3. Level 10,030
"Eh... Makoto, did you just say your level is 10,018?"
Hiro furrowed his brows and repeated my words.
"Yes. My level is—"
Before I could finish, the Minotaur, having finally breathed its last, vanished from sight.
Then,
<Sakura Makoto’s level has increased by 12.>
A mechanical voice echoed in my mind.
"Ah, sorry. My level just went up again, so now my level is 10,030."
"10,030!? ...W-What the hell is that? Are you messing with me!?"
Hiro-san raised his voice as if he thought I was mocking him.
"Ugh, it hurts...!"
"Anyway, you should have Aya heal that wound."
"I know, it's none of your business!"
Since he was coughing up blood, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to walk on his own, so I extended my hand to him.
However, Hiro swatted my hand away and slowly made his way over to Aya and the others, dragging his feet.
This is bad... He doesn’t believe me at all.
Well, it's common knowledge that the player level cap is 99. Anyone would think I'm either crazy or lying about having a level of 10,030.
I watched Hiro-san's painful back as I thought about it.
That's why I didn’t want to talk about my level in the first place.
"Skill, Healing Magic Rank 4!"
Aya's voice rang out in the large space.
At the same time, a pale blue light surrounded Hiro's body.
Thanks to Aya's healing magic, Hiro should be back to full health now.
Well, with that, my involvement here is probably over.
"Uh, um... Th-thank you."
Before I knew it, Yui, one of Hiro's teammates, had approached me and bowed her head as soon as our eyes met.
I think this was the woman they called Yui.
"Yui, right? You don’t need to bow. I just helped out by chance. It wasn’t anything special."
I thought it might sound rude, but honestly, I didn’t care what they thought since we’d probably never meet again.
But Yui didn’t show any displeasure at my words.
"No, if it weren’t for you, we would have definitely died here. So... Thank you so much."
She bowed even deeper than before.
"Haa..."
I wasn’t used to being thanked, so I wasn’t sure how to react.
I just stood there, nodding slightly in response as I watched the older woman bow before me.
Then, it seemed like the healing was finally done, as Hiro and Aya approached.
"Hey, Makoto. I’d like to continue what we were talking about earlier, but first, let me thank you. Thank you."
"Thank you from me as well. If you weren’t there, Hiro-nii would’ve definitely been killed by that monster."
"Haa... thanks."
I could only respond with such a dull answer. My lack of communication skills was frustrating.
"And... we’ll need to make graves for these guys too."
Hiro-san looked down at the three corpses and wore an expression I had never seen before, one filled with deep sadness.
"Yeah..."
"Uh, yeah..."
I replied, and both Aya and Yui fell silent.
Perhaps now, they were finally coming to terms with the reality of their comrades' deaths.
Chapter 4