Monster Zoo # 8
Monster Zoo # 8
"Status Window!"
I opened up the status window for the first time in a while.
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[Status Window - Kim Geun-cheol]
[Rank : F]
「Strength : 18」
「Dexterity : 21」
「Stamina : 16」
「Endurance : 10」
「Mana : 18」
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"Damn. The little bastard grew."
I could feel my growth. Originally, my five stats averaged about 11. That was roughly where my starting stats were. All of them were like 10 or 11, pure garbage, a trash character among trash characters.
But now my average was above 16.
Roughly speaking, I'd raised every stat by 5. Hah. I really did grow a hell of a lot. My Dexterity and Strength especially stood out.
"At this point, it's safe to say I'm one of the strongest in the setting."
—Swish.
I moved my arms and legs a little, trying to feel the stat increase. I'd gotten so used to it that I couldn't really sense anything different, but I could definitely tell I was less exhausted and less out of breath during training lately.
"My body's shaped up a bit too."
I'd put on both muscle and fat. My weight had gone up by quite a bit, too. Either way, I'm in a combat profession, so gaining mass is a good thing. I've been eating well and working out a lot, so it's only natural.
"Let's see."
Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina are stats that go up well as long as I train hard, even without investing coins. I don't need to touch them. So I'd been investing mainly in Mana.
Mana's a stat that only rises very occasionally.
Most of it, I bought with coins.
"But what about Endurance?"
There wasn't a single point different from my starting stat. Well... looking at the word Endurance, maybe it only goes up when I get hit? I guess it hasn't risen because I haven't gotten hit much lately.
To sum it up, the stats I need to buy with coins are either Endurance or Mana. But I've never actually felt the effect of Endurance, so I'm not sure if I should raise it.
"Check coin."
[Coin Owned : 6,823]
Anyway, I had a decent amount of money on hand.
It had piled up from minor quests, clearing trash mobs, and, this time, completing the main quest.
"Main quest window."
—Ding.
[Main Quest]
When I opened it, there were no quests at the moment.
But.
"Huh?"
The quest window was flickering. Did that mean I was supposed to press it? So I touched it.
[Abnormal gate incidents are occurring in succession. The phenomenon of gates appearing without warning has expanded nationwide, and Antillery, who are merely E-rank monsterkin, have even been observed using short-range warp technology.]
That explanation popped up.
"I can mostly guess."
The only thing I know is that a catastrophe will hit at the end of the third year. That catastrophe is probably the Second Dimension War. A terrible disaster accompanied by massive gate incidents.
I can deduce that much.
"So what you're saying... these gates and stuff are going to appear more often. More dangerously. And without any warning?"
I get that part.
"Then give me a damn clue, you son of a bitch."
Seeing as it's handing out a quest, it's clear it wants me to stop these gate anomalies, or prevent the Dimension War, or do something, but it hasn't actually told me how.
That's just insanely irresponsible.
But well, if this is a clue, then there must be some entity causing the gate anomalies. I wonder if I just have to stop them.
"..."
Thinking about it didn't yield any particular answer.
I promptly invested coins into Mana.
[Mana increased by 2]
「Mana : 20」
With this, my Mana stat hit 20. I am a little concerned about my Endurance stat, but I can allocate points there after I find out more about it. Anyway, my next goal is to raise my average stats to 20.
"Ugh, I'm hungry."
Starving to death.
—Ding-dong.
"Whoa. It's here. Going out!"
No sooner had I muttered that I was hungry than the hamburgers I'd ordered earlier arrived. I have to eat fast, wash up, and sleep. If I don't go to bed soon, I'll be too worn out to handle tomorrow's schedule.
* * *
"Fuck, what a nasty dream."
I had a nightmare in the morning, got up, washed up quickly, and got ready for school. Then, as usual, I met up with Si-hoo and we started our commute.
"Si-hoo, aren't you tired?"
"No... I'm super tired... What class did we have today?"
"Dunno. We'll see when we get there. Hope it's nothing that involves moving around."
"Yeah."
Because I'd worked so hard yesterday, I still felt the fatigue. I really did fight my heart out. Swinging my sword so courageously and slicing up all those ant bastards.
I did feel a sense of exhilaration as a superhuman, but while my body might be one, my mind isn't a superhuman's yet. I'm fucking tired.
Anyway, I dragged my tired body into the classroom.
"Oh!"
There was Leona!
Seeing the angel naturally seemed to melt away my fatigue. I dropped my bag off right away and approached Leona.
"Gyagh!"
I went over and immediately let out a scream.
"H-Huh? What is it, Kim Geun-cheol?"
"Leona!"
"Y-Yes?"
"What did I say about shining so bright first thing in the morning...! Your beauty is so dazzling it's killing me!"
I said it like a joke.
"Heh, oh, honestly. What are you talking about so early in the morning. You're so ridiculous, really."
Smiling, Leona put down her phone. It looked like she was playing a game—is Leona into mobile games too?
"Anyway. Did you rest well yesterday? And did you eat properly?"
"Yeah. I went and ordered hamburgers."
"More, more instant food. Eat proper meals, alright? I told you to eat vegetables."
