A Ritual of Thanks
Seeing Yeonhee collapsed, her comrades gathered around her, watching with worried eyes.
"Aigoo, what are we going to do… She must have really pushed herself."
"She kept that massive golem going for hours. No surprise she’s exhausted."
"She kept flinching every time it got hit. You don’t think she’s sharing the pain or something, do you?"
Clack clack…
"Well, if she’s not, that’s a relief."
My heart was a tangle of emotions as I looked down at the sleeping girl. Pride, pity, and a fair amount of resentment toward a world that forced a twenty-year-old to endure this kind of suffering.
Yeonhee slept deeply but woke again after only thirty minutes.
"Why not rest a little longer?" her comrades urged, but she insisted she couldn’t burden everyone when the dungeon run wasn’t even over.
Maybe it’s because Yeonhee’s level has risen so much? Her recovery is surprisingly fast considering how little rest she took.
While she rested, we finished cleaning up the monster byproducts, and no more creatures approached our position.
◈ Bomb attack power greatly increased
◈ Enemies hit are paralyzed for 0.3 seconds
◈ Movement speed of enemies hit is reduced by 25% for 10 seconds
◈ Bomb attack power +75
Whoa… its attack power is thirty higher than the tooth bomb?
This would be perfect for the class-change quest coming up soon.
While I’m at it, I should sort out the runes too.
The bones used for the Skeleton Bomb were valuable, but the real prize from this battle was the runes. The Rune of Giant boosted physical strength. Higher-grade versions had dropped, so I swapped them in one by one during the fight. Thanks to that, we finished much faster than expected.
Though “much faster” still meant five hours…
Still, the ogres had dropped a total of fourteen runes. Considering how many we killed, the drop rate had been ridiculously good. Of course, that luck probably had everything to do with the cat lounging in Eunyeong’s arms.
Purr… purr…
Watching the creature sprawled on its back, belly exposed, I felt a little deflated realizing I had spent five hours protecting something like that.
(…Nyaang?!)
Maybe it sensed my stare, because the cat suddenly sat up and met my gaze.
(……Tsk. Ahem. The embrace of that golem was more comfortable than expected. Please convey my continued appreciation to your master.)
……Do you think we’re running some kind of rental service?
"These runes are insane. One for every five ogres we killed?"
"I heard higher-level monsters have better rune drop rates, but still!"
"Even so, this is way more than I expected."
Out of the fourteen Giant’s Runes, eight were Superior and six were High-grade. The maximum stat on a Superior rune was 40, while High-grade ones could reach 60. The gap between high-tier and low-tier hunters grew wider in large part because of these runes.
I claimed six of them. Even though one summon had taken nearly half the total, no one objected. Arin actually argued that Yeonhee, who commanded me, should take even more.
"That’s not right. If it weren’t for all of you, we wouldn’t have survived that battle."
Of course Yeonhee refused. Even after watching me take six, she worried we were claiming too many. In the end she took none for herself and divided the remaining eight runes evenly among the others.
Anyone watching would call her a pushover…
But I had no complaints. All six of mine were High-grade, so I was satisfied. Besides, without the party’s support, marking the ogres would have taken far longer.
Yeonhee’s right. If it had just been us, we might have been stuck here all night.
The gap between us and the others was still there, but the fact that it wasn’t widening felt encouraging. Our coordination was improving too.
Let’s see…
I stored the runes I had removed for distribution back into my subspace. The six Giant’s Runes I normally wore were all mid-grade. I only swapped in higher ones like the Rune of Poison or Rune of Thorns when needed, so these stayed on most of the time.
Skipping Superior entirely and jumping two whole grades… My stats are going to skyrocket.
The six High-grade runes I took had values ranging from 43 to an impressive 57. My previous total from mid-grade runes had given me +96 Strength. After swapping in the new ones, that jumped to +203.
While I was stroking the highest-value rune with satisfaction, Yeonhee spoke.
"Ilwol, are there any other anomalies nearby? Everyone managing the boss raid has withdrawn, right?"
I nodded. It was already well past nine. The civil servants in charge of the boss zone had left long ago, and now only our group remained inside the dungeon. At least within the range of my senses, no other hunters were left. The odds were high that the excessive aggro I had drawn had saved quite a few lives.
"Since the ogres charged straight into a swarm of summons, everyone will know how much Yeonhee contributed."
"T-that’s… I didn’t do it alone."
"That kind of attention always cools off after a while, so don’t feel too burdened."
"Okay…"
No Hayun had plenty of experience with the media, so she gave Yeonhee a long lecture on how to handle sudden fame.
"Ugh…" Yeonhee endured Hayun’s lecture for a while before pressing her temples and asking, "What should we do now? The boss raid is obviously impossible with no one else here. We could leave the dungeon now, or stay the night and clear it first thing tomorrow."
