Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer

Book 1: Chapter 19

Chapter 19.

"Finally, it's over!"

Tenji declared loudly with a sense of accomplishment.

He fell down on a pile of dead leaves with a heavy thud, and decided to catch his breath while moving his shoulders.

At the same time, the imitation of the 'Book of Enma' and the shadow floating in front of him disappeared in a puff of smoke.

[You have confirmed the completion of condition #2. Thank you.]

"Yes, yes, thank you."

[Continue-----]

"Are you still going to do it?"

[Please take a rest for one hour. Please take a good mental and physical rest and prepare for the next quest.]

Hearing the announcement, Tenji couldn't help but feel relieved.

As one would expect, after two and a half hours of serious exercise in a row, his body was as immobile as a stick. It would be fair to say that he was completely burned out, both physically and mentally. His legs, arms, and everything else were on the verge of giving up. He was very exhausted.

That said, an hour's rest was certainly not going to help.

"I need something to drink.."

Tenji muttered and tried to pick up the water bottle he had left on the ground.

Then after a while, a replica of the 'Book of Enma' appeared again and stopped in front of Tenji's eyes as if to say, "Look here".

"Hhuhh?"

With tired eyes, he stared at a page of Enma's book. There, in silver letters, was an unexpected statement.

"Silver letters!! It is the same coloring as the hell quest."

'Hell Granny's Shop - Territory Limited Editions'

Demon candles for physical strength recovery (1 point)

Demon candles for mental recovery (1 point)

Sanzu River Natural Water (1 point)

It suddenly appeared, and it contained exactly what Tenji wanted and needed right now. Tenji had a vague idea of what this was just from the word "shop," but he was at a loss to decide whether he could use the points so easily.

[I need 3 points...... I wonder If the points are extremely valuable, would it really be a good idea to select these?]

Tenji decided to dismiss the thought that was about to go in circles more easily than he had expected.

If this quest is abandoned, there was a possibility that he would not be able to demonstrate the full potential of his calling that he had been given.

The name of the hell quest is "Encounter with the Red Demon Species" and from this we can infer that it is a quest to meet the red demon. If this quest failed, Tenji could not unlock his potential.

"Point" and "The Encounter with the Red Demon".

When Tenji weighed the two, the meeting with the Red Demon seemed more important to him.

So, without hesitation, he touched those three sentences.

As soon as he shook the book, the silver letters turned dark. There was an effect of the 'Book of Enma', which he had heard many times: then the three items appeared in front of Tenji's eyes. To be precise, they were placed randomly on the ground just below where the 'Book of Enma' was floating.

Two demon candles and a single aluminum can.

One of the demon candles was slightly greenish in color, similar to the candle-like Japanese hollyhock plant.

[The other demon's candle was bright blue in color. From the two different colors, I guessed that one of them was a physical strength-restoring demon candle and the other was a mental strength-restoring demon candle.]

[Then there was the silver aluminum can with a red demon design on it, and even from the looks of it, it was clear that this was "Sanzu-no-kawa no nazumizu" (natural water from the Sanzu River).]

And there, under the natural water, he discovers a small piece of notepaper about 4 cm on a side under the can.

Before picking up the items, he picked up the notepaper and checked it.

"Green Demon candle: Restores physical strength.

"Blue Demon candle: Restores mental strength.

"Sanzu-no-kawa natural water: Delicious water, favorite drink of demons.

It was all that was written, but it was enough information for Tenji.

[I quickly picked up the aluminum can on the ground to quench my dry throat and opened it to take a sip. Before putting it in my mouth, I looked at the contents of the can and noticed that the color of the liquid was slightly reddish.]

"I can drink this......, right?"

Despite his uneasiness, Tenji sipped a little bit of natural water.

"Oh, it's delicious."

It was not flavored, but it was pure for water, and he could feel it soaking into his body. That is how much Tenji wanted water.

