Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Monster Summoning
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When I woke up from sleep, the clock was already pointing to the afternoon.
Lunchtime had long passed.
My stomach was roaring fiercely in protest.
"Maru, food—"
I habitually started to ask Maru to prepare a meal, then quickly shut my mouth.
It was because the taste of Maru's ramen from the day before came to mind, and I was too scared to say it.
'Gotta retrain it on this.'
I never imagined it would learn on its own by watching videos on boiling bone broth.
And it even uses the smartphone freely...
I newly realized that undead were a more intelligent race than I'd thought.
"If it pulls any more weird stunts, it'll be a problem for me."
That's why I planned to teach Maru cooking directly.
Maru's cooking wasn't bad exactly, but... you know?
"Anyway, is Maru doing housework?"
I could hear the vacuum cleaner running beyond the door.
Maru had become an indispensable presence for me now.
Not only did it handle basic cooking like ramen perfectly, but it also did the dishes and cleaning flawlessly.
And that wasn't all.
It ran the washing machine on its own, hung the wet laundry, and neatly folded the dry clothes before putting them in the closet.
"Seriously, it's a perfect homemaker."
Lately, it had even started running the vacuum and mopping the floors, showing steady improvement day by day.
Maru picked up tasks quickly once taught.
Thanks to that, I no longer had to lift a finger for housework myself.
Everything just ran smoothly on its own.
"Maybe I should bring in some more skeletons while I'm at it?"
My dungeon's altar was currently level 2.
Of course, I couldn't summon high-grade monsters yet.
"Maru was originally 1-star too."
Now it was 4-star, but Maru had started as a 1-star skeleton soldier.
The cursed sword Celia offered as a sacrifice.
Thanks to that cursed sword, I acquired a skill.
In the end, using the cursed sword and the skill, Maru had evolved to 4-star.
"Maybe I should form a skeleton squad?"
A unit made entirely of bony skeletons would be dedicated fully to housework.
Unlike ghouls or zombies that reeked of rot, they didn't need to eat or sleep.
Skeleton monsters were beings that could work 24/7 full throttle.
They were practically born for housework!
"Since it came up, I should bring one more."
Before upgrading the altar, I'd barely managed to summon 1-star skeleton soldiers.
But now the altar was level 2.
'Who should I bring?'
It didn't matter much since it was for housework anyway.
Soon, Maru and I would start properly running dungeons together.
I'd need someone to handle housework during that time.
"With the altar at level 2..."
Maybe I could summon a 2-star this time?
I grabbed my smartphone right away and launched the game.
I tapped repeatedly to skip unnecessary screens and entered the dungeon.
The moment Zone 1 appeared, I checked the skeletons first.
"Hm."
Humans are naturally greedy.
Looking at the monster list stirred up a bit of desire.
"2-star feels a bit lacking though?"
Maru was currently 4-star.
Not just 1-star, even 2-star felt a tad underwhelming.
Who knows.
Maybe even with altar level 2, I could snag a 3-star monster.
"Just to check."
I tapped the 3-star skeleton knight right away.
Then I ordered it to head to the altar at the dungeon's center.
I remembered trying to sacrifice Maru last time, but it turned into a summon instead.
Probably the same this time—sacrifice turning into summon.
The skeleton knight arrived at the altar quickly.
It'd be great if it worked, but the odds were low, so I brought along a 2-star skeleton swordsman too.
"Alright, wanna hop up on the altar?"
The moment I clicked the altar to offer the skeleton knight as sacrifice.
"?"
Celia suddenly appeared and shoved the skeleton aside, climbing onto the altar herself.
What the hell was this?
Why did Celia suddenly climb onto the altar?
"What's the point?"
Celia just stood there motionless on the altar.
I couldn't help tilting my head at the sight.
"Did the command glitch somehow?"
It's been working fine until now—why glitch all of a sudden?
Unlikely.
"Ah, is it rebelling?"
Did I do something to upset her?
I closed my eyes and thought hard.
Of course, one thing came to mind.
No, maybe more than one.
"Have I been working her too hard?"
Maybe I'd piled too much on Celia alone.
Such a feeling hit me.
Celia was in the total manager position.
She had to oversee not just this dungeon, but the four sub-dungeons under it too, to some extent.
She already had a ton on her plate, and manpower was short.
The solution was the lieutenant system.
"The real problem is the lieutenant."
Celia's current lieutenant was a worm-like monster.
Its name was Kkomul.
I had no idea what to use it for, and even if I shoved it into the lieutenant spot, it was useless.
A wriggling worm couldn't handle tasks.
It was purely for show.
In the end, it hadn't helped Celia at all.
"Hm..."
That realization made me feel a little guilty.
But I had an excuse.
Truth was, Kkomul had been the last pick in the lieutenant draw at the time.
The problem was the warning: rejecting even Kkomul would double the lieutenant draw cost from then on.
The current price was 10,000 gems.
Double would be a whopping 20,000.
5,000 gems cost 110,000 won, so that was no small sum.
Of course, with my current abilities, I could earn it quickly.
