Soon, the pack leader's struggles ceased. Its body twitched slightly before settling still amidst the slowly dying down flames.
Although Nawa was relieved to have dealt with the pack leader, he couldn't help but feel regret at the sight of its charred remains. Even though the flesh was burned black, it hadn't lost its edible value, but its fur and hide were unusable.
Some monster parts were too valuable to be mere food. The hide of this pack leader, for example, could, with the right methods and skillful craftsmanship, be tailored into several pieces of premium gear, each worth more than a gold coin. The flesh, however, was only worth a maximum of 50 silver coins.
Nawa's expression brightened slightly as he gazed at the dozens of silver energy crystals that had just emerged from the pack leader's body. He recalled the energy crystals he had obtained from the three mid-level professional wolves he had killed earlier; this time, he had acquired more than 25 silver coins worth of energy crystals.
Not to mention the carcasses of the alpha wolf and three other mid-level professional wolves, they would probably sell for at least one gold coin each. A small smile appeared on Nawa's face as he thought this.
Even if he had to share with others, he would still get more than 500,000 baht from the hunt, plus his wages for being part of the support team, totaling over 1 million baht. That would be enough for him to clear his family's debts and start a new life comfortably.
While imagining the expressions on his mother and sister's faces when he returned to his world, knowing how much money he had earned, Nawa suddenly noticed something in the pile of energy crystals that had dropped. It was a ping-pong ball-sized orb emitting a soft gray light.
"Ding!" A familiar sound rang in Nawa's head, and a message window immediately popped up.
(Unknown Item)
(Inspection Fee: 8 silver coins, 85 copper coins)
(Do you wish to inspect?)
(No) (OK)
"What is this inspection fee?"
"Why is it so ridiculously expensive?"
Nawa exclaimed, his eyebrows raised in surprise. Even with the title discount, the system inspection fee was still almost 100,000 baht—equivalent to three months' income before he became a player!
Nawa hesitated for a moment before deciding to use the inspection system. Knowing the item's details would make the distribution of the rewards easier and fairer. But the most important reason was that the inspection fee was from a shared fund; after dividing it, it was an amount Nawa was willing to pay.
"Ding!" A familiar sound rang in Nawa's head again, and a message window immediately displayed the information.
(Mountain Wolf Demon Soul: Advanced Professional Level)
(Can be used to create summoned demons, enhance artifacts, and can also be consumed. Consuming it grants stats equivalent to eating more than ten mountain wolves, and there's a chance to gain certain skills depending on the player's basic mental power and physical condition.)
(Warning: Consuming this has a high chance of overwhelming the body with its power, resulting in injury or even death.) (With a 95% mortality rate. The mortality rate decreases when the player has high base physical stats.)
(Price is higher than 5 gold coins.)
"So it really is a demon soul," Nava said to himself.
Five years ago in the Forest of Snow, Nava had obtained demon souls of other monsters. He could guess that the Orb that dropped from the corpse of this Wolf Pack Leader was likely a demon soul as well.
The reason Nava paid so much for the examination was not only to confirm it, but also to find out how much a demon soul of a Wolf Pack Leader, a high-level Pro-level monster, was worth.
When he learned the price, Nava was shocked. It was equivalent to 5 golden energy crystals, or more than 5 million baht. If Nava wasn't a player, he might never see something like this in his entire life.
Nawa looked at the demon soul thoughtfully. This demon soul would more than double his current share of the money, which was very good news. But deep down, Nava desired to possess this demon soul.
Even though he currently lacked an artifact to enhance his power with the demon soul, or the ability to transform it into a summoned monster, simply having White Snake devour this soul would be more than worth it. It would be equivalent to consuming dozens of high-level, professional-grade monsters. The stat boosts would make Nawa significantly stronger than he is now.
Any ordinary player wouldn't choose this method, as the risk of devouring a demon soul is extremely high. If one's body isn't strong enough to withstand the power, there's a 95% chance of injury or even death. Even high-ranked players have a higher than 50% chance of dying.
Because of this, no one dared to devour a demon's soul to increase their stats. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, their body would be severely injured, potentially requiring months or even years of recovery.
