Chapter 44

But today was different. They looked like they had barely survived a life-or-death struggle.

“Rough day, huh? Did you run into something dangerous?”

A familiar voice intruded on their moment of rest. Nox approached, wearing a smug grin.

The smugness in Nox’s voice carried an undercurrent of mockery, his frustration thinly veiled behind a polite facade. He clearly didn’t like how casually Justin and his team handled themselves.

Justin responded with a casual chuckle, brushing off the passive-aggressive tone.
“Yeah, it got a little dangerous. We ran into a field boss.”

“…A field boss? Wait—did you just say a field boss? Those exist?”

Nox’s eyes widened in disbelief, caught completely off-guard by the revelation.

Feigning innocence, Justin tilted his head slightly.
“You didn’t know? Well, I guess it makes sense. There aren’t any field bosses in the forest. You’d only find them out in the gnoll hunting grounds.”

“You mean those hyena-headed freaks in the plains?”

“Exactly. That’s where we’re hunting now.”

The words froze Nox in place—and not just him. The rest of his faction, as well as Zachary’s group lurking in the distance, all went rigid.

If what Justin was saying was true, then his team was far ahead of everyone else.

“So what, you’re telling me you ran into a field boss while hunting gnolls and just barely escaped?”

“Escaped?” Justin’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I never said we ran.”

“…What?”

“We killed the field boss. My teammates just had a rough time during the fight, that’s all.”

A tense silence followed before Nox let out a disbelieving snort.
“Listen, Justin. Are you seriously expecting us to believe that nonsense?”

“And why wouldn’t you?”

“Because we’ve hunted gnolls ourselves!”

This time, it was Justin’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
Gnolls were tough enough that even his well-leveled team felt the strain—yet here was Nox claiming his less experienced, lower-leveled faction had hunted them too?

“Those things are as strong as mid-level warriors! Even an 8th-level fighter struggles to take down one! But you’re telling me you cleared out an entire gnoll hunting ground and casually took down a field boss on top of that? It’s absurd!”

Ah, so they fought with brute force alone.

It wasn’t a “hunt” so much as a desperate struggle for survival. They probably barely managed to kill a few gnolls before retreating in fear. And now, hearing Justin describe it as an easy job—along with taking down a field boss—had clearly struck a nerve.

“If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable. Trying to show off with some made-up story just because you’re a little ahead—”

Clink, clatter.

Before he could finish, Justin casually dumped a handful of amethyst magic stones from his inventory onto the ground.

The unfamiliar purple hue immediately caught Nox’s attention. His eyes widened.
“W-What’s that?”

“Oh, don’t mind me. Just some stones we picked up while hunting gnolls. Happens all the time when your inventory gets full.”

“What kind of nonsense—”

“Oops, one’s rolling toward you. Mind picking it up for me?”

Feigning clumsiness, Justin flicked a stone toward Nox, who reluctantly bent down to grab it. His scowl deepened as he inspected the stone’s description.

A moment later, his expression froze.
“This… This thing is worth five regular magic stones…?”

“Thanks for picking that up. They just keep slipping out of my hands.”

Justin snatched the stone back and returned it to his inventory—making sure to subtly show off just how many more he had tucked away inside.

Fifty amethyst stones. Equivalent to 250 standard magic stones in total. The sheer wealth on display sent a wave of crushing defeat through Nox’s features.

Still, refusing to back down, he clenched his teeth and pressed on.
“Fine. You’re claiming you killed the field boss, the ‘Gnoll Warrior,’ right? Where’s the proof?”

Justin raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding the desperation behind the question. Nox needed to believe that Justin’s team wasn’t too far ahead—otherwise, there’d be no catching up.

“Proof? There’s none. The boss didn’t drop any stones when it died. Believe me or don’t—it makes no difference to me.”

“Ha! I knew it—”

Before Nox could finish basking in his perceived victory, the system’s announcement cut through the air like a blade.

《One week has passed since the dimensional migration.》
《The main quest ‘Earnings and Expenditure’ has expired.》
《A new side quest, ‘Field Boss Hunt,’ has been added.》
《A new main quest, ‘Selection of Leadership,’ has been added.》

“What the hell?!”
“Why now, of all times?!”

Shouts of frustration echoed across the zone as players realized their previous quests had expired. Most hadn’t even completed half of their objectives yet.

Not that it mattered to Justin and his team—they had already finished everything.

Instead, his attention shifted to the new quests.
Field Boss Hunt? Leader Selection?

The latter was predictable enough, but the field boss hunt? Weren’t there supposed to be only one boss per area? They had already killed the Gnoll Warrior, so what was left?

Opening the quest log, he read through the new objective:

《Field Boss Hunt》

• Type: Side Quest
• Objective: In every monster habitat, a powerful entity known as the field boss appears from time to time. These formidable foes command numerous subordinates and pose a considerable challenge. Hunting one down is a feat worthy of recognition. Merchants will offer deep discounts to pioneers who achieve such a feat.
• Reward: 50% discount on all shop items
• Note: Only one field boss exists per habitat. Once defeated, it will not respawn.

Exactly as I thought… So why did this quest trigger now?

Maybe the Gnoll Warrior wasn’t the only field boss? That couldn’t be right. There should’ve been only one per zone.

Across from him, Nox’s face lit up with smug satisfaction, as if he had just caught Justin in a lie.
“See? Even the system says there’s a quest for hunting the field boss. If you’d already killed it, that quest wouldn’t exist—”

The smugness didn’t last long. Another system announcement immediately followed, cutting him off mid-gloat.

《Attention all pioneers in Zone 5A.》
《The field boss of this zone, ‘Gnoll Warrior,’ has already been defeated.》
《This is a confirmed hunt. Rewards will automatically be distributed to the participants.》
《As the field boss has been slain, the side quest for Zone 5A will now be removed.》

The blood drained from Nox’s face. His jaw clenched so tightly it looked like it might snap.

Justin simply smiled, his voice light but dripping with mockery.
“What were you saying about proof?”