Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 130

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Chapter 130 – Hunting Ground Selection and Efficiency

“Riste definitely gives off pheromones that cause arousal. It’s dangerous to get too close. There’s a chance I’ll go berserk. Or rather, it’s huge.”

While muttering words that anyone would find suspicious, I made my way to the Hunters’ Guild.

I learned where the Corado Forest was, but I also had to check the request board.

If there was a good deal on it, I’d miss it if I didn’t check it out.

That’s why I opened the guild’s front door…

“(No, no, it’s too crowded. Or rather, it’s turning into a bit of a brawl…)”

It was so chaotic that I quietly closed the door.

I’m not sure I’m going to get a good request if I blend in with these muscular men who are 180cm tall and probably 190cm inside.

Even if I stretched or jumped, I don’t think I could check the details of the request because there were too many people.

Insisting on cutting between them was out of the question.

“(I thought I’d come a little late, but it’s still so crowded? If that’s the case, I might as well give up the idea of getting requests other than the ones that are always available because it’s a waste of time.)”

I hate my own height.

But since I asked for it myself, I can only complain to Acorn.

“(Even though I’m sure he could kill me as easily as a water flea if he really wanted to, for some reason I can’t help but complain to Acorn… it’s so strange!)”

While I’m thinking about these things, if I don’t accept the request, I’ll just have to make up the time by hunting.

I walked through the west gate of Malta and headed for Corado Forest.

And about 20 minutes later.

Because I was able to run well after a long vacation, I arrived at the Corado Forest earlier than expected, so I immediately started hunting.

To earn money for me and Riste’s lodging, I have to hunt for magic stones and rewards for killing monsters with all my might today.

“(For now, I’ll try to match the Exploration with the first snake bite and then move on to other monsters in moderation, I think.

The others are the familiar rig spider and small wolf.

It’s annoying when the rig spider spits out its string, but first, I want to determine if the snake bite is a monster that can be reliably defeated.

With that in mind, I moved as far away from the sound of human voices as possible and found a snake about 3 meters long.

The snake’s head was disproportionately enlarged and looked strange, and it was entangled in the branches above.

Its entire body was brown and blended in with the branches, so it was the kind of monster that would be hard to find without Exploration or Presence Detection.

In this case, it’s not hard to guess what this type of monster is after.

As an experiment, I passed under the snake bite with the short sword I had been using, activated the Presence Detection, and pretended not to notice――

“I knew it.”

The snake that was trying to bite me from above is cut off, and only its head falls to the ground.

The tail was still tangled in the branches, and only the body was hanging down, making for a rather eerie sight.

But without paying any attention to that, I casually throw the head, which is the proof of subjugation, into the basket and then pull the rest of the body down and tear it apart.

“(If I were to go underneath it, it would come down to where the sword could reach it, so a snake bite would be a piece of cake. But this one isn’t the type that can be captured―which means this place is less efficient than Lulub Forest.)”

In Lulub Forest, if you just run around, the orcs and small wolves will follow you.

If you keep up with the pace of the monsters, you can fight 40 or 50 of them forever.

However, here, both rig spiders and snake bites wait patiently for humans to approach without noticing, so they won’t be defeated unless you go to where they are.

“(Well, there are five of them for now. Depending on the results, I’ll decide whether to retreat for the short term or stay for the long term.)”

I found the magic stone inside the body that was a little closer to the head, and while looking at the whole body again, I took in the distance between the head and the place where the magic stone was.

I’ve heard that there’s a demand for skins, but I’m not going to waste my time skinning them one by one right now.

First, I need to investigate the density of the monsters.

If it turns out that I’ll be spending more time looking for monsters, then I’ll decide to go for the skins as well, and I’ll head to the next target that responds to Exploration.

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

It is dusk.

Entering the dismantling area directly from the back of the Hunters’ Guild, I can’t help but frown at the scene in front of me.

“Ugh… it’s as crowded as I thought…”

Five or six people were lined up at each of the two counters, and hunters who seemed to be party members were around them, so the dismantling site had become a very messy place.

