“Should I refrain from physical contact the night before entering the dungeon…?”
Maintaining composure was the most fundamental quality for a hunter. If just a kiss on the forehead could lead to this, and if I were in such a state tomorrow when entering the dungeon, it would be better for me to exercise some restraint in the future.
“Ugh… Having a body that can do things like this is quite troublesome in many ways.”
But if necessary, I must endure.
I could withstand it. After all, that’s something I’m good at.
“Ugh… Why did I do that? Why, haah—”
However, the moment Yeon-hee’s gentle voice seeped into my ears, that confidence crumbled rapidly. I immediately felt the urge to throw open the door and jump beside her.
“Crazy guy, get a grip… I am a monster. A grotesque and terrifying undead monster. Clap, clap, clap, clap.”
Repeating that to myself helped me calm down a bit.
Thinking about it, there wouldn’t be many times I’d change into my true form in front of Yeon-hee. If she really wanted to see that, there wasn’t much I could do, but judging by the way I was kicking the blanket in my room, I didn’t think that would happen.
“Still, it’d be better to be in that form when going out to deal with enemies.”
Then, I would have to face her in that form… and that would mean hugging her at least once more…
“Damn, why is my head only working that way?!”
I tried hard to redirect my thoughts.
Mimicking. Especially thanks to Tanya’s fragment, I gained a third special ability. That ability brought a lot more considerations than I expected.
Even if I identified sinister figures using my ability, it wasn’t guaranteed they’d be weaker than me, and I just received real-time location data without really having a method to control the enemies.
On top of that, there was a restriction on how far away I could be from Yeon-hee, so it would be challenging to gain an advantage using this ability all the time. I should rather feel lucky for having raised my stats twice before.
“Hmm— let’s just note down the ones that are over 1 km away.”
With an increasing number of considerations, my head was starting to hurt, but still, today was a day to be grateful that my relationship with Yeon-hee hadn’t soured, so I wasn’t worried about other ancillary matters.
Step—
I stood in front of the door, reflecting on the moment with Yeon-hee.
“The sensation was clearer than expected…”
I could still vividly feel the touch of my lips against her forehead.
“……”
I stared at the doorknob. Breaking down that door would be easier than eating a bowl of cold rice.
……
Bad thoughts kept rising.
I shouldn’t be swayed like this every time my form changes once a day; it would be quite troublesome.
“Where’s my composure? Why isn’t it popping out?”
[Composure]
That’s right.
Still, with this ability, I wouldn’t make any mistakes that would cross the line. I gently reassured myself while wielding a stick I took from my inventory.
When my mind gets complicated, training in swordsmanship is the best remedy.
* * *
Lee Yeon-hee was fidgeting her toes under the blanket. She was nibbling on her thumbnail with her front teeth, while the other hand briefly wandered and wedged between her thighs. Yet, there was still something missing.
Wang-wang—!
“Ah… Wang-wang is gone…”
She finally noticed Wang-wang, who was scratching at the door. That’s how out of it she was.
“What to do…”
“Ugh…”
She hadn’t even considered the possibility of Il-wol turning into a man, as from the moment she laid eyes on him, it felt like she was losing her mind.
Why hadn’t she thought he would turn into a man? Was she a fool?
The sheer image of a man in a suit standing inside her house was something she’d never even dreamed of, but what was even more shocking…
“He was a modern person…”
She had thought for sure Il-wol was from another world or a human-type monster, yet his appearance and attire unmistakably resembled that of a Korean person.
Of course, he could be a foreigner, but in various circumstances, that seemed unlikely.
“So he could read because he was Korean?!”
She realized she had been in misunderstanding since the time she named him.
She recalled proudly talking to her party members about him being a monster that shares knowledge; her face flushed with embarrassment.
“Hah…”
The image of Il-wol walking out calmly from the blue-lit room floated up like a fluffy cloud in her mind.
Throughout her life, she had never dared to judge others based on appearances.
“Il-wol… must have been popular when he was alive, huh? Tch…”
I was a complete newbie at this, while Il-wol must have had plenty of experiences like this. But Il-wol said he had no memories of his previous life.
So, wasn’t Il-wol in a similar situation as me?
Either way, Il-wol’s former appearance was astonishingly beautiful. Especially when he looked at her and gave a slight smile, the curves of his eyes were simply…
Bang—
Something hot exploded in her head.
“Haah— I kissed his forehead. What does that mean…?”
Ever since he came close and wrapped his arms around her waist, her memories had become fuzzy, making her wonder if she had dreamed it.
Kiss—
“Hwaah! N-no! It must have been my misunderstanding!”
Of course, she knew it wasn’t a misunderstanding, but she desperately wanted to deny reality.
Her heart raced like crazy, and the heat on her face showed no signs of fading, telling her one thing. Yet, she was experiencing emotions for the first time, wondering if this would be denied later, so her defense mechanism kicked in.
“Il-wol is my summoned creature… I can’t let this happen. I have to keep it together…”
It was the first time she had something that was completely her own.
He absorbed the acidic liquid of a slime on her behalf and helped her grow in the deadly fight against goblins.
He had an uncanny ability to find his way and would casually bring ancient artifacts to her like he was picking up coins off the street.
