Fantastic. The phony "suns" have returned to grace us with their presence.

That's a really weird sentence to say.

They just appeared out of nowhere and totally blinded us after a day in darkness, brightened only by beautiful polar lights.

The sky looks exactly like the sky we saw the moment we entered the first floor of this godforsaken Hell difficulty something.

Before that happened, we had to deal with one more attack of 15 or so goblins led by a goblin shaman. The level 5 jerk died like he was throwing. That's what Kevin said, not me.

The goblin shaman got sniped by Tess even before he was able to do anything. He just entered the clearing and an unnaturally fast-flying spear, or should I call it a homing missile at this point, went straight through his chest and pinned him to the ground.

Look, I love my [Focus], I really do, but what the heck!

Whose ass do I have to kiss to get it as well?

I see that Tess is trying not to act smug about it, but it's making it even worse.

As a consolation prize, I was able to level up my [Oscillation] to level two. It sure is hard to level up. Most likely because of how OP it is, right?

RIGHT?

So anyway, during the fight, I caught a few goblins alive.

Well, I broke their legs and hands, so they couldn't do anything.

I totally don't understand why that made some people slightly sick and look at me like that. I did it for them! So they could stab defenseless monsters with their spears to get some experience. It's not like I can gain much from level two creatures anymore.

They should praise me, not look at me like that.

Also, give me some chocolate.

Damn, I would kill for some sweets right now.

I was able to obtain a candy drop from Lily - she had saved one for later but was nice enough to give it to me.

In exchange, I gave her two bloodied level three goblins to finish up.

YES, I know, I know.

The candy is much more valuable and harder to come by than these green jerks.

But I'll pay more, no worries.

Lily didn't seem to like it as much as I hoped, but that's something to be expected. She seems too nice for a place like this.

Another thing is Biscuit.

The little doggo isn't that little anymore. He has grown a bit. His proportions are mostly the same, but he is noticeably bigger. Maybe around 10 to 20% bigger? It might be the monster meat he ate, or maybe the little doggo is leveling up.

I swear, if he also gets an OP skill, I will be so angry.

He's also becoming smarter every day. He already knows when I'm going to eat and sniffs around with big sad eyes that become super cheeky the moment I give him some food.

Shameless little bugger.

We were able to get some water once more, and Hadwin hunted a boar on his own and brought it back. The animal must have weighed twice as much as him, but he brought it back alone.

In comparison to the first day or so, this seems too easy.

This thing is called Hell difficulty, you know.

It's not like I'm complaining that we're not getting eaten.

It just feels like the calm before the storm, so I stock up. I put away plenty of food and a few bottles of boiled water, put all of this inside my gym bag, and place it somewhere easy to reach so I can grab it and run if needed.

I notice a few other people are doing the same.

It's still difficult; we have to fight, hunt our food, fight for water, but... this is Hell difficulty.

There are such monsters as the Cinderbear, and seriously, fuck that guy.

Obviously, there is some infighting. Dominic still hates Sophie and Hadwin as well because the older man is defending her.

Oh, and one more person died from wounds she got during the fights against thirty goblins. Lily told me with red eyes that her name was Ava, and it looks like she was fairly nice to the kids, so the girl seems to be sad about that.

As for me, I'm surprised that more people didn't die and that more and more of them are asking us to bring them with us when we go hunting or for water.

Once again, Kevin kept trashing them behind their backs, calling them leeches and saying he won't be power leveling them, something about the bus and grinding.

As most of the time, I ignore him.

Even now, I have a suspicion that he has some life-drain skill.

Every time he starts talking so excitedly, I feel as if he is sucking energy out of me.

It has to be a skill.

Tess always steps in and stops Kevin from talking. It's nice to have someone to deal with people like him.

I'm not ungrateful, so I teach her in my free time, and she was able to obtain [Mana Manipulation] as well and is now teaching it to others. It's interesting to watch as her version of the skill is slightly different from mine. How to say it... it seems like she is relying on the skill itself more than myself? In my case, I'm trying to "feel" it on my own a bit more instead of just activating it through the system.

Anyway, it's nice to have another test subject, and to make Kevin a bit more useful, I make him train his [Reflection] while I watch him with my [Mana Perception].

His skill seems to be amazing for defense, so I'm trying to copy it. I keep watching the movement of his mana while he uses it. There are no results after hours of trying, but I'm sure I will come up with something if given enough time.

Everyone is practicing as if their lives depend on it. They're swinging, stabbing their weapons, practicing their skills, and complaining.

A lot of complaining.

I wouldn't believe how entitled some people are, looking at me like I kicked their favorite kid every time I take more meat than they get.

But it's not such a problem, as I have an easy solution for that.

Yup, it's Hadwin.

We're not hunting together anymore, obviously, but I still let him deal with social stuff. He seems to hate it too, so that's a bonus.

It's not that easy to see, but I keep noticing his slow, annoyed blinking and veins on his neck every time he clenches his teeth.

I love it.

Screw you, Hadwin.

Now I'm going to hunt monsters or animals together with Tess and Kevin; sometimes, we also take some of the kids. Tess always makes sure that they know they might end up risking their lives, so that's it.

Sometimes they get hurt-a scratch here, a stab wound there-but Tess and Kevin make sure to cover for them. Especially Tess.

God damn.

She now walks around with like five spears somehow tied to her back, and she throws them while using her [Psychokinesis]. I'm sure at some point, she leveled up her skill, as they became much faster and more accurate. Combined with her [Farsight], it makes an amazing combination.

As for Kevin, he became a pretty reliable tank. His second skill, [Combustion], also helps. It allows him to cause objects or substances to ignite or even create controlled explosions.

Once again.

I'm not jealous, okay?

Okay.

Also, I will have to find some really annoying work for Kevin.

Spoiled kids. Back in my day...

A few more days pass like this, and one more person dies; this time, it's Dominic.

For some time, he kept getting angrier and angrier, and the stares he gave to Sophie and Hadwin were anything but friendly.

Then, he disappeared.

No one saw anything.

No one knows anything.

But I have my own suspicions about what happened to the man.

Lily cried a little.

Sweet girl crying for a man she barely knew who died. The knowledge that he had passed away in a strange and distant land, so far from everyone he knew, only amplified her sorrow.