Look Only at Me
"Ilwol, should I repair that chainmail for you?"
Clack clack.
"Want to keep using it a bit longer?"
I nodded. It had worn down some while Lee Yeong-cheol was using it, but plenty of durability remained. Better to squeeze every last use out of it before handing it over for repairs. The cost difference between fixing it now or later was negligible anyway.
"Anything you feel like doing? Need something?"
'Huh?'
When I tilted my head, Yeonhee started anxiously chewing her nails.
"There's nothing I can do for you… hng…"
'Is this because of what happened today? Truth is, I feel a sting of guilt. I stood by and let her suffer through something she never should have.'
After gnawing at her nails for a long moment, Yeonhee suddenly perked up as if remembering something and delivered unexpected news.
"I heard Mr. Hyun-seok can’t work as a hunter anymore."
Clack…
The talkative man who always bickered with Song Jin-gyeong… I had a pretty good idea why.
If he’d been hit by that spore snail, then yeah.
"The spot where the spore snail got him was on his left leg. Apparently a tiny patch near the knee bone hadn’t healed properly. It spread from there… They caught it late and removed it, but running is out of the question. For good."
I nodded. That was just how hunter life went. One day you’re fine, the next you can’t step foot in a dungeon. I’d seen a B-rank hunter break out in hives the moment he entered a gate and have to quit. Unexplained illnesses, freak accidents, constant betrayals both inside and outside the dungeons. The world was full of backstabs.
Still, you’re going to keep doing this?
"Mhm. So now I have to think about who to recruit next. Should I check the comments again?"
…She’s tougher than I give her credit for.
Maybe I’d been seeing Yeonhee as too fragile.
"Oh! What about… should I contact that person?"
Who? Don’t tell me she’s thinking of recruiting Yu Dali?
"The one who messaged me. The person who said to contact them once I reached D-rank."
'…No Hayun?'
The rising star destined to become the next ace of Bijon Guild, one of Korea’s top three.
'Hiss— Still, I doubt she’d come down to the Lizardman Swamp. And even if she did, we’d lose a ton of experience.'
But there was one clear advantage if she joined.
'The boss monster of the Lizardman Swamp. It would be much easier to slip into the champion’s wetland and retrieve that artifact.'
It wasn’t particularly useful inside the dungeon, but an incredibly expensive artifact lay hidden at the bottom. Besides, I was curious what kind of scheme had made her send Yeonhee a love call in the first place.
Yeonhee looked at me, lips moving silently, then chewed her nail again while holding her phone.
'Even making one phone call is a big deal for her…'
Trrring—
"Ah… Hello, Helen. Yes, that’s…"
Yeonhee briefly explained the idea of recruiting No Hayun to Helen.
"No Hayun? You mean that one the top five or seven new stars on YouTube keep hyping up? Of course we’re good with it!"
"Wait, sis? No Hayun’s coming? Hell yeah! Hyun-seok leaves and No Hayun joins? That’s a total win, hehehee!"
'Jin-gyeong’s there too. What time is it that she’s already drunk?'
"Get off me, you! Sorry, haha. Jin-gyeong’s had a bit too much. She took the news about Hyun-seok pretty hard."
"That bastard, I knew it’d happen, heh— Life isn’t that easy, gulp, gulp."
"……"
"Anyway, we’re totally okay with it, so do whatever you want, Yeonhee. We’ll call you later!"
Click.
"They’re… no help at all…"
Had she been hoping for some decent advice? That pair was never going to give her that… Why not just ask Kang Yeonsu instead?
"Mmm… Maybe I should ask Yeonsu unni… No! I’ll just call right now."
Oh, when she decides to act, she really goes for it.
Hiss— Hooo…
Trrring—
After a few rings, No Hayun picked up.
"Hello? I’m…"
"Hello, Summoner! Nice to hear from you."
A slightly excited voice. The fact that she used Yeonhee’s class title instead of her name told me exactly where No Hayun’s interest lay.
The call lasted only three minutes. An offer to party together in a dungeon of lower difficulty than the field she was currently clearing. It was a bit of a stretch. With her high stats, the Lizardman Swamp might even reject her entry.
"Actually, I’d love that! It’ll let me take things more leisurely."
"Sorry? What do you mean…?"
"Never mind. As for conditions, just match them to whatever you’re receiving. I recently carried some guild members, so you don’t have to worry about entry denial."
"Ah… yes, yes. Still, you’re so much higher ranked than us. I’ll ask if we can give you a bit more…"
"Do as you like! Let’s talk more when we meet tomorrow!"
