Alex makes his way toward the western mountains. They’re relatively close to the village, but the towering trees obscure them from view.

After about twenty minutes, he reaches the foot of the mountains. Unfortunately, he doesn’t find anything worthwhile along the way. “Seems like there’s nothing of value near the village. Only once you leave the ‘safe’ zone can you expect to find anything worth grabbing.”

Suddenly, he hears a desperate wolf howl. “Shit, not this again. Should I leave?” He hesitates, but his curiosity wins out. He continues toward the sound, wondering what might have happened to the five players who went out.

A few minutes later, he finds the source of the commotion. He’s reached the base of the mountain chain, where he sees two dead wolves and three others, wounded and frantically gnawing on bloody corpses. Near the bodies, he spots them—five Bloody Chests. “They’re dead! Well, these wolves look heavily injured, and two of them are already down. If I can drive them off or even kill them, I’ll make another huge fortune!”

Alex approaches carefully, counting on the wolves’ attention being occupied by the fresh kills around them. He considers his options and decides to pull out two grenades from his inventory. He has ten stocked already, so there’s no need to hold back. Setting a timer for around four seconds, he lobs the grenades in a high arc. As soon as he lets them go, he immediately channels a “Thunder” spell, aiming to blast the area.

You have dealt 17 damage to Sinerva Wolf

You have dealt 15 damage to Sinerva Wolf

You have stunned Sinerva Wolf

You have dealt 21 damage to Sinerva Wolf

You have stunned Sinerva Wolf

Nimbus Cloak effect activates - Increasing Evasion by 5%, and Movement speed by 40%

The spell hits the wolves, surprising them and even stunning two of them. Just a half-second later, Alex inwardly cheers as his grenades explode; while his timing wasn’t perfect, it was still close enough. He glances quickly at his notifications: the two stunned wolves are dead, and the remaining one barely managed to escape.

You have dealt 71 damage to Sinerva Wolf

…

You have killed Sinerva Wolf

You have dealt 67 damage to Sinerva Wolf

…

You have killed Sinerva Wolf

You have dealt 31 damage to Sinerva Wolf

You have dealt 9 damage to SInerva Wolf

You have dealt 5 damage to Sinerva Wolf

Without hesitation, Alex pulls out [Mr. 5’s .44 Caliber 6-Shot Revolver], carefully aiming at the disoriented wolf that, fortunately, is fleeing in his direction. With precise focus, he lines up the shot and fires a single, well-aimed bullet to the beast’s head.

You have dealt 27 x 3 = 81 damage to Sinerva Wolf

You have killed Sinerva Wolf

Wasting no time, he dashes toward the dead players and grabs the five Bloody Chests.

You received Bloody Chest (Player 5)

You received Bloody Chest (player 28)

You received Bloody Chest (Player 6)

You received Bloody Chest (Player 27)

You received Bloody Chest (Player 25)

When he tries to store a dead wolf, he’s hit with an annoying message: [Too big to put inside the inventory].

“Shit!” he curses, quickly drawing his [Sword of Pluto] and hacking furiously at the wolf corpses. Thanks to the sword’s high quality and sharpness, it only takes him a minute to cut the wolf in half.

You received Sinerva Wolf Corpse (Upper Half)

You received Sinerva Wolf Corpse (Lower Half)

“Damn, this is a terrible way to butcher them, but I don’t have a choice!”

He quickly repeats the process with the other wolves, then darts back toward the forest. But to his horror, he spots a pack of healthy-looking wolves emerging from the trees.

“Now I’ve done it… talking about greed just yesterday!” Alex thinks, a mix of shock and anger washing over him.

To his surprise, the wolves don’t come after him—they head straight for the dead players, who, Alex realizes with a grimace, still have plenty of meat on them. Taking advantage of the situation, he decides to climb further up the mountain, figuring the wolves aren’t great climbers. He can use the height as a tactical advantage if they decide to follow his scent after they’re done feasting on the other players.

Alex scrambles up the mountainside, half climbing, half running. Finally, he reaches a rocky ledge where he feels secure.

