The Harvest

Seeing Humar's status was "Hungry," he quickly pulled out some roasted meat for it. Even though its loyalty wouldn't drop, Sun Busong would never mistreat his pet.

"You've leveled up, gotten bigger, but why are you still such a coward?"

Sun Busong was speechless. He'd seen plenty in his time—other Hunters' pets charged ahead, tanking damage and drawing aggro for their masters.

But his pet did the exact opposite. He was called Sun Busong (No Coward), while Humar was a total coward. It made him wonder if this was because he'd cheated to get the pet, and it would stay this pathetic forever.

One man, one pet wandered through the maze-like tunnels. But soon, things took a turn.

He ran into a legendary volunteer!

Amy. Shortline.

"Hey there, are you here for the Chariot Soldier trial quest?" Sun Busong jumped at the sudden voice. Turning around, he saw a Gnome girl hiding behind a lamppost not far away, waving at him.

She had pure white hair and pure white eyes, with a pair of pretty earrings dangling from her ears. Her whole body was tucked behind the lamppost, only her head peeking out to look at him.

Phew.

After getting a clear look at her, Sun Busong let out a long breath. He was on edge, seeing threats everywhere.

"Little girl, come here. I'm here for the Chariot Soldier trial. Don't be scared!"

He tried to put on his kindest smile to lower her guard.

"Stop smiling! You look ugly when you smile! And open your eyes—who are you calling a little girl? I'm a level 27 Elite Warrior, Demolition Expert, Amy. Shortline!"

If she hadn't said it, Sun Busong wouldn't have looked closely. Now he saw she really was a level 27 Elite Professional.

"I was just trying not to scare you, that's why I smiled!" Sun Busong explained.

Hearing that, her white eyebrows shot up.

"Which eye of yours sees me scared of you?"

"Then why are you hiding behind the lamppost?"

"I'm scared of your cat! I've been following you for a while. Your big cat keeps appearing and turning invisible. I'm afraid it'll jump out and startle me!" As she spoke, Amy. Shortline kept craning her neck, searching for Humar.

"Big cat?!"

Well, it was a big cat. Level 15 Humar was already up to Sun Busong's thigh, and compared to Amy. Shortline, it really was a big cat.

"Haha, you mean my pet? Don't worry, it's even more timid than you. No need to be scared." She was actually worried Humar would jump out and scare her.

Looking at Humar, whose legs were already trembling at the sight of a stranger, Sun Busong just shook his head.

"I'm not timid at all!" One sentence, and he'd set her off again.

"Alright, alright, my bad. But my pet doesn't bite. You said you've been following us for a while—have you seen it bite anyone?"

"No, but what if it gets playful and jumps out to scare me?" Amy. Shortline still refused to come out from behind the lamppost.

"Really, I'm not lying. If you don't believe me, I'll call it out now." With that, Sun Busong kicked Humar in the rear, breaking its stealth.

"Ah! It's out!"

After that shriek, Sun Busong saw a level 27 Elite Warrior with her hair standing on end from fright, and a level 15 Combat Pet with its fur bristling from sheer cowardice!

Ten minutes later.

"Shorty, your roasted meat is delicious!"

"(^w^) Meow!"

Amy. Shortline sat beside Humar, holding a bear rib, while Humar gnawed on a roasted spider leg. These two had only known each other for ten minutes and were already playing together.

"When I came here, Mordok told me that finding a volunteer would lead to the boss. Do you know where it is?"

"Of course I do, but you have to help me kill a monster first, or I won't take you to the boss." Amy. Shortline munched on her bear rib while teasing Humar.

"What monster? What level?"

"You can definitely beat it. Let me finish this rib, and I'll take you there."

After finishing the roasted meat, Amy. Shortline led Sun Busong through several hidden passages to another location.

Gear Hall!

Honestly, if he'd had to find it himself, Sun Busong would have starved to death in the trial grounds.

Once there, Sun Busong felt much better seeing the monsters ahead. These were the ones mentioned in Mordok's quest.

