Somewhere.... Outside the Safe Zone
"Only a few miles left before I get there," Kuro spoke while running at an unnatural speed comparable to an airplane.
"But man, I can't believe I got it for free. This is a sign of a good day for me."
"I should have come here from the start if they offer things like this."
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"This is the Hunter's Bag,an essential item for hunters here," the woman spoke, showing the bag to Kuro.
It was a large green bag for long trips, but there were metal parts on the bag, making it look like a bag from the future.
"It's designed to handle hunter speeds. It's almost indestructible and has been personally tested by A-rank hunters," the woman spoke.
"Nice," Kuro answered.
"Oh, and you also need one of these," the woman spoke and gave Kuro a tablet.
"What's this?" Kuro asked, taking the tablet.
"This tablet has a scanning device. Once you visualize something, it will assess the value of the thing - monster, plant, stone, whatever - using this."
"Thank you."
"And before anything, sign the contract," the woman spoke and took out a paper.
"Contract? Didn't you say it was free?" Kuro asked suspiciously.
"Yes, but you have to sign the contract. It's not a big deal. All you have to do is hand over 5% of your hunting earnings. That's all," the woman spoke with a smile on her face.
"Okay, I mean it's only 5%. I won't lose anything with this."
"Thank you for your cooperation," the woman answered, taking the paper.
"The tablet mentions the nearest area to the Land of Despair."
"Wishing you a safe return."
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"Oh, here we are. So this is the entrance to the real Land of Despair, huh?"
What Kuro saw now was a dark forest. The trees were as tall as skyscrapers, and there was almost no light, only utter darkness when you looked forward.
"It really lives up to its name. Even though it's broad daylight outside, it suddenly became dark when I look at it," Kuro spoke, looking at the lightless forest.
"Well, here we go," Kuro spoke.
Kuro walked forward and entered the forest. His body faded due to the darkness, as if the shadows were a mini-gateway that swallowed Kuro when he entered.
Kuro was walking forward, and he could barely see anything. It was a miracle he could walk without stumbling in this pitch darkness.
"Wow, it's really dark here. But it's good that I can see in the dark. At least there's one good perk in this."
Kuro's eyes glowed in the dark. The place wasn't dark at all in Kuro's view; it was like midday due to his ability. He saw that the forest was vast and ancient, with many roots; he had to be careful.
"But this is strange. Where are the monsters here? Is it because I'm at the entrance and I need to go deeper? (tak)__"
Kuro looked down and saw that he had stepped on something. The grass was three times taller than normal grass, which is why he didn't inspect carefully. But when he looked down, he saw a skeletal hand, and nothing else remained except the hand.
"Yep, I'm in the right place. I'm very close to engaging with monsters."
"Well then, let's go."
Whoosh!
The moment Kuro took just one step forward, something suddenly shot out at high speed, and Kuro dodged it.
In the pitch darkness, it looked like a strange sensor, but Kuro saw it clearly. It was...
"Did a tree just attack me?" Kuro was surprised to see a tree branch that had attacked him.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, several branches shot towards Kuro at speeds ordinary humans couldn't see or notice. But he managed to dodge them all as if he were on a stroll.
"Those attacks have the strength of D-rank monsters. But where is the monster? Where... Ah, there it is!"
Kuro saw the tree attacking him and rushed towards it, punching it.
Boom!
When he hit it, nothing happened. In fact, he was the one who felt pain because it was abnormally hard. The branches continued attacking him.
"Damn, it's hard," Kuro spoke while retreating.
Just as he was about to attack again, he noticed something strange. The size of the tree and the branches seemed contradictory. Even though the branches were shooting from behind it, a clear difference in shape and size could be seen.
"This isn't the monster! It's using that tree as camouflage! So I need to follow the branch to see where the real one is."
Kuro grabbed the branch, felt the magic flow, and saw among the trees where it was, where the monster was hiding.
"I found you!"
Kuro rushed towards the real monster. Many branches burst towards him. He ran quickly, passed them, and punched the tree powerfully.
As soon as he hit it, the bark disintegrated, revealing its true form. It opened its mouth, revealing jaws of sharp teeth and a long, serrated tongue. Ugly eyes appeared among the tree branches while it made a strange sound.
"WWAAAAaaaaaa"
"This is your true form? Disgusting...."
Suddenly, it revealed many tentacle-like branches and lunged at him, intending to kill him.
"WwwwaaaaAAAAAAAAA!"
"Stop screaming, shut up!" Kuro spoke while kicking one carefully and tearing another.
When he tore the branch, it regenerated instantly and shot towards him. New branches appeared and attacked him.
"WWhhhhAAaaahhhaaahaww"
"Alright, that's enough. Where is your crystal?" Kuro asked while narrowing his eyes to locate the crystal.
Kuro saw with his sharp eyes something glowing somewhere in the middle of the tree. Kuro rushed, and the branches, as if they knew what he was targeting, attacked with the greatest aggression they possessed. Kuro dodged them; he knew there was no use in destroying them, they would regenerate in moments.
Kuro launched himself, jumped between the branches, reached it, pierced the tree's body, and pulled out the crystal.
"Here it is. Now scream all you want," Kuro spoke while holding a green crystal the size of a baseball.
"WWAAAAaggggghhhhhhaaaaaAAggghhggggggghhhhh?!!!!!!!!!!!"
