Capitalist Monster Hunter

18
The First Dungeon Exploration of the Unique F-Rank Hunter (3)

[Martial God has donated 5,000 points.]

[Martial God: Geez. I wanted to see some epic slash-slash-slash action, but all you did was chase it down and stab it once. Kind of disappointing. Come on, Hunter, step it up!]

“I’ll get stronger soon so I can show you all that epic slash-slash-slash action. The more donations you pour in, the faster I’ll grow, so keep that in mind! And thank you for the 5,000-point donation. Much appreciated!”

[The Goddess of Mischief: Capitalist Hunter, lol.]
[Fairy King: Isn’t he being a bit too obvious?]
[Dragon Slayer: Obsessed with points, haha.]
[Black Star: Look at him begging for donations.]

“Begging for donations? Come on now. I’m just trying to make a living here. And for the record, I’m not obsessed with points. I value integrity and virtue way more than points. Got it?”

[Anonymous Spirit: Sure, sure, now hurry up and clear the dungeon already. It’s an F-rank dungeon, but you’re taking forever. Watching this feels like eating sweet potatoes and choking on them.]

One of the spirits watching the Hunter’s livestream expressed frustration.

“All right, I’m on it. Just let me grab some loot first.”

In low-tier dungeons like F or E rank, the items you could collect from monsters weren’t worth much. Most Hunters would just enter these dungeons to practice or earn a few points.

But not Yuseong. Even cheap items were still money to him.

Ten won is money. A hundred won is money. Ten won adds up to a hundred; a hundred adds up to a thousand.

For someone like Yuseong, who lived by the motto “Every little bit adds up,” leaving anything behind was out of the question.

“Titania, what kind of loot can you get from goblins?”

“Honestly, there’s not much you can get from goblins. Like animals, they have blood, flesh, bones, and skin, but goblin skin is fragile and tears easily, so it sells for very little. The only somewhat useful thing would be their paralyzing venom.”

“Paralyzing venom?”

“Goblins secrete a paralyzing toxin from their salivary glands. In its raw state, it’s weak, but you can concentrate it by mixing it with other materials to make it more effective. In Estelle, adventurers often fall victim to goblins, mostly because of this venom. Goblins store it in small pouches to coat their weapons or use with poison darts. That goblin with the feathered decoration also had a venom pouch.”

“Really?”

“Yes. So, just collect the venom pouches and move on to clear the dungeon… Wait, what are you doing?”

“Looking at the shop.”

“What are you planning to buy?”

“I heard you need butchering skills or a proper butchering knife to dissect monsters, so I’m thinking of buying one.”

“You’re going to dissect the goblins…?”

“Yeah. Even if the venom is the only useful thing, the rest should still sell for something, right?”

Titania felt exasperated as Yuseong ignored her advice and browsed the shop for tools to dissect goblins.

“Sigh…”

“Why the long face?”

“It’s nothing…”

“Then help me choose. Should I get a butchering knife or the butchering skill? Is the skill more convenient? Or should I get both? I have no idea.”

Titania sighed before explaining.

“Let me clarify how skills work first. As you know, Hunters benefit from system support. That’s also how skills are created. Do you know how skills are generated?”

“I noticed earlier that swinging a sword gave me a skill. Wasn’t it Basic Swordsmanship? So, it happens when you meet certain conditions, right?”

“Skills are generated based on the system’s judgment. No one knows the exact conditions, but generally, skills like Basic Swordsmanship appear when you fulfill specific requirements or repeat certain actions enough times. These are called Original Skills.”

“So skill books are a shortcut to getting skills without meeting those conditions?”

“Exactly. That’s their purpose. But there’s a difference between skills acquired through effort and those learned from a skill book.”

“A difference? Like what?”

“Let me give you an example. Let’s say you use a skill book to learn Sword Aura, while another Hunter masters it through training as an Original Skill. Assuming both have the same skill level and stats, do you think the power of your Sword Aura would be the same?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t it be the same? It’s the same skill, right?”

Titania shook her head.

“No, they’d be different. Original Skills are much stronger than skill book skills.”

“Why?”

“Nobody knows why, but the system decided it that way. It’s probably what it considers most optimal.”

“I see.”

“Also, there’s a difference in skill proficiency. Skills from books are harder to improve, while Original Skills level up much faster.”