It was okay in the morning because they were just about to start moving, but since everyone had been working, the place was filled with not only the stench of blood and skin but also the sour smell of sweat.

“(Oh no, this is a day of disappointment. I want to see Riste and be healed. But maybe with Riste I’ll be more excited than healed…)”

While thinking about these things, I switched from carrying my basket on my back to the baby-carrying style that was popular in junior high school.

I could take it directly when I needed to get the contents out of the baskets.

And I’m alone.

I realized that if I could take the contents of my basket, then the person behind me could take the contents of my basket without being seen.

So I had to defend myself.

There are always a certain number of bad guys everywhere, and it’s best to do it before there are people behind me.

“(But most of them are frogs and crabs. Is Lake Vois popular with the people of Malta? And no one is carrying ant-like materials.)”

As I look around, I see that most of the materials sticking out of the gaps in the baskets or over the top are frogs or crabs.

I passed quite a few people in the Corado Forest today, but if the area around Lake Voice is even more crowded, I’m going to want to wring my head in frustration.

“(Oh no, I wonder where I should go tomorrow, Lake Voice or the Pal Plains…)”

That’s right, I’ll change my hunting grounds tomorrow.

The hunting grounds were not attractive, and I achieved my minimum goal.

This should be enough to announce the end of the Corado Forest.

In the end, even after defeating the fourth snake bite, I still didn’t get any new skills, and the mysterious skill I finally got with the fifth one was called Shed Skin.

I immediately checked the details on the status screen, but it turned out to be a monster-only skill that I couldn’t use, just like Sticky Thread.

The corresponding bonus is also a delicate balance with magic defense, and the snake bite’s Shed Skin is only level 1…

At this point, it was confirmed that I would stop at level 3 and withdraw early, so I hunted them intensively with Exploration and finished them off in one day.

Even if the skill level is 1, it only takes 45 bodies to reach level 3.

If it’s a lower-level hunting ground, I can get away with that kind of number.

“Here you go.”

Finally, it was my turn, so I placed the oversized basket on the counter with a thud!

As expected, when I put it on the counter, the person guarding it couldn’t see what was inside, so I put all my energy into doing it alone; no, I called for help.

The two of us lowered it to the floor.

“That’s a pretty unusual way to hunt…”

I heard a murmur, but it didn’t seem to be directed at me, so I checked the status screen while I waited.

“(Wow, nothing has a ‘New’ mark on it today except Shed Skin! This is a terrible result…)”

My level hasn’t gone up, and I’ve just leveled up the useless Shed Skin skill to level 3.

If this means that money is also miserable, I can’t bear it.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here are the rig spider’s magic stones and 18 of the subjugation proof, as well as 62 small wolves’ and 45 snake bite’s subjugation proof. Please check them.”

“It’s fine.”

“Is this basket your own?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then there’s no problem. You saved me, kid.”

“?”

From what did I save him?

I head for the reception desk with the wooden board, not really understanding what’s going on, but on the way, I suddenly get it.

“(Everyone else is bringing in materials to be dismantled, but I only brought in magic stones and the proof of subjugation. I guess they’ll just wash the magic stones lightly, and since they only have to prove that the subjugation proofs are real, they’ll probably dispose of them by burning them or something without doing anything to them. I guess I’m a hunter who doesn’t make the work of the dismantling site any harder.)”

That’s why I’m thinking:

Starting tomorrow, I might bring in a large amount of material to be dismantled.

Well, it’s their job too.

I’m sure they won’t complain about the materials that the hunter has legitimately brought in.

I had seen them busily dismantling things the other day, so I mentally apologized and handed the wooden board to an empty counter as if I’d gotten used to it.

“(Well, I lost momentum in the second half due to the weight of the basket, but I wonder how much it will be?)”

・

・

・

“That’s a total of 634,600 beekes. I’ll put it in a leather bag for now, so please return the leather bag when you have time.”

