Chapter 106: The Secret of Forlas Plateau (1)
“All done now. There’s n.o.body here now, so you can gather at ease.”
“Yep, okay!”
After killing a couple of large lv 120 yetis, Ian let Bbookbbook down from his back.
There was no large-scale battle, but as they had been moving constantly without rest, they were quite exhausted.
“Bbookbbook, shall we also rest a bit?”
Bb.o.o.bbook-!
As Ian let him down on the ground, Bbookbbook, who had come out of his sh.e.l.l, ran around before he began moving towards some place.
Different from an exhausted Ian, it looked as if Bbookbbook, who had been in his sh.e.l.l the whole time, was full of energy.
Harin, who saw that, wore a worried expression as she asked Ian.
“Jinsung, is it alright for Bbookbbook to run around freely like that? Won’t it be dangerous?”
At her words, Ian shook his head and smiled.
“No, it’s not dangerous at all. Even if he gets. .h.i.t all day by monsters here, only half of his Vitality will probably be gone.”
“Huuuh? How?”
“Bbookbbook’s stats are all piled up on his Defensive Power. It’s hard to deal even 10 damage with a decent attack.”
“I see, Bbookbbook is amazing.”
It seemed he had heard Harin’s words saying he was amazing, as Bbookbbook let out an energetic, witty reply.
Bbook- Bb.o.o.bbook-!
While seeing that, Ian burst out laughing.
“Bbookbbook, if you find a monster while playing around, just go hide well like you usually do. Understood?”
Bbook-!
After Bbookbbook nodded his head energetically, he disappeared off to somewhere.
During break time while hunting, etc., Ian let Bbookbbook run free like this.
Whether Bbookbbook’s sense of smell was amazing or if he had some sort of special secret, either way, he had a special ability that allowed him to find rare gathering ingredients, minerals, etc.
Because of that, Ian positively encouraged his slacking(?).
If Bbookbbook was to meet a monster while energetically running around and received damage, a system message would alert Ian, so he just needed to move to find him then.
Harin, who was watching Bbookbbook’s form that was getting farther away momentarily, turned her attention towards Jinsung and opened her mouth.
“But Jinsung.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m just curious, but why do you not give Bbookbbook a lot of meatb.a.l.l.s? Is there a specific reason?”
Whenever she saw cute Bbookbbook’s sullen face because he couldn’t eat more meatb.a.l.l.s, Harin’s heart hurt, so she was really curious of Ian’s intentions.
“That…”
As Ian momentarily hesitated, Harin pressed him on.
“What is it, tell me. Or by any chance…?”
“By any chance what?”
“It’s not because you have no reason except that it’s fun to bother Bbookbbook or something like that, right?”
At those words, Ian slightly flinched.
‘That isn’t the reason, but for some reason, it stings a little…’
Because it was the truth that his mood brightened whenever he saw Bbookbbook act cutely in order to eat one more meatball.
However, the true reason was different.
“No way. Do you know how much I like Bbookbbook for me to do such a thing?”
“That’s right, right?”
Harin, who was relieved(?) that Ian didn’t have a personality disorder, asked again with an expression as if she was truly curious.
“Then why are you like that?”
“That… At first, since I couldn’t get meatb.a.l.l.s from you often, so it was to save them…”
Ian, who paused for a moment to take a breath, continued.
“But as this one ate a lot of meatb.a.l.l.s, Bbookbbook slowly started to gain weight.”
At the unexpected response, Harin wore a slightly sour expression.
“Huh? Then, were you doing that because you were really worried that Bbookbbook would become an obese turtle? I think that even if Bbookbbook was to gain a little weight, he would be come a little rounder and cuter.”
Ian shook his head.
“No, it’s not that. Since he gained a little weight, he was too heavy to go around with him on my back…”
“…”
While looking at Ian, who responded embarra.s.sedly, Harin became speechless.
Ian’s excuses continued.
“Bbookbbook needs to be light in order for me to be able to move a little more quickly even in battle. It’s not like Bbookbbook’s weight is related to his Defensive Power anyways…”
Harin, who found out about the truth anyways, wore an awkward smile as she nodded her head.
“If it’s for that reason, then, well, there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Harin, for some odd reason, felt more pitiful towards Bbookbbook.
‘Because he met a hunting-addicted owner, our poor Bbookbbook can’t even eat a lot of meatb.a.l.l.s…’
Harin, who solved her curiosity anyways, stood up from her spot and began to gather all of the cooking ingredients that were in the vicinity.
It definitely seemed because it was a high-level hunting ground that only top-level users could hunt at, as she was able to gather a lot of high-cla.s.s cooking ingredients, so she wore a satisfied expression.
Had about 20 minutes pa.s.sed like that?
Ian, who sat on top of a rock, suddenly stood up and called Harin.
“Harin. Are you done gathering?”
“No, there’s still a little left.”
