A Future Changed by a Hair's Breadth

The owner of the rune arrived at the bag with only a hair's breadth to spare from an unchangeable future, frantically scanning the surroundings. After committing that sight to memory and running another thirty meters or so, my Stealth began to fade. (Let's go, Ilwol!)

Following Yeonhee's urgent hand signal, I hunched low and sprinted again to escape the group's line of sight. We put even more distance between us before finally stopping once we reached a safe range.

"Hah... hah..."

"Pfft! What the—seriously, that's hilarious, hahaha—"

Even as she caught her ragged breath, she couldn't hold back the laughter, clamping a hand over her mouth and snorting.

'Just like a pure stamina rune...' The numbers were pitifully small, but it was better than nothing. I examined the dark-red glowing rune once more before holding it out to her.

"Pfft... eek... Huh? Oh, the rune!"

She turned the rune over in her hands with fascination for a long while, then offered it back to me.

"You should hold on to this for now."

Nod—

I had been ready to accept it if she wanted to equip it herself, but she generously transferred ownership to me. The moment I pictured the rune's storage slot in my inventory, the rune resting in my palm faded and vanished.

'At least that's an improvement.'

"Just to be safe, let's head in the opposite direction from where those people were."

Nod—

We traveled another twenty minutes and arrived at a spot where Mole Crickets were gathered in a cluster.

"They're so cute..."

The monsters, shaped like puppies and munching on grass together, looked almost identical to rural mixed-breed puppies. Roughly the size of a medium-sized dog, these adorable creatures were the only omnivores among all dungeon monsters. They didn't even run when approached; instead, they stuck out their tongues and went "hak hak." It was genuinely difficult to bring oneself to kill them.

The question of whether one could kill a Mole Cricket even appeared on the hunter practical exam, so there was no need to elaborate further. However, their front claws were long and curved like shovels. If attacked, they would burrow underground like moles, so they had to be finished in a single strike to avoid wasting time.

"Let's just leave the Mole Crickets alone."

'As expected... she won't kill them. She's been like this since she was young.'

When I simply stared, she spoke again.

"It's just... suddenly attacking something while it's eating feels a bit..."

'Don't make excuses to your summon.'

Mole Crickets inhabited every dungeon, and even in my previous life, I had never seen her kill these cute creatures. Yet she only showed affection toward them; she was merciless toward every other monster. I rather liked this side of her, so I stood perfectly still.

"Let's rest for a bit. Here, sit down."

She perched on a rock hollowed out just right for a chair and patted the spot beside her.

'She's treating me like a complete baby.'

Before I knew it, I found myself sitting neatly at her side. She gazed up at me with curious eyes.

If this had been before I died, having such a beauty lean in so close would have made me restless, but I was a skeleton incapable of showing any physical reaction.

'Convenient at times like this.'

Today, rather than responding to her, I decided to focus more on watching our surroundings. I had to stay faithful to my duty.

"It's really fascinating. No matter how much I think about it, you're..."

......

"...almost like a person. Too much like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one... for a monster."

'Hmm, this isn't good...'

She leaned right up to my face, examining me from every angle. I wondered if she even felt any revulsion toward skeletons.

Pfft—

"Puhaha—what am I even saying?"

She couldn't laugh out loud, so she covered her mouth and snorted again. Watching her, however, left me far from amused.

'I need to manage this carefully...'

I knew that because of her unfortunate family environment since childhood, she had fallen into a deep distrust ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of humans. Father, stepfather, uncle, older brother. Assault, alcohol, gambling, fraud. Their pathetic behavior was too filthy to even mention. Still, it was fortunate that her mother had been kind by nature and influenced her greatly. But after her mother died, her life in the guild hadn't been particularly happy either. With one side of her face hideously scarred and because she commanded monsters, many people whispered behind her back that she was unlucky. She must have known that much.

Even so, the reason she had thrown herself into stopping dungeon breaks—even at the cost of her life—was because she had taken her mother's frequent words as a final wish and tried to fulfill them.

In any case, if she ever learned that I was human, she might never summon me again.

'That would be troublesome... worse than death.'

I had once considered whether we might one day communicate through writing, but I cast that delusion far away. For now, I would pretend to obey only her commands as much as possible.

"Actually, that's why I like you even more. I don't have any friends, but it feels like I finally have one. A friend who only ever looks at me! Isn't that amazing?"

......

'It's true that I can only look at you. More than that...'

There had been one presence at the edge of my senses for a while now. A fairly thick tree branch above where we were sitting. I had been planning to watch it since it was moving so slowly, but now it was clearly targeting Yeonhee, wriggling closer.

A Slime. A translucent, amorphous monster. Even on a thin branch, it could stretch its body long enough to move. In roughly thirty seconds, it would reach right above Yeonhee's head.

I had always wondered why she got hurt in such a pathetic dungeon. 'Indeed... she probably never expected an attack from a tree branch in broad daylight.'

