When Leon woke up, he felt as if his entire body had been pummeled by a heavy sledgehammer; even his bones were groaning.
He struggled to open his eyes, and instead of the fluorescent lights of a hospital or the familiar city skyline, he saw a lush, sun-blocking forest.
The high noon sun filtered through the dense foliage.
Trunks rose like towers, entwined with creeping vines.
A yellow-green lizard, larger than an adult crocodile, emerged from the nearby bushes. It swayed its basketball-sized head as if searching for prey.
The sight terrified Leon. He sat up, not daring to move a muscle, as every cell in his body screamed—
Danger!
"Where am I?" Leon looked down to find himself wearing crude brown leather armor. A basic iron bow and a few arrows lay by his side.
His memory stopped at the night training ended. He had just stepped out of the training grounds when a blinding light appeared in the sky, and then...
Everything went black.
Transmigration?
The word instinctively popped into Leon's mind, and he knew all too well that this wasn't just any fantasy world.
Because the yellow-green lizard before him looked extremely familiar.
A Jagras...
Monster Hunter...
At that moment, the Jagras's gaze locked onto Leon, as if it had found its target.
Leon grabbed the hunter's bow by reflex. He notched an arrow, drew the string, and fired in one fluid motion.
The arrow whistled through the air, but it simply bounced off the Jagras's scales.
Leon looked at the iron bow in his hand and clicked his tongue. 'Damn, my aim was off...'
Under attack, the Jagras became visibly more cautious. It lowered its body and began to prowl back and forth.
Suddenly.
Lines of text abruptly floated into Leon's vision.
[NAME: LEON]
[LEVEL: LV.1 (0/500)]
[TRAIT: LONE WOLF]
Description: When hunting alone, experience gain and material drop rates are increased by 100%.
[ATTRIBUTE SLOTS: LOCKED]
[EQUIPMENT: IRON BOW LV.1, LEATHER SET]
[EQUIPMENT SKILLS: HUNGER RESISTANCE LV.1]
[QUEST LIST]
[NOVICE QUEST: KILL A JAGRAS]
Quest Reward: Hunter Set, Novice Hunter's Survival Pack, Attribute Slot Activation, 2000z.
A system!?
At the sight of this, the corners of Leon's mouth twitched upward as a rush of adrenaline surged to his brain.
He knew that killing the Jagras wasn't just about finishing a novice quest; it was also a chance to test his own capabilities.
With that thought, Leon charged toward the Jagras. As a special forces soldier, his mental state remained exceptionally stable when facing danger.
The Jagras pushed off with all four limbs and pounced!
Leon rolled to the side. The Jagras's tail whistled past his face; he had nearly been batted away like a baseball.
The Jagras turned around, entering a defensive stance once more.
"Stay calm, just stay calm... I've been professionally trained. Five-kilometer weighted rucking, desert survival, urban counter-terrorism, CQB... but hunting dragons?"
Leon panted, focusing his attention, trying to quickly decipher the Jagras's movement patterns.
Movement patterns were a staple of Monster Hunter. Every monster had its own attack habits; as long as he could grasp them, both dodging and counterattacking would be much more efficient.
Leon reached for the quiver at his waist and found only seven arrows left. He stopped attacking recklessly, instead lowering his posture and circling the Jagras, looking for an opening.
The Jagras suddenly let out a loud roar and whipped its tail, snapping a nearby wrist-thick vine tree clean in half.
The sheer force of the blow was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
'I can't go head-to-head.' Leon knew clearly that his current strength and stamina were far inferior to the beast before him. Charging in blindly would be suicide.
He took a deep breath, stepped onto a trunk, grabbed a branch, and quickly leaped up a nearby large tree. In a few moves, he climbed to a position with a better vantage point.
The Jagras looked up and glared fiercely at Leon, its claws frantically scratching the trunk, but it simply couldn't climb up.
"Time to gamble!" Leon seized the opportunity, quickly notched an arrow, and aimed—this time, he didn't target the body, but instead aimed for those bulging orange eyes.
