The Forest Of Screaming Corpses (6)

About 10 minutes after the fight with Pyo Dok-ju was over.

Currently, Meowi and I were sitting on a hill, taking a short break.

“Meeooow…”

Wriggle, wriggle.

“Meeooow…”

Softly, softly.

“Meow. St-stop it!”

Fidget fidget.

“Meow!! Stop! Stop!”

Meowi, who had been sitting on my lap, enjoying the affection, wriggled out of my arms.

“Ah…”

No joke, it felt like I had lost everything in the world when she moved.

Naturally, I bowed my head deeply in despair.

Seeing that, Meowi, who had been hesitating, came back.

“…Meow? Se-Seha?”

As expected, our Meowi.

‘Such a soft heart.’

I didn’t miss the perfect opportunity that had returned.

Hug!

“Meeooow!”
“Hehehe…”

I sat her back on my lap and gently stroked her head.

The unique warmth of the Myoin Tribe, like a biological heater, warmed my entire body.

Though I often felt it, this moment was truly the best.

‘Healing time with my precious favorite character?’

Ah, I couldn’t stand it.

After about 10 minutes of a short break.

Meowi gently spoke.

“Seha. I’m really glad.”

She pointed ahead with her finger.
What Meowi was pointing to was the cold corpse of Pyo Dok-ju, who had long been dead.

“Well, it was tougher than I thought, even though I knew everything beforehand.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“…If I hadn’t been [Paralyzed], I could have protected you better.”

Meowi’s cute and soft cat ears drooped.
Here we go, again and again.
Saying strange things.
Even if I tell her not to blame herself, she doesn’t seem to change easily.

“What are you sorry for? You did well.”
“But still…”
“Ah-ha! Today, you deserve praise, right? Thanks to our Meowi, we achieved a great victory today.”

They weren’t just words to make her feel better.

In reality, it was an opponent that would have been hard to defeat.

Of course, many conditions made things favorable for us.

Pyo Dok-ju started the fight in an already exhausted state.
On top of that, she had the ‘Electric Mushroom’s’ [Skill Rune].
[Static Shock (P)] was downgraded to paralysis instead of a Stun.

‘…Well, I was a bit surprised that she used [Blood Technique].’

[Blood Technique].
It was a skill set commonly related to curses that manipulate blood.

Learning it wasn’t easy because it’s related to shamanism, but once obtained, it was definitely a skill that paid off.

The main feature of [Blood Technique] was self-harm.
And the temporary stat boost gained through self-harm.

Also, the power of special skills that could only be activated in a ‘bleeding’ state was overwhelmingly strong.

‘If she had been in perfect condition, it would have been tough.’

The [Blood Demon] she unleashed at the end was a long-range skill with power comparable to [Flowing Slash].

If Pyo Dok-ju’s condition had been good, I would have been pushed back and severely injured.

It was a tough fight.

That’s why what we obtained after overcoming the ordeal was significant.

Among various gains, the biggest was the successful collaboration based on the rune of the [Pearl Spitting Tortoise].

The skill rune of the [Pearl Spitting Tortoise] was ambiguous in terms of being considered good, even though it was a rare B+ boss.

It definitively possessed two passive skills, which in itself was quite valuable.

However, most supervisors believe it would be challenging to carry it till the end.

‘The reason is that it requires 10 stacks, making it slow.’

However, after conducting various experiments, I discovered that the passive effect stacking of <Turtle’s Rage (P)> was particularly generous.

Since even minor attacks and actions raised the count.

‘So, I wondered what would happen if a party member had two [Pearl Spitting Tortoise Runes]? And I experimented.’

The result was a great success.
Stacks accumulated as expected.
Skills applied with <Turtle’s Endurance(P)> couldn’t be compared to [Ultimate Skills], but they delivered a powerful strike.

Of course, it wasn’t always easy.
The timing could be off.
If unlucky, we could hurt each other with our attacks.

This remains true now that ‘GAL’ has become a reality.

I lowered my gaze and looked at Meowi.

“Meeooow~”

Our Meowi.
She let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her face against my chest.

It was my first time, but I was able to succeed right away because she believed in me.
And because I also believed in her.
It was possible because our hearts truly became one.

“Okay.”

After a while, Meowi jumped up.

“Seha, it’s still hard to get up, right?”

I nodded in agreement.

[Flowing Slash - Strong].

Also known as ‘Enhanced Flowing Slash,’ it’s mana consumption was absurd.
My insides were completely empty, and I had no strength to move.

“Then I’ll go put the news on the emergency contact network. Hunters will come to help in less than an hour.”
“Okay. Be careful, okay?”
“Don’t worry.”

Meowi disappeared after finishing her words.

Only then could I check the information window that I hadn’t been looking at.

“…Wow.”

An exclamation naturally slipped out.
Indeed, there was no growth as intense as in actual combat.

‘The increase in stats was evenly divided by 1 each.’

Currently, my Strength, Speed, and Endurance are 20, 17, and 17, respectively.

At this level, it was virtually guaranteed that I could definitely gain admission to the [Gonis Hunter Academy].

In terms of main stats alone, it was a definite D-rank Hunter level.

‘It’s good that the level of characteristics had increased.’

[Swordsmanship], [Agility], and [Combat] were all the most basic and fundamental characteristics.

As it is definitely profitable to just raise the level, their growth made me smile involuntarily.

‘Flowing Slash hasn’t grown, though.’

There was no particular message.

It was probably evidence that more proficiency was needed to reach level 5 since it was at level 4.

‘It was good to steal and learn the [Blunt Weapon].’

I don’t know if it will be my main weapon.
Anyway, the fact that I obtained it as a basic characteristic was encouraging.

