“So, you want to work here?”

The sun’s rays were peaking through the curtains in an office as a man with a deep voice and a multitude of colors adorning his face was sitting behind a desk while asking a young man with black hair and brown eyes in front of him.

Despite his childish visage, he was at the eye-level of the interviewer as they sat across from each other. The young man gripped the side of his chair as he dished out a reply.

“Yes sir,” the young man replied, unsure if what he said was right. He was sweating a little.

Thud. Thud.

The room became silent as the dull sounds reverberated throughout the room. The interviewer continued to knock on his wooden table as he read some papers in front of the young man that denoted his identity.

“Hmmm. Mr. Everfrost, why have you come this far down under just to dig some stone and dirt when you could’ve gone for better jobs? With your build, the northern front. With your looks and stature, you could apply for jobs in an inn or something in the lively part of Appletown."

The interviewer was silent for a moment before releasing a weird moan and saying, "Or even better, the western region. I’m sure one of the Matriarch’s Valkyries would love having you.”

“Do you realize how hard it is to work under layers of rock in the dark just to get some meager copper and iron if you’re lucky, every single day? Well, you’ll get one day of rest every week, but still,” the man with the colorful makeup on his countenance shifted tilted his head slightly as he gazed at the young man in front of him, and continued, “Are you sure that you are up to the task?”

Gulp.

“Ahem, yes. You can call me Ronan. Although I may look sheltered, my father always taught me how to do dirty work and take care of my body. I can work well in dark places.” The young man was already finished with his reply and added hastily, Don’t ask me how my father trained me or the identity of who my father is.

Thud. Thud.

The left brow of the interviewer was raised for a moment before returning to normal as he sighed.

"Well before I accept you, you have to know that although the work methods and benefits are better now that the new mayor took her seat close to a decade ago, the work is still heavy since the town still couldn't afford those fancy machinery from the empire so we are still stuck with pickaxes, shovels, and carts. It's a grueling task but it is honest work."

The Interviewer slowly explained while observing the young man's expression. Even when he was sitting, the young man was still taller than him and could be built to become a soldier. I don't like where he might be from but we need more men.

“Sigh. I know a lot of problems can be found outside of this town. Whatever the issue with your family, I just want to make it clear that this town won’t be affected by it in any shape or form. Am I understood?”

The young man's semi-tense expression relaxed as he unclenched his fists. He stood up with a wide smile and replied, “Yes, sir!” The young man abruptly stood up and clenched his fists as he thought, My father couldn’t possibly find me now that I’m out of that city.

“Alright, follow me.”

They went out of the office and into the hallway leading to other rooms. But some were closed and the only open one was quite messy with a lot of used clothes, broken pickaxes, and smudges on the walls that Ronan would refuse to further think about. The interviewer went inside the open room as the young man followed behind him.

"Although the work environment is better, we still have some deserters who go missing from time to time. We just assume they are down there somewhere doing goddess knows what as long as you follow the others you won't be lost."

Each bed has things in it except the furthest.

“This is where you could rest and leave your stuff. Don’t leave anything valuable inside. This town has strict laws about different crimes, but we won’t know if something valuable will be returned. Just remember, I already warned you.”

The interviewer's voice abruptly went very deep, making the young man flinch for a moment.

"Understood."

The interviewer nodded as they continued the tour.

They then went back into the hallway and eventually left the building they were in.

A vast opening could be seen that was carved on the side of the mountain where tons of black rocks are being transported out from time to time as empty carts go back in. They walked for a few more minutes as they passed by a couple of torches on the cavern walls.

It got too loud, with a lot of miners hacking and shoveling around them.

Tack.

Tack.

Tack.

“You will be working for six hours straight, from six to twelve. Then you’ll have an hour of rest, and then you will have to resume working from one until five in the afternoon for a total of ten hours overall work time. You will earn thirteen coppers per hour so one silver and thirty coppers a day. You will receive it by the end of your shift or on a weekly basis if you want to. You know where to find me.”

