Signs

“…Why, why is this real?”

Moon Bora muttered as if it were the most absurd thing she had encountered since we met today.

Ah, even so, wasn’t that reaction a bit disappointing?

“…You don’t believe it?”

I looked at her with tears in my eyes, putting all my acting skills into it.

Gasp!

Then, Moon Bora visibly panicked about what to do.

Realizing that her behavior was indeed rude for someone she met for the first time, her face turned red with embarrassment.

Fidgeting with her fingers and sneaking glances at me… wow, shit.

She was exceptionally cute.

‘Wow, this is really fascinating.’

Even though she was a squishy, chubby SD version with a big head and only two heads tall, her expressions and gestures were all…
They were conveyed so clearly that it was truly a mystery in itself.

“…I’m s-sorry. It seems I’ve underestimated you too much, Mr. Yu Seha.”

Moon Bora deeply bowed her head, acknowledging her mistake.

No, this way, I’d end up feeling sorry for acting.

“It was a joke~. Just trying things out.”
“Ahem! Well, anyway… let’s go check.”

“Miss Bora. This definitely… seems like those creatures.”

Ma Hana started the conversation.

At her words, Moon Bora also nodded with a slightly stiff face.

“…Yes, they are definitely beast-type monsters.”

In front of them were four monkey corpses, either frozen to death in [Ice Pillars] or torn apart.

These creatures, looking ordinary as if they belonged in a zoo, had tails that were peculiarly transparent at the ends.

‘…I didn’t expect these guys to appear already.’

“Transparent-tailed monkeys.”
“…Correct. It’s definitely them.”

Moon Bora responded to my muttering.

[Transparent-tailed Monkey(D)]

Although they were ‘beast-type’ and their combat power was E-F grade.
[Stealth] skill possessed was identified as a D-grade monster.

“Tricky creatures. Normally, the classification of monsters is based on combat power, but… these ones are one of the few exceptions.”

Moon Bora muttered with a serious expression.

Hmm… Is that so?

After all, weren’t they just D-grade monsters?

“…Oh, is it that surprising?”

To my question that it was no big deal, Moon Bora shook her short neck from side to side, indicating disagreement with what I said.

“Mr. Yu Seha, they’re not as easy as you think.”

She continued to explain while examining the corpse of a monkey thoroughly.

“Ordinary [Skills] utilize mana. This is no exception for monsters, either. Especially to properly exhibit the [Stealth] skill, which even reduces the visibility and presence of the body, it consumes a considerable amount of mana. Therefore, even without specialized detection abilities, one can quickly notice them if they are sensitive to mana. Because of their unique wavelength, which resonates strongly.”

Certainly. Hence, to properly use the [Stealth] skill, it was necessary to be far away or to undertake some preparations to compensate for its weaknesses.

“However, that’s not the case for these monkeys. The unique fur and skin enveloping the body of the Transparent-tailed Monkey blend with its surroundings. It forms a very unique structure that becomes transparent without having to use mana. Therefore, strictly speaking, it’s not a [Skill] but a [Trait].”

“Ah, that means…”

“Yes, in fact, it immediately goes into hiding without any particular signs for us to find. That’s what makes them tricky.”

Moon Bora explained that if it had launched a surprise attack, we all would have been utterly defenseless.

She clicked her tongue as she looked at the club held in its four hands.

“The attack power isn’t great, but the damage will be inevitable since we won’t even see it coming. And in the worst case… they could have joined other monsters to fight us, and we would have been cornered.”

‘Ah, that reminds me.’

I, too, had been screwed over by these creatures in the same way Moon Bora just described back in ‘GAL’.

It seemed their behavior was similar here as well.

As I was thinking, Moon Bora looked at me. She smiled faintly, as if to say I did well.

“Thanks to Mr. Yu Seha, we were able to overcome a major crisis now. I never expected you to have the [Stealth Detection] trait, not the normal [Detection]. It’s a rarer trait than one might think.”

And next to him, Ma Hana also nodded as if she agreed.

“…Truly as expected of a Sword Saint.”

No, Ma Hana.
Sword Saint and Stealth Detection had nothing to do with each other.

