3. A Lucky Day (3)

‘I’m seriously fucked…’

Convenience store or whatever, I need to get out of here immediately. If I waste any more time, all the nearby Machung bugs will swarm this place.

‘But this… feels like such a waste…’

The problem is that before the nameless insect monster died, it stabbed its venomous stinger into the minotaur’s forearm.

That’s what’s stopping me from running away immediately. Yeah, my greed sensor is telling me-this might be my chance for a truly thrilling opportunity.

‘That bull-headed bastard is staggering… This is… an awakening…’

Instead of leaving completely, I held my breath and observed the situation. Maybe I can take advantage of this. Before the Shadow Race monsters swarm in… I can kill the poisoned minotaur and leave.

It’s a gamble, sure… but it’s also the fastest way to get stronger right now.

Minotaurs are pretty strong monsters, so killing one would instantly level me up and give me a decent amount of points.

And if I can somehow cut off that bastard’s horns, I could sell them for a high price at a general store.

Even in the original work, minotaur horns were traded as expensive materials, so I was confident they’d sell for a good price in the shop window too.

“Uuuuuu….”

-Grrroooan..!

‘This is it, fuck…!!’

The venom from the insect monster must have spread through its body, because the minotaur staggered forward and collapsed.

Foam was drooling from its gaping mouth. Judging by its trembling body, it wasn’t dead yet.

I still didn’t sense any signs of the Shadow Race monsters swarming in. Which meant if I quickly stabbed that bastard in the neck…

‘Free EXP…’

I can’t resist this.

I immediately scanned my surroundings and rushed toward the fallen minotaur. Sometimes, you gotta know when to go for the one-shot.

“Hup..!!!”

A minotaur’s hide is pretty tough, so I put all my strength into it…

-Squelch!!!!!

“Ugh..!!”

A few drops of hot blood splattered onto my face. The fallen minotaur twitched and tried to get up, but whether it was due to the paralyzing venom, it staggered and collapsed again.

When I pulled the spear from its neck, bright red blood gushed out like water from a burst hose. In an instant, my feet were soaked in crimson.

“Huff.. huff…”

No movement.

A Level 1 just killed a minotaur. What kind of absurd achievement is this?

It’s all because the ecosystem isn’t properly established yet. Even the monsters are confused right now.

They don’t really know each other, so they attack without knowing what the other is capable of, and end up dying to some random technique.

You could call this the monster transition period. Thanks to that, I just made an insane profit. This is the jackpot.

[Level has increased by 10.]

[500 Points Acquired]

EXP came in, and my level rose.

Seeing my suddenly boosted level and points made my heart race like crazy.

I immediately strained to tear off the minotaur’s horns.

“F-fuck…”

They wouldn’t come off. This is driving me crazy. Well, of course they wouldn’t come off easily.

-Skitter skitter skitter…

From far away, I could hear the creepy noise unique to those bugs. I need to leave fast.

No matter how high my level is, without any decent attack skills, fighting a swarm of Machung bugs would be suicide. A few venom stings and I’d be dead on the spot.

No time.

‘Ah..! S-stats..!’

I immediately opened my status window and dumped all my unallocated stats into strength.

Then, as fast as I could, I hacked off the minotaur’s head with my knife and yanked it out with all my might.

-Squelch-!!

The spine came out with it. This is insane. I don’t even know how I managed to move like this, but I stomped on the spine still attached to the head, forcibly snapping it off before grabbing the bull head and running like hell.

Thanks to my suddenly boosted strength and the trait that doubled it, I could at least carry the bull head.

But my stamina was draining at an insane rate. I could lift the weight, but carrying it while escaping was a different story.

I was so out of breath my head felt light. But I couldn’t stop. The Machung bugs were closing in. I had to get out fast.

‘Ah, fuck..! Inventory..!’

Oh right, I have an inventory!?

If I can carry it, I can store it. I immediately stuffed the bull head into my inventory.

‘Got it..!’

The bull head safely went into my inventory.

I sped up my running while glancing back, worried about getting caught by those bastards.

“Kishashashat!!!”

“Eeek..!”

Behind me, a bunch of Machung bugs-smaller than the one that died earlier but looking similar-had already gathered.

“Kishaaaaa!!!”

They raised their pincer arms threateningly at me as I ran. That was it.

Luckily, they didn’t seem to be chasing me. Well, with the minotaur corpse right in front of them, they’d probably be more interested in the big carcass than a scrawny thing like me.

Thank god. Thanks to them focusing on devouring the corpse… I survived. By the way, I didn’t touch the venom stinger. The fluid might let them track me.

“Haa.. haa.. Fffuuuuuck…”

No words came out except “fuck.”

This was insane. In one outing, my level went up by 10, I got 8 goblin ears for the quest, and I even looted a minotaur head worth who knows how much.

-Squeak… Thud.

As soon as I got home, I collapsed in the entryway, gasping for air.

“Haa…”

More than anything else, the fact that I got 500 points made my heart race.

Even if I completed all the quests I had now, I wouldn’t even get 300 points… but I just earned 500 in one go.

Today must be my lucky day. Or… maybe not, since getting possessed as a woman in this insane world is already the worst possible misfortune… I don’t know.

“I’m hungry…”

Anyway, after moving around so much, I was even hungrier than before. I got a lot, but I didn’t manage to grab any actual food.

“Haa..”

I felt a little regretful. If I’d just grabbed some food, it would’ve been a total jackpot.

But if I’d lingered around the convenience store trying to get food, I’d definitely be dead by now. I should be satisfied with this. I even got a bull head-asking for more would be shameless.

