“...A monster of the wolf class that killed a B-Class-level hero.”
The topic in newspapers and on the news had been exaggerated into something like, “A demon-level monster has killed a hero and is currently being searched for.”
The Hero Association seemed to be planning to cover up the incident.
It was probably because a B-Class hero had let their guard down, and the Association itself had failed to operate properly.
If it came out, they would lose public trust and the people’s goodwill.
So they hid it.
“......Well, that part doesn’t matter. In the first place, there’s no reason to pay this much attention to a wolf-level monster....”
Gyorogyoro, the strategist of the Monster Association, muttered to himself.
For now, it was only Wolf.
Its record was decent, but it was still Wolf. In a world full of monsters at the Tiger level and above, was there any need for a Wolf-level one?
Not only that, but they didn’t even know exactly what kind of power it had.
There was no way to tell from this alone how strong or weak the lizard monster in the photo was.
There was no way to know what kind of situation had allowed it to kill a B-Class hero.
Was it luck, or skill?
If it was luck, then that was fine. There would be no need to make contact.
But.
If it was skill, then...
“...........”
Well.
Then the story might change.
At least, for now, it was still Wolf.
One week.
Seven days. Short if you thought of it as short, long if you thought of it as long.
Chirp chirp chirp...
“...........Morning, huh.”
Tap, tap.
It was morning, so my steps were as listless as ever.
But my field of vision stayed wide, and my senses stayed sharp.
The seven days since I woke up in this body.
If there was one thing I had definitely learned over that week, it was this: never let my guard down.
If I let my guard down, my mind would loosen too.
And if my mind loosened, my instincts would weaken on their own.
That couldn’t happen.
Always keep my intuition on edge, always stay alert.
I kept repeating the idea in my head, brainwashing myself that enemies could appear anywhere, anytime.
...Of course, I had no idea how effective that really was.
Still, doing something was clearly better than doing nothing.
Clatter.
A bone I’d kicked with my foot came into view.
Yesterday afternoon, I had chewed up the owner of that bone and spent the whole day roaming around this area.
It was a city full of humans, after all.
But I moved in my own way.
Quietly.
Secretly.
Stealthily.
Without getting caught.
I had figured out how to travel like that.
That method was simple: use the ground.
If I dug and moved beneath a certain depth, at least I could avoid human eyes.
And if I was hungry, I naturally wouldn’t run into humans.
It also made it easier to avoid the monsters that were “too strong.”
My disaster level was Wolf.
In other words, among monster ranks, it was the next lowest after the lowest of the low.
If I ran into even a higher-ranked Tiger-level monster right now, I might die screaming on the spot.
Of course, I thought I’d gotten stronger in my own way.
[Name: “Truly” Common Lizard Monster]
[Disaster Level: Wolf (Promotion conditions not met)]
[HP: 190/190]
[ST: 110/110]
[AP: 80/80]
[SP: 120/120]
[MP: 0/0]
[Distributable Points: 0]
[Skills (8/10): [Super Instinct] LV4, [Quiet Steps] LV3, [Sharp Claws] LV4, [Strong Teeth] LV3, [Tail Severing] LV1, [Hardened Body] LV2, [Super Regeneration] LV2, [Stealth] LV1]
...First of all, there had been a huge change.
That was because, after eating the monkey monster, I had hunted fifteen more wolf-level monsters over the next three days.
I hunted monsters of all kinds, over and over again.
Whether they tasted good or not, I either enjoyed them or forced them down.
In any case, I killed them, ate them, and earned points.
During that time, I had learned quite a lot about this status system.
For example, if a skill I obtained was garbage, I could convert it into distributable points.
The number of points I got changed depending on how useful the skill was.
I still didn’t know what the MP that couldn’t be assigned to anything actually was.
And if I wanted to complete a Daily Quest and claim the reward instead of a Main Quest, I had to consciously think, “Claim reward.”
Because of that, I once felt completely empty after realizing I had more than a hundred points sitting there unclaimed.
Now, having reached my current status...
After hunting the fifteenth monster, I never once struggled while hunting the remaining five.
It was nothing but slaughter. And then more slaughter. Just repetition.
Right now, I could probably kill the crocodile monster I’d met at the beginning with ease.
So my current strength was probably... top-tier Wolf.
Still Wolf, sure, but being at the top of a rank was surprisingly satisfying.
Compared to when I first started, I was more than ten times stronger.
Yeah.
Maybe I could keep getting stronger faster by eating even stronger monsters from here on out.
How strong could I become? I found myself wondering that all of a sudden.
After all, limits had to exist.
Still.
The title of the strongest monster! That sounded cool.
For some reason, that kind of greed started to take root in me.
I wondered if I could someday become the strongest monster.
That ridiculous arrogance was something I only began to realize after the next quest appeared.
[Main Quest (NEW): Survive in City A (0/1). Time limit: Bald Cape]
...What the hell was this all of a sudden?
No, what even was a Bald Cape in the first place—
Before I could even finish the thought, I heard a ringing in my ears.
No, this was intuition.
Get underground now.
From what?
Behind me.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-BOOM!!!
The intense blast of heat from a sudden explosion came rushing into view, trying to swallow my body whole.
“...! What—”
I hurriedly dug into the ground and evaded the flames.
My [Sharp Claws] skill was at LV4 now.
Because I could dig underground quickly, I barely managed to evade it.
...That was close.
The sensation of flames grazing the tip of my tail sent a chill through me.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA-BOOM!!!
BOOM!
KWA-BOOM!
KWA-KWA-BOOM!!!
Rumble rumble rumble rumble...
...What, had a war broken out or something?
Explosions that seemed to tear the ears apart.
Earthquake-like vibrations shaking my whole body.
Heat rolling over everything.
And then.
Amid the chaos, desperate screams.
What in the world.
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