A House for Wangwang

I built a small house.

"Why does it smell like grass?"

"Clack..."

'Damn... I didn't think the smell would leak out.'

"Is there like a whole forest inside it?"

"Clack... clack clack!"

If Rainy kept growing like this, it would basically become a forest anyway, so I figured it was fine to say yes.

"Hmm..."

Yeonhee narrowed her eyes at me for a moment before quickly hurrying to get ready for work.

'Whew... But why do I feel like I have to make excuses?'

I shook my head and decided I should explain the changes to the space I entered next time.

Shaaaaa—

I sensed Yeonhee taking a shower. Her narrow waist contrasted beautifully with her full chest and hips. No matter how many times I saw it, the sight still made my nonexistent heart race. It felt like my nonexistent third leg was standing at attention.

'What the hell am I thinking this early in the morning... Get a grip. Let's see—maybe I'll make a little stone house with those strange rocks.'

Before Yeonhee came out, I decided to try building a stone house big enough for Wangwang to fit inside.

"Woof?"

Wangwang, who had somehow sensed what I was doing, appeared beside me like a ghost.

'Just wait a little. I'll build you a house.'

"Woof!"

As I started pulling out stones one by one, Wangwang stared at them intently. Then, as if it were a competition, it began spitting out magic stones from its tail.

'Ooh... high-grade magic stones. This guy's value keeps going up—huh?'

Among the stones Wangwang was spitting out was one I'd never seen before.

'What is this?'

A mysterious stone that changed color depending on the angle. The moment I touched it, information appeared.

'...... An enhancement stone?! For real?!'

Equipment enhancement normally required a skilled blacksmith to carefully refine special crystal-like items. Yet this single stone could do it?

'Well, if it's storing the energy from all those monster corpses it ate, maybe it's possible. The traces of life really are incredible.'

With a trembling heart, I pulled out the greatsword from my subspace.

A new line had been added to the greatsword's description: enhancement count.

'It can be enhanced twice? That's not many times at all.'

Just in case, I also took out the artifact I'd obtained from the hidden space in the Ent Forest dungeon.

'Whoa! It can be enhanced five times?!'

As expected, artifacts really were on another level.

'Hmm... I can't waste a low-grade enhancement stone on something that can only be done a few times. Especially since I might never get another one like this.'

I decided to set the artifact aside for now and test it on the greatsword first. After all, I'd already placed an order for a new greatsword when I visited the forge last time.

'Oh, wait. I should still get Yeonhee's permission first.'

When I showed the enhancement stone to Yeonhee after her shower, she nodded and told me to try using it.

"Wow, our pretty Wangwang is such a lucky charm! No one in the world knows you can do something like this~"

"Woof! Crunch, crunch, woof!"

I cut off a whole hind leg of a Big Boar, bones and all, and gave it to him. Wangwang chewed the meat a few times, swallowed it whole, then looked at me with eyes that clearly said it wanted the entire Big Boar.

'...Here you go.'

This guy produced more than what he was given. There was no need to be stingy. I even threw in a whole Hanjaring as a bonus.

"?!"

Wangwang completely ignored the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Big Boar and immediately started swallowing the Hanjaring, feathers and all.

"Whoa... Wangwang, at least pull out the feathers first."

Crack— crunch— crunch—

But our concerns were in vain. Wangwang soon spat out a ball of tightly clumped feathers from its mouth.

"Wow— you've got every system needed for eating completely figured out, our Wangwang."

'What an incredible creature in so many ways.'

It looked like urgent research was needed on the creature known as the mole cricket.

'Alright. Let's use the enhancement stone.'

I couldn't hold back any longer.

Along with the message, the enhancement stone melted into liquid, floated into the air, and wrapped around the greatsword like an extremely thin layer.

'It's progressing quite modestly.'

Perhaps because it was a low-grade stone, the enhancement happened without any flashy effects.

"It doesn't look that different?"

"Clack clack clack."

'Ooh... Attack power went up about 10%, and the durability that had been consumed is completely restored?'

Considering it was only a low-grade stone, the effect was quite significant. What impressed me most was the full durability recovery. For high-quality equipment, repair costs were always the biggest burden. That was all thanks to the Dwarf Guild, which monopolized the blacksmith profession and raised repair fees at more than double the inflation rate every year.

"Heh— it's better than I thought. Wangwang, can you make these enhancement stones every day?"

"Woof?"

Wangwang tilted its head as if thinking for a moment, then barked energetically.

"Kyaa~! Our Wangwang is the best!"

"Huff huff huff— woof woof."

'Oh... so one enhancement stone per day...'

Rather than how many stones I could get from limited equipment, raising their grade was the urgent priority.

