37. Why won't this pull?
37. Why won't this pull?
With the expectation that he could finally show off his true skills, Ranma headed to the oak forest, shoulders bouncing. He wanted to take down an Enderman one-on-one and prove his strength.
'I'll take it down faster than Asagi-ssi!'
Arriving at the oak forest, Ranma witnessed an Enderman loitering in the oak forest, just as expected. Ranma pondered.
He was agonizing over how to take it down to create the biggest impact.
Ranma had tried every kind of martial art there was. But he knew full well that if anyone knew about it, they'd point fingers and call it something else entirely.
'There's no special move I can use...!'
Ranma kicked the ground in his mind, regretting it. The biggest drawback of the Anything-Goes Martial Arts was the lack of a proper special move. The Soaring Dragon Wave he learned from the Amazon tribe could easily be called his strongest special move, but because it required drawing in the opponent's energy using a swirling step, there was no way to use it against an Enderman that teleported like it was eating a meal.
Ranma stopped worrying. Just hit it, right? The monsters here didn't look that strong. They were weaker than Ryoga, who picked fights with him every day.
Charging at the Enderman, which didn't take the initiative, Ranma started by thinking about where to hit to cause the most damage. He knew all of a human's vital points, but even if the Enderman looked like a human, he figured the vital points couldn't possibly be the same. Then what about mobility? Losing mobility didn't seem to mean much to a monster that could use teleportation.
Having made a quick judgment, Ranma jumped lightly. With just that, Ranma leaped up to the height of the Enderman's head, which seemed twice as big as his own, and threw his right fist.
The target was the Enderman's temple. With a sound like Ppa-aak!, the Enderman staggered.
'Bare hands really are stronger!'
Ranma was happy. In the Monster Farm, he had used a wooden sword because it was hard to kill monsters without swinging one, but in open fields like this, fighting with familiar methods was best.
The Enderman let out a horrific scream and lunged. It swung its hand, with long, sharp claws, toward Ranma.
The way he dodged was different from Asagi. He had to dodge compactly, as if brushing past the body, to close in with his short-ranged, empty-handed combat.
Feeling the claws brush against his hair, Ranma dove into the embrace of the Enderman, which had bent its waist to attack him.
Unlike Asagi, Ranma had talked a lot with Byeong-sun. He knew about the system they were operating under, and that they had values like HP, which you'd only see in games.
The conclusion? If he chose the parts that could deal the most damage and hit them to drain its HP quickly, this guy would die.
Ranma, having dove into the Enderman's embrace, threw a straight punch. The target was the very center of the Enderman's body. The solar plexus area. To ensure the destructive power was transmitted to every corner of its body, he threw the punch, maximizing the rotational force and recoil from his toes up through his waist, and it slammed into the Enderman's solar plexus.
Mm-mm-mm-mm!!
The Enderman, having received extreme impact, knelt on the spot and then fell forward. When Ranma avoided the Enderman falling toward him, kept his distance, and watched, the Enderman turned into light and disappeared, its HP apparently fully depleted by this single blow. No items dropped.
"Strange. I thought it dropped an item last time."
Ranma tilted his head at the Enderman that dropped nothing, but soon brushed it off. He figured that living here, fights with Endermen would happen often anyway.
It seemed like a good idea to ask Byeong-sun first if the items from Endermen were useful.
"I must have been faster than Asagi-ssi, right?"
Ranma laughed gleefully, estimating the time he had counted in his head. I'm stronger than Asagi-ssi! Thinking that, Ranma ran happily toward where Asagi and Byeong-sun were.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡ
"There's a strange monster over there."
"A strange monster? A witch?"
"No. It's a zombie... but it's a bit strange."
At Asagi's words, I, who had been examining the byproducts of a monster that had fallen into the trap and died from being beaten on the shins, looked at the Monster Farm, the area where monsters spawned. It was a small baby zombie. But it was riding something.
"Th-th-th-th-th-that!"
"What is it? Is it a dangerous monster?"
Asagi asked with a tense look as I was startled. That is not a dangerous monster. On the contrary, it is a monster that is like a gift sent from heaven for us right now.
"Chicken Jockey! It's a Chicken Jockey!"
"Chicken Jockey? What is that?"
Chicken Jockey. A baby zombie riding a chicken. If there are no chickens nearby, it's a monster that spawns with a chicken, and the spawn probability is 0.25%.
