A Skeleton's Suspicion
I glanced at Yeonhee. Should we move out? It wasn't like the place was going to disappear overnight, so I wasn't too worried. Still, it was a shame. The moment we stepped out of the dungeon, Yeonhee and Yu Dali exchanged numbers. Yeonhee hesitated for a second while looking at me, then finally sent me back into the Dark Space.
She probably wanted to walk through the city together, but the second we went more than a hundred meters, we'd be surrounded by civil servants who'd received reports from citizens. That would be a huge hassle. After spending a short while in the Dark Space, I was summoned back to the studio apartment. The moment I saw her face as she showed me her phone, I knew something was wrong.
In the E-1445 dungeon, an incident occurred in which 37 hunters, including civil servant Mr. Lee who was guarding the entrance, were killed. The Hunter Management Agency's Investigation Bureau has launched an inquiry to determine the cause. The Bureau has stated that nothing has been confirmed yet and has requested that speculative reporting be refrained from...
What the hell is this...? Did I just forget about it? No, it's not like I used to watch the news every day. Back then I hadn't even awakened yet. Still, an incident of this scale should have stuck in my memory. Hmm...
"I was seriously shocked. That civil servant lady we saw when we came out... it couldn't have been her, right?"
To calm her down—her heart was clearly racing—I shrugged like it was no big deal. But the truth was, I remembered seeing that civil servant's name tag. Her last name had been Lee...
The real problem is that a civil servant who was supposed to be able to run away at any moment from the entrance is dead... Does that mean there was a monster so powerful they couldn't even think about escaping? No way... It was just a variant of a fire monkey, after all.
Since we'd left the dungeon early in the afternoon, it was hard to guess what had happened.
"Sigh... When you see something like this, our earnings today of 780,000 won... it really might mean nothing. What's the point if you die?"
She nodded to herself, apparently hit with a sudden dose of reality, and flopped down on the floor. For a long time she just stared blankly at the ceiling. Then she suddenly sat up and looked at me.
"It's not like I'm scared or anything. It's just... it feels so empty. I started wondering if what we're doing in there even has any meaning at all."
It has plenty of meaning. It's a confirmed fact that if monsters keep piling up, the dungeon will eventually break. In that sense, every hunter is contributing to society.
"Yeah, well... It's not like thinking about it seriously is going to make me quit... Oh right, I should do a summoning!"
She seemed to want to change the mood. She quickly pulled out a grayish summoning scroll and recited the incantation. Soon, a familiar lizardman stepped out of the portal.
Krrrk—
At this rate, can she pretty much guarantee only lizardmen will come out? The probability is insanely high.
"Hello? Your name is Lizard No. 3. I'll grow strong enough to summon all three of you at once and fight together. Just wait a little longer, okay?"
Whoosh— Whoom—
Lizard No. 3 swung its machete wide in acknowledgment.
(Hey, idiot! Don't swing that thing around in this tiny room.)
(Where is the enemy...)
Sigh... These guys aren't even proper AI. All they ever think about is the same thing...
If killing lizardmen would let me obtain skills or traits, maybe I'd understand it better.
"Anyway, our income has gone up a lot lately. Should we move to a two-room place? Even summoning just one lizardman makes this place feel completely packed."
Yeonhee looked around the room again and gently touched her still slightly chubby cheeks.
Hmm... When does the lease end?
"The contract is only until the end of this month... What should we do? Move?"
I nodded firmly. Of course I'd prefer a bigger space. This place was too cramped to practice in... Wait a second.
If it's until the end of this month, that only leaves two weeks?
"Hehe— The landlord has been texting me nonstop asking for a quick answer. I completely forgot."
Tap—
The landlord probably didn't have the courage to confront a hunter directly. But Yeonhee, you really waited until there were only two weeks left... Even dropping a child in the middle of a river wouldn't make me this anxious. Anyway, when I nodded in agreement, she nodded too and started looking up apartments on her phone.
Does she even have the deposit?
In this area, the minimum would be a 10 million won deposit and 600,000 won monthly rent.
"Umm... I've been saving up little by little. If we go into the dungeon for two more days, I think we'll have enough for the deposit."
These days, even with the slightest gesture from me, she could read my mind so accurately it was almost eerie. I was starting to wonder if she had some kind of mind-reading ability when she asked again.
