Hiring strong hunters with money to defeat Jo Gi-man, huh!
Of course, if there were hunters strong enough to fight Jo Gi-man, they would already be out of reach of money, but we could definitely find those with just enough skill to buy some time.
‘By the way, I’m curious about this. How effective would it be if a person drank it?’
As I tilted my head in thought…
Gulp, gulp—
“Paha! This water is super refreshing and tasty! So sweet!”
… Yo, did you just drink that?
It seems like Yeon-hee poured the water in Wang-wang’s bowl into a cup and drank it.
‘Yeon-hee… there’s a limit to being laid-back; drinking water a dog was sipping on…’
Well, she drank it, so there’s no helping it. All I can do is hope it won’t have bad effects.
······
I stood with her for about a minute, waiting for something to change.
“Why is there no change?”
“??”
That can’t be right, can it?
“Um… Oh! Should I use a ton of magic power? Just a sec.”
Yeon-hee soon summoned a whole bunch of creatures, including Ran and Lizardman 1.
(Woohoo! Ran has arrived! Huh? Wang-wang, you’re just lying on the ground every time I see you! Get up!)
Waaah…
As Ran struggled to lift Wang-wang, Yeon-hee said,
“Now my magic power is draining fast. Il-wol, give me another cup of water.”
Uh… well, she looks fine. One more cup should be okay.
Drip, drip, drip—
As I poured the water, Yeon-hee chugged it down and made a puzzled face before breaking into a big smile.
“My magic power has surged?! It’s filling back up way faster than before! It’s like instant recovery!”
*Clap, Clap, Clap!*
It really does work like a mana potion!
“Eh?”
What? Why?
Yeon-hee’s eyes were darting around, as if she was trying to figure something out.
“I just had two things come to mind! One is that the effect of this lake’s water is limited to three times a day…”
*Ugh… I knew there’d be limitations. But still, getting a free mana potion three times a day is pretty generous, right? But how much does it restore each time? And does it also have an effect like increasing skill power, like with Wang-wang?*
Yeon-hee continued with another thought.
“It says that if someone with the trait [Irmana’s Blessing] drinks from this lake for 100 days while earnestly hoping to meet Irmana, they will gain new possibilities according to their hidden potential… Does that mean it applies to Il-wol too?!”
*Clap, Clap, Clap—!!*
*Whoa! What? Is this water jug some kind of epic item? Oh! Wait, did this water jug appear because I entered while possessing Irmana’s blessing from my past life?*
The premise that what you gain differs based on your hidden potential was a different story, but there’s no harm in trying. Let’s get started!
*Alright! So starting today, I have to drink…*
As I filled my cup with water, my thoughts suddenly froze.
·········
“Ah…”
In that moment, Yeon-hee and I locked eyes, and her gaze lingered on my body.
*Water… I can’t drink it… what the hell—!!*
No! There’s definitely a gem shimmering in front of me, and if I reach out, it’s gonna vanish like an illusion!
*So that’s why everything was lining up perfectly; it turns out skeletons can’t drink!*
“Can the lizard squad manage it? I wonder if they can comprehend the word ‘wish.’ Right?”
Nod, nod…
For now, whether it works or not, I should start with them.
Separating my disappointment from the task, I filled a large bucket with water and had the Lizard Squad drink to their heart’s content.
“Okay! While drinking water, fervently pray that you want to meet Irmana, okay?”
Chew-rab??
“Picture! Picture the great being who bestowed blessings upon your kind!”
But it was unlikely they’d grasp the urgency just from my urging. Luckily, Lizardman 1 seemed to have picked up on something and began directing the Lizard Squad.
The Lizard Squad had just expanded to 15 after Yeon-hee leveled up to 2 and used her summoning paper.
Since our place was too small to accommodate all 15 at once, we had to continually summon and release them.
*I really need to move to a bigger place soon.*
Our income had increased dramatically, so inconveniences were just temporary.
Chew-rub-
A freshly summoned, fluffy baby Lizardman closed its eyes and started muttering something. It seemed Lizardman 1 had communicated well. They say a position defines a person; maybe assigning it as a squad leader has made them smarter?
For some reason, Lizardman 1’s face was filled with strange excitement as he looked at the young Lizardmen.
*That guy is definitely planning to give the new recruits a crash course.*
I could picture Lizardman 1 lecturing the newbie on how to work hard and bow low.
Anyway, after supplying the lake water to all 15 until they no longer wanted to drink, I refilled the bucket.
*I might as well give everything I can a shot.*
The bucket was filled to a depth just enough for my head to fit in, and I headed to the bathroom.
I hadn’t given up on this yet.
Splash—
Without hesitation, I plunged my head into the water.
