Ryder was already a level 2 player. He still had 3 uses of {Enraged Slash} left for the day; thus, he decided to move deeper into the valley.
After a short while, he finally noticed the Nine Sun Grass. He realized that he was inside the territory of the 2nd level beasts; strangely enough, only a single beast was there. It was a 2nd level monster that was sleeping right beside the Nine Sun Grass.
He knew about the beast. He has faced the same beast last time, but he was a level 3 player at that time. He still decided to check the game screen for the info on the beast, just to be sure. It had been over 3 years since he last faced the beast after all.
[Name: Profound Bear
Species: Monster
Level:2
A monster that is known for its super strength. Itâs only known weak point is its speed.]
"Oh, right, I canât see its stats yet. I forgot I donât have the {All Seer} now " He let out with a disappointed look on his face.
{All Seer} was a skill that almost all players were able to learn in the higher stages. It was helpful and called an important skill as it showed the opponent monsterâs stats in more detail, including its special skills.
"Its speed is slow, but I canât say if itâs slower than me or not. Last time I fought them, I was level 3, and my speed points were 6. They felt slightly slower than me, but now that I have a slower speed, our speed might be the same."
Ryder fell in thought as he observed the bear.
" Oh well, Whatâs the worst that can happen? Iâll just cut them apart by {Enraged Slash} if Iâm in trouble."
Ryder smiled as he walked forth with the sword in his hand.
Ryder didnât know, but when he said that, a white flag was raised above his head.
He tried to keep his foot silent as he walked towards the grass, but it was at that moment he heard the grim reaperâs voice once more.
[A new Sub- Mission has been assigned to the host.
Mission: Take the nine sun herb to the novice village without attacking the profound bear.
Reward: "All-Seerâ Skill shall be given to the host.
Punishment for failure: The host will die in a nuclear blast after he fails the mission.
Time limit: 2 hours.]
Janus gave him another mission.
"What the fuck? Did you seriously say that if I fail... There will be a nuclear blast in my city?" Ryder asked with an impossible look on his face.
He felt like Janus was clearly messing with him now.
[Not in the city. To be precise, the target of the blast will be the Hostâs room. Though the city might be lost as collateral. Thereâs no need to worry about it. Itâs not like the host was ever going to go to heaven anyway.]
Janus replied as if he was talking about something minor.
Ryderâs face twitched as he heard Janusâ reply.
âYou bastard, Are you telling me that Iâm going to hell? More importantly, have you gone crazy? Whatâs with this scary punishment?â He said to Janus in his thoughts.
Ryder wanted to curse Janus loudly, but he didnât want to wake up the bear now that he wasnât allowed to attack them.
Janus didnât reply anymore.
âHe doesnât want to kill me now... He wants to kill everyone.â
Ryder wanted to cry, but no tears came out of his eyes.
âAt least increase the reward. The punishment is so scary; the reward must be good as well.â
Since he was already trapped in this nightmare, he tried to ask for a better deal.
[Rewards are pre-decided. They can only be decreased, not increased.]Janus replied.
âHmph. Alright, Iâll only take the All-Seer. Donât increase the reward. Hereâs more. You can even keep that nuclear bomb. I have a much better idea; why donât you shove that up your a..â Ryder cursed in his mind in anger, but Janus didnât respond.
He decided to focus on the task at hand and ignore Janus.
Ryder stepped forth. There was only a few inches of gap between him and the profound bear. Ryder was moving as slowly as he could so that he wouldnât wake up the bear.
He caught the stalk of nine sun grass and brought them out of the ground.
He gently turned back and was about to leave when he heard some movement behind him.
He looked back in curiosity, but his eyes opened wide in shock as his eyes met the bearâs eyes.
The profound bear was awake and looking at him.
[Janus thinks the host should run.] Janusâ voice appeared in his head again.
" You bastard, itâs all because of you!" Ryder cursed Janus as he started running. He ran as fast as he could as if his life depended on it, which was true in a sense.
If he attacked the bear, he would be killed as a punishment. If he didnât attack the bear and the beast killed him, he would be logged out for 24 hours. In that case, he wouldnât be able to complete his main mission of being the first person to pass the novice village and would die as a punishment.
Now that he thought about it, his life really sucked at the moment.
The bear kept following him as it roared madly; thankfully, Ryderâs assumption was correct. He and the profound bear had the same speed. If he maintained his current speed, he might be able to succeed.
Unfortunately, the bearâs roar attracted other monsters. 5 more profound bears came out from nearby and started following him. There were only 10 meters of the gap between Ryder and his death... the profound bears.
Ryder was running when a snow wolf appeared in front of him. It jumped at Ryder.
"You think you can bully me as well?" Ryder roared in anger as he used Enraged Slash.
[+20 experience points]
The notification floated in front of him, but he ignored it.
The snow wolf was sliced apart, but because of the attack, the gap between him and the profound bear had decreased.
Now there was only a gap of 5 meters between them.