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Translator: penny
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Fourth Rest Area
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You have successfully completed the Third Trial.
I opened my eyes to the sight of snow-capped mountains and a serene lakeside.
Gazing out at the crisp, refreshing view from the veranda, I realized I'd returned to my lodging.
Haran's scenery wasn't bad by any means,
but there was something different about the vast expanse of the open sea and the towering mountains that stretched dizzyingly toward the sky.
An endless ocean stirred vague fears and anticipation for adventure, while the jagged peaks arrogantly reaching for the heavens inspired awe.
Rewards will be distributed.
You have obtained 400 points.
You have received 4,000 points as initial support funds.
'At this point, these rewards barely feel meaningful.'
I opened my status window to check my funds. The total earnings I'd racked up in Haran before escaping the labyrinth were as follows.
Remaining Points: 79,170,668
Nearly 79 million points.
It was an absurd gap compared to the 400 points given for clearing the Third Trial.
'The rewards for passing trials are just ceremonial at best.'
As Rest Areas advance in level, prices skyrocket, so that amount wouldn't even cover the basics.
To live like a human, boost survival odds, and grow, you had to farm items in the trials without fail.
Bring them back to the Rest Area, sell them off, gear up fully, and move on to the next zone.
Otherwise, survival was a pipe dream.
'Everyone's starting to realize it soon enough. Clearing trials isn't the whole game.'
Congratulations on safely completing the Third Trial. Current survivors: 1,125,772,481.
'Let's see. Down by about 400 million this time?'
A huge drop.
Of course, 1 billion was still an unimaginable number, but considering we'd started with 4 billion, it meant 75% of participants had vanished already.
In other words, the current survivors were the top 25%.
Converting points to rankings. Please wait a moment.
Your current ranking is as follows.
Kang Min-jun: 1st (S-Rank)
And once again, first place.
'A perfectly expected outcome.'
What we'd pulled off in Haran was something no one else could replicate.
By the time we'd been summoned to the goddess, first place was already locked in.
Rewards will be distributed.
Magical crystals, four stat shards, five bonus stats...
Bam!
"Hey, Dickhead! You didn't put any into Intelligence this time, right?!"
The women burst out of their rooms into the living room right after claiming their rewards.
When I asked about their ranks, as expected, the whole party had crushed it, sweeping places 2 through 5.
"Even just getting S-Rank gives this much...! Gotta push even harder next time!"
"Yeah!"
"Couldn't agree more."
We'd made a fortune, grown stronger, and motivation was through the roof.
As I swapped stat shards with Yi Sera, I checked the final notification.
The Guild System has been updated.
You may now create a guild. Please visit a guild office.
'...Speaking of which, guilds are about to flood the place now, huh.'
Guilds.
Another competitive system stirring up chaos in the Selection Process.
Now that guild creation was unlocked, things finally felt like they were getting serious.
"Girls."
No doubt they'd be curious about guilds, but since we were all beat, I decided to bring it up first.
Whoosh!
The women, having allocated their stats, shot up from their seats in unison. Then they started yelling and dashing off.
"I'm first for that shower!"
"I'm claiming this bathroom first!"
"Screw that! First in wins!"
"Fine, then I'm first for this one!"
They bolted off in a race, vanishing into the bathrooms on both sides of the house. Soon after, squabbles echoed from inside about who got to go first. A bit dumbfounded, I asked,
"Hey, don't you all have showers in your own rooms? Is this really worth fighting over?"
"These bathrooms are better!"
"Yeah!"
"Agreed."
"..."
...Whatever. Fair enough.
"These are my house's bathrooms, though..."
No response.
Just the ongoing bickering over who showered first.
"..."
For a moment, I wondered if the girls had been so eager to leave Haran and return because of the bathrooms.
In the end, they paired up two by two and disappeared into the bathrooms without coming out.
I let out a deep sigh, used [Fresh Core] to refresh my clothes, and looked around.
'But where'd that one go? Can't see her anywhere.'
The harpy I'd left to guard the house was nowhere inside. With nothing else to do, I started checking room by room.
"Rang-i?"
Where the heck did this one wander off to?
Thinking she might be playing outside, I stepped onto the veranda and scanned the skies, but no sign.
Back inside, I inspected the floors with my decade of tracking expertise, and finally spotted traces left by Rang-i.
