Chapter 349

Under the cover of the night, with just one hour left before sunrise, Ray could be seen rushing towards the cavern where they had been taking shelter.

His breath was slightly ragged as he hurried forward.

’Wait. I’m stained.’

He suddenly halted, then ducked behind a corner with a cluster of rocks, quickly stripping down while anxiously checking his surroundings to ensure he was completely unobserved.

Once cleared, he pulled out his Infinite Spring bottle and began splashing water over his body, scrubbing himself hard to wash away any bloodstains from the night’s battle.

He took his time, ensuring every trace was gone.

With only thirty minutes left until sunrise, he finished up and quickly threw his uniform back on, ignoring the fact that it was still slightly damp.

He immediately hurried back toward the cavern.

’Damn it. I got too carried away.’

Ten minutes before sunrise, he slipped back into the cavern as silently as he had left.

Luckily, everyone was still asleep, though the light shifting outside suggested they would wake up at any moment.

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, he decided to check his haul before the others woke up with their chatter.

[Rewards for taking down those Advanced rank beasts: +70,000 exp; +10 free stat points; +1 item from system shop.]

’Wait. Seventy? I killed more than forty beasts last night. How did I just get seventy thousand exp if I usually get two thousand exp with each beast I kill?’

His frown deepened immediately as he surfed through the system interface for an explanation, wondering if the system was withholding his rewards.

However, after reviewing the logs carefully, he arrived at a frustrating conclusion.

’The more beasts of the same species I kill, the less exp I get. At some point, I might barely even gain anything from killing these wolves.’

His mind raced as he thought back to the battle.

Initially, every wolf he took down triggered a distinct chime in his mind as the system registered the kill.

But the more he hunted, the less frequent the chimes became.

It seemed he had over-farmed the local enemies, and the system was placing a diminishing return cap on them.

Soon, hunting the wolves in this specific area would become completely useless for leveling up, meaning his secret nightly grinding strategy had reached its limit.

’Ugh.... Curses!’

Rubbing his face in frustration, he took a few moments to steady his breathing and calm down.

Once composed, he focused back on the system screen.

’Show me.’

[Congratulations; Host has leveled up 3×]

[Level: 24]

[EXP: 6,000 / 32,000]

[Stat points: 16 >>> 26]

’And there goes the exp counter again. I’m six levels away from the next tier, and the requirements are scaling up. With the beasts in this region drying up for exp, what’s the point of remaining here much longer?’

He let out a tired sigh, rubbing his eyes as he analyzed the interface.

’This is going to be a pain. Unless I can find some King-rank beasts in the area?’

He paused, his brows furrowing as a new thought struck him.

’Come to think of it, why haven’t I encountered a single King-rank beast so far? This region is supposed to be teeming with dangers, yet the scaling feels off. Maybe I will ask Felix when he finally decides to wake up.’

Rubbing his face for a moment to clear the lingering exhaustion of the hunt, he decided to close that interface tab and open the pending reward notification.

[You have received an item]

[Item name: Cloak of Durability]

[Rank: King rank]

’Okay? Sounds interesting,’ Ray thought, his interest thoroughly piqued by the high-ranking item classification.

[Description: This cloak will deploy an ethereal shield that grants the wearer near-indestructible durability.

As long as the incoming attack energy does not exceed the cloak’s absolute threshold, the wearer remains completely safe from harm.]

’Oh? So it acts almost exactly like my Halo of Protection? Tsk... actually, having a secondary passive defense will be incredibly useful if things go south near the Spire.’

He nodded to himself with a warm, satisfied smile.

He briefly considered summoning the cloak right then and there to inspect its material quality, but the sudden rustling of blankets and low groans from the back of the cave signaled that the others were slowly stirring awake.

Turning his head to look at them all yawning and blinking against the dim light like they had been fighting intense battles in their dreams, he kept his keen attention anchored on their movements.

Nebula was the first to actually be active, moving with an immediate alertness that made it seem like she hadn’t even been in a deep sleep to begin with.

She was already up on her feet, stretching her arms gracefully, while the others were still rubbing the crust from their eyes and yawning one by one.

"Good morning, guys," Ray greeted, his voice steady as he maintained his position near the cave entrance.

Chloe yawned loudly once, then scowled playfully in his direction.

"Mhm. Good morning. At least today, you didn’t use an ominous tone to wake us up. So maybe, just maybe, today will be a decent day."

Trisha rubbed her eyes in silence, remaining seated on her makeshift bedroll while watching Nebula flash a bright, cheerful smile at everyone.

She then turned her sharp gaze to look at Ray, before staring back down at her own frost-tinged hands.

’Hm.’

Felix and Caster were already up on their feet as well.

Almost simultaneously, a sudden flush hit their cheeks, and they smiled sheepishly at Nebula like love-struck fools.

"Good morning, beautiful," they greeted at the exact same time, their voices overlapping.

Nebula shyly tucked a stray strand of her blue hair behind her ear, lowering her gaze. "Good morning, boys."

Ray shook his head at the ridiculous display, opening his mouth to speak, when a sudden voice cut him off entirely.

"Oh hey, Nebula. Good morning. How was your night?"

Ray froze completely.

He slowly turned his head in Van’s direction, his neck feeling incredibly stiff as he processed what he was seeing.

The tech genius—the very same guy who had been practically radiating pure suspicion, paranoia, and absolute distrust toward Nebula just a few hours prior—was already up on his feet, wearing a warm, gentle smile directed entirely at the blue-haired girl.

’Huh?’ Ray’s mind blanked out.

Nebula was just about to offer a polite reply when Van’s brows knit tightly together as he stepped closer into her personal space.

"Is tha—is that a cut I see on your face?"

Without waiting for permission, Van rushed forward toward the girl, lifting his hands to gently tilt her face, checking a tiny, superficial scratch on her cheek with intense focus.

"How did you get hurt? Is it hurting you badly?" the boy asked, genuine worry and affection bleeding through his expression.

Ray sat there, entirely bewildered, his jaw practically hanging agape as he stared at his best friend.

’What the actual fuck is going on here?!’