[ GAME OVER ]

"Ugh, getting hit by an arrow in the head... well, although it is not as painful as slitting my own throat, but still not a pleasant experience either. Maybe I should speed up my painless suicide plan," Ash groaned, rubbing his forehead with a pained expression. With a helpless sigh, he closed the notification in front of him.

"Time to resume this quest," Ash muttered, his voice laced with impatience. "I have delayed it again because of other matters, and to tell the truth, frankly, I'm getting tired of reliving this. It's probably been a whole day since I started this quest, and now, all I want is to return to home, savour Grandma Linda's amazing cooking, and get some sleep. Only then can I feel better."

Ash sighed again and got ready to go back to the campsite. This time, because he knew that Urmas had set up various alarm warnings in his surrounding area, Ash, who was tired of seeing that little bastard's smug grin and ugly face, decided to take a big detour. Now, unless Urmas had supervision or superhearing of Superman, there is no way he could notice him.

"I think I saw something beneath the peddler's bed last time..."

Arriving at the peddler's campsite, Ash rushed towards the high-quality sleeping bag and without any shame, he put it into his inventory with the clear intention of using it himself. Both the inside and outside of the bag looked brand new, barely used, and its quality and comfort level also didn't seem low. Ash, who had the goal of becoming a legendary adventurer, couldn't let such a treasure slip through his fingers, which is going to come in handy a lot in future.

"Blood?! Why was there blood beside the sleeping bag? It didn't have any stains on it, so it was as if... Did that idiot intentionally drop the blood beside the sleeping bag to avoid it drying too quickly? If so, then it seems I really underestimated that peddler. No matter what, I should try to find more traces of blood. Maybe I can locate the general direction where the monster took the peddler," Thinking such, Ash started searching for more traces of the peddler's blood, but this time he had a clear goal in front of him.

Ash circled the campsite again, and just when he was about to give up, he finally spotted a nearly invisible trace of blood beside a tree root. With a general direction in mind, Ash started moving, keeping his eyes glued to the ground.

"Why do the trees around here look unfamiliar road seem familiar?" Ash thought while looking at the trees around him, but he didn't think much and continued doing his work until he saw an extremely thin rope in the middle of the road connected to two trees.

"So this is how he knows about me. That little bastard is indeed quite good at setting warning alarm traps. If my focus wasn't on the ground, I might have missed it again or stepped on it. I better be more cautious no."

Thinking this, Ash slowed down his speed and continued following the faint trace of blood in various random locations on his path. But because of Urmas, his speed lowered to an extreme, which made Urmas' hatred value in his heart rise a dozen points at once.

"Huh? Is this some kind of joke? Or was I wasting my time all alone for nothing?" Ash, who was following the blood trace in the dense forest with great difficulty as it was too easy to get lost in his target occasionally, suddenly saw that after moving around back and forth, he returned to the place where he started. Two black lines appeared on his forehead in frustration.

"Sigh, at least this reminds me that I forgot to pick up the mushrooms this time. Well, I can do it later there is no need to hurry," Ash mutters. "But the blood trace goes here, then doesn't this mean the monster took the peddler towards the town? Nah, maybe not. Although the monster came here, the direction he went seems north, not east..."

A bad feeling gnawed at him. "Hoo, I hope I can find that peddler or his merchandise quickly," Ash thought while rubbing his forehead with a headache. It was the first time he had felt so tired since coming to this world.

Shaking his head and throwing negative thoughts aside, Ash continued following the blood trace. One thing Ash had to admit was that no matter how big an idiot the peddler was, his idea to leave a blood trail had definitely been the best decision of his life.

"Ohh! What is that...?"

Suddenly, just a few hundred meters north of the mushroom location, Ash saw a large wooden box lying upside down between two trees. It looked like the monster had accidentally dropped it while taking it back to its hideout along with the other merchandise and peddler.

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"Damn it! That was all bloody money," Ash cursed while holding his hair. "F*ck! I hope some of the potion bottles are still intact." Seeing the ground under the box wet, he immediately realized what was inside. In Edger's merchandise, there were only two types of items: various garments and magical potions. So, the answer was quite obvious.

Ash carefully and gently turned the box upright and opened its lid. Inside, it was a complete mess. All the potion bottles in the first compartment were broken beyond recognition, giving Ash a mini heart attack on the spot.

"F*ck, that mindless fool! Why the hell did you even need to bring those potions with you if you couldn't lift them properly?" Ash yells in anger and hammers his fist on the ground. "Just wait, once I become powerful enough, the second thing I'll do is hunt down that idiot..."

With trembling hands, Ash muttered a prayer with eyes closed. "Please, Lady Luck, have some mercy on your lowly child and don't let me be disappointed again." Then, he removed the first compartment of the box. A joyous smile spread across his face.

"Yes! There are still completely fine potion bottles... wait, not one but two!" Ash muttered gleefully, like a child. He hurriedly picked up both palm-sized, light purple potion bottles as if in fear that they might disappear the next moment.

"According to Edgar, this secret potion can transform my little brother into a huge monster. I wonder how big he would become? I was tempted to use it now, but alas, it would be a big waste. When I find a girlfriend in the future, someone like the tavern owner's daughter, I will definitely use it then. Hehe, things are going to get wild soon!" Ash laughed gleefully, his previous complaints and negative emotions vanishing, replaced only by perverted thoughts.

After daydreaming for a bit, Ash carefully placed both potion bottles into his inventory. As for giving them back to Edgar, forget it. Unless the other party is a beautiful girl willing to let him experience this potion and help me afterwards, there's no way a real man would part with such a wondrous item for a few measly coins.

"By the way, I seem to have forgotten to ask Edgar the potion's name. Well, let's ask him after I use those bottles first. It's not like the name matters much, anyway. Now that half of the quest is complete, the only thing left is to find the merchandise and get the heck out of here."

Filled with confidence, Ash began tracking again. Since he found the potion, he didn't bother looking for blood traces anymore. He simply ran in one direction, reasoning that the monster wouldn't be too far away. After all, an intelligent monster wouldn't just wander around the forest; it would have a proper place to live. This is why he caught the peddler so easily and walked away without leaving a trace – he was simply very familiar with the surroundings.

So only had to run for a few minutes before an A-shaped steep cliff with a large cave entrance in the middle appeared in front of him. Seeing the cave, Ash's eyes lit up instantly. He quickly ran toward the cave but stopped suddenly and jumped into a nearby bush.

"What is that sound? It sounds like two people are arguing and by God, the man's voice is so irritable, just how that woman is living with her... The sound is a bit unclear; it seems like it's still a bit of a distance from me, but still, I should better be more vigilant."

Silently and very carefully, Ash emerged from the bush. Lowering his body, he moved forward towards the source of the sound. It sounded like a woman scolding a man, but the man's indifferent attitude only made her angrier and her voice louder with each passing second.

"Why does it sound like a girlfriend catches her boyfriend cheating with someone else red-headed and after coming home, they are having the final showdown before breaking up? From their argument, it seems that the boyfriend is a real jerk who doesn't care if his girlfriend finds out about his cheating or not, which is very clear from the laziness in his voice. I hate this type of man the most," Ash, thought angrily while gritting his teeth, although he could hardly understand the words spoken by the unknown woman, however as an experienced otaku, he had seen enough things to conclude the entire situation, and to tell the truth, Ash happiness from before was now completely replaced by anger and jealousy.