🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 68
Side Effects
The proposal for a companion spirit was rejected.
“…Hmm.”
So what should I propose now?
【You idiot. Make me your friend! I’ll be your friend!】
Oh.
“Alright, Frill. You—be my friend!”
【Really… Ugh, that’s so cringy it gives me goosebumps!】
It seemed the idea of a ‘companion spirit’ carried a different kind of aversion for her.
So, I succeeded in forming a guardian contract with Frill using the keyword ‘friend.’
[‘Frill’ has agreed to the Guardian Contract!]
[‘Frill’ has been appointed as a Guardian.]
[You can apply 30% of the user’s stats to ‘Frill.’]
[Would you like to apply them?]
“Apply.”
[Magic stat 3,234 has been applied to ‘Frill.’]
[Due to ‘Frill’s racial traits, physical stats cannot be applied.]
[The relevant stats are converted into magic and applied.]
[Magic stat 11,541 has been additionally applied to ‘Frill.’]
With the contract finalized, Frill was now linked to me through a strong bond.
Through it, magic power could be shared.
Now, Frill could use magic freely without worrying about her mana, just like Yuseol-ah.
【Ugh… I can’t believe I’m making friends with a human again.】
Amidst this, Frill muttered softly.
Curious, I asked,
“Again?”
‘Again’ meant this had happened before.
I might even hear about Frill’s past.
【Nothing to know. Don’t change your mind now. If you treat me as a guardian later, I’ll die, got it?】
“…….”
Frill still didn’t seem willing to tell me about her past.
Her words were harsh as ever.
Anyway.
“You die instead of being killed?”
【Yeah. Killing me wouldn’t work anyway. From the moment you first contracted with me.】
“I see.”
I nodded, thinking.
‘I could stop that if I wanted…’
Even preventing Frill from killing herself could be done if it were considered an act of betrayal.
A Guardian contract meant she couldn’t betray me.
But I didn’t force it.
‘I have no intention of doing that.’
The contract was out of necessity, but I never intended to coerce my Guardians.
In the long run, forcing them would only reduce efficiency, and I had confidence I could guide them in the direction I wanted without that.
And.
‘Frill. You understand my intentions, right?’
【Yes.】
Frill, able to read my will, knew what I was thinking.
That was why she trusted me and agreed to the contract.
Anyway.
“Ice Storm! Ice Storm! Ice Spear!”
【With this much mana… Frozen Strike!】
Kukwakakakak──!
“Ah, Frill unnie! Teach me that too!”
【Alright. But this consumes a lot of mana… Ah, Seol-ah, you got caught too, huh?】
So, the two ice mages began blocking the waves of monsters, each covering a different direction.
I also sliced through the monsters like tofu, thinking.
‘I was lucky.’
I gained two Guardians.
And it went very smoothly.
‘Thanks to the monster wave.’
Without this unusual situation, it would’ve been difficult to persuade Yuseol-ah, let alone Frill.
‘…Or maybe? If I had just let Frill teach me magic, would she have agreed?’
That thought briefly crossed my mind.
I looked at Yuseol-ah.
She was using magic diligently, blocking monsters.
Her magic had become more refined—perhaps she learned something from Frill while I wasn’t around.
‘Still hard to read her thoughts.’
Yuseol-ah clearly had her own goals and intentions.
She just didn’t show them.
And I, naturally, didn’t trust people until I understood them.
It made sense.
Who knew when they might betray you?
‘But now, that doesn’t matter.’
Once a Guardian contract is formed, such concerns no longer matter.
She simply cannot betray me.
“Both of you are okay?”
“Yes!”
【I’m fine too!】
By now, the defense had stabilized.
Fortunately, the monsters didn’t grow stronger.
The difficulty was simply facing the endless waves of monsters without rest.
“Is it over?”
“Phew. Seems like it.”
After a long while, we finally cleared the waves of monsters.
We rested amidst countless monster corpses.
“If only their byproducts were worth something… could have been huge.”
Monsters in this ‘Burning Land’ had no valuable byproducts.
Sure, magic stones alone were profitable, but unlike Yetis in the Snow Mountain Cave, their blood and hides couldn’t be used.
Seeing thousands of corpses naturally made me think this.
“But collecting all these magic stones will be a task. Master, do you have space in the Aether Storage?”
“That should be fine. I obtained a large one this time.”
Even though moving this many corpses is a task, it wasn’t a problem for me.
I had the Dragon Rare.
It could store over a thousand corpses at once, so magic stones were nothing.
By the way.
“What’s with that title?”
“Huh? Why, Master?”
“……”
Yuseol-ah had started calling me strangely.
“Huh? Yeah… Mas…ter? Why is this happening? Feels like I have to call you this.”
Frill interpreted the situation.
【It’s a side effect of the Guardian contract.】
“Side effect?”
【We’re now in a position subordinated to them, right?】
“That’s right…?”
【So, we can’t help but address you respectfully.】
Yuseol-ah nodded, then widened her eyes.
“But you don’t call me Master?”
【For me, I overcome such side effects with willpower.】
“Then me too! Y-Yujin… Master! …Nope.”
Yuseol-ah looked dejected.
Her mental strength wasn’t enough to overcome the compulsion.
【Still, it seems she has no intention of using this for mischief, so it’s fine.】
Frill glanced at me and added.
“By the way, Frill, you seem to have changed a bit since the contract?”
A bit sharper, more prickly.
【If I don’t, I can’t control my emotions well. You’ll have to put up with this.】
“…Contracts do have side effects.”
