36 : Go Ahead – 2

“Ahahahaha!!”
“””Chuu!?”””
One of the Young Poisonous Rats was too slow in getting away. My flail plummets down on it, leaving simply a stain behind on the floor along with a dropped item, its tail.

“This is great! Absolutely wonderful!”
“””Chaaaaa!?””””
I capitalized on the fact that the flail hit the floor by using the momentum to jump and spin as my body was toppling over.
The blunt part of the flail makes a full rotation around me, whizzing through the air as if it condemned the ground and mowed down a Young Poisonous Rat that was gnawing on a dropped tail, also reducing it into a drop.

“This feeling of clobbering everything in my path! It’s truly beyond compare!”
“””Chu-gweeeh!?”””
I leapt up once again, this time floating upside down in the air as I continued swinging the flail in a manner that almost seemed to have teased the floor.
And just like that, the Young Poisonous Rats were sent flying.

“So, it looks like you guys really can’t do anything outside of your orders after all.”
“””Chuu… Chuchuu…””””
It was obvious who had the upper hand in this fight.
However, the Young Poisonous Rats didn’t show signs of running. They just glared at me as I kept hanging onto a dangling meat fern flower vine and was lingering in the air.
Also, whenever they had the chance, they’d sink their teeth into a dropped tail.
It appears that if there was something that was considered food nearby, apart from doing the minimum to evade attacks, the Young Poisonous Rats weren’t allowed to do anything else but bite down on said food.

“Well, all I have to do is to exterminate them in that case.『Taruwiveno』”
“””Chaaaaa!?””””
I swung my flail and fired off my evil eye numerous times.
Each round, a Young Poisonous Rat would either get knocked away or poisoned to death.
Whenever my HP decreased, I would cling onto the dangling meat fern flower vine and take a short break.
Then, I’d commence the attack once again.
What I was most cautious about currently was the possibility of reinforcements, but looking at the situation, it doesn’t seem likely that it’ll happen.
Which is why I took my time completely annihilating all of the Young Poisonous Rats.

“And, all done.”
“Jyuaa…”
After I was finished with my pest control, I collected 5 Young Poisonous Rat corpses and 10 tails.
I dismantled one of the corpses on the spot and appraised it.
It seemed like most of the rat didn’t prove to be of any value, but the tail which dropped even when they were killed without being cursed was a little different.


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Young Poisonous Rat’s Tail
Level: 1
Durability: 100/100
Interference: 100
Corruption: 100/100
Abnormalities: 1

The tail of a Young Poisonous Rat
It’s said that it stores the nutrients and poisons required for growth, but the truth is unclear.
▽▽▽▽▽


“Hmm…”
Well, when you think of a rat’s tail, it is commonly used as an ingredient in suspicious rituals or witchcraft and the like.
That being the case, it isn’t exactly strange for it to carry some sort of power.

“Let’s just try eating it for now.”
I grabbed a tail and gave it a go.
Compared to the Poisonous Bite Rat meat, it was actually pretty good. Though without delay, Poison(10) had popped up.
I guess it was true that it indeed had nutrients and poison stored in it

“Hm… If I collect dozens of them and curse them all together, I wonder if that’ll strengthen my『Magic Eye of Poison・1＋』.”
I doubt it’s actually worth it to actively gather them though.
Still, it’ll probably be fine if I just picked them up when I happen to come across any.
After formulating my judgment, I continued onward once again.

“Mn, the curse concentration just went up.”
“Chuu?”
I wandered for a short while before noticing that the curse concentration had increased.
Just to be sure, I checked with the『Appraisal Loupe』and sure enough, the curse concentration had gone up to 12.
At the same time, I also perceived the chirping of several rats.

“Now then, the place up ahead looks to be… some sort of nest for the rats I believe…”
I peeked around the corner using the same method as always.
Upon doing so, I saw a large amount of dangling meat fern flowers swaying from the ceiling as well as an endless number of rats squeaking in an open hall.
The Young Poisonous Rats likely totaled over 1,000 and there were around 50 Poisonous Bite Rats and Poison Spitting Rats there too.
Yeah, this was probably impossible for me to handle with what I had right now.

“In the other passageways… the curse concentration lowered. In other words, if I wanted to head towards the center of the curse, I’d have to do something about that mischief of rats.”
If you look closely, there was another corridor that continued on the other side of this open area.
I’ve gone pretty deep into the 3rd floor of the『Tower of Mice』already, so it was about time for me to reach the finish line and I’d also like to believe that there’d be a boss up ahead.

“…”
I took note of how dense the dangling meat fern flowers were.
Once I had confirmed it, I also made sure to check whether the ones over there were different or not from the ones nearby.

