Monster Hunter: I can hear the monsters' thoughts

Chapter 372 Next Plan
Although Lin Lin didn't chat with Kevin much, he quickly noticed that his master seemed to have a strange competitive spirit, always comparing himself to Julius, from the speed of advancement to the time it took to complete a mission, and even their respective disciples...

When Lin Lin first developed "Fully Charged Counterattack", Kevin was grinning from ear to ear all day long, he was so happy. Later Lin Lin learned that it was because he, as his disciple, had achieved more than Aiden.

Although this was their first formal meeting, they had both heard about each other from their respective masters and had a preliminary understanding of each other, so they quickly became acquainted.

After chatting for a while, Lin Lin finally couldn't help but ask:
"Speaking of which, what star level are you now?"

Lin Lin looked at Aiden's outfit, which was so basic it was practically a beginner's outfit, and asked with a puzzled expression.

A top newcomer should at least have "top" in their name; they can't possibly still be a complete newcomer, right? Considering that this flower mentioned Aiden at the beginning, and the incident where her master Kevin went to defeat the Broken-Horned Lunastra, it can be basically confirmed that the time when Sunshine Bro debuted as a hunter is roughly the same as when I became one, about half a year ago.

With Sunshine Bro's talent, after half a year, even if he didn't advance to five stars like me, he should at least have advanced to three or four stars.
"Four stars. My master told me to take some time to mature before aiming for five stars."

"Then how did you..."

When Aiden noticed Lin Lin's gaze fixed on his armor and the conspicuous blue Velociraptor shield, he suddenly realized what was going on. He placed the blue Velociraptor shield on the table, his eyes filled with a hint of reminiscence.

"This is the weapon I used in my first real battle..."

Lin Lin understood. "So this is just equipment you kept for your collection?"

"Yes, they accompanied me through that unforgettable battle. Keeping them is also to help me remember the lessons learned from that time."

A lesson learned? It must have been that battle with Lunastra...

Speaking of which, Sunshine Bro's background is quite tragic. When he was seven years old, his village suffered a calamity, and he was the only survivor. He managed to escape to another village to grow up, but then he encountered the migration of the Flame Dragon. Not only did two of the five-person resistance team die, but they also temporarily washed away the enemy by opening the floodgates. As a result, the village was destroyed...

Just thinking about it makes you realize how painful that battle was for Aiden.

Aiden didn't dwell on the past for long; he quickly snapped out of it and turned to look at Lin Lin:
"And what about you? The materials for your equipment... seem to be from Zinogre, right? And this Charge Blade, if I'm not mistaken, should be a Diablos Charge Blade? To be able to wear this equipment, you must be at least a five-star, right?"

Lin Lin looked down at himself, raising an eyebrow in slight surprise. He wasn't surprised that Aiden recognized the Diablos Charge Blade, since Diablos materials were quite easy to identify. He just didn't expect that Aiden would recognize the Zinogre material, even though the guild had only officially discovered Zinogre less than half a year ago... It seems that besides training, Aiden has also studied a lot of information on various monsters.

"I only recently advanced in rank, and the materials for this Thunder Wolf Dragon armor set were mainly obtained under special circumstances. I also had to team up to defeat the Diablos. Strictly speaking, I haven't had any experience hunting five-star monsters solo yet..."

Lin Lin and Aiden did not deliberately lower their voices during their conversation, so the hunters around them could hear them to some extent. Upon hearing Lin Lin's self-deprecating remarks, everyone around them leaned back in a gesture of respect.

Sure enough, you could tell from his appetite that he's a real beast! While they were still meticulously preparing for an opponent of the caliber of the Great Jaggi Sheep Kuku, he had already set his sights on the King of the Solo Hunting Map!
I thought the top rookie was already incredibly talented, but I never expected there was someone even more valiant than him. Whose subordinate is this?

A group of drunken hunters around them, eager for a good show, started howling and jeering, wanting to see the two talented monsters fight. Unfortunately, Aiden didn't give them what they wanted; he just gave Lin Lin a thumbs up, his expression full of admiration.

"Haha, no wonder Master always gives me extra training. Looks like I need to step up my game and try to catch up with you sooner!"

