Noticing my arrival, the woman turns her head. Then, she flashes a smile that I swiftly carve into my mind.

"H-hi..." I greeted after walking towards her.

"Hi, we meet again..." the woman greets me back.

I chuckle and scratch my sideburns awkwardly.

Learning from past experiences, I immediately sit beside her without needing to ask her permission. I may have done a heroic stunt not long ago, but I'm still myself.

Being near this woman who had captured my heart makes me feel an extraordinary sense of nervousness again.

Faintly visible, my fingers are trembling slightly.

Stealing glances in silence at the woman beside me, my heart is pounding even more. Beads of sweat start to form on my forehead. My breath feels heavy for some reason, even though when I saved the previous pair of mother and child it didn't make the rhythm of my breath shake.

I want to scream to let go of all this nervousness, but I can't do it.

I want to have a small talk with her, but I don't know what to say.

I want to make her look at me, but I do not have the courage to do so.

In the end, I keep all these intentions in my heart. It makes me feel even more nervous.

Will being around a loved one really have the same intense nervousness I'm feeling right now?

Is it this difficult just to find a topic of conversation in order to get out of this awkwardness?

I try to calm myself down by taking a deep breath, then letting it out slowly over several repetitions. But once I glanced at the woman beside me, the nervous feeling comes back to me again.

Glancing at the watch in my hand, I see that the longer one and slightly slimmer than the hour needle has only moved past a few lines.

'Oh my, has it really only been three minutes!?'

It seems like a long time, but in fact it hasn't been that long.

'Is it because of this nervousness, time seems so long?'

I count the seconds, until a minute finally passed. Without realizing it, my incredible nervousness just disappeared.

I took a deep breath before intending to use this opportunity to muster up the courage I would use to simply ask the name of the woman beside me.

This time, before I could muster up my courage, the woman beside me has already left for the bus that has apparently arrived without me noticing.

“W-... Damn...” I lightly hit the chair I’m sitting on.

I can only regret that her departure left regret in my heart.

In this relatively short time, I don't know how much I’m taking a deep breath to face the situation I am in.

How bad I feel right now.

Between being in a situation of sitting next to that woman or fighting against a lot of monsters and being in a life threatening situation, I'd rather fight against a lot of monsters than have to face this overwhelming nervousness.

It's not that I don't want to see her anymore, but it's her nervousness that bothers me so much. Even so, I again missed the opportunity to simply ask her name. In fact, the opportunity exists and I can't possibly not get it if I dare to ask.

Regret for having wasted the opportunity, feeling relieved to be out of nervousness and awkwardness, and hoping to see each other again, all those feelings raced through my heart.

"Sigh..."

I stood up after seeing the arrival of the bus that would take me home, then I immediately board it after waiting for several people to get off the bus.

Looking out the window, there is only a view of the buildings that look the same. But actually, I’m not looking at that boring scene. My mind drifts not in my physical body, I am confused about where my mind is.

Being in a daydream along the way, it doesn't feel like time has passed long enough.

Until the sound of the notification that I have now arrived in the prefecture where I am living shocked me, I wake up again from my daydream.

I immediately get off at the stop.

"The sky is still cloudy..." I mutter looking up at the sky which is covered with dark clouds all day long, but its tears do not drop a single drop.

Is the sky holding back sorrow?

...

Facing a large opponent with thick skin that can cover vital areas makes it quite difficult for me to fight.

That's a boar with horns full of fat. Unlike the usual wild boar appearance, this horned boar has three horns arranged facing forward which are provided to strengthen its ramming. As for what's interesting, it has a long tail and a hammer-shaped tip that can knock down anything it hits.

Facing him relying on speed does give me the upper hand in defense, but I become weak in giving damaged.

The horned boar is level 9, the horned boar is by far the most high-level monster I've encountered in the Valley of Skeletons. I don't know what made him force himself to roam on the mud-filled ground and filled with stilt roots what are enough to interfere with his movement, which was clear before I see this horned wild boar sticking its snout on the muddy ground.

This horned wild boar has weapons on the front and back of its body. Striking it in the stomach won't have any significant impact using Sprinter Ghost Dagger, because it can't reach the vital areas that are in its thick fat.

Even though this Sprinter Ghost Dagger has the advantage of penetrating enemy defenses as much as 10%, but the situation this time is not in things that require high penetration. In fact, it's just a very thick lump of fat without requiring a piercer to penetrate it, what is needed is how I can deal an attack on the vital area that is in the deep part of the fat.

Some of the roots were broken, and the tree fell helplessly after the three horns of the horned wild boar hit it.

To be seen, the area around the fight between me and the horned boar is a mess.

After advancing one more level, I don't feel anything out of the ordinary. Because indeed I still haven't put any of the status points I've earned into increasing the points on the character's stats.

This time, I feel sorry for hesitating to maximize agility points to acquire new skills.

'Hopefully I get a Vital Strike or Critical Hit skill or better yet if I get something greater than that which is useful in all situations...' I think after I returned to keeping my distance for the umpteenth time each time I finished attacking the boar vain horns.

Even though so far, I haven't felt tired fighting it. But, I'm afraid of attracting people's attention. Because, unnecessary problems will arise.

After I have satisfied venting my frustration over something by taking down a few monsters, I instead found a horned boar that possessed extraordinary resilience. Maybe before I'm satisfied, I'll attack him blindly regardless of the gap I'm giving the opponent to attack me.

So far, I've only been injured once, and even then, from getting a surprise attack the first time I woke up in a dream. Having high agility and Swift Movement which got increased potency with passive skill from Agility Master made the monsters that were considered agile according to other Hero Candidates after I'd been silently observing all this time unable to keep up with my movements.

I had indeed advanced a few steps ahead of the other Hero Candidates just by accident, but it was because of that as well that I got into trouble. I’m forced to have to hide, so I don't get into unnecessary trouble.

Having the ability to camouflage in the dark is incredibly great, but I need practice to do it. Because other people can't see me, I can't see myself of body. To which point I stepped my foot, I can't be sure exactly. In the Valley of Skeletons filled with stilts that can be used as footholds with dirt filled with mud, I still need more practice to train it.

That was the Stealth skill obtained from Sprinter Ghost Cloak.

[Swift Movement]

[Agility Master]

I immediately jumped and moved quickly around the horned boar before slashing vertically from the bottom up which is followed by a stab in the stomach using my Sprinter Ghost Dagger.

No matter how many times I attacked him, the fat of the horned boar would immediately cover the wound I carved into his skin which slowly healed the wound as well.

“Should I just let this horned boar run amok huh? But, much be pitied too..." I mumble.

It's not that I'm tempted by the level of the horned boar, but rather that I want to make it a meal for dinner. Even though you are in a dream, the delicacy will still feel very real.

My muttering finally has to come true after a group of people come to the direction of the boar with horns.

Without waiting for them to arrive, I quickly dash away from there.