“Hmm… Just leave the ones remaining for now and let’s move.”
At Ian’s words, Harin, who wondered if monsters had at least appeared and looked around, wore a confused expression.
This was because she couldn’t see anything nearby.
“Why? Did something urgent suddenly come up?”
Ian scratched the back of his head as he responded.
“It’s not really something urgent, but it seems that Bbookbbook met some monsters. I wanted to go over there and help him.”
At those words, Harin flung away the ingredients she was gathering and immediately stood up.
“Ah, then we must go.”
Ian, who thought that somehow, Harin instead cherished Bbookbbook more than he, the owner, did, wore an awkward expression and moved his feet.
He even slightly felt the pangs of his conscience.
* * *
The place that the two people had arrived at was a snowy field where Bbookbbook, who had cast Sh.e.l.l Expansion, was in the middle of it, and surrounding him, a couple of giant yetis were roaming around.
“Over there, there’s Bbookbbook. But a really dangerous situation isn’t happening.”
At Harin’s words, Ian nodded his head.
“I told you. That there would be no reason for Bbookbbook to be in danger.”
Far from a dangerous situation, Bbookbbook didn’t even grab the attention of the monsters.
Bbookbbook was basically receiving the same treatment as a geographic feature.
The reason for that was none other than because of the ‘Sh.e.l.l Expansion’ skill.
It was because of one of the additional effects of the Sh.e.l.l Expansion skill,
** For the duration of Sh.e.l.l Expansion, you will be recognized as an inanimate object.
That the monsters didn’t recognize him as an opponent.
That was one of the reasons why Bbookbbook was able to properly take on the role of a reconnaissance agent.
Ian, who had checked all of the levels of the yetis, momentarily thought of an effective strategy in order to fight properly.
“Hmm… If it’s about four of them, it’s a little dangerous to gather them all at once and hunt them.”
Firstly, Ian firmly warned Harin to be careful.
“Harin, I’ll say it again, but use all of your buffs and heals just on yourself, alright?”
Harin had already allowed herself to be properly hit by a yeti.
After seeing over half of her max Vitality disappear from one hit, she was already well-aware.
“Yep, got it. Don’t worry. I’ll keep my s.h.i.+eld up constantly, so I won’t be able to die easily. I don’t know what you take me for, but I am a Priest.”
Ian grinned as he responded.
“Yeah, alright. Be careful.”
Ian, who finished speaking, moved towards the yeti with his Familiars.
And he slowly started to catch the ones that were the most isolated from the rest first.
Because yetis had outrageously high Health, outstanding Offensive Power, as well as a Health regeneration skill, although it wasn’t as good as a troll’s, they were amongst the fussy monsters to hunt.
They were monsters that instantly recovered the Vitality that you’ve cut down with difficulty if your hands and feet were momentarily tied and you hesitated, allowing them time to recover.
On top of that, as they were over an outrageous lv 120, the danger burden was too big for Ian to do group hunting, which was even his forte.
Ian’s strategy for hunting yetis was to use Smash, the Inherent Ability of Halli, whose reflexes were maximized, and with short, single hits, he stuns them and focuses damage as much as possible for that duration to kill them one by one.
Because his Griffin, which was now over lv 100, was beginning to reveal an appearance that was expected of a Legendary-rank Familiar, Ian’s party boasted an incredible firepower.
Thud-.
• You have killed the ‘Glacial Yeti’. You have obtained 128,500 EXP.
• You have obtained 3845 gold from the ‘Glacial Yeti’.
• You have obtained the ‘Thick Yeti’s Pelt’.
The reward that was obtained from an over lv 120 yeti was quite savoury as well.
Ian wore a pleased expression as he mumbled inwardly.
‘The current market price for gold isn’t as high as before, but it’s still about 5 thousand Won[1] for each yeti.’
As Ian had put all his focus on raising his level and played accordingly up until now, he always spent his money lavishly on the highest-grade equipment.
It seemed because of that, compared to the money he earned, there wasn’t much he had saved up.
‘I need to slowly start saving up money again as well.’
Ian diligently hunted the yetis with the thought that he could make enough money for a day’s worth of meals if he killed all of the yetis in front of him.
On top of that, there was something he wanted to buy recently as well.
‘Once this term is over, I should also change my capsule to a new model.’
His heart was sold on the new capsule that was recently released from LB Corporations that he saw on an advertis.e.m.e.nt on TV while eating.
Of course, it was possible to control the temperature inside of the capsule even if you didn’t turn on the AC or the heater in the room, and as you could even control the humidity and create the most optimal gaming environment, the new capsule was the dream for Kailan users.
On top of that, they said that they had succeeded in increasing the synchronization of the VR aspect by a whopping 2%, it was impossible for Ian to not want it.
2% Synchronization may not be considered much in other people’s eyes, but for Ian, who obsessed over each and every numerical value, he felt he was at a loss for some odd reason.