They passed by them as a miner handed a pickaxe to the interviewer and quickly passed it to the young man.

“Alright Ronan, this will be your pickaxe from now on. Try to find someone to mentor you today. You can start tomorrow. Any questions?”

The interviewer turned around to leave as he waved a hand. Ronan was silent for a moment before shouting in reply, "No sir!”

The interviewer stopped in his tracks as he turned around halfway and he gazed back at Ronan with a deadpan stare.

“I mean, Ma’am!”

Ronan hastily added as the interviewer nodded and left.

Ronan was left behind and some miners stopped what they were doing to stare at him for a few seconds as he smiled shyly in reply with a chuckle.

“Hi!”

“Yah! Ye-yes? Can I help you?”

Ronan was startled for a moment as a short man with a disheveled look appeared out of nowhere beside him. He was short for his age as he adorned a small beard. He looked older than him as the short man seemed to be in his mid-thirties.

“The name’s Bata, what’s yours? I heard you need a mentor?”

Ronan wasn’t sure how to reply. In the original Mistranosian dialect, “Bata” was used to describe a young person who hasn’t gone to puberty but the man in front of him, although short, had even gone to adulthood.

“Uhm, yes?”

“Hahaha! You’re weirded out by my name, don’t you? Doncha worry! I’ll tell you about that cavern over there. I have lots of stories to tell while we work. Come on!”

Bata immediately went in a direction that Ronan was hesitant to follow, but seeing no one else was interested in mentoring him, he reluctantly followed Bata to a cavern with other miners.

…

In the far south of the forest, Appletown.

You’re laughing at me? Ash asked as he tried to understand what it was saying but he guessed animals still couldn’t understand each other even though he had the system interface.

Oo-oo-oo-Ah! Ah-Ah-Ah!

The Five-Handed Monkey took a banana with its tail hand and peeled it with its other hand. It held and ate the peeled banana using its original hands while the banana peel was thrown, falling towards Ash.

This time Ash dodged it as he saw it coming this time. Hey! Quit it! You might not have known any area where I can find a hunting ground for experience points right? Or maybe, do you want to spar?

The monkey looked at Ash like he was stupid. What did this stupid-looking mutt try to say? It had that look.

It would be too convenient that it could understand me, let alone if there was a grinding area nearby. I should’ve known!

It threw another banana peel but Ash no longer dodged it. He used [Telekinesis] and stopped it half feet away from hitting his face.

Sparring partner it is.

Ash released a toothy grin as he threw it back using his skill. It was thrown at a faster speed.

It surprised the monkey but it caught the banana peel with its tail hand. It finally stopped laughing and squinted its eyes. He scrutinized Ash’s whole body before shifting his eyes to the banana peel. It looked curious. It threw the banana peel again at Ash.

Ash already saw it coming and caught it with his skill again but he didn’t stop it. He guided it around, doing one lap around him and instantly returning to where it came from and hitting the monkey’s face.

Splat!

Hah! In your face! Ash released a doggy laugh as he was the only one who could understand himself.

The monkey took the peel off from his face using its right hand this time. It looked unhappy as it gazed at Ash.

What are you gonna do about it? Ash asked mockingly as he waited for the monkey’s next move.

Its tail took a whole bunch of bananas using its tail very slowly as it maintained its vision on the little dog. It started picking up full unpeeled bananas and began throwing at Ash.

Hey! One at a time! Ash caught, and released bananas and dodged others. He attempted to control a banana and throw it back but he stepped on a banana peel, slipped, and fell.

Thud-Splat!

Oo-oo-oo-Ah! Ah-Ah-Ah! Oo-oo-oo-Ah! Ah-Ah-Ah! The monkey laughed longer this time as it threw the final banana and hit Ash’s head.

