Say It Again?
"Can you say that one more time?"
"What, are your ears clogged, young'un? You gotta kill 300 monsters!"
"……."
The condition for achieving the feat of bringing his physical body from the dungeon into the prison: slaughtering 300 monsters.
Han Ji-woo's words caught in his throat.
He'd just taken down 23 werewolves, and all that had bought him was a 10-hour extension on his death countdown.
'Even figuring roughly 10 hours per 20 monsters...'
That meant 100 hours gone for 200 kills. With only 71 hours left, even that was cutting it close.
But 300? 'No way that's feasible.'
Of course, not every monster dropped a Death Orb. But statistically, they dropped more often, and each one shaved off a hefty chunk of time.
In this mess, Han Ji-woo couldn't help wondering how Osgeelro had pulled off the achievement.
Reading the dismay on Han Ji-woo's face, Osgeelro grinned wolfishly.
"Curious how I managed that feat, eh?"
"Yeah."
"Alright then, I'll tell ya!"
Han Ji-woo had braced for some demand in return, but nope. Osgeelro was a far more straightforward dwarf than he'd expected.
"I found a hidden piece on sub-floor 7 and snagged it."
"A hidden piece?"
"Aye! Tucked deep in a clamshell at the bottom of the sea, there was a shimmering pearl. Called the Luck Pearl. Swallow it, and your Luck stat skyrockets temporarily."
"Temporarily meaning...?"
Osgeelro held up a single finger.
"One hour. In that one hour of boosted Luck, I butchered 250 monsters flat."
Osgeelro went on to describe the details of that day.
Ten days ago. When he'd crossed into the Dungeon Prison with his avatar body, he'd run into a goblin horde.
Goblins? Pfft, post-meal exercise for a dwarf. He hacked through them gleefully.
But after slicing about ten, he ended up in a spot just like Han Ji-woo's now.
Osgeelro realized he couldn't just keep killing recklessly, but the goblins kept swarming and attacking.
He tried dodging at first, but his temper flared. Dwarves were hot-blooded by nature, after all.
Those puny pests kept popping up, and he lost it—chopped 40 more right there.
When he snapped out of it, his death countdown had shrunk by 27 hours.
"Osgeelro! Rein it in, ya hothead!"
He scolded himself, but he knew full well he'd swing his axe again the next time monsters showed.
Racking his brain for a way out, he remembered the Luck Pearl.
"Oh ho. If Luck amps up big time, maybe more Life Orbs drop?"
Spot on. With the Luck buff, he rampaged for an hour, and his countdown extended by about 20 hours.
But it was just a band-aid. Buff gone, back to square one—until the achievement window popped.
"What was it... 'He Who Transcends Death'? Somethin' like that. Nailed it, and as reward, they hauled my body over from the dungeon."
"I see."
"You must be sweatin' bullets."
"Yeah."
Osgeelro had scored that hidden piece and dodged immediate starvation for his body.
Han Ji-woo? No such luck. No clue how to turn this around.
His frustrated gaze drifted to the relentlessly ticking death countdown.
- Until Death: 71:12:03
- Until Death: 71:12:02
- Until Death: 71:12:01
'How the hell do I deal with that...'
Right then.
- Until Death: 71:12:03
"......Huh?"
The countdown had jumped back by 2 seconds.
Stunned, Han Ji-woo watched closely, but it didn't happen again.
'What was that? Did I see wrong?'
No. Desperate as he was, he wasn't so far gone as to hallucinate that.
He pondered what secret lay behind that glitch.
* * *
Gulp!
Han Ji-woo's Adam's apple bobbed as he lay there like the dead.
Pao whooped in triumph.
"Master drink water! Boss can drink!"
Nyaah!
Lucy bounced around in delight too.
"Then he eat other stuff too! Keep sleep but give food, no die!"
A little earlier.
Pao and Lucy had grown anxious with Han Ji-woo not waking. What if he just up and died?
So Pao fetched some lake water and trickled it into his mouth.
And he swallowed it clean!
That was why his death timer had extended. Neglect the body and it dies, but feed it nutrients and you buy time!
Normally impossible—the Dungeon System blocked outside interference like that.
But the energy of Hidden Space made it possible.
"Lucy! Meal time, feed boss food! Eat together!"
Nyang!
"Grow more crops lots! Keep boss alive till wake! No run out crops!"
Nyaang!
Pao and Lucy sprang up and dove into crop tending.
Pao planted watermelon seeds in the watermelon patch first, then started seed potato production. Next, prepped rice seedlings.
Heaven rewarded his efforts.
Sufficient proficiency accumulated. 'Great Harvest' skill has been enhanced.
Knowledge and understanding of farming has increased.
Growth speed of personally managed crops has doubled.
