An Unexpected Partner

I never imagined this kind of partner. 'Finally, I can live a little more like a person.'

All this time I'd been progressing Irmana's quest by repeatedly unsummoning my summon in this cramped house. Simply sensing it created a cluttered feeling that interfered with my training. I nodded in satisfaction and began massaging Yeonhee's head as she lay with it pillowed on my lap. Squeeze— knead—

"Ahhh... That feels so good... A little harder..."

Hah— hah— Yeonhee, who kept begging me to press harder, fell asleep barely minutes after the massage started. Lately she lost consciousness the moment her head touched anything. Even considering this was the period when her abilities as a hunter were growing rapidly, it seemed excessive.

This is practically narcolepsy... Well, No Hayun did say she only sleeps on her days off.

I suspected it was some kind of backlash from awakening an unprecedented talent. Perhaps this was also why the early awakeners were under so many restrictions. At any rate, Yeonhee's overall condition looked excellent, so I wasn't overly worried.

Still... isn't this shape a bit too explicit?

I stared at the bone I'd extracted from the large thorn that had been attached to my body yesterday and carefully refined, sinking deep into thought.

I hope this doesn't somehow ruin the information gathering...

It was a desire-relief product crafted from bone, intended for my deal with No Hayun. Replicating the exact shape of my human form felt strangely uncomfortable, so I'd tried to make it into something different. Yet as I worked from the image in my mind, it ended up nearly identical.

......Well, it doesn't really matter. Hmm... Should I add some bumps and ridges on the outside?

I'd seen a few things before, so I granted it some slight modifications. If this single item fills the entire mimicry information-gathering requirement, that would be hilarious in its own way.

Once it was finished I felt a strange sense of accomplishment, but self-loathing quickly followed as I wondered what the hell I was doing with my life.

While I sat with my chin propped on my hand, lost in thought, Yeonhee's phone began vibrating violently.

"Ughhh...?! Kgh—!"

Yeonhee woke with a bizarre noise, then turned bright red, apparently embarrassed by the undignified sight she must have made.

"I-I dozed off..."

She mumbled shyly and glanced at me.

You were out cold.

"Hello? Oh! Jua! Yes, yes. Ah— so you heard. It's all taken care of. Hehe..."

The person calling Yeonhee was Bae Jua. She was probably contacting us about what had happened to Jin-gyeong and Lee Jiu. Listening to Jua's voice made me wonder how we should handle our future plans. The gap between us and them was widening by the day.

No Hayun isn't a concern. I saw with my own eyes how she grew in her previous life. The problem is the other three... What should I do?

Bae Jua was a bit ambiguous, but Baek A-rin and Ham Eun-yeong were hunters I needed to carry on the bus and keep raising no matter what. When you considered that a single S-grade hunter could wipe out several orcs led by an orc legion commander, it was well worth the effort.

As long as it doesn't interfere with Yeonhee's and my growth, I'll do my best to help our allies grow too.

It would be unacceptable to neglect our party members and waste talent that could reach S-grade.

Yeonhee chatted with Bae Jua for a long time, sharing information, and I stayed close beside her, listening in.

"It's okay. That section is hard for everyone."

Our party members had temporarily split from us and were running dungeons with the D-grade party from the Bijeon Guild that No Hayun had introduced. Unfortunately, they still hadn't reached level 60.

Well... If they could do it in three days, we wouldn't have needed to visit Cha Jin-hyeok in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first place.

"Um... It, it'll happen soon. Don't worry!"

Yeonhee seemed slightly flustered by how genuinely self-blaming Bae Jua sounded, but I could roughly understand Jua's feelings.

She must feel anxious. With monsters like Yeonhee and Hayun all around her, she probably sees herself as someone with only mediocre talent.

But what could she do? It was a hurdle she had to overcome herself. From what I'd seen, Bae Jua didn't lack talent; her problem was that she'd grown too accustomed to playing it safe.

She's the type who only shows her true power when she's driven to the edge, like during that fight with the orcs at the canyon...

Thinking that way, constantly traveling with us wasn't necessarily helpful. Taking some time apart might not be a bad idea.

This is tricky. They need to run tougher dungeons. I wonder if there's anywhere suitable to send them.

After ending the call with Jua, Yeonhee contacted Baek A-rin and Ham Eun-yeong in turn, speaking with each of them. After about an hour of discussion, the conclusion was that our party members would form their own team and run dungeons separately until they promoted on their own strength.

We would either join other parties or create a temporary one to enter C-grade dungeons.

"I can do it! I'm a C-grade hunter now too."

Even though she would have to party with strangers, Yeonhee didn't look particularly nervous.

She's gained confidence.

That made sense. Having earned recognition from Maeng Seong-yong, she had no reason to fear hunters of the same grade.

"Let's clear the C-grade section even faster than we did D-grade!"

"Clack clack clack!"

Of course, that would be difficult. The higher you climbed, the slower leveling became and the more time you'd have to spend on repeated hunting. Still, the dungeon we repeated should be the very last one. Until then, there weren't many worth challenging multiple times anyway. We'd simply clear each one once, stealing the monsters' skills and securing any hidden artifacts.

While we're at it, we should look for channels to other dimensions too. Come to think of it, there's a lot to do.