Alright! No more monkeying around! Let’s fight! Ash stood up and steadied himself as he shook his head. Using [Telekinesis], he picked up a lot of bananas and floated around him. It began revolving around him gaining speed and momentum and released it towards the monkey!

Ah! Ah! Ah! The monkey finally looked afraid as it backed off and jumped over to another tree. It attempted to hold another branch to safety but was hit by a stray banana. Ash still couldn’t control the trajectory at this speed but he got one lucky hit.

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Aaaaah! It didn’t reach the branch on time and fell.

Thud!

[-15hp]

It was clutching its left shoulder as it continued screaming. Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!

Hey, that was just minor fall damage, nothing too bloody. See? No blood! Ash quickly scanned the monkey on all of its sides.

I’m sorry, okay! You’re the one who released the first shot!

Ah! Ah! Ah! The monkey still didn’t stop screaming as it held its left shoulder in pain. Ash glanced around hoping somebody could help but all he found was still the forest. But after a few minutes, he heard a different sound from the monkey’s screaming.

Ash stood still and faced the direction. Hey, keep it down. We have some company. Someone or something is coming I can’t hear with all your, Ah! Ah! Ah!

But it didn’t listen to him. Ash can now hear the wind and the rustling of trees. He looked above and found some shadows moving towards them. The monkey now fell silent as it also looked at where the shadows were coming from.

Ash was preparing himself for a long fight and if he could, protect this monkey. Even though it wasn’t his fault it got hurt.

Rustle-rustle…

The rustling sounds were now more prominent as the shadows got closer. The shadows finally revealed themselves as they got within ten meters of Ash. Monkeys, countless monkeys were jumping from tree to tree, swinging under branch after branch rustling the leaves as they moved.

Ash began backing off and went behind the wounded monkey. He heard a rustle behind him and turned around.

A group of monkeys were staring at him. Some hang from branches, others sit on them while a few jump down and stay on the ground.

All of them were eyeing him. He examined his surroundings and found out they were surrounded.

A bulkier monkey with a darker shade of fur whom Ash identified as a [Level 21 Five-Handed Alpha Hp: 250/250] stepped forward from the group.

Its muscles were bigger, and the stomach was rounder and rounder and jiggled with every step. It looked at Ash and the wounded monkey in front of him.

Uhm, do they happen to be your friends? Can you tell them that we were just playing? You know, monkeying around? Ash whispered to the wounded monkey.

Ooh-ooh. But it only replied in low painful howls as it gazed at the Alpha.

The Alpha’s face scrunched, its hands turned to fists as it gazed at Ash. It opened its mouth, exposed its sharp molars, and released a loud, ROAR! Its tail also formed into fists and punched the ground with the rhythm.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

OO-OO-AH, OO-OO-AH, OO-OO-AH! The monkeys surrounding Ash began to shout in unison as the others thumped on the trees and the ground. They all squinted their eyes as they gazed at Ash.

I guess that’s a no.

Monkeys are mischievous and fun-loving. They like to play on branches by swinging from one tree to another with the help of their hands and feet and also with their tails. Well this time, their tail-hands.

These monkeys numbered almost a hundred have an extra hand at the end of their tails. Which differed from Ash’s previous life.

They were grinning menacingly as they swung from one tree to another. Leading them at the front was a larger monkey that wore a serious look with his sharp fangs protruding out from its mouth. It was a tad larger than the rest and had a darker shade of fur called the Alpha. With this group’s numbers, who would be stupid enough to gain their ire?

Ahhh!

Thuang~ Thud!

Thuang~ Thud!

A little white dog was skittering jerkily away from this group. Every time a monkey throws something or bashes towards the little dog, an invisible barrier of some sort blocks them which prevents anything and anyone from reaching it. With its little legs, it ran with all its might with its tongue out.

I’m never going back to this part of the forest again!

Awooooo!

