Dede hesitated before responding.
"Depends on who died. There’s no official reimbursent for families unless the hunters are of significant standing. Most of the ti, the dead are either low-level nobodies... or high-caliber individuals."
Timothy narrowed his eyes.
"aning...?"
Dede sighed.
"aning either soone is trying to cover sothing up... or they’re trying to find sothing."
Timothy’s grip on the phone tightened.
He had a feeling he was about to find out which one.
"Normal hunters wouldn’t use these ans, so if you’re hiding sothing, you’ll attract rats looking to profit from your misfortune. But if you’re on the other end, protecting sothing, then your enemies should be more worried. Because your death won’t rest in peace."
Mr. Dede’s voice remained calm, his words casual as he spoke over the phone.
"What if the monsters in the raid were responsible for the deaths?" Timothy asked, analyzing Dede’s words.
The man was getting carried away, which was good, he was revealing more than he intended.
"That’s highly unlikely, Tim."
"Why? You sound so sure," Timothy said, surprised by his confidence.
"Because, Tim. Every hunter in a raid is falsely ranked. The system guarantees a high survival rate under the S-ranks, so they always send at least one hunter ranked higher than the official difficulty level. If your raid was D-rank, there was at least one C-rank among you. And if the gate was falsely ranked? Then it’s just bad luck. But in those cases, the Hunter Association usually intervenes. If you ever find yourself in a raid where the boss is overwhelmingly powerful, you wouldn’t be the one to survive. If you did, there would be questions... serious ones."
Dede’s tone was indifferent like he was stating facts rather than offering comfort.
"If the Kingpin Association is this competent, why aren’t more hunters joining?" Timothy asked, unfazed by the answers.
"Two reasons," Dede replied.
"First, every raid is filled with selfish bastards. We’re more like rcenaries than real hunters. And second, the fake honor, the prestige, and the illusion of morality, Tim."
Timothy clenched his fist.
Dede didn’t need to continue, he understood everything.
He had just stepped into another problem, one he hadn’t even realized existed.
"Hello? Tim?"
Timothy ended the call.
Now he understood what the female assassin ant by
"The aftermath is here."
It ant she was likely being hunted or protected.
Either way, she was already moving while he was stuck focusing on the wrong things.
The situation was spiraling out of control.
He couldn’t bla the system for giving him that quest; no, should he have just handed over the Mana crystals? Why should he? They were his! They were just big bullies.
"Bully," he said as he got struck by an epiphany
Normally, they wouldn’t even look his way, but what if they already knew what happened sohow?
Unlike the assassin lady, He had nowhere to run.
Even if he did, where would he go? Abandon his family, his siblings? All this, just because he sold so mana crystals?
He wasn’t guilty of killing innocent’s in cold blood, those fellas weren’t innocent but who cared
These people had been in the ga long before he even knew it existed.
They were out for blood, and they had more resources and more connections.
They were trying to make a point.
In simple terms, he was screwed.
And worse, he couldn’t even sell the equipnt he looted.
There was a high chance it would be traced back to him, making his situation even worse.
Yet, despite everything, he felt no fear.
Only worry.
Not for himself.
For his family.
His mother was likely safe, but what about his siblings? His uncles?
’No... they wouldn’t dare touch them while I’m still reachable.’ he thought
Timothy’s mindset shifted.
He realized he had lost sothing with each battle he survived.
Maybe it was fear.
Maybe it was sothing else.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
One thought consud him now.
’I need to grow stronger, I just need to buy myself ti to grow’
Timothy stood up, walked to the bathroom, and picked up the bloodstained scarf.
He called for Gray, who imdiately scuttled after him.
Calmly, he started washing the gri from the fabric.
’Panicking won’t do anything. Just stay calm. Be prepared.’ he told himself
Taking a deep breath, he pulled up his system nu.
---
[Status]
Na: Timothy Walter
Title: Goblin Slayer
Trait: Hybrid
Level: 23
HP: 8100
MP: 80
Fatigue: 20
Strength: 55
Stamina: 37
Agility: 35
Intelligence: 40
Perception: 45
Free Stat Points: 5
[Skills]
King – Lv. Max
Dash – Lv. 2
Pheromones – Lv. 4
Armant – Lv. 1
Tenacity – Lv. 1
[Colony]
Silverback Termite – Lv. 23
Skills: Scout – Lv. 3, Mind – Lv. 1, Predation – Lv. 1
[Skills]
Dash – Lv. 2
Temporarily boosts the user’s speed by 50% for a sprint.