"Yes, thank you…"
The call with No Hayun, who radiated the same cool aura as her abilities, ended. Watching Yeonhee unconsciously bow her head as she hung up was both endearing and adorable.
She still had some baby fat, giving her a plump, cat-like charm. Her slightly flushed cheeks stretched tight as her lips parted.
"I-I did it. Heehee, hehehe…"
She seemed proud of successfully recruiting No Hayun. Normally I would have stroked her head, but right now my mind was elsewhere.
The monster bones Yeonhee had brought back from the dungeon break. It was a shame the skull was missing, but the fact that she’d cleanly stripped just the bones felt like a reward for helping resolve the incident.
I laid out the remaining bones across the floor.
'Hmm. Seeing them all together, they’re definitely different from ours. Can’t even tell if they’re from a snake or a wolf.'
While I was examining the bones, I felt a gaze boring into me. She probably wanted head pats again. What started as a one-time shoulder rub had become routine.
Of course, I didn’t just massage her head and shoulders to make her feel good. It was the materialization of mana. Compressing the mana inside my body into physical form and pressing down on her head sped up physical recovery far more than a normal touch. Almost no one knew this method. Few people could even shape mana into a consistent form in the first place.
'I used to do it a lot for Kang Yeonsu.'
I’d let her experience it once by chance, and afterward she’d whine for hours every time she came back from a dungeon. Since Kang Yeonsu was so overwhelmingly strong that even Jo Giman couldn’t touch her carelessly, I couldn’t refuse. Handling mana this way also helped me use skills that consumed mana as fuel much more smoothly. It healed Yeonhee and trained me at the same time—two birds with one stone.
But I have curiosity too, you know.
…I’ll do it after I check these first.
I turned slightly away from her as a signal not to disturb me.
Squirm, squirm.
Yeonhee slid across the floor like a slime until she was beside me, then laid her head on my knee.
Poke poke poke.
She looked up at me with a coquettish smile. For a moment I felt as if my nonexistent heart was pounding, but it passed quickly.
Crack.
The moment I grabbed a monster bone and tried to process it into a skeleton bomb, a new information window seized my attention.
◈ A chimera born from Archmage Falkai’s relentless research.
◈ Also known as 'Fang'. Still evaluated as incomplete.
◈ Attack Power +43
'Briedio? Archmage? Are we going to see a Demon King next? This is ridiculous. Ha— Fang, huh…'
The monster’s sharply protruding fangs shimmered before my eyes.
'Bomb attack power of 43… That’s insane.'
Stunned by a number on an entirely different scale from anything I’d seen before, I poured mana into a lizardman bone.
◈ Attack Power +11
'Lizardman bones only give 11, but this is 43.'
Nearly four times the bomb attack power of a lizardman bone.
'At this level, it should be enough to inflict a critical wound even on that thing’s absurdly tough outer shell.'
Clack.
'…Well, the gap makes sense. Lizardmen are E-rank dungeon monsters. That thing was top-tier C-rank. Two whole ranks apart.'
With such powerful crafting materials in hand, I wanted to start making bombs immediately. My heart was pounding. Of course, the inside of my ribcage remained completely hollow.
Clack.
'…What do you want?'
I finally met her violet eyes, which were filled with the determination to keep staring until I paid attention.
"Hehe… Ilwoool— Can’t you stop working and give me head pats? Please?"
Her mysterious violet eyes sparkled. I was already sinking deeper into them. This was the same sensation I experienced every single day since being summoned by her. I really shouldn’t have made eye contact. I’d fallen for it again today.
Looking into her eyes made my mind grow hazy, as if under a hallucination. It was a strange feeling—like being fixed in the single happiest moment of my life. The other summons probably never lasted this long; they would have shot off like bullets to obey the moment she opened her mouth.
Thump thump thump.
The illusion of a beating heart struck again. I even entertained the stupid thought that maybe my real heart was somewhere far away.
Composure
Yet the wildly fluctuating emotions quickly settled, and I once again took in her beautiful face. Even after the magical moment ended, her beauty hadn’t faded in the slightest.
'This sneaky girl! She probably has no idea how far each word she says pushes me.'
Of course, I knew she wasn’t doing this because she wanted to treat me like a slave. It was communion. When I materialized my mana and touched her, it felt like something connected between us. I had never felt that when I did it for Kang Yeonsu.
Right now, Yeonhee’s expression looked more peaceful and happy than ever. So I could understand why she was twisting her body like a snake, begging for a massage.
Swish.
I carefully slipped my hand into her thick black hair.
She flinched. The moment my cold bones touched her, her shoulders shrank.
'She has so much hair.'
It was something I noticed more clearly now that my senses had risen.
"Mmmnnn……"