Chapter 5

Rob gripped his spear. He took a cautious defensive step back. He was eager to fight and slay whatever was coming at him–but he also wanted to make sure he wasn’t running into the fight blind.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at the shiny rock. It was around seven or eight meters away from him; but it had been much further away when he had first woken up on the mysterious beach. Rob knew that for sure.

The rock had been getting progressively closer and closer, but only when Rob had his back turned or had been focused on his status prompts. Whatever kind of creature this moving rock was, it was a clever one for sure.

Rob narrowed his eyes and focused on the rock. It appeared dark and rugged but had one striking feature–embedded in it was a cluster of iridescent crystals that shimmered in hues of blue, purple, and green. The crystals caught the sunlight in a pretty manner.

A new message appeared in his retina after he’d focused on the rock for long enough.

There we go, Rob grinned.

The shiny rock must be part of the crab’s shell, used as a defense mechanism to hide from greater prey, or in this case, used as an attempt to sneak and hunt.

Grateful that his first monster encounter was with such a slow and non-moving creature, Rob considered his next options. He had a very strong feeling that his basic spear wasn’t going to be able to hurt the crab by attacking its shell head on.

He looked around and could see a cluster of normal rocks in the distance.

That’s it, he thought.

Clutching his spear, Rob made a wide berth around the Crystal Hermit Crab and rushed towards the rocks in the distance.

With Rob’s back turned, he could hear the scuttling movement of the Crystal Hermit Crab rushing behind him.

Rob got to the rocks and saw that they formed a small cul-de-sac.

Perfect.

He kept his back turned, letting the Crystal Hermit Crab scuttle closer and closer to him. The sounds of the crustacean’s feet moving up and down in the sand got louder and louder until they were so close Rob was worried he was about to get struck in the back.

Rob quickly pushed his feet off the ground, leaping onto one of the nearby rocks. He quickly regained his balance and swerved around.

The Crystal Hermit Crab attempted to duck and hide under its shell, but with the other rocks so close nearby, it couldn’t quite fully burrow. It would need a few extra seconds to readjust itself within the cluster of rocks. A few extra seconds Rob planned on taking advantage of.

With the crab unable burrow, Rob could see the creature had a sturdy armored body covered in mottled shades of brown, gold, and deep violet, with fine specks of orange and yellow giving it an almost mineral-like sheen. Its legs were jointed and spiny, ending in sharp tips, and its claws were large and powerful looking.

From up high on his rock, Rob gripped his spear with both hands and thrust it downwards to the exposed crab. The spear landed just below the crab and Rob quickly pulled it up to tip the crab over. The crab was now leaning back exposing its fleshy underside.

Rob quickly pulled his spear back, muscles tensing as he shifted his stance. He drove the point forward. The metal tip punched through the soft flesh of its underside with a wet, tearing sound. The creature jerked violently, legs scraping against the sand, but Rob didn’t hesitate. He yanked the spear free, grit flying up around his boots, and thrust again—harder this time.

Each strike sent a jolt up his arms. The shaft shuddered in his hands as the crab let out a guttural hiss, a bubbling rasp that almost sounded like steam escaping from a pipe. Red blood spurted from the punctures, running down the creature’s pale belly and staining the sand beneath it. Rob’s breath came rough and fast, his arms trembling with effort as he drove the spear in again, each stab weaker than the last but no less desperate.

The crab eventually tipped over in death.

A burst of messages appeared in his retina.

Rob read over the messages with excitement.

The messages provided him knowledge and more questions. He had no idea what system credits were and how he’d be able to use them, but it looked as if he would gain them along with experience points when he defeated monsters.

Clearly, he gained experience points due to the multiple messages saying he did so, but the specific number of experience points was kept hidden from him.

The most interesting thing to Rob was that he’d gained a title for being the first participant to slay a monster in the Tutorial. That information alone was quite revealing. It suggested that other participants arriving in the Tutorial were too freaked out to kill any monsters straightaway, or were failing to do so. Rob was happy to know he was already outperforming the other participants.

He called the new title to his forefront and read it over.