I climb the mountain—because ingredients are here.

Damn.

The mountain's huge.

I hunted several monsters after the boar, and all were delicious.

Incredible.

The most delicious thing in the dungeon’s deepest layer was eel, but here in the mountains, things just as tasty are scattered everywhere.

I ran around the mountain, lost in the moment.

Uh-sa-gi-o-i-shi-ka-no-ya-ma.

When I first heard that song, I stupidly thought rabbits were edible—but I wasn’t entirely wrong!

Still, hunting too much risks destabilizing the mountain’s ecosystem.

Unlike in a game, monsters don’t spawn infinitely. If I’m not careful, with my current strength, I’ll actually hunt all the mountain’s creatures to extinction.

Even in the vast lower levels of the dungeon, overhunting had already reduced monster populations.

The lower-level monsters were being hunted at around three digits per day.

Even with the vast size of the lower levels and the high number of monsters, population decline was inevitable under such a pace.

Hunt monsters. Eat them. Recover SP. Use recovered SP to hunt monsters again.

Endless loop.

Whether this was a positive feedback loop or a negative one was unclear.

For now, I’ll moderate the mountain hunts accordingly.

Gathered fruits and other edible plants as well. Relying solely on monsters would lead to nutritional imbalance.

Well, I’ve never eaten plants inside the dungeon before.

Inside the dungeon, I only ever consumed monsters.

Never even drank water—remarkable, really.

Impossible for a creature of the normal world.

Monsters, truly, are the source of all.

Perhaps it’s better to have been born as a monster after all.

Even so, gathering ingredients again brought the day to an end.

Hmm.

Staying overnight here would be acceptable, but since I’m here, perhaps I should head up to the mountain peak to watch the sunrise.

Ah, that might work.

I’ve never seen a sunrise in person—only on television.

Well, the mountain isn’t large enough to make it particularly moving, I suppose.

So, setting off toward the mountain’s summit.

Even in the dark of night, Dark Vision allows smooth progress through the mountain.

Occasionally, branches snag on my body, but high defense prevents injury.

My defense is in the four-digit range, after all.

No wounds, no damage.

Still, overconfidence is unwise.

Status values matter here, but they aren’t absolute.

Even if an opponent’s attack is less than one-tenth of my defense, I can still be injured.

I was pierced by a spear at the fortress earlier.

Well, thanks to that mechanic, I managed to defeat a serpent back then.

Looking back, I’m surprised I even won with my stats at that time.

My stats were in the low teens then.

The serpent’s average was around 300.

I’d have been finished if its venom hadn’t missed.

By the same logic, even if my opponent is far below me, I can still take damage.

Unlike the serpent, I have immunity to status effects, so poison is not an issue. I have automatic HP recovery, so I can’t be overwhelmed by critical states.

I’m immortal, after all.

Still, as someone who claims to specialize in evasion, taking damage is a humiliation.

I was thinking along those lines when my HP dropped.

Only one unit removed from the gluttony stock, immediately replenished by auto-recovery.

The issue is not the drop itself.

HP decreased.

That means something injured me.

Something.

It is nearly impossible for a natural phenomenon to harm me in this state.

Therefore, it must have been an intentional attack.

There is no other explanation.

At the mountain's peak.

A single monster was present.

『Peylens LV7

Status

HP: 972/972 (Green)

MP: 810/877 (Blue)

SP: 899/899 (Yellow)

EP: 720/871 (Red)

Average Attack: 918

Average Defense: 888

Average Magic: 867

Average Resistance: 856

Average Speed: 901

Skills

"Wind Dragon LV5" "Dragon Scale LV6" "Mana Perception LV3" "Mana Manipulation LV3" "Wind Magic LV2" "Shadow Magic LV1" "Wind Enhancement LV2" "Wind Attack LV6" "Accuracy LV5" "Evasion LV6" "Stealth LV7" "Explosive Speed LV5" "Three-Dimensional Mobility LV5" "Aura Perception LV6" "Storm Immunity" "Dark Vision LV4" "Visual Enhancement LV3" "Life LV2" "Mana LV1" "Explosive Speed LV1" "Endurance LV1" "Power LV1" "Sturdiness LV1" "Wizard LV1" "Guardian LV1" "Sprint LV1"

Skill Points: 7750

Titles

"Assassin" "Monster Slayer"

That one.

Wind Dragon.

Unlike the previous fake water dragon, the pufferfish, this one is a proper monster with a true draconic form.

Still, its wings are directly fused to arms—more akin to a wyvern than a true dragon.

Likely the dominant force in this mountain.

Frankly, not a threat to me at this moment.

Yet I tighten my focus.

The HP reduction resulted from the assassination title's surprise attack damage multiplier.

But that is not the core issue.

