Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: No Need for Such Rewards
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"I don't need rewards like this."
Rub-a-dub rub-a-dub.
...
Rub-a-dub rub-a-dub.
Hmm, by now, I guess it's about time I got used to this?
Probably as soon as I open my eyes, I'll see the familiar ceiling of this VIP hospital room.
And judging by the cozy massage from Deokja sis enveloping my whole body, it looks like Lee Gok pulled it off without a hitch.
"Well, she's the super rookie of Korea, after all. Dying on the first floor? Yeah, that wouldn't make any sense."
And she promised she'd win, for my sake.
Even though she came back in tatters again this time, if I thought of it as a good experience, it wasn't all bad.
I'd even gotten to fight a monster from the 'upper levels' of the dungeon, if only for a brief moment.
My thoughts had barely wrapped up when these massive rewards came rolling in.
Hunters are beings who always keep death close at hand, so surviving against an overwhelmingly powerful foe brings no greater prize.
'Survival' in battle means you've racked up that much more experience to grow from.
But my status window apparently wanted to go above and beyond, tossing in visible rewards too. This was some seriously unexpected windfall.
"Who knew you'd even get rewards for taking out the penalty monster..."
For the record, all I'd done in that fight was play support.
Lee Gok was the one who actually finished off the slime.
Yet I still got 100 points? So how huge would the payout be if I took it down myself?
"Anyway, I'm dumping all these points into my stats."
Out of stats that go up to 20, I didn't even have a single one in the double digits—my magic power was the only one that had reached a quarter of that.
The rest were stuck at the initial 0.1 or maybe a slightly better 1.1.
No matter how powerful your skills, if your physical specs suck, you'd end up retiring early like I just did.
Plus, I needed to use this 'Nerve Reinforcement Module' I'd gotten, so now was the time to beef up my body.
"Put 30 points each into agility, endurance, and technique, excluding magic power."
"And finally, 10 points into strength."
Ever since acquiring the 'Armament' skill, my combat role had been locked in as ranged.
The weapon I wielded had somehow become a firearm, after all.
Humanity's greatest and most vicious invention, the one that ended the cold weapon era dating back to BC.
At the same time, the weapon said to be the most useless in dungeons.
The gun.
By all rights, it should be worthless against inherently powerful monsters.
But thanks to Armament, my bullets pierced monster hides with ease, naturally slotting me into the 'rear guard' position.
So for now, I was investing in strength—the most useless stat for ranged combat—dead last.
You never know what the world might throw at you.
This suit implant I'd gotten for the first time.
Nerve Reinforcement Module.
This skill, which slowed down perceived time to nearly a standstill, held limitless potential even I, its user, hadn't fully tapped yet.
That's why, just in case, I hadn't completely abandoned strength.
Rub-a-dub rub-a-dub.
"...Alright, time to get up?"
With all my stats boosted, I couldn't just keep sleeping.
I let the kneading sensation guide my body back to awareness, slowly.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the now-familiar ceiling of the VIP hospital room.
"Deokja sis?"
She must've taken care of me again this time.
Third time already, and it still felt amazing.
Especially since I'd taken not just external wounds but internal ones to my brain from that Nerve Reinforcement Module nonsense.
Yet, like always, I woke up in peak condition.
It made me want to thank her right away with a refreshed mind.
"Deokja sis? You gone?"
There was no Deokja sis gulping nervously, eyes locking with mine the moment I woke up, like always.
Did something urgent come up?
Well, my body's all better now anyway. Time to get out of bed.
But.
...
"...?!"
As I rolled over to sit up, I froze solid on the bed.
This was supposed to be a Hunter Association VIP room swarming with hunters, but there was a creature that absolutely shouldn't be here, staring right at me.
"Hehe..."
For the first few seconds, I thought it was just some kid who'd wandered into the wrong room.
But that familiar blue hue.
And more than that, the skin was mimicking human tones like it was trying to cosplay as a person, but slime mucus was visibly dripping from the hair.
The disguise was half-baked.
Anyone who hasn't seen a humanoid slime up close might've mistaken it for a kid.
Unfortunately, I'd already died once to one and come back.
Shoddy camouflage like that wouldn't fool me.
Meanwhile.
"...Gulp."
Yeah, this thing was a slime.
One of the same breed as the humanoid slime Lee Gok and I took down in the dungeon.
Why the hell is an upper-level monster like this right in front of me?
Here for revenge on behalf of its buddy?
No, before that—how did it even sneak into this Hunter Association VIP room, reserved for VIPs only?
A million thoughts raced through my head.
But no matter what, there was only one thing to do right now.
I'm a hunter.
The girl in front of me is a monster.
When the two meet like this, 'combat' is the only outcome.
So.
Good thing I'm in top shape. Worst case, if it looks like I'm losing, dodge the slime and use Nerve Reinforcement to call for backup.
The moment it moves, I leap back.
As a ranged specialist, I tensed my fully Armed body, ready to fight...
"Master! Master!"
"...Master?"
...or at least, that's what I was planning.
"Hungry?"
The girl dove straight at my reclined body like she was thrilled to see me.
The slime that ended up in my arms giggled, looking up at me like an eager puppy.
"Master! Hurt spots! No more pain now?"
"Master, you say...?"
"Yeah! I'm a familiar... and you're my master!"
Master?
What master?
I don't have a fetish for kids calling me that, you know?
Maybe it was because I'd just woken up.
My brain couldn't keep up with the situation.
No, even in perfect shape, I'd probably react the same way.
A swarm of question marks floated over my head.
Then it hit me.
Right.
Come to think of it, on top of the 100 points for clearing the penalty, I'd gotten something else too.
A summon, was it?
But summons are familiars for 'Trainer Hunters,' right?
My hunter class was clearly Female Submission Hunter.
Could I really use familiars like a Trainer Hunter?
[Second reward for overcoming Quest Penalty granted.]
[Summon - Humanoid Slime (F) acquired.]
No, even so—a familiar?
It felt like some SF fantasy got mashed up with medieval tropes out of nowhere.
Should I be happy about this?
Or not?
"A familiar, huh..."
The hunter class that goes beyond just slaying dungeon monsters—capturing and taming them to fight on humanity's side.
Trainer Hunter.
They weren't as rare as the Supreme Lee Clan's Vampire Hunters, but they were still pretty elite and uncommon.
Makes sense, then.
They could tame monsters.
In other words, they turned the dreams of the 'possible pervs' into reality, so demand far outstripped their low numbers.
"Slime... a slime..."
"Hehe... Master Master!"
"Uh, yeah..."
A tamed slime.
From what I knew, this type was the most mouthwatering monster for horny female hunters.
Slimes could theoretically shift into any 'shape' imaginable.
In short, pervy bitches loved molding these squishy things into guys or hardening them for fun.
"Haa, this is insane."
"Master?"
And the real kicker? Our combo.
A tamed slime + male hunter was like the ultimate set menu for those drooling female hunters—samgyeopsal with bibim noodles, or chicken and beer levels.
The pinnacle of the 'ultimate gift set.'