The bowstring hummed as the arrow pierced the air!
Pfft!
The arrow buried itself in the Jagras's right eye. Blood seeped out as the creature let out a pathetic shriek, its entire body thrashing violently and shaking the tree.
"It worked!" Leon's gaze sharpened. Without hesitation, he jumped down from the branch. Using the momentum of his fall, he swung the bow, smashing it directly into the Jagras's wounded eye before rolling safely onto the ground.
Thud!
After the muffled impact, the Jagras finally collapsed. Its limbs twitched a few times before it went still.
[KILLED: JAGRAS]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 100]
[LEVEL: LV.1 (100/500)]
Leon slumped to the ground, gasping for air. Every muscle in his body protested the intense exertion. His hands shook slightly, but his gaze was firmer than ever.
Just then, the floating text in his vision lit up again—
[NOVICE QUEST COMPLETE: KILL A JAGRAS]
[REWARDS: HUNTER SET, NOVICE HUNTER SURVIVAL PACK, ATTRIBUTE SLOTS UNLOCKED, 2000z]
[ATTRIBUTES: STRENGTH 17, AGILITY 19, CONSTITUTION 15, PERCEPTION 14. (UNASSIGNED POINTS: 0)]
Note: The base attribute value for an adult male is 10.
Leon looked down.
The ragged leather armor had actually been replaced by a gleaming 'Hunter Set'.
Next, he checked the panel. Just as he expected, his equipment skills had also been updated.
[EQUIPMENT: IRON BOW LV.1, HUNTER SET]
[EQUIPMENT SKILLS: SCOUTFLY POWER UP LV.1, BBQ MASTER LV.1, SLINGER CAPACITY LV.1, SCOUTFLY RANGE LV.1]
After confirming the panel, Leon clicked on the "Novice Hunter Survival Pack." A flash of light occurred, and several items dropped neatly in front of him.
[BBQ SPIT × 1]
[WELL-DONE STEAK × 3]
[POTION × 2]
[STORAGE RING (TEN SLOTS) × 1]
"A storage ring? Does this even exist in the game?"
Though puzzled, Leon put on the ring and stored the potions and BBQ spit inside.
As for the three steaks, they emitted a strong smoky aroma that was just enough to suppress his hunger.
However, just as he finished the first piece of meat, a low roar echoed from the nearby bushes—
Even the ground seemed to tremble along with it.
Leon whipped his head around to see a massive figure smash through the giant trees of the forest and appear before him.
It was a massive lizard, several times the size of the previous Jagras. It was yellow-green with thick scales and a very prominent mane extending to its head, forming a center-parted style. Its eyes were ferocious, and it was followed by three regular Jagras.
"Holy crap! It's a Great Jagras..." Leon didn't say another word and took off running, having no intention of engaging in a fight.
Leon used the dense forest to block the Great Jagras's lunges. Suddenly, he spotted white smoke drifting slowly in the distance.
His survival instincts kicked into overdrive. He accelerated toward the white smoke. Bursting out of the forest, his field of vision suddenly opened up to reveal a sizable camp.
"A camp? Help!" Leon shouted for help incessantly, using the last of his strength to dash toward the gates.
The guards on the watchtower reacted immediately, shouting, "A newcomer! Open the gates, quick!"
The wooden gates creaked as they slowly opened.
A man holding a lance stood by the gate, yelling, "Quick! Get inside, don't stop!"
Almost the moment he dove into the camp, the gates slammed shut behind him with a thud.
The Great Jagras behind him lunged at the gate, making the entire wall tremble, but it was unable to break through.
Several guards quickly used ballistae to drive it away. After being hit several times, the Great Jagras turned and left dejectedly.
"Phew... ha... that was one hell of a welcome ceremony..." Leon collapsed on the ground, exhausted. He looked like he had been doused in water, sweat dripping from his chin onto the ground.
The man with the lance approached Leon, gave him a casual glance, and showed a look of surprise.
He scratched a scabbed scar on his face and asked in confusion, "Strange... aren't you people from the Fifth Fleet supposed to arrive next month?"