But for Nawa, this wasn't a problem at all, as he possessed White Snake, capable of devouring dozens of monsters at once without any negative side effects on his body.
Nawa hesitated for a moment, finally deciding to accept the monetary reward. No matter how much he wanted to become stronger, he wanted his younger brother to fulfill his dream of studying at Asashi Academy, which required a large sum of money.
As he bent down to pick up the demon's soul, Nawa suddenly coughed up a large amount of blood. His limbs felt incredibly heavy, making it impossible to support his body.
"Thud!"Nawa's body crashed to the ground with a loud thud. His consciousness began to fade, and everything went dark.
"Brother Nawa's awake!" Ploi shouted anxiously. Nawa, who was lying on Ploy's soft lap, began to stir.
"What happened?" Nawa asked, gently massaging her head with her fingers, still with her eyes closed.
"You fainted, Ploy. It's probably because you pushed your mana beyond its limits, plus you suffered severe internal injuries. But don't worry, you're out of danger now," Ploy said, trying to sound normal, but her face was noticeably pale and bloodless.
When a player uses mana beyond their body's limits, their heart rate slows, and internal organs begin to malfunction. If not treated quickly, the internal organs can be severely injured, potentially leading to death.
Nawa had already suffered internal injuries from the wolf pack leader's attack, and then pushing her power beyond her mana limits exacerbated the injuries many times over.
Nawa's meditation skill, which allows her to absorb mana from the surrounding nature, can help reduce the severity of her internal injuries. However, if Ploy hadn't used her healing skill in time, the consequences would have been far worse. Nawa might have even died.
"Thank you," Nawa said, before sitting up and continuing with a serious expression.
"Why are you still here? You should have escaped when you had the chance."
"Because I was worried about you…" Ploy said hesitantly, lowering her head slightly in guilt. She knew this was due to her own stubbornness.
"Hmph… never mind. I'll forgive you this time. But remember, don't do this again next time. The Oneness is full of danger; we shouldn't make decisions based solely on emotions."
Nawa reprimanded Ploy directly. For some reason, Ploy, who never usually gave in, listened silently, like a child being reprimanded.
"Hey… if it weren't for Ploy, you'd be visiting the underworld by now! And you still have the nerve to say that?" Somchai shouted, interrupting with displeasure.
Even though he didn't get along with Ploy very well, she was still one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Asashi Academy, just like him. Being reprimanded was like being reprimanded himself as well.
"Somchai, shut your mouth. Is that how you should speak to someone who saved your life? You're tarnishing the reputation of the Four Heavenly Kings—no, the Asashi Institute!"
Natee interrupted in a harsh tone, causing Somchai, who wanted to argue, to swallow his words and not dare to speak.
Natee stepped in front of Nawa, bowed his head, and spoke in a polite and respectful tone:
"We will never forget the kindness you showed in saving our lives. If you need anything, please just tell us. We will do our best to repay your kindness."
Nawa smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. He thought to himself that the young man, though serious, was a better person than he had imagined. Nawa pondered for a moment before speaking:
"Do you know anything about the Sleeping Beauty Syndrome?"
Nawa thought that Natee and his friends might know something about how to treat his father's illness. After all, they came from high-ranking families, and their knowledge would be far greater than that of ordinary people.
Natee frowned slightly before speaking,
"Brother, you mean the mana allergy that causes people to fall into a coma, right?"
Nawa nodded, then recounted his father's illness to Natee and his friends. After listening, Natee lowered his head slightly before speaking in a sincere tone,
"Even though the Asashi Institute has been trying to find a cure for this disease for many years, as far as I know, there is no official cure."
"Officially?" Nawa repeated, narrowing his eyes slightly before saying,
"Does that mean there's an official cure?"
"Well, that's not entirely accurate. It's just a conspiracy theory. Last year, a patient suspected of having this disease had an accident on the way to the hospital. The patient died after doctors tried everything to save him. After about 30 minutes, they were able to revive him. After he recovered, he seemed to be cured of his mana allergy."
