The First Death

The first death. "Levels seem to fix most things, but they're not omnipotent either. Hmm..."

His face was so serious that I simply surrendered my body and refocused on the web of senses. Okay, clear. At least there were no enemies within a ten-meter radius. Only then did I think to check the level-up rewards and called up the status window again.

Each stat gained from leveling up increases the corresponding attribute by 3. You can't dump everything into one stat at once—you have to choose three different ones.

Hmm... Resistance can wait. Mana recovery is painfully slow—should I raise Recovery? No... I'll be leveling fast for a while, so no need.

In the end, I played it safe and chose Strength, Agility, and Mana.

Strength: 6(+3) Agility: 5(+3) Mana: 9(+3)

A shiver ran through me as a jolt of lightning raced along my veins. Ah—now I feel alive. That rush of instantly rising to a higher level never got old.

This is seriously addictive.

"Aha, so summon stats aren't something I raise myself? They get chosen automatically? That's a relief. I have decision paralysis, so these things take me forever, hehe."

Her bright smile was so adorable it reminded me of a mole cricket. I felt an odd urge to pat her head. But I was a monster, so that wasn't happening.

"Whew... I need to stay sharp. Ilwol, you noticed with your Perception stat, right? The slime earlier."

"Clack-clack-clack-!"

"Then from now on, if something like that happens, grab my hand. I'll get us out of there right away."

I nodded.

"Aww, our Ilwol is so smart. You're too cute."

Yeonhee scratched my jawbone with her fingers, cooing over me, then called ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out "Let's go!" and set off again.

Fortunately, we reached the lakeshore soon after. We found a spot with decent cover and scanned the surroundings.

"What do you think, Ilwol? Anything we should watch out for?"

Her trust in my Perception stat had clearly risen after the slime incident. I closed my eyes in my mind and focused on the waves of perception. Nothing unusual, so I shook my head.

"Hmm... but that group looks tricky to mess with, right?"

Through the bushes, about fifty meters away, a pack of goblins had set up camp by the lake. They were bickering among themselves. They'd even built crude huts and left traces of a now-extinguished fire. Roughly twenty of them. Their size and shabby equipment weren't much different from the first three goblins we'd met. But—

Absolutely not worth fighting head-on.

All goblins were born with a trait that raised their stats the more of them gathered together. There was a range limit, of course, but twenty of them would mean at least a 10% stat boost.

No point jumping into the fire.

Yeonhee hadn't suggested a frontal assault either. She was probably just gauging how to hit and run. She soon signaled with a nod, and we carefully circled around the outskirts in search of other prey.

We kept to the same pattern of circling the lake at a distance. Before long we ran into another group of goblins. This time five of them were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on the move. As the dominant species of this dungeon, they walked without hesitation even in open areas.

Yeonhee rubbed her chin for a moment, thinking.

Who strikes first is critical.

The ideal was still to hit them all at once like last time, but I'd have to accept the risk of being surrounded right after the attack.

......

...What is she hesitating about? Surely not worried a summon might break.

She nodded after a moment and whispered to me.

(Let's try the same thing again. This time, use the skill we got from the slime too.)

I nodded.

Right—never get attached to summons.

From my new perspective as a summon, the words were chilling, but that had always been how she fought. The reckless, relentless movements of summons who didn't fear death, the high-level mental focus required to control so many at once, and that absurd mana capacity that let her resummon endlessly. That was why she'd been called a genius, and the benefits her team gained were beyond words.

Let's go......

Shhhk-

Mana: 7/9 (-2)

Action initiated.

The sequence was the same as before, except the targets were moving this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠time.

Starting from the rearmost one will throw them into even more confusion.

I gripped the last remaining club that had been hidden with me under Stealth. Acid was already bubbling like lava in my mouth. I still had no idea how a skeleton could store acid in its mouth, but in this world, nothing worked the way it was supposed to.

Glug-glug-

I sprayed the acid at the face of the rearmost goblin. Chaaak—

Kieeeek!

Leaving the goblin writhing on the ground clutching its face, I immediately smashed the fourth one's face with the club. Thwack—!

Krrk?!