"Well, you see..."
"And wear your uniform properly. Your tie's crooked. Honestly. So sloppy, first thing in the morning."
Leona got up from her seat, grabbed my tie, and fixed it for me... This is bad. At this rate, I'm definitely going to get a baptism of nagging the moment I arrive at school.
"Hold on. More importantly, Leona? Were you playing a phone game just now?"
I changed the subject before the nagging could start, and Leona picked up her phone.
"Ah, yes. Something new launched yesterday."
"Wow. Leona, I never knew you played phone games. You actually do that kind of thing?"
"I play games too, you know. It's just casual, though."
"Anyway. What game is it? I'll install it, too."
"Ah, this one. It's called Sword Kingdom."
Sword Kingdom, huh.
"What's your nickname? I'll put you down as a referral. We should add each other as friends, too."
The moment I asked that.
"M-My nickname?"
Leona abruptly shoved her phone into her pocket.
"Leona? I asked what your nickname is?"
"Th-That... No! I mean!"
"Huh?"
"I'm not telling Kim Geun-cheol!"
What the hell!
"Ah! Why won't you tell me! Leona! That hurts, you know!"
"Hurt...? That's not what I meant!"
Leona looked horrified and completely flustered!
"Please, just tell me!"
Ah, now that I think about it after saying it, did she pick some kind of weird, funny nickname? Men and women alike share the same desire for funny nicknames. I can't exactly imagine a heavenly lady like Leona using a weird nickname, but it's clearly something embarrassing.
"It's not that I'm deliberately not telling you! I-I didn't set a nickname, so it came out as like user3216143254 or some nonsense like that! So it's hard for me to tell you!"
"What. That's all it was?"
"Yes. So I'll tell you next time."
"Well, guess I'll have to leave it at that."
Since it's a game Leona plays, I'll give it a casual try myself.
"No, more importantly, Kim Geun-cheol?"
"What now."
"Do you realize your own situation, and you're still trying to play a mobile game?"
Suddenly she's calling me out on this?
"Hey, Leona! You play it too!"
"I'm someone who's allowed to play it! Kim Geun-cheol, you shouldn't be doing that! What are you going to do if your grades drop again because you're playing games!"
"L-Like that would happen just because of a game...!"
"Kim Geun-cheol is totally someone it could happen to! Use your game time to study, study!"
"Seriously! What are you, my mom!"
The moment I yelled "mom."
"Kyaah!"
Leona let out a short scream.
"What, why!"
"M-Mom...!"
What's wrong with mom.
"Anyway, study a bit! Kim Geun-cheol, quickly! Go to your seat now! Class is about to start!"
"Ah, y-yeah!"
Leona placed her hands on my chest, kept her head bowed low, and gently pushed me away. Man, I never thought I'd get nagged over a mobile game.
"You there. Enough with the flirting, take your seats!"
"Instructor! It's not flirting!"
"What Leona is to me is closer to a mom!"
"H-He called me mom again...!"
Let's just get to my seat!
* * *
Thankfully, first period today was a theory class. It was a bit sleepy, but not particularly hard, so I diligently took notes.
The content was about the Antillery that appeared yesterday. Originally, they were creatures with an ecology similar to ants, but while taking over the former China region, they apparently learned about communism, and that's how every last one of them turned red.
What a weird species.
"Hmm."
I continued taking notes, listening to the lesson with interest. If you overlook the fact that they're red bastards with a lot of heads, they aren't particularly dangerous monsterkin. It's because their individual combat power isn't that high.
Well, first period ended like that.
As soon as the break bell rang.
"Ohhh, Big Guuuun-cheol!"
"Yo. Kim Geun-cheol."
My classmates, including Brian and Mun Min, swarmed over to my seat.
"What, why?"
"What happened yesterday, you!"
"Didn't you say your English sucked?"
"I can manage simple phonics. Come on. Begin your story, Big Cheol."
"Uh... okay."
It looked like they were curious about what went down yesterday. And so I told the gathered classmates the tale of that day's intense battle. The guys listened to my story with looks of shock or admiration.
"Oh, no! Dangerous! A hostage situation! That's incredible!"
Brian was full-on tearing at his hair in reaction. Judging by his gestures and whatnot, this guy's an American through and through, so why can't he speak English?
"Hehehe, right?"
"Yo. But."
"Mun Min, you bastard, what."
"Isn't it a little... sad?"
Sad?
"What is."
"The Antillery, I mean."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Thinking about it, those monsterkin came all that way to save their comrades, too, and on top of being taken hostage, they ended up annihilated..."
"Ohhhhh! Mun Min!"
—Smack!
The moment Mun Min spouted that nonsense, Brian thrust a finger at him, his face turning red as he yelled!
"You are Red Man! The Red Man! I've had enough!"
"Ah, no! Hey! That's not what I—I was just saying it's kind of sad in a sentimental way, not that I'm actually a red...!"
"You Red Team! Go home!"
What a shitshow.
"Where Are You From!!!"
"Korea!!!"
"Nooooo! Is it because you're Red Man, you're good at lying, too!!!"