“Speaking of which… the neighbor’s place must have food, right..?”

Isn’t the neighbor’s place mine now? I killed that bastard next door earlier.

Which means the neighbor’s place is now my house.

Since I killed the landlord with my own hands, ownership of that house has naturally been transferred to me. If you disagree, I’ll slit your mouth open.

‘But I don’t know the door lock password…’

If I knew the password, I could break in and take all the food and useful supplies from that house to mine… Should I climb over the balcony? That’s dangerous. There’s a high risk of being spotted by enemies outside.

Wondering if there was another way, I opened the front door and stepped outside again.

“Fingerprint recognition… Hell yeah. This is it.”

Another stroke of incredible luck. Surprisingly, the neighbor’s door lock had a fingerprint scanner. Probably installed for convenience instead of entering a password.

Which meant all I needed was the dead guy’s finger.

‘Thumb? Index finger? Ah… fuck it, I’ll just cut them all.’

Cutting off the whole wrist with this kind of kitchen knife is practically impossible. So I decided to slice off the thumb and index finger to try both.

-Crunch…

I used the knife to slice off the right thumb and index finger of the neighbor’s corpse, lying coldly on the staircase leading to the third floor. The sensation of cartilage twisting and skin tearing away felt weird no matter how many times I experienced it. I couldn’t get used to it.

“Huff…”

It was a different kind of disgusting feeling compared to cutting off a goblin’s ears. Anyway, I successfully cut off the fingers.

“Please… work on the first try…”

-Beep!

“Ah…!”

It opened.

The neighbor’s front door swung wide open.

‘Got it..’

Now that bastard’s house is mine. The smell of cigarettes and bachelorhood wafted out, but the important thing is that it’s mine now.

More importantly, it was much more furnished than my empty place, and the living conditions were pretty tidy. Of course, I had zero intention of using the bed or sofa that bastard slept on.

“Huh, he lived cleaner than I thought…”

I’d half-expected a trash-filled, filthy house, but it was surprisingly neat. Guess you shouldn’t judge by appearances.

“Oh..!”

The fridge was packed with side dishes and food. The freezer even had everything from ice cream to all kinds of frozen meals, and there was a ton of ramen and instant rice.

Now all of this is mine.

“I’ll change the password too…”

Since this place reeks of cigarettes, I decided to use it as storage and move all the useful stuff to my place.

Then I changed the password and registered my fingerprint. Now I don’t need that bastard’s disgusting fingers anymore. I immediately threw them off the balcony. The birds can have them.

Later, I should also throw the corpse lying on the staircase outside. It’s starting to attract bugs. Worse, if monsters start crawling into the villa because of the corpse smell, it’s game over.

Once they start coming, they won’t stop.

“Damn, this place has a lot of pots too…”

Looks like I can store plenty of water.

This is the best. Maybe the neighbor was actually a good guy.

Of course, since he’s already dead, there’s no way to confirm that.

“Moved everything I needed…”

I took all the clean-looking towels and clothes to my place. Then I took out the bull head, still dripping blood, and left it in the guy’s bathroom.

From now on, I’ll do all the butchering and smelly work here.

“First, selling…”

I tried selling the whole head just in case, but…

[Needs to be dismantled.]

[Sellable parts: Eyes, Molars, Tongue, Horns]

As expected, I couldn’t sell it as-is. The listed parts seem sellable, so I’ll have to process them one by one.

“Gotta pluck the eyes first…”

I thought about carving out some meat to eat while I was at it, but it seemed too troublesome, so I gave up. Just plucking the eyes without crushing them was already a struggle.

More importantly, since I already got food, there’s no need to eat monster meat. It’s not hygienic, and I’m repulsed by the idea.

Monster meat is a last resort.

“Ugh… fuck, it won’t come out…”

I remembered a scene from a pretty gory novel where the protagonist used a spoon to scoop out eyeballs, so I tried something similar, but it wasn’t working.

Still, after jamming it between the eyelids and prying, the eyeball popped out, though slightly crushed.

“Huff..”

I got two eyeballs. Next were the molars and tongue.

“Ugh..!!”

Crunch..!!

I forced open its clenched jaw. Then, using pliers I found in the guy’s house, I yanked out two molars with all my strength.

“The tongue too…”

I cut out the tongue with the kitchen knife, leaving only the horns…

‘I think I need a saw for this…’

There’s no way to cut them off as-is. Since the horns would be the most valuable, I couldn’t just leave them. I’d have to go to a hardware store later to get a saw.

From now on, if I’m going to hunt monsters and sell materials in this world, I’ll need proper tools.

Anyway, for now, I sold the eyes, molars, and tongue for 180 points. This is a real goldmine.

“I’m making bank…”

How much am I earning in just one day?

All of it was thanks to killing the minotaur by taking advantage of the situation. I guess it was the right call to be greedy and not retreat immediately.

“Current points…”

I’ve collected a total of 705 points. With this, I can buy the Book of Mana immediately and reset the shop menu-which normally takes a week-to buy new items.

I need to get stronger fast and take advantage of this transition period.

“Purchase Book of Mana.”

When I bought the Book of Mana, an old book fell in front of me. Now, if I read this, I can learn Magic Sensitivity. That should unlock the Magic stat. Right now, it’s locked, so even if my level goes up, I can’t allocate points.

Anyway, I’ll read it later…

“Remaining 555 points…”

I immediately reset the shop window.

No time to hesitate. Being stingy leads to regret.

I need to get stronger before I die.