The duo had accomplished their objective. They had managed to grab piranhas!!!
"Woo!"
The little wolf was glowing as it watched its master remove the teeth of the vicious fishes. Then it happily opened its tiny mouth, full of expectations.
Jack threw one its way. As it drew an arc in the air, Moon Moon's eyes followed it with so much anticipation. Then it caught it, doing a backflip in the process and howling in satisfaction. Why the backflip? Cause it was cool, why else!
Then came the moment of truth. Moon Moon slowly extended its paw, grabbing from a few handmade signs in front of it. It hesitated for a few seconds before hoisting a <7> in the air.
"7? Doesn't seem that good to me. Did you add points because it's exotic or something?" Jack asked with curiosity.
"Woo!" (Agreeing!)
The two were having fun after their last run. They had been practicing defeating the wolf brothers with the best results possible. This was all in preparation for the hard mode. As a result, they had successfully acquired tons of fishes…and a bit of loot as a byproduct.
For instance, this:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Uncommon Wolf Pauldron
Rank F
Level 5
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Armor Rating] 2
[Armor Type] Leather
[Durability] Good
[Attribute] +2 SPI
[Trait] + Great Buffing Target
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The trait would increase the buffs done by allies on the player. It was very OP (not) for a solo player! At least the spirit was nice.
With this, his armor set was finally completed! The only issue was that a big part of it was still level 5 gear.
But, as long as he managed to clear the remaining dungeons, it would be fine. This was because the instances and events were truly the best sources of gear in the tutorial.
He thought getting a full set would have made him emotional, but the lack of earrings or necklace had kinda rendered it banal in his eyes. It truly was true that human greed knew no bounds!
"Anyway, are you ready for the hard run?"
"Woo!"
But the little wolf was a smart one. It suddenly jumped in shock as it suddenly realized something very important.
"What is it?"
"Woo!" (Excited!)
Wouldn't the fishes in hard mode be even tastier than the usual ones?! This could possibly change EVERYTHING! Perhaps it would bring the meat tastiness from a 7 to a 8…or even a 9?!
That is how the two entered the dungeon again. This time they once more bulldozed through it. Sure, they were spending a bit of time fishing, but other than that, it was smooth sailing.
What about the stronger mini-boss? Well, it was still cowardly, but it wasn't so easy to convince it to lead the way anymore. It also had a berserker state.
Jack and Moon Moon could only gasp as they saw it turn berserk and become a full-blown werewolf. Oh, but not the kind that would live in a twilight fairytale. Nope, this guy looked ugly, aggressive, bulky, and flea-infested!
But even as they gasped, there wasn't much fear. After all, Jack had once again convinced the villagers to follow him.
Let's just say that the mini-boss was as impressive as short-lived. Heck, they didn't wait for the transformation to be over. They used an old but proven genius strategy: hit it till it fucking dies!
There was of the mystery and the mightiness associated with werewolves. There was only a mutt getting put down, clobbered to death. The creature perished with tears and blood flooding its fur.
Post-fight, Jack happily turned toward his troops while ready to celebrate:
"Good job, you all! Now, who wants some werewolf meat?"
It was supposed to be a nice gesture, but they all began throwing up violently instead of thanking him. They were even coughing while doing so and staring at him as if he was a madman.
Turning back, he realized that the creature had changed shape. It wasn't a monstrosity anymore but looked to be the harmless old man they knew. Oh well.
"Y-you!"
"My bad. It seems the evil has left its body. Since that's the case, I will give him a proper funeral. You guys should go ahead. I will join you all in a second."
"No, we'll help and—"
"No need, I got this. Since he's now human, he deserves a proper farewell. I know a divine technique to increase his status in the afterlife, but I swore that I wouldn't show anyone…." Jack lied through his teeth.
"R-really?!"
"Thank you so much!"
"We'll go now and wait for you!"
They all happily left, relief visible on their faces. A few still felt bad because of the human appearance of the body. It was understandable. As for this promise? As if Jack would care one bit.
As soon as they were gone, he began butchering the corpse with Moon Moon approvingly watching on. A retching sound came from a short distance just as it was done. Jack gestured to his pet, who charged straight at the noise.
