50
Chapter 50
Dawn arrived while Jjokkomi and Ailee slept.
I played with the sleepless Baby Doll, taking moments to charge up my Spicy-Sweet Fist.
It was essential to keep it fully charged now.
Thanks to the Luck Domain, this skill had basically become my main weapon.
Well, there was no guarantee that luck would strike every time I used it like before.
Ah, for the record.
When I said main weapon, I only meant the Sweet Fist.
I didn't include the Spicy Fist.
Honestly, I considered the Spicy Fist pretty useless.
Setting aside the activation chance, it didn't work against anything Superior rank or higher.
Sweet Fist was ineffective against Rare rank or higher.
Spicy Fist was ineffective against Superior rank or higher.
In other words, Spicy Fist was a skill that only worked on Uncommon ranks or below.
On top of that, it only had one use available.
Realistically, it was safe to assume this skill would rarely be of any help to me.
And it wasn't like luck would unconditionally follow every time I used a skill.
Still, I charged it up anyway.
Maybe it would be useful someday.
One charge of Spicy Fist.
Three charges of Sweet Fist.
After finishing this full charge.
I gently set the Baby Doll aside and stood up.
"...!"
You wait right here for a bit.
After lightly patting the Baby Doll's head, I stepped out of the Portal alone for a moment.
There was no special reason for stepping out.
Since it was hard to keep track of time inside the Dungeon, I just came out to check if morning had arrived.
Outside, the morning sun had already risen.
After confirming the sunrise, I headed back into the Dungeon.
And right on cue.
I saw Jjokkomi, who had been in a deep sleep, opening her eyes.
"Kkuo......."
Kkomi-kkomi Jjokkomi.
Good morning.
***
Did she shed all her tears yesterday?
Today, Jjokkomi didn't cry.
That didn't mean she had recovered her energy, though.
Her previously energetic self had completely vanished.
"......"
Jjokkomi lay there, completely drained of life.
Ailee tried to offer various words of comfort from beside her, but Jjokkomi didn't react at all.
She just stayed flat on the floor.
Staring blankly ahead with empty eyes.
Her face looked as though she had lost all hope in life, like a patient given a terminal diagnosis.
Ailee eventually gave up trying to console her.
It seemed she decided that no words of comfort would work on Jjokkomi right now.
I thought the same.
It was best to just leave her alone for now.
Giving her time to gather her feelings on her own was the best we could do.
Surely she wouldn't make any drastic choices.
Mother Bear and Urami might have died, but it wasn't as if she had lost all her family.
I'm still here by Jjokkomi's side, aren't I?
I was also born from Mother Bear's womb.
In other words, I'm biologically her family.
So, she still had some hope left in her life.
Jjokkomi would realize that fact soon enough.
The fact that she still had family left by her side.
She was just too shocked and out of it right now, but once she calmed down a bit, she would notice me.
I decided to wait quietly until then.
"By the way, Bear Baby."
Ailee quietly approached and called out to me.
I lifted my head and met her eyes.
"You said you and that Flame Bear are blood relatives... wait, family, right?"
Nod, nod.
We have the same mother.
Though I don't know who our father is.
"I didn't know until now. Our Bear Baby was also born from a living creature."
The fact that a Doll was born from a living creature.
Ailee didn't find this strange at all.
It was only natural.
Because she had also given birth to the Baby Doll.
"Anyway, since you're the only family that Flame Bear has left, please take good care of her."
Bear nod, bear nod.
Don't you worry.
I was already planning to take special care of Jjokkomi from now on.
Ailee didn't ask me if I was okay.
Jjokkomi losing her family meant I had lost my family too, but she didn't mention anything about that.
She probably guessed it.
The reason why I was living alone in a secluded place.
The fact that I was abandoned by my mother.
***
Glug, glug.
While I was drinking blood from the jar to replenish my Mana.
Hop!
A rabbit hopped into the Dungeon.
"Uwoong!"
Tosuni, you're here.
You must have made it home safely yesterday.
"Uwoong, uwooong!"
After greeting me, Tosuni.
Ran straight to Jjokkomi and handed her the Carrot she had brought.
Jjokkomi, who had been lying there lifelessly, shot her head up and accepted the Carrot.
She didn't have much energy, but she still made sure to eat.
Jjokkomi even devoured all the monster meatballs we had moved into the Dungeon by herself.
Just like there are people who relieve stress by eating.
Jjokkomi seemed to have a tendency to relieve her depression by binge eating.
Because for a brief moment while eating, her vitality returned.
After seeing that, I made up my mind.
To hunt down lots of prey for Jjokkomi.
I would feed her until her belly burst to completely blow away her depression.
"Bear Baby, are you heading out to hunt now?"