Under normal circumstances, regardless of surprise or not, I should not have taken damage from an opponent of this caliber.

Why did I receive such an attack?

The answer is clear.

I was careless.

Recently, I’ve grown slightly stronger and grown complacent.

Compared to when a single hit meant instant death, my attention is now markedly lax.

This will not do.

I re-center my focus and meet the approaching Wind Dragon head-on.

Result: overkill.

Sorry.

I went a little too hard.

Apologizing to the remnants of the former Wind Dragon, now reduced to a state beyond even mosaic concealment.

Nothing remains that could be consumed.

Yes.

Carelessness is unacceptable. But going too hard is equally problematic.

『Zana Horowa LV14 Name: None

Status

HP: 6011/6011 (Green) +1800 (Details) (1718 up)

MP: 16553/16553 (Blue) +1800 (Details) (3261 up)

SP: 3765/3765 (Yellow) (Details) (892 up)

EP: 3765/3765 (Red) +1800 (Details) (892 up)

Average Attack: 4141 (Details) (1308 up)

Average Defense: 4206 (Details) (1302 up)

Average Magic: 15739 (Details) (3130 up)

Average Resistance: 15675 (Details) (3130 up)

Average Speed Ability: 10833 (Details) (2472 up)

Skills

HP Hyper Recovery LV1 (new), Mastery of Arcane Arts, Demon God Technique LV4 (1up), Magic Power Grant LV9 (1up), Magic Strike LV4 (3up), SP Rapid Recovery LV3 (1up), SP Consumption Greatly Reduced LV3 (1up), Destruction Enhancement LV8 (1up), Impact Enhancement LV1 (new), Slash Enhancement LV9, Piercing Enhancement LV2 (new), Shock Enhancement LV2 (new), Status Effect Greatly Enhanced LV3 (1up), Battle God Technique LV2 (1up), Vitality Grant LV7 (1up), Vitality Strike LV3 (new), Dragon Power LV9 (1up), Poison Attack LV8 (1up), Corrosion Attack LV5, Heretic Attack LV7 (1up), Poison Synthesis LV10, Medicine Synthesis LV9 (1up), Thread Genius LV2 (1up), Universal Thread LV7, Thread Manipulation LV10, Telekinesis LV4 (1up), Throwing LV10, Ejection LV5 (1up), Spatial Mobility LV9, Focus LV10, Thought Hyper Acceleration LV2 (1up), Future Sight LV2 (1up), Parallel Mind LV8, High-Speed Computation LV8 (1up), Accuracy LV10, Evasion LV10, Probability Greatly Enhanced LV1 (new), Stealth LV10, Camouflage LV4 (1up), Silence LV9, Tyrant LV3 (1up), Judgment, Abyss, Decay, Undying, Heretic Magic LV10, Wind Magic LV7 (6up), Earth Magic LV7 (5up), Shadow Magic LV10, Dark Magic LV10, Darkness Magic LV6 (1up), Poison Magic LV10, Healing Magic LV10, Spatial Magic LV10, Dimension Magic LV6 (1up), Abyss Magic LV10, Endurance, Pride, Wrath LV5 (1up), Gluttony LV8, Sloth, Wisdom, Destruction Resistance LV7 (1up), Impact Resistance LV8 (1up), Slash Resistance LV8 (1up), Piercing Resistance LV1 (new), Shock Resistance LV1 (new), Flame Resistance LV3, Wind Resistance LV4 (new), Earth Resistance LV5 (4up), Dark Resistance LV5 (new), Critical Resistance LV3 (1up), Status Effect Nullification, Acid Resistance LV8 (1up), Corrosion Resistance LV8, Stun Resistance LV7 (1up), Fear Great Resistance LV1, Heretic Nullification, Pain Nullification, Pain Greatly Reduced LV6 (1up), Dark Vision LV10, Far-Sight LV9 (1up), Curse Eye of Malice LV7, Stillness Eye LV6, Attraction-Repulsion Eye LV4 (1up), Annihilation Eye LV4, Five Senses Greatly Enhanced LV3 (1up), Perception Field Expansion LV7 (1up), Divine Field Expansion LV7, Star Magic, Fate LV4 (1up), Instant Movement LV9 (1up), Durability LV9 (1up), Resilience LV3, Fortress LV3, Vedanta LV8 (1up), Taboo LV10, n% I = W

Skill Points: 4900

Title

"Gluttony", "Bloodline Devourer", "Assassin", "Beastslayer", "Toxin Specialist", "Threadweaver", "Merciless", "Beastslayer", "Pride's Dominance", "Endurance's Dominance", "Wisdom's Dominance", "Dragonkiller", "Bringer of Terror", "Dragonkiller", "Sloth's Dominance", "Beastplague", "Overlord", "Human Slayer (new)"