If I can obtain that skill, at the very least, I could be recognized as a presence that a crazy dog wouldn’t want to touch. For that to happen, Yeon-hee needs to quickly level up to D-rank to enter that dungeon.
‘There are less than three months left…but it feels like it’s just barely possible… By the way, I hope she’s okay after getting hurt? I’ve used all the potions, but the bleeding has stopped for now.’
…
After a while, Yeon-hee’s clear voice echoed in the silent space. Soon, a massive door opened, and she got up, walking towards it as if it was familiar.
* * *
As soon as she dismissed the Skeleton Soldier, Yeon-hee was questioned by the hunter official right after exiting the dungeon.
“Today, a total of 799 hunters entered this dungeon, and among them, only 17 entered alone. You’re one of those 17.”
“Yes…”
“And among those 17, you are the only woman.”
“Ah… I see.”
The man investigating Yeon-hee was Jeong Hyo-chan from the Hunter Management Bureau. At first glance, he seemed friendly, but his eyes were fixed like pins and showed no movement.
‘Sigh— I just want to go home quickly…’
She wanted the investigation to end so she could escape from this frightening-looking man.
“I’ll just ask a few simple questions. Have you seen the men in this photo today?”
“… Yes, I saw them.”
“Where did you see them?”
“I saw them pass by on my way back near the entrance.”
“Was there anything else? Did they talk to you or bother you?”
“No, not at all… They just brushed past me… I only remember them because one of them was really big.”
“You seem to have gotten hurt… How did that happen?”
“It’s not like you don’t see injured hunters coming out of dungeons every day…”
“Well, that’s true.”
Having already removed her blood-stained clothes from the inventory before exiting the dungeon, Yeon-hee was in a situation where they couldn’t analyze the bloodstains.
Jeong Hyo-chan knew from his skill that she was lying, but there wasn’t much he could pin down. Of course, if he pursued it rigorously, he could find other clues, like possibly blood on her body.
‘What a pain. Just looking at her face, it seems like she got into trouble for being too pretty, that’s their karma.’
Time spent investigating was up, so his job was done.
While admiring Yeon-hee’s dazzlingly beautiful face, he briefly considered asking her out for coffee but quickly shook his head and said to her,
“Alright, thank you for your time, and please keep in mind that if there’s anything wrong with the documents you filled out, you might receive a surprise call.”
“Yes… I understand.”
As Yeon-hee stood up, Jeong Hyo-chan was once again captivated by her beauty, unable to look away until her figure disappeared into the hallway, her robe swaying as she exited the office.
It was only after she left that he saved her records on his phone and left a simple note.
– Lee Yeon-hee, F-rank Hunter, Summoner (2nd Awakening)
– Killed 3 F-rank Hunters. Stab wound in the abdomen. Used a large quantity of potions.
Exiting the dungeon management office, Yeon-hee let out a long sigh and hurried home.
‘That was really scary. Did he notice anything?’
Feeling a subtle flow of magical power when she questioned herself, Yeon-hee felt a strong intuition that the official had used some ability.
If she had an ordinary talent, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all, but her potential far surpassed that category.
‘But they say you can’t do anything without evidence…’
In fact, several men had approached her with the intention to ambush her since she started her hunter career, so she managed not to show signs of tension.
Suddenly, memories of the first day she killed someone came to mind, but she forcibly shook off those unpleasant memories.
‘This is unavoidable. It’s self-defense.’
Calming herself, she widened her stride. She wanted to hurry home and tell Il-wol about everything she had been holding inside.
That Skeleton Soldier truly felt special, as if it genuinely understood and empathized with her story.
‘It’s mine… entirely mine.’
Her first complete possession. Thinking of Il-wol made something swell up in her heart, but at the same time, the trait marked [98 lives] hung around her neck like a thorn.
‘I don’t understand why Il-wol has such a restriction.’
The second summoned Wang-wang can be summoned in the same form even after dying 100 times. She had already grasped the core aspects of being a summoner, so she knew this.
In fact, the second summoned Skeleton Soldier and Il-wol had different trait compositions. [Sense] was naturally absent, and intelligence was significantly lower.