“If I get caught, they’ll all relentlessly focus on me, but this was a lot more feasible compared to using direct means in order to contest with them”
I cut down a few dangling meat fern flowers and coiled the vines with leaves around my body, concealing myself in as much greenery as possible.
After thoroughly hiding my appearance, I flew up close to the ceiling of the hall with a curse concentration of 12 and slowly floated along as I paid attention to the situation down there concerning the rats.

“””Chuu chuu chuu…”””
“…”
Their numbers were truly something to be feared.
The rats completely covered the ground below me. Occasionally, a group of 100 or so would leave through the corridor with a guard.
Which most likely meant that a dangling meat fern flower had bloomed somewhere in the 3rd layer.

“The fact that this ceiling’s so high… Was that a good thing or a bad thing, I wonder.”
“””Chuu, chuu chuu…”””
The ceiling was about 2 meters higher than the actual hall. Still, I continued to hover, following where the ceiling had led.
It doesn’t seem like the rats have noticed me yet.
Apparently, they weren’t too vigilant when it came to anything that was above them.

“Hm? I see… so that’s how they multiply.”
As I glided along the ceiling, something mysterious entered my field of view.
It was a scene where a black light would glimmer and simultaneously with it, dozens of Young Poisonous Rats would be born out of it.
As you’d expect, they wouldn’t depict breeding or actual child birth in a game intended for all ages, would they? Then again, it might be trying to emphasize that the rats were conceived through a curse. Or maybe it’s just showing how monsters in the game respawn?
At any rate, the Young Poisonous Rats born out from nothing, quickly joined the other rats and disappeared from distinction.

“It might be good to prepare one of those fences I saw earlier for the boss battle so it can’t call in for any reinforcements.”
I reached the end of the hall and began to descend as I approached the entrance to a corridor.
Again, the rats haven’t seemed to realize that I was here.

“Ahh, I see. That fence between the 2nd and 3rd floor was to keep the Young Poisonous Rats from going down and dying in waste. I assume the chances of them surviving and evolving were likely higher in the 3rd floor than anywhere else.”
I carefully snuck from the hall to the corridor without so much as a peep.
Okay, I somehow managed to get through all that.
Now, this corridor was higher in curse concentration, albeit only slightly.
I made sure to distance myself far away from the rats in the hall before stripping off the dangling meat fern flower vines that I had wrapped around myself.

≪Title『Hide And Seek・１』has been acquired≫
“Ah, I got something.”
Since I received some kind of title, I scanned around the perimeter for any danger and upon verifying that it was all clear, I took a quick look over my status.


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『Spawn Of Jugemu』・Taru　Level 6
HP: 829/1050
Satiety: 52/100
Interference: 105
Abnormalities: 19
‏‏　‎Immortality, Insect Wings ×6, Additional Eyes ×11, Levitation
Titles :『Spawn Of Jugemu』,『Rawism Beginner』, 『Unusual Cuisine Eating・1』,『If You Eat Poison, Lick The Plate・1』,『Iron Stomach・1』,『First Cursed Production』,『Poison User』『Insufficient Curse』, 『Gluttony・1』,『First Sorcery Acquisition』,『Hide And Seek・１』

Sorcery・Evil Eye Arts :
『Magic Eye Of Poison・1＋』(Taruwiveno)

Owned Items :
Rat Flail, Poisonous Bite Rat’s Fur Clothes, Poison Rat’s Pointed Hat, Appraisal Loupe, Rebar with Attached Concrete, Poisonous Bite Rat’s Tooth Knife, Poisonous Bite Rat’s Tooth Knife, Poisonous Bite Rat’s Fur Bag, Potion Kettle, etc.
▽▽▽▽▽

△△△△△
『Hide And Seek・１』
Effect : None
Requirement : Remain unnoticed by other nearby creatures for a certain amount of duration and a certain amount of times.

Are you ready? Not yet~. Well, ready or not, here I come.
▽▽▽▽▽


“No matter how you look at it, this was because of the hall just now, wasn’t it.”
It would probably be easy to earn the titles that involved large amounts of enemies by taking advantage of the rats’ numbers
Well, without an AoE attack, I’d just get surrounded and killed though.

“Oh, how considerate.”
At this moment, I discovered a metal door that I was quite familiar with installed in the wall of the corridor.
I acknowledged the possibility of it being a trap and conducted an appraisal just in case but as I suspected, it was another one of those barrier doors in the『Tower of Mice』.
It appears almost like a reward for the players that had made it this far.

“Right. I suppose it was about time for me to take a break anyways.”
“Chuu”
I opened the door, entering the confines of the safety area.
Upon seeing what the inside of the room looked like, I was a bit surprised. But even so, I still logged out.