Chapter 395: Matters Being What They Are, Let's Eat Meat First
After reading the records on the second page, Iwanaga Kotoko continued turning the pages, only to find that the rest of the notebook was blank.
After carefully checking twice and confirming there was no missing information, she gently closed the black covered notebook, raised her head, and looked at Asagiri and the others.
"Although there aren't many records here, they reveal several very important pieces of information."
"First, Blackwatch knows of this island's existence, but most members are completely unaware that the island's ecological environment has become so bizarre that it defies common sense."
"Then, judging from this Blackwatch member's description, the Furious Rajang should originally have been solitary individuals and shouldn't have appeared at the edge of the island."
"Combining this with the hidden mission's goal of heading to the center of the island, I have a rough speculation."
Iwanaga Kotoko paused briefly, then continued.
"The Furious Rajang were originally apex predators on this island, but because a more powerful monster appeared in the center of the island, they were forced to migrate toward the peripheral areas. And out of self preservation instinct, they changed from their original solitary lifestyle into a group dwelling species that gathers in packs of five."
Hearing Iwanaga Kotoko's speculation, Kato Megumi pursed her lips, rubbed her left arm that was still faintly aching, and spoke softly.
"Could it be that the closer the monsters are to the peripheral areas of this island, the lower their status in the food chain? The Furious Rajang that were so difficult to deal with just now... are just prey hunted by other monsters on this island?"
"They aren't weak to that extent. After all, they are overlords capable of occupying a water source."
Iwanaga Kotoko replied with this first, then explained,
"But the Furious Rajang are definitely not among the strongest monsters on this island. They might not even rank in the top tier of the second rank."
Hearing Iwanaga Kotoko's words, the expressions of Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi both became somewhat heavy.
Although the Furious Rajang's size was not as exaggerated as the Lightning Dragon they had seen before, its strength was not to be underestimated.
Especially that zero frame instant lightning cannon.
Unless it was a main tank Player, taking one hit would definitely cause them to lose the ability to continue fighting, even if it did not kill them on the spot.
A Furious Rajang this strong was actually a stray dog forced to migrate to the edge of the island?
What kind of monsters were in the central area of the island?
"What... should we do next?"
Hearing Yuuki Asuna's question, Asagiri sat down against the cave wall and smiled.
"Let's rest first."
"Huh? Here?"
"Where else?"
Asagiri spread his hands and spoke righteously.
"Although the five Furious Rajang that occupied this place have been subjugated by us, the other monsters don't know that. No other monsters will come here in the short term, and there's a clean water source nearby."
"It's simply the most suitable camp for resting. Or perhaps..."
As he said this, Asagiri pointed at the sky outside, which had already grown dim, and looked at Yuuki Asuna.
"Do you want to travel in this darkness? You might run head on into bugs or something."
Yuuki Asuna's expression changed upon hearing this.
She bit her lower lip, showing hesitation, but eventually sat against the wall, hugged her knees, and forced herself to say,
"I... I'm not afraid of bugs! It's just that everyone is tired and needs time to rest and recover!"
"Such a stubborn mouth."
Seeing this, Kato Megumi took out drinking water, compressed biscuits, a disposable item to light a campfire, and even a tent prepared for spending the night in the wild from her inventory.
These items had all been purchased by Miwa Ashikaga from other Player factions before the five person squad entered the Dungeon.
Although they were certified by the system, their only value was that they could be brought into the Dungeon world. In every other respect, they were no different from ordinary compressed biscuits and mineral water.
Due to her low presence, and because the nature of her ability made her the least likely to be targeted as a primary objective by enemies, Kato Megumi had effectively become the logistics manager of the squad.
Except for the equipment and weapons necessary for combat, all supplies were stored with her.
"Compressed biscuits? Why eat this?"
Asagiri shook his head, revealing a meaningful smile.
"Isn't there ready made food?"
Yuuki Asuna, Yamauchi Sakura, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko all showed complicated expressions upon hearing this.
"You aren't... thinking of eating the Furious Rajang's meat, are you?"
"I think it's worth a try."
"Uh..."
Before the four women could express their opinions, they saw Asagiri take out a piece of meat that had already been cut.
He threaded it with the chain of the Rope Dart of Deathly Grievance, then began roasting it over the newly lit campfire.
Just looking at the meat sizzling with oil as it roasted, it could indeed be considered quite a delicacy.
But the moment Yuuki Asuna and the others thought of the scene of their battle with the Furious Rajang just now, they found it hard to accept.
