‘…… Skill awakening? I can gain more skills?’

The day has finally come. The day a monster wave erupts in the neighborhood where I live.

As far as I know, a monster wave broke out at Harvard College where Timothy attends, and once again at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

I switched to speakerphone so everyone could hear. Mr. Benjamin calmly conveyed the situation in his voice.

– As soon as a B-grade gate opened near Yale New Haven Hospital, a monster wave broke out. Fortunately, the military detected it early and is trying to suppress the dungeon, but many monsters have escaped to the coast.

“What’s the situation there? How about the power?”

– For now, the U.S. military is quickly forming teams to divide into a team to block the gate and a team to suppress the monster wave outside. High-level awakened are just gathering. This call is just in case Miss Juno is nearby……

Mr. Benjamin let out a short sigh over the receiver.

– I’m sorry, but could you help subdue the B-grade monsters that have appeared in that area? If possible, we’d like you to control the citizens to this vicinity.

“Yes, we’ll do it. Adrian and Allen are here too, and my elder brother Timothy Huntington is here as well.”

If it were an A-grade monster, I wouldn’t know, but the opponent is a B-grade monster. Although I haven’t faced them directly, I was confident because there were three S-grades around me.

‘Besides, the reward is skill awakening. I might get another skill in Mental Focus.’

I couldn’t just pass up this opportunity.

If similar quests keep coming up, wouldn’t it be wisest to take care of them now when there are many S-grades around?

Mr. Benjamin brightened at the mention of Timothy being here.

– Ah, Mr. Huntington was there. Then if possible, we’d like to request suppression of the monster wave. We plan to contact Teacher Gina and Victor as well. The reserve forces will also be deployed for suppression, so don’t worry. But as much as possible, it’s best to stick together and act. It’s dangerous, after all.

“Don’t worry. We won’t do anything dangerous. But even if we don’t know, Timothy is an adult and an S-grade awakened, so him entering the dungeon with us……”

“Absolutely not.”

The one who cut me off was Allen.

He glared at me with a pale face.

“None of us need to enter the dungeon. That’s the military’s job. We need to stay by your side. We can’t let our guard down even with B-grade monsters.”

“What?”

I looked at Allen, startled. This was the first time I’d seen Allen become so sensitive.

Then Timothy also shook his head firmly.

“Yeah, I can’t leave my little sister and enter a dungeon when a monster wave has erupted. I’ll stay here with you, Juno.”

“Huh? Ah, okay.”

Since Timothy spoke seriously, which was rare, I nodded my head hastily.

“Then the four of us will suppress the monster wave.”

– Yes, I’ll be counting on you then. Be careful.

Even Mr. Benjamin, who initially had a worried voice, seemed rather relieved upon hearing that Timothy and Allen were here.

Well, just based on grades, this team would indeed be stronger than a team hastily assembled from high-level U.S. military awakened.

‘This might even be a good thing. Our team members are S-grade, but because of the law, they’ve only been dealing with D-grade monsters. It might be a chance to raise the weight class.’

The call ended.

“As you heard from the call, it seems we’ll have to catch the B-grade monsters coming this way first and evacuate the citizens. We didn’t hear what kind of monsters they are, but……”

I said as I took out my mana bullet revolver from the inventory. Timothy and I simultaneously devoured the remaining ice cream.

That’s when Allen looked to the west.

It was exactly the direction of Yale New Haven Hospital.

“We’ll find out soon.”

Allen muttered softly as if he had sensed something.

Thud thud thud thud thud–.

Then, along with the feeling of all the hair on my body standing up, I heard the sound of something marching toward us from far away.

It was a grand footfall, almost like an army running. Our gazes all turned in the same direction at once.

Beyond the red brick single-story houses and tall oak trees. A well-maintained, spacious park. And in the distance on the street where people were walking around, something was approaching, stirring up dust.

A black and huge object. Fast speed.

When it revealed itself under the streetlights, I couldn’t help but scream.

“F-Fire ants!!”

The monster rapidly approaching us while crawling was none other than giant fire ants. Even while crawling, their height was comparable to a decent-sized building.

It was the first time in my life I had felt such terror.

I’m not afraid of ghosts that are invisible to the eye or cannot be caught.

The only thing I truly feared was the bugs that exist in this world!

I hated bugs more than death itself. It was almost a panic.

