“It’s not like going far will bring much gain, and looking at the community… Hmm… There are already a lot of people saying they hunt only near the entrance?”
‘People’s thoughts tend to be the same.’
Creak, crack-
“Aww- Our Wang-wang is eating well, hehe. Digging nicely and even creating mana stones. So cute.”
Wow- Wang!!
Hearing that, Wang-wang, who had been showing off by scratching the living room floor, suddenly lay down and started flexing his butt again.
Squeak-
Rolling- thud-
And he spat out 4 mana stones, 2 of which were low-rank.
“Oh~! Wang-wang, you’re awesome! Such a cutie.”
Heh heh- Squeak…
Wang-wang, looking a bit strained, ended up panting heavily and finally got released from the summon.
‘The production of mana stones is indeed increasing.’
“Yikes! Might have pushed it a bit too hard. You don’t need to go that far…”
Despite her words, she was lovingly polishing the mana stones with a tissue, a big smile on her face.
“These mana stones made by Wang-wang are of high quality, so they sell for a good price too, right?”
‘What? Really?’
“I heard the mana concentration is high. They buy low-rank ones for 20,000 won each. I was shocked.”
‘A true blessing! If he’s producing one every two days, that’s 30,000 won a day! I strongly regret not getting more earth puppies from the gray summoning parchment.’
Plus, the kobold often hands over mana stones too, so it’s practically infinite power.
“Aah- I’m getting sleepy.”
She summoned one of each type of summoned creature and chatted for a while, but when her magic ran out, she went into her room.
And the next day.
Summoned in front of the entrance of the Fire Monkey dungeon, I stretched my arms back while noticing there were much fewer hunters than usual.
The gathered hunters formed teams and headed out, and we turned a little to the right, entering the forest before making a big right turn.
“Huh? Il-wol, going that way leads back to the entrance.”
Even Yeon-hee, who usually struggles with directions, noticed the turn I made and I showed her with my index finger.
(Breathe- shhh-)
She cautiously bent her upper body, and after walking for about another minute, we arrived in front of an ordinary tree.
(Is there something here too?)
Yeon-hee looked up at me with eager eyes and whispered.
Gently nodding, I expanded my senses to check if there were any other hunters nearby before beginning to dig into one spot on the ground with my dagger.
Soon, Yeon-hee also summoned Wang-wang and started digging into the ground alongside me, and before long, a wooden door appeared.
(Hey, there really is a door…)
I immediately pushed the door open downwards, and after Yeon-hee came down, I closed it again.
‘There seems to be some kind of barrier at the entrance… Is it a protective barrier?’
Whoosh-
Taking out a torch from my inventory, I saw a passage long enough for three people to easily pass through.
‘There really is all sorts of weird stuff here.’
We cautiously moved forward, and one lizardman led the way, holding a steel-armored insect in its arms.
After walking along the straight passage for about five minutes, we suddenly heard voices and quickly hid ourselves.
(Hah… Hah…)
Perhaps due to the tension, Yeon-hee’s breathing became rapid and rough, and I raised my arm, signaling her to stay still before stepping into a fairly spacious chamber in stealth.
Inside, about ten blue-eyed deities were preparing for a ritual, just like I had seen before.
“Hurry up! The bureaucrats couldn’t bear the complaints and reopened the dungeon, but we have information that search-type hunters are roaming around.”
“Aren’t we just putting up a barrier that hunters without sense stats can’t detect?”
“Don’t underestimate it! Just because they have sense stats doesn’t mean they’re only the initial hunters.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, how many of those kinds of people can there really be…”
‘What a cautious bunch.’
While they hurriedly placed parts of fire monkeys, goblins, and slimes on a wide plate, they were even putting things that shouldn’t be there.
‘Shit…’
A few heads of people who had been completely shaved off were among the items.
I remembered hearing there were more than 10 missing persons whose bodies had never been found among those declared dead a few days ago.
‘Come to think of it, there were many more dead without heads… These bastards?!’
In a sudden surge of anger, I almost burst out and wanted to kill them right then and there.
[Calm]
I cooled my head and reassessed the situation.
They had already started the ritual.
‘Eleven in total. They’re all E-rank, and one is at the bottom of E-rank. If I take that guy out, the rest should be easy. Shall I set up some groundwork first?’
