Eventually, Chae-won, Beta, and I made it to the 7th floor. I of course let Beta solo clear whilst reaping the rewards. There was nothing but Kobolds, which was great…I think?
Anyways. I had reaped quite a bit.
[Coins: 142]
[Gp: 142]
This was awesome! I could upgrade my stats about 7 more times or buy a bronze gacha…not only that, with the 20th Kobold kill. I gained a feat!(Even if Beta was the one that killed them all)
[Feat Achieved: Slothful Commander (Tier: Bronze)]
Description: Successfully clear an entire combat zone and eliminate 20 enemies using a summoned familiar while taking zero personal damage.
Reward: 1x Bronze Familiar Gacha Ticket
'Another Familiar ticket? Dont mind if I do, the more the merrier!'
I immediately rolled the gacha, watching it spin for a few seconds, though I must've had an odd expression on my face, as both Chae-won and Beta stared at me in confusion. Or maybe it's cause I stopped walking.
[Divine Dogs]
|Uncommon Familiar|
Jujutsu Kaisen - A pair of twin wolves capable of tearing apart targets with their claws and fangs. Each of the dogs can detect hostility and negative emotions and notify their master when they feel hostility directed toward them. Their powerful sense of smell allow them to track targets across long distances. As Shikigami made of your own shadow, their strength scales with your own. In addition, they are capable of going in and out of shadows. If you are strong enough, you can combine the two wolves into Totality, a far stronger version of both.
"OH HELL YEA!" I couldnt help myself, yelling out as two wolves appeared from my shadow, each sitting
"Master sure is energetic!" Lupusregina chirped, her eyes locking onto the two canines materializing from the darkness. She leaned down to stare at them at eye level.
"Oh? What do we have here? More puppies? They're so cute!!"
One of the wolves, the white one looked a little miffed at being called cute.
"Aw, don't be like that!" Lupus giggled, reaching out to pat the white dog on the head.
Meanwhile, Chae-won had practically jumped a foot in the air when I yelled, her metal lamp snapping up into a defensive guard. She stared at the two wolves sitting obediently at my sides, her jaw tightening as she tried to force her composure back into place.
"Are you... are you serious right now?" Chae-won whispered, her voice a mix of disbelief and sheer exhaustion. She slowly lowered the lamp and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "First a battle maid drops out of thin air, and now you're pulling literal wolves out of the floorboards? What kind of ability is this?"
She took a cautious step closer, her silver hair catching the flickering light of the hallway as she scanned the shadows swirling around the dogs' paws. Despite her attempt to stay collected, her ears were a bit pink.
She unconsciously drifted closer to the wolves, her free hand starting to pet the black dog.
"They're actually quite cute…" This time the wolves looked happy, maybe it was a thing about Beta? She was a werewolf so maybe it was that…
Meanwhile I checked my stats.
Current Status & Balance Sheet
Coins: 142
GP: 142
Attributes (F-Rank)
Strength: 10
Agility: 11
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 10
Willpower: 10
Luck: 15
I immediately dumped 3 points into strength, and 4 into agility.
[60 Coins Expended.] [Strength: 10 -> 13 (F-Rank)]
[80 Coins Expended.] [Agility: 11 -> 15 (F-Rank)]
[Current Balance: 2 Coins | 142 GP]
[Because your current rank is F-Rank, every single point invested adds a compounding +10% increase to your previous value.]
[You are now roughly 33.1% stronger than a baseline human.]
[You are now roughly 61% faster than a baseline human.]
The moment the system confirmed the deduction, a sudden rush of heat surged through my limbs. The sluggishness in my muscles vanished, replaced by an intense, lightweight energy. I flexed my fingers around the knife, and the grip felt more secure. I wasn't at Beta's level yet, but I definitely didn't feel like I was completely defenseless anymore.
Even better, the Divine Dogs perked up instantly, their eyes glowing a little brighter as their shadow-forms rippled. Because their power scales directly with my own stats, my sudden growth spike just made them a bit stronger.
"Phew! That feels great!"
"Nothing, I just upped my stats a bit," I explained, leaning against the wall.
"Oh, speaking of stats, you have the whole system thing too, right?"
Chae-won paused, her hand lingering on the black wolf's fur before she stood back up.
"Yeah. I have it," she said, her voice dropping into a quiet, flat tone.
"Though I haven't really upgraded anything yet. I've just been hiding and surviving. I haven't done a lot of killing."
