9 Monster Cores and Traps

After the battle with the fire bear, Max went to take a bath in the stream to wash off all the blood covering his body, and after a well-deserved rest, he finally decided to continue his journey towards the exit of this place.

But his divination stopped him once again as he was walking away from the monster.

[An assassin never forgets to collect his reward once the job is finished!]

Max didn't understand what it meant, but he suddenly remembered that in the video games he played, there would always be the option to collect stuff from the corpses of monsters, this must be the same in this fantasy world.

[You can collect "Monster Cores" and sell them to banks and guilds to earn money as they are one of the main sources of power the many kingdoms use, the more powerful the monster, the more expensive its core is!]

He nodded and walked back to the corpse of the bear, and as he was wondering what he should do, a screen popped up in front of him, saying that he can choose to extract the monster's core using his [Assassination] skill.

He obviously chose to do that, as he didn't know how to extract the core without a weapon, and the moment he selected it, a small red glowing stone appeared in his hand, which he immediately put in his pocket and proceeded to walk away.

[The process of getting a monster core is tedious even once you defeat the beast because you need to actively cut down its body and grab it from the heart, luckily for you, host, the assassination skill allows you to do that immediately, an assassin has to be quick in what he does after all doesn't he?]

Max shrugged, it was so convenient to have such a thing he blamed all those poor adventurers who had to put in the work to get their cash even after killing the monster.

And just like that, he continued walking forward with the stick he used to kill the bear in hand as his weapon, searching for a way out of this forest, he was stronger than before, so he now felt safer exploring the unknown, plus, with enough luck, he might discover a group of adventurers right?

After a while, he noticed something moving in the bushes again, but he didn't panic, instead, he got ready to fight, knowing that if it was another monster, he could easily deal with it.

"Who's there?" he asked, trying to sound menacing, "come out and show yourself!"

A few seconds passed before the creature came out of hiding, revealing itself to be...

A blue bunny with white eyes, and upon seeing it, Max couldn't help but sigh in relief as he realized it wasn't another monster, but rather, an animal that lived here, he guessed there might be some.

"Phew~," he wiped the sweat coming down his forehead and approached the rabbit, "Hey little guy, are you lost?"

The bunny looked at him and tilted its head, seemingly confused as to what he was saying, but it didn't run away, instead, it hopped towards him and started rubbing against his leg.

Max was so hypnotized by the small creature that he had completely forgotten about his worries and the fact that he was in a forest filled ONLY with dangerous monsters.

He was maybe delusional as it was his first few hours in this world, but his divination knew better and alerted him by activating the [Perception] skill.

Immediately as it did so, a screen appeared above its head and Max couldn't help but notice it.

[Liar Bunny - Level 9]

He stepped back and immediately grabbed the sharp stick, but it was too late as the rabbit's fur changed color, going from blue to red, and its eyes turned black, along with that, it grew ten times its original size, making it now as big as a human torso.

"Kyuuu~~" it roared but with the same cute voice, and Max could only watch in horror as its cute demeanor was replaced by that of a vicious beast, and just like that, it jumped at him, trying to bite his neck.

Max was lucky enough to dodge, but he was still surprised that a cute-looking thing like that was a monster, he couldn't believe it, but he had no time to think as he needed to focus on fighting back.

The liar bunny growled and rushed at him again trying to eat him alive.

But this time Max wouldn't let it slide, and he looked at the bunny as it jumped towards him, time slowing down around him.

[An assassin always aims for the opponent's weak point, because that is the most efficient way to get rid of it]

Max suddenly felt a surge of energy in his eyes as if his body and mind were analyzing the creature in front of him and a red line was drawn towards the heart of the bunny, showing the helpless boy what to aim at if he wanted to end the battle.

'Let's do this', he tightened the grip around the stick and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

And right before the fake animal hit him, he stepped back and stabbed the stick into its chest, where the red line was pointing, piercing through the monster's flesh and bones until it reached the heart.

"Kyu..." the liar bunny made a dying sound as its blood spilled from its mouth, it couldn't believe it had been defeated by such a weakling, but in the end, it died, unable to do anything but give its last breath.

And just like that, Max obtained his second kill in this world.

[+3 levels for killing "Liar Bunny"]

But from now on, he vowed to himself that he wouldn't fall for such traps anymore because it was a matter of life or death in the place where he was located.

'I'll find a way out of this forest, even if it's the last thing I do,' he thought as he extracted the core from the monster's body and stored it in his pocket.

But before leaving again, his stomach grumbled, and what chance, there was a piece of "meat" right in front of him!

Max had never done that before, but luckily enough, his assassination skill allowed him to instantly cut the parts of the rabbit's flesh that were edible, making the job way easier for him as he only needed to cook it.

He started a fire using two rocks and after a good while, ate his food, easing his growing hunger as he hadn't eaten anything since his arrival in this world.

'This is surprisingly good...' he mumbled as he tasted the bunny's meat, something he hadn't expected.

Eventually, he finished eating and got ready to step yet again into the unknown and fight all the monsters he encountered with his trustworthy stick.

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[Author Note]

For those asking, MC still hasn't taken his role of assassin seriously (only chapter 9 after all), but soon enough, he will start acting like one :).