The Stubborn Man's House

The system messages poured out before my eyes one after another, the price paid for obtaining the items.

'Honestly, not much of an impression.'

From my perspective, having already faced giants, an increase in dwarves wasn't threatening. 2.4 times the dwarves, each 1.2 times stronger? Unless 24 times the dwarves, each 12 times stronger, showed up, they wouldn't pose the same crisis as the giants.

Besides, if you broke it down point by point, it wasn't necessarily all bad.

An increase in the number of dwarves was actually a boon. Didn't zombies grow by consuming corpses? In the same vein, them getting stronger was good too. Just look at the dogs—after splitting five giants among them, they'd all grown to the size of calves.

In other words, powerful enemies meant significant growth.

'As expected of Lady Cat, she had a plan all along!'

Even the part about the special store was welcome. These special stores were a kind of artifact provided to make clearing stages easier. You could create all sorts of high-grade buffs using special ingredients that only appeared in special stores.

But finding a special store wasn't easy in the first place. The Stage 3 map had grown incomparably larger than before. Stage 3's concept was a city. This place was actually as vast as a small city.

'And they're offering a home delivery service?'

Of course, some might think exploring was better than having enemies come to you. But surprisingly, that wasn't the case. This city had a strange phenomenon called 'terrain hazards.' Construction rebar could suddenly collapse, or an elevator you boarded might stop without warning.

It wasn't just paranoia. Accidents were frequent enough that the community had a separate [Urban Ghost Stories] board under the [Stage 3] category.

'Honestly, I think it's just coincidence, but…'

Everyone had their own preferences, but my stance was that dwarves were preferable to those anomalies. At least if they had a physical form, you could beat them to death, right? Being trapped in an elevator and left on the road for hours was absolutely out of the question.

And finally, the [Events].

'Hmm… so this is where they appear…'

The previous items were undeniably good, but the [Events] were a bit ambiguous. For one thing, there was an absolute lack of information. There weren't many posts on the community dealing with the keyword [Event].

What was certain was that when an [Event] activated, somewhere on the map would change. And this was a kind of bomb. If you entered the boss fight without uncovering the secret, it meant the enemies would suddenly cause anomalies. The effects varied. But whatever it was, something terribly disadvantageous to the user would activate and push them toward a dead end.

Of course, the greater the risk, the greater the reward, but I didn't want to face unnecessary anomalies with insufficient information.

'Three pieces of homework just appeared…'

For now, I distributed the items. Most of them were Baengnae's, but fortunately, there were a few things I could give to the dogs as well. But Baengnae threw a tantrum.

"The cloak is Baengnae's too."

"No, Baengnae. You already took the shoes, gloves, and guards. Let's give the cloak to the dogs, okay?"

After thinking for a moment, Baengnae answered, raising a finger as if doing me a favor.

"Dogs get Jump."

Of course, five [Jump] skills had appeared, so I'd given one to each zombie dog. But that was it. Besides [Jump], every single item was currently worn by Baengnae.

I decided to change my approach. Baengnae was still young, so her conscience hadn't fully developed yet. I'd try convincing her with practicality.

"Baengnae, the cloak is too big for you. If you wear it, it'll drag on the floor, right? It'll get dirty right away."

"Dogs, if they have Jump, don't need the cloak."

Baengnae gave a nonsensical answer. She probably meant that since the dogs had [Jump], a cloak that increased movement speed had low utility. But Baengnae also had [Jump].

I had no choice but to nod and play along with her words.

"You're right, Baengnae. You're correct."

Baengnae grinned.

"Hehe. Madda. Baengnae is right."

"So I should wear the cloak then? Since both you and the dogs have Jump, and I don't have Jump?"

And with that, I swiftly draped the cloak over my shoulders. Baengnae stared at me with hollow eyes.

"What are you looking at? Do you know how many items are already draped over your body right now? You greedy zombie! I should just take them all back!"

When I reached my hand forward, Baengnae ran away. With so many items on her, she made clattering noises.

"Waaah."

I shouted at Baengnae.

"You. From now on, you're taking the front line. If not, I'll give all the items you're wearing to the dogs. Got it?"

"Got it. Got it. Baengnae will do it."

'Sigh, she talks a good game.'

And the opportunity for Baengnae to take the lead came much sooner than expected. It was because Baengnae would be the one handling Event [Special Meal].

[Special Meal] was a fairly well-known event. Most of the information about [Events] was essentially about [Special Meal]. It was the first event to be discussed on the community.

One day, a post titled [Event Special Meal/Request for Help] had been uploaded to the community. There were countless help requests, but the keyword 'event' had stimulated the users' interest. Many people gathered, and based on the various clues the post's owner uploaded, people exercised collective intelligence. Specifying the location, sharing interpretations, and the conclusion that emerged.

What the word 'Special Meal' referred to was the user. What made it even more famous was that the target eating this 'Special Meal' was the 'Slime Pufferfish.'

When the event activated, you could enter a solo dungeon through the Slime Pufferfish painting in the store. In other words, the 'anomaly' of [Special Meal] was the Slime Pufferfish painting.

The first poster, who didn't know it was a solo dungeon, posted that they would try entering through the painting and then lost contact. Practically confirmed dead.

