In some cave...in a dark place where there is no light, a person was sitting.
"Ughh... Just how long have I slept here... Damn! Damn, damn!" Kuro cursed while touching his neck. His shirt was slightly torn.
"Damn, it still hurts! This place is more dangerous than I thought, man!"
"It's a good thing I managed to get rid of them somehow...."
"Now I have to wait until I'm completely healed from the poison."
The poison had seeped into Kuro's veins, but it was receding very slowly.
"Damn, I've never encountered monsters that use poison before. This is annoying."
"Let me check the tablet, see if there's any information about this monster. I just hope it isn't broken."
Kuro took the tablet computer out of his bag and saw that the screen was cracked but it still worked.
"Thank god it still works. Let's see."
[Despair Tree]
[Saw Mantis]
[Light-Eating Centipede]
[Death Snakes]
"Strange, where are they? Why is there no information about them?"
[Wasp Men. Indigenous inhabitants of the Land of Despair]
"Ah, here they are!"
[Danger Level: A]
"What the hell? Their danger level is much higher than that Despair Tree?! Their bodies aren't as strong as that tree's. What's going on here?"
[Wasp Men are characterized by terrifying stealth abilities and are silent in the darkness. They move in groups and are only found in the deepest parts of the Land of Despair.]
"Huh? But they attacked me just after I crossed the road! What kind of lie is this?"
[Wasp Men possess weak bodies that even a D-rank hunter can kill. However, what makes them dangerous is their venomous stingers. They shoot poisonous needles from their hands. These needles contain a very lethal neurotoxin that can kill a C-rank hunter without them even realizing they've been stung.]
"Yeah, that much is clear," he mocked.
[If you see one of them, it means you have encountered a group of them. They do not wander alone unless they are near their nest. Retreat immediately if you see their nest, as there may be hundreds inside.]
"Holy crap! (Kuro raised his head) Ouch!"
"Hundreds?! A group of them dragged me to the edge. The only way to repel them was to go all out."
"Well, it's good that I'm away from them now. I'll go back once I'm healed___"
While Kuro was talking, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the cave entrance. Kuro prepared his claws and got ready for what was coming.
What fell was a girl wearing clothes that were covered in blood and mud. Her hair was completely messy and her eyes were darting back and forth in terror from something.
She directed her flashlight towards Kuro, saw the reflection of light in his eyes, and he waved his hand.
"Hello___"
"Aaaaahhhhh! Stay away from me! Stay awaayyyy!" she spoke while waving a strange staff and randomly firing ice spells around the cave.
"Whoa, wait!" He moved quickly, grabbed her, and pinned her to the ground.
"Nooooo! Nnnoooooo!"
"Calm down! I'm not a monster! Calm down!" Kuro spoke while closing his right eye and enduring the pain of the poison.
After Kuro said this, she calmed down after a few seconds. He stabilized her, then released her. She slowly got up and looked at him.
"So, who exactly are you? Were you being chased by a monster or something like that?"
"I.... no.... was.... the monsters... no, they.... aaah, monsters!"
"Take a breath and speak," said Kuro.
"We were, on a hunting trip..... for my training... I mean, our training.... We were heading towards the Land of Despair with the teacher and and....." The girl started crying.
"Were you attacked by monsters?"
"Monsters..... no.... they weren't monsters."
"??? What? What do you mean?" Kuro asked suspiciously.
"Those who attacked us were.....
.
.
.
One hour earlier....
"Are you all ready?" asked the teacher.
"Yes!" the students replied.
"Good. Now we will go forward. Each class has a different destination. We will all meet at the rendezvous point."
After the teacher said this, the students went towards the forest and entered it. The place was completely dark. The students were tense. They literally couldn't see anything in front of them and were accidentally bumping into their colleagues.
"Teacher, I can't see anything at all," a student said.
"Me too," another student said.
"Don't panic! You have magic lamps! Use them! You are not children for me to tell you everything you must do!" the teacher shouted angrily.
As soon as the teacher said this, the students moved and lit their lamps, directing the lights to different places in the forest. The students were nervous, although there was a group in the front that seemed confident.
"Now remember this, we are now inside the Land of Despair. You will be targeted by monsters! Because of the light, be on your guard."
"We are not on a picnic; we are on a battlefield. Remember this always!" the teacher shouted.
"Understood!"
"Now pay attention to everything around you. The very ground could be a monster if you aren't careful," the teacher said.
"Understood," the students replied.
"Good. Now.... what_ what is this?"