Every aspect of Il-wol was special.
“Yeon-i—”
The low voice filled with concern calling her name echoed around her.
Although the pronunciation was heavily slurred, she distinctly heard it as Yeon-hee.
She replayed the situation in her head over and over. When he called her name… When he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead… When he gently swept aside her bangs.
Bang— Bang— Bang—
“Whoo— Why is it so hot…?”
It felt like stepping into a sauna; her body was sticky.
What if Il-wol comes closer like that again tomorrow? Would that mean they would take it further than today?
“Hwaah… I’ll die of embarrassment…”
Then, without realizing it, she gazed slightly open-mouthed at Il-wol’s floating face in the void.
“Uh…? Hah! N-no! Go away!”
She didn’t even know what she was denying, but it was definitely not okay. She thought she needed to do something, so she pulled out her phone.
“Hah, maybe the hunter community board…”
But the best she could find was a hunter community site.
At times like this, she didn’t have a hobby of shopping or watching YouTube.
As soon as she entered the main page, a captivating post caught her eyes.
[Dungeon Story] Summary of Information on Lee Yeon-hee’s Summoned Creature, Skeleton Soldier – Ver.2 (kingwonsang97)
Name: Il-rola
Rank: Mid to High D of the D-Class
Class: Sorcerer
Abilities: Fireball (much larger and stronger than a regular fireball), Bone Bomb (seems to be the main ability), Acid Liquid (should this be classified as magic too?), Basic Dagger Technique (information about using a dagger as a secondary weapon), Fly (some say it’s just hovering in mid-air for a while, others say it can fly around)
Overall Evaluation: A magic-type monster with immense magical power capable of unleashing spells, and the devastating power of an unconventional fireball; uses a unique ability, Bone Bomb. It even spits out acid for crowd control in close combat (be careful) and is known to handle daggers quite freely. A ridiculously OP monster capable of one-on-one and group battles. How to deal with this? LOL
“W-w-what?! What the heck is this?! Why are you shaking our Il-wol?! And the name is completely wrong!!”
She had tried to shake off thoughts of Il-wol and found a post about him right at the top of the main page.
The total comments were 1002
ㅇㅇ Il-rola? What a weird name? LOL Was it female? LOL
ㅇㅇ I saw it use warrior’s roar too? Clap, clap, clap!
└ Rike LOL, seriously? Was it a female orc in its past life? LOL
└ ㅇㅇ It’s just casting Meteor, you idiots.
└ ㅇㅇ For real, you should cover your ears and live your life that way.
Black Cow Serious, the skeleton soldier isn’t the only strong one; I’ve seen a couple of Lizardmen and two Orcs too, and their magical power is no joke.
└ ㅇㅇ I’ve seen those too. Is it really okay to leave Yeon-hee alone like that? I feel like she won’t be able to handle it later on.
└ detail What are you going to do if she can’t handle it? Why not step up yourself if you have the ability? LOL But you can’t do that, can you?
“… What did we even do…?”
She knew very well that her abilities inherently instilled discomfort in others.
Hunters, at least, were able to protect their bodies, so jokes were made about it, but for ordinary people, that wasn’t the case at all.
“Looks like I have no choice but to grow stronger…”
If movements of rejection start to surface, I needed to ensure swift growth to avoid being cornered. Furthermore, Yeon-hee sensed that things regarding the dungeon were quite serious these days.
There was a looming anxiety that a significant crisis might befall the world. Even without worrying about the Great Beasts sleeping around the globe, the world was already filled with threats.
“No, we have to travel around the world with my children.”
Yeon-hee dismissed and resummoned Wang-wang outside the door.
“Wang-wang!! Hek-heh!”
A good child who always welcomed her. While playing with Wang-wang’s plump belly, she placed her hand on it.
Vwooo—
Purple light burst out from her hand, and something began to take shape on Wang-wang’s belly.
Then, shortly after.
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1VTlqT1VnZ3BzMGxqMk4vUE5sUWVqNGlCYklsYVZuWEpYS2YvUVkzL29hQg
Mystical Membrane (Summoned Creature Exclusive)
– A new substance directly manifested by the Summoner Lee Yeon-hee. It shares properties similar to a slime in a defensive state and can be made into armor for summoned creatures.
“Wang-wang…?”
Wang-wang tilted his head, looking at the soft material wrapped like a belt around his belly.
“Hehe… It’s almost done.”
Although she was wearing an artifact, she would run into a mana shortage whenever she had to resummon her creatures consecutively.
She figured that it would be effective in battle to reinforce her summoned creatures to minimize resummoning, so she had continued to develop her ability, and now she was on the verge of concrete results.
Just as she had successfully defended against multiple attacks while surrounding herself with Lime, she would plan to equip her summoned creatures with armor to avoid taking damage from physical attacks to a certain extent.
Of course, while it wouldn’t be quite the performance of Lime, it’s a skill that can be improved, so even if it’s insufficient, she would have to keep honing it.
Moreover, aside from the Shield she requested from the smith, she intended to purchase additional armor, but in the future, as the number of summoned creatures significantly increased, she would surely face difficulties rapidly acquiring broken equipment.
Thus, she had to improve this ability to prepare for what’s ahead.
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