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

Chapter 305

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Chapter 305 – As Expected

The man opened the door.

In the boss room stood a Peaky Boar, an E-rank monster confirmed to exist in various regions.

This was a subspecies of that creature.

Its fur had a slight reddish tint, and its massive body appeared to be about three times larger than normal.

This was immediately obvious when compared to the five ordinary Peaky Boars surrounding it.

(Could this be…?)

My interest expanded dramatically in that instant.

Even if it was a boss, this was still just a beginner’s dungeon.

Its strength was limited, so I focused solely on what loot it might drop.

But this changed everything.

The boss is probably a rare species, like the unseen golden frog. Such an existence likely holds that role.

The fact that ordinary Peaky Boars appeared alongside it only heightened my anticipation for that rare species.

Mind’s Eye—no good; it shows nothing.

The same seems to apply to the boss. Does it possess unique skills or abilities based on its movements?

Recalling the skills of the regular Peaky Boars, I watched intently for movements that differed from my assumptions.

Then—

Bugiii!

The boss let out a loud squeal. At that instant, the three hunters in front dropped to their knees.

But as if he had anticipated this, the man who seemed to be the leader spun around swiftly.

(Did he use Provocation?)

In an instant, the boss shifted his target to the leader. In that brief moment, the fallen men regained their footing.

That skill looks familiar.

The panic induced by that “cry” is probably identical to the monster-specific skill I possess. Roar.

However, one of the three men behind the leader remained unaffected, likely because he was outside the range of the forward-area skill.

(Considering the target range, the skill level is probably around “4” or “5.”)

Recalling the earlier scene, I estimated the skill level based on the distance.

After observing the boss’s movements until the battle ended, I concluded that the benefit of finding a boss-level Peaky Boar was slim.

While patterns like Overflame Rock exist where magic stones or materials hold special value…

Given the Peaky Boar’s base E-rank status and boar nature, it’s more likely that the appeal is simply the tasty meat, or something of that level.

If the materials had any special value, I would have gathered that information along with the boss sighting.

Narrowing my eyes, I examined the drop items that appeared after the boss. The broom and dustpan made it obvious.

After confirming that I had collected everything, I headed toward the staircase room leading deeper inside. Just a few steps away, a voice called out from behind.

“Hey there! Did the boss fight teach you anything useful?”

“Yeah, quite a bit. Thank you.”

“I see, I see. Well, then I suppose I deserve a reward. For starters, leave everything you’re carrying and the contents of your basket right here.”

Huh?

“…I kept my promise, didn’t I?”

“I let you watch, didn’t I? If you leave everything behind, I’ll let you pass through here.”

Huh?

I didn’t think they had fallen this low. Well, then.

Most of the hunters around were smirking. One or two looked genuinely surprised.

They probably didn’t call out until I was almost at the bottom of the stairs to confirm that I was truly acting alone.

After all, it was just a child attempting to venture deeper alone, without any equipment.

The two who were staring at the leader with their mouths agape—were they truly surprised that the leader had targeted such a suspicious child?

Or—

“Taking my belongings and the contents of my basket is basically telling me to ‘die,’ don’t you think?”

“Oh, sorry? I couldn’t care less about your future. Nobody gives a damn about what happens to people they just passed by, right?”

“…Are the people around you also going to try to kill me?”

“A-Azion? What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

The usual pattern.

But this time, a voice raised a question, unusually.

“Hm?”

“No, stripping a kid like this bare…”

“Robus, you just don’t get it, do you?”

“Huh?”

“It’s because he’s such a suspicious kid that we have to hunt him. That thing in his basket is a foal, right? It doesn’t move, so it’s probably already dead. But with that food, we could hunt here for another week off of it alone.”

“…”

All that fussing about checking behind me was partly to confirm that.

I’d tamed it with the Animal Training skill, but even a child-sized horse is pretty big.

My short stature probably didn’t help, either.

“You’re probably pretty strong, huh? You’re mainly a scout or rogue with a dagger, right? Hmm, and you were planning to deliver food to the folks on the 40th floor?” How about it? Am I right?”

“Huh? This guy’s in cahoots with the 40th floor crew?”

