I swore I wouldn’t be in this situation, but when I think about it, I realized I knew absolutely nothing about this place.
The only thing I knew was that it was a fairly spacious area where I had been trapped until Yeon-hee called for me…
I focused my senses and honed in on my sense of smell, quickly identifying that the scent of blood belonged to goblins.
Could it be that I was inside a dungeon?
Tensed with anticipation, I searched for the source of the smell, and it didn’t take long to find it.
“Haha… what is this?”
There, hundreds of goblins were stacked haphazardly, forming a small mound. I could tell these were the remains of the goblins I carelessly stuffed into my inventory for making skeleton bombs.
Swish—
When I scraped the skin of one goblin with a bone, faint traces of spore snail’s murky poison oozed out.
“So it’s true; these are indeed the goblins I put in. So, this is really inside my inventory?”
Suddenly, after being hit on the back of my head, I grasped my sore skull, lost in thought. Could this be the inventory used by hunters?
“…No. If the inventories of so many hunters were all connected in this space, there should be other items as well. But since all I’ve found so far are the ones I put in, judging by the facts… this is definitely my own inventory. That explains why items keep coming in here.”
So… does that mean I can come in here anytime as long as I find a way, even if Yeon-hee doesn’t release the summoning?
“Not that I particularly want to go in here; I don’t know if that’s worth it…”
Then suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.
“What if I could escape here in a dangerous situation? That would be utterly amazing!”
Of course, I’d never heard of anyone entering their inventory, but if there’s even a slight possibility, it’d be worth a try.
“Alright. Let’s keep this in mind.”
Feeling the familiar throb in my head, I turned toward the door.
A moment later, I arrived in front of a massive door, and an familiar message popped up.
– [Summoner’s Assistant] achievement activated.
– You contributed significantly to the achievement of the summoner. Please choose one of the three rewards.
“Something felt off; I guess they do hand out rewards eventually!”
I couldn’t guess what achievement Yeon-hee had unlocked, but since it showed the same options I got when I first received artifacts, it must have been quite difficult to achieve.
Anyway, the reward option was still to choose one among traits or skills to upgrade, just like last time.
“Hmm…”
I pondered for a moment about the skeleton bomb, but, as expected, I chose the [Theft] trait.
[Theft Lv.4]
– Random skill theft upon first defeat of a monster.
– 13% chance of random trait theft upon repeated defeats of a monster.
It only went up by 1%, but compared to the original 10%, 13% felt much more promising.
After selecting the reward, concern suddenly hit me.
“I hope nothing went wrong or anyone got hurt…”
Even though there had been unexpected happenings here, once I reached the door, all I could think about was Yeon-hee’s safety.
She probably wanted to fight alongside everyone, but based on my experience and senses, I estimated at least three people would be seriously injured or killed in that fight.
No matter how much my [Protection] trait was active and how my summoned creatures would tank, I couldn’t exclude the possibility of Yeon-hee being among those three.
So I calculated desperately. Finding a way for her to survive safely.
Consume close-range enemies first.
Thick skin wrapped in magical power.
A monster gradually spiraling into madness.
Creatures that could bind the enemy without fear of death.
Five high-level hunters dealing solid damage.
It was a self-detonation attack that came from all these evaluations. So Yeon-hee absolutely couldn’t get hurt.
Creeeak—
Just as my thoughts were wrapping up, Yeon-hee called me at the perfect moment, and I was sucked into the open door.
* * *
Twelve hours earlier.
Il-wol signaled Yeon-hee to run, and only then did she sense the abnormal atmosphere around her.
Although she couldn’t pinpoint the monster’s presence instantly, she could feel the fading light of magic from the hunters behind the murky poison.
Yeon-hee felt frozen by the sheer strength of an enemy she had never seen before. But at the same time, if she ran away, how much pain would the hunters here and the citizens outside trying to escape suffer…?
Thinking that made fear rise within her.
So she refused. Even if Il-wol’s decision was technically correct, she determined that this was something they had to do.
And there were still a few C-rank hunters who hadn’t left yet; if she brought in her summoned creatures too, she believed it would be possible with the now enhanced Il-wol.
“First, we need to evacuate!”
She sent the signal four times, dispersing the gathered hunters in all directions. Then she sent Lizard 2, who was clutching the ddak-ddak-i, toward the monster that was using sonic attacks while holding a massive net.
Zzzzz—
The Lizardman darted to the designated spot, and an unpleasant vibrating sound erupted from its grasp.
