[Stealth]
[Skeleton Bomb]
To conserve magic power, I didn’t bother adjusting my hit rate with [Dagger Throw]. As long as I focused on hitting the Poison Goblin, the rest were clustered together, so it seemed pretty likely I’d hit something even if I just threw casually.
Cruk?
Gulp gulp –
Sorry to the guys happily tearing into the Big Boar, which Goblins love most, but the bomb had already soared high into the sky.
Puff puff puff puff puff puff bang -!!
Kreeek!!
As the explosion erupted, chaos reigned over the area, and Yeon-hee’s summoned creature squad quickly surrounded the disoriented Goblins, crashing into them.
Thud thud thud thud -! Pow!!
Kehk-!
Of course, the Goblins weren’t going to sit still either.
Boooom boo-oom –
‘Like I’d take such an attack!’
With their agility stats zooming past 70, they easily dodged the clubbing attacks of the injured Hobgoblins.
Craaw!!
After failing their attack, the Hobgoblins quickly covered their necks.
‘At least they’re trying to protect their weak points, so I guess I need to aim elsewhere.’
So, I went for the wrist area of the Hobgoblins, who had lost their balance from their whiffed attack.
The Hobgoblin with an injured wrist struggled to grip its club, now having to hold it with both hands just to lift it.
This meant they could no longer grab and swing at me with one hand, significantly weakening their combat power.
Was there really a fool who’d take hits from crazed attacks after the bomb had blown up?
Pow-!
Kehk-!
“Ddung-i!!”
Seeing my summoned Kobold Ddung-i on the verge of being dispelled due to a blind attack from a Hobgoblin solidified my belief that yes, that guy really is an idiot.
Kwoooorrr!!
The skill [Warrior’s Roar] of the rookie Orc rang out.
– Due to the skill [Warrior’s Roar] of the summoned Dotti, strength increases by 3!
All the summoned creatures within range received a minor stat boost.
“Wow- So this is the famous Warrior’s Roar,” Yeon-hee said, momentarily halting her drawn bow as if captivated. So, what made the Orc’s skill famous?
It was simple when you thought about it.
‘Because they’re everywhere.’
From mid-level dungeons onward, you’ll painfully encounter Orcs again and again, even in dungeons where S-ranks are entering, starting from D-class.
There’s a monster called an Ogre, which is said to be superior to Orcs in everything, yet Orcs are still called the dominant species because they spread throughout the dungeons, exercising their dominance.
It’s similar to how a human is much weaker than any beast, yet is still the dominant species on Earth.
Anyway, after the bomb exploded, all of Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures faced the enemies with full force.
However, the Hobgoblin, a mid-range damage dealer using poisonous needles, was in no condition to play its role due to injuries. On the other hand, the numbers might be slightly against us, but each of us was significantly stronger overall.
The outcome was obvious.
Chirr -!
Additionally, a few Hobgoblins were even drawn in by Ddak-ddak-i, and thanks to the Rune of Thorns effect, they started to sap their own health.
‘So far, the provocation effect is fine. Giving a few shields to the Lizard Squad wouldn’t be a bad idea? They seem to lack charging power a little… Anyway, I’m quite relaxed.’
Yeon-hee nodded along, as if she shared my observations.
“Tomorrow, we should head straight to Lizard Swamp. This place doesn’t suit us.”
Noddle noddle –
Of course, if we fought purely with strength without utilizing my abilities, we might have a hard time. They had gathered 17 of them, significantly boosting their stats.
But that’s a meaningless assumption. At least within the dungeon, I wouldn’t be absent from Yeon-hee’s side.
That day, we defeated over 100 monsters, including 60 Hobgoblins, pulling in a profit of 1.1 million won. Of course, gathering Hobgoblin bones was a bonus.
We didn’t drop any runes, which was disappointing, but with dungeons, you have to get used to it – these moments would happen often.
That evening, upon arriving home, Yeon-hee was incredibly excited, while I was busy carefully separating the Hobgoblin bones I had collected in the dungeon.
Hobgoblin Bones
– Bomb Attack Power +7
Hobgoblin Skull
– Bomb Attack Power +8
Until then, I hadn’t really separated the bones, just used them interchangeably, but seeing the label for the captured bones made me check the information by part.
Indeed, the skull bones had higher attack power than the other bones. Other Goblins or Big Boars treated their skulls the same as captured bones, but not the Hobgoblins.
‘Seems like for creatures of a certain caliber, they value the bones from important parts more? Who knows. This system of theirs…’
Shaking my head, I finished separating them and got 60 Hobgoblin skulls.
‘Let’s give this a try…’
Ka-ching ka-ching!
