“Il-wol, do you want me to repair your chainmail?”
“Clap, Clap-”
“Should we use it a bit more first?”
Nod-
Although Lee Young-chul has worn it a bit and it’s getting worn down, it still has a lot of durability left, so it’s better to use it more before repairing it. After all, whether you repair it now or later, the repair costs wouldn’t be that different.
“Don’t you want anything? Anything you need?”
‘Hmm?’
As I tilted my head, Yeon-hee nervously bit her nails.
“There’s nothing I can do to help… Huh…”
‘Is she feeling this way because I saved her today? I do feel a bit guilty since I stood by while she suffered needlessly.’
After a while of gnawing at her nails, Yeon-hee suddenly dropped some unexpected news.
“I heard Hyeon-seok can no longer work as a hunter.”
“Tap…”
The guy who always bickered with Song Jin-kyeong and talked a lot…
I had a rough idea where this was going. If he got attacked by a spore snail, it makes sense.
“The spot where he was attacked was his left thigh; there was a small area near his kneecap that hadn’t healed properly. It spread internally… They discovered it late and managed to get rid of it, but running is off the table from now on.”
Nod-
That’s just how it is.
It’s not uncommon for hunters to suddenly be unable to work. I once saw a B-rank hunter who started breaking out in hives every time he entered a dungeon and had to quit.
Unexplainable illnesses are frequent, and unpredictable accidents happen all the time. Inside and outside of dungeons, betrayal and more betrayal reign supreme.
But are you still going to keep doing this work?
“Yeah- now I’m just thinking about who to recruit. Should I look for someone in the comments again?”
…You’re pretty steadfast, huh? Am I viewing Yeon-hee as too fragile?
“Ah! What if I contact that person once?”
Who? Are you thinking of recruiting Yu Dal-ri?
“That person who messaged me, asking to be contacted when I reach D-rank.”
‘…Noh Ha-yoon?’
Noh Ha-yoon, who’s set to become the next ace of the Vision Guild, one of the three major guilds in our country.
‘Sigh- Even if that person mentioned it, I doubt she’d want to come down to the Lizard Swamp. Even if she did, we’d lose a lot of experience points.’
But if she joined, there would be one significant advantage.
‘The boss monster in the Lizard Swamp. It’d be easier to retrieve artifacts from the swamp where the Lizard Champion resides.’
It’s not especially useful in the dungeon, but there’s a pretty expensive artifact hidden deep down there.
Besides, I’m kind of curious what she’s thinking to send a love call to Yeon-hee.
Looking at me, Yeon-hee twitched her lips and then chewed her nails once more, phone in hand.
‘Making a phone call is a task too…’
*Ring, ring-*
“Ah… Hello, Helen. Yes, yes- it’s about…”
Yeon-hee briefly explained the recruitment of Noh Ha-yoon to Helen.
– Noh Ha-yoon, the one popular on YouTube as one of the five or seven divine beings? We definitely want him on board!
– Wait, no way? Noh Ha-yoon is coming? Haha- if Hyeon-seok leaves and Noh Ha-yoon comes, that’s totally a win-win!
‘Jin-kyeong is also here. Did she already get drunk?’
– Get away, you! Sorry, haha, Jin-kyeong is a bit tipsy. She seems a bit shocked after hearing about Hyeon-seok.
– That jerk should’ve seen it coming! Ugh- life isn’t that easy! *Gulp, gulp-*
“…”
– Anyway, we’re 100% okay with him, so you can do as you please, Yeon-hee.
– Ugh, yuck…
– Oh my! She must be crazy. Stop drinking already! I’ll contact you later!
*Click-*
“I… can’t help…”
Did she hope to get some solid advice? That duo isn’t really that style… Maybe I should just ask Kang Yeon-su instead?
“Hmm, should I ask Yeon-su unni… No! I need to contact her right away.”
Oh, when it’s time to do something, she’s on it!
*Whew…*
*Ring, ring-*
After a couple of rings, Noh Ha-yoon picked up.
“Hello? I…”
– Hello, Summoner! Nice to meet you.
A slightly excited voice. Addressing her by class instead of name kinda shows where Noh Ha-yoon’s interest lies.
A short three-minute call.
A somewhat unreasonable proposal to join her in a dungeon that’s lower level than her own.
There’s a chance that her high stats might cause the Lizard Swamp dungeon to reject her altogether.
– That actually works out! It means I can take it easy.
“What? What do you mean…?”
– Nothing. Just make sure your conditions are similar to what you’d receive. I took the guild members there not long ago, so you don’t have to worry about being turned away.
“Ah… yeah, yeah. But you’re way stronger than us; I’ll try to ask for some extra care…”
– Sure! Then let’s meet tomorrow and talk more!
“Yeah, thank you…”
The call with the laid-back Noh Ha-yoon finished.
As I watched Yeon-hee bow her head in satisfaction, I felt both proud and amused.