Buzzzz!!
The aggro of the iron-skinned insect thrown down by the Lizardman caused the future “Speaker” monster to sharply turn downward.
Thanks to that, the sound waves focused elsewhere, allowing the hunters to move freely for just a moment.
However, it was only a temporary measure. Next to the “Speaker,” whether by design or not, dozens of remaining monsters gathered.
Bam! Bam!!
Goblin and kobold around frantically smashed the iron-skinned insect with their clubs, and soon the exterior shattered, releasing the summoned creature.
But for some reason, the monsters that killed the iron-skinned insect stayed put, choosing to hold their ground as if they had decided it was more advantageous not to intervene and protect the “Speaker” monster.
“Quickly!!”
With the monsters moving in an unusual manner, Yeon-hee’s chanting of summoning spells sped up.
At that moment, Il-wol quickly moved somewhere while holding Yeon-hee. Up until that point, she thought they were moving to prepare for the final confrontation alongside the C-rank hunters.
Whoosh—
Boom!!
“Wah wah wah!!······”
While she chanted her spell, the slime wrapped around her arm exploded mid-air from a card. She bit her lip unintentionally.
(Ooh hoo hoo!! Ran! Time to shine!! Just like before, the smell of death is thick!)
She summoned Ran the spirit along with five other Lizardmen, excluding Lizard 1 and 2, and the kobold, as well as the recently deceased slime.
At that moment, she felt a shadow cast before her closed eyes.
Thud thud!
The Lizardman banged its chest with a fist, taking a defensive stance.
“Lizard 1… what about Il-wol?!”
And Il-wol dashed forward, holding her upper body close to the ground, moving like a quadruped.
Typically seeming sluggish, she had exceptional judgment, at least in combat situations.
Seeing dozens of bombs flying from Il-wol’s grasp, Yeon-hee immediately understood her intent.
“Why? We haven’t even fought properly? Is that enemy really that strong?”
There was a considerable discrepancy between the monster’s stats measured by Il-wol and the ones Yeon-hee speculated.
“Il-wol!! No—”
It was too late to shout that they shouldn’t, so she swallowed it down and pointed toward where Il-wol had run.
“There!! Where that bastard is!!”
All the hunters turned their heads in unison toward Yeon-hee’s finger, and soon explosions happened successively, reminiscent of a fire wall.
“?! The bastard’s in the center of that explosion!!”
Was the monster’s stealth impaired by the flames? A nearby C-rank hunter shouted, leaping out.
The remaining hunters followed, spreading out wildly and prepping their skills, following a woman who was gliding forward with a rapier.
“I’ll send my summoned creatures in first!!”
Il-wol was demonstrating how to utilize summoned creatures. And the summoned creatures desired it too.
Grrrraa!!
Boom! Boom!!
The eyes of the summoned creatures following behind her spoke that language.
“Let’s do this! Just hold on to it somehow! I’ll land a solid blow!!”
The man who had stopped the card grabber replied, raising a hefty hammer.
As they got close enough, the explosions ceased, leaving only thick smoke swirling around. In that fog, a gigantic monster and a tiny silhouette trembled within.
“Still alive!!”
“Il-wol!! Just a bit wait—”
Snap—
The monster’s massive jaws swallowed Il-wol’s head whole.
“Aah! No!! Everyone, help Il-wol!!”
The Lizard squad, led by Lizard 1, was already charging in, but it was a bit too late.
Crack-!
The monster wrenched Il-wol’s head upward and shoved it into its mouth.
And then.
Boom!!!
With multiple explosions flickering inside the monster’s mouth, it erupted violently.
Thunk—
The headless skeleton crumbled weakly to the ground.
“Ahh…”
She was filled with rage.
“… Kill him… don’t let him get away!!”
With the explosion inside its mouth blowing off the lower jaw and face, the monster knelt in agony.
Zzzzz—
Without missing the opportunity, the Lizard squad, obeying Yeon-hee’s orders, clung tightly to the monster’s arms and legs, attacking with machetes.
Grrrup-!! Zzzzz!! (No matter what… don’t let go….)
Following Lizard 1’s command, the Lizard squad stubbornly resisted against the thrashing monster. While it looked like they would drop off any moment, their tenacity was exceptional enough to endure.
Surprisingly, the monster demonstrated immense power by slamming down to the ground, killing two Lizardmen clinging to its arm.
But by then, their objective had already been achieved.
Thanks to the Lizardmen, the skills of five C-rank hunters were landing squarely on the monster.
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