[Corrupted Breath]
Since it was a pretty spacious area, it might take some time to spread the corrupted breath I got from the Ent. It wouldn’t help much, but it’s better than nothing.
Magic Power: 52/58
‘They’d probably notice the poisoning quickly, so let’s just set it to paralysis.’
Having used stealth and corrupted breath and expending 6 magic points, I went back to Yeon-hee and communicated with gestures we had previously decided on in our one-room.
(One eye… 11 people? One is quite strong… Got it, we just need to subdue him, right?)
I shook my head vigorously while mimicking slicing my neck with my fingers.
‘We need to kill him for sure.’
Yeon-hee understood the implication and tightly pressed her lips together.
(Let’s go.)
Nod-
She cautiously peeked her head out to take a glance at the inside space and immediately began casting a spell. She could summon from about 10 meters away as long as she had a line of sight.
“Um- Why does my body feel so strange all of a sudden…”
“Huh? You feel it too? My body feels stiff and oddly… Hmm…”
“You’re whining too much after just moving a few corpses.”
Except for the strongest guy who was kneeling and mumbling, the rest didn’t seem to participate in the ritual at all.
I needed to act before the status effect message popped up for those affected by [Corrupted Breath].
As soon as I felt the summoning portal of my summoned creature opening, I used stealth and rushed toward the strongest guy’s flank, executing my maximum skill combo.
[Reckless Charge]
I swiftly targeted the leader-like guy and charged.
[Dagger Throw]
[Fireball] x10
I threw the fireballs I had saved over his head.
[Acid Spray]
Then, timing it perfectly, I spritzed the acid onto his face.
Chi-iiing-
Boom!!
As he covered his face in the explosion and hunched over, I precisely slammed my shoulder into his midsection.
Kuh-huhu!
Bam, bang, crash!
The guy I had slammed into crashed onto the plate where he had placed offerings, messing up the freshly poured blood and scattering the surrounding offerings. I leaped into the air and stabbed his neck with my dagger.
[Slam]
Punk-!
Magic Power: 47/58
The strength from the slam skill doubled my dagger attack, piercing through his neck and digging into the floor.
Guh!
Creeeeak-!!
I twisted the dagger lodged in his neck, causing blood to spurt out like a fountain.
Fwhooooosh-!!
But just then.
Whoooosh-!!
A shadow sharpened like a knife flew out from his cloak and pierced my armor.
‘Damn- This bastard’s cloak works perfectly?!’
Health: 55/57
It precisely struck my torso, crushing a bone, but my current defense was 22, so I only took 2 damage.
– You have defeated a powerful enemy!
– Experience points have greatly increased!
– You have eliminated a sinister group that threatens the safety of this world!
– The achievement [Summoner’s Aide] is activated.
– Randomly increase stats.
Strength: 59(+2)
– You have obtained a Rune of Magic (Low-Rank).
– Your level has increased. Choose three stats to raise.
‘Huh? Why does this guy give me an extra 2? Is he stronger than the others?’
“Ahhh!! W-What the hell are these bastards?!”
Suddenly caught off guard by the lizardmen and kobolds that appeared from behind them, as well as the arrows flying in rapidly, the blue-eyed deities fell into a huge confusion.
Generally, in battles between hunters and monsters, the outcome heavily relies on who gets the first strike.
Usually, hunters take the first strike as their enhanced senses play a crucial role in the fight.
Since these ignorant bastards were ambushed, a proper counterattack was out of the question.
The blue-eyed deities were forced to fend off the relentless charges and brutal attacks of the lizardmen.
Crash-!
Aaaagh!
Thud!
Cough!
However, as the thorns from their cloaks were unleashed and attacked my summoned creatures, they seemed to regain some composure and began to fight back.
“Fireball!”
Surprisingly, among them was a sorcerer.
Whoosh- Bang!
But the hastily thrown fireball, about the size of an apple, completely overshot the lizardman and landed harmlessly on the ground. As he reached out to cast another spell,
“Damn it! Fir- Fire—”
Boom-!
“Argh!!”
Yeon-hee’s arrow hit the sorcerer squarely in the eye.
‘Looks like he’s the only sorcerer.’
The rest were melee types, and as the shadow attacks from their cloaks had a cooldown after they activated, they were left helpless against me and the lizardmen’s charges.
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