Yeon-hee still has that baby fat, giving her that chubby cat vibe. Her slightly flushed cheeks puffed up as her lips parted.
“I did it, I did it! Hehe, hehehe…”
…
She seemed really proud of recruiting Noh Ha-yoon. Normally, I would have patted her head, but right now, my mind is elsewhere.
The monster bones Yeon-hee brought back from the dungeon break on her way home.
It’s a pity that it doesn’t include the skull, but the neatly cleaned bones she brought could serve as a reward for resolving that situation.
I spread the rest of the bones out on the floor.
‘Hmm- looking at it laid out like this, they definitely feel different from ours. I can’t even tell if it’s a snake or a wolf.’
As I admired the bones, I felt someone staring intensely at me. She’s probably signaling for me to scratch her head.
Rubbing her shoulder once has become routine now. Of course, it’s not just for Yeon-hee’s pleasure.
Manifestation of magical power.
By materializing the magic within my body and yielding to her head, it greatly speeds up her physical recovery compared to just touching her with my hands.
Of course, almost no one knows this method. I’ve rarely seen someone able to manifest magic into a stable form.
‘I’ve done it a lot for Kang Yeon-su.’
After I gave her a taste of it by chance, she had been whining for hours after every dungeon run to do it for her.
Of course, Kang Yeon-su is incredibly powerful, to the point where even Jo Gi-man wouldn’t dare mess around, so I couldn’t refuse her requests.
And handling the magic this way helps with smoother activation of skills that use magic as fuel.
It’s two birds with one stone, assisting Yeon-hee’s recovery while training myself.
But I also have my own curiosity.
…I’ll check on this first before doing anything for her.
I turned slightly from her as a gesture not to interfere.
Wriggle-
Then Yeon-hee, while sitting, slid over like a slime and rested her head on my lap.
Chuckling-
She looked up at me with a bear-like smile, and for a moment, I felt an unusual thump in my chest, but it was just a fleeting feeling.
*Snap!*
As I attempted to craft the skeleton bones into a skeleton bomb, the information window that appeared captured my attention.
*Bridios Fragment*
– The chimera born from the persistent research of Great Sorcerer Palkai. Commonly known as “Tooth,” it is still regarded as incomplete.
– Attack Power +43
‘Bridios? What’s this Great Sorcerer again…? At this rate, even the Demon King might pop up? Seriously unbelievable. Hah- “Tooth,” seriously…’
The sharply protruding fangs of the monster swirled before my eyes.
‘An attack power of 43… that’s immense.’
Total shock at the drastically different attack power compared to the previous ones, I took hold of some Lizardman bones and tried flowing my magic into them.
*Lizardman Bones*
– Attack Power +11
‘The Lizardman has 11, and this is 43.’
Nearly a fourfold difference compared to Lizardman’s bomb attack power.
‘With this much power, I’d likely inflict critical damage even against that “Tooth” dude’s ridiculously tough hide.’
*Snap!*
‘…Well, it makes a certain amount of sense. The Lizardman is an E-rank dungeon monster after all, while that monster is at the top tier of the C-rank. There’s a two-tier difference.’
Now that I have such a powerful material, I want to go ahead and create it. My heart beats wildly. Of course, my chest feels hollow.
*Snap!*
…
‘What do you want?’
I finally met the gaze of her amethyst eyes, which seemed filled with determination to keep staring at me until I paid attention.
“Hehe… Il-wol, could you do my head for a bit? Just stop working and okay?”
Her enchanting amethyst eyes sparkled, and I was already starting to lose myself in them. It’s a sensation I experience every day since I was summoned as her creature.
Once again, it was a challenge not even looking into her eyes because I fell for it today.
When I stare into her eyes, it’s as if I’m caught in some illusion, and my mind becomes dazed. It feels like I’m stuck in a moment of ultimate happiness.
Other summoned creatures probably couldn’t reach this level. As soon as she opened her mouth, they would have completed the commands like bullets.
*Thump-thump-*
I’m feeling that weird sensation of my heart racing again. Could my heart be somewhere far away?
[Cool-headed]
But with time, my agitated heart calmed down, and I took in her lovely face once more.
Even though the magical moment had dissipated, her beauty had not faded in the slightest.
‘You sly thing! You probably can’t even imagine how your every word drives me deeper into this mess.’
Of course, I know she doesn’t want to treat me like a slave.
Empathy.
When I materialize my magic and touch her, it feels like something between us connects. It’s a novel experience I never felt with Kang Yeon-su.
At that moment, Yeon-hee looked the most relaxed and happy I’d ever seen her.
So it made sense why she was like a snake twisting and begging for a massage.
*Swoosh-*
Carefully, I ran my fingers through her lush black hair.
*Shudder-*
When my cold bone touched her skin, she jolted.
‘There’s so much hair.’
I realized it again now as my sense stat increased.
“Uuuhhh…”
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