The Fluffy One Named Wangwang

The magic stone duplicator was much smaller than the medium-sized mole cricket I'd seen in the dungeon, so when she cradled it in her arms, the little creature was almost completely hidden from view. 'So this is the cute one next to the cute one.' It was definitely a sight that purified the eyes, so I just stood there staring blankly at the pair.

"Ilwol, do you want to pet it too? Aww—how can its fur be this soft?"

I was only a few steps away, so when she asked, I unconsciously took one step forward.

'Huh? My feet are moving?'

Was it because of what she just said? Either way, I walked over and gently placed my hand on the cotton-candy-like creature's body.

Woof—Woof!

'Is she going to name it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Wangwang?'

Judging by her naming sense, the probability was high.

'As expected, just touching it doesn't let me feel anything.'

In the end, I focused my senses into my hand and stroked the puppy. A very faint trace of the sensation I had when I was human returned. Surprisingly, the little guy started drooling heavily the moment my hand touched it, showing just how much it liked the attention.

As I stroked it a few times, I noticed her staring at the fluffy bundle with a serious expression again.

'This sense of déjà vu…'

"What do you think about naming it Wangwang?"

Woof—! Woof—!

The puppy didn't seem to mind the name at all, so Wangwang it was. By now, its status window probably displayed Earth Puppy Wangwang. The thought made me feel oddly cheerful, and my shoulder bones shook with a small chuckle.

"Haaa… It's definitely different from Ilwol. I can actually feel the mana being consumed. It might be hard to sleep while holding it, though… Mmm…"

She pouted her lips in genuine disappointment and continued stroking Wangwang.

"By the way, does Wangwang even have any skills? Hmm?"

Still holding the puppy, Yeonhee closed her eyes and began rolling her pupils left and right.

'I'm curious too… It definitely has to have at least the Digging skill.'

No, that would be a trait, wouldn't it? It was probably a passive from the start.

"Aah… Our Wangwang has a whole one skill? Hehe, I'm so happy!"

...Yeah, right now she looked like she'd be fine even if Wangwang pooped all over the walls.

"I get the Earth Tunnel trait, but Beginner Conversion? A skill that produces magic stones—isn't that really unique?"

···What? It duplicates magic stones?

A skill that duplicates magic stones—the energy source now widely used in everyday life? She had definitely said "produce," but my brain interpreted it as "duplicate."

"Mmm… It says it especially likes monster bones. If it eats a certain amount of bones, it spits them out as magic stones? Why?"

Well—rather than wondering about the mechanism, maybe I should think about why Wangwang had been drooling while staring at me since earlier.

"Hehe, it seems to really like Ilwol. It's been staring only at you the whole time. Here—play together!"

'Of course it'd get excited with a delicious bone right in front of it…'

Woof! Woof! Hah-hah—!

The puppy slipped out of Yeonhee's arms, ran straight to me, and began licking my finger bones with sloppy enthusiasm. Then, a moment later—

Crunch— Crack—

"Ahh! No, Wangwang! If you eat Ilwol, he'll break! He'll break!"

'The word "break" feels a bit off, but thanks anyway.'

Woof… The suddenly dejected puppy returned to her arms and wagged its thick tail listlessly.

"Hmm— But our fragile Wangwang probably can't come with us into the dungeon… For now, I'll collect some monster bones, store them, and let it eat later! If we raise its level, a hidden skill might appear too. Mmm—"

'I doubt that ill-mannered little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing will get any more skills, but it's still the correct approach. Every five levels the stat growth is significant, and new skills or traits sometimes appear.'

"Wangwang, go inside for today~ Mommy will call you again once I get some bones, okay? Hehe."

Woof! Woof!

Wangwang spun around once in delight and panted happily.

"Kyaa! It's too cute!"

Anyway, seeing her smile always lifted my mood, so I felt satisfied as well.