"Oh, not at all. I was able to advance so quickly because I was forced to by pressure. Back then, Jieyun Village faced a major crisis, and in order to protect the village, I had no choice but to push myself to train hard... Now that the crisis is over, I'm planning to relax a bit!"

"It seems that pressure really is the best motivation..."

Aiden shook his head and let out a long sigh.

Aiden gulped down the entire glass of ale in one go, slammed the glass down on the table, and let out a long sigh.

"It's decided, I'm going to challenge the fire dragon!"

"Eh?"

Lin Lin was stunned. Dude, was this decision made a little too hastily?
Didn't you just say you needed to let things settle down?
Seeing Lin Lin's shocked expression, Aiden shook his head, both amused and exasperated.

"I didn't say I was leaving now."

He leaned back slightly, turning his gaze toward the mission counter:

"Actually, I've been reflecting for quite a while now, and I've been thinking about when to officially challenge for the five-star level and which monster would be the most suitable to challenge then."

"I'm a top newcomer, and if I hesitate any longer, the gap between me and my mentor will only widen. I don't want to disappoint my mentor!"

Lin Lin breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, I almost thought you were going to rush over and accept the commission."

Do I look like the kind of person who acts impulsively and doesn't think things through?

Lin Lin didn't say anything, just quietly looked at Aiden.

Aiden scratched his head, his tone less assertive. Before studying under Julius, he seemed to have truly been that kind of person; in fact, if it weren't for his recklessness, those two wouldn't have died...

"Okay, maybe a little, but I've changed it now!"

Having studied under his master for so long, he has also worked hard to temper his character!
Okay, okay, I've changed it.

Lin Lin nodded repeatedly, at least outwardly believing Aiden's words completely.

After chatting for a while longer, seeing that Aiden seemed a little restless, Lin Lin took the initiative to speak:
"I just arrived in East Doruma and haven't moved my activity location here yet. Shall we go check out the quest counter?"

The meeting place in Dongdoruma is very large, with 70% of the space dedicated to the tavern's dining area. However, this does not mean that the area for the quest counter has been reduced. In fact, the quest counter in Dongdoruma is much more spacious than that in Lokrak, and there are three mascots responsible for greeting customers.

While Lin Lin was registering, Aiden asked the mascot to help him filter hunting commissions. Although his target was the five-star Rathalos, if there were no urgent commissions, he could only continue to accumulate the number of four-star missions he had completed and apply for promotion assessment after reaching a sufficient number of commissions.

Lin Lin's paperwork was processed quickly. When he got his Hunter's Notebook back, he saw Aiden still struggling to choose which commission to accept.

"Aren't there any urgent missions?" "There aren't that many urgent missions... Sigh, I guess I'll have to look for a four-star mission. Let me see... I'm still two missions short of being eligible for promotion assessment?"

Lin Lin leaned over and took a look. He had to admit that it was indeed the headquarters of the Dongdoruma Guild. The number of commissions they had was far beyond what Jieyun Yanhuo or even Lokrak could match.

Transforming Ice Shark, Cobra, Night Bird, Rathian, Scyther Crab, Black Wolf Bird, Strange Dragon...

Many of these monsters were ones that Lin Lin himself had never encountered before. As he looked at them, he couldn't help but become interested and wanted to challenge them as well.

"Huh? The Peach-haired Beast King is only rated four stars?"

This pink-haired gorilla is good at playing thesis defense, but it's probably actually pretty bad, right? It can't be that it was downgraded to four stars because hunters don't want to fight it, because it's so easy to kill.

"Let me see... Hmm... Is the location in Metape Forest? That's quite close, just southwest of East Doruma, about seven days round trip."

"Then take this!"

Seeing Aiden resolutely and decisively choose the Peach-haired Beast King, Lin Lin was filled with awe.

If there's one four-star monster that Lin Lin wouldn't even want to touch, it's definitely the Peach-haired Beast King. He'd rather fight the Black Madman Black Wolf Bird for three hundred rounds than try hunting this ultimate dung monster.

Aiden had chosen his mission and was about to go back to prepare supplies before setting off. So he said goodbye to Lin Lin and left the tavern.