Amy. Shortline leaned against Humar and pointed at the Radiation Raiders ahead. "We have to kill them first to get through. I can't help with the fighting—you'll have to do it yourself. And Humar's only level 15, while these monsters are all level 23, so it can't go either!"

Sun Busong hadn't planned on sending Humar in anyway. He wasn't about to waste hard-earned Kill Points on reviving it.

The Radiation Raiders were magic-type, and there was another monster—Cave Dwellers. Both Elite Monsters were level 23.

"Take out the magic-type first!"

He'd collected plenty of Green Equipment and materials along the way, but no blue gear had dropped. He was still using a level-something blue axe, but that wasn't a problem.

Sun Busong locked onto a Radiation Raider and charged. These things were evolved versions of Stone Jaw Monsters—stronger attacks, but just as ugly.

The enemy used magic, attacking with Radiation Arrow. The damage wasn't too high, but it had a special effect: any target hit would spread radiation to allies within 5 yards, causing infection damage. Sun Busong had no allies, though. Compared to those mechanical monsters, these two types were easier to kill.

In under a minute, Sun Busong took down all three monsters, netting only 4 silver coins. Silver coins were hugely useful to him—he'd need them to buy materials for crafting potions and gear.

Amy Shortline and Humar stayed far away, watching from the sidelines with no intention of helping. But honestly, these monsters couldn't hurt Sun Busong anyway.

Half an hour later, all the monsters in the entire passage were dead. The first task Mordok had given them was easily completed.

Next, they arrived at a tunnel filled with jagged rocks. This was where the monster Amy Shortline had specifically asked to kill lived.

"That thing's inside. It killed my friend. You have to be careful—it has plenty of helpers, and an elite-level lizard pet too."

"What kind of monsters are they? At least give me a heads-up so I can prepare."

Amy Shortline stammered for a while before finally telling the truth. The monsters here were called Grubis. It had a pet and over a dozen underlings, all at level 24. The underlings were ordinary rank, but Grubis and its pet hit hard.

"You call this helping you get revenge? You're sending me to be Grubis's dinner! How am I supposed to take down that many monsters alone?" Sun Busong was fuming after hearing the details. Over a dozen level-24 monsters plus two elites—that was way out of his league.

Seeing Sun Busong getting angry, Amy Shortline quickly spoke up. "Don't rush me! I wasn't finished. I already planted bombs here. If you can lure them close to the bombs, I'll trigger the mechanism and blow them all to bits!"

Sun Busong stared at her with wide eyes and pressed, "When you say 'blow them all to bits,' does that include me?"

"No, no!" Amy Shortline waved her little hands frantically.

After a detailed explanation, Sun Busong finally understood the plan.

He had Amy Shortline and Humar go ahead to the mechanism's position. Then he rushed to Grubis's lair, slammed his axe hard against the pile of boulders blocking the entrance, and soon heard sounds from inside.

A creature as tall as Sun Busong came charging out, followed by a lizard and over a dozen ordinary Cave Attackers.

"Hey! Come bite Old Man's ass!"

Sun Busong hadn't learned the Warrior's taunt skill yet, but he could still provoke monsters.

The monsters spotted fresh meat, their eyes gleaming and drool already dripping. They charged at Sun Busong like mad.

Sun Busong followed the planned route, stepping carefully to avoid the traps while staying just outside the blast radius.

One ran ahead, a crowd chased behind. Soon, the monsters were closing in on the explosion point.

"Sun Busong! Speed up! I'm about to detonate!" Amy Shortline, still far away, spotted him and shouted loudly.

"Go ahead! Detonate now!" Sun Busong sprinted faster, replying as he ran.

"Boom!"

A deafening explosion shook the jagged tunnel. The blast was massive, but Sun Busong had already jumped into a shelter.

When the dust settled, the two of them and the pet walked out of cover to the explosion site to admire their handiwork.

The blast had shredded all the ordinary Cave Attackers. Only Grubis and its lizard had intact bodies. Sun Busong jumped into the pile of corpses, dragged out the two whole bodies, and started searching for loot.