Helpless, they could only choose to gnaw on the hard to swallow compressed biscuits.
...
Half an hour later.
"Alright, let's eat."
Seeing Asagiri take down the large piece of skewered meat, Yuuki Asuna showed a complicated expression and said,
"Is it cooked?"
"With my digestive ability, eating it raw would actually be no problem. I roasted it just to make it easier for you to look at."
Hearing Asagiri's matter of fact words, Yuuki Asuna could not help sighing softly.
"Then thank you very much."
"You're welcome. We're family, no need to be polite."
Asagiri said this while taking a bite of the roasted meat.
Smelling the aroma of the roasted meat and looking at the sizzling, oily chunk, Yamauchi Sakura seemed a little tempted and asked curiously,
"How does it taste?"
"Terrible."
Asagiri shook his head and spoke in a flat tone.
"There are no seasonings at all. It's just plain roasted meat. It can't be called tasty. All I could do was drain the blood before roasting to make this piece of meat as easy to swallow as possible."
"I see..."
Seeing Yamauchi Sakura looking like a curious baby, Asagiri took the Crescent Scimitar handed over by Kato Megumi, sliced off a strip of roasted meat, placed it on the blade, and handed it over.
"Here, take this."
Yamauchi Sakura cautiously pinched the roasted meat, took a small bite, and said thoughtfully,
"It really doesn't have much taste, but it's still much better than compressed biscuits. At least it's meat."
"Then let everyone share it."
Asagiri cut the roasted meat into many small pieces and spoke softly.
"We have to continue high intensity operations tomorrow. Although it's not tasty, at least it can restore physical strength."
...
The next morning, the five person squad, refreshed after a night's rest, prepared to continue moving toward the center of the island.
However, they encountered a very thorny problem.
"It's raining..."
Looking at the torrential rain outside the cave and the muddy ground, Yamauchi Sakura could not help revealing worry in her eyes.
"In this case... can we still continue moving forward?"
"Moving forward is no problem, but..."
Looking at the muddy ground, where it was almost impossible to stand steadily, Yuuki Asuna frowned and said,
"If we encounter monsters at a time like this, our mobility in battle will be affected. Because the rain is so heavy, our hearing and vision will also become blurred. Forcing ourselves to move forward is really too dangerous."
Iwanaga Kotoko proposed a different opinion.
"But we can't just wait here for the rain to stop. Yesterday's note mentioned a very important point. Some monsters have the ability to affect the ecological environment."
"If this abnormal rain is caused by a monster, then waiting here is meaningless. It would be better to go directly and find the monster causing the rain, then subjugate it."
Kato Megumi shook her head and softly refuted,
"But what if this is just ordinary rain? Acting rashly without determining the specific cause will only land us in a desperate situation. If we encounter consecutive attacks from monsters, even we could suffer serious injuries or even death."
At this moment, when opinions diverged, Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Yamauchi Sakura all could not help casting their gazes toward Asagiri.
After all, he was the captain of this squad and held the final decision making power.
"Let's continue moving forward."
Asagiri made the decision without the slightest hesitation.
"Although moving forward in this rain carries great risk, staying in place and waiting is also very dangerous."
"The longer we stay, the more likely we are to be discovered by other monsters. The monsters on this island possess a certain degree of intelligence and may do things like call companions to hunt us together."
"Therefore, not staying in one area for too long is the safest choice..."
Just as Asagiri was saying this, the clouds in the sky suddenly began to vibrate and shake.
After a few seconds, they dissipated instantly.
Along with them, the torrential rain stopped abruptly.
"This is..."
While Yuuki Asuna and the others were still full of confusion, Asagiri revealed a smile and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"I almost forgot. This Dungeon doesn't just have our Player squad and Kaguya's squad."
"Looking at this situation, it should be that some Player used an ability similar to forcibly changing the weather."
"Changing the weather? There is actually such an ability..."
Seeing Yuuki Asuna's surprised expression, Asagiri spoke solemnly.
"Miss Swordsman, please don't underestimate the strength of other Players. We came in via entry tickets, but normally, most Players are matched in."
"Those who can be matched into a fifth stage, highest difficulty Dungeon definitely won't be a bunch of trash."
"That's true."
Yuuki Asuna thought to herself that there were perverted existences in her own squad who could walk in the air as if it were flat ground, engage in aerial combat with a Lightning Dragon, and trade blows in hand to hand combat with Furious Rajang.
In comparison, an ability like forcibly changing the weather was not that outrageous.
.....
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