The teacher saw something shocking in front of her.
Many Death Trees were lying lifeless, and Wasp Men were scattered on the ground, their bodies torn apart violently. Their parts were strewn across the area.
"Oh my god."
"This is disgusting."
"I'm going to throw up."
"What is all this?" a student asked.
"It must have been hunters here."
"Now this is interesting," the teacher said while looking at the Wasp Men corpses.
"Everyone, pay attention," the teacher said, and everyone looked at her.
"It seems we have entered the aftermath of a battle in the forest. Here's a quick question for you based on what you see: How many hunters did this?"
"I don't know, maybe two."
"Don't be silly, look at their corpses. It must have been a group of 10 people."
"No, that's too many. I don't think a large group of hunters did this," a student said.
"Elena, what do you think about this?" Leon asked.
"Hmm..... To fight two different types of monsters consecutively, it must have been a group of at least four people," Elena said while contemplating the scene.
"I don't think so. Maybe fewer than four," Aaron said.
"What makes you think that?" Leon asked.
"Intuition," Aaron replied.
While the students were talking and consulting, a female student raised her hand in the middle of the group. Eleanor noticed her immediately.
"Step forward," the teacher said.
"Present," the student replied.
A student holding a magic staff with both hands stepped forward, looking a little nervous.
"Explain to your colleagues what happened here," the teacher said.
"Present, teacher," the staff-holding student said.
"From the features of the battle and the footprints here, the hunters first fought the Despair Trees, and then moved on to fight the Wasp Men, and then left, in that direction," the student said.
"All of this was done by just one hunter," she said.
"Bingo," the teacher smiled.
"As you see, what happened here wasn't the work of a group of hunters as you thought, but the work of a single hunter."
As soon as she said this, the students were shocked.
"One hunter took on all of these?!"
"He must be a high-rank hunter if he did this."
"Maybe he's one of those top-rank hunters."
"Did you know about this, Aaron?" Leon asked in surprise.
"It was intuition. Because the battle traces were small. If there were more, the battle scope would have increased," Aaron replied.
"I see. I must reassess the surroundings better next time," Elena replied calmly.
"But dealing with Death Trees and killing 3 Wasp Men... This means the one who did this is a hunter close to my level, perhaps a B-rank hunter," the teacher said.
"A B-rank hunter, like the Magic Librarian?!" a student asked in shock.
"Perhaps yes, or maybe a hunter with the ability to see well at night. But unfortunately, he won't live long."
"Huh, why?" a student asked.
"There are poison droplets. The poison from the Wasp Men's stingers doesn't leave the body unless he manages to expel the poison."
"This means this hunter was poisoned and they took him towards their nest," the teacher replied indifferently.
"How horrifying!"
"Didn't he supposedly win?!"
"How did he die? He seemed strong a moment ago."
"Shouldn't we do something?"
"It's too late to save him. I doubt he survived the Wasp Man's poison, unless he is a hunter with superhuman endurance."
"Otherwise, they wouldn't be called the primary killers. That's why I told you to be careful, so you don't end up inside a monster's stomach."
"Understood," the students replied tensely and seriously.
"Well done, Ridley. Return to the group."
.
.
.
"Your name is Ridley?"
"Yes,"
"What happened after this, Ridley?"
"We went deeper into the land and"
.
.
.
.
In the Land of Despair
The group was facing their first monster: a mantis with blades like saws, serrated and sharp. The teacher was standing calmly while watching the students fight.
Each group was fighting tactically. The fighters were fighting with magic weapons, while the defenders were blocking most of the attacks, and the mages holding the lamps were directing the light towards the monster so they could see how to fight.
The teacher was focusing her attention on one group: Leon's group.
Leon was leading the hunt while Aaron fought skillfully with his spear. Elena was steadying the lamp while casting fire magic to restrict its movement.
Leon pinned the monster's blades with his sword, then Aaron advanced and stabbed the monster's vital areas. While he was aiming a fatal blow, Elena paralyzed it with her magic, then Leon moved, swung his sword, and skillfully cut off the monster's head.
"Phew! That was good teamwork, wasn't it, my friends?"
"Yeah, these monsters provided some challenge," Aaron answered.
"Meh, just a normal thing for my family," Elena replied.
The teacher watched the battle and was pleasantly surprised by their performance. They finished the monster in record time, while the other students were still struggling, and Ridley was very tired from fighting and exhausted compared to the others.
"Indeed, this new batch is special this year."