13. A Problem Of Risk And Reward

13. A Problem Of Risk And Reward

A blackhound wolf was a basic-level beast and the main predator on the outskirts of the town of beginnings. Seeing the wolf meant it had to be a scout. If Matteo's guess was right, by nighttime, the wolves would be at large, and that was the best time for him to gain experience.

Looking at the black hound wolf approaching the young woman, he did not feel any reason to help her whatsoever. It was his choice if he wanted to or not; he had always preferred to play solo any chance he got, and doing something as reckless as saving a damsel in distress was not on his list of traits.

It was always a problem of risk and reward when fighting a beast— there was always experience to be gained, but if the risk was significantly higher, what was the point?

Right now, saving the young woman would be more of a risk than a reward, that is if he even considered it. If he killed the beast, he would get experience points, but that was not a reward. There was a reason he chose to fight a wild boar, which was more of prey than a predator.

The wild boar had more defense than attack, but the black hound wolf had speed, agility, attack, ferocity, tactics, and experience. It was a walking killing machine.

"No, please! Someone, help me!" she cried.

Matteo did not flinch.

She cried even more. The beast growled louder as it crept towards her, it's wet tongue licking its maw. Matteo continued to weigh his rewards against his risks, and there were very few rewards to be had. Unlike the wild boar he had fought, the wolf would go for the kill right from the start, and his health was something to be questioned in this case.

Matteo wanted the experience of hunting predators since he would be fighting more powerful ones in the future. The thing about games was this: if you conquered a beast, you would gain personal experience besides the one the game awarded. The game simply gave an equivalent of the experience gained in the form of data to help you enhance your abilities even further.

Matteo knew the blackhound wolves would be his next major challenge. Killing this one would give him the experience to know how to face the next one.

Matteo nudged himself forward. He could see a part of the wolf's fur smoking a little. "It's hurt, but barely."

Matteo could play out his next steps perfectly— all he had to do was execute them. He tried to sneak in closer by using the trees as cover before the beast reached the young woman.

Her cries for help helped drown out the sounds of his approaching footsteps and sloppy footwork. Once or twice, he snapped a twig or kicked a rock, but the young woman was a good sound-canceling unit.

As he got closer, he imagined the situation to be something like an extra mission.

The beast spat the bone in its mouth back onto the ground and started to approach the young woman, who was beginning to crawl away in the direction where Matteo was hiding behind a tree.

He feared that if he attacked, the beast would be facing him directly, and he would lose the element of surprise so he tried to improvise.

Matteo picked up two huge rocks and threw them in opposite directions, he then waited for the beast's reaction. Its ears picked up the first one that fell; its head snapped back as it growled. The second one caused it to jump back and snarl in that direction.

Matteo used this moment to come out sprinting. He took out his small dagger and threw it at the beast's eye, but it saw it a moment too early. It snarled again and jumped to the side— exactly where Matteo had predicted. He reached it, and summoned his sword and with all his strength, he slashed at the beast.

He only managed to cut it on the side before it pounced on him. From memory, Matteo was able to predict most of its attack patterns. He sidestepped and, with all his strength, drove his sword into its side. It yelped as a thick red liquid shot out and painted its fur red.

Matteo pulled his sword out of its side, cutting some flesh and organs with it. A crimson arc followed his blade's swift movement.

The beast enraged attacked and managed to land a paw on Matteo's side, cutting him slightly. He grunted at the surprise attack and speed of the beast. He swallowed the pain— compared to the one he had inflicted, this was nothing. But that did not stop it from hurting him badly. Matteo planned to wait it out until it bled to death but the beast seemed to know this too.

It growled angrily at the person who had interrupted its meal and injured it. It turned around to retreat, but Matteo was not keen on letting his prey slip away.

"Did I say you could leave?" he said in a cold voice.

He ran forward, pushing his body to its limit. The injured beast lost its footing once, but that was enough. A moment later, Matteo was on the beast. He struck it in the neck, his sword slipping through and causing a crack. It's eyes paled as it howled and dropped down dead.

Matteo started to breathe heavily. It went just as he planned. "Just like playing a game."

"You're a beta tester, aren't you?" The young woman broke his moment of glory, she was actually a girl looking to be around his age. "Thank you."

She was a bit shorter than him, and she had short black hair and huge red eyes. Matteo looked at her severed hand and said, "If you don't tie that up, you'll bleed to death." His voice was anything but kind.

The system appeared.

[You have slain a blackhound wolf]

[You have received 20 EXP for killing a basic-tier beast]

On one of the tree branches, the girl with the white mask had her arrow aimed at Matteo's head. She pulled back slightly on the bow allowing the blow string to relax and rested her hands. She had watched everything play out in silence.

"I was right. He's not a simple person after all."