But I had to think about the future, not just now.
No guarantee such penalties wouldn't happen again, and the price might keep rising.
'Sorry Celia, but picking Kkomul was the right call.'
If something urgent came up or I needed a specific monster and had to reject, that'd be unavoidable.
But not now.
Celia made a sullen expression and stepped down from the altar.
"Guess I owe her something now."
Like a gift, for example.
But I had other business first.
"Let's start over for now."
The skeleton knight climbed onto the now-empty altar.
"......"
As expected, no dice.
Altar level 2 was nowhere near enough for a 3-star.
"Just how high does it need to be?"
I wasn't even hoping for 5- or 6-star.
If I could stably summon at least 4-stars, it'd be perfect.
And if I could open a dimensional gate for free passage, even better—but unlikely.
If it existed, it'd probably require a sky-high level anyway.
"Wait."
Then couldn't I just upgrade the altar level for real?
Come to think of it, I'd upgraded the dungeon core, and there should still be sacrifices left to absorb.
With that thought, I acted immediately.
A new window popped up before my eyes.
I activated the trait first.
But I couldn't select anything.
When I tried selecting an unavailable option, another window appeared explaining why.
Not enough sacrifices.
In the end, there were no immediate options for me.
"Tch."
Nothing to be done.
Moving on then.
The skeleton knight stepped down, and next the skeleton swordsman climbed up.
No, even this doesn't work?
"Huh..."
I hadn't expected even 2-star to fail.
This was really going nowhere.
I didn't agonize long.
Holding on wouldn't change the fact it didn't work.
Only 1-star left.
Since I'd focused on skeletons from the start, the choice was quick.
"Skeleton soldier it is."
The 1-star monster wielding a rusty sword.
This time, the skeleton soldier climbed onto the altar.
Still only 1-star summons for now, huh.
A shame, but there was one big gain.
'Monster Summon.'
Checking the system, I didn't need to drag monsters all the way to the altar anymore.
Just tap to bring up the summon menu.
It even showed the number summonable.
[Monster Summon] - (2/5)
Total summonable entities: five.
But right now, this wasn't for combat—just simple housework.
"No need to summon more for now."
Soon, intense light poured from the smartphone.
Having experience summoning Maru, I quickly set the phone on the floor.
Moments later, the light faded, and a skeleton soldier appeared atop the phone.
"Snap—!"
The moment it saw me, it bowed at a perfect right angle.
"......"
What to say.
The arch lich was like that, Maru too—these guys all had overly dramatic mannerisms.
'Is this an undead thing?'
But I couldn't complain.
It had just been summoned to Earth. Everything must feel bewildering.
Times like this called for a solid mentor.
"Maru."
Calling its name, Maru dashed into the room.
"Newbie here."
I introduced the skeleton soldier beside me to Maru.
"Anyway, it needs a name, right?"
It'd be living with us at home, so something to call it by.
"Hm."
This time, I pondered a bit longer.
Naming's always tricky, so I took care.
"How'd I name Maru again?"
Because it was like an obedient dog...
"Got it! From now on, your name is Coco."
A perfect name for the newbie popped into mind.
Maru and Coco.
They went great together.
"Maru, hand over the reins properly to Coco."
Maru saluted once, then led Coco out of the room.
Once Coco got up to speed on housework too, I'd really have nothing left to worry about.
"This is the life of a ruler."
I lay back on the bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling.
"Now I just need to focus on powering up."
Soon, I'd dive into dungeons with Maru.
One regret: Maru being 4-star.
B-rank hunter equivalent, but I wished it were a bit higher.
"Eh, happy problem anyway."
Crash—
Suddenly, the sound of a dish breaking came from beyond the door.
But I didn't worry much.
'That's how they learn.'
As I had that idle thought.
Ding—
An alarm rang.
What?
I looked at my smartphone immediately.
Special mission?
I tapped the screen right away.
Dispatch Maru (★★★★) to the dungeon 'Nest of the Evil God'.
🎁 Reward: Maru (★★★★) 5-Star Transcendence Ticket
⏰ Time Limit: 4 hours
"Dispatch?"
Skimming the details, it was a mission to dispatch Maru.
The issue was the destination.
"Nest of the Evil God... isn't that mine?"
It was the name of my owned dungeon.
Why send Maru there?
'Is it in some danger?'
But with Celia there, she'd block any ordinary intruder.
No need to worry.
"No clue whatsoever."
No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn't figure out why this mission popped up.
One thing was certain: the reward was amazing.
"If Maru hits 5-star, it'd be huge."
It'd be like having an A-rank hunter by my side 24/7.
The catch: sending Maru away.
Based on past dispatches, it wouldn't return right away.
"Gonna have to manage without Maru for a while?"
At least I'd brought Coco as a backup.
And I still had 4 hours until the special mission deadline.
Crash—
Another sound rang out.
Crash—
The crashes kept coming.
I jumped up and left the room immediately.
"Not the time for this."
I had urgent business now.
Train Coco with Maru over the next 4 hours!