Settlement, Farming, and ??? (1)

A warm, gentle sensation enveloped my entire body. It felt like something soft and fluffy was lying on top of me. There was a distinctly heavy weight pressing down on me, yet strangely, it didn’t hurt at all. If I had to describe it, it was like floating on a cloud… something like that. The soft presence carried a faint warmth, and simply being in contact with it eased my mind.

‘Did I… die?’

For a moment, that was exactly what I thought. The position seemed a bit reversed, but heaven is usually associated with clouds, right? After a battle that intense, it wouldn’t be surprising if I really had died. Still, they’re sending a bastard like me to heaven… I opened my heavy eyelids with that thought in mind. I needed to figure out the situation first.

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw the Saintess sleeping on top of me. She was using my chest as a pillow, breathing softly in deep slumber. Her flowing golden hair tickled my skin. There were faint dark circles under her eyes—she must have been quite exhausted. What I had thought was warmth turned out to be her body heat.

‘Huh?’

At that moment, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of panic. Why the hell was she sleeping here? No matter how tired she was, it would be incredibly difficult for her to end up in this exact position by accident. But even as questions flooded my mind, my body continued to process the situation. What I had perceived as softness was her skin, and the cloud-like fluffiness came from her large, very large…

“Oh, fuck.”

Having pieced it together that far, I quickly separated her from my body. I supported her back and shoulders, then carefully lowered her to the floor as gently as possible so as not to wake her. A chill ran down my spine. Curiosity and everything else could wait—this was not the time. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A brief surge of vulgar desire had risen to the surface, but I shoved it back down just as quickly. First, I had to conceal this scene entirely.

I shot to my feet and let out a sigh of relief.

“That was almost a disaster…”

It was a relief ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that neither she nor the other party members had woken up first. To me, it was just an accidental mishap, but to them it would be anything but.

I could already picture it. The party members seeing that scene and immediately losing their minds at me.

“Ugh…”

Just imagining it made my head throb. Was this what they called a mental attack? The fact that merely picturing it piled on stress proved it was an absolutely devastating mental attack.

Ssssssssh…

While I was thinking that, black ash fluttered beside me. The completely charred corpse of the Gluttonous Preta was disintegrating and scattering into the wind. A creature born from a pit of filth could not even leave a corpse behind in this world. Watching it ride the breeze and disappear into the sky was, in a way, almost beautiful.

I felt a slight pang of regret as I watched.

‘Looks like I won’t be able to farm that…’

Even though it was the third Gu, I had hoped there would be something worthwhile to gain from it. But if it left no corpse at all, there was nothing I could do.

“Ugh…”

“Mmmnn…”

As I stood there blankly staring ahead, the others began to stir one by one. Adel, Lily, Kamilla, and Yulise in that order, each clutching their throbbing heads. They all looked dazed.

“Hup! The Insect King—what happened to the Insect King?”

“…Huh? Oh, right!”

They suddenly snapped back to their senses and scanned the surroundings with tense expressions.

“Ah…”

Then they spotted Valcan’s corpse and let out a long, dramatic sigh. It was quite the spectacle from the side.

“I feel like I saw something right before I passed out…”

“Yeah, some kind of ominous magic circle…”

Then they recalled their final memories. They had seen the sinister magic circle activate and lost consciousness when the ceiling collapsed. Naturally, they had no idea what had happened after that.

I quietly observed them for a moment.

“Maybe it self-destructed…?”

And the next words that followed made me slap my forehead in disbelief.

“That makes sense. It was an incredibly ominous magic circle, but the larger the scale, the higher the chance of failure.”

“Or maybe it was just a threat after all!”

“Or the thing that came out of the circle was far weaker than expected.”

“That Insect King bastard struggled until the very end, only to go out so pathetically.”

I could only think to myself:

‘These bitches are really talking nonsense…’

What? After I worked my ass off to save them, they’re saying it was weaker than expected? The magic circle failed to activate? The summoned creature was pathetic? These damn women had no idea who they owed their lives to.

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who found their words ridiculous.

“Everyone, what are you even saying?”

It was Yulise who stepped forward.