"I didn't count exactly, but I probably killed around seven to eight hundred goblins. Now that I have Ilwol, if we can kill at least twenty per run, ten days should be enough to complete the achievement, right?"

"Clack clack—!"

"Tomorrow, let's make sure Ilwol comes back alive and doesn't die!"

She clenched her fist tightly, steeling her resolve. This time, even as she went to bed, she didn't deactivate my summoning.

"I'm still not confident enough to sleep in the same room as Ilwol, so just play in the living room, okay?"

Nod—

'Well, even I wouldn't want to sleep in the same space as a skeleton with deep darkness in its eyes.'

I quickly agreed and stood motionless in the living room, checking my stats.

'The trait Protection… This is also an incredibly good trait.'

To maximize this trait's effect, I would either need to increase the number of summons that could share the damage with me, or raise my own stamina. One of the two.

'I can't neglect my stamina.'

Although I had ninety-eight lives, if Yeonhee actually died, the odds were high that I would disappear as well. Therefore, the top priority was still her safety.

I spread out waves of my senses to monitor her condition, moving my creaking body this way and that to pass the time. Occasionally her quiet sobs would stab at a corner of my heart, but there was nothing I could do.

When morning came, before heading to the dungeon, she sent me back into the subspace and said,

"See you soon~"

'Even though she's been revealed as a summoner, it's still impossible for her to openly walk around with something like me.'

After some time passed in the now-familiar darkness, the door opened again.

"Rawr!"

···?

"Pffft— Ilwol, were you surprised? Huh? Were you surprised?"

Had she spread her arms wide to imitate a tiger? Faced with Yeonhee's adorable expression, I suppressed the urge to touch her cheek and scanned our surroundings.

'Hmm— This isn't the same place as last time.'

The Hunter Management Bureau staff were probably camped out at the dungeon entrance, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠last time she had summoned me quite far from the gate. This time the distance was still considerable, but I could faintly see the gate that served as both entrance and exit.

Single-floor dungeons like the Goblin Dungeon had the same entrance and exit, so the area near the gate had a relatively high chance of encountering people.

Rustle—

'Three people…'

Just like now.

The party of three men we encountered after walking only a few steps thankfully didn't try anything with Yeonhee. Still, it was a good thing we were near the entrance. If we'd met them deeper inside, they might have acted differently.

"Whew… Meeting people always makes me nervous…"

Once we secured a safe distance, she let out a big sigh and tightly grabbed my hand. I wondered if holding my ice-cold bones could give her even a little sense of stability, but seeing the color gradually return to her face, I nodded.

'She endured it all by herself…'

In her previous life, during an interview with a newspaper, she had said that what scared her most as a rookie hunter wasn't monsters, but the other hunters she occasionally ran into. Seeing the cold sweat on her forehead, it was clearly the truth.

Crunch— Crunch—

About forty minutes after walking through the grassy path, she spoke.

"It's a cave. It doesn't look very big… Ilwol, can you check inside?"

A small cave about two meters high, situated beside a tiny clearing. Even if there weren't any monsters, ordinary bats and various creatures would likely be using it as a shelter. I approached the entrance and spread my sensory net inward.

The colorless net extended just past ten meters and detected several mana-bearing lifeforms.

'Five slimes…'

I gestured toward her and drew a round shape in the air with both hands.

"Slimes?! Can you tell how many there are too?"

In response, I immediately held up five fingers.

"Five of them… Are they all clumped together?"

"Clack—!"

"Not clumped together… Good. It's hard to find monsters today, so let's take care of these at least."

She took two torches from her inventory and handed me one. Together we entered the cave.

'It's been a while since I've seen one of these.'

I hadn't used a torch since joining the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠White Knight Guild, so it felt fresh. The cave was so small that after only a few steps, we saw slimes sliding along the round walls, diligently crawling up toward the ceiling. A few bat-like creatures lay rotting on the ground.

'Looks like we interrupted their meal.'