The Author's POV

Chapter 123: Hidden dungeon [3]

"huuuu…"

Standing on top of two giant furry carcasses, Kevin exhaled as turbid air escaped from his mouth. By the side of his face, a droplet of sweat dripped down from his cheek.

"Good job!"

Looking upwards, I couldn't help but praise Kevin. It only took him two minutes to dispatch two ranked monsters.

Although he had my instructions, it was still a very impressive feat. Something that I, with my strength, could probably not be able to achieve.

…At least not without some preparations.

-Spurt!

Removing his sword from the carcass of one of the two-horned sheep, Kevin jumped down and moved next to me. Arriving before me, looking at me straight in the eyes, Kevin slowly said

"…so it's true"

Taken aback by his sudden action, I couldn't help but ask

"What's true?"

"The fact that you can see the future"

Stopping for a second, I nodded my head.

"Ah…yeah"

I guess you could put it that way.

…With the aid of the book I really could look into the future. Albeit only ten minutes, it was still a small glimpse into the future.

Glancing at Kevin who seemed to be more convinced about his decision, I smiled inwardly.

I guess this worked out in my favor. With the aid of the book, I managed to thoroughly convince Kevin about what I had previously told him. This could probably help me explain a few things in the future when I was planning on scam-keummm, making more deals with him in the future.

"Anyhow, that aside, let's see if there's anything good"

-Spurt!

Walking towards the two-horned sheep, I took out my sword and stabbed it straight towards where their heart was.

"Let's see…"

…I was currently looking for a core.

Because one of the requirements for going to Immorra was a ranked core, I obviously needed to find one.

Therefore, what better way to get one than through monsters that the protagonist killed? With his luck, there was a high chance I could find one today.

Not so far from where I was, staring at me in confusion, Kevin couldn't help but ask

"What are you looking for?"

Snapping my head in his direction, pointing towards the area I was cutting, I rolled my eyes

"Isn't it obvious?"

Frowning slightly, after a bit of thought, Kevin carefully said

"A core?"

"Yeah"

-Spurt!

Nodding my head, I no longer paid any attention to Kevin and turned my attention back towards the sheep. Either way, even if I didn't find a core, I could still sell the sheep for a good amount of money.

Staring at me working hard at dissecting the horned sheep, Kevin wiped off the blood on his sword

"Oh okay. If you find one you can keep it. Take it as extra payment for helping me. No need to share it"

"Thanks"

Smiling at Kevin, I thanked him. However, that was merely a fake smile on my side as I couldn't help but curse at him inwardly.

'Overpowered cheat like bastard. Screw you and your system'

With the aid of the system, Kevin could literally purchase any type of monster core that he wanted. All he had to do was use the shop feature in the system.

Though it required points which he could earn from the quests the system granted him, he could still pretty much get whatever core he wanted without going through the hassle of saving money or going on a monster genocide.

Therefore, to him, although monster cores were valuable, it wasn't enough of a temptation. After all, he wasn't really in need of money as he had all the resources he could ask for from the system…

The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't help but curse at myself.

'Just what in the world was I thinking when I wrote the novel…'

Fortunately, prior to entering the dungeon, Kevin and I had an agreement with one another that I would keep all the spoils from the dungeon raid. To which he nodded without hesitation. After all, the value of a five-star sword manual was immeasurable.

-Slash! -Slash!

Hacking away at the horned sheep, for the next ten minutes or so I tried to look for any sign of a core. However, after pretty much dissecting the whole sheep, I could only bitterly smile as I lowered my sword in defeat

"Find anything"

"Nope…"

Patting me in the shoulder, Kevin encouraged me

"Better luck next time"

Shaking my head, I wanted to curse at him, but I eventually gave up.

Wasn't worth the energy.

"Let's go, we still have a lot of distance to cover"

Pointing further into the cave, I urged for him to follow me.

Sheathing his sword back in his scabbard, Kevin nodded his head.

"Alright…"

…

Walking deeper into the dungeon, placing my hand on Kevin's shoulder once again, I stopped him.

"Hm?"

"Stop for a second…"

Grabbing a small rock from the ground, closing my right eye as I measured the distance in front of me, I took a step back and tossed the rock.

