Skull Bombs and Swamp Preparations
I didn't bother correcting my accuracy with [Dagger Throw] just to save mana on [Stealth] and [Skeleton Bomb], which were overkill for our level. As long as I focused on the lone goblin, the rest were clustered together, so even a sloppy throw would probably connect.
Kruik? Munch munch—
Sorry to the goblins happily tearing into raw Big Boar, their favorite food, but the bombs were already soaring high into the sky.
BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM—!!
Kreeeeek!!
The explosions turned the area into chaos as expected. Yeonhee's summoned beasts formed an encirclement around the dazed monsters and charged straight in.
Thud thud thud thud—! Thwack!! Khek—!
Of course, the goblins didn't just sit there. Whoosh whoosh—
"Like I'd get hit by that!"
Their Agility, which heavily influenced reaction speed, had long surpassed 70. Even the club swings from injured Hopgoblins were easy to dodge.
Kwek!!
A Hopgoblin frantically covered its neck after its attack missed.
"At least they're trying to protect their vital spots. I'll aim elsewhere then."
I slashed at the wrists of the Hopgoblins whose balance had broken from their missed swings. Now forced to grip their clubs with both hands, they could no longer use their free hand to grab and strike in close combat. Their combat effectiveness dropped sharply.
Who in their right mind would get hit by wild, mindless swings from goblins that had already lost their senses to the bombs?
Thwack—! Kehek—!
"Ttungi!!"
Watching the kobold Ttungi get struck by a blind Hopgoblin attack and unsummoned, I was once again convinced that he really was an idiot.
Kwooooor!!
The rookie orc's skill [Warrior's Howl] rang out.
—Due to summon Deonni's skill [Warrior's Howl], Strength increases by 3!
All summons within range saw a slight boost to their stats.
"Whoa—this is that famous Warrior's Howl, huh."
Even Yeonhee paused mid-draw on her bowstring to watch, probably because it was such a well-known skill.
So why had the orc skill become famous? The reason was simple when you thought about it.
"Because there are just so damn many of them no matter where you go."
From mid-grade dungeons onward, you ran into orcs constantly. Even in dungeons that S-ranks entered, starting from D-grade, orcs were the opponents. Though ogres were considered superior in every way, orcs were still called the dominant species because they spread throughout dungeons and exerted control. It was similar to how humans were individually much weaker than most wild beasts, yet remained the dominant species on Earth.
Anyway, after the bombs exploded, all of Yeonhee's summons had been called out to face the enemy at full strength. However, the Hopgoblins' poison-needle mid-range dealers had taken heavy damage and couldn't fulfill their roles. On our side, though we were slightly outnumbered, each of our forces was overwhelmingly stronger. The outcome was already obvious.
Chirr—!
A few Hopgoblins even got pulled into Ilwol's aggro, gnawing away at their own health thanks to the Thorn Rune effect.
"The taunt effect is still working fine. Maybe I should give a few of the lizard troops shields? They seem a bit lacking in charging power... Anyway, this is going way too smoothly."
Yeonhee nodded, apparently sharing my assessment.
"We should head straight to Lizardman Swamp tomorrow. This place doesn't suit us."
Nod nod—
Of course, if I fought without using any of my abilities and relied purely on raw strength, we might have struggled instead. After all, the seventeen of them had gathered and boosted their stats considerably. But that hypothetical was meaningless. At least inside the dungeon, there was no way I'd leave Yeonhee's side.
That day, we hunted over a hundred monsters, including sixty Hopgoblins, and earned 1.1 million won. The Hopgoblin bones we collected were a bonus. No runes dropped, which made me laugh hollowly, but I'd have to get used to days like this since they happened far more often while dungeon diving.
That same evening.
Yeonhee was in high spirits after arriving home, while I diligently separated the Hopgoblin bones we'd harvested from the dungeon.
Hopgoblin Misc Bones — Bomb Attack Power +7
Hopgoblin Skull — Bomb Attack Power +8
Until now, I'd just mixed all the bones together without separating them, but after seeing the "misc bones" label, I decided to check the information by body part. Sure enough, the skulls had slightly higher attack power than the other bones. Other goblins and Big Boars had their skulls treated as regular misc bones, but only Hopgoblins were different.
"Does the system give more value to important bones from higher-grade monsters? I don't know. This damn system..."
Shaking my head, I finished the separation and obtained sixty Hopgoblin skulls.
"Let's give this a try..."
Clack clack clack clack—
The familiar Skeleton Bomb took shape before long.
Skeleton Bomb (Low-grade) — Crafted from a Hopgoblin skull, slightly enhanced compared to a regular Skeleton Bomb.