His inventory is now stocked with 5x [Sinerva Wolf Corpse (Upper Half)] and 5x [Sinerva Wolf Corpse (Lower Half)], along with the five bloody chests. Alex can’t help but feel pleased with his haul, knowing the profits are promising. Each half of the wolf corpses is a White-quality item, likely worth a decent number of tokens.

As he catches his breath, Alex notices something of interest further up the mountain—a medium to large hole nestled between two peaks, clearly leading into a cave.

"My gaming sense is telling me to go in… but do I really want to take that risk?" Alex thinks, hesitating. "This is the world of Hunter x Hunter. There are no goblins or typical fantasy creatures lying in wait. It’s a semi-realistic world with strange, massive monsters and terrible dangers—but not the sort that sit around in caves waiting for adventurers. And a cave up on a mountain? Not exactly prime real estate for beasts—no food nearby. I think I’ll risk it."

With that, Alex slowly and carefully enters the cave.

Almost immediately, he’s hit by a sudden gust of air. Instinctively, he raises his [Shield of Pluto]. He hears loud shrieks and frantic flapping, but it turns out he’s just disturbed a colony of bats. They look fairly normal, and Alex brushes it off, pressing forward without getting rattled by what he considers “mice with wings.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As he moves deeper, the cave expands, eventually turning into what feels more like a vast underground network than a simple cave.

After walking for half an hour, Alex begins to feel uneasy. He’s quite far in now, with barely any light filtering through from small openings above. Despite his high SNS stat, the darkness and silence are unnerving. He pulls out a small light he’d prepared beforehand and attaches it to his belt, feeling slightly more at ease now that he can see.

Still, the tunnel stretches endlessly ahead, twisting and branching into what seems like a maze. He decides to stick to one side of the cavern, hoping it’ll lead to something worthwhile. Soon, he reaches a small network of tunnels that look like old mine shafts, crudely etched into the stone by hand—definitely not by any modern tools, he’s sure of that.

Finally, his light reveals something different up ahead. He catches a glimpse of a dark shape moving. His heart skips a beat as he realizes what he’s seeing. “CAVE SPIDER!” he thinks, his eyes widening as he takes in the giant spider, easily the size of a basketball.

Instead of firing his gun, which could echo dangerously in the cave, he casts a "Fire" spell. The flames engulf the spider and its web, setting it ablaze. Though the creature survives the initial blast, the fire spreads across the web, intensifying the burns until the spider eventually succumbs to the flames.

You have dealt 58 damage to Cave Spider

You have ignited Cave Spider

Nimbus Cloak effect activates - Increasing Evasion by 5%, and Movement speed by 40%

…

You have killed Cave Spider

"Looks like fire is damn effective—it’s dealing nearly twice the damage it should!"

Alex watches as the flames spread, burning through the spider’s entire web, which brings him relief; with the web gone, there’s less chance of being caught by surprise. He stomps on the charred spider, making sure it doesn’t crumble completely to ash.

You received Cave Spider Corpse

You received Treasure Chest (Green)

Surprisingly, not only does he get a Green Quality corpse, but he also scores his first chest in this world. “Maybe the silk and poison in its body are worth something—that would explain the green rating. Either way, it’s exciting to finally see a chest again. Nice haul!” Alex grins.

He presses forward, realizing he’s entering a new section of the cave that the spider had effectively blocked.

In front of him are numerous narrow paths, each branching off like tiny fingers in the dark. A glimmer catches his eye down one of the tunnels on the left. Moving carefully toward it, he finds it, sparkling ore crystals embedded in the walls of the shaft reflecting the light from his lamp.

Alex pulls a pickaxe from his inventory. He’d prepared for situations like this, loading his inventory with tools like axes, knives, pickaxes, and shovels. His large, unrestricted inventory for non-system-recognized items is barely half full despite all the food, tools, medicine, and other essentials he packed.

As he strikes the wall, the sound echoes sharply through the cave, making him wince. “Damn, that’s loud! Mining sucks!” To be cautious, he rigs up a small makeshift alarm with a thin rope and metal hooks attached to the cave walls, hoping he’ll get a warning if something approaches.