-Tlack!

-Swoooosh! -Swoooosh! -Swoooosh!

At the same time the rock hit the ground, multiple sharp and unnatural objects flew to the other side of the wall and impaled themselves onto the hard bedrock at the opposite end.

"Alright, let's go…"

Glancing at the sharp arrows that dug deep into the bedrock for a second, I urged Kevin to follow along.

Those were poison-coated arrows that could kill even a ranked user if not careful.

"…"

Unfazed by the current happenings, Kevin followed along.

This wasn't the first time this had happened. In fact, this was already the fourth time that Ren discovered the traps and quickly disabled them.

Oddly enough, the traps that were so well hidden didn't seem to bother Ren one bit as he just nonchalantly triggered them left and right.

…It was almost like he could see the traps.

'Just what in the world is he…'

The more Kevin was with Ren, the bigger the confusion grew. He really couldn't get a read on him no matter how much he tried.

In the end, Kevin gave up. His main focus right now was the five-star sword art. Everything else came afterward.

…As they kept moving forward, around two hours into the dungeon, Kevin couldn't help but finally realize by what I meant when I said that there wouldn't be any problems even if we went to Immorra.

If they could avoid the danger, there really wouldn't be any issues regardless of how strong the monsters present were…

Moreover, whenever there were monsters, I would quickly instruct him on what to do and thereafter following my instructions Kevin would make quick work of the monsters.

If I had to say so myself, we really worked well together.

I would also help Kevin on occasions during fights. That was whenever there were too many monsters, or when a monster ambushed him from a blind spot.

Glancing at Kevin who was quietly following along lost in his own world, I quietly muttered

"…we should be close to the main area of the dungeon, so follow closely okay?"

Slowing down his footsteps, Kevin tilted his head and asked

"Main area?"

Nodding my head, I responded

"Yeah…"

Currently, we were still on the outskirts of the dungeon. Actually, to even say we were in the dungeon would be a bit of a stretch.

It was more like the tutorial part of a game before the game actually started.

To really enter the dungeon we neeed to first complete the tutorial area…

"Shhhhh…"

Placing my finger in my mouth, halting my steps, I put my hand to the side and indicated to Kevin to stop moving.

"We're here…"

Currently, we were at the end of a tunnel, right before the entrance of where the first boss of the dungeon was located.

Leaning against the edge of the tunnel, stealthily peeking behind the edge of the wall, I soon noticed a furry creature resting at the center of the room.

Flashing its terrifying eyes and flickering its tongue was a monster known as the hodag. A monster that came from American folklore.

The hodag was a fearsome critter-type creature that resembled a large bull-horned carnivore with a row of thick curved spines that protruded down its back. A thick green fur coated the monster's body as its two large fangs dripped saliva on the ground.

According to legends, the hodag was said to be born from the ashes of cremated oxen, as the incarnation of the accumulation of abuse the animals had suffered at the hands of their masters.

At least that's what was written on the monster encyclopedia.

As I studied the monster from the area I was in, I also made sure to take note of anything important in the surroundings. Like if there were other monsters present, the rank of the monster, and what type of terrain the monster was resting on.

Glancing at the beast from the corner of the wall, by the size of its body, it seemed to be around rank at best.

Kevin should be able to handle it, albeit with a little bit of difficulty.

The reason why defeating the Hodag was crucial was because once we defeated the Hodag, the scenery around us should change.

It might look like a cave at first, but once we kill the hodag, everything around us should change as we will be teleported towards a different area of the dungeon.

…The main area of the dungeon and where the Levisha style could be found.

"What's the plan?"

Touching my chin as I contemplated for a couple of seconds, I glanced at Kevin who was behind me. Moving back, I nudged him with my head and told him to look

"Take a look"

Nodding his head, peeking from the corner of the wall, Kevin's brows furrowed

"Is that a hodag?"

Nodding my head, I crossed my arms and softly said

"Yeah, and also the key to getting your five-star sword art"

Staring at me seriously, without asking any questions, Kevin nodded his head and asked

"Okay, so what do you want me to do?"

Hearing Kevin's question, as if I was stating the most obvious thing, I slowly said

"Kill it of course"

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