The Second Summon is a Failure, But It's Cute

The second summon was a failure, but it was cute. The moment Lee Yeonhee opened her mouth, Jo Giman leaned his upper body forward, displaying the utmost interest.

"A slime did fall from a tree branch."

"A slime from a tree branch… Did it simply fall on its ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own?"

"Ah, yes. I was startled by a sudden noise from behind, but I took care of it immediately."

"Hmm… I see."

'Wow, Yeonhee. Nice! I don't know why you're lying, but that was a clean answer.'

Jo Giman continued to scan Yeonhee up and down with a suspicious look, but when Kang Yeonsu gave his shoulder a firm thump, he cleared his throat and rose from his seat. After that, the only conversation that passed between them concerned the guild contract terms and their future activities.

They spoke about the guild's high evaluation of Yeonhee's potential, asked why she insisted on clearing dungeons alone, and subtly pressed her to join the guild right away. In the middle of it all, Jo Giman sidled over to me and looked over every part of my body. Then, while Kang Yeonsu headed to the refrigerator to fetch the water Yeonhee had politely requested, he began touching various spots on my bones.

'Ugh! Where the hell is this bastard touching!'

I had never felt anything this disgusting in my entire life, yet this guy was behaving exactly like someone born to piss me off.

"Interesting… The stats are identical. Could it be a singularity…"

'Did he just use Search? Spending an ability that can only be used once a week on a mere skeleton soldier?'

It was truly excessive, but it actually worked out in my favor. Jo Giman's skill Search let him gauge the growth potential of strength, agility, stamina, and magic power the moment he made contact with a person or monster, while simultaneously revealing their current values in those four stats.

'Of course they'd be similar. No matter how much bigger a skeleton soldier gets, it's still in the same ballpark.'

At any rate, after using the skill his expression relaxed considerably. It seemed he'd concluded there was no need to worry too much. After another ten minutes of conversation, the pair finally left the room.

"All right, Yeonhee, fighting. I'll contact you the moment you graduate, so let me know if your number changes, okay?"

"Yes, yes~ Oh, take care, sis…"

"Aigoo, why are you acting so shy? Yeonhee is seriously too cute~"

Watching the two of them speak comfortably now brought back old memories in a rush.

'Yeonsu took great care of Yeonhee back then too, treating her like a little sister…'

"See you next time, Miss Yeonhee. Until then."

"Yes, take care, Guild Master…"

Once Snake-eyed Jo Giman had left and Yeonhee carefully closed the door—click—the moment it shut, she slid down to the floor like her legs had turned to jelly.

"Puha~ I nearly suffocated to death."

Ugh, my legs are so weak—

"Ilwol, can you come help me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up? Hehe."

Yeonhee stretched her arm toward the ceiling and urged me with a little whine that clearly meant 'Come on, hurry~'.

'Lee Yeonhee acting spoiled toward her summoned beast… I really can't get used to this…'

Clack—clack—clack.

I moved according to her command, took her hand, and slowly lifted her to her feet.

'She's drenched in sweat…'

Being around them must have been incredibly stressful. Her body was soaked in cold sweat, and she kept taking deep breaths to steady herself.

"Starting in March, I'll be working with the White Knight Guild too… Ilwol, can something like this really happen?"

'Considering your abilities, it's not something to get that emotional about.'

I didn't know exactly what conditions they'd offered, but they must have presented a vision tempting enough to hook Yeonhee. Besides, the White Knight Guild was, without question, one of Korea's top three guilds.

'The privilege of a regressor, I suppose. I don't know how Yeonhee intends to live, but he clearly knows what she wants.'

Joining the White Knight Guild had been a foregone conclusion. The silver lining was that, even after scraping together every memory from my previous life, there weren't many instances of Lee Yeonhee and Jo Giman entering dungeons together. And even those rare occasions had only begun a few months after I joined as her guide.

'Which means the reports from the guild members who'll be dungeon-diving with Yeonhee starting in March must not contain anything that contradicts Jo Giman's memories…'

If something like a skeleton soldier spitting acid got reported, I might become an object of interest again.

'I need to be extremely careful…'

But no matter how careful I was, it would only delay the inevitable. If I was going to be discovered eventually, the only option was to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

"Mom would have been so happy if she'd heard this… sob…"

'Is she crying? Oh no… I really can't handle crying women.'

