Uncontrollable Summon
After investing the points into Strength, Agility, and Mana on my uncontrollable summon, I moved to Yeonhee’s side. Thanks to the rune, my Health had risen by a solid seven points, leaving me feeling noticeably sturdier. The sensation of my rank rising the moment I equipped the rune was a different kind of thrill from leveling up.
A short while later, we finished off every last goblin. Color returned to the survivors’ faces.
They must have received the Hundred-Person Combat achievement…
Of course, summons didn’t receive achievements, but Yeonhee certainly had. The brief moment of warmth quickly gave way to the grim business of cleanup. Twelve hunters had died, three were seriously injured, and the remaining fifteen were far from unscathed. Among the critically wounded was Hwang Cheol.
“Let’s move the injured first. Anyone with inventory space, please store the deceased.”
Following the instructions of the shield-wielding hunter who held the next-greatest influence after Hwang Cheol, people began to move.
“Ah, and… you’re the summoner, right? Nice to meet you. I saw your interview on YouTube. Anyway, hand over the rune that skeleton ate earlier. We’ve got places to be.”
The tone made it clear they never doubted the rune would be turned over. They had led the fight and suffered heavy losses, so their demand was, in a way, understandable. Yeonhee didn’t seem particularly attached to keeping the rune either.
“Ilwol, give them the rune.”
⋯
“Ilwol, take the rune out of your inventory.”
⋯⋯⋯
“Uh… I-I command you, Skeleton Soldier Ilwol… the lesser rune—”
⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯
“Hey, come on now. This isn’t the time for jokes. Hand it over already. Can’t you see we’re busy?!”
“I-I’m sorry… He just doesn’t listen to me…”
“What? Are you trying to pull something here?”
“Whoa, easy. She only just had her second awakening. She probably isn’t used to controlling him yet. Let’s not be too hard on her.”
“Who the hell are you? Dozens of people died and you’re butting in?”
“I’m not butting in—”
A man who suddenly stepped in from the side only made the atmosphere more hostile. I squeezed Yeonhee’s hand.
“Huh? No, Ilwol… You have to stay here right now.”
I hadn’t grabbed her hand to run away, but she seemed to have misunderstood. After twenty minutes of back-and-forth, we finally exchanged contact information, wrote a promissory note promising to hand over the lesser rune later, and were allowed to leave.
At least it didn’t come to a physical fight.
I had braced for the worst, but thankfully nothing like that happened. Maybe it was thanks to the level-headed mediator. Most of the hunters had already headed for the entrance, leaving only the two of us sitting blankly in a nearby clearing.
“Ilwol… why didn’t you give them the rune?”
⋯⋯⋯
“Haa… I don’t know either. Aigoo—”
She flopped onto her back and stared up at the sky. Lying down inside a dungeon was strictly forbidden, but since we had cleared the goblin village, there shouldn’t be any immediate danger.
“They really laid into me… asking why I even came into the dungeon if I can’t control my summon.”
Hmm. Sorry about that… but this is exactly what I wanted.
Once the hunters who had entered with us left, they would spread word about Yeonhee—either that she couldn’t control her summon, or that she was pretending she couldn’t in order to steal the rune. It would be unfair to her, but I needed to keep reinforcing the image of an uncontrollable summon in Jo Giman’s mind. When he heard the news, he would definitely smile. His wariness would ease, even if only a little.
Once the achievement is secured, I’ll hand the rune over right away. After that, they won’t have much to complain about.
In the end, we had entered the dungeon less than four hours ago, yet we had already slain over twenty goblins and provided assists on just as many. Yeonhee had probably leveled up as well.
If we do this three or four more times, we should clear the goblin achievement.
“I don’t care! We helped them and they didn’t even say thank you—they just demanded the rune! I’m offended too!”
“Clack clack clack—!”
“Right? You didn’t hand it over because you were upset too, weren’t you, Ilwol?”
“Clack clack clack—!”
“Hmph! Fine. They said we’d hand it over within two weeks, so let’s wait until the very last day.”
Her idea of revenge was so petty it was adorable. I wanted to pinch her cheeks.
“Let’s rest for five minutes, then get moving again. We’ve cleared the biggest hurdle today, so the rest of the time should be smooth.”
Her words proved prophetic. By the time fireworks were launched from the entrance an hour before sunset, we had slain another ten goblins. Our earnings for the day alone reached 250,000 won.
⋯ ⋯ ⋯
After returning home and resummoning me, Yeonhee’s hair was still damp from a shower.