“The ants are coming toward us!”

“Calm down. They’re just monsters.”

“Ants are still ants!!”

I shouted. Moreover, I heard that fire ant bites hurt.

Then Allen narrowed his eyes and said.

“It’s better than giant flying cockroaches, isn’t it?”

“G-Giant cockroaches? That makes no sense. Why would such a thing be a dungeon monster……”

Then I abruptly cut off my words and looked up at Allen.

“…… Don’t tell me those things come out in dungeons? Giant cockroaches?”

My face immediately turned pale.

“Please don’t say that such a terrible existence is real in dungeons. Tell me it’s a lie. Please don’t say that cockroaches that are not only huge but also fast and can even fly exist in this world.”

Allen looked down at me with an expressionless face. He stared at me pleading for a moment, then turned his head toward the fire ants.

“Who knows.”

“What’s with that ambiguous answer…… Wait, don’t go. You have to answer before you go!”

Despite my cry, Allen ran ahead toward the monsters with agility.

I was in despair. It was the first time I felt fear toward dungeons.

* * *

Even though they came from a dungeon, ants are still ants. I tried to think calmly and took a deep breath.

‘If the ant’s habits remain, they’ll likely be the type to move in swarms rather than alone. Then the swarm of ants rushing to the coast right now might be all the monsters that have escaped from the gate.’

In that case, the suppression would be even easier. Unless some of them leaked out somewhere, we could catch them all at once here.

Meanwhile, people had already started running in the opposite direction upon seeing the swarm of giant fire ants.

“Aaaah! Monsters!”

“They’re monsters. Hurry and run!”

Screams and hurried footsteps. People rushing to run away as far and fast as possible.

The people’s reactions are more troublesome than the monsters themselves.

It was a hellish pandemonium. They must have only heard about monster waves through words or seen them on the news, and this was their first time experiencing it with their own bodies.

“Evacuate calmly. You might fall!”

I climbed onto a yellow taxi and shouted to the fleeing people. When people fall into a state of mass panic, additional casualties are common, not just from the monsters.

A quick glance showed that Allen and Timothy were already engaging the fire ants to prevent them from approaching further.

Perhaps B-grade fire ants were no match for S-grades.

However, their large size and large numbers were also a problem. Ants kept rushing in endlessly as if an anthill had been overturned.

As soon as one was dealt with, three more would swarm. Although we had the upper hand in ability, if they came with a numerical advantage, it would be difficult to suppress them in a short time.

We naturally split into a group suppressing the ants and a group leading and protecting the people.

“Adrian, create an ice wall so the ants can’t cross this block. We need to reassure the people.”

People were in a panic because the fire ants were charging at them. So it was necessary to physically separate the fire ants and civilians and block their line of sight.

Meanwhile, Adrian, who had been watching the people running away in the distance, flinched and raised his head.

“What did you just say?”

“I asked you to create an ice wall…… Is there a problem? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

“No, no.”

Adrian shook his head and immediately blocked off a street with a thick ice wall. A huge, opaque ice wall had risen from the asphalt.

At that moment, something crawled up onto a building near the evacuation route.

“Aaaah!”

People screamed upon seeing the giant ant that had crawled up the building.

A sturdy-looking red snout and feelers that seemed to be several dozen meters long were fumbling in the air.

It was so huge and creepy that I almost shed tears.

I aimed my mana bullet revolver at the ant.

But Adrian’s reaction was faster.

Before the ant could jump directly onto the road, a large iceberg shot up next to the evacuating people and swallowed the fire ant whole.

“Eek!”

“Huh, the ice…… Where did it come from?”

The fire ant was frozen stiff, preserved in the iceberg. People murmured in surprise at the iceberg that had suddenly risen.

“Adrian, well done!”

“……”

Adrian was silent.

Since it was near a university, there were many people. Office workers and mart employees who had just noticed the commotion and come out joined in. People began running, jostling each other on the narrow roads where cars were parked here and there.

“Adrian, we have to stop the monsters coming toward the people. Can you do it?”

“……”

“Adrian?”

For some reason, I felt uneasy. Adrian was gradually losing his words.

Is Adrian also scared of the giant fire ants? It doesn’t seem like it……

Adrian looked at his palm and clenched his fist tightly.

“……”

I caught a glimpse of his complexion turning pale.