Although Lin Lin was also itching to take on one or two commissions, he had only been in the area for a short time and didn't even know where he lived. So he had to suppress his impulse and wait and see if he could ask the guild's management about the whereabouts of his companions.

Before he could even speak, a quick glance revealed that as Aiden emerged from the door, a group of three people, along with a Palico, entered. The female hunter in the lead was enthusiastically introducing the others:
"This is the meeting place in Dongdoruma. Hunters call it the tavern. Lower-ranking hunters gather here. If you want to register, go to the quest counter over there—wait, what's up?"

As Ziyuan was speaking, she suddenly stopped talking. Yezi was wondering what was wrong. Following her gaze, she saw Lin Lin waving at them with a gentle smile on his lips.

Lin Lin couldn't help but marvel at his good luck in running into his teammates again at the pub.

Now that they had reunited, Lin Lin was no longer in a hurry. He simply sat back down at the round table and ordered another super deluxe set meal.

They had just finished eating, but Ye Zi and the others had been busy all day and were starving. The food here was quite good, so they decided to fill their stomachs here.

The four sat around a round table, and Yezao also brought a chair and stood up. Everyone was probably starving, so they started wolfing down their food without even talking.

After a while, the group, having eaten and drunk their fill, rubbed their bellies, leaned back in their chairs, and let out a satisfied sigh.

Lin Lin held his glass and took a sip of ale:
"So, during our time in Dongdoruma, we stayed at Shion's place?"

Ziyuan slumped unceremoniously in the chair, picking her teeth with a toothpick.
"Don't worry, my place isn't very big, but it's enough for the four of us. Jumpy Guga and the others can squeeze in too."

Brave popped a berry into his mouth, bit into it, and the juice burst out:
"Why would someone rent a hunter's cabin when they have a big villa to live in? Do you think it's too cramped?"

Lin Lin shrugged: "I have no objection."

After Ye Zi finished eating, she took out honey bait to feed Xiao Jia, while also joining in the conversation:

“Brother Lin Lin, I checked when I was packing. There’s plenty of space. The four floors are more than enough to live in. Zi Yuan said that apart from the two rooms on the first floor that are reserved for storing materials and ammunition, we can allocate the other three floors as we like.”

Shion raised her hand and added:
"I forgot to mention earlier, I want to stay on the top floor so I can look at the stars through the skylight at night!"

Lin Lin smirked, "Whatever, I'll take it. Just assign me the remaining rooms. I haven't even been to the site yet."

After a moment's thought, Yoko said, "Then I'll stay on the third floor."

Bref shrugged: "If two rooms and a kitchen are reserved on the first floor, then I'll have to live on the second floor with Old Lin."

Lin Lin said he didn't care. As a hunter, he could sleep peacefully in the wild, sleeping on the ground and under the sky. He didn't care at all about the room assignments.

He was concerned about something else:

"Now that we've found a place to stay, shouldn't we start thinking about our next steps? Like hunting, hunting, and more hunting?"

Bref nodded in agreement. As a four-and-a-half-star hunter, he had long wanted to fill in the half-star gap, but unfortunately, he had not been able to take on any suitable missions. Although he, as a four-and-a-half-star hunter, could take on five-star missions with Lin Lin and the others without seeming to be hindered, the feeling of being inexplicably half a head shorter was really unpleasant.

Ziyuan has a slightly different opinion:
"Perhaps, besides hunting, we could have some other plans, like going on a trip or something?"

Ziyuan is known to Lin Lin and others for her recklessness, thrill-seeking, and love of playing games.

Considering that their accommodations were provided by Comrade Ziyuan, the three exchanged glances but did not say anything in rebuttal.

Of course, no one expressed agreement.

In the end, Ye Zi summarized everyone's opinions:

"Hunting is important, but you can't just fight all the time, or you'll put too much strain on your mind. Shion just mentioned traveling, and I have an idea about that."

Lin Lin and Breve simultaneously gestured for him to enter, while Zi Yuan listened attentively with anticipation.

"How about we specifically choose quests that are far from East Doruma? After completing the hunt, we can rest for a while in the local village or city. It's a perfect balance of work and rest. What do you all think?"

(End of this chapter)