Splash-splash—
Cold water quickly filled up inside my skeleton.
·········
*… It feels like something is sinking in… or is it just my imagination?*
If my bones are submerged and soaking it up, wouldn’t that count as drinking too?
·········
I held my head underwater for about three minutes. But there was no message appearing.
Unlike the Lizard Squad, who saw a message as soon as they drank the water, my experience was different.
*Drinking… I don’t really need to be confined to the act of drinking. If I just make it mine…*
[Contaminated Breath]
I began to exhale the contaminated breath into the water, drawing it back in repeatedly.
As I took in the water that was slightly mixed with the contaminated breath, I could distinctly feel a refreshing energy spreading through my body.
*I earnestly wish to meet the Goddess of Water, Irmana…*
Ten minutes later.
*Ugh, this isn’t working.*
Drip, drip—
After keeping my head submerged for a while and deciding to give up without regret, something suddenly flashed in my mind.
[Hidden Quest: Wish for Irmana’s Resurrection, Day 1 Completed.]
—!!
*What?! A hidden quest?!*
Yeah, it’s about time for quests to start popping up. Soon dragons and demon kings will show up, and I’ll get transported to another world, right? Oh, that’s terrifying.
Every time I get excited about new information I previously didn’t know, there’s an equal measure of anxiety.
The fear of not knowing what the future holds.
The already twisted future would accelerate and branch into unimaginable things.
*Let’s set aside worries that don’t have answers.*
But the idea that I’m wishing for her resurrection is a bit concerning. Does that mean that the Goddess Irmana is already dead or in a state between life and death?
*What if completing this leads to the fallen Irmana being resurrected?*
It sounds like nonsense, but there’s no way to tell.
*But having others wait 100 days to find out just seems… too late, right? This is the right thing to do.*
Choosing to be cautious when needed and to ride the flow when the time calls for it; my choice for now is to just go for it.
Since variables may arise in the next 100 days, it would be wise to keep the quest ongoing and observe the situation.
For now, I didn’t feel anything particularly off about what Yeon-hee read, but it was definitely an event I couldn’t simply be overjoyed about.
The Irmana who blessed me in the Lizard Swamp Dungeon is in need of revival? It would have been nice if she were alive and taking care of things!
“Il-wol, are you done? What happened?”
As I vigorously nodded my head, Yeon-hee smiled broadly and clapped her hands.
Is there anything happier than having someone take joy in your accomplishments?
*I should give her a head massage as thanks. I mean, I used to do it every day anyway.*
But then Yeon-hee grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room, bubbling over with excitement about wanting to watch something fun together.
I realized that she rarely asked to watch something together, so I wondered what it could be.
Our two-room apartment wasn’t full option, so there was no TV. So we lay side by side on the floor, looking at Yeon-hee’s phone.
“This is a link sent by Sister Yeon-su; she wanted me to check it out. A YouTuber with 1.5 million subscribers made a video about us! Isn’t that interesting?”
*Clap, Clap, Clap!!*
*What? Really?*
As I clicked on the link, a familiar red platform opened up.
[The One and Only Summoner's Monster Combat Power Tier!]
*Ugh, it’s this guy…*
Remembering the visual information, it all came flooding back.
His pseudonym is ‘Kim Coffee.’
He mainly creates gossip videos about hunters and edits them with a fast pace, so I often watched his stuff.
It seems the topic of the day was the ranking of Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures.
*Monsters, huh… well, that’s a fact.*
Anyway, the video didn’t waste time on unnecessary information about Yeon-hee and went straight to the point.
Of course, the content was full of wild guesses about the combat power of our summons.
The ranking was up to 7th place, and I was somewhat surprised by that part.
*So the existence of spirits was already spreading, huh?*
There were a total of 7 types of summoned creatures so far, including Spirit Ran, and it showed how incredibly high people’s interest in Yeon-hee was.
Anyway, Kim Coffee’s ranking of summoned creature combat power had the Kobold surprisingly at 7th place.
*He ranked the Kobold as the weakest?*
The reason for placing it 7th was due to its extremely low intelligence and congenital lack of willpower, which led to a dangerously low hit rate in attacks.
Well, it doesn’t matter how strong you are if you can’t hit anything. In fact, right now, it was only serving as a meat shield.
Moreover, it lacks even decent skills and is always carrying a load on its back, making it slow and largely unhelpful in battle, he said. The video felt less like just watching good fights and more about assessing which monsters had high contributions in combat.
*So in the end, they were just listing the Kobold’s characteristics; how is that worthy of a video that already has over 1 million views…?*
Considering Kim Coffee’s influence, it was extraordinary that a video could reach 1 million views within half a day of being uploaded.
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