Reincarnated in the game world ~ A gamer's beginning to [Dungeon job hunting recommendation]-Chapter 615Vol. 11 - - Exploration at «Apple Dungeon»! Target - Golden Apple Tree!

With the award ceremony coming to an end, the inter-class competition came to a closure in the truest sense. I had to say, it felt quite melancholic after the week-long excitement.

Still, the cycle of life continued, and it was now Sunday. The guild activities were on break for today, obviously. Everyone had given their best for the whole week after all, so now it was time for them to take a rest. I also texted them to take this respite as a chance to recover their mental exhaustion.

Then, what about me? Good question, but a needless one. Whether the day shines, or whine, I would always be a dungeon person!

"I must say, there's nothing better than Dungeon to recharge your spirit. It's like a sauna~."

"Isn't this applicable only to you, Zephyr? Normally, you would be dead tired to think about it."

Huh, wait, who said this?! I turned around—and noticed Sierra standing there, her eyes dead set on me.

Ah, she's here. Never mind, obviously she would be. She was going to party up with me for the dungeon after all!

What about having a rest? Ahahaha, the sun might rise from the west one day, but there would never be a day when it's a holiday and I wasn't crashing in a dungeon. And so, when I asked who’s willing to join me in for a short expedition, I had Sierra, Lana, Ester and Karua joining up.

Wait, I just noticed now, but that’s basically everyone with the advanced job. Apparently, they’d noticed where they lacked in the competition, so one of their objectives was to train themselves. A valid reason. They only had their advanced jobs for mere two weeks. There was still much more to learn.

As they say, all one must have is the will to keep moving forward! Immediately, I pulled them in for the party.

Since the party was completely made up of advanced jobs, we set our eyes on intermediate-high level difficulty. And the specific dungeon we chose was one that Lana had been insistent on for a good while—«Mellow Apple Tree Dungeon». There was just one reason to choose it—

"Amazing! So this is Apple Dungeon? Mm, the air is completely brimming with their rich scent!"

"Indeed, the apple's scent is quite dense here, Lana-sama."

Lana squealed out in delight, her hands spread apart as she glanced over at the dungeon. Ester nodded, sharing the same thought as she inhaled a mouthful air, her expression easening slightly.

The only thing this dungeon had going for was apples. One could say, it was The Appleland. Every single tree in the upper floors was an apple tree.

Aside from the game, this was my first visit to this dungeon, too. And I must say, the scent of apples was amazing. I mean, I wouldn't say other dungeons hadn't their distinct scene, but this had to be the first dungeon where the sweet smell was right on your nose.

"I heard apples go well with Curry. I am going to find them, a lot."

A certain cat—Karua, obviously—announced, her gaze quietly brimming with a challenging spark.

She, too, had joined to train herself. Then again, it wouldn’t hurt to have fun sometime. So when I said 'I heard that apples from this dungeon make curry tasty' she eagerly jumped up, saying she would harvest a lot of them.

Truly, a curry warrior she was. She was incredibly enthusiastic, too. Her usual listless appearance had been cast aside, now replaced by a look of hunter, just waiting for the moment to pounce on.

"In case you don't know, we will be using «Gentle Axe», as it has 'logging' skill."

" "Alright!" "

I fetched out the «Gentle Axe» to show everyone. It sure had been a while since we last used it. The last time we used it was on «Thunder Tree». The apple trees would give you either apple or timber when striking them with these axes.

As I showed the axe, Karua and Lana exclaimed in excitement, jutting out their hands to demand I hand it to them.

"Have some patience, will you? We only have one «Gentle Axe» so let's do it in order."

"Then I will do it first! Karua, peel your eyes and watch how I do it! I have learned a great deal!"

"Hn. Okay."

After all, the axe was a drop from gold chest. And we only had one, so I handed it to Lana, who had experienced in it. Karua watched her patiently. ...No, wait a minute. I believe she had accompanied to farm limber, too. Did she skip then?

"Haa!"

Holding the axe at a perfect horizontal level to the ground, Lana took a swing, squarely striking the tree with it. Immediately, drops appeared at the base of tree. They're «Sweet Apple» and «Crunchy Apple». Karua retrieved them.

"There's still more to go, alright! I am going to do a whole lot!"

"Hn. I will collect them."

"Hey, let me do it later, alright?"

I had wanted to do it too. But Lana had already immersed herself in the role, probably my turn won't come any time soon. I left the word and joined Sierra and Ester.

"You really spoil Her Highness Lana too much, you know, Zephyr."

"I really appreciate your patience, Zephyr-dono. Lana-sama seems to be liking it."

"It's fine, no need for such formalities. Besides, I also had a craving for fresh apples too."

It was a holiday either way. So I really didn't mind taking this leisure route. It wasn't like we lacked monsters here like Extra Dungeon. …And lo and behold, speak of the devil and it appears.

While I was conversing with them, suddenly four «Apple Wizard» appeared. In appearance, they're just like the apple, except vines growing out of them in mimicry of limbs. They had been carrying a wand in one of their hands.

"Heh, finally monster encounter. —Sierra."

"I know. «Taunt»."

"As long as I am here, no one's going to interfere with Lana-sama's fun time! «Full Throttle Drive»!"

"I will help out. «Shine Lightning»!"

Sierra gained their aggro, Ester skated around on her Azure Cogwheel, circling to their flank while my AoE spell rushed at them.

"App-app—!"

"Appaaapp—!"

The apple-shaped monsters raised a squeal, conjuring a fireball at the tip of their wand. They shot it at my spell.

