-Haru Pov-
After about half an hour of walking through the forest, we finally reached the cave.
I was about to head straight inside, but Leon suddenly looked tense—eyes sharp, body stiff, cautious like a guard dog sniffing trouble.
I just patted his arm.
"There's nothing to worry about. No monsters inside… well, as far as I know. But I can guarantee it's safe—at least until we reach the dungeon deeper inside."
Leon stiffened at the word dungeon, his expression shifting from confusion to mild panic.
"A dungeon? Inside the cave? Haru, what do you mean?"
I didn't bother answering. Instead, I walked straight in.
Leon let out a long sigh before following me—only to freeze mid-step.
I knew exactly why.
"You got the quest too, right?" I said, pointing at the floating system window only visible to him. "That's why I told you it's safe. At least until we enter the dungeon deeper down."
Leon slowly nodded as he processed my words.
"I see… so then, we're entering that dungeon tomorrow?"
I shook my head while gathering some wood to start a fire.
"Nope. Tomorrow, we hunt again. We don't know what monsters are inside that dungeon. Better to level up first, right?"
Leon listened quietly—then burst into laughter as if I'd said something heroic.
After that, we ate dinner: rabbit skewers. The meat was tough and tasteless, but hey—no seasoning, no problem.
The next morning, I woke up to an empty space beside me.
Confused, I stepped out of the cave… and immediately regretted it.
There was Leon—doing push-ups.
Shirtless.
At sunrise.
"W-what are you doing…?"
I was honestly traumatized. My peaceful morning had been absolutely ruined by the sight of a half-naked muscle man glistening in the early sunlight.
Noticing me, Leon jumped to his feet proudly and flexed like a bodybuilding champion.
"Oh! I'm training my muscles. Even in another world, my workout routine must never be interrupted! My strength comes from discipline—BUAHAHAHA!"
"R-right… that's… good for you…"
I replied with dead eyes, accepting my fate.
My morning was already ruined anyway.
"Alright, you'd better put your clothes back on. We're going hunting again—just like I said yesterday."
Leon nodded and quickly put on his shirt. Then we headed back into the forest.
Some time passed. We'd caught quite a few horned rabbits—four or five, maybe—but the experience gain felt tiny.
Well… not like we could see our level anyway.
Leon rubbed the back of his neck after finishing off the last rabbit.
"I guess we're lucky today—we got a lot of game. But… this is starting to feel boring. I kinda wish we could fight a monster."
My expression immediately sharpened.
"So you're saying you want us to die at the hands of a monster?"
Leon froze, waving both hands in panic before scratching his head.
"N-no, that's not what I meant…! I just thought—if we could fight something like goblins, it'd be good training, right? And we'd get more EXP than hunting rabbits."
Honestly… he wasn't wrong. I let out a tired sigh.
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing earlier. So you do want to hunt monsters? Our food supply is safe anyway."
Leon nodded, cracking his knuckles—a sign he was fired up again.
I could only surrender to his enthusiasm.
Besides, hunting monsters was the real preparation before entering the dungeon.
"Alright, alright. Follow me then."
I led him to the place I'd seen yesterday—the goblin camp. Leon walked beside me, ready but tense.
We reached the bushes overlooking the camp, and I crouched down.
There they were—goblins—freshly stained with blood… and another dead human on the ground.
Leon's excitement instantly deflated. His grip trembled, and doubt clouded his face.
I patted his shoulder, snapping him back to reality.
"Come on, this is what you wanted, right? Besides, they're not that strong. And there aren't any rare monsters around their camp, so relax.
…And don't throw up. Not now."
He listened, staring at his shaking hands before clenching them into fists.
He took a deep breath—eyes opening again, now burning with resolve.
I couldn't help but smirk.
"Good. Then…"
I drew my dagger, my grin widening and i Will not lie if i little excited even my hand little shake now.
"Let's begin planning our little EXP massacre."