The haul was incredible!

Two pieces of Blue Gear. One was called Grubis's Claw (Blue Gear): Item Level 23. Gloves. Plate Armor. 144 Armor. +7 Strength. +5 Agility. +10 Stamina. Required Level 23.

The other was called Boosted Battle Axe (Blue Gear): Item Level 24. Two-Hand. Axe. 19-39 Damage. Speed 3.6 (Damage Per Second 16.8). Equip: Chance on Hit, shocks target, dealing 140 Nature Damage! (Nature Damage is poison damage.) Required Level 23.

Both pieces were great, but he wasn't high enough level. Since he couldn't earn experience here, he couldn't equip them either, so he stashed them in his Backpack.

"Hey, Shortline, any more monsters like that? Bring 'em on! Haha, this guy's loot was amazing." Sun Busong was grinning ear to ear.

"There are more, but whether you get loot depends on your luck!"

"Really!" Sun Busong's grin nearly split his face. He stepped right up to Amy Shortline and shoved his head close.

"Get away from me, you big-headed dwarf!"

"Haha, so there really are more monsters?" Seeing her disgust at his move, he pulled his head back.

"Outside this tunnel is a huge factory called the Gear Hall. There's an Elemental Monster inside called Viscous Radiation Dust. Killing it drops Blue Gear too."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" He hoisted Amy Shortline onto his shoulder and dashed off.

Gear Hall!

It was enormous. In the sealed hall, hundreds of meters high, hung seven or eight massive gears, each the size of a house. Giant connecting rods linked them together.

At the very bottom of the hall, Sun Busong spotted the monster Amy Shortline had mentioned.

It was over five meters tall, its body made entirely of water, like a five-meter-high wave. But it had a head, eyes, and hands. The water jets shooting from its body were like blades, easily capable of cutting a person in half.

"Be careful—it's highly toxic. Don't let its arrow-like spray get in your mouth or eyes, or you're dead."

"Haha, same routine. You and Humar stay here. I'll go down, take it out, grab the loot, and come back."

Sun Busong didn't care how dangerous its spray was. Could it even chip away his tens of thousands of Health Points?

On his way down to the bottom floor, he ran into some smaller Water Elementals, but he took them out without breaking stride.

Five minutes later, panting, he reached the bottom. As soon as he entered the hall, he saw the giant Water Elemental. From a distance, it hadn't seemed that fierce, but up close, it was terrifying.

Green body, green eyes. Its mouth opened a full meter wide—easily big enough to swallow Sun Busong whole. And the moment he stepped in, the thing spotted him.

Like a five-meter-high tidal wave, it surged toward him.

With his current attack power, Sun Busong could chip off 360 Health Points per hit from Viscous Radiation Dust. The boss dealt only 98 damage per second to him.

Trading blows didn't faze Sun Busong at all. Ten seconds later, the boss's health bar dropped by 10%. That meant the Water Elemental had roughly under 40,000 Health Points.

Sun Busong's own health bar barely budged. He wasn't a professional yet, but all his basic skills were maxed out.

In under three minutes, Viscous Radiation Dust collapsed into a puddle of green slime. Sun Busong had successfully taken down another powerful monster.

Harvest time. Sun Busong put away his axe, ready to loot the corpse, but first there was still a task to complete: collecting the radioactive dust from the source of the radiation.

This Water Elemental was the source of the radiation. He hadn't expected the second task to be completed so easily—Sun Busong was quite pleased.

After collecting the radioactive dust in a special bottle, a blue weapon appeared in Sun Busong's hand.

Water Vine (Blue Gear):

Item Level 36.

Two-handed Staff 59 - 90

Damage Speed 2.80

(Damage Per Second 26.6)

+15 Frost Resistance

Equip: Allows you to breathe underwater.

Required Level 23.

Thanks to all the readers for your strong support, especially the old friends [Protagonist's Backdrop] and [I'm Actually Reading the Official Version]—thank you for your continued reading, truly grateful. If you could invest for free, that would be even better. This book only has five investors right now, please help out!