“So you’re saying it’s better to learn skills as Original Skills than through books?”

“Not necessarily. Both have pros and cons. Skill books skip the learning process and give you the result directly. For instance, most magic requires incantations unless it’s learned as chantless magic. But magic learned from skill books doesn’t need incantations. It’s the same with Sword Aura. Normally, it requires mana from the mana core or energy from the dantian, but skill book versions skip that process and activate instantly.”

“Skill book skills are faster, while Original Skills focus on power?”

“Exactly. Think of Original Skills as the expertise of specialists. But good Original Skills take a long time to master. On the other hand, skill books let you learn multiple skills quickly and easily, even if they’re weaker.”

“Wait, are you dissing me because I only have Basic Swordsmanship? Anyway, both seem useful.”

“Exactly. That’s why guilds or hunter parties often rely on people who specialize in butchering as an original skill. It’s more efficient and helps them level up their proficiency faster. Big guilds even have dedicated butchering teams.”

“Got it. One more question—what happens if you learn both? Like, say I gained butchering as an original skill by dissecting goblins and then using a skill book for butchering. What happens then?”

“You mean if skills overlap?”

“Yeah.”

Titania blinked in surprise.

“Well, if you keep dissecting goblins, you’ll naturally get butchering as an original skill, right?”

“Right.”

“And if you then use a skill book for butchering, you’re asking if the skills would stack?”

“Exactly.”

“I’m not sure… Hold on…”

Titania opened a system window and started searching.

“Ugh… There’s no record of this… I can’t say for sure. My guess is it’s not possible.”

“Are you certain?”

“I-I’m not completely sure.”

Titania was uncertain. She had never encountered overlapping skills and couldn’t find any relevant records.

“All right, let’s give it a shot.”

Yuseong bought the Butchering Skill Book and a butchering knife from the points shop.

[Butchering: A skill designed to easily extract usable materials from monsters or animals. Just activate it to carve up monsters. Simple, right?]
[Note: The amount and type of materials you get depend on the skill level.]

The description of the Butchering Skill Book was straightforward: activate it, carve up the monster, and done.

Grabbing the butchering knife, Yuseong approached another goblin’s corpse.

“Let’s see how the description for the original Butchering skill looks when I earn it myself.”

Removing the helmet of his combat armor, he started carving into the goblin. To say his skills were lacking would be an understatement.

“Do I stab here?”

Squish!

SPLASH!

“Argh! My eyes!”

He stabbed the wrong spot, and blood sprayed all over his face.

“Waaaargh!”

He also nicked the intestines, covering his hands in foul-smelling gore.

Despite his “best effort,” the result was tragic. The bones still had chunks of meat clinging to them, and the hide was more shredded than skinned—half flesh, half leather.

“Did you even butcher it properly?”

[What a mess.]

Even Titania and Eve couldn’t hold back their criticism.

“Hey, I tried, okay? This is my first time! For a beginner, I think I did pretty well.”

Yuseong genuinely thought he’d done all right for his first attempt.

The viewers of his Hunter Channel had other opinions.

[Winter Maiden has donated 1,000 points.]
[Winter Maiden: What the hell is wrong with you? Are you blind? You call this doing well? Who skins a hide like that? Watching this almost gave me an aneurysm, you moron.]

[Lady of the Lake has donated 1,000 points.]
[Lady of the Lake: Yeah, that’s just too much. These days, you can even find guides on skinning with your phone. Why’d you turn the hide into a rag? And the blood—of course, it’s spraying everywhere because you didn’t drain it first! You’ve gotta hang it upside down and bleed it out. To skin it cleanly, start from the legs. That part takes practice. After skinning, cut open the belly, remove the guts, then carve the meat. If this is too much, look up a book or tutorial online.]

Some gods, clearly fed up, had to step in with advice.

“Did I really mess up that badly? It’s my first time; of course, it’s not perfect! And Winter Maiden, why are you so harsh? Look, the Lady of the Lake at least explains stuff properly. Why do you just jump straight to insults? Were you perfect on your first try?”

[Winter Maiden: Because watching you is infuriating.]

“Then why don’t you come here and show me how it’s done? You’re just all talk!”

[Winter Maiden: I’d skin circles around you, idiot. Stay right there—I’m coming.]