"Is that true?" Nawa asked again, his voice serious, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Although this matter wasn't publicly disclosed, there were many witnesses, especially the doctor who saved this patient's life: Professor Singlewin, the country's top surgeon and director of our Asashi Institute," Ploy interjected, confirming what Natee had said.
Professor Singlewin, besides being a world-renowned surgeon, is also one of the top 10 A-rank players in the country, the only Healer-class player to reach A-rank.
However, despite his fame, the theory of reviving the dead to cure a coma is severely against both law and morality. Professor Singlewin kept this secret, not daring to pursue further research. Only a few professors and students at the Asashi Institute knew about it.
After hearing the whole story, Nawa's eyes dimmed slightly, but he hadn't lost hope. In The Oneness, there were many items and wonders. Of course, there must be other things or methods to cure his father's illness. The problem is, how will Nawa find and possess them?
"We must be stronger,"
Nawa told himself, his eyes shining with intense determination. He realized that to obtain something that even the three biggest guilds in the country couldn't acquire, he needed power.
Having relieved about his father's illness, Nawa remembered another important matter.
"Did you guys collect the Wolf Pack Leader's demon soul?" Nawa asked, his face showing a hint of worry. He vaguely remembered losing consciousness before he could retrieve it.
"Don't worry, brother. We've already collected that demon soul," Natee said, extending his hand. In his palm appeared a ping-pong ball-sized orb, emitting a soft gray light. It was the Wolf Pack Leader's demon soul.
As Natee was about to hand the demon soul to Nawa... Nawa raised his hand in a gesture of refusal before speaking,
"Would you mind if I asked for my share of the hunt in energy crystals?"
Although the pack leader's demon soul was more than valuable enough to be used as Nawa's share and payment, it wasn't something that could be easily sold. Items and artifacts weren't like energy crystals, which could be easily exchanged for money. Most shops that bought items and artifacts were supported by guilds.
Nawa, who wasn't affiliated with a guild, would inevitably face the same price cuts he experienced when selling monster meat—a price reduction of more than half. Getting a good price would take time, but Nawa didn't have that much time to wait. Therefore, he wanted his share in energy crystals, which could be easily converted into money.
"Brother, you've misunderstood. We didn't intend to use the demon soul as our share of the hunt. We were just keeping it for you. As for your share of the hunt and the support team's payment, if you want energy crystals, we have no problem with that. But if you don't mind, we were wondering if we could buy the pack leader's meat from you?"
"I guarantee the purchase price won't be lower than the market price," Natee said, his eyes sparkling with hope.
"What do you mean?"
Nawa asked, narrowing his eyes and looking puzzled. Since this was a team hunt, Natee and his friends had equal rights to everything they hunted. Why were they talking as if the demon soul and the pack leader's meat belonged to Nawa?
Seeing Nawa's confused expression, Natee quickly explained:
"You probably haven't used the (Party) function for team hunting before, have you? This function offers several features to improve team hunting efficiency, such as displaying additional team member locations on the map or showing the HP status of team members. But the best support feature is the unfair distribution of hunt profits."
The most important thing in team hunting is teamwork, and the biggest problem that weakens teamwork to the point of failure is the unfair distribution of hunt profits. But this problem will disappear when players use the team function on their device.
Because the system in the player's device evaluates the team members' participation in the hunt and fairly distributes the catch to them. If any player refuses to distribute the catch as the system dictates, they will be punished.
The punishments range from fines and reputation reduction to even a "red head" status, depending on the severity of the offense. There are rumors of punishments even more severe than a red head status. Therefore, when players activate the (Party) function, they don't have to worry about being cheated.
Based on the system's evaluation of Nawa's contribution to the hunt, it was 72%. This means that besides the demon soul, the meat of the pack leader and the three guardian wolves are all his property.
Knowing he received such a large share, Nawa decided to keep the demon soul and sell the meat of the pack leader and the three guardian wolves to Natee and his friends.
Combined with the payment from the previous support team, Nawa acquired two golden energy crystals and dozens of silver ones. In monetary terms, that's more than 2.5 million baht. For a wealthy heir like Natee and his friends, this amount, while substantial, was insignificant. But for Nawa right now, it was far more than he had ever expected.