The Taste of Recovery
The sensation was like a group project—something that hit you right in the core. That electrifying rush when your stamina and mana, which had bottomed out completely, began to surge back in. It was a thrill no non-awakened person could ever understand. That was why some hunters deliberately pushed themselves to the brink over and over, just to chase that recovery high. Of course, forcing it like that was as dangerous as doing drugs. You heard stories all the time about hunters who’d ruined themselves that way.
“Mmm…! Hngh…”
If someone made sounds like that in normal society, they’d be labeled a weirdo in seconds. But among hunters, everyone understood. They all knew exactly what kind of pleasure Jua was surrendering herself to.
“Gulp—gulp—haah! It’s just water, but it tastes amazing! Huh? Why isn’t it coming out anymore?!”
Ah… I gave her the whole kettle. Well… does it really matter?
I walked over to Jua, grabbed the kettle, and spread my senses again to make the water flow.
“Heh…? It’s coming out again! W-water…!!”
Jua drank greedily from the kettle, quenching her thirst.
“Nyaang…!”
Right after her, Arin drank the otherworldly water, tilted her head toward the sky, and started making strange noises.
…The effect really is strong. I’ll have to offer sincere prayers to Irmana again today.
“Aah… huu…”
At least Yeonhee was trying not to show it outwardly. But the way she kept stealing glances at me and biting her lip, pulling it inward, made it obvious she felt a little disappointed. Did she want me to pet her head…?
I’ll give you all the massages you want when we get home… How am I supposed to do that here?
More importantly, I wanted to talk about our next steps. From what I could see, both Jua and Arin had dropped in level almost as much as Yeonhee. There was no way they’d come all this way just to give up on the boss fight, right?
“Ilwol! Did you get the storage ability?”
Nod, nod—
After drinking the water, Yeonhee seemed to have recovered quite a bit of energy. Her eyes sparkled as she approached me.
“What about the others? You got more, didn’t you?”
“You didn’t just get that one, right?”
Jua and Arin, who had crowded in beside us, started chattering excitedly—then all three of them suddenly froze at the same time.
“Huh…? What is this…”
“Haaaang… The mana is swirling inside me…!!”
“Is this the reward we got for beating the mimic…?”
“Clack clack clack!!”
It looked like they only noticed once their bodies had recovered a little.
Your stored mana has dropped below 100. Mana recovery speed increased by 50%.
That message must have popped up in their heads. All four of them—including Yeonhee—began trembling like people thrown naked into the middle of winter.
“W-wait… If it recovers this fast… mmm…!”
It was definitely a mana recovery rate they had never experienced before. Since hunters were so sensitive to changes, that kind of reaction was only natural… Or at least, that’s what I decided to tell myself.
After a long while of barely being able to control their bodies, they naturally sank to the floor. Only after another ten minutes passed could we finally continue our unfinished conversation.
“Ran, I’m counting on you.”
(I-I will convey everything accurately, Master!)
Yeonhee didn’t want just fragments of information—she wanted to hear every single thing I had experienced from the beginning until now. So I asked Ran to translate for me. As Yeonhee’s hands kneaded and stroked her, Ran’s snow-white fur flushed bright red.
(Huuung…)
……Even she’s reacting like that.
Anyway, I started telling them about my adventure, keeping it as concise as possible and focusing only on the important parts. They listened with rapt attention, then each shared their own thoughts.
“Werewolves… and a golden one at that. I’ve never even heard of that species. It must have been incredibly strong. Thank goodness the mimic balanced things out…”
Yeonhee looked at me with misty, affectionate eyes, tears welling up. There wasn’t really anything to feel sad about…? It seemed like she was just upset that I had been broken again.
I probably shouldn’t mention that I had a long conversation with the mimic, right?
For some reason, I felt like that story shouldn’t reach Yeonhee’s ears, so I boldly left it out.
“If we had run into it, we definitely would’ve died… Wait! Come to think of it, we almost died twice today, didn’t we? First with that wraith earlier.”
“Whoa… for real. After we finish today, we absolutely need to grab a drink! You’re coming too, right, Yeonhee?”
“Ah… I, um, maybe next time…”
“Hic… You don’t want to drink with me… hic…”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…”
Maybe they weren’t that close yet? Drinking together could be a good way to get closer, though… Hmm.
“So you received two things—the Obsession storage ability and the mana circuit, right? Wow… Giving two god-tier abilities at once… That mimic really was something else.”
“Isn’t the storage ability kind of overpowered though?”
“What are you talking about? As you go higher up, saving time like that becomes incredibly important. Intelligent monsters often wait for the perfect moment to snatch loot. It’s probably a much better ability than you think.”
“Oh… When you put it that way, I guess you’re right.”
“Hehe… hehehe…”
“Yeonhee, you look so happy now that Ilwol’s back… I kind of want to pinch your cheeks.”
“Huh?”
“Just kidding~”
I deliberately didn’t mention that I had obtained the Mimicry skill to the rest of the party.
