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This chapter has been replaced with a new translation on [2024-06-29]. Comments may refer to the old translation.

I slept around two hours, I guess? Judging from how high the sun is standing, it’s only a little past noon.

…I’d like to try eating dragon meat. Still, I don’t think I should just skewer it onto a branch and roast it, you know. It has that kind of “you must not use it crudely” atmosphere about it.

Well, the meat I have looks like a steak… Though that’s how I cut it. Searing it on a hot stone might be best, right? Alright, let’s do it like that.

I heated a nearby flat stone, which was slightly bigger than the piece of meat, with a Lv5 Flame Ball.
Become hot, even hotter! And even more! I can feel the heat. That’s it! Now to place the meat there! Here you go!

*Sizzle~~~*!!
Ah, this is incredible.

After a while, I flipped the meat to grill the other side, too.
It has a marvelous brown color and looks way too delicious…

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The Small dragon steak was done! I washed several leaves from around me and wrapped them around the meat, so it wouldn’t be too hot. Just like that, I grabbed it and took a big bite!

“Sho tashty~~!!”
It tasted so good, way too good. I ended up shouting out loud without meaning to.

To begin with, the grease was great.
Grease… it’s definitely grease, but it’s moderately heavy and moderately light¹! Even though I have nothing to season it with, it has a profound taste!

The steak was rather big, but I ate it all in no time at all.
I absolutely have to hunt these small dragons, as soon as I see them!

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Since I’ve filled my stomach, let’s go to the dungeon again!

I currently possessed 300 MP. Moreover, I had increased my W, too. Consequently, I was now able to defeat the magic beasts I’d seen until now with a single shot of LV2 Thunder Emission (at a 14 MP cost).

Therefore, I will kill 20 foes in there this round!

First, I defeated five magic beasts, while also harvesting the one at the treasure chest route. Once I had reached the previous round’s stopping point, I advanced further and encountered two big dogs at the same time. It was no big issue. At any rate, I was able to defeat them in a single attack.

When I went further, it was two furballs at the same time, and beyond that point there were two small dragons at once. None of them posed a threat². On that note, I didn’t harvest anything but magic cores, meat, and the skin of the dogs.

I really need a bag, like yesterday.

Advancing further ahead, I encountered a big dog, furball, and small dragon this time. Of course, I vanquished them. It had been a total of 14 foes until this point. Apparently, you could still go further.

…Finally, I reached the end of the dungeon. In front of my eyes was something that looked like a castle gate of considerable size. Furthermore, as if it was guarding the gate, there stood a dog with beautiful, long, gray hair.

That dog felt different from the ones I’d seen before.
…Strong.

However, it was still fine. There was also a dreadful aura coming from what was beyond the gate.
…Clearly, the dungeon’s boss is on the other side of that gate, isn’t it? However, I’m still a long way from challenging it. Let’s face it, once I’m higher than level 60 at least.

This dog with long, gray hair, or long-hair dog for short, standing in front of me, though; let’s turn it into exp!

I shot a Flame Ball at the long-hair dog, to keep it in check.
…It easily avoided that. It moves fast~.

The dog moved nimbly in front of me and attacked with its claws. For the first time in three days, I suffered a serious amount of damage. I took some distance and shot off a Water Emission. It hit, but the dog was neither defeated, nor did it even flinch.

Hm~, so, it won’t work like it did with the big dog?

My opponent opened its mouth and a magic circle appeared. It was planning to shoot off an emission spell! I immediately cast a Water Emission, to strike my foe’s “Wind Emission”. It looked like they cancelled each other out. Nevertheless, I was shocked that it had used an emission spell.

Darn… I won’t be able to deal with it the usual way… will I? It’s too strong.

My opponent was about to charge at me, so I shot off another Water Emission, which hit. Still, other than getting its hair wet, it dealt little damage. Moreover, it wasn’t stopped by the spell’s force and ended up biting me.

It hurts… That foe is about as strong as me, isn’t it?

Hm~, what should I do?
Oh, right. Let’s use that.

“Soap,” I chanted.

I’ll designate a batch of 13 casts. With 13 MP, the spell will produce 169 soap bubbles. I’ll use it as a distraction!

I placed the magic circle in front of the long-hair dog’s eyes.
Fire!

The dog momentarily stayed on guard due to the magic circle. Then, the soap bubbles emerged from it. It got distracted by the large amount of fist-sized soap bubbles shooting out of the magic circle.

That’s my chance! I’ve been aiming for that moment!

“Water Emission!”

That attack was aimed, so it would “drench all the hair on its body”! Since the hair should soak up the water and become heavy.

The dog got surprised by that unexpected strike. Meanwhile, I had already prepared another attack. I shot off another Water Emission. Due to that, the dog was drenched from head to toe.

Just as planned, compared to earlier, the dog’s movement clearly got worse.

As it was now, I could probably avoid its attacks without difficulty, and easily hit it with magic. Moreover, there was one more reason for me to use nothing but Water Emissions until now.

Making it easier to conduct electricity! The dog was currently in a state where it had water all over its body.

“Thunder Emission!” I voiced my condolences³!

Since its movements had gotten dull, it was unable to evade it. The instant the Thunder Emission hit, electricity flowed into its body.

…Huh, even this didn’t kill it?

Still, the long-hair dog was already staggering. I shot off another Thunder Emission.

*Thud*!
…It’s finally dead, isn’t it? It was so strong~.

A blue magic core emerged from the dog.
Of course, it was at a different level than the big dogs and furballs, wasn’t it?

However, I have no idea which part I should harvest from it. For the time being, let’s take its gray pelt.
…Hm? The hair under its chin is silver, isn’t it? It’s shiny. Let’s take all of that silver part.

When I checked my status screen, I had gained 11’450 exp this round and reached level 33.

Oh, I probably should’ve checked my status screen before facing the long-hair dog…

Looks like that dog gave a lot of experience points. I have to start hunting it from the next round onwards.

Author’s note:

Experience points from the long-hair dog:
In the wild → 2200
In the dungeon → 3200

Its speed, HP, and magic power are elevated in the dungeon.

1. I barely cook, so not sure what he means here. Maybe that the grease is just right between being too thick and too thin?
2. The original is more along the lines of “I had a ton of leeway”.
3. The original is お見舞いする, the humble conjugation of a verb, that can mean both “to visit someone who’s in a bad way” or “to attack”.