Securing a Home
The Black Cavern wasn't far. Just three walls in a straight line.
Having grown somewhat accustomed to wall-climbing, I reached the Black Cavern's territory in thirty minutes.
Judging by the name alone, one might expect a massive cave, but the Black Cavern was actually a vast rocky mountain riddled with countless holes.
There had been one thing that puzzled me until now. How had anyone discovered that tossing gold into the Black Cavern summoned native creatures?
But now I had a decent guess. Someone's anxiety or fervent wish had driven them to throw gold into those holes. This world was home to people of many nationalities, and in some countries, it was common to toss coins into wells or at stones. The Black Cavern had simply become reality through that user's powerful belief.
Or maybe not…? I should just summon something.
The principle or origin didn't really matter. What mattered was how to use it.
If you wanted a specific creature, you simply had to throw gold into a hole while desperately wishing for it. If nothing happened, you were short on gold and needed to add more. If the money came back out, that creature wasn't on the list. And if you had no particular target in mind, whatever matched the amount you offered would appear.
Baengnae poked me.
"Hm?"
"Baengnae do it."
She held out both hands. Baengnae was the kind of zombie who wanted to try anything that looked even remotely fun.
"You know we need to summon that thing we saw earlier, right?"
"Ung, madda."
I handed her five hundred gold for now.
Baengnae fiddled with the coins, picked a random hole, and chucked in fifty gold while shouting.
"Sogodi!"
No reaction. Expected. No one would mistake the bull-headed creatures for fifty-gold summons.
"Sogodi!"
"Sogodi!"
"Sogodi!"
Pouring her heart into the wish, Baengnae gradually increased the amount—hundred gold, two hundred. Even after spending all five hundred, nothing happened.
Looking like she'd failed at a claw machine, she turned to me with her hand out for more money.
"Fine, I'll give you more."
So they're at least mid-boss level.
I'd only given her five hundred because difficulty spiked dramatically past that threshold. From there, boss-class creatures started appearing. That meant each bull-headed one was strong enough to rule a high-risk zone.
I summoned Bangsil-i and Nareun-i as well. I'd hoped we could handle anything under five hundred gold with just the two of them, but apparently they were as strong as they looked.
"Sogodi!"
Baengnae threw the extra gold she'd received. From now on, we'd switch tactics and toss it in ten-gold increments.
Failure after failure.
When the total passed six hundred fifty, I stopped her.
"Looks like… it's stronger than I thought."
Six hundred fifty gold was the limit I could safely handle without casualties. I summoned a hundred monkey zombies. From here on, I had to accept some losses and prepare for real combat rather than a simple hunt.
"Sogodi!"
Clink—clink-clink—
The moment I dropped in six hundred ninety gold, a low roar that shook the air rose from deep inside the cavern.
Buoooo—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Six hundred ninety gold… not bad.
I signaled the zombies to form up. Casualties were inevitable. The goal was to minimize them.
A pair of bull horns burst from the cavern. I tried the magnifying glass first.
[■-Grade/■-Grade]
Figures. Not even close.
I used the high-grade magnifying glass. While the regular one cost two gold, this one was a full ten.
[Grade 12/Grade 12]
Within expected range. I gave the order to attack.
"Everyone, charge!"
The monkeys rushed in as one.
Ukkikki—
Ukkki ukkki—
They charged fearlessly, but a single swing of the bull's axe sent two monkeys flying, their waists severed. Its strength was monstrous.
Whoosh—whoosh—
After sending the monkey zombies in first to gauge its stats, I prepared for the real fight. Overall physical ability was absurdly high, but its field of vision seemed narrow.
Crack—
I wrapped my upper body in black rock. Zombie bodies couldn't withstand that axe, so I'd have to handle that part myself.
"I'll go first. The rest of you follow in order. Only attack when its attention is on me."
The monkeys were for distraction. I was the main tank, while Baengnae and the beastkin would handle the actual damage.
"Alright, let's go!"
I charged at full speed and slammed into its exposed flank. The mass difference was bigger than I'd expected. Instead of toppling, it took two steps back and held its ground.
Stupidly strong.
I slipped under its armpit, shoved its arm upward to stop the axe swing, and locked it into a joint hold. Of course, with this much difference in strength and size, it could probably break free on its own. But the bull didn't understand joint locks. Panicking at its unresponsive body, it thrashed wildly. I could hear its armor cracking all over.
Its strength was enough to crush rock armor.
Buoooo—
Still, this was enough. While every bit of its attention was on me, the zombies' attacks began. Armed zombies drove sharp blades into the bull's back and shoulders.
Buoooo—
The bull-beastkin hurled itself backward, slamming me into the ground. It must have decided that getting rid of me was more important than staying upright. We rolled across the stone floor several times.
Crash-crash-crash—
Without the rock armor, I would've been seriously injured. I focused entirely on clinging to it. If I let go now, I'd be exposed to the axe.
If I just hold on, we win.
After all, my forces were zombies. A proper attack had landed, so poison was already spreading through the bull's body. It would take time because of its massive size, but the plan was in motion.
