The owner of the rune arrived at the bag just in time, quickly looking around. As I took in that scene and sprinted another 30 meters, my stealth began to fade slowly.
(Let’s go, Il-wol!)
Following Yeon-hee’s urgent hand gestures, I ran again, trying to stay out of their line of sight as much as possible. We finally came to a stop after putting some distance between us and reached a safe area.
“Hah… Hah…”
“Pfft! What the heck, this is hilarious, hahahah!”
She couldn’t help but snicker as she caught her breath, covering her mouth as she giggled.
Rune of Vitality (Common)
– Health +4
‘It’s really a low-grade rune…’
Such a pitiful stat, but hey, it’s better than nothing.
I held out the rune, which shimmered with a crimson light, for her to see.
“Puhuhuh… Hm? Ah, a rune!”
She seemed amazed as she turned the rune around in her hands for a while before handing it back to me.
“You should hold onto this for now.”
Nodding—
I was ready to accept it, but thankfully, she passed the ownership to me. As I pictured the rune storage in my inventory, the rune I held began to dim and disappeared.
Health: 7(+4)
My health had more than doubled in an instant.
‘At least it’s a bit better now.’
“Just in case, let’s head in the opposite direction from where those people were.”
Nodding again—
After moving for about 20 more minutes, we arrived at a place where Earth Puppies were clustered together.
“They’re so cute…”
These puppy-shaped monsters were munching on grass together. They looked very much like rural mixed-breed puppies and, being about medium-sized, were the only omnivorous monsters in the dungeon.
Surprisingly, they didn’t run away even when approached, sticking their tongues out and rustling around in a way that made it hard to consider them as something to kill.
The fact that whether one could kill an Earth Puppy was even mentioned in the Hunter practical exam made it clear they were just adorable creatures. However, their long, curved claws made it difficult; if attacked, they would burrow into the ground like moles, so it was essential to take them down in one hit to avoid wasting time.
“Let’s just leave the Earth Puppies alone.”
‘As expected… she’s not going to kill them. She was like this since she was little.’
As I quietly observed, she spoke again.
“It’s just… suddenly attacking while they’re eating feels a bit…”
‘Don’t make excuses to the summoned creature.’
Earth Puppies inhabit every dungeon, and I had no memory of her ever killing those cute creatures in my past life.
But she only showed affection for that one, while having no mercy for the other monsters. I found her demeanor quite endearing, so I remained quiet.
“Let’s take a short break. Here, sit.”
She pointed to a rock that seemed just right for sitting.
‘She really treats me like a baby.’
Soon I found myself sitting calmly beside her.
I felt her gazing up at me as if she found me fascinating. If it were before I died, I would have been a bundle of nerves with such a beautiful woman so close; but now, I, a mere skeleton, couldn’t show any physical reaction.
‘It’s pretty convenient at times like this.’
And for today, rather than reacting to her, I decided to focus on my surroundings, staying loyal to my mission.
“Really fascinating. No matter how I think about it, you seem… like a person… too much to be considered a monster.”
‘Um, that’s not good…’
She got closer to me, inspecting parts of my skeleton, and I wondered if she didn’t feel any aversion to seeing a skeleton up close.
Pfft—
“Puhahaha! What am I saying?”
She couldn’t help but chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand. But seeing her like this didn’t amuse me.
‘Hmm… I need to maintain my balance here.’
I knew she had developed a terrible mistrust of humans due to her troubled family background since she was little.
Dad, Step-Dad, Uncle, Brother.
Abuse, alcohol, gambling, fraud.
The appalling behaviors of a family that required no explanation. Still, it was a relief that her mother, with her kind nature, had a considerable impact on her.
But after her mother died, life in the guild she joined wasn’t likely to have been very happy.
People likely whispered behind her back, calling her unlucky because of her appearance and the fact that she commanded monsters, so she probably understood that much.
Nevertheless, she resisted the Dungeon Break with everything she had, believing it was her mother’s last wish, a belief she sought to fulfill.
Anyway, if she discovers that I’m human, she might never summon me again.
‘That would be troublesome… worse than death.’
I had once pondered whether we could communicate through written notes, but dismissed that thought long ago.
For now, I should pretend to obey commands as best as I could.
“In fact, I like that more. I don’t have friends, but it feels like I finally have one! A friend who only looks at me! Isn’t that amazing?”
……
‘Indeed, I can only look at you. Besides…’
Since earlier, I picked up something in my senses—a hefty branch above where we were sitting.
It moved so slowly that I considered just watching it, but now it seemed it had its sights set on Yeon-hee.
A slime.
A translucent, amorphous monster.
It could stretch its body and crawl along thin branches somehow. It would reach above Yeon-hee’s head in about 30 seconds. I had always wondered how this pathetic dungeon would end up wounding someone.
‘For sure… It probably wouldn’t expect an attack during the day up on a branch like this.’
Warnings about slimes hanging from dungeon ceilings appear in Hunter theory exams, but the circumstances we were in were unheard of.
A slime climbing a tree? It’s always been a creature that prefers dark, damp places, so seeing it out in broad daylight was outside my expectations.
