IDWGT 11

Chapter 11

Thanks to this, Dark was able to carry out his mission perfectly without any particular difficulty. After the body slam, the dark spirits began to gang up on him.

“Good!”

I kicked off the rock and leaped up.

Even just before the greatsword I swung came down on their heads, the dark spirits hadn’t noticed my appearance, and they had to pay dearly for that.

Kwaaaaang!

Kyaa, kyaa!

Two dark spirits vanished with a single attack.

The remaining dark spirits cried out in surprise and tried to flee.

“Where do you think you’re going! Mad Tornado!”

[Skill ‘Mad Tornado’ has been activated.]

Mad Tornado swept straight through the fleeing dark spirits.

Though they were level 120 monsters, they were creatures that hadn’t been easy for me to catch. Among monsters, some of the more timid ones flee when they see a user with a higher level than themselves, and the dark spirits were one of those types. I had simply dealt with them with Dark’s help.

It was a fairly decent start.

“Well done, Dark.”

[Kuu? Kuu!]

Having found my rhythm, I raised the flattened Dark to his feet and immediately began hunting other creatures.

When monsters were gathered in groups like the first time, I used Pattern 1; when there was only one monster, I used a simultaneous joint attack; and when multiple monsters were scattered like now, I used Pattern 2.

“Dark, return!”

[Kuu!]

“This time it’s that one.”

[Kuu!]

Pattern 2 was a tactic that could be called the result of the previous day’s experiments—it could be seen as a kind of drive hunting.

First, I have Dark perform a body slam. Then I summon the dazed creature into the inventory and take him out again to charge at another monster.

This allowed me to keep using Dark, who would be spaced out after a single body slam.

And something I learned while experimenting: monsters hit by the body slam would direct their anger at me, their master, once Dark disappeared.

It was certain they’d been affected by a taunt skill—even monsters like the dark spirits, who by rights should flee the moment they saw me due to my level, were charging at me without looking around. As if they’d lost all fear.

Still, once they took a hit they’d snap out of it and scramble to run, but I wasn’t about to just let that happen.

“Farewell.”

Sseok-eok!

With one swing of the greatsword, the bandit statue monster that had been charging at me was split in two.

A few more charged in, but I wasn’t about to be flustered by the attacks of creatures whose levels were similar to mine.

And I held back on skills that would eat away at my durability. I didn’t want to increase unnecessary expenses by using skills against creatures like these.

Though I didn’t use skills, dealing with them was easy.

Having handled them, I summoned Dark, who was being beaten by another bandit statue on one side.

“Return.”

Then the bandit statue that had been attacking Dark came running at me on its own.

Summoning Dark at the right timing to blow one’s nose—that was the core of Pattern 2.

But there was one downside to this as well: if Dark and I were more than 30 meters apart, it was impossible to retrieve him into the inventory.

Which meant I needed to adjust things appropriately so the distance didn’t grow too great.

“How dare you!”

I diagonally slashed the bandit statue that was thrusting its sword at me without fear despite being only about level 130, using my greatsword.

To be precise, I smashed it.

Having simply dealt with the bandit statue again, my gaze turned back to Dark, whom I’d sent charging, and my brow furrowed slightly.

“Damn, I failed at distance control.”

There was Dark, surrounded by five bandit statues and being beaten, quite some distance away.

The thing was, retrieval wasn’t working, which meant the distance had exceeded 30 meters. I’d lost the timing while my attention was diverted for a moment.

Since it was still early in real combat, these kinds of minor mistakes happened often.

In times like this, I had no choice but to move myself.

“Dark, return…….”

No, wait!

I ran toward Dark, about to retrieve him, but then left him as he was and charged at the bandit statues.

And I dealt with the creatures one by one as they were enthusiastically ganging up on Dark.

Kwajik!

Having defeated the last one, I spoke to Dark, who was still lying flat as if dead.

“Phew, it’s over. I’ve handled them all, so you can get up now.”

[…Kuu.]

“W-what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Dark’s reaction as he reluctantly got up was unusual.

Since he was a Gigantes, there wasn’t really any change in his expression or gaze. Even so, I could read resentment in his eyes, and I felt a twinge of guilt.

‘Did he notice that I deliberately used him as a meat shield to save on equipment repair costs?’

I could have retrieved Dark midway.

But if I did that, the number of bandit statues I’d have to deal with simultaneously would become five.

Though they were level 130 monsters, if I didn’t use skills against five of them, there was a risk of my equipment getting damaged more than when using skills.

The best method was to keep Dark in the tank role and catch the monsters.

After all, Dark was a creature who’d be healed in no time even if he got a little hurt… It seemed he’d realized that I’d thought this and acted on it.

‘This guy, when it comes down to it, he’s surprisingly smart. I’ll need to be careful not to let him notice from now on.’

Repentance? It was true that I felt a little sorry, but what could I do? Reality is a gutter.

To escape the gutter, I needed to become more ruthless.

“Are you going to keep doing that?”

[…Kuu.]

I had something prepared for times like this.

“I was going to give you a new shield, but it seems you don’t want it.”

[Kuu? Kuu!]

At the words “new shield,” Dark, who had been dispirited, shot his head up as if he’d never been down.