"Ghh…"
Even while holding me down, it kept swatting away the surrounding zombies. Its strength showed no sign of waning; any monkey zombie struck by its arm went tumbling across the ground. The one saving grace was that I had a grip on its axe arm, so at least there were no instant kills like before.
Wait…! Is this thing actually poisoned?
My own strength was fading too. Before eating the Fruit of Good and Evil, I would've been rolling on the ground long ago. I clenched my teeth and held on tighter.
If I let go, dozens more monkeys will die…!
Ten minutes of brutal group beating followed. It really was just beating. We spent ten full minutes pounding on a single fallen bull, yet the tenacious creature endured. Finally, its movements began to slow.
Buoo… buoooo—
Feeling the strength drain from the bull-headed creature's body, I released it and rolled to the side, lying flat.
"Ugh… I'm exhausted."
Just in case, I had the zombies check whether it was faking death. They stabbed its vital points. Fortunately, it didn't possess that level of intelligence. It was truly dead.
"Haa… haa. I thought I was going to die…"
Still, it was a huge success. We'd confirmed its stats and secured the corpse. Once I turned it into a zombie, the next fight would be much easier.
Nareun-i, who had been checking the zombies' casualties, reported in.
"Good work, Master. A total of seventeen monkeys were lost. No injured survivors."
Meaning anyone who got hit had died.
"It took seventeen even with all that?"
As expected of a six-hundred-ninety-gold creature. If twenty-seven of them had appeared and we'd gone for a head-on fight, I couldn't even imagine how many would have died.
We'd have been wiped out.
At the same time, I felt excited. If I absorbed all of them, how much stronger would my legion become? Zombies grew stronger with every battle.
"Whew… Let's finish what we came for and rest."
I summoned the Boots. Since there were no injured survivors, the dead monkeys were best used as recovery fuel. Still lying down, I pointed at the pile of corpses.
"Those are all yours. Go eat."
The Boots had recovered enough to crawl around on its own. Elbows and thighs had grown back. The moment it was summoned beside me, it burst into tears of gratitude.
Then it started banging its head against the ground.
"Master! Thank you! Boots thanks you!"
What's with this…?
"New home Master gave. Will cherish."
What home? Ugh, I'm dying here and this guy's saying weird stuff again.
There was nothing around that could be called a home. Only the black rocky mountain full of holes.
Did it get even dumber while I wasn't looking…?
The Boots crawled toward the minotaur's corpse. Had it misunderstood and thought I meant for it to eat the bull? Just as I was about to correct it, the Boots activated its Soul Engraving ability—pincers.
Shaaaa—
Six pincer legs began methodically severing the bull's head and upper body. It tore away flesh and drilled holes. It wasn't eating; it was building something.
Wait, home…?
After making a large enough hole in the bull's body, the Boots slipped inside. It shoved its pincers through the opening, ripped open the back of what had once been a minotaur, and pulled pieces out one by one. When it was done, a zombie with the Boots' head and six pincers on its back now wore the bull-beastkin's body.
What a horrifying hybrid.
I tried to make sense of it. The only thing that came to mind was that the original owner of the pincers had been called the "Terror of the Deep."
Deep sea, pincers, home… hermit crab?
Hermit crabs changed shells as they grew. If the "Terror of the Deep" was a similar existence, then the Boots' behavior made sense.
The Boots moved the bull-beastkin's body and grinned.
"Will cherish new home."
It danced with delight. That level of control over the new body was impressive.
All in all, it was a good outcome. No matter how dumb the Boots was, it was still smarter than the bull-headed creature.
I checked it with the magnifying glass.
[Grade 3/■-Grade]
The fact that the initial grade matched suggested this wasn't a special summon but literally just a "home." I didn't bother with the high-grade magnifying glass. Given the bull's grade, the hidden number was probably eleven at most.
Ah…? Maybe this was its original purpose?
The [Grasping Pincers] had seemed far too weak for a Soul Engraving. The hard pincers were nice, but compared to other known engravings, the effect had been underwhelming. Perhaps obtaining the "home" was required to use the engraving properly.
Well, good is good.
Baengnae, who had been watching the whole thing, approached.
"What?"
She pointed at the remains the Boots had left behind after claiming its "home" and licked her lips. The bull's head and part of its upper body. The parts zombies liked most.
"Sogodi Baengnae's?"
"Yeah, eat up."
Baengnae giggled and went to claim the meat. Bangsil-i hovered nearby, eyeing it hungrily as well.
"Baengnae, share some with the dogs too."
"Yum yum. 'Kay."
The surviving monkey zombies received monkey corpses. And I received my own reward.
Grinning, I picked up the massive axe the minotaur had been using. Solid and heavy.
Yeah, this is the feeling.
I swung it through the air a few times.
Whoosh—whoosh—
It still felt a bit heavy, but that was exactly the good part. I was planning to raise my strength with the Fruit of Good and Evil anyway. During growth periods, you buy clothes that are a little too big.
After eating a single bull, our group had taken a massive leap forward.