"Makes sense, those beast are a pain without a proper weapon," I nodded, looking her over. "Did you get an ability when the apocalypse started? Like a starter package or something?"
Chae-won shifted her weight, her gaze drifting back down toward the shadow wolves before she answered.
"I did," she said.
"But it's not summoning like yours. The system called it [Danger Sense]. It basically acts like a cold knot in my stomach whenever something dangerous is getting close. It's the only reason I didn't open my door when that creepy 'Po... po...' thing was wandering the halls earlier, and it's how I managed to barricade myself in time before those Kobolds broke through my balcony."
She glanced down at her metal lamp.
"But knowing danger is coming doesn't do much good if you don't have the strength or a proper weapon to fight it off once it arrives. That's why I was stuck in there."
"Hey, don't knock a sensory ability," I said, genuinely impressed.
'Danger Sense? That's basically a cheat code for an apocalypse. Knowing when danger is near is something highly valued, behind things like healing of course.'
"That's actually an amazing support skill. If we combine your radar with my dogs' ability to detect hostility, nothing is going to be able to ambush us."
Chae-won blinked, her expression softening slightly at the reassurance, though she quickly turned her head away.
"I guess. If we survive long enough for it to matter."
"Oh, we're definitely surviving," I grinned, gesturing down the hallway. "In fact, with this setup, we're going to clear this place out. Let's keep moving up."
Lupusregina let out a cheerful chuckle, resting her massive mace on her shoulder as she stepped out in front, the twin shadow wolves fanning out smoothly beside her.
As we approached the door leading to the 8th floor, Chae-won suddenly froze. Her eyes widened, and she grabbed the sleeve of my hoodie, pulling me back.
"Reinhardt, stop," she hissed, her voice tight with sudden, genuine panic.
"Something massive is right behind that door."
The twin shadow wolves instantly dropped low, their hackles raising as they let out synchronized, silent snarls. They were picking up on the exact same hostility she was sensing.
"Beta, Get ready." I whispered, gripping my steak knife a bit tighter. The 33% increase in my Strength made the plastic handle feel solid, but against whatever was making Chae-won panic, it still felt like a toothpick.
Lupusregina didn't look remotely bothered. If anything, her grin just turned sharper. She slid effortlessly in front of us, casually lifting her massive mace off her shoulder with one hand. "Oh, finally! A big one? Master, can I break its legs first? Please say yes!"
"Just kill it, Beta," I ordered.
CREAK.
The heavy metal fire exit door warped. The metal center bulged outward before the entire frame groaned, buckling under an immense weight from the other side.
"Step back," I told Chae-won.
With a deafening slam, the fire door was torn completely off its hinges, sent flying down the corridor like a discarded piece of paper. Standing in the threshold of the 8th floor was a creature that made the Kobold Runts look like actual poodles.
It stood nearly eight feet tall, its muscular frame covered in scarred, dark hide. It looked like a bipedal hyena, its jaws dripping with a thick saliva that hissed the moment it touched the concrete floor. In its right hand, it dragged a massive, rusted cleaver.
The system screen flashed violently red in front of my eyes.
[Target: Kobold Chieftain (E-Rank)]
The creature let out a guttural, deafening roar that shook the loose ceiling tiles above us.
Lupusregina completely ignored the roar as she lunged forward, her boots kicking off the floorboards with explosive force.
She swung her Crosier into the Chieftains head with a bang, the air in the room being displaced with the sheer force. I expected her attack to at least stagger the Kobold, but it didnt. It did NOTHING!
From what I read of the system whilst riding the Lupus bus, I knew that E rank started at a stat level of 50, which was around 45x higher than a baseline human. Lupus had a strength of around 30…
"Shit! Divine Dogs!" I ordered the wolves to attack, well more like distract the Chieftan, both of them running over and biting into its legs and pulling, trying to knock it off balance. It did little more than bring its attention over to them, Lupusregina taking this chance to use a curse spell, Im not sure how much it lowered its stats, but it seemed to stagger it a bit.
The Chieftain let out a low, irritated growl as the twin wolves gripped its legs. It shook its heavy limbs, treating the shadow beasts like aggressive hounds trying to bring down a bear.
Even with the curse spell dampening its stats a bit, the sheer raw physical weight of a creature with stats in the 50s or higher, even with the debuff was suffocating. The air in the narrow hallway felt thick and hot.