The familiar manifestation of the Skeleton Bomb soon revealed itself.
Skeleton Bomb (Low-Level)
– Crafted from Hobgoblin skulls, slightly stronger than a common Skeleton Bomb.
– Enemies hit by the bomb suffer paralysis for 0.05 seconds.
‘Oh!! Crazy?! This is insane!! 0.05 seconds of paralysis?!
…Honestly, isn’t that a bit too short?
‘But hey, I found a way to make the bomb stronger!’
Feeling the satisfaction of achieving something better today than yesterday brought a smile to my nonexistent lips.
“Huh? Why is Il-wol feeling so good? Huh? Let’s celebrate together~”
‘Can you tell if I’m feeling good or bad?’
Not a chance… I couldn’t tell what I was thinking just by looking at my own face.
“Il-wol~ I’m so happy today~ Hehe. One hundred ten thousand~ One hundred ten thousand~ I’ve become someone who earns over a million in a day~”
Watching Yeon-hee bounce around the living room singing some nonsensical song, I couldn’t help but think, “Yeah, she is a person after all.” It felt more human to show a desire for money rather than just a desire to grow stronger.
‘Please eat delicious food, buy clothes, and bags!’
If I weren’t a skeleton, I would’ve rushed to the department store right away because her appearance was just too much.
That said, I didn’t mean to imply Yeon-hee was a mess, but I wanted her to project a bit more of a refined image for a girl her age.
At home, she wore a three-striped tracksuit, and outside, a low-quality plain robe stuffed deep down over a gray sweatshirt.
I just didn’t like that she went around like that!
‘If our Yeon-hee dressed up, she’d be the prettiest in the world!!’
Maybe because I was her possession, but I was incapable of making proper judgments at this point.
Either way, she was factually different from a plastic beauty like Kang Yeon-su. But was Kang Yeon-su beginning to get plastic surgery? She should start soon to secure her place by next year.
“1-ho~ Tomorrow, we’re going to a place where your kind lives… are you guys okay with that?”
Slurp? (Enemies are just enemies…)
“Hmm – Seems like they’re not too worried, but is it really okay?”
“Tap tap tap!!”
‘Why worry about unnecessary things? Now that you’ve been summoned, deciding our enemies is up to you, Yeon-hee.’
If she tells them to fight, they’ll fight, and if she says don’t, they won’t. In a sense, a pitiful existence. But that doesn’t mean they should feel pity for us. I hope they won’t care if we get hurt or die, thinking of us as consumables that can be used anytime.
She gazed at the Lizardmen with a worried expression for a moment but soon bounced back, happily dancing around.
Whew~
A while later, having settled down a bit, Yeon-hee sat on the floor, hugging Wang-wang.
Waang – Wang!!
Jiggle – jiggle –
Even though I had reduced the food given to Wang-wang, using bones for bomb production, the diet effects still weren’t showing because the belly fat continued to jiggle.
“Haa… Touching Wang-wang’s belly is really healing…”
As she enjoyed that healing, Yeon-hee began recounting information about the dungeon we would enter tomorrow.
“First! Among commonly known low-level dungeons, this one is said to be the hardest. Umm – I saw a monster assessment from the writer on the best list that said it’s 1.5 times stronger than the Hobgoblin dungeon.”
‘That’s a joke, 1.5 times? You gotta be kidding! It’s at least double.’
“Heh – But someone commented that the writer is definitely F-rank. Isn’t that just saying they didn’t know properly?”
“Tap tap tap!!”
“I see it, too. There’s quite a gap between Lizardmen and Hobgoblins. Not to mention, Lizard Swamp is the optimal environment for Lizardmen, right?”
The Lizardmen’s passive traits are [Irmana’s Blessing], which raises agility in moist conditions, and [Blessing of Pitp], which increases health recovery speed with long combat durations.
In fact, the Blessing of Pitp shines only when reaching a higher tier, while the main one is Irmana’s Blessing.
They become stronger the more humid the environment gets, and so far, they hadn’t fought in an environment conducive to Lizardmen, making it an unconscious ability.
But the Lizard Swamp we would go to tomorrow had their favorite environment stretching from the entrance on.
So of course, it wouldn’t be easy.
Moreover, the dungeon had even crazier restrictions.
“Even existence types other than water attributes will have their stats reduced by 10%. Truly ridiculous…”
Just like Yeon-hee said, all Hunters are non-attribute beings. They just can perform attribute attacks. But the assessments they face in the dungeon count as non-attribute.
‘Once we fight for real, we won’t even be able to complain how bad it is. It’ll feel far worse.’
“But we’re going to be alright!! Lizard 1-ho? I’ll be counting on you tomorrow?”
Chururuuk!!
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