Tenji then drank the natural hurriedly and soon about half of the can was gone.

Next, Tenji picked up two demon candles.

The hollyhocks on the original earth are generally inedible. It is such a toxic plant that it is said not to be fed to pregnant women. But Tenji had no such knowledge of that, so he was not confused whether to use it or not.

"How should I use this? Rub it on the skin? Eat it?Or just hold it or something?"

[Yes, I was having trouble figuring out how to handle the benefits of the demon's restorative effect.]

[Somehow I had a hunch that it was the right thing to eat since it was given with natural water, but I had no proof. So I decided to take the eating option at last.]

After thinking about it, Tenji decided to hold it in his hand for 30 minutes and if it worked, that was good enough, and if not, he would try the next move.

Thirty minutes later, Tenji showed no signs of recovery.

"Next option, let's rub it on the skin."

[Gently, I let the demon's candle touch my arm. Then I moved it up and down a little and observed the body.]

[However, again, this did not produce any noteworthy effects.]

"I guess eating is the right thing to do."

That was the only idea Tenji could come up with anymore.

So he decided to take the plunge and throw it in his mouth.

At first he decided to try the green demon's candles, which were not yet poisonous. He held the demon candle in one hand and a can of natural water in the other in case it goes bad.

"I'll have it. Please be delicious."

Tenji, who had always hated the bitterness of medicine, tossed it into his mouth in one go, hoping it was a tasty restorative.

As he chewed it, a slight bitterness oozed out, so he quickly swallowed it into his stomach with natural water.

"Puhah...... oh!"

The effect was outstanding.

The green demon's candle has the effect of restoring physical strength. The moment he put it in his stomach, Tenji's body surprisingly forgot his fatigue, and even his muscles were better than ever. His body became so light that he felt as if he had wings on his back.

Tenji, who was surprised to find himself rolling his eyes at the effect, picked up another blue demon candle and swallowed it with the same gulp.

This was also very effective and immediately set his demotivated mind to excited.

Tenji even felt a sense of excitement, as if he were re-living the excitement he felt when he first entered the dungeon.

This is a great effect. It looks like it's going to consume as much as 1 point.......No, I'm not sure."

Tenji, fully recovered both physically and mentally from the unexpected exhaustion and burnout, slowly stood up, thinking it was almost time for an hour to pass.

Then he went back to his memory of before he came here and remembered the third item on the Hell Quest.

[Maybe it was....... In the third condition for achieving the quest, I had to survive for three hours or defeat the Red Demon.]

Tenji had read that this was the most difficult part of the Quest.

[Conditions for achievement #1 and #2 were lined up that were solely exercise-oriented.]

[The words "survive" and "defeat" also give off the scent of something dangerous.]

[One hour has passed. The time limit is three hours. Condition #3: Survive for three hours or you must defeat the red demon. If the time limit is exceeded, this quest will be considered completed. Also, if Tenji Amagi dies three times, this quest will be discarded.]

At the moment the familiar announcement ends, and a replica of the 'Book of Enma' appears in front Tenji's eyes once again.

The book opened on its own, and when it stopped at a certain page, there were words written in shining silver.

----------------

Hell Weapons: Red Demon Series

Red Demon Sword (5th grade)

Red Demon Ring (5th grade)

At this stage, Tenji showed no signs of hesitation.

This is the third time he has encountered silver letters. When he touches the black letters, nothing happens, but with these silver letters, something interesting happens just by touching them.

[The first time I touched these, I was obliged to join this quest, and the second time two demon candles and natural water showed up.]

From there, he learned that "silver letters are words from the 'Book of Enma'' and the silver letters this time must have glowed silver because the 'Book of Enma' decided that Tenji needed the book.

Therefore, Tenji could not have been lost.

He pressed his finger against the silver letters, and the 'Book of Enma' glowed. Then he noticed that he had two items in his hand.

"Wow, this is the Red Demon series."

Tenji smiled wryly.