After investing in strength, agility, and magic power, I moved next to Yeon-hee. Thanks to the rune, my health had increased by 7, and I felt quite sturdy. The rush of power I felt the moment I activated the rune was a different kind of thrill compared to leveling up.
A little while later…
We had defeated all the goblins, and suddenly, a glow of excitement spread across everyone’s faces.
‘Looks like we got the achievement for defeating 100 enemies…’
Of course, the achievement didn’t extend to the summoned creatures, but Yeon-hee surely would have received it. And after that brief warmth, we were back to the grim atmosphere of post-battle cleanup.
A total of 12 people had died, with 3 critically injured, and the remaining 15 weren’t exactly in good shape either. Among the critically injured was Hwang Cheol.
“First, let’s move the injured. The deceased can be taken care of by those with inventory space.”
Following the instruction of the shield-bearing Hunter, who had the next most influence after Hwang Cheol, people began to move.
“Oh, and you’re the summoner? Nice to meet you. I saw your interview on YouTube, but anyway, give me that rune the skeleton ate quickly. We have places to go.”
His tone didn’t suggest any doubt that the rune would be handed over to them. Since he led the battle and suffered losses, it was somewhat expected. Yeon-hee didn’t seem keen on keeping the rune for herself, either.
“Il-wol, can you give me the rune?”
…
“Il-wol, take the rune out of your inventory.”
………
“Um… I, I command the skeleton soldier Il-wol to… give me the low-rank rune—”
……….
“Hey, hey, what’s the deal here? This isn’t the time to joke around. Hurry up and give me the rune! Can’t you see we’re busy?!”
“Sorry… he’s not responding to me…”
“What? Who’s fooling around?”
“Hey, I think that person has just recently gone through a second awakening and isn’t accustomed to controlling it yet, so let’s not be too harsh.”
“What’s your problem? People have died, and you’re trying to butt in.”
“It’s not butting in—”
The atmosphere grew tense as another man interrupted from the side, and I tight-gripped Yeon-hee’s hand.
“Huh? No, Il-wol… you need to stay here now.”
I wasn’t holding her to escape, but it seemed she misunderstood. Eventually, after over 20 minutes of back-and-forth, we exchanged contact information and wrote a note agreeing to hand over the low-rank rune later.
‘At least we didn’t get into a physical fight.’
I thought of the worst-case scenario, but thankfully that didn’t happen. Maybe it was because there were rational mediators?
Anyway, most of the hunters had already left for the entrance, and only the two of us sat nearby, dazed.
“Il-wol… why aren’t you giving me the rune?”
………
“Sigh… I don’t know either. Oh dear—”
Thump—
She flopped back, looking up at the sky. It was something one should never do inside a dungeon, but since we were in a goblin-infested area, there shouldn’t be significant danger for a while.
“They kept saying things like… why did I enter the dungeon if I can’t control my summoned creature?”
‘Hmm— I do feel a bit sorry… but that’s what I want.’
I was sure the hunters who had entered would spread information about Yeon-hee. That she was a summoner who couldn’t control her summoned creatures or was pretending not to so she could steal runes. It must be frustrating for her.
I needed to continue planting the image of a summoner with uncontrollable summons in Jo Gi-man’s head. If he hears such news, he will undoubtedly smile. That should decrease his wariness a bit.
‘Once we achieve the quest, I’ll hand over the rune immediately, so after that, there shouldn’t be significant complaints from them.’
In any case, within less than four hours of entering the dungeon, we had defeated over 20 goblins, and we had received plenty of assistance in that regard. Yeon-hee’s level was likely up as well.
‘If we go about 3 or 4 more times, we’ll achieve the goblin quest easily.’
“I don’t know! I helped a lot, and they’re asking for the rune without saying thank you! I’m a little upset too!”
*Clap, Clap, Clap!*
“Right? Il-wol is upset too, so he’s not giving over the rune, right?”
*Clap, Clap, Clap!*
“Hmph! I said I’d give it within 15 days, so I’ll give it only after that period!”
The idea of revenge being so cute made me want to pinch her cheeks.
“Let’s rest for five minutes and then start again. We’ve gotten past the biggest hurdle today, so I think the remaining time will go smoothly.”
And her words became reality. An hour before it got dark, we defeated another 10 goblins by the entrance, raking in 250,000 won for the day.
…
…
…
When I got home, Yeon-hee, who summoned me back, seemed to have just finished showering, her hair still damp.
‘Doesn’t my body smell?’