The reliable receptionist said this, and I handed over the contents of the leather bag, thinking that this was about right.

Maybe because I had made so much money from Lulub, I wasn’t surprised anymore that I had made so much money in a single day.

“I’ll return the leather bag now.”

“Ara? Aren’t you going to share it with the people in your party?”

“Eh, uh… haha, I’ll do that later.”

“Really? That’s fine with me.”

“(Even though she thinks it’s a party, she’s not surprised by the amount of money. This makes it more likely that the reward for a B-rank hunting ground is around 1 million beekes.)”

It’s natural for the value of materials to increase as the rank of the hunting grounds increases since the number of monsters killed and the usefulness of the materials decreases.

On the other hand, as the monsters become stronger, you may not be able to complete the required number of hunts, and your total income will decrease.

How much revenue do B-rank hunters based in Malta make with their parties?

It’s still just a rough estimate, but it’s safe to say that I have a good idea.

I suddenly look back.

“(Is there nobody in line? I guess everyone likes cute or beautiful young women.)”

While there is a counter with a line of about five people, there is no sign of anyone behind me.

I smile wryly at the fact that I was once in the same situation and take the opportunity to ask more questions.

“Excuse me, but I’d like to ask you something.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“How long does it take to get from here to Pal Plains and Lake Voice? It would also be helpful if you could tell me where they are.”

“Huh? Have you come to this city recently?”

“Yes. I heard that Corado Forest was nearby, so I found it easily, but I have no idea where the others are.”

“I see. The Pal Plains are about two hours away from here. It’s not very popular because it’s an F-rank hunting ground. It’s north-northeast from here, but you have to turn right off the northern highway, so it’s a little hard to find because there are no landmarks. There are no other hunts in that direction, so if you go, follow the hunters who go there. Also, Lake Voice is about 2 hours southeast of here. You can easily find it by heading towards the mountain you can see from town. It’s a bit far, but a very popular hunting ground in Malta. The monsters you can catch there are delicious!”

“Oh, thank you very much!”

I see, I see.

The 2 hours is a bit of a tricky distance, but it’s not impossible to get there if I want to.

I can’t help but think that it would be better if the distance to the Corado Forest was the other way around, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

And the monsters are delicious?

I can understand the crabs, but are frogs tasty too?

I quickly activate Presence Detection to make sure there are no people behind me.

“If the ingredients are delicious, that means they sell for a high price, right?”

“Of course. There are some individual differences and variations, but mud crabs are worth about 20,000 beeke, and amber frogs are worth about 16,000 beeke each, and even the guild buys them. What’s more, the golden amber frog is considered the ultimate delicacy, and it’s a rare ingredient that all nobles and royalty want to eat!

If you manage to get one, it’s worth at least 500,000 beekes, so if you get the chance, you should definitely try to get one!”

“(Hmm? Hmm… Hmm…)”

After hearing this, I felt that the reward was rather vague.

The size of each one I saw in the basket earlier was about 50cm, wasn’t it?

They’re not small at all.

Even if I put them in the special basket as tightly as possible, I doubt I’ll be able to fit 10 of them in there.

No, probably not even that many.

Even if I put in the high-quality mud crabs, I’ll only get about 200,000 beekes…

Even if I throw in other subjugation proofs and magic stones, I’ll probably only get around 300,000 to 400,000 beekes.

It might be better than hunting F-rank horned rabbits, but if I can do a lot of them like I did today, I’ll probably get a higher total profit by concentrating on magic stones and subjugation proofs.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was in line, I asked her about the rewards for each type of monster and the price the guild would pay for the magic stones.

Whether it was because she was bored or because of her years of experience, she was very talkative and gave me a lot of useful information about the hunting grounds and how to get money for the monsters you killed.

And when I had heard enough…

…ding dong, ding dong…

The evening bell began to ring, so I thanked the lady and made my way back to my lodgings.

Behind me, the lady was shouting,

“I have a feeling you’re going to do something great! If anything happens, come to me! To me!”

I was impressed with her enthusiasm.

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