The Unexpected NPC

Chapter 32 Dungeon (3)

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"Have you found any traps?" Briar spoke from behind me.

"Not yet." My eyes flashed and quickly returned to normal as I activated the skill. I shook my head to show that I had not discovered any traps.

It had been more than 30 minutes since we started moving, and the three of us had not encountered any monsters or traps. Should we call it luck or not?

It's good that we didn't fall into any traps, but what's the point of this hunt if we didn't encounter any monsters?

Well, it's only been 30 minutes since I entered the Dungeon, so I can't say anything. I should feel relieved that I have more time to adapt to the new environment in the Dungeon.

"Don't worry, I'll let you know when I find a trap."

Ever since I entered the Dungeon, I've been using Sharp Gaze every now and then. To be honest, it's draining quite a bit of my mana. I'm only an F- rank, but this is an E rank skill. It's a whole rank higher, so using it is quite a burden for me.

Fortunately, I only activate it for a split second each time I use it, so the actual mana consumption was not enough to exhaust me. If I were to encounter a monster right now, I'd still be able to deal with it.

"Um, I trust Danny." Liz smiled happily.

Looking at Liz warmed my heart a little, really. She reminded me of my little sister on Earth. She was very cute and had a personality very similar to Liz's, cheerful and lively. She was the only one who didn't judge my hobby of reading web novels, she even asked me about good novels and read them.

I still remember the image of her following me around and calling Big Brother. I remember the times when we fought over some pieces of cake. I remember the scene where we talked animatedly when the topic was related to novel, manga and anime.

It's just a pity... I've forgotten what her face looked like.

My damaged memory made me unable to remember the faces of my family anymore. I only vaguely remembered a few beautiful moments I had when I was with them. And this really made me very miserable.

I revealed a bitter expression when I thought about my family in my previous life. My steps faltered a bit.

"What's wrong, Danny? You don't look so good." Liz asked after walking in front of me. She looked very worried.

On the other hand, Briar suddenly raised his guard, he asked cautiously.

"...Or did you find something?"

Briar's expression showed that he was also worried when he saw my expression. But what he put first right now was the safety of the three of us. If I wasn't feeling well, he would go ahead and scout for traps himself. If I found something, he would immediately rush forward as I instructed.

...Well, I could be considered the leader of this group.

"Haha, I'm fine. I just remembered something unpleasant." I smiled to reassure Liz and started walking again.

"...and you don't have to worry Briar, nothing unusual-". As I spoke, I activated Sharp Gaze and looked forward.

"Wait!"

Realizing something was wrong, my steps faltered and I quickly reached out to block both of them with a very serious expression.

Briar and Liz saw this and quickly entered a state of high alert.

"Is there a trap?" Briar said.

I didn't reply, but my actions answered Briar's question.

My eyes were shining, indicating that I was using Sharp Gaze. I carefully picked up a small rock and threw it forward.

*Swish Swish*

A series of arrows shot out from all four sides of the wall as soon as the rock entered their range. If we had carelessly entered, we would have become three hedgehogs by now.

The scene before our eyes made the three of us shiver in unison.

I continued to throw a few more rocks forward, my purpose was to check if there were any remaining arrows in the mechanism. And what happened next proved that my worries were correct. There were total five series of arrows fired from this trap.

I carefully activated the skill again, I wanted to make sure that this trap was completely harmless. It would be fine if I was injured alone, but if I dragged the whole team down, I would feel very guilty.

"Alright, it's all shot out arrows. Let's move on." I breathed a sigh of relief and waved my hand, signaling that we could continue moving.

My two companions didn't say anything, just nodded and followed behind me.

As expected of the main characters, there were nothing to criticize about their temperaments. They listened to my instructions even though I was the weakest among us all. If it were anyone else, they would look down on an F- rank like me. Who would trust someone with the lowest rank?

After passing through the arrow trap area, Liz and Briar let out a sigh of relief and looked at me with eyes full of admiration. Their eyes made me feel extremely embarrassed.

"You're amazing. How did you discover that trap?" Briar asked.

"Um, um! How did you discover it?" Liz nodded repeatedly and asked along.

"Haha, I told you my eyes are good." I scratched my head, embarrassedly replying.

That's all I could say. Even if we were friends, there was an unspoken rule in this world: don't reveal your skills to others.

No one wants to reveal their trump card, right? It doesn't matter if they find out later, in the early stages, hiding your abilities will help a lot in battles.

