Pterosaur Hunt (2)

I had no idea whether the thing was a genuine Stone Age dinosaur.

But this would almost certainly be its first time tasting food like this.

"You've never had goblin meat before, have you?"

Please. Eat it so hard your eyes roll back in your head.

"It's not like you've got much else to eat out here anyway."

All you could see across this vast stretch of nothing was the horizon beyond the sea. And even if it did eat, what was there? Fish, maybe?

So how good would land meat taste by comparison?

I'll make it delicious for you.

With that, I drew the dagger I'd bought along with everything else.

One of the starter weapons every Awakener got their hands on. Anyone who'd actually picked this thing up had probably scrambled for a better weapon the second they tried it out.

I, however, could put it to good use.

"Careful. Careful."

A thin slice, then a steady trickle. I drew the dagger across my palm and let the blood run into a glass bottle.

"Ah, damn — spilled some."

Sizzle.

Of course, it wasn't ordinary blood.

Lethal poison.

The blood that hit the sand met the grains and threw up a stinging reek. It might even be stronger than the poison I could generate with mana.

Thunk.

I jammed the bottle of blood into the hobgoblin meat.

"Now shove this in here and… ta-da, done!"

Hobgoblin meat, Shin Sihyun Special — Hydrochloric Blood Flavor. Complete. A little spice on top would have been nice, but I doubted a pterosaur would appreciate it.

And for this part… paralysis poison, sleep poison, acid poison… too sour? Probably ruin the taste, right?

I used the poisons I'd tasted so far in place of seasoning — specifically the ones that had tasted the worst.

"One, two, three… okay."

I spent the points I'd earned from the quest and made several more chunks of bait meat. This much ought to be enough to poison ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the thing.

"Ugh… anemia."

Sunbed. Sunbed. Now.

I lay down on the sunbed and started recovering my stamina.

"Haa… starting to feel human again. Hope this actually works."

When I was little, my grandfather the farmer had used a method like this to catch wild boar. Whether it was a legitimate technique or not, I had no idea — but a method that had surfaced out of nowhere was going to come in handy.

"Thank you, Grandpa."

The thing would show up again soon enough. The way it had appeared the moment Prurprur vanished told me that much. And since the meat would spoil eventually, I stashed the hobgoblin meat in my inventory and opened the community boards.

Should be climbing soon.

Fake Mage casually ignored the Awakener going by Newbie.

Picky about who he lets in, huh.

Acting like some self-appointed authority when he wasn't even the real first mage.

Fake Mage's team and GoldenCarriage's team seemed to be the two parties closest to clearing Floor 1 right now.

"A maze with ten hobgoblins…"

Definitely harder than B1, which made sense for Floor 1. That was why B1 was B1. Even if I killed the pterosaur gatekeeper and climbed to Floor 1, the road ahead would still look pitch black.

"Wonder if the poison will even work."

It barely worked on the pterosaur. I doubted it would do much against something called a hobgoblin great warrior either. Floor 1 boss monsters, after all.

There was another interesting post.

The government was building a group.

Should I join too?

More people meant more information. For all I knew, some other Awakener might have ended up on B1 besides me.

The thought didn't last long.

"Who else is going to end up down here?"

I was probably the only one using B1. For there to be any trace of someone else… well, maybe if there were other islands beyond that horizon. No way to check right now either way.

I tapped open a post from an Awakener I always paid attention to.

Something I already know.

Prurprur was no game NPC. There was no way we could have held the conversations we did otherwise.

I kept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reading RegionalUniResearcher's post.

In the end, RegionalUniResearcher closed the post by telling people not to mess with the NPCs. The comment section, however, went in a very different direction from his intentions — mockery poured in.

An anonymous community — of course every type of person had gathered. RegionalUniResearcher was one of the few decent Awakeners who regularly posted useful intel on the boards. I mustered my courage and left a comment to back him up.

I'd used a username that felt completely different from my real appearance.

This is how you're supposed to write it, right?

I'd copied the way most people talked online. Posting on a board like this for the first time made my heart shrivel up.

"This is weirdly embarrassing."

Hoping my comment would give RegionalUniResearcher some strength, I closed the community and returned to reality.

"When's it gonna show…"

It couldn't break through my shield, so there was no chance of me becoming its next meal. On the other hand, the food I could eat was severely limited. So the damn thing needed to get here already.

"This bird bastard…"

Not showing up for five whole days was just cruel. My remaining points were running on fumes. I could stretch another two days, maybe — and even that would mean surviving on bread crusts.

"When are you coming? I miss you."

Living in this barren sea environment couldn't be easy for it either. In that case…

Goblin meat that looked flavorless and nutritionally worthless. I paid a full hundred points for ten kilos of it.