—Enemies hit by the bomb fall into a paralyzed state for 0.05 seconds.
"Whoa!! Insane?! That's crazy good!! Paralyzed for a whole 0.05 seconds!! ......Honestly, isn't that way too short?"
"Well, at least I found a way to make the bombs stronger!"
The satisfaction of making today better than yesterday made me feel like my nonexistent mouth corners were curling upward.
"Hm? Why is Ilwol in such a good mood? Huh? Let's be happy together~"
"You can tell whether I'm in a good mood or not?"
No way... Even I wouldn't know what I was thinking if I looked at my own face.
"Ilwol~ I'm in such a good mood today~ Hehe. One point one million won~ One point one million won~ I've become someone who earns over a million won a day~"
Watching Yeonhee hop around the living room singing some unknown song, I thought that she really was human after all. Showing greed for money rather than a desire to grow stronger felt more human somehow.
"Please, go buy some delicious food and clothes or bags or whatever."
If I weren't a skeleton, I would've run straight to a department store—her outward appearance was honestly that bad. Not that Yeonhee looked filthy, but I wanted her to at least have the vibe of a girl her age. Inside the house she wore a striped tracksuit, and outside she always had a cheap plain robe pulled low with a gray sweatshirt underneath. I didn't like that she always dressed that way!
"If our Yeonhee dressed up, she'd be the prettiest in the world!!"
Maybe because I'd become her possession, I could no longer make proper judgments. In any case, she was qualitatively different from a plastic surgery beauty like Kang Yeonsu. Speaking of which, was Kang Yeonsu getting plastic surgery around now? She'd need to start soon if she wanted to be established by next year.
"Number One~ Tomorrow we're going to a place where your kind lives... You guys will be okay, right?"
Churup? (They're just enemies......)
"Hmm— You don't seem to care much, but are you really okay?"
"Clack clack!!"
"Why worry about something so pointless? Once you've been summoned as a summon, it's Yeonhee who decides who our enemies are."
If Yeonhee told us to fight, we fought. If she told us to stop, we stopped. In a way, we were pitiful existences. But she shouldn't pity us either. I hoped she could treat us like expendable supplies and not feel even the slightest wound in her heart if we got hurt or died.
She stared at the Lizardmen with a worried expression for a moment, but soon cheered up again and spent a long time walking around as if dancing.
Huaa~
A little later, having calmed down somewhat, Yeonhee sat on the floor hugging Wangwang.
Wang— Wang!!
Jiggle— Jiggle—
Even though I'd reduced the amount of food I gave Wangwang while using bones for bomb crafting, his belly fat still rippled, showing no signs of diet effects yet.
"Haa... Petting Wangwang's belly fat is such healing......"
After her satisfying healing session, Yeonhee began reciting information about the dungeon we'd enter tomorrow.
"First of all! Among the commonly known low-grade dungeons, this one has the highest difficulty. Mm— According to the monster evaluation from the writer on the best posts, it's written that they're 1.5 times stronger than Hopgoblins."
"That's funny, 1.5 times? Are they joking? It's at least twice as much."
"Hehe— But in the comments, someone wrote that the writer is definitely F-grade. That means they wrote it without properly knowing, right?"
"Clack clack!!"
"Even I can tell that Lizardmen and Hopgoblins have a pretty big difference. Plus, Lizardman Swamp is the best environment for Lizardmen, isn't it?"
Lizardmen's passive traits were [Irmana's Blessing], which increased Agility the wetter their bodies were, and [Phip's Blessing], which increased health recovery speed the longer combat lasted. In truth, Phip's Blessing was a trait that only shone once their grade increased further, so the main one was Irmana's Blessing. The wetter their bodies—that is, the more humid the environment—the stronger they became. Until now, we'd never fought in an environment where Lizardmen could be active, so it was an ability I hadn't been conscious of. But Lizardman Swamp, which we'd enter tomorrow, had their favorite environment stretching from the entrance onward. So it was bound to be tricky.
And the even more annoying part was that the dungeon imposed restrictions.
"Even worse, all non-water attribute beings have their stats reduced by 10%. That's too much, seriously... Since all humans are non-attribute, that applies to everyone......"
As Yeonhee said, all hunters were non-attribute. They could only perform attribute attacks. The judgment received upon entering a dungeon was non-attribute.
"Once we actually fight, you won't even be able to say it's 'too much.' You'll feel it much more strongly."
"But we'll be fine!! Lizard One? I'm counting on you tomorrow, okay?"
Churururuk!!