But it's true that it's a bit unfair that I know very well the skills that the main characters have while they don't know anything about me.

...

Briar, with a long spear in hand, skillfully swung out powerful attacks. Just as he was focusing on attacking the skeletons in front of him, a big bat with sharp claws and long teeth quickly rushed over from behind. It was aiming at Briar's neck.

"Be careful!" I shouted.

Hearing my voice, Briar turned his head back in surprise while the spear was still attacking the skeletons in front. A trace of confusion flashed across his expression. He was completely unable to deal with the bat at the moment.

*Swish*

*Crekkkk*

The sound of wind tearing through the air rang out, followed by the miserable scream of the big bat. It fell to the ground with an arrow stuck straight into its neck.

Seeing that the danger from behind had been dealt with, Briar immediately turned back to deal with the troublesome skeletons. These monsters were just super weak small monsters, but there were so many of them that they were very annoying. Briar only needed to concentrate a little bit to easily destroy the whole group.

I was also busy with an F+ rank zombie. It couldn't be considered a threat to me because the damage from Andrea's Sword Technique was more than enough to defeat it. It was just a small monster similar to a skeleton. But I had a bit of a hard time dealing with it.

Zombies are famous for their toughness, if you can't cut off their heads or destroy their brains, no matter how much you attack them, they can still continue to move. And this made it difficult for me.

I could only stab its head with Convergence to cause enough damage to penetrate its brain. I still didn't have enough strength and skill to cut down its head by swinging my sword. After all, this zombie was still two small levels higher than me.

The zombie kept moving, forcing me to move to dodge its attacks. That made it difficult for me to stab my sword accurately into its head. I had only practiced with stationary targets, but moving targets...

"Do you need a hand?"

Briar had finished dealing with the skeletons by now, and he asked when he saw my struggling appearance.

"Thanks but I can do it myself!!!". I shouted while still running for my life.

My job now was to try to find an opening in the zombie and attack its weak point - its head. If I couldn't find an opening, I had to at least create one.

I activated Sharp Gaze and looked at the zombie, trying to find an opening. Activating this skill for a long time would quickly deplete my mana, I had to make the most of every second.

'Please, show me an opening'. I screamed in my heart.

The heavens didn't cut off my life, just when I was desperate, I realized a perfect opportunity. I quickly charged forward with the zombie chasing closely behind.

*Crack*

The broken bones from Briar and the skeletons' battle had embedded themselves into the zombie's legs, slowing it down a lot. I quickly took advantage of that moment to turn around and activate Convergence.

*Swoosh*

A piercing sound rang out and the zombie's head immediately exploded, leaving behind a disgusting mess and a headless body that fell to the ground.

"Haaaa... I did it...". I let out a sigh of relief and sat down.

It was just a small zombie and I had to struggle like this, I was still too weak. Luckily it was just an unintelligent monster so I easily lured it into a pile of bones. If it had intelligence, I would have been dead.

Sigh. I just hope that after this hunting trip, my combat ability will improve.

"What was that move just now?" Briar asked with a slightly surprised expression.

I just smiled without answering his question.

Seeing my expression, Briar immediately realized that he had just done something stupid. No one would reveal their skills to others.

Of course, I killed a zombie with Rapier. Not a zombie of the same rank as me, but one that was two ranks higher than me. In Briar's eyes, this was unbelievable.

Rapier was a useless weapon that had been ingrained in everyone's thinking. It was hard not to be surprised when seeing someone kill an enemy with a Rapier that was above their level for the first time.

Liz had seen me fight with Rapier in the virtual world before, so she didn't seem surprised at all. She just showed a happy expression.

"You don't seem surprised, do you?" Briar smiled bitterly when she saw Liz's expression.

"Um, I've seen him attack like that before."

Hearing Liz's answer, I noticed a strange light flash across Briar's eyes. It was as if he had just realized something.

"Alright, that's enough rest. I think we should keep moving. We need to make the most of every moment before the new week starts. Otherwise, we won't be able to make it to school." I stood up, brushed off the dirt on my clothes, and walked away.

But as soon as I took a step, I suddenly remembered something. My steps faltered, I scratched my head, and forced a smile.

"Ah...we have to collect the loot."

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. Then Liz and Briar suddenly burst out laughing.

"You forgot about that, Danny? Really?"

I could only silently accept it. And I knew my face was definitely red like a tomato with embarrassment right now.

We collected the loot together in a positive atmosphere, then continued our journey in the Dungeon.

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