— Jump! —
As Jack followed, he witnessed Moon Moon tackling an NPC youngster lying in a pile of his vomit.
"Hey there." Jack gently waved.
In the kid's eyes, there was a pure terror as he looked at the two of them, but there was also something else. There was incredible hate. What Jack had done was unforgivable!
"Y-you, You monster!" He cried out.
"Monster? Why? You guys are the ones that killed him. All I'm doing is making sure the body doesn't needlessly rot away. The flesh will be put to good use, don't worry." Jack explained.
"Woo!" (Very tasty use!)
"No way! No fucking way! I'll tell them all! I'll tell them all what you've done!" The kid shouted hysterically.
What would happen if the kid really did so? Jack would lose the 30 NPC for sure, but it would be worse than that. There was a chance that they would hunt them. They weren't that strong, but strong enough to be a huge pain.
"Is there any chance that you'll change your mind? Let's keep this a secret between us, alright?" Jack gently whispered.
"N-no way!" The kid was obviously scared but, surprisingly, wouldn't budge.
"Then I guess the logical option is just to kill you." Jack shrugged.
"Haha, my father saw me come over here! He'll know for sure! You'll be hunted and brought to justice!" He heatedly shouted.
Righteous people sure were troublesome at times. This kid was especially annoying. Still wet behind the ears and daring to challenge him?
"Woo?!" (Confused)
On the side, Moon Moon couldn't understand what the hell was going on. Why was he mad about the butchering? Butchering gave food, and food was good! It looked at the kid as if he had a screw loose.
"You'll tell no matter what?" Jack sighed.
"Yes, you're done! You can run, but you can't hide. We'll find you, and it will be over for you!" He shouted with the confidence of a victor.
"Is that so? Fine by me." Jack gave what could only be considered an evil grin.
He approached the kid and drove a piece of raw human flesh down his throat before he could react. Then he forced him to swallow.
As the kid felt the meat go down his throat, he felt sick. He threw up— or tried. Jack held his mouth closed until the kid had no choice but to swallow it back. As Jack let go, the kid was a crying disgusting mess on the ground.
"There you go. You tell them about the butchering, and I'll tell them about you eating the elder. Sounds good, doesn't it?" Jack cackled.
As the youngster looked up, he saw the devil winking at him. At this moment, he felt such intense dread. He would have nightmares for years to come!
[Achievment: caused profound trauma to an NPC!]
[Will persist even after instance reset!]
[Demon King Title now affects NPCs]
[Please tone down the NPC bullying!]
Seeing this, Jack couldn't help but erupt in sonorous laughter.
Moon Moon quickly copied its master. They wouldn't be chased, and they would keep the newly acquired meat. This was why they were celebrating, right?!
That is how they soon returned to the villager group. They clearly saw the state of the youngster and couldn't help but worry.
"Toby?! What happened to you?! Are you alright?!"
The kid wasn't sure what to answer. He couldn't speak, or his life would be over. The devil would tell everyone that he was a monster. Even if they forgave him, it would never be the same.
But even if he couldn't tell the truth, he had to reply, right?! But as he was agonizing on what to say, Jack spoke once more.
"Oh, don't worry about him. He peeped and saw the god of death bring the soul away as a VIP. Death looks very scary, you know. That's why people aren't supposed to watch." Jack nonchalantly "explained".
"Of course."
"Makes sense."
"He shouldn't have spied."
The villagers were all agreeing as they looked at the youngster with blame in their eyes. How would they have reacted had they known the truth? It soon became worse:
"Hero, please forgive him!"
"Yes, he's young and doesn't know better."
"He won't do it again. C'mon, apologize Toby!"
The youngster was having trouble breathing on the side. What kind of bullshit was this guy saying?! How could a human being be so horrible? No, this guy definitely wasn't human.
"It's fine, I understand. Don't mind it too much." Jack magnanimously replied.
As the NPCs were praising how kindhearted he was, he was laughing to himself. This would be one memorable life lesson for the kid.
Anyway, it was time for the final fight: hard mode….