Can be activated repeatedly but rapidly drains stamina with consecutive use.
Pheromones (Passive) – Lv. 4
Allows the user to emit chemical signals to communicate with insects and other low-level creatures.
This can passively influence nearby creatures’ behavior or be actively controlled with ntal effort.
Armant (Enhanced) – Lv. 1
Strengthens the user’s ability to control and harden their body, significantly increasing durability, attack power, and impact force.
Requires 2 MP per second to maintain.
Tenacity (Passive) – Lv. 1
Passively enhances the user’s resistance to physical attacks, making them harder to injure through brute force.
Scout – Lv. 3
Enhances perception, allowing the user to detect movent, heat signatures (infrared vision), and scents in their environnt.
Mind – Lv. 1
Increases overall brain function and ntal control, improving cognitive ability.
Unlocks the potential to establish telepathic links with certain individuals under specific conditions.
Predation – Lv. 1
Grants the ability to consu strong foes for a chance to gain passive skills from them.
If the skill absorption fails, there is a higher chance of receiving a temporary stat boost instead.
In rare cases, both a passive skill and a temporary boost may be acquired.
However, the new abilities must be compatible with the user’s.
--
[Inventory]
Blessed Thermo flask
A mystical container that restores stamina based on the user’s stamina stat.
However, the effectiveness diminishes if used too frequently without breaks.
Can be refilled while in inventory.
Tchalla’s Tooth (Beast-Kin Armant – Grade C)
A weapon crafted from the fang of a powerful beast, possessing unique combat abilities.
Attack Power: 42–80
Skills:
Kinetic Pounce: Absorbs and stores kinetic energy from incoming attacks.
When activated, it releases the stored force in a short to mid-range burst, mimicking a beast’s pounce.
The more energy stored, the stronger the attack.
The blade’s engravings glow green when energy is accumulated.
Restore: Gradually repairs the blade’s durability when actively used in combat.
...
Timothy’s gaze hardened as he scanned the details.
His assumptions hadn’t been completely off, but now, with everything displayed in front of him, more questions piled up.
However, that could wait.
First, he had a pending reward to claim.
---
[You have completed the Special Quest.]
[Your reward is available. Do you want to claim it? Y/N?]
"Yes," Timothy said, his voice steady.
[Please choose one of the following:]
1. 10 Free Stat Points
2. Colony Genesis (Skill)
3. Recovery Potion (Item)
...
Timothy stared at the reward screen in silence, his brows furrowing.
"Colony Genesis?" he muttered, half expecting no response.
The system rarely explained things outright, leaving him to figure them out on his own.
Although this was a rare situation where he could see all his skills elaborated out he wasn’t betting on another luck.
Yet, just as he was about to dismiss it.
DING!
[Skill Acquired!]
[Colony Genesis (Lv. 1) "Seed of the Swarm"]
Type: Active (Summoning)
Cost: 5 Mana or 2 Biomass to summon, minimal upkeep required
Effect: Summons a small group of Worker Termites linked to your mana.
If resources or concentration lapse, they vanish.
[Description:]
The first step toward forming a true termite colony.
At this stage, only a handful of Lesser Silverback Workers can be summoned, primarily for scouting and minor tasks.
Further growth and specialized variants remain locked.
Warning: Excessive or reckless summoning may cause ntal strain.
---
Timothy blinked.
Wait... I didn’t even select this reward.
He scowled at the system screen, but no response ca.
Instead, the skill had already been added to his status.
A sigh escaped him as he reread the description.
Frankly, he wasn’t pleased.
He was already struggling to keep his Armant skill active for more than a minute without draining his mana dry, and now he had another mana-consuming ability.
Is the system trying to push into a mage path? He wondered.
"If so, a little heads-up would be nice, At least then I’d focus on raising my Intelligence stat."
But the more he thought about it, the less it made sense.
If this was a mage path, why give him a summon that was only useful for reconnaissance?
Timothy stood, his thoughts racing as he finished washing.
’I never said I wasn’t planning to build a colony... I was considering it, just not right now.’
He was about to make an excuse, but what was the point? The skill was already his.
Instead of dwelling on what he couldn’t change, he should be figuring out how to use it to his advantage.
That’s when the idea hit him.
"Traps."
A smirk tugged at his lips.
Now that was sothing worth exploring.
And besides... how could he overlook the most interesting part of the skill description?
"Further growth remains locked."
The system was hinting at sothing. He didn’t know what but the offer was at least worth entertaining
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