Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Gemstone World VER.C.DAWN
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After Yi Yu-hyeon vanished, Dun wandered the world known as Gemstone World for a while with Gaeddongi in tow.
Was it a place where no one lived? No matter how much he walked, he didn't spot a single monster or person. With just him and Gaeddongi, it felt unbearably desolate.
It was a shame he couldn't fly through the skies and take in the whole world at once.
Dun arrived at a lake in some unknown corner of the world. A thin layer of ice skimmed the surface. Instead of clear water, it was a deep blue mixed with pale blue, like paint had been added. The sunlight made it sparkle as if stardust had been sprinkled across it.
[Rare] Water
Description: It's water. Drinking it improves skin texture.
It would've been Normal if it were ordinary water, but apparently its rarity bumped it up to Rare. Dun took a sip.
While the valley water Gaeddongi had drunk was sweet and mild, this water sent a refreshing chill straight to his bones.
What a bizarre place, anyway.
Dun headed back to Ulr alone, gathering the monsters he had once dominated.
They'd been slumped over listlessly for some reason, but perked right up the moment Dun appeared.
[Dumo-ok!]
[You didn't abandon us! You didn't abandon us!]
Dun curled the corner of his mouth up at their overly enthusiastic welcome.
"Everyone quiet down and gather close to me."
As Dun spread his arms and spoke, the Ulr monsters raised their fins, ready to leap into his embrace.
Realizing he'd phrased it poorly, Dun hastily corrected himself.
"O-Only ten at a time!! Exactly ten at a time!! Ughhh!"
As they all charged toward him with gleaming eyes, Dun waved his hands frantically.
At Dun's panicked shout, exactly ten of the Ulr monsters clung to him. The monsters rubbed against Dun's small frame in rapture.
[The boss's sturdy body...]
[Aah, so cool...]
"...World shift."
Half-resigned to their over-the-top reactions, Dun let out a sigh and shifted to Gemstone World.
Since they'd arrived on land, the ten clinging to him flopped around helplessly on the ground for a moment.
"Gaeddongi, do something about these guys."
[Heehee... Got it! Got it!]
Dun asked Gaeddongi to supply them with breathable water.
They'd been gasping and choking without air, but suddenly being able to breathe through one small, weak monster left them utterly baffled.
[Aren't you just a lowly slime?]
[Slime... No... I'm Gaeddongi...]
[How can a mere slime have such immense power...]
Yenz, who luckily made the first batch of ten, examined Gaeddongi with a shocked expression. The magic power and strength emanating from this slime were enormous.
Moreover, the types of abilities it could use far exceeded what a typical slime monster could handle.
Its appearance was even shinier than other monsters, quite beautiful—in overly poetic terms, like emerald melted into liquid.
[Everyone ends up like that... They all get stronger just from brushing past Dun... Everything of Dun's gets stronger... Humans get stronger, monsters get stronger...]
Gaeddongi gazed at Dun with eyes full of admiration.
My boss, my master.
Even the mighty Raikulin became nothing more than a prideful, docile mutt in Dun's presence. Dun was great when strong, but Dun weak and whimpering was great too.
Above all, Dun seemed truly warm deep down, and that was the best part.
[Dun... did all this... Looked for a place for us monsters to live together since we decided to follow... Amazing...]
[The boss scouted out land and put in the effort just to bring us along? Aah, so that's why he stepped away earlier for a bit...]
[Ung... For us...]
[For us?]
[For us...]
Ah, how could there be such a perfectly prepared and planned boss? It was a first.
Yenz's current boss had been unreliable and weak, cause for anxiety. But knowing this overwhelmingly powerful being would lead their kind responsibly was deeply satisfying.
[Loyalty has increased!]
Dun pretended otherwise while eavesdropping on the whole conversation, curling his mouth up again.
"Alright, this is the space that'll be your new home."
After walking a bit, a vast blue sea stretched out before them. The sand and rocks of the shore were all shades of blue gems.
They were piled high like rounded gemstones.
[This beautiful place, chosen personally... by the boss...]
[No leader like this in history...]
"Yeah, yeah. I'll bring the others, so go on and nest down, settle in, do your thing~"
[Wait! Boss, no requests for us? No wishes? We'll do anything we can!]
Having a new boss meant they should fawn a bit, pamper him, show their loyalty—yet Dun was leaving without a second thought, leaving them flustered.
