Still, I felt relieved knowing that she wasn’t sticking around the White Knight Guild for some other reason.
“To travel, I’ve got to increase my magic power first!”
“Hmm? Why’s the connection like that?”
“Il-wol is fine, but Wang-wang still consumes mana to maintain!”
“I need to save up money to buy an artifact that boosts mana recovery speed or craft some equipment!”
“Hmm… It shouldn’t take that much magic power to maintain just that one Earth Puppy.”
“I saw someone on YouTube walking nine Welsh Corgis, and it was so cute! If I want to do that too, I need to increase my magic power.”
*Tap-tap-tap*
I couldn’t help but shut my mouth in disbelief at such a ridiculous thought. Imagining that little Wang-wang with nine others… just thinking about it brought an overwhelming scene to mind.
“But surely, they must have their reasons for saying such things…”
Hehehe—look at how chubby our Wang-wang is!
Wang-wang—! Hek hek hek—
“…No, I can’t let this go on. I need to get a grip.”
While lost in thoughts of the two of them having fun, I focused on training body parts that were sensing and thought about where we would go next after the goblin dungeon.
“Next should be the Big Boar Dungeon. Big Boar, Goblins, Slimes, Earth Puppies…”
It’s a place where wild boars with giant tusks compete against goblins for supremacy, and this dungeon was also a single-layer one.
“If we go there, I can probably find that thing.”
Some dungeons often have hidden passages, and that dungeon was one of them.
“There are places that can only be detected with a sense stat of 15 or higher.”
Sense stats are quite rare from the start. I know that there are less than a hundred holders in our country, and aside from a few, including myself, they were all early awakened ones.
However, during the early days, when dungeons were bursting open and the effort was fully focused on stopping monsters, they couldn’t afford to invest in sense stats.
By the time they realized the usefulness of sense, most had already turned into monsters beyond human limits and couldn’t enter newly created low-grade dungeons.
Hunters with stats significantly higher than the monsters in their dungeons cannot enter.
Most sense awakened ones, excluding the early awakened ones, start with a natural stat between 1 to 5.
But I was something of a talent in that field, possessing sense stats over 20 since my awakening, which allowed me to scour even the lowest dungeons thoroughly, and I naturally knew many hidden spots.
“When I started searching, there were already quite a few hidden spaces, so I might have discovered even more by now.”
That was a year after my awakening.
The problem was how to lead Yeon-hee to that place. Naturally, many hidden spots are far from the regular routes.
“Maybe I could just forcefully change direction and check it out?”
Won’t she follow and ask, “What’s over there?”
It seemed a bit self-serving to think that way, yet judging by the way she was lying on the ground, it seemed possible.
– Hahihit, Wang-wang’s tongue is so scratchy hehehe.
– Wang-wang! Hek hek— hack hack—
“The world is peaceful.”
I thought about how I needed to find an item that could raise her magic power for her mental health.
“Ah! My magic…! Wang-wang, I’ll call you again later, so stay in for a bit, okay?”
“Kiiing— kiiiing—”
“Sniff sniff— I’m sad too.”
“Ah, you’re just Romeo and Juliet, huh?”
In an instant, I was fuming inside after being stripped of the title of favorite summoned creature by Wang-wang, but it was funny to feel that way about a dog. Suddenly, Wang-wang ran up to me and greeted me.
Has this little guy finally recognized a superior?
Wait a moment, how can this little guy roam so freely? Anyway, the creature that approached me looked at me with a meaningful gaze.
“Hmm?! Is this little guy?!”
As I slowly began to sense Wang-wang’s intentions, I felt a bit incredulous.
“Wang-wang!”
*Clap-clap-!*
“Wow! Friendship between summoned creatures! I have to capture this in a photo! Hold on!”
It might have looked that way to Yeon-hee, but in reality…
[One day, I will chew on your bones.]
[Hmph! Rookie, you’re still far from it.]
That was the kind of vibe it had.
In the end, after taking a few pictures with Wang-wang in my arms, the audacious puppy’s summon was dismissed, leaving just the two of us in the room. After a moment of being dazed, she pulled something out of her inventory again.
*Rattle-rattle—*
“Hmm?! There was another summoning scroll? And it’s a different color?”
“Hehehe— I got it for achieving the 100-person battle achievement! The earlier summoning was a level-up reward, and this one’s a bit different. Look— it’s light brown, right?”
*Clap-clap-clap!*
“Ooh, have I ever seen such a crazy class?! They give you summoning scrolls for achieving achievements?!”