I was a bit embarrassed by the sudden praise. But it wasn’t a bad feeling, so I’d take it positively.

“…Anyway, it’s strange. To my knowledge, the Transparent-tailed Monkey is known to appear very rarely, even among D-rank monsters.”

That’s right. No matter how low their specs, these creatures had the tricky combination of stealth and surprise attacks.

What was certain was that these weren’t the type to easily appear in beginner dungeons where newbies were practicing their first steps.

“Perhaps…”

Moon Bora trailed off, as if she had a prediction in mind.

Her expression hardening clearly didn’t look good.

“…Miss Moon Bora? Do you have any guesses…”
“…No. I am not sure yet… I’ll tell you later. It’s also not the right qualification for a leader to unnecessarily raise anxiety among party members.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ma Hana, who had been waiting, slowly bowed her body.

“Then, I’ll start with the by-products.”

She skillfully pulled out a dagger, saying that the corpses would decay if left for a bit inside the dungeon.

And then, as if accustomed, she didn’t hesitate to thrust the blade into the corpse and split it in half.

Plop.

The inside organs flowed out, emitting a dull color.
A small exclamation escaped my mouth at the more professional disassembly scene than expected.

“…Ah, those are all intestines… Uniquely, this child doesn’t seem to have a stomach. Now that I think about it, I seem to recall a setting where monsters don’t have the basic bodily functions… Is their digestion process different from that of ordinary organisms?”

[Gonis Archive Life] was a game for ages 15 and up only.

There was a time when it almost faced a major crisis of being forcibly adjusted to an age rating of 19 due to the conspiracy of an evil group, but they overcame it well and settled as a game for ages 15 and up.

There were some slightly, how should I put it, cheeky and quirky scenes in this game.
But, of course, there was nothing as bloody as this.

I realized once again.
This was reality.
Not a game.

Not simply a feeling of going out for a walk, but a battlefield where we fight for our lives.
The winner takes the spoils, and the loser becomes a silent corpse. It’s just that kind of story the game ended up as.

Thud.
Thud.

Silently staring, Moon Bora, who was next to me, nudged my ankle.

She was busy freezing the segmented by-products to maintain their freshness.

Just like the message a while ago, the butchering process could cause more damage without professional [Skills], so it was a wise division of labor.

“…In principle, if there’s no specialized [Porter] class in the party, it’s polite for everyone to share the task of distributing the by-products to carry.”
“…Ah, yes! If you ask me to–”
“But I’ll let Mr. Yu Seha off the hook this time.”

Huh?

“That’s because it’s your first time inside a dungeon. Even men who are relatively less squeamish might find this difficult to do. So, you don’t have to force yourself to do this. You can keep watch from a little distance away.”

At Moon Bora’s words, Ma Hana, who was working, flinched slightly.

Judging by her expression, it was a look of sadness.

As if feeling sorry for not being considerate towards a newbie like me before Moon Bora brought it up, the cat ears attached to her head drooped down.

“No, no. It’s okay. I’m used to this kind of thing.”
“…Used to it?”
“Yes, I’ve seen a lot of flesh and blood since I was young.”
“……”

Leaving the stunned Moon Bora behind, I looked over at Ma Hana.

She was meticulously skinning not only the monkey’s tail but also its back.

“…Oh, do those parts also make money?”

Nod.

“Yes, the fur, as Miss Bora mentioned, has a unique structure, making it the most valuable of this beast, and the tail here can be used as an ingredient in alchemy, fetching a high price.”

Typical Ma Hana.
The role of a tank and a porter wasn’t just for show.

‘A porter…’

In “Gonis Archive Life,” a ‘porter’ does more than just store and deliver items.

Professional butchering and by-product collection, etc.
They play an important role in improving the quantity and quality of the final product, which yields the party money.

‘…Here, the 3★ or higher from the gacha also increases the amount of experience, among other utilities.’

Given the setting, did Ma Hana have a background in butchering because she followed her father?

Ma Hana had a significant advantage in playing a similar role as a porter from the beginning.

Of course, there were clear limitations, but the good thing was that she could provide additional adjustments to the by-products without special effort.

‘…If only she could have learned taunt from the start.’

