The companions gathered around the collapsed Yeon-hee, looking at her with worried eyes.
“Oh dear, what should we do… She must really be exhausted.”
“She sustained that gigantic golem for hours. It’s no surprise she’s worn out.”
“She flinched every time she was attacked. Isn’t it possible she’s sharing pain or something?”
“Clap, clap…”
“Well, at least that’s a relief.”
My feelings while looking down at the sleeping Yeon-hee were quite complicated.
I felt proud yet pitiful. I found myself resenting the world for making a twenty-year-old girl go through such hardships.
Yeon-hee fell into a deep sleep, only to wake up after about thirty minutes.
“Why? Shouldn’t you just lie down a bit longer?”
Though her companions urged her to rest, Yeon-hee insisted that she couldn’t cause trouble before the dungeon exploration was even over.
‘… Is it because Yeon-hee’s leveled up so much? For such a short rest, recovery was remarkably fast.’
While she took a break, I neatly organized the monster remains, and no more monsters were approaching us.
=====
Skeleton Bomb (Advanced)
– Made from the head bones of an ogre, drastically increasing the bomb’s attack power.
– Enemies hit by the bomb will be paralyzed for 0.3 seconds.
– Movement speed of enemies hit by the bomb will be reduced by 25% for 10 seconds.
– Bomb Attack Power +75
=====
“Wow… This has thirty more attack power than that toothy guy?!”
I could use this in the upcoming job change quest.
‘Shall I finish organizing the runes too?’
While bones were indeed a material for the skeleton bomb, the biggest gain from this battle was definitely the runes.
The Rune of Giants that increases strength.
With higher grade runes dropping than the ones I was wearing, I swapped them out one by one during the battle, which significantly reduced our combat time.
‘It may have been cut down by five hours, but…’
In any case, we obtained a total of 14 runes.
Considering the number of ogres defeated, it was an exceptionally lucky drop day.
Of course, that luck was likely thanks to that cat snuggled up in Eun-young’s arms.
Purring—
Looking at it lying comfortably on its back, I felt a little deflated seeing that I had protected such a creature for five hours.
(…Meow?!)
Did it feel my gaze or something? The cat suddenly sat up, locking eyes with me.
(…Hmm. This golem’s arms are surprisingly cozy. Please tell your master I look forward to more of this.)
‘… Does it think we’re running some kind of rental business…?’
“This is amazing for runes. It’s like we got one for every five!”
“I’ve heard the drop rates for high-level monsters are good!”
“But still, this is beyond normal.”
Out of the 14 Runes of Giants, 8 were advanced while the other 6 were high-grade.
The maximum value obtainable for advanced runes is 40, while the maximum for high-grade runes can soar to 60.
The reason the difference in specs widens between high-rank hunters and low-rank hunters is significantly due to the runes.
I took 6 out of the 14 runes.
Even though a summoned creature had taken almost half of the runes, no one questioned me.
In fact, Ah-rin argued that Yeon-hee should take more runes than I did.
“That doesn’t make any sense. If it weren’t for you all, we wouldn’t have made it through this battle.”
Of course, there was no way Yeon-hee would accept that.
Though she noticed I took six runes, she pondered if we were taking too many.
Eventually, Yeon-hee didn’t take more and distributed the remaining eight runes among the other companions.
‘Anyone seeing this would call us suckers…’
But I had no complaints either.
Because all six runes I had were high-grade and didn’t care about the advanced ones.
Moreover, if it weren’t for the support of my companions, it would have taken a lot longer to stack marks on the ogre.
‘Yeon-hee was right. If we fought alone, we might have been pulling all-nighters.’
The gap between us and our companions still existed, but it was encouraging that it wasn’t widening too much.
Plus, our teamwork was gradually becoming more synergistic.
‘Let’s see—’
I put the runes I had taken back into the space I had set aside for distribution.
Typically, I carried six Runes of Giants with me.
All were intermediate grade, and since I swapped out higher grade poison runes or thorn runes only when needed, I wore them daily.
‘Jumping two levels skipping advanced is… a huge jump to my specs.’
The six high-grade runes I had taken had the lowest value of 43 and the highest being a whopping 57.
The previous Runes of Giants I was wearing had a total strength increase of 96, but with this massive rune swap, my strength skyrocketed by 203.
Strength: 564 (+203)
Rune of Giants (High Grade) +57
The highest value rune sat in my hands as I nodded in satisfaction when Yeon-hee spoke up.
“Il-wol, is there anything unusual nearby? Everyone has retreated from the boss battle, right?”
I nodded.
It was well past 9 PM, and the employees manning the boss battle had long gone home; now, it was just us left in the dungeon.
At least there were no remaining hunters within the scope of my senses, making that likelihood high.
Thanks to the excessive aggro I drew, I ended up saving many hunters’ lives.
“The summoned creatures were swarming where that ogre charged in, so everyone will know it was thanks to Yeon-hee.”
“That, that… I didn’t do it alone, you know.”
“Most of that interest will fade away over time, so don’t feel too burdened.”
“Yes…”
Noh Ha-yoon, who had been exposed to media quite a lot from a young age, gave Yeon-hee an impassioned speech on how to deal with newfound fame.
“Ugh…”
After a moment of suffering from Ha-yoon, Yeon-hee pressed her forehead and asked, “What should we do now? Since there’s no one here, going for the boss battle is out of the question. We could leave now or camp out and do the boss battle first thing tomorrow.”
