I nodded as I approached the C-rank hunters, carrying Yeon-hee, who was mumbling incantations.
Whirly-whirly!!
Boom!!
“Hey, damn!! That bastard?!”
As soon as the card dealer (C-rank) saw me, he flung a card, and I barely managed to deflect it by tossing the slime wrapped around Yeon-hee’s arm. Of course, the slime exploded and perished right then.
“Rest in peace, Lime. But hey, you can come back, right?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!! That’s a summoner’s minion!!”
A man wielding a hammer raised his hand to stop the card dealer, and only then did the dealer grasp the situation and slightly bow to Yeon-hee.
“It seems Yeon-hee has become famous; a C-rank recognized her right away.”
Of course, even after witnessing the card dealer’s apology, Yeon-hee had no time to react since there were plenty of summoned creatures she needed to call forth aside from Lizardman 1.
Slurp-(maybe…?)
Lizard 1 flicked its tongue and looked around.
“Yeah, you little rascal. That’s an enemy of the one you used to sing about.”
I made eye contact with Lizardman 1 and communicated my intentions, and it nodded in understanding, spreading its body as wide as possible in front of Yeon-hee.
“It’s always amazing that we can communicate like telepathy with summoned creatures.”
I turned my head to look in the direction where the monster had run off.
There, a monster was gulping down the head of a fleeing D-rank hunter, holding several torn-off arms in its hands.
“Are hunter’s arms a trophy?!”
It wasn’t far away. I marked it with [Reckless Charge] and dashed straight toward it.
“Il-wol!!”
I heard Yeon-hee’s voice calling me urgently from behind. Her tone always calmed my heart. And in this moment, when I was about to leap into danger, her voice steeled my resolve even more.
I placed her beside the hunters without any signals, but Yeon-hee would know what I was about to do and what she needed to do now.
Sure enough, Yeon-hee, having completed her summoning, pointed in the direction I had charged off while shouting something to the people.
“Seriously, she’s such a tired little girl. But… it’s not bad…”
Once a powerful ice witch, now, she was a pure child with dangerously insufficient strength to uphold her inner justice.
If someone asked who I felt closer to now, I would say the latter.
Barely twenty years old.
She could still afford to be clumsy at that age.
Thinking this, I pulled out the 43 skeleton bombs stored away and threw them in a circle around the monster. No matter how monstrous its abilities might be, it would take time for it to notice the skeleton bombs thrown into the air in a state of [Vaporization].
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, bang—!!!
As expected, the moment they exploded, the monster finally realized they were there, but by then, it was already surrounded by a rain of bombs falling at staggered intervals.
If it were still [Low-level Fireball] from before my job change, it would have laughed it off and slipped away, but the devastating power of the skeleton bombs made it think twice.
Some bombs struck directly and blew up, but reading the flow of the monster’s magic, it seemed like I couldn’t deal a decisive blow.
Crunch—Boom!
The creature shook its head, quickly regaining its posture. Recovery far faster than I had anticipated.
“Damn, it’s got great defense too? In a world that’s become like a game, shouldn’t stronger ones appear gradually?!”
Fueled by my grumbling, I finished my preparations and was already closing in on the monster. Thanks to increasing my movement speed with [Reckless Charge].
It rushed back to meet my charge, but it seemed distracted by the surrounding explosions, not noticing my approach.
There were two reasons I had taken this great risk to get so close.
“Just what are you?!”
First, I was incredibly curious about what its face looked like.
[Acid Spray]
Scha-!
[Strong Slam]
Thud—!!
As the acidic liquid splashed on its face and my sage’s dagger embedded itself, the creature’s stealth began to fade, and only then did it finally become aware of my presence.
I clung tightly like a leech on the hefty body of the monster, looking up at it.
Grrrrrrr—
The monster was furious, baring its long fangs and emitting a bone-chilling roar right in front of my face.
That sight was…
“Uh? What the heck is this?”
Snap—!!
In an instant, my vision went dark, and I felt my head being lifted toward the sky against my will. The monster had torn off my head and swallowed it.
Of course, I hadn’t come in with the intention of just sitting there and letting it happen. My second reason for getting close.
Crunch—Crunch!!
The seven skeleton bombs I had stuffed inside my mouth before my demise shattered against its razor-sharp teeth.
– Grrk?
“Boom—!”
KABOOM—!!!
An enormous explosion erupted inside the monster’s mouth.
That boom was the last memory of my third life.
– Skeleton Bombardier Il-wol has been destroyed.
– Trait [98 Lives] is activated…
– Job change effect reduces reconstruction time by half.
– Remaining reconstruction time: <11:59:59>
* * *
“Huff!!”
“…”
“Ahh… my head… why does it hurt so much?”