"Hmm, first... The lowest-grade dungeon is this one. Frogfolk Village."

"Clack clack clack!"

The first C-grade dungeon was Frogfolk Village. The name came from their webbed hands and the way they extended long, sticky saliva-coated tongues to snatch prey, but their actual appearance didn't resemble frogs at all. Their enormous eyes that took up half their faces resembled a dragonfly's, giving them an empty, unsettling look. Long fangs grew directly beneath their vestigial noses, and between them sprouted tiny teeth like thorns. Any combination that produced such features would make even kobolds or goblins—the very symbols of ugliness—seem attractive by comparison. On top of that, the length and number of their limbs were completely random, reminding one of insects mutated by radiation.

I remember struggling quite a bit in this dungeon.

The faint memory surfaced. Their main weapon, the tongue, could morph into something as sharp as an awl, allowing them to pierce a victim's torso in one strike. Once impaled, the victim would have their bodily fluids drained, so extreme caution was necessary. There was even a small tube in the center of the tongue that could fire venomous needles, and its considerable range made them particularly annoying. Since they spent their entire lives in swamps, simply touching their bodies exposed you to paralysis and poison—one of the reasons they were so troublesome.

They even have camouflage. Well, most creatures in that dungeon do.

"The terrain here is basically a trap. The entire dungeon is a swamp? You have to step across floating stone slabs... That sounds exhausting."

Exactly. And the monsters that take advantage of it are incredibly irritating.

Besides the frogfolk, "Boggles" and "Nixie Sirens" appeared. The Nixie Sirens in particular became a major barrier that prevented many C-grade hunters from challenging this first dungeon immediately—if your resistance wasn't high enough, their abilities would exhaust you completely. All the monsters in this dungeon shared the goal of dragging hunters into the swamp to subdue them. Therefore, one had to put genuine effort into not falling off the platforms.

In truth, Yeonhee and I didn't need to worry much about that part.

We can just float in the air.

But that would defeat the purpose of running the dungeon. Yeonhee seemed to understand this and had no intention of relying on my help from the start. She also said she would refrain from riding the Bone Dragon. Her will to grow was firm.

"Shall we look for a party then?"

Yeonhee, accessing the hunter community for the first time in a while, immediately entered the temporary party tab and began searching for a suitable team. To my eyes they all looked the same, but she examined the posted messages with utmost care.

"Hmm... Should I just create one myself? There isn't a suitable team."

A few teams looked worth contacting from my perspective, but it seemed she was still uncomfortable with groups that had a high percentage of male hunters.

Where did that bold spirit from earlier go...? People really don't change so easily.

In the end, Yeonhee wrote her own party recruitment post, and in less than thirty minutes an overwhelming number of applications poured in.

Yeonhee's phone was ringing off the hook. We looked through the replies together.

"This person is no good, this one either. Hmm... Huh?"

Then we saw a name I hadn't expected at all.

This guy is from the Veil, isn't he?

It was an applicant using the ID Veil's Blue Fang. I remembered that among the four-member assassination group known as the Veil, the mountain-sized one was called Blue Fang.

They're not even hiding that they're from an assassination organization. What strange people.

"Huh? Looking at their recent records, it's definitely them."

I nodded.

"Mmm... Their skills were confirmed last time, so they're reliable, but... will it be okay? They won't suddenly pick a fight, right?"

Even while expressing such worries, Yeonhee was already checking their information tab.

She's deciding these people are better than completely unknown men? That's an interesting judgment.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Yeonhee pressed the accept button. Shortly after, a call came in from a familiar voice.

"I remember. Is the reason you applied ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠because you genuinely want to join a temporary party?"

I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠called Blue Fang, but the one who answered was Black Fang, his young boy's voice still carrying that youthful tone.

His sneaky inquiry about Baek A-rin's whereabouts was rather cheeky. There was no need for a long conversation. Since our interests aligned, we simply had to decide whether to proceed or not.

This is perfect. Their skills are outstanding enough that the growth gap with us won't be too large, and despite their background, they seem to respect boundaries. A positive sign.

In the end, we decided to enter the dungeon with them tomorrow. The duration was set until our party members completed their promotions.

"The duration seems long for a temporary party, doesn't it?"

I nodded. From their perspective, this must feel like an unexpected windfall. They would probably try to stick with us as long as possible to accelerate their growth.

The next day, we woke earlier than ever to begin the first day of our C-grade dungeon exploration. We met the four-member group in front of the Frogfolk dungeon gate.

"......Who the hell are you? And the guy next to you is even more ridiculous. What exactly happened to you two in the meantime?"

From the very first meeting, the small-statured Black Fang fired off such questions. Still perched on Blue Fang's shoulder, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he rubbed his eyes as if unable to believe what he was seeing and asked Yeonhee.

"How... did you gain such power in such a short time—"

His reaction wasn't one of wariness toward us, but pure, unfiltered curiosity. If possible, he probably wanted to learn the method.

"We went through a bit of hardship for a few days..."

That was all Yeonhee said, but Black Fang clapped his hands loudly and nodded as if he understood.

"So you overcame death, huh? We know that method well."

"Uh... Well, something like that."

Since Black Fang's guess was reasonably close, she accepted it without resistance.

......Overcoming death? Does he know about that kind of training method? I should ask him about it later when the moment is right.