Yeon-hee tilted her head as if pondering, and the companions began to share their opinions after a brief moment of thought.
“Even if we say morning, the boss battle opens at 11 AM. Why not just head home?”
“Oh… it takes at least an hour to get to the exit. I’d just be heading home to sleep and then come back again; isn’t it a bother? I’m for just camping out.”
Joo-ah wanted to leave, and Ha-yoon wanted to stay.
I didn’t have a preference either way, so I looked at Ah-rin and Eun-young intently.
The two had differing opinions, so the choice ultimately fell to Yeon-hee.
“I think… it’s better to leave.”
‘… Huh? I thought she’d want to stay. Was she not asking because she wanted to stay?’
Worried I was misreading the atmosphere, I looked at Yeon-hee and noticed her gaze was directed at Ah-rin.
‘Ah… she must be thinking of Ah-rin’s siblings.’
During the week that Ah-rin was trapped in Nargul’s dungeon, her siblings must have gone through a hellish time.
Another unplanned overnight stay would surely trigger past fears.
In the end, we decided against camping and moved toward the exit.
‘If we leave, it’ll be past ten…’
By midnight, the usage count of [Disguise] would reset, so I didn’t want to waste that opportunity.
Softly—
“Ah— there’s a dire wolf mutant standing over there.”
“It’s huge!”
In the distance, a massive silhouette was visible where the boss battle was to occur.
Blocked by a barrier, it couldn’t get out, but it was clearly the protagonist of the boss battle, somehow distinctly aware of me.
‘Wants to fight me, does it? Just wait a little. I’ll be the first to come looking tomorrow.’
It blinked as if it understood me.
We rounded the region of the boss battle and swiftly passed through the gate, heading quickly to our respective homes.
“Phew… today was another safe end. Hehe—”
As Yeon-hee said, we did make it through safely.
There were moments we almost hit danger, but for us, after gaining various experiences, this felt like a usual event now.
As I flew home holding Yeon-hee, her warm body pressing into me was somewhat unsettling.
‘Should I catch that wretched villain tomorrow?’
That sorcerer, Bin Chi-seung, who’s hiding away in his own domain, committing evil deeds.
I had resolved this, but the soft sensation of Yeon-hee’s chest made me weak.
Yet I am a cold skeleton.
I endured with superhuman patience.
“Tch…”
Upon arriving home, after confirming I was faithfully progressing with the plans I mentioned yesterday, Yeon-hee pouted her lips.
‘She’s cute.’
She noticed me holding the Statue of Goddess Irmana and asked, “Is that the statue you got from Ha-yoon?”
I had told her I traded my dagger for the statue on our way over.
Of course, I refrained from mentioning that it was a rather odd-looking dagger.
She didn’t seem particularly curious about why Ha-yoon collected daggers or why she gave away the statue of the goddess. People are just exceptionally peculiar.
Yeon-hee came closer and touched the statue all around, eventually saying, “Hmm… nothing’s showing up. It’s definitely an item from the dungeon. Still, this lady is incredibly beautiful.”
“……”
Naturally, I didn’t react to her teasing remarks. Even if my mind was empty, I wasn’t foolish enough to fall for such traps.
Yeon-hee stared at me for a moment before retreating into the shower.
‘Huh… But didn’t I touch it and unlock the goddess statue? Why isn’t it showing up for Yeon-hee?’
Meaning only I, with [Irmana’s Blessing], and the Lizard Squad can utilize this goddess statue.
Or it might include the other summoned creatures who were conducting rituals following the Lizardman.
‘Hmm— Fine. First, I’ll perform a ritual for Goddess Irmana. Then I’ll go hunt Bin Chi-seung.’
I decided to carry out the ritual in preparation for any incidents that might arise in the battle with the great evil.
Now I had gotten quite accustomed to this ritual, finishing it in just three minutes.
‘Since I always express my gratitude in my heart, she shouldn’t mind if the ritual is short.’
Having performed the ritual for over two months, the goddess had taken root deeply in my heart.
‘Thinking about it, it’s quite miraculous. I lived my whole life as an atheist.’
It’s a world where the existence of absolute deities is recognized, and there are people who accept their power and use it.
Yet I had never served any god.
Commonly, there were popular gods of the moon, gods of fire, and various ways to perform rituals.
Even the demon summoner, Ham Eun-young, had said she served a deity.
‘She didn’t specify what kind of deity it was though.’
I wasn’t particularly curious and never asked further.
In any case, in that regard, both Yeon-hee and I were a bit unique in that we didn’t believe in any gods.
Thump—
I stepped outside, placed the statue of Irmana on the ground, and sat down reverently.
Then I tilted the imperial jug to pour the water from Lake Katalin over my head, sincerely putting my heart into it.
This sacred ritual involved recognizing the existence of Irmana, honoring, worshiping, and proclaiming that such beings exist, but the process itself felt quite shabby.
I felt guilty for subjecting the goddess to such a shabby worship.
‘Hmm… I never thought I’d think this deeply.’
It was ironic that even though the being bestowing me immense power hadn’t received even a word of gratitude from me.
‘Would she even care about me? But who knows, it might be worth a try.’
What if I sculpted the form of the great being using stones gathered from the dark space and performed the ritual?
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