Ch.7373. Black Monkey Duel (2)

Story Quest.

That’s the common name for this type of quest.

While the Farming World has an open world format without any particularly grand story, there are definitely main quests. And because it’s an open world, the freedom it offers means there are various hidden story quests like this scattered throughout.

Most users think monsters are just enemies that need to be killed, but in reality, there are countless cases in the Farming World where monsters are used as slaves or NPCs.

Intelligent monsters don’t necessarily have to be killed. Under certain conditions, they can actually become friendly toward users or, like in this case, offer opportunities to participate in their tribal stories.

In my case, I’m not sure why a Black Monkey Chieftain Selection Quest appeared as a story quest, but when the sudden proposal flew in as a quest, there was no reason not to accept it.

Especially with rewards this good.

“I accept.”

“Kiki… Human. Human who killed our chieftain. Thank you for accepting our fair duel. Kiki.”

“Ah… I…”

The monkey before me kindly explained why the sub-quest had appeared.

Apparently, among the countless Black Monkeys I killed yesterday, one of them was their chieftain.

Since their chieftain died, the Black Monkeys needed to select a new one, which required going through this chieftain selection process. When I showed up again, this quest probably appeared for me as well.

After all, without a chieftain, the Black Monkeys’ cohesion would inevitably weaken, making them unable to stop someone like me from yesterday.

From my perspective, there was nothing to lose.

These creatures called me a coward, but my fighting style wasn’t cowardly at all, and I wasn’t avoiding direct confrontation because I lacked confidence.

Moreover, whether it was for this quest or not, I had received an 8-hour sleep buff that increased my strength by +1 grade, making my strength S+ level.

“So how does this work? Do I just beat up everyone who comes at me?”

“Kick… No, human. You just need to defeat the challenger competing for the chieftain position. Kiki. But you cannot use weapons that humans typically use.”

“Bare-handed combat?”

“That’s right, human. Kiki.”

“Fine. Bring it on.”

I didn’t really care about the details of how it would proceed.

What mattered to me was that someone would challenge me, and I was confident I could win any number of fights.

The Black Monkey who first spoke to me stepped forward.

“Ki. If no more challengers come forward, you will become the first human chieftain of our monkeys.”

“You’re first?”

“I’m coming, human.”

The Black Monkey, who had been walking on two legs, planted both feet on the ground.

It seemed to be a fighting style for flat terrain rather than trees.

Papapat!

In an instant, it charged at me on all fours with incredible speed.

There’s a reason they’re called physical powerhouse monsters.

Jumping between trees to disrupt my vision, its massive body lunging at me exuded overwhelming pressure.

I didn’t use any special skills.

If I hadn’t equipped items beforehand, this might have been dangerous.

While my stats are higher than this creature’s, if stat differences alone determined the outcome of every fight, there would be no point in hunter levels, skills, or items.

But now I’m wearing items—solid armor and accessories that significantly boost my abilities.

Above all, [melee weapons] includes bare hands.

Puk!

I leaned back and drove my fist into the chest of the Black Monkey as it leaped to pounce on me.

On the surface, it might have seemed like a futile attack.

Even if the attack landed, it didn’t look easy to push back a Black Monkey charging with its full weight and momentum with just one punch.

But that was only how it appeared.

Kung!

My fist connecting with its chest not only countered the Black Monkey’s forward momentum but completely nullified it, slamming the creature into the ground.

That’s the power of S+ strength.

Combined with additional attack power and final damage multipliers, it completely shattered the Black Monkey’s chest.

“Krrrrrk.”

Blood mixed with foam flowed from the Black Monkey’s mouth.

It convulsed briefly before going limp, the outcome of the duel obvious.

“Kiki…”

“Kiki…”

The forest of Black Monkeys, which had been cheering loudly from the trees when their champion charged, suddenly became as quiet as a library.

Their shocked expressions were understandable, considering how they had raged yesterday, believing the outcome would be different if they could just engage in direct combat.

They thought I was just a human relying solely on agility.

If they could just get close enough for physical combat…

They believed they could crush everything with the Black Monkeys’ superior physical abilities and strength.