'I'm already giving it plenty of bones from the frogfolk I catch every day.'

I was giving it the leftover bones after making skeleton bombs, but I should also start handing over core materials like skull bones.

"I'll go change my clothes."

I nodded and poured energy into the stones I'd taken out. Using my magic power and senses to fuse the stones together took about ten minutes.

"Clack... clack clack...!"

'Ugh— this is killing me. Why is it so hard?'

It hadn't been this difficult when I was in the dark space, but out here it felt about three times harder. The mental fatigue and magic power consumption were also burdensome, so I stopped before it affected today's schedule.

'It'd be better to make the structural pieces in that space beforehand.'

Still, in that short time, I'd managed to create a small house with walls but no roof. Wangwang, who had been happily chewing on meat, finally showed interest once the stone house was somewhat complete.

It slowly approached, stared at the house for a moment, then started pushing its plump rear inside first.

"Kiiing— kiing...!"

'It's small... it's really tight.'

For Wangwang, who had become as fat as a pig, the house was far too small. But the little guy stubbornly squeezed its body inside.

"Woof... woof!!"

Wangwang barked at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me as if extremely satisfied with its perfectly snug house.

'What are you, a cat...?'

Yeonhee, who had come out after changing, looked at the sudden stone house in the living room with a dumbfounded expression.

"Eh? What the heck is that? Black bricks?"

I explained that I'd mixed my power with fragments from the broken floor in the dark space. Rather than the bricks, Yeonhee looked at me with even more amazement.

"Just how far are you planning to go?"

"Clack?"

"Ah, never mind... being multi-talented is, um, a good thing."

Yeonhee bit her nails, looking slightly anxious. Was this the feeling a superior got when looking at an overly capable subordinate?

"Hmph...! Fine! I'll work hard too! Let's go, Ilwol."

"Clack clack clack!"

We no longer used public transportation. We flew straight to the gate, where No Hayun was already waiting.

'I thought she'd be late, but she's early for work again?'

To confirm whether the slightly embarrassing message that came to mind about her was accurate, I subtly scanned her private area with my senses.

'...... It's certain. My dagger's energy is lingering there.'

Just how hard had I hit her with the bone dagger's handle? My energy had settled faintly in her lower region. I even worried that if Yeonhee noticed it like she had noticed Rainy's scent, what would I do?

Hayun kept glancing at me, her face turning red. When our eyes met, she awkwardly looked up at the sky and whistled.

'Information gathering at 92%... almost there. Maybe it'll reach 100% today or tomorrow?'

I wondered if the duration of Mimicry would really increase as I hoped. I'd find out soon enough.

The person who arrived after No Hayun was the perennial latecomer, Ham Eunyeong. But Hayun and Eunyeong were exchanging glances, giving off a strange atmosphere. I wasn't curious about what they'd done after leaving work yesterday.

'... I don't know. Whether you two fight or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get along and live happily, do whatever you want.'

Thinking they had settled into a mutually satisfying relationship, I continued producing daggers from my pocket. I now had over three hundred of them. Unlike skeleton bombs, there was no limit to how many I could store, which was nice. Plus, I could retrieve them after use if needed.

'I wonder if I could use the daggers together with the cannon?'

If I could fire the daggers along with the cannon's explosive force, it would be much more powerful.

"Alright! Shall we head in today as well~?"

With Baek A-rin's energetic signal, we entered the second day of the Frogfolk dungeon. That day passed surprisingly uneventfully.

Time flowed on, and it became the third day since entering the Frogfolk dungeon. Even last night, Master hadn't appeared in the dark space.

'This isn't going to be one of those scenarios where he suddenly stops showing up, right?'

I felt unnecessarily worried. Come to think of it, what did Master do when he wasn't with me?

Even while lost in thought, I smoothly supported Yeonhee's quest. We would probably complete it today. That meant we'd be able to meet a summon we hadn't seen before.

'I'm looking forward to it.'

Even with my involvement minimized, our party members were clearing the dungeon so easily that they were starting to feel bored. Still, the reason we'd stayed in this dungeon for three days was because of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jua and Arin's determination. They said they didn't feel like they'd completely overcome this dungeon yet and wanted to stay longer. Today, they finally looked fully adapted.

Near the end of the exploration, Arin shouted as if she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Agh! This should be enough for today!"

No Hayun frowned and clicked her tongue.

"That's why I said we should just go to the Dire Wolf dungeon today."

"No way! Coming here today was definitely necessary! We needed more confidence!"

"There aren't any parties that stay in one dungeon for only three days anyway... The fact that our party used to jump after just one day was already crazy."

When Bae Jua backed up Arin's opinion, Hayun didn't argue any further.