34 Towards Mount Natagumo

The sun's rays slowly from the east shone on Japan.

Rio who was asleep on the branch of a big tree felt the warmth of the morning sun.

"Mmm… It's morning already? Hoam~..."

Raising a hand to cover his yawning mouth, Rio took a bag of water from the System Warehouse to wash his face.

"Huh~ I'm still not used to winter..."

Seeing the white dew every time he spoke, Rio felt how exciting it was to have new experiences.

In the country where he lives, namely Indonesia, there is no such thing as snow except for the glaciers that cover the peak of Mount Jaya, Barisan Sudirman, Papua.

*Grrr*

The sound of stomach rumbling could be heard in the quiet of the forest.

"I'm hungry... It's a good thing I've stored food in the System Warehouse."

With just a thought, the items stored in the System Warehouse instantly appeared in Rio's hands.

"Huhhh.... Huhhhh...."

Rio blew on the yakisoba in his hand which was still hot like it had just been cooked.

The System Warehouse has a time freeze function in addition to storing items, it means that when the stored item is retrieved, the item's condition will be the same as before it was stored.

Take the example of the yakisoba in Rio's hand, he buys the yakisoba while it's hot and immediately stores it into the System Warehouse. That's why yakisoba is still warm and doesn't go stale even if it's kept in the System Warehouse for a few days.

Picking up chopsticks, Rio rolled up the noodles before stuffing the noodles into his mouth.

*Yum Yum*

Men eat faster than women, after a few bites, the yakisoba has been eaten and only the dirty plastic remains.

Rio took a sake bottle from the System Warehouse, poured it into the glass, he took a sip of sake with satisfaction.

"Ahhh~… Sake in Japan is perfect for drinking after a meal."

After drinking a few more glasses of sake, he stored the bottle that was now only half left into the System Vault.

*crack crack*

Rio stood on a tree branch without worrying about slipping, he moved his stiff neck left and right and stretched his body.

"Hahhh... There are still 9 days, let's find the next Demon."

While preparing to jump down, the sound of a crow that could speak human language flew towards Rio.

"Koak… Koak… There is a new assignment… Koak…"

The Crow was none other than the Kasugai Crow who had accompanied and guided Rio all this time.

The Kasugai crow landed on a tree branch not far from Rio.

Spreading its wings, the Kasugai Crow spoke in a human language:

"Northeast."

"The next place is in the northeast."

"Itsuka Shin has to go to Mount Natagumo."

"Mount Natagumo."

"Okay, I accept the task." Rio agreed without a second thought.

"Let's lead the way."

The Kasugai Crow obeyed Rio's orders and immediately flew into the sky towards the east.

Rio jumped from a tree that was several meters high, he landed on the ground without feeling any pain.

Then he took out a heavily modified bicycle from within the System Warehouse.

This was a new bicycle that Rio bought with his monthly salary he received this month, if Mizunoe ranked Demon Slayer received 20,000 Yen per month, Hinoto ranked Rio received 80,000 Yen per month.

Rio used his first salary to buy the most expensive bicycle and modified it to withstand pedaling by him who always uses Total Concentration Breathing: Constant.

Sitting on the bicycle seat, he began to pedal through the dirt road which was not flat and slippery with snow.

Except for urinating and eating lunch, Rio didn't rest at all. He continued to row the bike at a speed of 60 km/h for the whole day.

It was also because of this that Rio arrived at Mount Natagumo at dusk.

Seeing Mount Natagumo in the distance, Rio decided to leave at nightfall.

"Demons will only be active at night, it's a waste for me to come to the mountain at this time."

"Let's recover our stamina and prepare for the upcoming battle."

"Koak… Koak…"

The Kasugai crow is flapping its wings tiredly, to be able to be the companion of someone like Rio's tireless. The Kasugai Crow was very tired of flying without rest.

Looking for a tree to make a nest for, the Kasugai Crow fell into a deep sleep as soon as it landed in an abandoned bird's nest.

Rio picked up a cloth to make a base on the ground before sitting down.

He took out food and drink as dinner before to fill his empty stomach.

"Ever since I mastered Total Concentration Breathing: Constant, my VIT attribute has recovered as before."

"I have to thank Kanae for this."

While eating and drinking, Rio opened the status screen.

[Character : Rio (Player Number 12)]

[Race : Human]

[Title :-]

[Bloodline :-]

[Rank : F]

[STR : 20 (23)]

[VIT :11→20 (21)]

[AGI : 20 (26)]

[INT : 20 (25)]

[System Note: The average value of each adult stat is 10 points]

[System Warehouse : 20x mineral water, 3x yakisoba, 5x ramen, 3x curry rice, 1x bicycle...]

[Active Skill :]

[Passive Skills:]

There are no significant changes in all of his attributes except for the VIT attribute which returns to 20 points.

Finishing his dinner, Rio squinted at Natagumo Mountain in the distance.

"Looks like this won't be an easy fight..."

"There is a powerful Demon hiding in that mountain."

"But that Demon shouldn't be as strong as Doma."

Rio could feel <Danger Detection> giving him a danger warning if he entered Mount Natagumo.

He managed to survive the Demons several times when <Danger Detection> detected a slightly weaker threat than Doma.

Rio guessed that the Demon he almost met was an Upper Moon Demon, lucky for him to always avoid meeting an Upper Moon Demon.

The reason he didn't run away this time, was because the threat of danger that <Danger Detection> gave wasn't as strong as when Rio nearly met the Upper Moon Demon.

So he estimated that the Demon on Mount Natagumo was the Lower Moon Demon.

"I can't keep running away like this, I really don't have the confidence of winning against the Upper Moon Demon."

"But I have the confidence to face the Lower Moon Demon." Rio said confidently.

Rio decided to take the risk this time, he didn't know how strong he was right now. It was easy for him to eradicate a low rank Demon, but he wasn't strong enough to eradicate an Upper Moon Demon yet.

Be it luck or misfortune, Rio had come close to encountering an Upper Moon Demon several times but not once did he encounter a Lower Moon Demon.

This frustrated Rio a little at not being able to judge his current level of strength.

Now that there was the possibility of the Lower Moon Demon on Mount Natagumo, how could he possibly pass up the opportunity of this move.

"I have to prepare my best condition."

After saying that, Rio leaned his body against the tree, then closed his eyes to meditate.

Meditation can calm the mind and eliminate unimportant thoughts.

Rio always did this for at least an hour a day to rest his tensed mind.

Next chapter