But that wasn’t the case.

The human had taken down the second strongest Black Monkey with a single blow.

“Next!”

I felt the Black Monkeys flinch at my shout.

If they had given up here, they would have been goblins, not Black Monkeys.

Though they flinched, they didn’t turn away from reality. One by one, they came down to challenge me.

I didn’t avoid them.

As long as there was a reward…

As long as the reward was satisfactory, I was willing to invest my time and effort.

Above all, this feeling of having S+ strength felt too good.

The feeling that I could smash anything.

It was partly the effect of [Master of Melee Weapons], but it felt like my body had become something beyond that—a superhuman.

As expected, the Black Monkeys were very friendly and excellent punching bags.

I knew using the Sewer Sword would give higher attack power, but this seemed like a good opportunity to get used to fighting with my fists.

Skills like [Double Slash] or [Leaping Slash] aren’t sword-specific skills.

They’re melee weapon skills, so the skill names change depending on the weapon used.

Of course, they can be used bare-handed too.

The skill that becomes [Double Strike] gives the effect of hitting the same spot a second time at the moment of impact.

The feeling of striking with what seems like four hands would provide an unmatched striking sensation for those who enjoy in-fighting.

There’s a reason some people insist on using just their fists or seeking gauntlets despite having good weapons like swords, maintaining disadvantageous distances out of romanticism.

When I started the duels, I thought they would end quickly.

The reason the Black Monkeys wouldn’t give up was because, from their perspective, I had fought cowardly before, and they refused to submit to such a human. I figured that if I fought fairly by their standards, they would acknowledge defeat after a decent fight.

But it took longer than expected.

Again, around sunset today…

The remaining Black Monkeys came down in a group.

Honestly, I felt a bit upset.

It was like indirectly experiencing the racial discrimination that we Asians face in America, but from these black monkeys.

I thought, “These bastards asked for a fair duel, and now that I’ve given them one, they can’t accept it and are coming down to gang up on me.”

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“We acknowledge defeat, human. Kiki…”

“Kiki. A new chieftain.”

“Human chieftain… We don’t like it, but we must follow.”

“Kik… New chieftain human strong. Half our monkeys dead.”

“We can’t lose any more. Kiki.”

The Black Monkeys surrounded me, crouching on all fours and prostrating themselves on the ground.

A perfect pledge of submission.

[Quest Complete!]

[Territory Activated!]

[‘Black Monkey’ race is incorporated into your territory.]

[You can enslave the ‘Black Monkey’ race.]

[‘Loyalty’ is activated.]

[Currently, the race included in your ‘Territory’ is ‘Black Monkey’.]

‘Territory’ is literally claiming land.

If I open the previously activated ‘Map,’ I can see areas I’ve mapped around my hut and unmapped regions shown in black. With ‘Territory’ activated, my “land” within the mapped areas is now highlighted and marked.

Currently, my ‘Territory’ includes the sewer area where the Big Rats were, the Goblin Forest to the east, and now part of this region in the Level 2 biome where the Black Monkeys live.

My territory was quite extensive among the areas I had mapped.

Though having a large territory alone doesn’t necessarily mean much.

Within it, there’s an orchard, Sunro Mushroom trees, and now with the Black Monkey territory, I can plant more Sunro Mushrooms. Plus, with the ‘Balmosu’ seeds I received as a quest reward, I can create a Balmosu orchard here as well.

“Wait a minute.”

Now that I think about it, my memory is a bit fuzzy, but the name Balmosu was quite famous in the Farming World.

It had to be famous.

The Balmo fruit that comes from these trees with “balmo” (hair growth) in their name has the effect of making hair grow, just as the name suggests.

And looking at the Black Monkeys’ bodies, they’re covered in hair.

“Is this possibly a Balmosu tree?”

I asked, looking at the trees all around us.

One Black Monkey raised its head to answer.

“Kiki… That’s right, Chieftain. This tree is a Balmosu.”

“…Holy shit.”

I smacked my forehead, closed my eyes, and looked up.

“The world is about to be turned upside down.”

How many trees were there?

At least 100 seeds’ worth, and from what I could see, even more than that.