"Grow big and strong."

Whoosh. Thud, thud.

I flung the meat chunks onto the ground. This was the real all-or-nothing meat barrage. Please. Just show up.

I spread the sunbed under a palm tree and waited for it to come.

About an hour later—

"Kiee…"

A pterosaur's cry drifted in from far away.

"Kieeeeee!"

That kieeee closed the distance fast.

It's here!

I lifted my sunglasses ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and watched it approach. The moment its size became distinguishable with the naked eye, I mixed the hobgoblin meat in among the goblin meat and tossed it out.

Whoosh, thump.

Please eat it and enjoy. I seasoned it real nice for you.

I had to kill this thing. That was the only way I survived.

"Shield!"

A violet ripple surged outward and formed a barrier. I adjusted the size until it barely wrapped my body.

Do you have any idea how much I practiced this for five days?

Fine control of a shield was no joke. Expanding it only cost mana — but shrinking it to protect a specific area? It felt like playing an FPS with a joystick.

"Kieeeek!"

The pterosaur's roar shattered my wandering thoughts. I was close enough now that I could feel the wind off its wingbeats. Crouched low under the palm, I didn't think it had spotted me yet.

Look at this bastard, swiveling its head around.

I wasn't where I was supposed to be, and it seemed flustered. But then—

What the hell is that?

Clutched in its foot was a rock glowing with blue light. Why had it brought that? I didn't know the pterosaur's purpose for hauling that sharp blue stone, but one thing was certain: it wasn't a friendly one.

I pressed myself even lower, careful not to be seen. For the first time, the thing landed on the sand.

"Krrng, krrrrmrr."

When it folded its wings, small hands dangled at the tips.

A pterosaur with hands? Seriously?

Less a pterosaur and more an evolved animal — no, a monster.

"Kieeeeee!"

Something set it off and it roared without warning. Still fully on guard, it eyed the goblin meat scattered across the ground.

"Snff. Snff snff."

It lowered its head and sniffed. Deciding the area was safe, it started wolfing down the meat.

Yes!

The creature happily ate meat coated in every poison spice I had. A lot of meat for a human — a single mouthful for it. Once it had finished the whole pile, it smacked its lips and chewed the air.

Oh, come on. Why is there no reaction?!

This was bad. If it flew off now, I was done. I would starve to death out here.

Apparently finished with the goblin meat, the pterosaur started to unfurl its wings. The thought that I couldn't let this happen hit me at the same time my body moved first.

"Hey!"

"Grrk?"

For a moment our eyes locked, and silence hung between us — like long-lost lovers who had been waiting forever to reunite.

"How've you been?"

"Grrk?"

"I said how've you been, you bird bastard!"

"Kieeeeeeeek!"

It finally grasped the situation and charged. Thud, thud, thud. Even on the ground, it was fast. Sand dust billowed up with every step, and in seconds the whole area was choked with grit.

Bang! Boom!

Its body slammed into the shield.

"Ghk! Still strong as hell!"

Having the shield up kept me from taking any serious damage.

"Nerve Paralysis, Poison Mist!"

Psssshhhh!

The mist mixed with the dust cloud.

"Krrk! Kieek!"

It tried to spread its wings and take off. I prepared a spell to keep it from escaping.

"Venom Shot!"

Ssshhh, whoosh!

A mass of rotting energy gathered at my fingertips. I fired a poison bullet at it as fast as I could.

The wings first!

Boom!

Venom Shot landed true and the poison burst outward.

"Kieeek!"

"I've still got one more! Venom Shot!"

I fired the second shot I'd gathered in my other hand.

Whoosh, bang!

As if the poison that had already hit it once meant nothing, it knocked the shot aside with the underside of its wing.

The poison still bursts, you bastard!

I didn't need a clean hit. I just needed the poison to spread fast.

Then its eyes changed.

"Why the hell do that bastard's eyes look like that."

Its gaze had gone ominous. It snatched up the blue rock and charged me.

A sharp throb. My spine went cold and a headache spiked up the back of my skull.

What is this? Do I dodge?

I had to dodge. Those eyes charging at me had gone completely insane.

Thud, thud, thud.

I expanded the shield as wide as I could and sprinted across the sand to get clear. Human legs, unfortunately, don't get you very far.

"Shit! Fly!"

Whooom!

My body lifted and shot toward the sky. Then — boom! — the shield and the blue rock collided.

Whssshhh.

"What the hell even is that rock?!"

With a sound like air hissing out, the shield shattered. Even after punching through, the blue rock still gleamed bright as ever.

"Kieeeeeeeek!"

The pterosaur's wings spread wide, ready to take flight. And in its eyes, a red silhouette.

"Finally spreading through, you bird bastard!"