That thought crossed my mind suddenly, so I focused on my senses and held a bone to my nose to sniff it, but thankfully it was odorless. She had laid something on the floor and was blowing air through her nose at me, which was…
‘Fried chicken.’
Maybe it was because today’s earnings were quite good? It was a basic style of fried chicken, but given her circumstances, she must have splurged a bit to buy it.
She had already accumulated a lot of debt because of her deceased mother’s hospital bills.
“After coming out of the dungeon today, that Hwang Cheol guy? The one from his guild gave me some rewards!”
It seemed that the guild leader of the guild Hwang Cheol belonged to had offered a small compensation along with a subtle scout proposal to Yeon-hee, who had contributed significantly in battle.
‘If we hadn’t backed them up from the rear, they would have run away at the right time, and there wouldn’t have been as many deaths.’
But to those who didn’t know the circumstances, it would appear as if Yeon-hee had striven to save people when she had no connections. Even though she hadn’t returned the low-rank rune because it was consumed by her summon.
Anyway, of course, I declined the guild leader’s proposal, but seeing that the place to retrieve the low-rank rune was the guild’s building, it seemed they hadn’t given up yet.
“He gave me a whopping 1 million won! Oh my gosh!”
‘Not too much, not too little, just the right amount.’
I could somewhat guess the image of this guild leader. He probably didn’t give exactly a million won because he was short on cash; more likely, he was trying to generate some interest while avoiding putting the White Knight Guild in a bad spot.
“So I thought, let’s treat myself to some chicken! Il-wol, do you want to try some?”
‘… Is she serious?’
Ah— open your mouth ah—
‘She’s serious.’
When I commanded her to open her mouth, her jaw had somehow dropped. She cut a piece of chicken into small bits and offered it to me.
But…
Thud—
“Oops— is it no good after all… Why is it that the acidic liquid works but this doesn’t…?”
If that was the case, it would be worth a try. Yeon-hee, as if surrendering, started shaking a chicken leg in front of me and began eating it deliciously.
And…
Chomp chomp— crunch— crackle—!
Wang-wang was happily chewing on the goblin bones I had brought along.
‘Even though I’m dead, where does he come from?’
Crunch crunch—
He chewed aggressively with his cheeks puffed up, and though it was nothing much, there was entertainment in watching it.
‘I never understood why people watched eating shows, but is this how it feels?’
Sitting blankly, I watched Yeon-hee and the puppy eat while reflecting on the battle from today.
‘The main problem, after all, is the frail body.’
Getting lightly bumped into by the boss goblin lost me 15% of my health, which was quite shocking in itself.
‘I think I need armor…’
It wasn’t just a simple issue of low health. The damage coming from the factors acting on my body structure showed results as damage caused by far more complex factors than those visible stats.
I needed armor to securely hold and protect this body made entirely of bones. To obtain that, I had to move to the next dungeon quickly.
‘A bore leather should be sufficient for a while.’
With both Yeon-hee and I’s stats climbing steeply, our goblin hunting speed would only increase. We should be able to find bore leather in the next dungeon.
‘But what about that low-rank transformation? I would have to eat monster bones to convert it into mana stones, I suppose.’
I tried chewing on one of the goblin leg bones, but even then, all it did was scatter crumbs on the ground without absorbing at all.
‘Well— if I can’t use it now, there’s nothing to be done. Here, you can have it.’
Whoosh—
Wang-! Hek hek-!
I tossed a bone I had taken with me, and Wang-wang expressed his gratitude by wagging his tail vigorously, munching it happily, and I sensed some changes occurring in Wang-wang’s sensory stats. I quickly blocked Yeon-hee’s view just in case.
“Huh? Why, Il-wol?”
Wang-wang… grr…
“Ah— is Wang-wang possibly?!”
The fluffy white ball began squirming, curling itself up even rounder, and started to strain.
‘Is he just going to poop…?’
“Wang-wang, hang in there!”
Not knowing what was going on, I cheered on Wang-wang, who began extracting something from his tail.
‘I knew there was a hole at the end of his tail, but is that what it does?’
Amazingly, what he expelled from his tail was a mana stone.
“Wow! Wang-wang! Oh my gosh!”
I was just as shocked.
‘Does that mean if we catch a bunch of ground dogs and feed them monster corpses, we’ll make a fortune?’
Of course, I’d have to evaluate the efficiency, but it didn’t look too bad at this point.
“It’s small, but still, I bet I can sell it for at least 2,000 won?!”
Though it was a small amount compared to the effort, who could complain about that?
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