The side effects of the Guardian contract.
In short, they increased her affection for me and made her address me respectfully.
Honestly, I lost nothing in this arrangement.
However…
“Seol-ah.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Let’s change the title. I don’t want anyone seeing this.”
If someone outside sees Yuseol-ah calling me ‘Master,’ it won’t look good.
“What should I call you?”
“Just Yujin is best.”
“Yes. Yujin… Master!”
“……”
“Ah.”
Yuseol-ah smiled sheepishly.
“Nope.”
A funny power—doesn’t even work when the Master allows it?
“We need to resolve this before leaving the dungeon. Hmm.”
“Master. Captain. Party Leader… Oh! It seems okay to address higher titles!”
Yuseol-ah tried a few things and got the idea.
Then.
“You want a normal title, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then… Oppa?”
“?”
“Isn’t that normal enough?”
“Not really.”
Even this title had problems—it made us seem too close.
“Practice until we leave the dungeon.”
“With what?”
“Yujin.”
“Ah… I’ll try.”
‘씨’ is definitely the safest title.
Although Yuseol-ah and I are closely linked by the Guardian contract, it’s more practical not to reveal that publicly.
With the title problem settled,
“Shall we get to work?”
“Work?”
“I told you before, right? How to harvest magic stones.”
“…Ah!”
“You should have enough mana now. Use magic to harvest them.”
Yuseol-ah opened her mouth wide in surprise.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I can’t dismantle over a thousand monsters alone, after all.
Dungeon: Burning Land
A dungeon purchased by the Hunter Management Bureau for the 5-star hunter qualification exam, where Yujin and her party are currently inside.
And…
“This is bad. I can’t see the candidates.”
The evaluator, Hunter Kim Jin-nam, was also isolated here.
Of course, it wasn’t immediately dangerous.
Swoosh—
Kim Jin-nam was a 6-star Hunter.
This 5-star dungeon wasn’t enough to make him feel significant danger.
“My body isn’t what it used to be.”
He couldn’t perform at peak physical ability in old age, but he was still an outstanding Hunter.
“I hope everyone’s safe… suddenly, what is happening… Hmph!”
Slash!
Splat.
He muttered as he cut a lava worm that had sprung from the molten ground.
The immediate problem wasn’t his survival.
It was his role as an evaluator.
To ensure candidates’ safety in case of accidents within the dungeon.
And this 5-star fire dungeon was clearly abnormal.
“Hunters! Are you there? Answer if you hear me!”
No answer.
In fact, shouting wasn’t necessary.
The dungeon was originally flat with good visibility.
But a sudden geomorphic upheaval complicated the layout, making it hard to see.
Most importantly, the evaluator and candidates were isolated.
Now, if anything happened to them, he couldn’t help.
“They’re skilled enough to survive… but still.”
Fortunately, the monsters didn’t grow significantly stronger.
Though their numbers increased slightly, the party could handle them.
Still, a dungeon is unpredictable, and he couldn’t relax.
Veteran Hunter Kim Jin-nam knew this well.
“Hunter Kim Yujin! Hunter Choi Hyuk-soo!”
He shouted the names of the examinees, hoping nothing went wrong.
This did attract some monster attention, but it was manageable.
“Hunter Yuseol-ah! Han Jun-pyeong—”
Then.
“…!”
A looming ominous presence.
Feeling danger, Kim Jin-nam pushed off the ground and stepped back.
Flap!
Something unknown flew toward him and embedded itself.
‘That was close!’
Just 0.5 seconds ago, it hit the exact spot where he had been standing.
The ground melted where it struck.
If the solid ground that could withstand lava melted, one could imagine what would happen to a human.
‘A 5-star dungeon with such a monster…?’
His curiosity was short-lived.
He recalled a famous saying:
“In the gate, trust nothing.”
Whether it should exist or not didn’t matter.
The wise thing was to find a way to respond.
He quickly scanned his surroundings.
Then.
“What… is that!?”
In the corner of his vision, top right.
A faint burning figure appeared.
‘Was there such a monster?’
It was a creature he had never seen before.
If one had to describe it…
‘A collective of ghosts surrounded by hellfire?’
Probably something like that.
And.
Kkikkikaka—
The monster laughed eerily and shot something at him again.
Sssheeeek─!
Kim Jin-nam generated an aura blade to deflect it.
Clang!
“Di-… Damn it…!”
The object he thought he could easily block was tougher than expected.
Enough to resist the blade’s cutting power.
Then.
Kkka! Kka! Kki!
The monster began splitting.
What looked like a collective of ghosts separated into individual ghosts.
“Kuh…!”
Kim Jin-nam gritted his teeth, preparing for the next attacks.
The separated ghosts unleashed attacks from multiple directions.
Clang! Bang! Clang!
He swung his aura blade frantically to block them.
But.
Pffft!
“Kuh! Gahh!”
There were too many attacks, coming from all directions, each extremely powerful.
His body was battered in an instant.
And.
“…Kuhhaaaah!”
He screamed.
Pain engulfed him like his body was on fire.
‘What… such a monster in a 5-star dungeon…!’
With that thought.
─Thud.
The elderly 6-star Hunter Kim Jin-nam had died.
The monster that claimed his life merged back into a single mass.
Kkikkikkikka—
The monster, the Hellfire Maw, that had laughed mockingly, then…
Kkka─?
Beneath a ground fissure.
It began descending underground.
Kkikkikkikki─
Toward where Yujin and her party were.