“You really don’t remember anything…? No, you didn’t see anything at all?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“You know, that huge worm came out and everything…”

She spent a long time explaining what she had witnessed. From the ancient disaster emerging from the magic circle, to how they had all fainted, and even the desperate battle that followed. Her account was incredibly detailed and lengthy, but unfortunately, the others didn’t seem convinced.

“…Is that really true?”

“The hero worked that hard…?”

“Come on, no matter what, how could he defeat a Gluttonous Preta in that state? That thing’s practically more monstrous than the Insect King.”

“It’s true, I swear…! Ugh, and now the corpse has evaporated, so there’s no way to prove it…!”

Yulise pounded her chest in frustration. I simply watched her with a resigned expression.

‘Keep trying all you want.’

They weren’t going to listen. In truth, this was one of the effects of the curse. The Curse of Obscured Merit. It drastically reduced the chance that people would notice when I raised my achievements. Since building trust through visible accomplishments was the most effective method, the curse blocked it at the source. Whoever designed it, it was a truly vicious curse.

Still, Yulise continued to explain passionately, pleading with them to believe her. In the end, she managed to get a few ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reluctant nods from her companions.

“…Yeah.”

“I see…”

Whether those nods contained any genuine belief was another question entirely. I knew it was because of the curse, but sometimes it still felt strangely off. How could people’s thoughts flow so flatly, as if someone had deliberately twisted them?

“……”

Of course, dwelling on it wouldn’t yield any answers, so I quickly moved on. It was time to take stock of what I had gained from this fight.

What exactly had I obtained from this battle? During the fight, so many alerts had popped up that I ignored more than half of them. It wasn’t just because the battle was so fierce… there had simply been that many notifications. Naturally, I couldn’t help but feel some anticipation.

The first alert I saw was this one. The moment I read it, I thought, ‘Does this bastard have no shame at all…?’ and grumbled for a while, but it was a minor detail so I moved on.

In terms of growth, the results were truly remarkable.

The moment I opened my status window, the changes were immediately obvious. Skills like Mana Control, Combat Focus, Multicast, Pain Resistance, and Poison Resistance had all risen by one level. Pain Memory and Blood Power Substitution had each jumped by a full two levels. This was after using them for the first time today, and for barely forty minutes at that. The Heavenly Martial Body certainly played a big part… but it also proved just how brutal this fight had been.

Three brand-new skills had appeared as well: Master of Poison, which had branched off from Poison Resistance, Indomitable which I gained after the battle ended, and Insect Magic as a quest reward.

‘I already tested Master of Poison earlier, so that’s fine…’

I immediately checked the detailed description for Indomitable.

“Oh.”

I let out a light sigh of admiration. In simple terms, it was a low-health buff. Simple, yet incredibly powerful. It also seemed like it would pair perfectly with my self-harming dark mage playstyle. This battle had definitely solidified the direction my character was heading. Or rather, I was growing exactly the way I wanted.

Blood Flow Acceleration and close-quarters combat using Bright Style Swordsmanship. Wounds sustained in melee were recovered through Blood Qi Absorption and Regeneration. Accumulated damage was then reflected back with Pain Memory and Blood Power Substitution. From now on, I would be able to engage in truly selfish damage trading. I could recover while taking hits and even reflect damage back at my opponent.

The skills I was acquiring also fit the concept nicely. If anything felt slightly out of place, it was Insect Magic… but that was fine.

‘Well, this one skill is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good enough on its own.’

Honestly, Insect Magic alone could overwhelm most character concepts. Hadn’t I seen it today? That bastard Valcan, who merely controlled bugs, had become terrifyingly powerful. I probably wouldn’t be able to use it to the same extent, but there was no denying I had obtained an incredible skill. And I had even acquired it at MAX level.

While I was thinking about that, the party members began to stir again.

“More importantly, shouldn’t we get up now? We need to investigate the surroundings and find the bags we lost. There’s a lot to do.”

“You’re right. There’s plenty to explore.”

It seemed they were ready to start cleaning up. Just as Kamilla said, there was indeed a lot to do. After all, no matter what, this had been a boss monster. It was bound to have dropped something. Since I had finished taking stock of my gains, it was time to start farming. There were still plenty of items left to collect.