Ash was running for his life. He turned his head behind him and found the group of angry monkeys chasing him and throwing anything they came across. He kept his [Telekinesis] on and formed a barrier with it as he kept on running. Hot on his heels was the leader of the pack, the Alpha with a little white foam coming out of its mouth.

What the!? That one has rabies! I only wanted a sparring partner. Why did they have to take it so seriously? I didn’t even intentionally hurt any of them!

He turned his gaze to the front and focused on his path. He couldn’t bring them towards the town or they might cause a stampede or worse. He could take the chance that they would back off when they see a lot of humans but not all humans in the town were fighters. He couldn’t bring himself to kill them because he was somehow involved in the reason why that first monkey fell earlier. It's their freedom to take revenge but this seems to be much more brutal.

I can’t bring them towards the cliff, and I can’t take them to the town either. I can’t expect Lucy or Martha to always come to my rescue. I’ll handle this on my own. I need to lose them!

Thuang~ Thud!

Thuang~ Thud!

BANG!

The Alpha charged and attempted to bash Ash with his body but was stopped by the barrier and fell. It stood back up, continued the chase, and released an earth-shaking roar!

OO-OO-AH-ROAR!

Alright! Alright! Stop hitting it! I already know that my [Barrier] Skill is effective. Thanks for testing it with me.

Ash’s breathing got heavier the further he ran. He was almost surrounded due his tiny legs.

I’m already getting tired. This is not good. I need to end this. Ash picked a random direction but a translucent screen blocked his view.

*~Chime!!!~*

_____________________

Quest Generated: Kill, Lose or ??? the Monkeys

A troop of monkeys is right behind you. You need to lose or kill them to survive this encounter.

Completion Methods

Method 1: Kill all of the monkeys and the Alpha you will be rewarded with 45,000 experience points and 2,500 store credits.

Method 2: Lose them and escape! You will be rewarded with 5,000 experience points and the skill [Mad Dash]

Method 3: ???

_____________________

Why is it only appearing now? Come to think of it, I haven’t found a use for the credits part. What the!? The exp reward is HUGE! But I could feel my head starting to hurt now.

Ash got the hang of using his enhanced senses and [Telekinesis at the same time. He no longer needed his eyes as long as he could scan five meters ahead of time, he could run with his eyes closed.

There!

Ash dashed towards the dark cave and was instantly followed by the troop of monkeys. A few seconds later, Ash ran out alone with a happy smirk.

Heh! Monkeys will always be monkeys. It’s a good thing I found a hidden slot big enough for me to hide near the cave entrance. Even with my doggy brain, I can still think like a human! Wait… Where’s my reward?

Ash panted as he stopped a few meters away from the cave and examined the dark entrance. Pant - I sensed - Pant - something tiny moving inside earlier. A lot of them. - Pant - What are they, cave spiders?

Oo-ah-ah-oo-ah! A low screech of monkeys came from the inside. After a few seconds, they came back running startling Ash. Their steps made the earth start to vibrate.

Rumble….

The quest completion window didn’t appear yet!

Ash turned around and bolted as the tremor got stronger. He ran straight back towards the town, away from the ominous mountain as it was his only visible landmark. He was so tired with his measly amount of endurance. He couldn't try and add a point or two now and experience a new type of pain like he did when he added his other stats and risk getting pummeled by a large group of angry monkeys.

As long as he returns in one piece, it would be considered a win even without the quest reward!

After a few seconds, he noticed the rumbling stopped and nobody seemed to be chasing him anymore. He turned around and found fewer monkeys behind him. They were no longer chasing him.

Oo-Ah-Ah-Oo-Ah! Some monkeys weren’t fast enough and were covered by a black cloud. Most monkeys escaped upwards to the nearby trees while some stayed behind and punched the black clouds but had little to no effect. One of them was their monkey leader, the Alpha.

Ash stopped and gazed at the threatening black cloud. What is that?