In reality, blunt weapons were easier to handle than swords.

If I get a decent weapon, it’s worth using both together.

‘Meowi must have grown a lot, too, right?’

Probably so.

I guess her levels in [Shield] and [Dagger] increased by one each.

In terms of stat increase, her endurance and speed probably went up by 1 each.

Good, everything is very good so far.

The problem is the next part.

In a way, it’s the much-anticipated highlight.

The previous messages were just pleasant, but the one appearing now was of a different caliber.

“……”

I briefly.
No, I stayed silent for quite a long time.

Normally, it would be a reward worth shouting for joy.

Knowing that this meant something unusual, I had no choice but to remain silent.

‘…What on earth is this?’

[Nekomata’s Luck].

Ma Hana’s unique ability.

It first manifested its power with the ‘Kappa Rhino’.
At that time, it forcibly upgraded a C-rank rune to C+.

So, I thought this was simply a high-level ability that increased the quality of rewards.

But it didn’t just end there…

‘It allows you to exceed the limits of skills?’

The explanation was similar yet quite different from the original [Eyes of Reversed Heaven].

The original required a special condition called ‘Understanding’.
It couldn’t learn anything that had no connection at all.

‘If Pyo Dok-ju had been a mage, I wouldn’t have been able to copy anything.’

However, this time, reinforced with [Nekomata’s Luck], it was different.

Just choose, copy, and take it.
Each person gains it individually.

This essentially meant selecting one skill and doubling its quantity…
In every way, it was a step above.

Of course, maybe to consider balance.
There was a grade restriction.

“…Hmm.”

I looked through the information of [Eyes of Reversed Heaven].

“……”

Combined with a specific skill?

Could it be?

‘Was it referring to Nekomata’s Luck?’

No.
The true value of Yu Seha that I knew should be combined with ‘that’…

Various complicated thoughts swirled in my head.

Suddenly, something absurd appeared before my eyes, and I felt dizzy.
Should I call it dizzying or unsettling?
Many worries swirled around.

‘I should stop.’

After all, it wasn’t like the answer would come to me just by thinking about it all day.

However, if nothing else, one thing was certain to me.

‘I must keep it a secret no matter what.’

The same went for [Eyes of Reversed Heaven].
If [Nekomata’s Luck] became known, various forces would target us.

‘Looking at it this way, aren’t we a complete golden party?’

In addition to the outstanding classes of <Sword Saint> and <Guardian>. A duo with mysterious, fraudulent, and unique abilities?

“…Phew.“

First, when Meowi comes back, I should have a serious talk with her.

A while later, when Meowi returned, she explained various situations.

‘Ah, so the Guild knew too.’

They said they urgently arrested an employee who showed suspicious movements.

Realizing we were in danger, the rescue team rushed at full speed.

Fortunately, except for the now-dead Pyo Dok-ju, no one knew about me or Meowi’s information.

There were no traces of it leaking anywhere, so we could avoid the worst-case scenario.

‘If my information spreads in the underworld…’

Oh shit.
Just imagining it gives me chills.

As the story ended, I immediately explained to Meowi.

With a blank face, she looked at me as if she couldn’t believe it.

“…Huh? That… such an absurd skill… you really have it?”

“Meowi. Did you get any message or something like that?”

“…N-not at all. I didn’t get anything like that…”

Hmm, as expected.

“Meowi. This is my guess, but I think this skill is a [Parasitic Type].”
“…[Parasitic Type]?”

[Parasitic Type].

It felt a bit off.
In simple terms, it was a type that would activate on behalf of others.

Usually, in this case, no information is given to the caster, so they often find out after forming a party.

‘There were similar kids in GAL, too.’

I think Meowi might be in a similar situation.

And it was probably a skill that couldn’t be activated frequently.

From the statement that the transmission of luck becomes zero, it seemed to be a charging type.

“…Meow… th-that…”
“Meowi. People will come soon. Let’s hurry and choose. If it disappears after time passes, you’ll regret it.”
“Meeooow! Uh-huh!”

It didn’t take even a minute to choose which skill.

Since we could only choose the normal one, half of the list was unusable.

A skill that neither Meowi nor I had but would be helpful immediately after acquiring.

‘There’s only one.’

[Endurance].
It was one of the traits considered to have the highest efficiency among the normal ones.

Basic stamina, resistance to abnormal conditions, and continued combat for the character.
In many ways, it was a trait that provided adjustments in the stamina aspect.
It was also highly efficient as the level increased, so the quicker the acquisition, the better.

“Meeeoooow… To obtain such a precious thing so easily…”

Meowi wiggled her fingers with a face that was half happy and half fearful.

For someone like her, who had always been called a ‘dropout’, the idea of possessing such a strange power would be frightening.

“Don’t worry.”
“Meeoow?”

I placed my hand on her head and gently stroked it.
Feeling her purring breaths, I smiled softly.

“Those bastards. We just need to smash them all. Right?”
“…Yeah!”

It was when we were blankly waiting for the rescue team to arrive.
Meowi raised her hand with a look of sudden realization.

“Right! I forgot.”
“Huh?”
“They said we can call another party member if we have one. It’s like a reserve force just in case.”
“Hmm…”

‘But we don’t have anyone to call, so we should refuse, right?’ Meowi said.

Indeed, since there were only the two of us, calling it a party didn’t really make sense…

‘Wait a second?’

Come to think of it, we did have someone!

“Meowi, tell them to open the gate for one more person.“
“Meeooow? Wh-who?”

I chuckled.
It had been a while since we’d had someone pretty.
I would get to see that face like a steamed bun again.

“Yes.”

A person as trustworthy as our Meowi.