It somehow felt like his leveling-up speed would be 2% slower than users that used the new capsule.
“Whew, I caught all of them.”
It had been a while since he had such miscellaneous thoughts, but still, Ian had wiped the yetis and succeeded in rescuing Bbookbbook, and had approached Bbookbbook, who still had no intentions of coming out of his sh.e.l.l.
Knock-knock-.
“Is Mr. Bbookbbook here by any chance?”
At Ian’s knock Bbookbbook poked out his head from his sh.e.l.l.
Bbookbbook-!
And Ian turned his back towards Bbookbbook.
“Alright, get on my back now. So we can hunt those guys down there as well.”
However, for some reason, Bbookbbook shook his head and started to walk towards somewhere.
Bbook- Bbookbbook-!
“Hmm…?”
And because Bbookbbook always discovered something whenever he moved like this, Ian began to follow Bbookbbook with antic.i.p.ation.
“Harin, you come this way, too.”
Harin, who was hiding herself in a slightly more secluded spot, quickly stood next to Ian, and followed behind Bbookbbook.
“Jinsung, where is he going right now?”
At Harin’s question, Ian shrugged his shoulders.
“That I don’t know either.”
“Then why are we following him?”
“Bbookbbook sometimes finds rare medicinal herbs or stuff like items. I think he’s found something right now as well, so I’m just following him.”
“Ah…”
Had they had moved like that for about 5 minutes?
The place that Bbookbbook had stopped and stood in a valley where an incredibly high and grand cliff that was endless was spread in front of them.
And in the middle of that cliff, Ian discovered something.
“Oh, there’s a cave there. Bbookbbook, is that where you want to go?”
At Ian’s question, Bbookbbook nodded his head without hesitation.
Bbook-!
Even at a glance, it looked like a cave that had something to it.
And Ian’s sixth sense was telling him that he would be able to find something special inside there.
However, there was a problem.
“But, how do we get up there?”
Just like Harin’s question, the cave was kind of in the middle of the high cliff. It was a height that couldn’t be reached by just a normal method.
However, there was a way for Ian.
“We just need to ride Pin and go up. Wait one moment.”
Firstly, after calling Pin, Ian slowly got onto his back.
The upper half of Pin was an eagle, but his body had the form of a lion.
Because of that, if they were to move carefully, it was possible enough to ride Pin and move.
Of course, Ian couldn’t ride Pin as he pleased like he could with Ly yet, but a short distance like this wasn’t hard.
Ian, who had gotten on Pin, called for Harin.
“Harin, you come here, too.”
“Huh? You want me to get on with you?”
“Yeah.”
Harin asked again carefully.
“Wo, won’t it be too heavy?”
This time, instead of Ian, Pin nodded his head and responded.
Kku-ruk- Kku-ruk-.
He meant for her to have no worries.
Harin, who had received Pin’s consent, carefully sat in front of Ian, and Ian’s arm wrapped around her waist as he hugged her. Taken aback for a moment, Harin’s pale face had flushed a bright red.
‘Huh, huh?’
This was because she had no idea that her relations.h.i.+p with Ian, whom she hadn’t even held hands with yet, would progress(?) so suddenly like this.
However, on the other hand, Ian wore an expression that showed little thought.
“Pin, take us there slowly.”
Kku-ru-ruk-!
Pin, who had Harin and Ian on his back, slowly flew up towards the cave in the cliff with careful wing movements.
And as Pin’s wings started to flap, Harin grasped tightly onto Ian’s hand before she even realized it.
Shortly after, Harin, who had become familiar with holding her balance, laughed as she slightly turned her head and looked at Ian.
‘Hehe, this is actually quite nice. I should ask him to give me a ride again next time.’
Of course, she had no intentions of being able to ride(?) him alone, it was always with Ian.
Meanwhile, Ian closely studied Pin’s movements as he contemplated internally.
‘I should also practice riding Pin a bit more… If I could definitely ride him freely like with Ly, it will truly be of help in battle.’
After Pin reached over lv 80, Ian tried riding on Pin’s back every now and then.
This was because, starting from lv 80, he had grown to a size big enough to carry around Ian. However, as expected, in comparison to Ly, a ground monster, it took much longer to adjust.
Before long, Pin arrived at the destination, the cave of the cliff.
Kku-ruk-!
“Harin, get off slowly.”
As they arrived in front of the cave, Ian held onto Harin’s hand so she could get off easily.
“Heave-ho.”
And the two people, who had gotten off Pin’s back, slowly started heading towards the inside of the cave.
As they did so, as if it was waiting, a system message rang out.
Ring-
• You have become the very first discoverer of this dungeon.
• For the next 5 days, all the EXP you obtain from the dungeon will double.
• For the next 5 days, the chance of obtaining items from the dungeon will double.
It was an obvious that the corners of Ian’s mouth hung from his ears.
[1] 5 thousand Won = ~$4.43 USD