It reminds me of early days in the game. The forum would be filled with rants—like, "A fireball... It was a freaking fireball! Why in the world an apple was using fire magic?? Were they out of any idea for the «Apple Wizard»?!"—whenever someone was challenging this dungeon for the first time. They were some days, I must say.

Anyway, if they wanted to offset my spell, they would have to do better.

The collision between the two dropped the power of my spell a bit, but they couldn't avoid it. At impact, lightning runs through them, creating a short paralysis. Ester jumped at the opportunity.

She activated the «Raging Spear War Dance», and within a few swings of her spear, she put an end to the «Apple Wizards».

Now, that was easy. Then again, it was the combined might of three advanced jobs. We were beyond what monsters from the first floor of «Rank 4» dungeon could handle. At their disappearance, they left behind «Apple Nectar» as a drop. They’re great drops! (T/N - Rank 4 means the monster's level hovers around lv30~lv40.)

They also dropped «Apple Seed», though they're more of seed offshoot, so planting wouldn't yield any result, leaving them to be strictly used as an ingredient. They're for Hannah.

After spending a short time, with Lana and Karua harvesting a good load of apples, we hit up the 5th floor, and then I lead them to a certain spot. It was a great place, mind you.

"We're here!"

"Woah, there is a golden tree?!"

Lana squealed in surprise as she saw that—a tree radiating golden glow.

Often, such golden trees would pop up, starting from the 5th floor. The golden trees were like a treasure chest, and would disappear when 'lumbered,' thus making them a rare harvest point.

Their spawn locations were also random, so you usually would circle around these spots. We're lucky to find them on our first try. Incidentally, no, they're NOT literally made of gold.

"So this is the golden apple tree?"

"Let's begin then!"

"Woah, not so quick, Lana! Hold on for a minute."

"Eeek?"

Ooh, now that was a cute squeal, isn't—ack, right, I was explaining the situation.

"This tree still has a purpose to serve."

"Serve a purpose?"

"Yup. These golden trees vanish once you lumber them, hence they're rare. You see it's shining golden, right? And what comes to your mind with that?"

Lana's eyes widened, as if she just had the inkling, when I nudged her.

"Wait, you mean «Golden Applepull» might be here?!"

—«Golden Applepull».

It was a rare monster that drops Lana's most cherished drink, «100% Mellow Apple Juice». It was why I had chosen this place for our exploration today, to fulfil her wish.

"Karua! Deploy «Sonya»! There is a «Golden Applepull» here!"

"Hn, there are? «Sonya»!"

Following Lana's excited command, Karua placed her hands near her ears, and activated her skill.

"Hn, there's something. At least 3."

"T-Three?!"

Lana's face flushed red as soon as she heard Karua's scouting result, her hands cupping her cheeks.

"No, we're going immediately, Karua! No one's going to escape this time!"

"P-please wait for me, Lana-sama. There's no need to be in such hurry—"

And before we knew it, Lana grabbed Karua by her hand, and ran off toward the pointed direction. Ester chased after them in a hurry. Now that was a Lana I knew!

"So, what is the purpose of the golden apple tree?"

Sierra asked cooly. Now, it was just the two of us here.

It seemed she had a hunch. Well, yeah. To begin with, I never said «Golden Applepull» would spawn here. However, the purpose these trees had is—

"«Golden Applepull» would have a low chance to run away from gold trees when spawning them via «Ocarina». So, when hunting the rare monsters, it's advisable to do it near the golden tree."

"Is that so?"

Yup. After all, that rare monster could easily give you a run for your money. Maybe they're some kindred spirit, but «Golden Applepull» would try to stay around the golden tree instead of immediately running away.

I could have spawned them on the 1st floor too, but I wanted this surefire setup. Why waste the chances when you'd almost guarantee, eh?

Just as I had explained it, the rest of our party came back.

"Hey, Zephyr, explain yourself! We didn't find a single «Golden Applepull»!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you ran off without listening to me. I mean, I get the excitement, so I am not blaming."

It was true. I could understand her excitement; gamers were bound to go crazy when at the peak of excitement.

I explained the similar details to Lana and the team.

"Geez, then you should've begun with that for god sake! Anyway, Zephyr. Hurry up and bring out Ocarina! I want to blow it! I am definitely going to have apple juice!"

Hey, hey, aren't you too quick on changing your mood??

Haa, whatever. I handed the Ocarin to Lana.

"Karua, get ready to use your unique skill as soon as you appear. Are you up for it?"

"Hn, all okay."

I checked on Karua, and she confidently replied. This place lacked any hidden spots, so we would be in plain sight of rare monsters. In that case, Karua was our vanguard to hunt them down within time.

Following her node, Karua drew her dagger, and lowered her waist, getting into stance. Just as she was finished, Lana blew Ocarina.

"Alright, I am beginning! ~~~♪"

The peculiar, but pleasant melody drifted around from the flute. Karua had entered hyperfocus mode. It should barely a few second when—

"—Unique Skill «Number One Sonic Star»! Skill «32 Star Force»!"

Karua's figure disappeared from her spot. The next thing we knew, she had already appeared beside the golden apple tree, activating her skill. She was breathtaking, as always.

Beneath her gaze was the rare monster; the rare monster sported an appearance like an apple, with carrot-like legs protruding out of it. At its stalk, there was something like a flower bud. It was the target I and Lana were eagerly waiting for.

The rare monster had suddenly materialised out of thin air, clinging to the golden apple tree like the tree was its mother. But the agent showed not a shred of sympathy and delivered a rapid stabbing attack on its back, or something along the line of back, I believe.

"!! ——"

It was a direct hit.

The effect engulfed the «Golden Applepull», disappearing. And in its spot, it left behind «100% Mellow Apple Juice».