She tilted her head, clearly torn. The others thought for a moment before offering opinions.
"Even if we wait until morning, the boss zone only opens at eleven. Wouldn’t it be better to just go home?"
"Ugh… It’ll take at least an hour to reach the exit from here. Then I’d only get to sleep before coming right back. I vote we camp."
Jua wanted to leave, Hayun wanted to stay. Since I was fine either way, I looked at Arin and Eunyeong. Their opinions were split too, so the decision fell to Yeonhee.
"I… think we should leave."
Huh? I thought she’d want to stay. Wasn’t that why she asked?
Wondering if I had misread the mood, I glanced at her and noticed her gaze was fixed on Arin.
Ah… She’s thinking about Arin’s younger siblings.
During the week Arin had been trapped in Nargul’s dungeon, her siblings must have gone through hell. An unscheduled overnight stay would only trigger that same fear again.
In the end we gave up on camping and headed for the exit.
We’ll be out after ten…
Once midnight hit, the number of Mimicry uses would reset. I didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
Step, step.
"Ah, there’s a variant direwolf standing over there."
"It’s huge~"
Far away, at the boss zone, a massive silhouette loomed. It was blocked by the barrier and couldn’t come out, but the creature that was clearly the boss’s star seemed to recognize me clearly.
Want to fight me? Just wait a little longer. I’ll come find you first thing tomorrow.
As if it had heard me, the beast’s eyes flashed once.
We took a slight detour around the boss area, reached the exit, and passed through the gate. Everyone quickly headed home.
"Phew… We made it through today safely. Hehe~"
Just as Yeonhee said, we had finished safely. There had been dangerous moments, but after everything we’d experienced, this much now felt like a routine event.
As I flew home carrying her, the way she kept burrowing into my chest made my resolve waver slightly.
That warped hero or whatever his name is. Should I deal with Bin Chi-seung tomorrow?
The shaman who hid in his own space and committed atrocities. I had decided to hunt him down, yet the soft pressure of Yeonhee’s chest against me was making me feel strangely weak.
But I was a cold skeleton. With superhuman patience, I endured.
"Hmph." When we arrived home, Yeonhee saw me faithfully carrying out the plan I had mentioned yesterday and pouted.
Cute.
She watched me take out Irmana’s statue and asked, "Is that the statue you received from Hayun?"
I had already told her on the way here that I had traded my dagger for it. Of course I hadn’t mentioned that the dagger had an unusual shape. She didn’t seem particularly curious about why Hayun collected daggers or why she had given a goddess statue instead. That was just how eccentric she was.
Yeonhee came closer and turned the statue over in her hands before saying, "Hmm… No information appears. It’s definitely a dungeon item, though. Still, this woman is incredibly beautiful."
"……"
Naturally I didn’t respond to her obvious probe. Even if I were empty-headed, I wasn’t foolish enough to fall for such a trap.
After staring at me for a moment, she headed into the shower.
Hmm… Didn’t the goddess statue unlock when I touched it? No information appears for her either?
That meant only those who possessed Irmana’s Blessing—me and the lizardmen troops—could make use of it. Or perhaps the other summons who had participated in the ritual with the lizardmen could as well.
Good. First, let’s offer the ritual to Lady Irmana. After that, I’ll go deal with Bin Chi-seung.
To prepare for any accidents that might occur during the fight against the great villain, I decided to perform the ritual first. I had grown so familiar with it that I could finish the whole thing in three minutes.
I always express my gratitude in my heart, so she probably won’t mind that the ritual is short.
After offering the ritual for over two months, the goddess had taken root deep in my heart.
Come to think of it, it’s strange. I lived my whole life without believing in any gods.
This was a world where people accepted the existence of absolute beings and naturally used their power. Yet I had never served any deity. Popular gods like the Moon God or the Fire God existed, and the ways to offer rituals varied wildly. Even Ham Eunyeong, who raised demons, had said she served a god.
Though she never told me what kind.
I hadn’t been curious, so I never asked. In that sense, Yeonhee and I were rather unusual for not believing in any gods.
Tap.
I went outside, placed Irmana’s statue on the floor, and sat in a reverent posture. Then I tilted the imperial kettle and poured the water from Katarin Lake over the statue’s head, offering my sincere devotion.
It was a sacred ritual meant to announce the existence of beings who not only recognized Irmana but revered, worshiped, and followed her. Yet the process itself was rather crude. I almost felt guilty toward the goddess for making her witness such a shabby believer through her own statue.
Wow… I never thought I’d be thinking this deeply about it.
It was laughable that someone who had never even spoken a word of thanks to the great being who had clearly granted me such power would feel this way.
I doubt she pays any attention to me, but… just in case, maybe I should try?
What if I carved the great being’s form from the stones I had gathered in the Dark Space and offered a ritual with that?