‘Could it be a hidden benefit from the first summoning trait?’
A special ability that consumes no magic power when summoning or maintaining a summoned creature. It may seem simple, but she thought there was nothing as strange as this trait.
Just like no one can live without air, a summoned creature cannot be materialized in this world without magic power, yet Il-wol was making that possible.
‘I might have an existence that I’m not aware of taking on that burden for me.’
Lost in such fantasy thoughts, she found herself at her home before she knew it.
Click—
It was a small studio apartment of less than 10 pyeong, but it felt so empty. It had been less than a week since she met her summoned creature, but being alone in this space felt very lonely.
Fortunately, she had the ability to fill this space. She wanted to use that ability immediately, but first, she decided to take a shower.
“For some reason, I feel like I can’t show my bare body to Il-wol.”
She couldn’t quite figure out why she felt that way. Coldly speaking, her summoned creatures were just monsters as people commonly referred to.
But despite that thought, she hurriedly entered the bathroom and began washing her body.
* * *
After a few seconds of looking down at the ground, accustomed to the dazzling light.
“Ta-da-!”
“Tap—”
“Puhihihi, look at how surprised Il-wol is~”
“Woof! Wang!”
‘There really are no words for this. It looks like she’s physically okay too.’
As she faced her, contemplating her plans seriously, she greeted her with a bright smile.
“Ta-da— Il-wol, look at this! This is our harvest for today.”
On the ground lay three runes with familiar patterns. One low-rank rune, two normal runes, and about 130,000 won in profit from defeating over 20 goblins.
Hehehe—
She let out a somewhat eerie laugh and continued.
“Il-wol, do you want to take a look at the low-rank rune for a moment?”
This time, she readily handed over the rune, and after comparing it with her own acquired low-rank rune, she immediately returned it back to me.
“Since what we got today is +6, we can hand this over. It’ll probably be the one with the lowest score among low-rank runes.”
Nod—
“And among the two normal runes, one gives +2 health, and the other gives +3 health.”
A +2 is the lowest among normal runes.
A +3 would be normal.
Seeming somewhat disappointed that the runes obtained from the life-and-death battle were not in very good condition, she pouted her lips and clicked her tongue.
“Well, I can use these two for a while, and then sell them for a reasonable price later.”
Since she could store up to 10 runes in her inventory, she could use them until it filled up and sell them when she could obtain higher-ranking runes.
After glancing over her spoils, I tossed a few bones I had collected today from my inventory to Wang-wang.
– Hah! Hack— Woof!
Wang-wang, drooling and quickly devouring the bones.
“Hehe, Wang-wang, you can’t drool on the floor like that— And you can’t bark loudly inside either. I got a complaint yesterday and was really scolded!”
‘Noise between floors is a serious conflict that threatens life… Wouldn’t it be wise to eliminate the risk immediately?’
Thinking that, I stared at Wang-wang. The little guy glanced at me as if to say “What?” and then started chewing on the bone, wiggling his rear.
‘What a cheeky dog, I’m the one who made sure he got those bones…’
“By the way, I just came out of the dungeon and got investigated. It was a guy with this huge slit-eyed look.”
Squatting on the floor, she began to recount the events after leaving the dungeon in great detail, as if recording her daily activities on a tape recorder.
I nodded along, listening attentively as her expression once again changed and a man’s face appeared in my mind when she mentioned the official she met, realizing she felt he suspected her of lying.
‘Was it Jeong Hyo-chan? He’s the one with the skill to discern true from false.’
He had the ability to almost 100% detect the truth against those of lower rank than him. He may be a low-level worker now, but it wouldn’t be long before he climbed the ranks.
Even if there are restrictions on using his ability, it was so useful that it was only a matter of time before he caught the eye of high-ranking officials.
Years later, when the Hunter Management Bureau got hacked, his abilities became known to the world, and of course, he promptly disappeared right afterward. However, he likely continued his original line of work under a disguise.
At least it was fortunate that he was not overly passionate about his job.
‘It must have been easy for him to let it go.’
After a lengthy chat, she began to show her thoughts about the next dungeon.
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