Th-this guy, his eyes are definitely shining right now, aren’t they?

The only part of Dark’s body that wasn’t black—his red eyes—glittered.

Come to think of it, those eyes look like jewels; if I sold them… hem hem.

I took out from the inventory the shield I’d purchased in advance before hunting.

[Kuu kuu!]

Seeing it, Dark thrust both hands forward and shook them vigorously as if demanding it. It was rather like a squirrel.

He seemed to like the new shield.

Now, time to negotiate.

“I’ll give it to you if you promise never to show me that look from before again.”

[Kuu kuu!]

Negotiation complete!

Dark, having received the new shield, hopped around excitedly.

Watching Dark with a satisfied expression, I subtly slipped his old shield—now far from his attention—into the inventory.

‘This hyung-nim will dispose of this properly.’

Invest firmly where investment is needed, and save ruthlessly where saving is possible!

That was the way I lived.

And so I continued to build teamwork with Dark through hunting.

The various mistakes that had appeared at first decreased in number as our rhythm matched over time.

The funny thing was that Dark, from some point on, stopped trying to get away from me.

He’d apparently become more perceptive, because when hunting, he somehow knew not to let himself get more than 30 meters away from me.

When I subtly tried stepping away just in case, he’d notice like a ghost and scurry right back to my side.

This guy, he’s surprisingly clever.

When hunting, there was no need to distinguish between day and night.

I spent a full seven days with Dark on the Blazing Dark Land, and thanks to that, Dark was able to reach level 30.

In addition, having gained 2 levels, I was now completely knocked out.

“Huff, huff, I’m dying.”

Actually, the forced march of the past week itself hadn’t been that hard.

The problem was the heat. After seven days of proper sunlight, problems finally arose with my character.

[You have been afflicted with heatstroke.]

[You fall into an abnormal state for 6 hours.]

[As a penalty, all physical abilities are reduced by 30%.]

[If you do not rest, the penalty and penalty duration will increase.]

“Damn, to end up like this before even meeting the boss monster.”

Over the past seven days, I had taken Dark deep into the Blazing Dark Land.

Since I’d started hunting here anyway, it was to catch the boss monster of the Blazing Dark Land—the Statue of the Lonely Demon King.

The Demon King’s Statue was a boss monster around level 170; for one thing, it was higher level than me, and above all, it wasn’t an easy opponent.

I’d encountered it once in the past when my level was a bit short, so I knew its power better than anyone.

That said, I didn’t think catching it was impossible. My judgment was that if I made good use of my class characteristics, I could hunt it well enough even with a considerable level gap.

The problem, however, was that there was no sign of where this thing was hiding—not even a peep.

If you could catch a boss monster just because you wanted to, it wouldn’t be a boss monster.

Boss monsters mostly had random spawn locations and times, so I had no choice but to search without rest.

That was the reason I’d run such an intense hunt for the past seven days.

But in the end, the Demon King’s Statue never appeared.

Having searched for seven days without finding it, I had no choice but to set aside my regret and give up.

“Let’s rest a bit and then head back.”

[Kuu!]

Looking at Dark, I shook my head.

Unlike me, staggering, he was perfectly fine. Enough to make me jealous.

I found a place that was at least a little cool thanks to the shade and lay down.

After lying still like that for a while, I felt hungry.

I took out the jerky I’d put in the inventory, bit into it, and spoke to Dark, who was running around under the blazing sun.

“Chomp chomp, must be nice for you. You don’t suffer from the heat. Come to think of it, you don’t even eat.”

[Kuu kuu!]

“Kuu kuu, what do you mean. Just looking at you makes me hot, so come lie down here too. We’ll rest a bit and then head back.”

[Kuu!]

No sooner had I finished speaking than Dark ran to my side and lay down.

“Ow, hot.”

I hadn’t even touched him, but I could feel scorching heat radiating from Dark’s body. It was amazing he was fine like this.

‘Seeing how he’s perfectly fine after a week of all-night forced marches, I have to give him credit for stamina at least.’

Physical things recover quickly since it’s a game, but mental exhaustion from overdoing hunts was no joke.

I was more mentally drained than anything.

‘If only he had a bit more combat ability, he’d be perfect. That’s the shame.’

He carried out my words without complaint, so there was no better partner.

Thanks to diligently building our rhythm over the past seven days, I’d regained a bit of the hope I’d lost.

Lying there watching Dark, who had placed both hands neatly on his belly, I found myself drifting off to sleep before I knew it.

How long had it been since I’d felt such comfort?

While I was resting my tired body, the ground suddenly began to rumble.

Kuwung! Kuwung! Kuwung!

Wondering if I’d misheard in my sleep, I tried to sleep a bit more—then my eyes flew open.

The sound was getting closer.

“Dark, wake up.”

Shake shake.

[Kuu… kuu…….]

‘What, was this guy asleep too? But do Gigantes even sleep?’

Setting aside that question, I woke Dark and raised him up.

[Kuu?]

“We might have to fight, so stay ready.”

[Kuu!]

Having put Dark on combat standby, I put my ear to the ground.

Thump! Thump!

‘Those are definitely footsteps. Getting closer… damn, shit!’

“Dark, dodge!”