From the severed neck, something white that looks like the cervical spine is visible.

 

Blood constantly flows out, keeping time with the faint remaining heartbeat.

 

It, which still does not know to stop, steadily expands the area of the red puddle.

 

As the pool of blood spreads, a smell like rusted iron drifts around.

 

And the hollow eyes of the wolf glare at me resentfully.

 

Such graphic descriptions were completely cut from the game.

 

Bleeding and damage were red effects.

 

When a monster was defeated, at most, a display of bright light particles scattering with their death throes was shown.

 

For the sake of mental health, it was as if they had considered everything.

 

But it seems this world is not as kind.

 

The wolf wears an expression of agony.

 

The stench of fresh blood stings my nose.

 

And the sensation of severing flesh and bone remains in my right hand.

 

Honestly, I didn’t think it would come to this.

 

If I intend to continue hunting monsters and raising my level, I mustn’t forget that I’m taking lives.

 

If I can’t completely lose the sense of playing a game and face a situation with half-hearted resolve, the monsters could turn from the hunted to the hunter.

 

This wolf was indeed weak.

 

But at the same time, from this gray wolf, I could feel flexible thought, intelligence, and emotions that a computer could not yet reproduce.

 

Of course, I have no intention of being overtaken by low-rank monsters.

 

Thanks to my thoroughness, I have pride in knowing all the behavioral patterns of the monsters.

 

However, the story is different if the opponent is a boss-level monster.

 

The 『Primary Emperor Dragon』 with the setting of having lived since ancient times.

 

The 『Manticore』 that skillfully uses various bad statuses such as poison, paralysis, confusion, blindness, bleeding for continuous damage, and temporary weapon unavailability.

 

The 『Aragami』 that frequently uses special attacks that trigger instant death effects even while guarding, in addition to its overwhelming attack power and vast HP.

 

I wonder if humans can defeat these boss-level monsters, which have become more than just programs.

 

In the first place, I wonder if there are ways to oppose monsters that have lived for ages compared to humans?

 

I haven’t decided to fight yet, but it’s foolish to neglect preparations without considering the worst case.

 

There’s no such thing as having too much safety margin.

 

But anyway, what should I do with this wolf?

 

By now, the bleeding from the corpse has almost stopped.

 

Although it should have completely lost its HP, there seems to be a discrepancy until its brain activity stops.

 

I’ll verify the relationship between HP and death later.

 

For now, I need to think about how to carry the corpse.

 

When a monster was defeated, it disappeared with an effect and dropped material items on the spot.

 

But of course, there is no sign that the wolf’s corpse in front of me will disappear.

 

It’s probably too heavy to carry, and I don’t have a knife for field dressing or even knowledge of it.

 

…Will it fit in the inventory?

 

With a touch on the wolf, I select the inventory from the menu screen.

 

Then, the corpse of the wolf, which is about a size larger than a large dog, disappeared with a spurt of blood and small light particles.

 

Looking at it, 『Wolf’s corpse』 is displayed in one of the 16 slots in the inventory.

 

It seems this is the correct method.

 

…The remaining inventory slots is 15, huh?

 

There’s no problem because I don’t have many items at the moment.

 

But considering the future, I want to increase the number of slots.

 

The number of slots in the inventory that can store items can basically only be increased with real money… Oh well, it’s troublesome but I’ll have to acquire spatial magic.

 

That means, my immediate goal is to earn skill points?

 

There were several conditions for obtaining spatial magic.

 

Among them, the most troublesome is 【Four Major Elemental Magics Lv.10】.

 

In addition to consuming a large amount of SP to raise one skill to 【Lv. 10】, a special magic book is required for magic-related skills.

 

Feeling daunted at the difficulty of acquiring spatial magic, I decided to proceed to the town visible in the distance.

 

At that moment, a refreshing bell sound rings unexpectedly.

 

It was the ringtone notifying that a message has arrived from a friend registered through the chat feature.

 

It was greyed out when I checked earlier, so it must have been restored?

 

Notification emails from the operator are also sent to the chat, so as a solo player, I was supposed to have turned off the notification feature so it wouldn’t interfere with battles.

 

It seems it has been reset to the initial settings.

 

But who could it be from?

 

Moving from the menu screen to the settings screen, I change the chat notification back to OFF.

 

Then, I open the message from the message box.

 

A popup window.

 

The message has no subject, no sender, just a simple single line addressed to me.

 

 

 

『　～　Dear Arata

 

Welcome to my sandbox.

 

＊＊＊　』

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

＿＿＿＿＿＿＿

Format

【Status】

 

Example：STR

・Beginning value of 10

・By using 1 SP, STR rises to 【11】

 

Attack Power

・From STR or skills a weapon’s attack power is boosted.

 

Example: Bronze Sword

(STR is【10】in this example）

・The bronze sword’s attack power is

・Adding STR, 50+10=【60】damage

 

・When a critical hit is activated, applied damage is increased by 1.2 times

……60×1.2＝【72】damage

 

※But, for things like scales, shells, claws, and different areas of the monster’s body, damage is cut.

※Similarly, depending on VIT, even more damage is cut.

※Also, depending on the damage cutting rate of things like armor and shields, applied damage is cut.