“Solo runs are unheard of, but carrying a huge food load with just a few people from here on out? That’s clearly a transport role. Meaning, if we take him out…”

“Got it! The 40th floor crew will drop out due to food shortages, and we’ll fill the void!”

“Wooooo!”

This is hopeless.

Thanks to an incomprehensible delusion, even the guy who voiced his doubts earlier is now pumping his fist in agreement.

If it were just greed, that would be one thing, but if they’re trying to harm people, they’re no better than bandits.

I could escape down the stairs behind me, but I don’t want to have that option with these guys around.

“I’m going to count to ten. If you think this is wrong, leave your weapons here.”

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

“H-huh!? Wh-why…?”

The location was the 31st floor.

I was there with Azion, the man who had been called the leader.

“Oh, you’ve got a blue book out. This is… Ah, the Farsight skill book. It’s a bit…meh, isn’t it?”

While rummaging through the men’s belongings, items worth noting emerged from the leather pouch, likely due to the twice-daily boss hunts.

Skill Book (Thin): Farsight

Class Book: Brawler

Fragment of Wisdom―4-19

Hmm.

Just as I’d heard, the fragment of wisdom makes absolutely no sense, even when viewed through Different Language Comprehension Level 8. Anyway, these three items are rare.

Beyond that, there’s a decent amount of high-purity metal and a reasonable quantity of seeds.

No wonder—they had about ten people searching for food.

As expected, these guys were too weak to raise their skill levels…

They had a decent amount of cash, though. In terms of loot quality, they’re far superior to the bandits outside.

“Why…!? Didn’t you just watch silently earlier because you thought you couldn’t beat us!?”

“Was that your excuse for trying to attack me? If so, you’re pretty stupid. Do you really think everyone around here is scum like you?”

“…! O-of course it is! Everyone else gets their boss-hunting rights that way… What the hell is this? Dammit!”

“If you had just left me alone, you could have still hunted the boss and kept the loot you dropped. How many tens of millions of beeke is that loss worth?”

“Ugh! G-give it back! That’s ours!”

“Yours? You’re the only one left alive now. Besides, the real show starts here, right?”

I dragged the man along as I went from the staircase room into the passageway leading to the next chamber.

There, waiting ahead, were three kobolds, all armed.

If things went as expected, the kobolds would be adjusted to D-rank level.

“Agh! Aaah!”

I tossed the man’s freshly severed legs into the room.

The kobolds reacted instantly, snapping at the limbs.

“Ah, ahh… My… my legs…”

They devoured the flesh and gnawed on the bones left behind.

Seeing this, a lingering question finally found its answer.

Why was the dungeon interior cleaner than expected?

If people stayed inside and consumed creatures, they would produce waste and leave bones behind.

Surely people must die in the dungeon, too, yet I’d never seen a single corpse.

But the kobolds cleaned everything, even the bones.

The kobolds, said to inhabit every level, were also the dungeon’s cleaners. That must be the answer!

(Hmm, bones for dogs… Felza-sama sure knows how to play it cool.)

Thinking such thoughts, I threw Azion into the next room.

“Guh! W-wait, please! Guh! I can’t escape. I don’t even have a weapon… Help… me!”

In an instant, kobolds swarmed around him.

The legless Azion tried to crawl away, but he was slashed in the arms and back by their weapons. He writhed in agony, still pleading for help.

“Well, then, I suppose I have no choice.”

I turned him onto his back and cast a single spell.

“Slowly heal the wounds.”

I imagined an auto-healing effect that prioritized duration.

It was a spell I’d intended to experiment with someday for future use, when the timing was right.

“Gah!”

Using it for the first time, I watched the slashed wounds gradually fade from the edges. Even at level 5, healing magic seemed to have a decent effect.

“Agh… Stop it…”

But new wounds were quickly being inflicted on top of them.

“Ouch! P-please! Ah… my eyes!”

It looked like it would take time, so I figured I could do some mapping first without issue.

“Just… kill… me… already!”

“What a coincidence. I don’t care what happens to ‘scoundrels’ like you either. I just want to know the duration and healing effect of Auto-Heal.”

“Th-that’s—”

“I’ll kill you properly in the end. Since you’re going to die anyway, you might as well stay here and be my test subject.”

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