Chapter Thirty-Four: She Hated Every Single Magical Beast Equally!
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Dungeons of different ranks offered different kinds of rewards.
Once an E-to-B-rank dungeon had been conquered, the person who landed the final blow on the boss would receive attribute bonuses based on the boss’s traits. For example, the Three-Headed Thunder Demon Lion would grant bonuses to strength, speed, agility, and lightning affinity.
An E-rank dungeon could grant only one attribute bonus, and which attribute one received depended on the killer’s own qualities.
If the killer was a lightning-element mage, they would be given a lightning-affinity bonus first. If they were a strength-oriented support mage, they would receive a strength bonus instead.
As for someone like Qian Qi, who was nothing in particular, well, naturally she got whatever happened to be handed out~
Fortunately, the Three-Headed Thunder Demon Lion’s strength had long surpassed the E rank. It possessed a D-minus rating, powerful enough to rival a D-rank creature—and Qian Qi, that pathetic little weakling, had gotten a bargain.
Qian Qi was very satisfied with her increased strength. Once the enhancement from external weapons was removed, the power inherent in one’s own body was what truly mattered. In the face of absolute defense and crushing fists, all those flashy tricks were nothing but clouds.
[There are other completion rewards below.]
A blue panel floated over the lion’s head, reminding Qian Qi.
Qian Qi looked over and discovered that the horn atop the lion’s head had actually fallen off on its own. She was instantly delighted. Gazing at the lightning energy stored inside the watery-blue horn, she asked, “How much is this thing worth?”
[...]
Did Qian Qi know nothing except money?!
[For one hundred dollars, I can sell you the Handbook of Uses for the Thunder Demon Lion’s Horn.]
Qian Qi: ...
Hey, hey, who was it that only cared about money?!
Qian Qi had no intention of buying it. Just thinking about the “ninety thousand” she had swallowed moments ago made her heart ache. At that moment, she truly did not want to spend a single penny!
She would ask Senior Su Xingle once she got back. He would definitely know.
With that thought, she began searching the Thunder Demon Lion again, hoping to find something else valuable.
A few minutes later, Qian Qi suddenly spoke. “System, did you know?”
[Know what?]
“When I was little, Mother Dean told us she would make lion’s head for us to try the next day.” Her eyes lowered slightly, and a few traces of nostalgia flickered through them.
Seeing how melancholy she looked, the system panel faced her in silence for a moment.
“I was young back then, so I thought she meant she would use a real lion’s head. I was filled with anticipation.”
Qian Qi stroked the black lion’s head beneath her palm, her tone growing sadder. “It wasn’t until the next day that I learned lion’s head was actually just a giant meatball. But for poor children like us, having meat to eat was the greatest happiness imaginable.”
[...]
“If you want to eat some, we can buy it on the way back.”
“System...” Qian Qi shook her head and let out a deep sigh, her face filled with regret. “Even today, that imagined ‘lion’s head’ has never managed to appear on my plate...”
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System: [...]
System: [???]
Wait. Surely she did not mean what the system thought she meant?
Qian Qi patted the lion’s head, anticipation creeping into her voice. “Do you think this thing would taste good if we roasted it?”
System: [...]
That was absolutely not something one could eat!!!
Seeing that the system had been rendered speechless into producing an endless stream of ellipses, Qian Qi burst out laughing. She was just about to tease it a little more when she suddenly felt the ground tremble.
“What’s going on? An earthquake?”
Qian Qi was startled. She hurriedly looked around, only to discover that this was no earthquake.
It was a monster tide!
Though “monster tide” might have been an exaggeration. The monsters in this Dark Forest were relatively sparse. A dozen or so scattered beasts were surging toward her, but that was still enough to scare Qian Qi half to death.
“Oh, no!”
Qian Qi hastily stuffed an Earth Plantain Fruit into her mouth. She did not forget to clutch the lion’s head with one hand as she dragged the Three-Headed Thunder Demon Lion away and ran for her life.
Behind her, the monsters pursued relentlessly. Their eyes were blood-red as they stared at the Three-Headed Thunder Demon Lion, as though it were some kind of gourmet feast.
Qian Qi was nearly reduced to tears. “Why won’t they stop chasing me?!”
The blue panel glanced at the brain matter on the lion’s head and smiled.
[Because you have emergency cough syrup... brain matter?]
Qian Qi: ...
Could it stop using such an ancient joke?!
Naturally, Qian Qi could not outrun the monsters. The swarm surged forward and sent her flying. Qian Qi and the Thunder Demon Lion traced one black arc and one yellow arc through the air before crashing into the ground with a bang.
Qian Qi had lost count of how many times she had been sent flying. To save her own life, she gritted her teeth and abandoned the Thunder Demon Lion, then sprinted madly back the way she had come.
It was not that she could not defeat these monsters. She simply did not have enough stamina left.
When she had swung the blue panel earlier, the attack had dealt C-rank damage, and her delicate arm muscles had been strained.
Therefore, she could not be certain that the Earth Plantain Fruits in her pocket would be enough to kill all these monsters. Rather than waste money and energy, she might as well leave the dungeon directly.
If she left the Thunder Demon Lion behind, surely the monsters would stop chasing her, right?
Qian Qi secretly comforted herself with that thought.
But things did not unfold as she had expected.
Several of the higher-level monsters claimed the Thunder Demon Lion’s corpse for themselves. The rest, driven half mad by hunger, turned their attention back to the lone Qian Qi.
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Qian Qi: ???
I am genuinely not delicious!
I am incredibly tough!
Qian Qi ran with all her might, but as she had already learned, how could an ordinary human possibly outrun monsters? The beasts caught up with her soon enough.
Still, things were not quite as bad as they could have been. The monsters fought over this little morsel of lean meat, tossing her back and forth between them. One moment Qian Qi was crawling out of one creature’s mouth; the next, she was scrambling out of another’s.
“Four hundred and eighty thousand... four hundred and fifty thousand... four hundred and twenty thousand... three hundred and ninety thousand... three hundred and sixty thousand...”
Qian Qi stuffed Earth Plantain Fruits into her mouth while tears streamed down her face.
Damn it! Her precious money!
Her sweet, beautiful retirement life!
She hated monsters! She hated every single monster equally!!!
After an arduous struggle, Qian Qi finally reached the open plain. At the place where she had first appeared in the dungeon, there was now a rectangular black void.
That had to be the dungeon exit!
Qian Qi wept with joy. She ran to the black void and stepped into the exit, not forgetting to turn around and raise her middle finger at the monsters.
“Bye-bye, losers!”
The instant the words left her mouth, Qian Qi departed the dungeon and returned to the vegetable garden behind Bright Orphanage.
The clean, clear air filled Qian Qi with an overwhelming sense of security. She drew several deep breaths of the human world’s air and sighed with satisfaction.
“Yep. This place really is better.”
“Oh, right~”
Remembering something, Qian Qi hurried over to the spot where she had fallen earlier and found the sharp black object from before.
She idly touched it.
The next moment, she was back inside the dungeon, staring wide-eyed at the monsters that had been searching for her.
Qian Qi: ...
Qian Qi: “Hi?”
The monsters let out a furious roar. Terrified, Qian Qi scrambled into the dungeon exit and returned to the human world.
“That was close! This dungeon is way too inhumane! Couldn’t it at least have a confirmation button?!”
Qian Qi grumbled as she left a scathing review, deeply dissatisfied with the dungeon’s entry mechanism.
System: [...]
This was not a video game dungeon! A confirmation button? In her dreams!
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