“……”
Yeonhee had probably already learned about the Mimicry ability the moment we made contact, but she gave a small nod as if she understood why I wanted to keep it hidden.
When we get home… should I show her? Showing her my real appearance is a bit… I’m conflicted about this.
Yeonhee still had some aversion toward men. And there was no good way to explain why I could turn into a mysterious man… I hadn’t confirmed it for sure, but judging from when I got the Flame Slash skill, she probably couldn’t see the detailed information in my status window. She could only guess from the skill names. That meant she likely wouldn’t know about the list of forms I could mimic either.
For now, I’ll keep my real appearance hidden. I’ll have to reveal it someday, but I really don’t have a way to explain it.
“Actually, I used to be Korean, but then I became a monster—” There was no way I could say something like that. And even now, she got depressed whenever I was destroyed. If she found out I used to be human… she would definitely suffer even more every time I broke.
In the end, I had no choice but to show her my Yeonhee form. It was a little embarrassing, but I decided to keep my original appearance a secret.
“Um… excuse me. Are you planning to attempt the boss fight?”
Just as I finished worrying about Mimicry, a woman from another party—who had been staring at us for a while—asked the question.
“Ah… We’re still thinking about it. Why do you ask?”
“Well, you know the minimum number of people required for the boss fight here is thirty, right? It’s getting late, and there aren’t many parties left. Your party is the only one that can push us over the minimum. If you’re not going to participate, we’re thinking of heading back now.”
Now that she mentioned it, excluding us, there were only twenty-seven people left here. All the other parties were staring straight at us. So that’s why they’d been watching us earlier—not because of Jua’s moans.
“Give us five minutes. Just five minutes.”
“Understood. Please consider joining if possible. We have two healers and two clerics on our side.”
“…Alright, we’ll keep that in mind.”
Jua responded calmly. Once the woman walked away, she signaled for us to gather closer.
“Honestly, before Ilwol came back, our levels had dropped so much I thought the boss fight was impossible.”
“Mhm, mhm—”
“But now, don’t you think it’s worth a shot? Our mana has recovered quite a bit already, and after drinking that water, my head feels clear too. By the way, I wanted to ask last time—does this recover mental strength as well?”
“I’m not sure… Maybe it’s just a placebo effect?”
“Hmm… I don’t think so…”
Jua and the others had already learned from the information that appeared when they touched the kettle that it was an ancient artifact. Last time during the orc battle, when I first supplied them with water, I had vaguely said one of my summons had that ability. But in reality, it was an artifact connected to the Katarin Lake. What’s more, that kettle wouldn’t produce water unless I touched it.
“…Looking at the other parties’ compositions, they all seem pretty capable.”
“Yeah!”
“…At the very least, it doesn’t look like there are any dead weights who’ll drag us down. Actually, it feels like if we just hold on, they’ll take care of most of it?”
“Hmmm~”
“…Baek Arin, if you’re not going to give an opinion, shut your mouth.”
“Hiiing…”
From what I saw, the other parties didn’t seem capable enough to carry us, but I welcomed the challenge. After all, the boss fight was guaranteed to spawn at least one ghost, and definitely one or more wraiths.
As soon as we enter, I need to take out the wraiths first.
If we only dealt with the ghosts and wraiths, there would be nothing left for me to gain in this dungeon.
“But the reason we struggled so much today wasn’t just because Ilwol wasn’t here. The monster numbers increased too much, right?”
“That’s true. Plus we barely met the minimum headcount. There’s no guarantee we won’t suffer like we did in the wolf den last time.”
“Hmm…”
“But, um, I don’t really want to come back here again. If we can finish it today…”
Yeonhee listened to Arin’s words and pondered for a moment before clenching her fist and speaking firmly.
“If we can finish it today, that would be best. I don’t particularly want to come back either…”
“Okay! Then we’re doing it?”
The moment Yeonhee finished speaking, Jua stood up and walked toward the management staff.
……As expected, most of them are just trying to ride our coattails or take the bus.
By concentrating my senses in a certain area, I could clearly hear their whispered conversations. It gave me a good grasp of the other parties’ true state. On the surface they looked fine, but they weren’t all that different from our party when I first returned. Jua had only sensed their auras and seen their appearances from afar, so she thought the other parties were in good shape.
They’re all thinking someone else will carry them.
In truth, this wasn’t limited to right now. Whenever large groups challenged a boss, most parties participated with that same complacent mindset. You could think of it as a thirty-person group project. In times like these, someone needed to step up, gather at least one representative from each party, and coordinate opinions. Then they could quickly calculate whether a clear was possible or not. But it seemed like no one had the energy—or the confidence—to do so.
I guess I’ll just have to finish this quickly.
Irmana's Blessing is being applied incompletely.
Along with the newly regained Irmana’s Blessing and the greatly improved accuracy of my Fireball, even if the other parties ended up being completely useless, there were more than enough reasons for me to feel confident.
When Bae Jua returned after completing the registration, she wore a disgusted expression as if she had stepped on five cockroaches in a row. The way she kept glancing around suggested she had overheard something on the way back.