[Level 7 Venomous Honey Bee Health: 8/20]

Venomous Honey Bees? There’s a lot of them! Ash slowly stopped and observed the fight. The monkeys were strong against a single one but when a whole swarm came after them, they could only do minor damage to their numbers!

The monkeys were rendered powerless against the might of the swarm. Some of them have their skins started to turn green and dark from the Venomous Honey Bee stings.

The Alpha was still okay as he positioned himself with an old wide tree trunk on his back. He was smart as he kept his attention on the front and kept punching, dealing some damage but with the Venomous Honey Bees swarm, it almost did nothing.

Grunt!

The Alpha eyed the nearby old tree behind him and released an annoyed grunt. He ripped a wide part of the old tree trunk and used it to smack the swarm out of the air.

It was effective for a time but he was disrupted by a call from his brethren.

Oo-ah-ah-oo-ah!

The Alpha turned around and witnessed something that would haunt him for days to come. His eyes slowly filled with tears as he watched the members of his troops falling one by one.

Oo-ah-ah-oo-ah!

The Alpha Shouted at the swarm swatting and punching them away but his attempts were effective within his range. The other venomous honey bees were freely killing his companions realizing that his attempts were just miniscule in the bigger picture.

Oo-oo-oh-Ah!

It screamed more as this time, he was commanding the rest that was up high on the trees to escape. But they went back down and helped their leader. They punched, kicked, and swatted the black clouds with their hand-tails but also didn’t do much.

This infuriated the leader as they only added to their dead companions. He screamed again and threateningly asked them to go first and he would follow them but they were too stubborn. More and more monkeys fell to the ground as time went on.

The Alpha’s tears started to fall and was about to lose all hope when the swarm was repelled by an invisible force. The monkeys were startled by the sudden change and watched their furs free of the black cloud. It no longer hurts!

The Alpha gazed at his surviving companions as they began to stand up and observe too. The Alpha watched as the swarm was being gathered into a specific area unable to move away. The swarm was eventually gathered into a small ball and…

Splat!

The swarm of venomous honey bees was crushed and their juices fell to the ground. The invisible thing didn’t hold them anymore.

What just happened? The Alpha thought. He turned around and saw the intruder who hurt one of their young earlier. The intruder was panting and was about to fall.

Oo-ah-ah-oo-ah!

Did you do this? The Alpha asked but received no reply. He saw some of the survivors of his troop cry over the others whose bodies were no longer moving. Some monkeys were leaning on trees and standing around like they couldn’t believe what just happened. Some were still lying down and attempted to reach for the nearby fallen bananas and eat them.

The Alpha clutched its hands into fists and gritted its teeth as it shivered in anger. His bubbling rage was back. This intruder was the reason for all of this. If it wasn’t for him they all should be safe deep in their home and eating bananas.

The Alpha turned his burning gaze back at the intruder. He saw it collapse on the ground, panting heavily. It saw the little dog wounded in some parts of its body and was dead tired like his troop.

The Alpha went near the intruder, lifted both its fists, and was about to bash the intruder like there was no tomorrow but the Alpha stopped. Its burning eyes with rage slowly died down as its tears dried up. He gave a small snort, unclenched his hands, and brought them down.

Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah! Another monkey was running towards the little dog and beat the fudge out of him but he was stopped by the Alpha.

Ooh? The little monkey had a questioning gaze towards the Alpha. Why was his leader stopping him?

Ho! Snort!

Even though we were enemies at the start, this dwarven albino wolf was the one who saved us from those floating pointy things. Leave him!

The Alpha gave the little dog one last side eye and turned around. He picked up some of the remaining bodies of his troop members. He commanded those able-bodied to help him move them.

The remaining little monkey with a questioning gaze watched his Alpha leaving. He turned around and saw the little dog lying motionless.

The little monkey lifted its one hand and bashed the little dog with its clenched fist.

Thud.

Kukuku!

It quickly snickered as it hopped and climbed away to follow its retreating troop.