"Oh, you're a sturdy one, aren't you?"
Lupusregina laughed, though her voice lacked its usual bored playfulness. Her grip tightened on her Crosier as she quickly stepped back to reposition.
"Master! This one's a real brick! Don't let it get a clean swing at you!"
The Chieftain raised its massive rusted cleaver, completely ignoring the wolves dragging at its ankles. It locked its crimson eyes directly on Lupusregina, recognizing her as the primary threat. With a burst of speed that my 15 Agility could barely keep track of, the creature brought the heavy blade down in a brutal overhead arc.
BOOM.
Lupus snapped her weapon up, catching the blade of the cleaver with her Crosier. The impact shattered the concrete beneath her boots, sending spiderweb cracks rippling across the floor, walls and stairs. The shockwave rattled my teeth. With my measly 10 Endurance, a single direct hit or even a stray clip from that cleaver would turn me into a red smudge on the wall. Luckily Lupusregina had gear that bolstered her defenses beyond 38.
That maid outfit was described to be more like a full armor in Canon, so she'd be okay.
The Divine Dogs were doing everything they could, their shadow forms shifting and tearing at the Chieftain's ankles to disrupt its stance, but the boss's high stats made it nearly immovable.
The Chieftain pressed down harder, forcing Lupusregina onto one knee as the rusted metal groaned against her holy weapon. It was completely focused on crushing her, leaving its thick, scarred back wide open.
I took this chance to try my luck. Lupus could hold out for a while. All I could get was bronze but…
[-100 Gp, Bronze ability Ticket x1]
'Let it ride!'
...
...
..
.
[Lightning Breath]
|Rare Ability|
Allows you to charge and unleash a breath of devastating lightning waves, the longer you charge for and the more energy you expend, the stronger the breath is.
I immediately replaced my mystic eyes with this. This was a much safer alternative.
Lupusregina's armor-grade uniform sparks with friction as she holds the line, her eyes flashing with a mix of strain and annoyance.
"Master, if you've got a trick, play it now! This big guy really wants to play rough!"
"Reinhardt do something!" Chae-won screamed from outside the stairwells entrance. But I was already on it, opening my mouth as a mass of lightning formed in my throat and mouth, Crackling white and blue sparks began to arc past my lips, illuminating the dim hallway in violent, strobing bursts.
I charged it up for an entire 10 seconds, which Normally I know I wouldnt be able to do in a fight…If I was alone that is. But since its attention was on Lupus…
KRAAAA-THOOOOOM!
A deafening, draconic roar tore from my chest, completely swallowed by a blinding torrent of high-voltage lightning. The narrow hallway vanished in a flash of pure white light.
The lightning wave slammed directly into the Chieftain's exposed back with the force of a localized missile strike. Even with its Endurance baseline, the sheer concentrated heat and kinetic voltage overrode its defenses entirely. The creature didn't even have time to scream; the high-frequency current seized its muscles instantly, shattering its grip on the cleaver before the continuous blast propelled its massive eight-foot frame backward.
The concrete walls scorched to black ash in a fraction of a second as the lightning pinned the monster against the far wall, burning through its scarred hide until the electrical displacement detonated the remaining energy in a concussive shockwave.
When the light finally died down, the blinding glare left heavy purple streaks across my vision. The Chieftain was completely gone, reduced to a smoldering pile of ash and static that slowly dissolved into the system's digital particles.
A sharp, metallic ping echoed in my ears, accompanied by a cascade of glowing text boxes that filled the empty space in front of me.
[Elite Monster Defeated: Kobold Chieftain (E-Rank)]
[Calculating Rewards for First Over-Rank Solo Kill...]
[Coins Received: +250]
[GP Received: +250]
[Feat Achieved: Giant Slayer]
Description: Deal 100% of the lethal damage to an E-Rank Elite Boss while maintaining an F-Rank character status.
Reward: 1x Silver Trait Gacha Ticket
"O-Oh hell yea…" I coughed out, my throat feeling soar as I didnt hesitate to roll my trait.
[Monstergirl Enthusiast]
|Uncommon Trait|
You seem to fancy some interests that most don't. Hybrid Girls or those of the opposite gender with monster or beast traits take more of a liking to you and it is easier to build relationships with them. And some monsters you encounter seem oddly humanoid and... compatible.
"OH HELL YEA!"