The Blue Eye

The group of robed figures huddled together, whispering urgently. Their posture screamed discomfort—they clearly hadn't expected us to hold out this long. They seemed to be debating whether they should join the fight or retreat.

"This isn't working..."

But as soon as Yeonhee leveled up, she summoned both of her remaining summoning scrolls, including the one she'd been holding onto. The moment two Lizardmen joined the fray, the tide of battle shifted dramatically in our favor.

Before entering the dungeon, managing all her summons at once had been too taxing. But with the addition of that +200 Magic Power artifact, she suddenly displayed the sheer majesty of commanding nine summons simultaneously. Of course, maintaining that many creatures demanded so much concentration that she couldn't move at all—she simply stood rooted in place. Still, the artifact's effect left me incredibly satisfied.

Crunch!! Slice—

The noticeably thinned horde of zombies had dwindled to fewer than ten. The watchers in the distance were beginning to shuffle backward, preparing to withdraw.

I was already racing toward the robed figures under the cover of Stealth.

'How dare these vermin!'

Twenty-five meters. Fifteen. Ten...

I launched ten Flame Orbs into the air ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with staggered timing, aiming for them to strike in sequence. The moment I closed in to arm's reach, I sprayed acidic liquid directly into the rising figures' faces.

Spluuurt—!

The acid drenched their faces completely. The instant the airborne Flame Orbs made contact, they detonated violently.

Boom!! Bang!!

"GAAAAAHHH!!"

"Ughhh!! My face—!!"

Caught completely off guard, one of them clutched at his melting face in agony. I swung my stone hammer with brutal force, smashing it straight into his forehead.

Crunch!

"Kek—!"

The man let out a final, choked scream before collapsing like a deflated balloon, utterly limp on the ground.

Then a message I had never seen before appeared.

'...What?'

'Whoa... Is this for real?'

Seeing my Recovery stat rise by one left me momentarily stunned. Then something clicked. I flipped open the robe of one of the dead men and found exactly what I expected—a vertical blue single-eye emblem stitched into the lining.

'Hmm— I don't fully understand it yet, but killing followers of the Blue Eye helps Yeonhee?'

Why? What connection did these bastards have to her?

'I'll just ask her later.'

When I turned to the remaining survivor, he was desperately pouring a potion over his face, trying to extinguish the flames still eating away at his skin.

"Clack clack clack—"

"H-Hiiik!! S-Spare me!!"

Thud—!

"Aaaagh!!"

Thump—

I shattered his knee with the stone hammer. He collapsed instantly. I slowly leaned in close to his trembling face.

"F-Fuck..."

I shoved the emblem right in front of his eyes. He squeezed them shut—his burned eyelids sealing tight—and clamped his mouth firmly closed.

I pressed the emblem closer and began crushing his toes one by one.

"Ughhh!!"

"Hngh!!"

Even then, he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood and refused to speak.

'Tough little shit. I wonder if the others could endure this?'

But the moment Yeonhee approached with the Lizardmen in tow, his face went deathly pale. He finally broke.

Everyone knew Lizardmen ate their prey alive. The thought must have been too much for him to bear.

"Huuuuhk— P-Please, just spare my life! I have a wife and children!"

"...Why did you attack us?"

Yeonhee seemed to have already pieced together the situation. She began interrogating the man, whose lower face was burned raw, exposing red flesh beneath.

"W-We were just following orders from above to collect ancient arti—"

'Artifacts?'

But as he struggled to speak, his face suddenly twisted grotesquely. His skull began shifting and cracking on its own—then his head simply exploded.

Boom!

"Kyaaaah!"

Yeonhee had been standing close to question him. She ended up watching his face burst apart in real time.

"Heu— Hiiing—"

She frantically brushed chunks of flesh from her face, looking like she was about to burst into tears.

'Did they have something implanted in their bodies? Or...'

I invested the points into Agility, Stamina, and Senses, then fell deep into thought.

'...The Blue Eye organization is now our enemy.'

I didn't waste time wondering why killing them raised my stats or how it was even possible. All that mattered was that slaughtering Blue Eye followers made me stronger—and that doing so helped Yeonhee.

As I killed them, Yeonhee received experience as well. A faint blue glow briefly flickered across her body.

"Whoa! I just leveled up earlier, and now I'm leveling up again? Were these guys actually really strong?"

"Clack!"

"They weren't that strong? But how can we get this much experience from them?"

'Looks like the Summoner's Ally achievement information isn't shared with her after all.'

She tilted her head in confusion and began rummaging through the robes the men ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been wearing.

"What the—how can there be nothing? You guys are so stingy!!"

Scavenging from the dead only to blame the corpses for having nothing... Anyone listening might question her morals. But I felt just as disappointed.

Soon after, everything—including their robes—vanished in an instant.

'Truly worthless, unlucky bastards.'

When hunters died, they usually dropped at least one rune...

"Ilwol, should we move to a different spot for now?"

I nodded.

The sun was already high in the sky. We moved to a place where Yeonhee could eat comfortably.

"Ugh—eating with a mask on is so uncomfortable!!"

Nom—

Yeonhee settled into a reasonably open clearing and began pushing small rolled rice balls under her mask to eat.

"I'm starting to understand why people avoid the Ent Forest."

Nod nod—

It was true that Ents had clear weaknesses and were easier to deal with than other monsters of the same rank. But the environment itself was so unpleasant that it was only natural for hunters to avoid this dungeon. There wasn't even any decent byproduct like the hides from Big Boars. In the end, it was only used by hunters lucky enough to awaken with high Resistance stats.

"I'd like to run the Fire Monkey dungeon a few more times... I wonder when it'll open again..."

Nom—

Even while eating, Yeonhee kept talking to me between bites. I stayed alert, scanning our surroundings, but still listened carefully to everything she said.

"Should I open the summoning scroll now? Once the routine breaks, I start thinking 'whatever happens, happens.'"

She still had one summoning scroll left—the reward from leveling up after killing the two Blue Eye members.

"No, wait... If I save it and summon in the middle of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fight like before, couldn't I use it as a card to throw the enemy off balance?"

"Clack clack clack!!"

'That's exactly what I wanted to tell her—to keep one or two in reserve for that very purpose.'

"Yeah, I've used a lot today, so maybe I should hold back a little... But just having it makes my hands itch, hehe."

'...Is this the curse of gacha?'

Anyway, we settled for a light snack and started moving again.

"It's the first day, but do you think we can make it all the way to the end? The Ent Forest is pretty cramped, so it probably won't take that much time."

After listening to her, I gestured with my hand, signaling that we should go for it.

Since I had been planning to head that way anyway, there was no problem.

One hour later.

We had dealt with a few Ents that were following us, but we reached our destination without much trouble. There, we encountered other ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠adventurers waiting for the Champion to respawn.

Most of the murmurs I overheard carried a favorable tone toward us.

They seemed to have no doubt that we would help fight when the Champion-rank Ent spawned.

'My target isn't that thing, but if there's time, I'll think about it.'

We settled in a slightly more distant outer area. A few minutes later, we watched as trees slowly began growing in a circular space that sloped gently downward.

Monsters inside dungeons could kill hunters, grow, and evolve into variants or champions. But most respawned at regular intervals like this one.

Since it respawned every three hours, around twenty hunters had already taken up positions nearby.

'Well, they could probably handle it without us.'

I tapped Yeonhee's shoulder lightly, then pointed at the Ent respawn point and drew an X in the air.

(Huh? You're not going to fight that one?)

Nod nod—