The hunter theory exam warned about slimes hanging from cave ceilings, but a situation like this had never been mentioned. A slime climbing a tree? It was completely outside expectations for a creature that preferred dark, damp places to appear in such bright daylight.

'I thought the future had already changed because I was with her... but maybe what's meant to happen still happens?'

For a moment I questioned the meaning of my actions, then felt my mind grow cold.

'Hah! How ridiculous.'

My job was to prevent what was supposed to happen. First, I had to do what needed doing right now.

Currently, without orders, I could only shrug my shoulders, nod my head, or raise my arms. Leveling up had slightly expanded my range of motion, but it was still a meaningless change for now.

I desperately pointed upward at her and made a sound.

"Clack! Clack!"

"Huh? Is there something up there?"

'That's it! Check quickly. It's simple, isn't it?'

She glanced up briefly, then shrugged.

"There's nothing there?"

'What?! That can't be.'

I creaked my head upward again. The cunning slime had stretched its body flat and hidden on the branch. My senses could clearly detect it, but it was invisible to human eyes.

'I thought the claim that slimes have the intelligence of a five-year-old was nonsense.'

It had probably hidden after I made noise and pointed.

'Damn it, I need to move her quickly.'

Contrary to my impatience, even when I pressed her arm and waved my own arm frantically in front of her face, she just kept giggling at the Mole Crickets and showed no sign of moving.

'Her strength is so low she won't budge. First, I need a way to block it...'

With nothing but bone for arms, I couldn't fully shield her from the acid. The only thing I could do was—

Just as I finished organizing my thoughts—

Squelch—

Glop—

'It's starting.'

The slime twisted its body once, then spat acid. It was about to spray the filthy liquid right onto Yeonhee's face.

Pyu-pyut—!

Thud—!

Hissss—!

"Kyaa! Wh-what?!"

I thrust my right arm over her head and simultaneously pulled three crude wooden clubs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from my inventory, while my left arm wrapped around the top of her head. I had actually tried to push her head down, but my pathetic strength only managed to make her tilt forward slightly.

Fortunately, all the acid landed on my arms and the clubs, sizzling loudly. I quickly pointed upward at her again.

"Clack!"

"Huh? A-a slime?!"

She hurriedly pulled back and began nocking an arrow. The slime, having missed its chance, quickly retreated toward the tree.

Twang—

Crack—!

Glop—

One arrow shattered half the branch and embedded itself in the slime's body. However, unless its core was destroyed, slimes took almost no damage from physical attacks.

'Let's knock it off the tree first. Will this work?'

I grabbed one of the acid-sizzling wooden clubs.

'Not bad.'

I wondered why goblins never used a skill with such a good configuration. I hurled the club in my left hand straight at the branch.

Crack—!

'One more time.'

Whoosh—

Crack—!

The club grazed the branch, snapping it at the last moment. The slime fell along with it.

Thud—

'Tch, just getting hit by a bit of acid on my arm costs 2? My body's really trash. Is it because it hit bone?'

What people called "hitting bone" was basically my passive state. Yeonhee shouted at the slime that had fallen to the ground.

"Good job, Ilwol! Finish it off! Hit the black orb moving around inside its body!"

Nod—

She fired another arrow into the slime on the ground. The slime hurriedly moved its core to the opposite side. Even without eyes, it somehow sensed the direction of the attack with frightening accuracy. After dodging the arrow, the core hovered in the same spot for a while, so I raised the club high and struck it.

All my mana was depleted, but the effect was certain. The liquid that had formed the slime's body drooped to the ground after its core was struck, and the usual messages appeared.

'Yes!'

I unconsciously clenched my fist and cheered inwardly. We couldn't let our guard down until we escaped the dungeon, but at least based on the current situation, I had definitely changed her future.

'Alright, I'll invest the stats later.'

A small magic stone rose from the slime's corpse and flew toward Yeonhee. I picked up the slime's split core.

'This is worth at least a thousand won.'

I handed the slime core to Yeonhee. She put it into her leather pouch, then suddenly pulled me into a tight hug.

'...?'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Hngh... thank you, Ilwol! If it weren't for you, I might have been seriously hurt! And you even warned me in advance, but I..."

......

Creak—

'Wait, isn't she hugging me too hard?'

Just in case, I checked my status window again.

'It really dropped by 1 stamina?! S-stop.'

My stamina had been restored when I leveled up, yet it was still decreasing—undoubtedly damage from being hugged by her.

"Clack-!"

"Huh? Ah! Sorry! That was dangerous! Are you okay?"

I didn't bother responding and stayed still.

'This is the timing to adjust and act like a monster. I am a monster. I am a monster.'

I chanted the mantra to myself while observing her reaction. However, she didn't seem particularly concerned about my response and was instead examining my right arm that had been hit by the acid, turning it this way and that.