Chapter 34

Chapter 34: She Hates Every Magibeast Equally!

Clearing Dungeons of different ranks gives different reward rules. After an E to B rank Dungeon is cleared, the person who lands the final hit on the boss gets an attribute bonus based on the boss’s traits; for example, the Three-headed Thunder Lion grants Strength, speed, agility, and a Lightning Attribute boost.

In an E rank Dungeon you only get one attribute boost, and which one you get depends on your own qualities. If you are a Lightning Elementalist, you’ll get the Lightning Attribute first; if you are a Strength-based support specialist, you’ll get the Strength Attribute first.

As for someone like Qian Qi who is none of the above, the system just hands out whatever it feels like.

Luckily, this Three-headed Thunder Lion’s Strength Attribute had already passed E rank and reached D-, close to D rank, so this rookie Qian Qi got a windfall.

Qian Qi was very happy with her Strength boost. She believed the power a person has without outside weapons is what really matters; under absolute defense and heavy punches, all the flashy tricks are only smoke.

The Blue System Panel floated over the horned lion head and reminded her: “There are other clear rewards.”

Qian Qi looked over and saw the single horn on the lion head had fallen off on its own. Delighted, she studied the light-blue horn filled with lightning energy and asked: “How much is this worth?”

[Do you only ever think about money!]

The panel added, almost smug: “For 100 credits, I can sell you the ‘Thunder Lion Horn User Manual.’”

Qian Qi grumbled: “Hey, hey, hey, who’s the one obsessed with money here!”

She refused to buy it. Thinking of the “ninety thousand credits” she had just swallowed, her heart ached, and right now she didn’t want to spend even one more coin. She told herself that when she got back she would ask Senior Su Xing Le; he would definitely know.

With that plan, she went back to rummaging all over the Thunder Lion, hoping to find more valuables.

A few minutes later, Qian Qi suddenly said: “System, do you know something?”

“What?”

“When I was little, the Dean Mother said she would make lion’s head for us the next day,” she said, lowering her lashes as a hint of longing passed through her eyes.

Seeing her so sad, the panel hovered silently for a moment.

“I was little then, so I thought she meant a real lion’s head, and I was full of excitement.”

Qian Qi stroked the black lion head under her palm, sounding even more emotional as she went on: “The next day I found out ‘lion’s head’ was actually just a huge meatball. But for people as poor as us, having meat at all was already a huge joy.”

“If you want to eat some, we can buy it on the way back,” the System said.

“System,” Qian Qi sighed, face full of regret as she shook her head: “Even today, that imagined ‘lion’s head’ has still never appeared on my plate.”

[…]

[???]

[Wait. That’s not what you’re hinting at… right?]

Qian Qi patted the lion head and asked with a spark of hope: “Do you think if we roast this, it would taste good?”

[……]

[You absolutely cannot eat that!]

Seeing the System pause so long it was only printing lines of dots, Qian Qi burst out laughing. She was about to tease it more when the ground suddenly trembled.

“What’s going on? An earthquake?”

Startled, she looked around and realized it wasn’t an earthquake at all but a Magibeast surge. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even a real surge; this black forest didn’t have many Magibeasts. Only a dozen or so came rushing in, but that was scary enough to make Qian Qi panic.

“Mom!” Qian Qi cried as she shoved a Tuban Fruit into her mouth, grabbed the lion head, and dragged the Three-headed Thunder Lion’s body as she bolted.

Behind her, the Magibeasts chased hard. Their eyes went red as they stared at the Thunder Lion like it was a delicious feast.

“Why won’t they stop chasing me!” Qian Qi wailed.

The Blue System Panel glanced at the brains leaking from the lion head and smiled: “Because you’re dripping premium brain syrup.”

“Don’t pull such a stale joke!” Qian Qi snapped.

She couldn’t outrun Magibeasts. The rushing pack slammed into her and sent her flying. Qian Qi and the Thunder Lion traced one black and one yellow arc through the air, then crashed to the ground with a thud.

She had lost count of how many times she’d been launched like that. To save her life, she gritted her teeth, threw away the Thunder Lion, and sprinted back the way she came.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t beat these Magibeasts; she just didn’t have the stamina. When she flung the Blue System Panel earlier and caused C-rank damage, her frail arms got a muscle strain. Now she wasn’t sure if the Tuban Fruit in her pocket was enough to kill them all. Rather than waste money and strength, it was better to leave the Dungeon.

If she left the Thunder Lion for them, surely they wouldn’t keep chasing her, right? Qian Qi thought that to herself.

But things didn’t go as she hoped. A few higher-level Magibeasts kept the Thunder Lion’s corpse for themselves, and the rest, already half-crazed with hunger, turned and locked onto Qian Qi, the lone runner.

“???”

“I’m really not tasty!” she thought. “I’m super tough!”

She ran for her life, but again, a normal human can’t compete with Magibeast speed. They caught up. Things weren’t all bad, though. The beasts kept fighting over her like she was a skinny snack, tossing her back and forth. One minute she was crawling out of this mouth, the next she was scrambling out of that mouth.

“Four hundred eighty thousand, four hundred fifty thousand, four hundred twenty thousand… three hundred ninety thousand, three hundred sixty thousand…” Qian Qi sobbed as she stuffed Tuban Fruit into her mouth.

[My poor Little Qian savings!]

[My sweet dream of retirement!]

She hated Magibeasts. She hated every single Magibeast equally.

After a brutal struggle, Qian Qi finally reached the open plain. At the spot where she had appeared in the Dungeon before, a rectangular black hole now hovered in the air.

That was the Dungeon exit.

Crying with joy, Qian Qi ran up to the black space, stepped into the exit, and even turned back to flip the Magibeasts off: “Bye-bye!”

The moment she finished, Qian Qi left the Dungeon and landed in the vegetable garden behind Bright Light Orphanage.

The clean, fresh air filled her with safety. She took big gulps of the Human World’s air and sighed with satisfaction: “It’s still better here.”

“Oh, right,” she said as she hurried to where she had fallen earlier. She found that sharp black thing from before.

Her itchy fingers touched it, and in the next second she was pulled into the Dungeon again, locking eyes with the Magibeasts that had been searching for her.

“…”

“Hi?” Qian Qi said.

A Magibeast roared, and Qian Qi yelped as she rolled and crawled back through the exit into the Human World.

“That was close! This Dungeon is so unfriendly! At least give me a confirm button!” she complained, slapping a one-star rating on it in her heart and fuming about the entry system.

“It’s not a video game Dungeon,” the System said. “A confirm button? Dream on.”