It means it's a damn rare monster.
The reason it's surprising that a Chicken Jockey appeared is that it's possible to kill only the baby zombie riding the chicken. If that happens, the baby zombie dies, and the chicken remains.
We'll be able to raise chickens.
"Asagi-ssi. We have to catch that separately. If we lure it, we can kill just the baby zombie riding on the chicken, right?"
"Possible."
"If we can kill just the baby zombie, I'll give you chicken as a gift."
"Chicken?"
"Yes. Chicken. Chicken."
"I'll catch it no matter what."
At my suggestion, Asagi's eyes widened. It would be a funny situation normally, but right now, I probably had the same look in my eyes as Asagi. Chicken is an important issue.
I immediately lifted the trapdoor to make a path and then walked a few steps. Since the Chicken Jockey is also a zombie, its detection range is the same as a zombie's.
The difference is that it's riding a chicken and has the mobility unique to a baby zombie. That's why it's even better. Because even if I only pull out the chicken zombie, there's enough time to trap the slowly approaching zombies in the trap.
The zombies that recognized me after I crossed the trapdoor started walking toward me. Spiders aren't important right now. The Chicken Jockey is the most important. If we don't get a chicken this time, I have no idea when we'll get one next.
Du-da-da-da. As expected, the Chicken Jockey was the fastest. It's a speed on a different level from regular zombies. I quickly passed through the trapdoor, letting the Chicken Jockey pass through the trapdoor as well.
"Asagi-ssi! Now!"
"Leave it to me!"
Along with my shout, Asagi moved, even using the Ninjutsu: Art of the Hawk. I couldn't even see her passing by me.
I only caught the sight of her swinging her wooden sword at the baby zombie that had rolled off the chicken with a Ppak! sound.
Chicken had given Asagi the motivation to use even her techniques. My chest feels grand.
The baby zombie died and disappeared without being able to put up much resistance. Only rotten flesh dropped, but it was a great achievement in that we got a chicken!
"It's a chicken!"
I shouted with joy. But there was still work to be done. I couldn't let the adult zombies that followed along pass through the trapdoor. I quickly ran up the stairs, ignored the zombies that were almost within reach, and folded the trapdoor first.
With a narrow timing, the adult zombies fell into the trap again. I got goosebumps thinking that if I had been just a little late, zombies would have swarmed onto the platform where we lived. Asagi and Ranma might be fine, but I was scared of fighting even one zombie one-on-one.
"Phew!"
As I let out a sigh of relief, Asagi pointed at the chicken and shouted at me.
"Catch it quickly! Quickly!"
"Wait, try to keep the chicken from running away!"
I quickly went down the stairs and ran to the crafting table. I have to be careful with the positioning first. The chicken the Chicken Jockey rides is a chicken that despawns, and it doesn't lay eggs either. To raise chickens with these, I have to keep staying by its side so it doesn't despawn until another Chicken Jockey comes out, so that there are 2 chickens. So, I have to build a chicken coop right in the center of the oak forest, Monster Farm, and the hut.
"I! I just came back from killing an Enderman...! Huh?"
I met Ranma on the way, but lightly ignored him. The Enderman isn't important right now! I don't care if I suffer more. I don't care what I have to do if I can eat chicken. The spawn rate of a Chicken Jockey is miserable. Now I just need one more chicken!
I hurriedly made fences and a fence gate at the crafting table, planks to make a temporary hut for me to stay in, and even half blocks so monsters wouldn't spawn on the roof of the hut, and ran over.
I put up a fence in the center, took the wheat seeds I had kept in my inventory, and approached Asagi. I saw Asagi holding the chicken, and Ranma, who was staring at the chicken with his eyes wide open.
"Asagi-ssi! You can let go of the chicken now!"
"O...Okay!"
At my shout, Asagi quickly let go of the chicken. Seeing the chicken land on the ground, I took out the wheat seeds and shook them, and the chicken followed me as if it were bewitched.
Luring the chicken with the wheat seeds like that, I put the chicken inside the fence. Normally, it wouldn't matter if I didn't give it the wheat seeds, but I loved the chicken so much that I fed it the wheat seeds and came out of the fence.
Asagi and Ranma, who had been watching what I was doing without even opening their mouths, clapped like seals after confirming that I had put the chicken inside the fence.
"Ohhh!"
"Excellent! Excellent!"
I was happier than when I got a perfect score on a mock exam.