Afterward, when the second challenger tried to follow after sending in their summon, the message [This is a solo dungeon] appeared, and the information became known. And by the fifth challenger, who cleared the dungeon themselves instead of using a summon, it was revealed that the dungeon's owner was the 'Slime Pufferfish.'

The [Special Meal] posts were information written in blood. But the story didn't end there. The eleventh challenger ignored Event [Special Meal]. The user, who had a summon with a keen sense of smell, ultimately failed to designate a suitable person. And the moment they entered the boss round, endless dark green liquid began pouring out from within the painting. Along with countless Slime Pufferfish eggs.

The challenger ultimately survived, but reported that they had suffered damage that would be difficult to recover from due to the event penalty. In effect, they would be staying on Stage 4 for the long term.

"Alright, time to work, Baengnae."

I led Baengnae in front of the painting. It was time for her to take the initiative. Baengnae plugged her nose and whined at the stench.

"Baengnae hates fish meat. Dogs like fish meat."

"Haha. What can you do?"

Baengnae ended up having a private meeting with the Slime Pufferfish to protect her items. Baengnae eventually made whining noises and headed toward the painting.

"It smells a lot."

"Oh dear… Then hurry up and come back."

"Waaah…"

I wasn't worried about Baengnae. As the first event of Stage 3, the Slime Pufferfish wasn't that strong an enemy. At most, mid-boss level. But hadn't Baengnae monopolized all sorts of resources and adorned herself from head to toe with items?

Before finally entering, Baengnae glanced at me. When I waved my hand, she disappeared into the painting.

***

Death's Cat was watching the Zombie Summoner while eating snacks. At that moment, a message titled [Emergency Alert] was broadcast to the employees. The content was that there existed a Stage 2 summoner who had defeated a vampire giant. The order was to mobilize all lower-level field staff to find them without fail.

"Nya-ha. How interesting. Is that even possible?"

But Death's Cat wasn't interested. She had already met her quota. For a cat who had secured her snacks, additional work was none of her concern.

"Ah, right!"

She sent a report to her superior stating that she had become the patron of the Zombie Summoner. It was the cat's achievement, and she couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let other guys take credit for it.

"Crunch. Delicious!"

Thus, Zombie Summoner Baek Suhan was excluded from the investigation targets of the large corporation 'Death.'

***

After Baengnae left to catch the Slime Pufferfish, I called the dogs. It was to resolve the second event, [Chatty Ingredients]. From here, there was almost no information. There were simply no community posts related to [Chatty Ingredients] at all.

But that didn't mean there was no way. Ultimately, the key word was 'ingredients.' And I knew a user who had mastered all the ingredients of Stage 3.

I opened the expert's post. In that short time, over 1,000 comments had already been posted.

'Whoa… As expected, I wasn't the only one who recognized them? They were destined for greatness after all. But I discovered them first.'

I felt a sense of pride. It was a good feeling to see a user I had discovered first being recognized by others.

Without further delay, I used the search function to explore posts with keywords like 'conversation' and 'chat.' And the results came out faster than expected.

[Mandrake] – Unsolved

Its roots take on a human form and scream noisily all day long.

There were more ingredients that matched the keywords, but there was a reason I was certain the event's protagonist was the [Mandrake]. It was because the expert had left a small ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠annotation next to the Mandrake's description.

Confirmed that conversation is possible under certain conditions.

11 attempts failed.

Marked as conditions undiscovered.

The discoverer will provide compensation if you send a note.

'Finally, an opportunity to repay you has come.'

If you read the expert's posts, you could tell how sincere he was about information. These unsolved entries must have been a great inconvenience to him. From the position of receiving help, there was no reason to hide what he wanted.

'Just wait a little.'

I took the dogs and headed toward the western part of the city marked as where the [Mandrake] had been discovered. I didn't forget to leave a note for Baengnae either. Given the distance, there was a high possibility that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Baengnae would finish the event first.

As we moved toward the outskirts of the city, the surroundings became rougher. The area was a construction zone, mostly filled with half-built buildings left abandoned in disarray. Unpaved, bumpy roads continued.

Whoooosh—

Relying on the community's information, I wandered through the construction zone where dust flew.

"This area seems ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right…"

The building I was looking for was very unique. It was distinctive enough that you'd recognize it immediately if it came into view. Among all these half-finished structures, I just needed to find a properly built house.

And while I was wandering like that, finally, a colorful building that didn't match its surroundings at all revealed itself. White walls with a red roof. A three-story house that seemed to exist in a world of its own.

"Seeing it in person, it's quite the massive thing…"

A comment of admiration came out naturally. What could it mean for a proper house to be built in the middle of a construction site? This house was currently engaged in holdout tactics. Even in the midst of that, it seemed like it had been freshly painted, as a sharp smell wafted over. An expression of stubbornness that it would absolutely not leave.

And just as strong as that stubbornness, the house was filled with traps prepared for uninvited guests. According to the expert, this was one of the three most dangerous landmarks in the city. Nicknamed the Stubborn Man's House.

It felt as if the house was slightly tilted toward me, as if glaring at me.