[Pain Resistance]
“Hmmm… it’s getting better… I don’t feel pain from physical blows, but this is strange…”
I felt grateful for the trait [Pain Resistance], which eased the throbbing headache, as I looked around.
“Am I starting in this damn place again…?”
The original starting point where I had been curled up. It seemed like the restart always happened here.
“Clap, clap, clap!!”
Banging my teeth together, I lifted my upper body and thought about the message that had flashed before me before my demise.
“So there was reconstruction time; it used to be a whole day, right?”
Hmm…
“Is there a way to completely eliminate reconstruction time? Other summoned creatures don’t have this demerit; is it just because I was human?”
Crack, crack—
I tilted my head a few times and began walking toward the door. I could think while walking.
====
[Skeleton Bombardier Il-wol – Lv.27]
Strength: 60 Agility: 60 Health: 60
Wisdom: 54 Magic Power: 90 Resistance: 7
Sense: 31 Recovery: 17
Traits: Cool-headed, Protection, Thievery, 97 Lives, Adhesion, Pain Resistance, Blessing of Obez*
Skills: Strong Slam*, Stealth, Dagger Throw*, Acid Spray*, Primitive Transformation, Reckless Charge*, Contaminated Breath, Skeleton Bomb*
Equipment: Sage Arhen’s Defensive Dagger, Big Boar Leather Armor
Stats: 9
=====
One surprising thing was that my level had jumped by 3. And that meant I had taken down that monster.
“It must have been quite a hit since my mouth was all gooey inside.”
Cling—
The sensation of the dagger snug in my hand.
“Phew— the dagger was returned nicely.”
I had managed to store it in the inventory just before dying; it seemed to have been handled well.
“Since no new skills were acquired, it must have been Yeon-hee who got the kill; I wish that were the case.”
Tap—tap—
First things first, let’s allocate the stats.
“Wisdom, which boosts bomb attack power, is a must… And since I might run into that horrid monster again, I should boost agility too. I’ll increase magic power when the speed of skeleton bomb manufacture goes up.”
– Allocating 3 stats gained from level 5 in priority.
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1VTlqT1VnZ3BzMGxqMk4vUE5sUWVqNkV1czFFd1dweGo1WENBWVVZdENTZQ
Including the stats with the traits, I invested all 9 stats into Agility, Health, and Wisdom.
=====
[Skeleton Bombardier Il-wol – Lv.27]
Strength: 60 Agility: 71(+11) Health: 71(+11)
Wisdom: 65 (+11) Magic Power: 90 Resistance: 7
Sense: 31 Recovery: 17
=====
“This isn’t the end!!”
=====
Skeleton Bomb Lv.3
– Process the bones of monsters you defeated into magical bombs and store them for throwing when needed, dealing damage (320% of magical attack power).
– Higher grade of processed bones results in additional damage.
– Stockpile: 0/54
=====
My skeleton bomb skill had instantly leveled up to 3, the attack power increased by 20%, and the number of bombs I can store rose by 4.
“Did I get bonus points for blowing them up inside me? Or did I get a hefty experience boost from landing hits on that monster? I leveled up twice without even using it much…”
Whatever it was, it was a sweet reward. Additionally, there were five more abilities whose levels had increased besides the skeleton bomb.
=====
Blessing of Obez Lv.2
– A small blessing bestowed by Obez, who became the starting point of the Fire Monkey tribe.
– Additional damage of +130% (+10%) when launching fire attribute attacks.
=====
Acid Spray Lv.4
– Sprays lethal acidic liquid in front of you.
– Spray amount +3 (+1)
– Spray range +3 (+1)
=====
Strong Slam Lv.3
– Strikes with an attack power of 270% (+10%).
=====
Dagger Throw Lv.4
– When throwing a dagger, attack power +20% (+5%), hit rate +23% (+1%).
– When throwing any object, hit rate +18% (+1%).
=====
Reckless Charge Lv.2
– Recklessly charges in the direction of a specified target.
– Strikes with an attack power of 310% (+10%).
– Defense significantly increases during charge.
– Movement speed increases by 31% (+1%) during charge.
=====
“Whoa… at this point, I should even be hoping to meet that monster again, right?”
Of course, it was just talk; I never wanted to see it again. Just thinking of its face sent chills down my spine.
– You first identified an entity that stealthily concealed itself.
– Achieved the title [Sensitive Sense]!
– Sense +3
Sense: 34(+3)
The last title I received was something I had already experienced in my previous life, so it wasn’t surprising. As I dismissed the message in my mind and walked for a while…
I stopped dead.
“What’s that smell?”
Even my dulled sense of smell caught the repulsive stench, drawing my steps toward it.
“Familiar smell of blood… An enemy? Is there another being in here besides me? No way…?”
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