So, it seems that the class “Summoner” receives bonus rewards in the form of summoning scrolls for any accomplishments stacked.
“Isn’t that a cheating class? It’s like having one extra reward compared to other classes.”
If all they’re looking for is a means of self-protection, there shouldn’t be much to worry about.
“But I’m planning to use this tomorrow.”
“Hm? Why?”
When I tilted my head in confusion, Yeon-hee smiled and replied.
“I just have a feeling that if I use them all in one day, I won’t get anything good out of it.”
Nod—
“Creating a routine for yourself is a good thing.”
If you think like a game, those summoning scrolls should at least summon low-rank creatures. One rank higher than myself.
“And besides, if I don’t become stronger myself, it won’t mean anything, right? It might not be good to rely too much on you guys. For a while, I’m going to focus on training myself.”
After hearing her words and applauding, Yeon-hee jokingly wrinkled her nose.
“If you react like that, it sounds like I’m just trying to get compliments from Il-wol! I’m the master here, you know?”
*Clap-clap-clap!*
“Hehe, right. I might not seem trustworthy, but just wait and see! I’ll be the best hunter, just like Mom said.”
“Tak…”
“What on earth did your mother say to make her daughter so ambitious…?”
One thing was certain: the Yeon-hee I had in mind was a result of my own judgments and the public’s reviews, solidified into a wrong image. She was someone with quite big aspirations.
“I should be able to achieve the goblin achievement soon. The next achievements will be tough to reach, but hmm— I should at least explore the possibilities!”
“If I put in time, I can accomplish anything, but it’ll take a while.”
It would probably be more beneficial to quickly move on to the next dungeon rather than grinding in one dungeon for months just to earn achievements. Nevertheless, the reason she didn’t want to miss even the slightest possibility might be that the achievement rewards are summoning scrolls.
“Alright, starting tomorrow, let’s progress at a quicker pace, Il-wol. I want to get to the next dungeon soon.”
*Clap-clap-clap!*
“Ugh—I don’t understand why I’m so tired from just shooting arrows— yawn—”
“Of course you would be tired after using your magic to the limit.”
She waved goodbye to me and headed into the room.
“Hmm— I have nothing to do, so I guess I’ll do some simulation training for the Great Goblin.”
In the end, the sounds of crickets softly rang out, and I practiced alone until dawn, when fresh air began to seep in.
Fwoosh— vroom—
If even the tiniest movement improves, then this struggle won’t be in vain.
A few hours later, Yeon-hee came out of the small room, stretching her arms.
“Hello~ Aren’t you lonely on your own? Shall we just sleep together from today?”
“…”
“Why? You don’t want to sleep with me?”
*Clap-clap-clap!*
“Hmph— fine then.”
“Just let me practice a bit more. It’s all for you, you know.”
*Swish—*
Yeon-hee came out of the shower with her hair still wet, wrapping her body in a towel.
“Don’t look, Il-wol. Turn your head.”
*Whoosh—*
I wondered if it was really necessary to do that even for a summoned creature, but my body had already turned away.
* * *
After stepping into the dark space and coming back out, I found myself back in the familiar forest. And I immediately began my search.
“Well, now I’m relaxed.”
As long as it wasn’t a large-scale encounter with ten or more foes at once, there was no one we couldn’t take down in this dungeon.
(There’s one ahead—)
Within 20 minutes, I spotted a cluster of six goblins.
Thwap—!
Swoosh—!
With arrows and acid flasks flying first, my club became even faster, putting the goblins into a near-death state with a single hit.
I took down three goblins as soon as the battle started while the remaining three charged at me, but I quickly created space, circling around lightly.
Thick— Thud—!
Of course, arrows were still raining down, and soon I only had the last one remaining. [Slam].
Crack—!
*Level up! You have reached level 5. The increase in the chosen stat has grown larger.*
Every time I hit level 5, the increase in my stats per point grows by 5. That’s two more than usual, so it was a valid reward. Moreover, there’s a very rare chance that new skills or traits will be added.
[Skeleton Soldier Il-wol – Lv.5]
Strength: 20(+5) Agility: 19(+5) Health: 20 Intelligence: 24
Magic Power: 17(+5) Resistance: 1 Sense: 16 Recovery: 2
I invested my points mainly in Strength, Agility, and Magic Power and continued on my way. It was a pity that my stats rose, but I didn’t care too much. After all, I believed that I had used up all my luck as a hunter by being born with a sense stat.
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