It had been more than a week since Evan became an adventurer, and on the western edge of Morlin's forest, he was having lunch. He had just killed a black hog—a level-one monster—using equipment he had recently purchased. Without realizing it, his strength had grown to the point that he could take down a black hog with ease.
"The taste is slightly better than rabbit or turtle meat. Though… a bit more gamey," Evan commented as he savored the perfectly roasted meat.
For the past week, Evan had been working nonstop. Hunt in the morning, eat, hunt again in the afternoon, eat, then hunt until evening before returning home. This became his daily routine.
No other adventurer would willingly keep up such a pace, as most would set aside time for training.
However, thanks to this relentless routine, Evan's strength had skyrocketed—like a rocket shooting into the sky. In fact, he had almost never trained intentionally, yet his power kept growing significantly.
He had even gone to the guild library to find related information, but still couldn't understand how his strength was increasing without training.
In the end, Evan gave up trying to figure it out and simply assumed that his growth from eating was some kind of cheat brought on by time travel.
…
After finishing lunch, Evan leaned his back against a large tree trunk, letting out a satisfied sigh. The cool breeze helped wash away his fatigue.
Suddenly, his ears caught the sound of a branch snapping in the distance. At first, he thought it was just a rabbit or a forest bird. But the sound drew closer… followed by heavy footsteps that made the ground tremble.
Evan immediately stood and grabbed his sword. From behind the bushes emerged a black hog—this one standing as tall as one and a half men. It was nearly twice the size of the one he had killed earlier. Its tusks curved long and sharp, its eyes glowed a fierce red, and its rough skin looked as hard as armor.
The monster glared at Evan, growled low, and then suddenly charged at him with unnatural speed.
Evan tried sidestepping and swung his longsword to wound the beast, but only managed to leave a shallow cut.
He stepped back, keeping his distance as he caught his breath. The black hog stomped the ground, then charged again, scattering dirt and leaves into the air.
Evan leapt to the side to avoid a head-on collision, then slashed with all his strength at its front leg. The strike managed to tear through skin and flesh, but not the bone—worse, the blade bent from the impact.
"GrrrreeeEEEEEiiikkhh!" The black hog let out a piercing shriek and charged again—only to stumble and fall, losing its balance.
Evan felt a brief surge of relief, but before he could fully rejoice, the hog struggled to its feet and tried to flee.
Of course, Evan wouldn't let such a prize escape. He lunged at its hind leg from behind and slashed it down.
Now crippled, the massive hog had no way to move. Evan quickly struck its neck several times until the wound was deep enough. Blood gushed out, and after a few minutes of struggle, the black hog finally died.
"Hufff…"
Evan exhaled in relief. This battle had been far tougher than any he had faced before. "Still… I managed to kill it. This one isn't level one anymore—probably level two. If my sword were better, I could have finished it more easily," he muttered in thought.
His speed and agility had improved greatly from eating horned rabbits over the past week. The difficulty of the fight came down to the lack of power behind his attacks—and the quality of his weapon. Or perhaps it was the other way around: his speed had outgrown his strength, allowing the big black hog to hold its ground.
After reflecting on this, Evan got to his feet and prepared to head home. Looking at both black hogs, he murmured, "This big one's too heavy to carry around for more hunting, so I'll just call it a day. Besides, I only ate one leg of the smaller hog earlier, so the rest can be sold."
…
After struggling for more than an hour, Evan finally dragged both massive carcasses to the city gates. He then rented a cart to haul them to the guild.
At the buying counter, he was met by the same man who usually handled his sales—a middle-aged man with only one leg, likely lost during his adventuring days.
When the man saw what Evan had brought, he was quite surprised. Not because the big black hog was particularly rare or powerful—many adventurers sold monsters bigger and stronger than Evan's. The shock came from the fact that the young man in front of him had only been an adventurer for about a week.
The man studied the hog briefly, then looked back at Evan with a hint of praise. "You've been working hard. If you keep this up, your name might spread across the city. Hahaha." He chuckled.
Evan felt a bit embarrassed by the compliment, but replied, "I think it's because I killed its child, so it tried to kill me." He shrugged helplessly.
The man didn't comment on that, but instead gave a firm warning. "It's good for a young man to have ambition. But remember—you only have one life. Don't get carried away by a victory against a strong monster and rush recklessly into the forest. Out there, you don't get to choose what monster you'll encounter. Even seasoned adventurers risk death." His tone was heavy and serious.
Evan was slightly taken aback by the advice, but he nodded, keeping the words in mind. "Don't worry, I still have family waiting for me to come home."
Hearing that, the man fell silent and began examining the two hogs.
...
Ten minutes later, Evan walked out with over 6 gold coins in hand. This was the most money he had ever had, so he decided to throw a small celebration with his family.
Looking at the dozens of kilograms of big black hog meat he had kept for himself, Evan grinned. "Let's use this for a barbecue tonight—Reyna's going to love it." The thought of his little sister's delighted face brought a smile to his own.