Hours pass as Alex continues mining, pausing now and then to conjure grenades to keep his stack at a full 13.

His haul? According to the system—nothing notable. The ore goes into his regular inventory with the label [Gloomore] and is unranked. Still, considering he earned tokens for the unranked birds he turned in yesterday, Alex decides it’s worth keeping.

Finally, with the visible ore mined out, he decides to explore more of the tunnels beyond where the spider once lurked. As he ventures deeper, he spots a small waterhole where water trickles down from above, collecting in a natural well before seeping into the ground. Around the well, long, healthy green herbs grow from the stones.

Alex’s eyes widen in recognition. “Lurkwort,” he mutters, scanning carefully for any traps. Seeing none, he carefully works to remove the herbs, ensuring he keeps the roots intact to preserve their value. Soon, he’s holding a bundle of seven [Lurkwort] in his hands.

[Lurkwort]

World: Hunter x Hunter

Quality: Deep Green

Effect: Can be refined into various medicines. If consumed raw, it recovers 30 HP over 30 minutes and heals minor internal and external bleeding during the effect. If consumed more than once a day, it causes severe stomach pain.

Note: Rare and valuable, only grows in specific places with high humidity and a water source rich in minerals.

“Jackpot! Time to get the hell out—no need to be greedy; these seven herbs are more than enough!” Alex decides to carefully backtrack. Since the tunnels are relatively short, he easily finds his way back to the main cavern and sticks to one side, walking along it until he finds the exit. He makes it out without issue and begins his descent down the mountain.

Suddenly, he spots something he hadn’t expected—a villager with the distinct, horned, snake-like demon body. Alex’s stomach drops. “Shit… it’s that lunatic who attacked me in the village!”

“Human…” the beast hisses, “I, Mussstrano, have come to feassst on your body. You have ssshamed our village by hunting our prey sssso easssily. Your part isss to cower before ussss and die, not to hunt. For this sssin, you will become my prey and die!”

Alex can’t help but scoff. “What a complete lunatic. It’s our task to hunt—what the hell does he expect me to do? No use arguing with this insane beast… I’ll have to fight! Still, he looks like a total idiot… might as well try the old trick.”

“You! The system forbids this! You’ll die if you attack me! Look, I have the ticket!” Alex holds up the [Navigator’s Ticket].

“It is ussselessss,” the beast sneers. “I do not care for thessse rulessss. Human, do you accept my sssacred challenge? Die with honor inssstead of ssshame!”

Alex pretends to consider. “Fine, but you must promise me one thing, Snake Demon. Should I die, take this to a woman named Eirini. If you agree to that, I’ll accept your duel.”

Alex pulls out a small bag he’d prepared, using a trick he’d learned on the cargo ship in the world of Final Fantasy 9. He quickly stuffs five grenades inside, setting each fuse to 10 seconds, then lightly tosses the bag toward his opponent.

“Heee heee, you have yourssseeelf a deal, human,” the snake demon replies, picking up the bag from the ground, not deciding to catch it. But after a few seconds, he sniffs the air. “Human… I sssmell fire…” He hastily opens the bag, his eyes widening as he sees the grenades about to explode. With a curse, he flings the bag away just as it detonates in mid-air.

You have dealt 17 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 3 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 12 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 2 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 3 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 11 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 3 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 13 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 1 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 2 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 12 damage to Mustrano

You have dealt 3 damage to Mustrano

Despite Mustrano’s quick reaction, the five grenades still deal heavy damage, leaving him scorched and furious.

“Human… I will ssssskin you alive!” he snarls, enraged.

Alex just grins, pulling out his [Mr. 5’s .44 Caliber 6-Shot Revolver]. “Likewise, you stupid snake! DIE!” he shouts, his face twisted in a bloodthirsty expression. “I’ll show you who the real hunter is and who’s the prey!” he thinks, feeling a surge of anger at Mustrano’s blatant disregard for the rules and eager to turn the tables.