It had been true in my past life and it was still true now—watching a woman cry was almost unbearable. Seeing Yeonhee's eyes grow moist as she sniffled, I thought for a moment before suddenly raising my arm high.

When I lifted my arm out of nowhere, Yeonhee paused her sobbing. Then, as I began waving it around limply like some kind of exorcism dance, her eyes widened before her lips and eyes curved into bright arcs.

"Puhuhuhut—Ilwol, what are you doing all of a sudden? Kyahahahat!"

'For the person who saved my life, this is nothing…'

Her final gaze as she died protecting me from the Orc Legion Commander during the dungeon break was still vivid in my mind. I desperately hoped this life would let Yeonhee be happy. If possible, I wanted the same for myself.

With that earnest wish, I kept waving my arms.

"Pukkkup—Hehehit—Aaah, I really, really like Ilwol!"

The effect was tremendous. After laughing until her stomach nearly split, she suddenly covered her mouth and pressed a finger to her lips, reminding herself not to be too loud.

"The neighbors might complain… Shh, shh."

Well… there wasn't much point sending signals like that to someone who couldn't speak.

"Ahem—Thanks to you, I laughed for a long time. Hehe—"

……

"By the way, if the next one I summon is also a skeleton soldier, can I watch you two dance together?"

'Hmm? Summon?'

"Here, look. This is the gray summoning scroll I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠received when I leveled up. See? This is what brought you out too, Ilwol!"

On her outstretched palm rested a thick scroll made of gray parchment—an item I had never seen before.

'So the system gives you a summoning scroll when you level up? It wasn't just reciting a spell after all.'

In all the information I'd gathered about her, I'd never once heard the term "summoning scroll."

'She kept it secret from everyone else. Why?'

Whatever the reason, the fact that she had information she hadn't revealed to others was encouraging.

"See? If you peel off this brown wax-like seal a little, the inside is packed with strange writing."

Rustle— The tightly rolled scroll unfurled, revealing lines of unknown characters exactly as she'd described.

'What on earth is all this writing…'

Puff—

"You don't have to look so startled, Ilwol. You only need to read the few passages that glow golden to complete the summoning."

'Those glowing letters… I can't see them at all?'

Just to be sure, I lightly touched the scroll, and a brief description appeared.

'So Yeonhee wasn't the first summoner after all…'

The explanation was simple, yet one line caught in my mind like a fishbone in the throat.

'Low-grade summoned creature…'

There was no doubt a skeleton soldier would be classified as the lowest possible grade. Which meant there was a chance something higher-ranked than me could appear.

It seemed like a low probability, but still.

'How long has it even been since I was summoned that I'm already picturing myself being outclassed? This can't happen…'

Whether she knew how I felt or not, Yeonhee smiled brightly and began reading from the scroll.

……?

It was a familiar resonance I had heard once before. The very spell that had pulled me from pitch-black darkness was being chanted again.

'The next one to be summoned probably isn't a former human like me, right?'

With a faint spark of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hope, I watched her. By the time the incantation reached its final words, I felt a tension many times greater than what I experienced in battle.

Oooong—

At last, a gray portal roughly my height opened. Yeonhee tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? It's not a door this time?"

From her reaction, the summoning process seemed to be unfolding differently than it had with me. She now looked in the same direction I was facing, staring at the shimmering portal.

Soon a silhouette wavered within the gray portal—a four-legged beast of some kind.

'Look at those long claws. It feels like it might be stronger than me…'

A massive shadow filled the entire studio before vanishing along with the portal, leaving behind a small figure.

It was.

Woof woof!!

"……?"

'……?'

A mole cricket with fluffy, snow-white fur.

'Ha—I'm screwed…'

The very mole cricket famous for the sound of it munching on grass—also known as a land dog—had been summoned as the second beast.

My usefulness wouldn't drop, but an even more serious problem had arisen.

'A completely useless creature has appeared.'

While I felt a twinge of dejection, Yeonhee walked over with trembling hands and suddenly scooped the mole cricket into a tight hug.

"Hwaaang, it's too cute! Eiiing…"

- Woof! Woof! Pant pant—