"Whoaaa! Pao skill stronger!"
Pao bellowed and redoubled his farming frenzy, his head full of one thought: don't let the boss starve.
* * *
Dungeon sub-floor 6.
The dungeon folk's efforts to upgrade their skills pressed on.
Seol Ara was among them, working on strengthening her Lion's Roar.
It didn't affect allies she recognized, so she could spam it freely as long as mana held.
"Hmm, no progress."
Seol Ara pouted her lower lip.
Of course, expecting big gains in under a day might be greedy.
But impatience bred greed. To calm her mind, she headed to the lakeside.
She skipped a stone across the still water, ripples blooming beautifully.
Gazing at them soothed her frayed nerves.
Kim Jung-min approached with Duduk-i.
"Whatcha doing, sis?"
"Just spacing out. You look way more lively, Jung-min."
"Probably 'cause I finally got some rice. Barely a spoonful, but yeah. Koreans run on rice power, right?"
Thanks to Han Ji-woo sharing the paddy, they'd cooked rice from the harvest.
So little, though—splitting it meant one or two bites per person.
"Jung-min. You wanna get down to the bottom fast and go home?"
The sudden question gave him pause. He petted Duduk-i's head thoughtfully.
"Kinda mixed. To get back to Earth, yeah, rush the boss on the lowest floor ASAP... but clears get harder each time. Scary to push deeper."
"What if we didn't need to clear the dungeon?"
"...Huh?"
"Hit me while watching the paddy. Maybe we could just live here forever~."
"Ah... yeah, not impossible."
The barren dungeon was turning livable, thanks to Han Ji-woo.
Plus, some had farming or animal husbandry skills.
Manage well, and settling in permanently wasn't out of the question.
But Seol Ara knew better than anyone that wasn't the answer.
"Guess seeing folks keep leaving got to me. This ain't our home. Gotta get back to our families."
Her words hit Kim Jung-min hard. Even now, she worried for others over herself.
"You're the coolest, sis."
"Aww, cut it out. Duduk-i, c'mere."
To lighten the mood, she called the duckling.
It waddled over, nuzzling her face.
She scratched its chin and asked Kim Jung-min, "How's he doing? Any changes?"
"Nah. Eat, poop, sleep, dig sometimes. That's it."
"Still tough lil' guy. No fighting skills, yet he's survived."
"Right? Thought he'd croak on the last floor."
"Can't let that happen! He found that hidden piece—we owe him big. And folks find him soothing."
"That's why pets matter."
"Hand!"
Seol Ara held out her palm. Duduk-i gently placed a front foot on it.
"Kyaa~ Adorable. What else can he do?"
"Hand, foot, roll over, bang, stay, eat, come, go there, kiss... like 19 tricks total."
"That many?"
"Yeah. Started as 'eh, worth a shot?' but he's a natural. More dog than mole. But no 'jump' yet. He can, just doesn't get the word?"
Mid-chat, Duduk-i suddenly hopped in place.
"Whoa? Jump!"
Kim Jung-min yelled again; Duduk-i jumped on cue.
"Whoa! Duduk-i finally gets jump!"
Kim Jung-min cheered—then a system message appeared.
Animal Affinity skill evolves; evolution path includes 'monsters as targets'.
Animal Affinity evolves into 'Taming'.
Skill evolution reward: Defense stat +10.
Tempt a monster with its favorite thing to tame it as a pet.
"......Wha?"
Kim Jung-min's eyes went wide.
He'd just been playing with Duduk-i, and boom—achievement unlocked, massive skill evolution.
"What's up?"
"Sis, just now......"
He explained to Seol Ara.
She latched onto a new clue for skill growth.
'Animal Affinity raises affinity with strangers to tame 'em.'
Not for already-tamed pets, but teaching Duduk-i tricks triggered the achievement.
'Lion's Roar amplifies voice to allies.'
But she'd used it to blast eardrums, hit achievement, evolved it.
"......Do stuff unrelated to the skill's purpose! That's the key, Jung-min!"
"Aha!"
Kim Jung-min clapped as realization dawned.
"Everyone~! Listen up a sec!"
Seol Ara shared her breakthrough with the group.
At last, their efforts were heading the right way.
* * *
- Until Death: 75:32:43
"It's going up again."
Han Ji-woo's countdown had been inching up for an hour—now +4 hours total.
He had no idea it was his pets feeding his body back home.
Just baffling.
Osgeelro was equally stumped.
"Hey. No clue why, but time's extendin'. You gonna sit on it?"
"Nah."
Han Ji-woo steeled himself and stood.
"Osgeelro, where's some easy monsters around here?"
Gripping his single-horned sword tight, his resolve pleased the dwarf, who bared his teeth in a grin.
"I'll show ya."