‘I thought my presence might have disrupted the future, but is what’s meant to happen going to happen?’
As I contemplated the meaning of my actions, I felt a chill in my mind.
‘Hmph! This is ridiculous.’
It was my job to prevent what was meant to happen from happening. First, let’s deal with the immediate danger.
At present, I could only shrug my shoulders or nod my head, and lift my arm.
I felt like my range of movement had expanded slightly with my level increase, but it wasn’t significant enough to matter at this point. I desperately pointed upward, making a sound.
“Clap, Clap!”
“Huh? What’s up there?”
‘That’s right! Quickly check it out. It should be simple, right?’
However, she looked up for a moment and shrugged.
“Nothing there?”
‘What?! That can’t be!’
I craned my neck again to look up, and that sly slime had stretched its body to hide on the branch. It was registered in my senses but invisible to human eyes.
‘I thought the slime’s intelligence being at a five-year-old level was nonsense.’
It seemed that when I pointed at it and made noise, it decided to conceal itself.
‘Damn, I need to move fast.’
Despite my growing anxiety, she kept poking the Earth Puppy, clearly not going anywhere soon.
‘Her strength is too low to do anything. I need to figure out a way to stop it…’
At that moment, just as I settled my thoughts—
Suru-ru-rl! Gulp-
‘It’s starting.’
The slime twisted its body and unleashed a stream of acid. Soon it would surely spray the foul acid right on Yeon-hee’s face.
Phew phew phew—!
Splat-! Sizzlestir—!
“Ahhh! W-What is that?!”
I threw my right arm over her head, summoned three rough wooden clubs from my inventory, and wrapped my left arm above her head.
Truthfully, I intended to push her down, but my miserable strength could only bring her head forward slightly.
Fortunately, all the acid splashed onto my arms and clubs, sizzling efficiently while I hastily pointed upwards to her.
“Clap, Clap!”
“Huh? S-Slime?!”
She quickly pulled back and began preparing an arrow.
The slime, having missed its chance, rapidly moved toward the tree.
Thwack—
Crunch—!
Gulp—
One arrow burst through half of the branch and lodged itself right into the slime. But the slime was a monster that received barely any damage from physical attacks unless its core was destroyed.
‘First, let’s knock it off the branch. Will that work?’
I clutched the acid-sizzling wooden club.
Dagger Throwing Lv.1
– Attack Power +5% when throwing a dagger, Hit Rate +20%
– +15% Hit Rate when throwing any object
‘Not bad.’
I wondered why goblins didn’t utilize such an excellent skill. I hurled the club toward the branch.
Snap—!
‘One more time.’
Wwhoosh—
Crunch—!
The club skimmed along, narrowly breaking the branch, and the slime fell along with it.
Thud—
Health: 5/7 (-2)
‘Come on, just because I got splashed by some acid my health goes down by 2? My body is really trash. Is it worse since I’m just a skeleton?’
‘Skeletons can be injured’ is practically a passive effect in my case.
“Good job, Il-wol! Now finish it off! Just hit the black orb that’s bouncing inside of it!”
Nodding—
She aimed again at the fallen slime, shooting another arrow into it. The slime hastily shifted its core to the opposite side.
With no eyes, somehow it knew exactly where the attack was coming from.
And the core that shifted to avoid the arrow would then hover in place for a while, so I brought the club down, aiming at it with all my might.
Magic Power: 0/6 (-1)
All my magic was cashed out, but the impact was precise.
The slime’s body, once whole, began to ooze its fluid onto the ground, and a message popped up.
– You have defeated Slime (Common).
– You have gained a small amount of experience.
– You have obtained a Low-Rank Mana Stone. The Mana Stone will be transferred to the Summoner’s inventory.
– Trait [Thievery] has been activated.
– You will randomly steal a skill from Slime (Common).
– You have acquired the skill [Acid Spray]!
– Your level has increased. Choose three stats to raise.
‘Yes!!’
I clenched my fist involuntarily and cheered internally.
I couldn’t let my guard down until we were out of the dungeon, but judging by this situation alone, I had undoubtedly changed her fate.
‘Alright, I’ll handle the stat investment later.’
A small mana stone floated up from the slime’s remains and flew directly to Yeon-hee, while I picked up the slime’s core, severed in two.
‘This should at least be worth 1000 won.’
I handed the slime core to Yeon-hee; she tucked it into her leather pouch and suddenly hugged me tightly.
‘…?!’
“Thank you so much, Il-wol! If it weren’t for you, I might have gotten really hurt! You even warned me…”
‘……….’
Crack-crack—
‘Wait, isn’t this a bit too tight?!’
I peeked at my status screen again.
Health: 6/7 (-1)
‘It really lost 1 health?! Th-That’s enough.’
Even though my health had refilled with my level increase, it had certainly decreased from being hugged by her.
“Clap, Clap!”
“Huh? Ah! Sorry! I almost dropped an egg! Are you okay?”
I didn’t react and remained silent.
‘In this timing, I should control it and act like a monster. I am a monster. I am a monster.’
Chanting that to myself, I observed her reactions.
But she didn’t seem to pay much attention to me, instead examining my right arm affected by the acid.
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