"For now, have fun in your new spot. I'll bring your whole ecosystem over."
Dun shifted back to Ulr to fetch more. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Gaeddongi crawling along, mood visibly uplifted.
"Good job. Spread my good deeds to the monsters like that."
[Ung! Ung!]
The Dominate skill was nice, but he worried it might wear off with distance.
It guaranteed a loyalty boost, but beyond that, they had to raise it on their own.
[In front of other monsters... Bragging about Dun... So fun... Buzzing with high...]
Dun burst out laughing as he swam downward. Gaeddongi turned pink with joy at making Dun laugh.
"How do you even know the word 'buzzing'?"
[Adventurers... Taught me...]
Dun and Gaeddongi went back and forth between the world and Ulr several times, relocating all the monsters to Gemstone World.
Having finished migrating the Ulr monsters, Dun flopped exhausted onto the ground. He'd gone way out of his way with the effort.
[Well done, Your Majesty.]
"What's with the sudden title upgrade?"
A turtle monster fetched silk seaweed from the water and laid it out for Dun to rest on.
Must've drunk plenty of good water in the meantime—the monsters' skins were glossy and smooth.
[You rule this entire region now, so Majesty you are. Everyone, come ease the king's fatigue!]
[For the king.]
[For the king.]
At the turtle-type monster's call, lobsters appeared and began kneading Dun's body with their claws.
"Shoo, go away. You'll get squished otherwise."
Dun waved them off, sending the monsters far away.
[Having achieved such feats, how about a speech, O great one? We plan to designate today as 'Dun Day' and commemorate it annually.]
Of all things.
Dun made a face like it was a huge hassle.
[The Graykas have cast Echo Magic. One word, and all will hear your great voice.]
Every monster in Ulr cast voice-amplification magic toward Dun, eager for a word from their new master.
"Ah."
Ah—
Ah—
Ah—
Dun's voice boomed massively through the space.
[Woooaaahhh!!!!]
[The king's! The king's! Voice!!!!!!]
[Hwaaaah!!!]
The amplification was oppressively loud.
"Ugh, too noisy."
[Everyone quiet!!!]
[Be solemn!!!]
[Anyone who opens their mouth from now on gets purged by vote!!!]
Hmm. So this was the monsters' world.
Brutally cutthroat. Dun stroked his chin as he faced the monsters who had poked their heads above the water, listening intently.
What should he say?
"For now, don't fight, eat well, live well. I'll bring friends over."
[Disputes mean purges!!]
[Any species not eating well gets wiped out!]
[Eat. well! Must. live. well!]
Were the Ulr monsters just smarter with language? They spoke better than most, real chatterboxes.
[Your Majesty.]
"Change the title. 'Boss' grates less, so stick with that."
Majesty sounded like something stuck in one place forever.
But he liked 'Boss' because of the baby Raikuli calling him that. The chubby little ones going 'Dudu' hit his tastes.
[Boss. Aside from requests for us, any for you—no, the boss? Like building a castle or fortress...]
"Build your own house first, not mine. And the original Ulr boss I took down before? It'll regenerate soon. Get strong enough to take its head."
[The original Ulr boss...]
"Mermels."
Like the Raikuli in Ulr, there was a species that dominated all others. The Mermels.
Actually, when Yi Yu-hyeon had described mermaids in her trauma story last time, Dun had thought of Mermels. Grotesque and savagely violent creatures.
Not the same as sea monsters, of course, but he worried a similar look might trigger her.
If she got scared and refused the water, it'd be a pain to encourage and soothe her that she could overcome it. Since he wanted to push straight through, while Yi Yu-hyeon handled the trash mobs above, he'd cleared out the Mermels at the very bottom of Ulr.
"Pick the top ten and raise an elite squad. Use them to make the Mermels kneel at your feet."
Ulr's ant-hill-like core was a kingdom the Mermels had weaker monsters build for them.
While Yoharaum housed monsters familiar with tribal cultures, Ulr was home to monsters adapted to cartel hierarchies among themselves.
At the top, the Mermels had been dictating to the Ulr monsters.
After spitting that out, Dun quickly plugged his ears with his pinky fingers.
[Waaaahhh!!!!]
[Woooaaahhh!!!!]
[Revolution! Rebellion! War!]
[Wasn't it rebellion the moment we chose to follow Dun?]
[We rise in Ulr Uprising now!!]
They were excited enough to write a history book on the spot right then.