'This little rascal went splashing around without drying off properly after a bath.'
Her wet footprints were stamped all over the floor. And those prints led straight down the stairs.
'The first floor?'
Downstairs in the spacious first floor, still no Rang-i. Just her clear footprints glinting in the light.
I followed the most recent set among the countless prints. Fresh from just an hour or two ago, they oddly led into one of the training rooms.
'Why would she come here...'
Creeeak. The door swung open to reveal...
Flap flap.
Vibrant, colorful feathers. Rainbow ombre bob cut. A lone harpy blinked curiously in the center of the facility, glancing around.
She waddled about, tilting her head.
"Gyaang?"
'No way she was using the training system...?'
It seemed illogical at first, but her reactions made it almost certain.
"Kyaang! Start already...! Do it!"
Kicking at the air, urging the mock battle training to begin.
I was floored.
'Monsters can use the training system too?'
A system built to aid players, accessible to monsters?
'Forget that for a sec—what's up with this one?'
Normal harpies, as far as I knew, were dim-witted.
Kindly put, simple and innocent.
Default mode: eat, shit, suck dick on sight, and beg to get pounded. One-dimensional creatures.
'But this one's definitely different from the rest.'
Smart. Figured out and used the training system meant for humans on her own.
As the training system failed to start, the harpy got pissed and kicked wildly at the air. Then she spun around, spotted me, and her eyes went wide.
Thud thud!
She charged at me full tilt.
"Gyaang!"
She clung to me, nuzzling like I'd just returned from a long trip.
Monsters feel loneliness like people do.
And after a long absence, they often build massive trust toward that person.
'That's one common taming method: buy a monster, leave it alone in lodging, run trials, return. Boom, huge affinity boost, treats you like master.'
'If the Saintess had found her first instead of me, all that affection would've gone to her.'
But with everyone busy showering, I reaped the benefits. I pulled out a magystone for the harpy rubbing her chest against my cheek.
"!!"
I popped it right into her mouth.
"Gyaang!"
Ecstatic, like I was the only one for her.
"There there. So, what were you doing here?"
She flailed her arms, hopped around. I got the gist.
'Bored, so she triggered the training system to play with virtual enemies.'
Still ridiculous no matter how I thought about it.
Were monsters really meant to use this?
"Kyaang!"
Confidently, she held up nine fingers in front of me.
Nine... Level 9? Or saved nine during the rescue mission?
She was counting on her fingers, but even I couldn't decipher it.
'Interpreter skill not activating... Gotta teach her speech ASAP.'
Already bored again, Rang-i climbed my shoulder and yanked my hair like a parrot. I held up another magystone on my palm.
"Kyaang!"
"Yeah, it's yours. Eat up."
Nom! She snatched and munched it happily, crunching away like it was delicious.
"Slow down a bit. You'll chip a tooth."
How did these rock-hard magystones shatter so easily in a monster's mouth?
"Delish! Delish!"
"Want more?"
"Gyaang...!"
Every time Rang-i swallowed one, I fed her the next from my inventory. Magystones overflowed there.
Magystones: 141
They were a pain to farm normally, but stripping Haran bare had stocked me up.
"Here, one more."
Nom! Thrilled by the rare treat, Rang-i bounced around, gobbling them up. Stats rose accordingly.
Strength +1
Intelligence +1
Intelligence +1
.
.
Not just stats were changing.
Her appearance began transforming too. Parrot-like feathers shed one by one until mostly gone, arms taking human shape.
Claws still sharp as a beast's...
'Keep this up, and evolution's right around the corner.'
Of course, evolution needed materials and prep.
And I was a tad hesitant on whether to evolve her at all. Power came with control issues.
If anything, timing would be key.
"Last one now."
Nom!
I fed the final magystone and checked Rang-i's info window.
About 70% of the fed magystones fueled [Physical Growth] over [Intellectual Growth], skyrocketing her stats.
Nearly matching Yi Sera's levels.
Average players wouldn't even dream of taking her on.
She could rampage through any trial zone's monsters right now.
Rub rub.
'Huh, Vitality spiked hard—bones are way sturdier, frame much better.'
But Intelligence stole the show. From a measly 10, it surged straight to 64.
For reference, a monster's growth influences its [Unique Ability] based on which stat rises most.
'Gotta be something new at this point.'
Sure enough, two changes had appeared in Rang-i's info window.
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