She wouldn’t have been treated so coldly.

After a while, having finished all the work, we started moving forward again.

Anyway… Moon Bora’s expression, perched on her shoulders, wasn’t normal.

Should I say she was a bit nervous?

Biting her lower lip, it seemed the issue was not that a goblin appeared first, but that a rare beast mob appeared.

And that ‘thing’ she was about to mention but stopped herself from saying.

Actually, I had a rough idea of what it was.

‘Well, I’m a veteran.’

I knew all about the various events that could happen in here.

And there was an event that perfectly fit this situation.

However, like her, I was somewhat skeptical.
Because I couldn’t ignore the possibility that we just had bad luck and encountered them first.

But it didn’t take long for me to desperately realize that ‘that thing’ I thought of was correct.

“Miss Hana! It’s coming from behind! To be precise, it’s trying to jump and attack us!”

At my shout, Ma Hana immediately reacted, tensing her legs and skillfully dodging the attack.

It felt as if a spring with excellent elasticity had sprung into action.

‘As expected of the Myoin Tribe people.’

Their cat-like agile movements were so fast that they amazed onlookers.

Thud!

And then, she skillfully blocked the bat with a large shield.

Soon, an invisible monkey with a club appeared out of thin air.

“Ooookkkk!”

The creature, failing its surprise attack, furiously showed its anger on us.

Glancing over repeatedly.
It seemed to know well that it failed because of me.

‘Well, what more?’

What are you going to do about it? Besides [Stealth], what can you do?

“[Ice Pillar!]”

Immediately after, a sharp pillar of ice exploded.
The creature, hit precisely, froze to death without even a chance to scream.

“Phew… How many surprise attacks is this now?”
“A total of five.”

That’s right.
Continuous attacks since a while ago.

In fact, the attacks themselves were one thing, but eerily, all the creatures that appeared were Transparent-tailed Monkeys.

Not even a single goblin showed up for us.

“……”

Moon Bora’s eyes narrowed at the clear signs of anomalies we were facing.

As the possibility she had considered approached reality, she seemed increasingly troubled in many ways.

Twitch.

By this point, Ma Hana seemed to have caught on to some extent, twitching her cat ears and putting even more effort into guarding the surroundings and being alert.

Probably, all three of us knew what situation we were in now.

But no one opened their mouth first.

Because if it were true, it was no ordinary matter to tackle.

However, 5 minutes later.

An undeniable, clear evidence appeared.

‘…That is.’

Right in the center of a giant old tree.

A mark, crushed in exactly the shape of a palm, appeared.

It was undoubtedly the shape crushed by a bizarre grip strength.

And it was a trace I had seen at ‘GAL’.

“…Mr. Seha.”
“…Yes.”

Ma Hana and I exchanged glances and nodded at each other.

As expected, being a beast race with good instincts, she seemed to have noticed right away.

“…Is it here now?”
“…Probably.”

Only Moon Bora, who hadn’t caught on, tilted her head in confusion.

“…What are you two talking about?”

Instead of answering, I picked up a branch that had fallen on the ground and threw it towards the area that had been painted red since earlier.

Swoosh!

Then, the twisted leaves moved mechanically, and a crudely woven net inside rose and activated.

[Vine Net].

An Uncommon grade skill, [Trap], which one learns as a derivative skill when reaching a certain level.

Though crudely made, it was the perfect trap for ambushes as it caused a ‘restraint’ status abnormality for a certain period when activated.

“…And the one using this is…”

As far as I knew, in this place, there was only “that guy.”

“Wh-what on earth is this…?”

“I just saw his traces on the tree.”

“…His?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I shouted loudly.

“Miss Hana! It is coming!”
“…!!!”

Ma Hana quickly raised her shield above.

Bang!

Immediately after, a huge iron fist slammed down.

Crunch!
Groan!

Trees were crushed, and a cloud of dust fluttered.
A giant roar spread like a lion’s roar, tearing through the dust.

“Kwooooo!!!”

What appeared was a gorilla the size of a house.

Its eyes, dyed in blood, menacingly looked down upon us.

‘…Mid-boss.’

In the end, it was the moment when the disaster I imagined became reality.