The monster screamed and attacked with aggression and pain. After seconds, the tree monster withered as if centuries had passed, and fell to the ground like a dead person in a chair.
"Phew, now that was__"
"Hey, what's the value of that crystal?"
[Analyzing %]
[Despair Tree Crystal]
"Oh, that's the monster's name?"
[Threat Level: C]
"Really? I thought it was D or E rank."
[Value: 2000 U.G.C]
"This is worth twenty Goblins! Man, I wish there were more of it," Kuro spoke with a smile on his face.
And as if his wish was answered, a large number of branches shot towards him. Kuro jumped onto a tree branch and tensed up. When he saw the branches, his eyes caught three different lights, and this meant three of them were targeting Kuro.
"Oh, my big mouth...." Kuro spoke tiredly as three of them attacked him directly.
Somewhere at the Safe Zone exit point...
"So, are all of you ready?" asked a woman in her late thirties.
"Yes, teacher!" the students shouted.
"Good. Listen to me carefully. Before we go into the Land of Despair, what is your opinion of the Safe Zone? Don't be afraid, just state your opinion," asked the teacher.
"Umm, intense?" asked a student raising his hand.
"Wrong. It's normal and weak, George."
"What? But there were tanks and planes. How can it be weak?" asked one of the students in shock.
"Compared to the damn things in the Land of Despair, this isn't even an obstacle for them. They would be gone in seconds if those things could move," the teacher spoke.
"You will gather and split into groups. Each teacher will be responsible for their class. We are the third group and will head in a different direction."
"Understood," the students answered.
"Are there any questions?" the teacher spoke.
The teacher saw a person raising their hand and pointed at them. "What is it, Leon?"
"When you said threats, what exactly did you mean, teacher?" he asked.
"Out there in the Land of Despair, the monsters here are completely different from what you've learned. The monsters here are cunning, treacherous, and strategic, if I may add. But what makes this place terrifying is its nature."
"Vision is almost non-existent; even lamps have their light completely swallowed. The darkness isn't the only problem, but hearing too. Even when I'm close to your classmate, you can barely hear their voice. To make matters worse, the sounds of the monsters are three times louder, causing hearing problems, making it difficult to notice your surroundings. And external magic can barely be used here."
"That's why pay close attention, so you don't attract the attention of the Land of Despair, otherwise this will be your last day."
"Understood!"
"Good. You have a five-minute break before we enter the Land of Despair."
After the teacher went towards a special school bus made of monster metals, the students looked at each other and consulted among themselves.
"This place is really scary."
"Even the teacher said it's dangerous."
"Will we survive?"
"I'm thinking of withdrawing."
"Guys!" Leon shouted and grabbed the students' attention.
"Don't worry! We are from Dawn Academy, the most prestigious academy. We have better experience compared to regular hunters, so don't worry."
"That's right. You bring shame to Dawn if you give up now," spoke a girl with black hair.
"If you want to quit, then leave and don't become hunters. We are the promising generation of hunters! We are the future!" shouted a student carrying a spear with a determined expression on his face.
"That's right!" replied another student.
"Aaron is right!" someone spoke.
"We are hunters!" a student shouted.
"Yeah!" another student shouted with him.
"Thanks, Aaron and Elena," Leon spoke optimistically.
"We had to do this, otherwise we'd have to drag them in the end," Elena spoke while Aaron shook his head in a 'yes' gesture.
"Hahah, don't be like that, guys," Leon spoke.
Leon looked forward and saw the Land of Despair from a distance. He couldn't see anything because of the darkness.
"I wonder what kind of monsters we will face," Leon thought.
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"Oooh,damn, this is so tiring...."
Kuro had eight crystals, and his hands were covered in strange green blood.
"This is the seventh one I've killed so far...."
"It seems there aren't any more__"
While Kuro was throwing the crystal into the bag, he suddenly heard a strange buzzing, and the next moment, he was stung by a needle in the back of his neck.
"Arghhhhhh! Damn! What was that!?" Kuro screamed and pulled the needle from his neck with a pained expression.
Kuro turned and saw a humanoid wasp. It was two meters tall and moved its hands in a strange way. There were sharp needles in its palms.
"Is this monster.... Damn!"
Kuro knelt on the ground. Green veins appeared on his body, and he was panting heavily in pain.
"Did this monster poison me?" Kuro asked while looking up with difficulty.
The Wasp monster kicked Kuro. He crashed into a tree. The monster placed its foot on his backpack to pin him down while raising its hand, about to pierce Kuro's head.
"You damn bastard!" Kuro screamed in pain.
Kuro moved, and his hand transformed into a werewolf arm. He grabbed the monster's arm and then tore it off. But it didn't end there. He stood up with supernatural strength, gritting his teeth from the pain of the poison, transformed, grabbed its head, and crushed it to death. The monster's head turned into a bloody paste.
"Hah, hah, damn!" Kuro screamed, leaning on the ground and touching his neck.
There was a hole in his neck, but it was healing slowly. However, the poison made him feel a cold pain, and he struggled to maintain consciousness.
"This monster was a cunning bastard. Good thing I killed it quickly," Kuro spoke while looking up.
Kuro looked up and saw that there were more than twenty of them, and all of them jumped at him at the same time.
"Oh, for God's sake!"