But that wasn't the end.
[Animals added.]
Shun studied the panel with a white background, contrasting with the dark surroundings.
Mana recovery… Shun recited slowly and took a look into his Root. Blue dots floated here and there—his mana had already gone up to one percent.
Judging by the recovery speed, it'd take ten hours for his mana to fully recover. A two-hour decrease. It wasn't much, but better than nothing.
Moving on to the next panel, what could he do with City Favor?
In games, this usually meant popularity, getting a discount for certain items, or unlocking a secret quest.
Could the same logic be applied here? Shun could only shrug his shoulders and shake his head.
He'd find out later.
And for the last panel, it felt out of this world. What does that mean? A literal animal just appeared out of nowhere? Shun frowned deeply, engulfed in disbelief.
"Baa!" a sheep groaned from his left. He jolted to the side as soon as he heard it make noises.
"What the heck happened when you appeared?" Shun asked out loud. The sheep turned its head to him and—
"Baa." Then it walked away.
Shun was still processing the situation. As he did, noises of animals started to fill the field. Songs of birds, chirps of crickets, and once in a while, a deafening baa.
As much as he wanted to stay in disbelief that animals started popping out of thin air, the reality before him said otherwise.
'Fine, fine. Outer Gods exist, so animals spawning like we're in some video game ain't weird at all!' The only wise thing to do is to accept it.
After that, he just looked at the stars and noticed one star still glowing brighter than the rest.
"Are you there, Monarch God?" Shun asked, not expecting anything.
"Am I a pawn to you?" Shun waited, expecting nothing, but there was a grain of expectation that He would answer.
In the end, there was only silence—or so he thought.
[The constellation Monarch God replies you don't deserve to be His pawn.]
Relief, or maybe a bit of sadness? Either way, Shun was glad.
"Why did you want to support me?"
[The constellation Monarch God responds that you're an answer to His goal.]
"Me? What is your goal?"
A panel appeared before him, yet there was nothing but a blank floating screen, reflecting Shun.
Right… Shun thought to himself, a bit confused. He didn't bother to explore what the blank screen meant. Shun dismissed the panel, but before it completely vanished—
A message appeared.
[To understand humanity.]
***
Looting the nightmare's remains, Shun finally recovered his stamina. His body was still in pain and his eyes sore as hell—he blinked every two seconds—but it meant nothing upon his discovery.
———
Name: Rusted Steel Plate
Type: Plate Armor
Rarity: Normal
Armor defense: +8
Effect: -
———
First off, it was decent armor, and Shun gladly took it. It increased his survival, after all. Next, he touched the skeleton and used what's left of his mana to cloak the skeleton.
He closed his eyes and whispered, "Lost to space, owned by none. Open thy decree for one who deserves home and solace."
A chant used when one is about to access another party's inventory. It was only available if they were deceased.
Of course, it isn't possible if it's only an arm or just a head. The corpse must stay intact.
Shun felt a tug of resistance from accessing the other party's inventory, but it was so faint it vanished after a bit of struggle.
Shun found two items in total. Not a lot, but he smiled.
Arriving without any preparation, any items that might be of assistance were extremely precious and increased his survival chance.
He transferred the items to his inventory and checked the first one.
———
Name: Ordinary Dagger
Type: One-Handed
Rarity: Normal
Weapon att: +7
Effect: -
Att speed: Fast
———
I can use it, Shun thought to himself with a smile.
Training with bare hands was his main training and weapon, but his grandma, as wise as ever, planned a secondary training to use a dagger.
Shun didn't really have any talent with other weapons, besides his fists and daggers.
He never felt comfortable using his daggers. Might as well use his fists—more powerful and the one he was most proficient with.
It had been a long time since he used a dagger. It felt strange when he held it, but it'll take time to get used to this.
The dagger had a black hilt that was half-wrapped in old cloth. Its blade glinted with sharpness that seemed out of this world, but knowing the attack status, it became less impressive.
Shun shifted his eyes to the second item.
———
Name: Soldier's Boots
Type: Plate
Rarity: Normal
Armor defense: +6
Effect: +2% SPD
———
Another armor. Not too shabby, especially with the effect. It would help him greatly in fast-paced battles where speed is important.
He equipped both items and was satisfied with his findings. He stored the dagger into his inventory and returned to his sleeping spot. The surroundings might be dark, but not pitch black. He could still see thanks to the light from the stars—bright enough to make out the silhouettes of things.
"What now?" Shun lay down and used his palm as a pillow, taking in the ambience of animals around him.
When he thought of it, a few moments ago there was dead silence, but now, it was filled with life. He didn't have to worry about food either.
The situation was getting better, and Shun felt a bit hopeful. He wondered what would happen if he killed the second nightmare. Would something like 'weather added' appear? Or maybe 'monsters added.'
Hmm.
Maybe not the last part.
As he mused himself with these lines of thought, he remembered something.
I forgot about that claymore! He exclaimed and got up.
Standing before the claymore, he pulled it out of the ground and raised it to the sky.
He withdrew the Cursed Energy running amok in this blade and wondered what would transpire.