As I was warming up in front of the Portal, Ailee came over and asked.
I nodded my head.
Then, I lightly tapped Ailee's leg and pointed at Jjokkomi.
"Huh? Ah, do you mean I shouldn't follow you and instead stay behind to protect the Flame Bear and Baby Doll?"
Bear nod, bear nod.
Are you a genius?
How did she understand that so accurately?
Ailee replied that she understood and called out to Tosuni behind her.
"Tosuni, Bear Baby says he's going out to hunt!"
"Uwoong? Uwoong!"
Tosuni got up from her spot and hopped over.
Calling Tosuni for me too, she's really incredibly perceptive.
Anyway.
Shall we go get some food now?
So we can make Jjokkomi's belly burst!
With that, Tosuni and I held hands and left the Dungeon.
***
Dangerous.
We had faced a truly very dangerous situation.
The moment we stepped out of the Portal.
Tosuni and I froze right in our tracks.
A distance of about ten steps away.
Two people standing tall and confronting us were the cause.
Their identities were Human.
A young Black Man with blonde hair and a sturdy build.
A small-framed White Old Man with white hair, holding a thick book in his hand.
Between those two.
The dangerous one was the Old Man.
[Human lv.85]
┗Pw.170 (+400)
┗Rnk.Uncommon
[Soul Weapon]
┗Pw.400 (+170)
┗Rnk.Unique
What on earth is that?
An individual level of 85?
And what's with that monstrous Soul Weapon?
Just what kind of power is contained in such an ordinary-looking book for it to be Unique rank with a power of 400?
He was a total monster.
To think there was a guy this strong among Humans.
Are those guys Monster Slayers too?
While gripping Tosuni's hand tightly.
I slowly backed away while observing the Old Man's appearance.
The Badge attached to his collar caught my eye.
It was a badge glowing with a purple light.
A Purple Badge.
Astral Slayer.
Aside from a Zero Slayer, it was the highest-ranking Slayer.
Why is a guy like that here!
I was about to lose my mind.
"■■■□ ■□□ □□■□■□?"
"■□■□■ ■■■ □■□□■."
The Old Man looked at us with a relaxed attitude, pointing at the Flag planted near the crushed Boxwood, and said something to the Black Human standing next to him.
Then he shifted his gaze again and stared at us.
What should I do?
Will we be able to run away?
No, my instincts were screaming at me.
That there was absolutely no way to escape that Old Man.
Even if we could run away.
We couldn't just abandon the Dungeon behind us and flee.
Because Ailee, Jjokkomi, and the Baby Doll were inside that Dungeon.
If we fought, we would definitely lose.
It wouldn't even be a fight to begin with.
It would just be a one-sided slaughter by that Old Man.
In that case, should I try approaching him with a friendly attitude?
Maybe he might be friendly... wait a minute.
Suddenly, I remembered what Ailee had told me through Interpretation yesterday.
The information about the ones who had attacked Jjokkomi.
Creatures that looked similar to Ailee.
Two of them, an old one and a young one.
Overwhelmingly strong opponents.
...Could those guys be the culprits who killed Mother Bear and Urami?
If so, acting friendly wouldn't do any good.
Because she said they had just launched a sudden attack out of nowhere.
There was no way they would be friendly to monsters like us who couldn't even communicate.
I'm sorry, Jjokkomi.
It looks like revenge is out of the question.
Because I'm probably going to die here today.
I didn't know the targets of revenge would be this strong.
But I'll still fight back to the bitter end before I die.
The moment I decided to stand and fight the Old Man, tossing aside any thought of abandoning everyone to run away.
"■□■."
The Old Man suddenly appeared right in front of my nose.
Wait, when did he get so close?
I didn't catch his movements at all.
It was as if he had used teleportation.
Squeeze-
The Old Man grabbed my head with one hand.
And hoisted me up like he was handling a toy.
"Uwoong, uwooong!!!"
Tosuni unleashed a barrage of attacks to rescue me, but she couldn't even leave a single scratch on the Old Man's body.
The Old Man didn't defend himself, let alone counterattack.
He just burst into laughter as if he found it ridiculous.
"■□■, □■□□ □■□■?"
While tightly gripping my head with one hand.
The Old Man pulled me close so we were face-to-face and said something.
Of course, I couldn't understand him.
Let go of me!
I flailed my short legs wildly in the air, trying to escape from the Old Man's grasp.
While I was struggling like that.
My left hand lightly tapped the Old Man's face.
[Spicy Fist has successfully activated.]
In that instant.
The life vanished from the Old Man's eyes.
His gaze, which had been glaring just a moment ago, instantly became empty.
Thump.
Soon after, the Old Man collapsed powerlessly.
...Huh.
I took him down.