"More importantly, what should we do tomorrow? The fire monkey dungeon feels a bit off now, right?"
After an accident that big, people will probably avoid going in for a few days at least. Hmm.
"Where should we go... The lizard swamp still seems too difficult even for our lizard brothers. The Ent Forest or the Sanctuary of the Zombies? The hobgoblin dungeon is rated a bit lower than the lizard swamp, but that one also requires a full party like the fire monkeys."
In response to her question, I raised a single finger and nodded.
"The Ent Forest?"
I nodded again.
"Hmm... Does Ilwol have some kind of memory about the Ent Forest or something?"
Whoa... Was I too obvious? Why is she suddenly asking this?
I shook my head and stared at her quietly. She gazed back at me for a moment, then shrugged and said, "I was just curious," letting it slide.
Whew— Even if she gets a little suspicious, there are two artifacts in the Ent Forest. We have to go. Hehehe.
Just thinking about seeing that brilliant glow made my heart race.
"Alright, tomorrow it's the Ent Forest!! Should I apply right now..."
Just as she was about to submit an entry application for the Ent Forest dungeon through the app, her phone started vibrating.
Bzzzz—
"Huh? Oh, it's Yeonsu unnie!"
What does Kang Yeonsu want?
As I instinctively moved closer to eavesdrop, Yeonhee switched it to speakerphone.
Oh, nice.
"Hey~ Yeonhee~ It's unnie~ How have you been?"
The two of them exchanged greetings and spent five whole minutes on unimportant small talk before finally getting to the main topic.
"Ah... Yes, yes..."
"Ah— That... um..."
What is she going to say...? I guess she could claim she gave the skeleton soldier a one-time-use flame bottle, but... there were too many people around. They couldn't have missed the flow of magic power.
"M-my skeleton soldier... is a special child that can handle the fire attribute..."
Uh... Since when? It only has one skill. Why make it sound so grand...
"Ah, no, to be exact, it can only throw balls wrapped in flames!"
That's right.
"Ah— Yes, yes..."
"Yes! I understand. Yes, yes— G-goodbye. Yes."
Click—
In the end, she was worried about the dungeon accident and called, but she wrapped it up in a roundabout way.
Anyway, it looked like I'd been marked by Jo Giman as a never-before-seen fire-attribute skeleton soldier. His interest, which had drifted away for a while, might come back.
Does it really matter? If he was going to mess with us, he would've done it already. We should be safe until April. Just look at what he asked Kang Yeonsu to do. Hmm—
But the fact that his snake-like eyes were still watching us was a heavy burden.
Does Kang Yeonsu have something going on too? I didn't notice it before, but her affection for Yeonhee seems a bit excessive...
Having been stabbed in the back and killed once apparently gave me a serious case of paranoia. Even so, Kang Yeonsu had shown interest in me first...
"Phew— Just seeing how nervous I get from one phone call with another person makes me realize I'm not normal."
Yeah... You're a little bit like that...
"Don't you think so too, Ilwol?"
"Clack!!"
"Woof!!"
"You don't? Well, even if you did, as long as I have Ilwol and Wangwang, I'm fine!!"
"Woof!! Woof!!"
Crunch— Crunch—
(Hey, stop just eating all the time and do some tricks to cheer Yeonhee up.)
I nudged Wangwang, who was completely focused on the fire monkey leg bone, with my foot. It growled at me for a moment before grabbing the bone in its mouth and burrowing between Yeonhee's knees.
"Aww— Wangwang is getting so plump and fluffy lately! You're too cute, seriously. Sob sob—"
"Woof! Woof!"
(Yeah. That's your job.)
Grrrr—
(What are you looking at? You want to get hit?)
Anyway, we decided to enter the Ent Forest dungeon tomorrow. Yeonhee picked up Wangwang and headed into the room.
If I hand over the artifacts again this time, will I get a reward? Hmm... I'm planning to keep one for myself.
Whoosh— Whoosh—
I swung the stone hammer around while organizing my thoughts.
Lizardman 3, Kobold 1, Slime 1, Armored Beetle 1, and the spirit Ran.
It still wasn't efficient to summon all of them for battle.
If I call Ran, I can instantly maximize our combat power. It'll be useful when we face something particularly strong. In normal situations, I'll proceed without Ran and one lizardman. This is about where we stand right now.