Do I smell?
The sudden worry made me focus my senses and press my nasal cavity against my own bones, but fortunately there was no odor.
She had spread something on the floor and was now looking at me while puffing air through her nose. It was—
Chicken. Fried chicken.
Maybe because today’s haul had been decent. It was only basic fried chicken, but considering her finances, buying it must have been a big decision. She was already deep in debt from her late mother’s hospital bills.
“When we came out of the dungeon, that Hwang Cheol guy’s guild gave me a reward!”
The guild leader had probably offered a modest reward along with a subtle scouting proposal, recognizing the significant help Yeonhee had provided in the fight.
If we hadn’t backed them up from behind, they would have looked for an opening and run. In that case, this many people wouldn’t have died either.
To those who didn’t know the full story, it would look as though Yeonhee—an outsider with no connections—had risked herself to save everyone, even though she still hadn’t returned the lesser rune her summon had eaten.
She had naturally declined the guild leader’s offer, but the fact that the handover location for the rune was set at the guild building suggested they hadn’t given up yet.
“They gave me a whole million won! Can you believe it?”
Not too much, not too little—just the right amount.
I could already picture what kind of person the guild leader was. He hadn’t given only a million because he was short on cash. It was enough to show mild interest in Yeonhee without drawing the White Knight Guild’s scrutiny.
“So I went ahead and bought chicken. Hehe— Want some too, Ilwol?”
⋯ Is she serious?
“Ah— Open wide. Ah—”
She is serious.
When she ordered me to open my mouth, my mandible had already dropped. She placed a small piece of chicken inside. But—
Thud—
“Ah— I guess it really doesn’t work… Why does the acid work but this doesn’t…”
If she had been thinking that, it was worth a try. Resigned, Yeonhee waved a drumstick in front of my face to tease me before happily eating it herself.
And then—
Crunch crunch—
Chomp—
Nom—!
Wangwang was happily gnawing on the goblin bones I had brought back.
Even if I’m dead, where does he come from when he’s summoned?
Grind—
Crunch crunch—
His cheeks puffed out comically as he stuffed his mouth full of bones and chewed them down. It was oddly entertaining to watch.
I never understood why people watch mukbangs, but maybe this is how it feels.
While blankly watching Yeonhee and the puppy’s eating show, I replayed the dungeon battle in my mind.
As expected, the biggest problem is this pathetically weak body.
It had been shocking how much Health I lost—15 percent—just from lightly bumping into the white-robed hunter to throw off his charge.
I’m going to need armor…
It wasn’t simply a matter of low Health. The damage I took was the result of far more complex factors than the visible stats suggested. In this case, it came down to my skeletal structure. Armor that would firmly hold together and protect a body made of nothing but bones. To obtain that, I needed to move on to the next dungeon as soon as possible.
Boar hide should be usable for a while.
Both Yeonhee’s and my stats were rising steeply, so our goblin-killing speed would only increase from here. We would be able to obtain boar hide in the next dungeon.
More importantly, what about Lesser Conversion? I’ll need to consume monster bones to turn them into magic stones or something.
I tried putting a goblin leg bone in my mouth and chewing, but all that happened was crumbs scattering across the floor. Nothing was absorbed.
Well, if I can’t use it right now, there’s nothing I can do. Here, you eat it.
Whoosh—
Woof—!
Pant pant—!
When I tossed him the bones I had collected, Wangwang spun his tail like a propeller, expressing his gratitude. He chewed them with obvious delight. Even though it was nothing special, I could sense changes occurring in his body through my sensory stats.
Just in case, I stepped in front of Yeonhee.
“Ong? Whyyy, Ilwol-ang?”
Whine… grrr…
“Ah— Wangwang, are you okay?!”
The fluffy white ball curled his already round body even tighter and began to strain.
Isn’t he just pooping…?
“Wangwang, you can do it! Push!”
Yeonhee cheered without knowing what was happening, and Wangwang responded by starting to push something out from his tail.
I knew there was a hole at the end of his tail, but I didn’t know it had that function.
Surprisingly, what came out of his tail was a magic stone.
“Wow! Wangwang! Oh my gosh!”
I was just as shocked.
Wait, if we do this, can’t we just catch a ton of earth puppies, feed them monster corpses, and make a fortune?
Efficiency would need checking, but at a glance it didn’t look bad.
“It’s small, but this should still be worth at least two thousand won, right?!”
It was a small amount compared to the effort, but it was still something.