At the same time, an arrow flew in and cleanly pierced the temple of the largest goblin in the lead. The fifth goblin was still rolling on the ground from my acid, the fourth had its skull split by my club, and the first was instantly killed by Yeonhee's arrow. Only two goblins were still combat-capable, and both were already charging me.

I ducked low and scooped up sand, flinging it toward them with all my strength. It only kicked up a little dust and had no real effect. In an instant, the two goblins surrounded me.

Tch! With nothing but bones, I can't even grab a proper handful of sand!

Thwack—!

Kugh!

The goblins' Agility was probably a bit higher than mine, but having similar numbers didn't mean we could move the same way. They had fully functional bodies. My body, which only creaked and groaned unless moving in a straight line, couldn't properly block their attacks.

Vitality: 6/7(-1)

After the first club graze took 1 point, I was focused down by both of them.

Vitality: 4/7(-3)

Even so, I kept swinging Strike at the fourth and fifth goblins' throats.

Thud-thud—!

Kerrk!

Pew-thud!

Kahahk—!

The two goblins attacking me were each hit by an arrow once my vitality dropped to 2.

Accuracy really drops after the first shot.

The arrows had missed vital spots, making the goblins even more frenzied.

Kyaaaak—!

Pew— shhk—!

Thud! Thud—!

They finally dropped to their knees under the continuing rain of arrows, but—

Vitality: 1(-6)

Aaaagh! Am I really going to die to goblins?! Damn it, even if I'm dying, I'll take one more down with me!

Strike! Strike! Strike!

With 2 kills and 1 assist confirmed, I gritted my teeth against the wave of darkness rushing over me. Because the goblins had clung to me so desperately while attacking, my vitality finally hit 0.

Vitality: 0(-7)

Destroyed... They won't even say died......

Death was not permitted to the already dead. And then—

Ilwol......!!

She was running toward me. Her short hair fluttered so brightly and beautifully that it made for an excellent final sight before death.

Still, much better than the last time I died. Heh......

* * *

......

"Clack-clack-clack-!"

Mm— my body moves.

Creak—

This place again... that damned place.

The place where I'd crouched for an eternity. I couldn't see an inch ahead, but instinct told me everything. I quickly stood up and pushed off in one direction according to instinct.

Ding—!

One life gone.

Only one thought came to mind.

What a waste......

It was a greedy feeling for someone who'd only ever lived one life. Even with 98 lives left, feeling like it's not enough... I can't be like this already.

There must never be even a moment's hesitation when it came to protecting her.

Tap—

Tap-tap—

Tap—

After walking for a while, the massive door I'd grown somewhat used to greeted me.

"Clack-clack-clack-"

Another wait begins, I suppose.

Since this would become routine, I sat down and focused on the status window.

Strength and Agility for now. I should put one into Vitality too.

If my Vitality had been 3 points higher, I probably would've survived with high probability.

Strength: 9(+3) Agility: 8(+3) Vitality: 10(+3)

Now I'm finally approaching the lowest F-rank stats.

Of course, even with these low stats, if I were human, my Perception stat alone would earn me decent treatment in any guild. I nodded at the significantly increased numbers and stood up to check my body's movement.

I threw a few light jabs. Creak— Tried a kick. Crack— Even attempted a nimble low tackle. Tap-tap-tap—

Still a complete mess, but—

My body feels... a bit more flexible?

A tiny change so subtle I wouldn't have noticed without the Perception stat. But it was enough to raise my motivation.

Movement improves as level increases.

Even if it was just a placebo, I had to believe it and keep trying.

While I was training with my still-broken body, the door slowly began to open along with the familiar melody of the summoning spell.

Creaaak—

Then, in an instant, the door burst open and swallowed me again.

* * *

"Ilwol—! Hngh......"

It's bright... Why do I feel this way when I don't even have eyes?

Resummoned into the old studio apartment, I held Yeonhee as she sniffled in my arms for a while.

She really does care about her summons.

It was only the first time, so maybe that was natural. But as the numbers grew and she got used to watching summons break apart one after another, would she become like the cold version of herself from before? That was still unknown.