Chapter 71

Aftermath and New Discoveries

As Jun-sang charged with the two iron balls, the supply unit monsters, demoralized by Bukail’s death, were quickly shattered, their bodily remains scattered across the road.

“Huuuh…” Jun-sang first recalled the injured wolves to heal them, then commanded the Water Spirit. “Morning Dew, cool me down.” Following the command, the Water Spirit slowly cooled Jun-sang’s body, which had been heated by the effects of Bukail’s flame magic. Though strange to compare, Jun-sang felt a thrilling sensation, as if he had been immersed in a hot bath and then plunged into a cold one, as Morning Dew cooled him down.

“Hmph…” Once his overheated body had somewhat cooled, Jun-sang finally brushed off the soot clinging to him, took out his cabinet, pulled out a new set of clothes, and put on his military boots. Only after all that was done did he begin to collect his spoils.

The first thing he picked up was Bukail’s long, sticky tongue.

“…” Bukail’s body had been utterly pulverized by a fully charged Heavy Blow, exploding into pieces, but this long, sticky tongue had been torn off before that, so it remained relatively unharmed. The problem was that Jun-sang’s Insight skill recognized this long, sticky tongue as an item. Feeling quite uneasy about it, he picked it up anyway and checked its information.

Item Info

Name: Bukail’s Tongue

Level Requirement: 10

Type: Weapon

Grade: Rare

Attack Power: 0-0

Effect: Applies a sticky saliva that very effectively heals wounds.

Seed: No slots

Description: Supply Captain Bukail’s whip-like long tongue. Effectiveness aside, being hit by this would probably feel quite unpleasant.

“…” Jun-sang silently stared at the bizarre item. Indeed, considering the remarkable healing power he had witnessed in the previous battle, there was no doubt about its effect. However, it was still a genuinely awkward item to just pull out and use. Jun-sang simply rolled it up and tossed it into his inventory, then immediately extracted a seed from Bukail’s head. The seed from Bukail’s head also emitted a rather vibrant aura, similar to Langdajal’s.

Item Info

Name: Toad’s Leisure

Level Requirement: 15

Type: Seed

Grade: Rare

Effect:

1. Physical Resistance +7%
2. Fire Resistance +8%
3. Regeneration Rate +10% Description: A special seed held by Supply Captain Bukail. Can be equipped into items or cards with Seed slots to enhance abilities. Separating an equipped seed requires the special ability ‘Separate’. [Click here to equip this seed to an item or card.]

“Just as I thought!” Jun-sang immediately emptied one of his Rampage (R) slots and equipped this seed. Only then did he check the messages blinking in his left vision. Jun-sang, confirming the level-up message at the very top, drew his reward: a random card.

Card Info

Name: Dual Storm

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Uncommon

Category: Skill

Growth: Normal (Large)

Attribute: None

Effect: Wields weapons in both hands and attacks with 110% power, spinning like a whirlwind.

Cost: 15

Seed: 2 slots

“Dual Storm, huh…” There was no need to check what kind of skill it was. It was clearly a skill that materialized from the movements he had made when ambushing the supply unit, or a similar type of skill. Jun-sang was thus able to confirm a hypothesis: although named “random cards,” the cards obtained as level-up rewards were one of the actions displayed during that level range, manifested in the form of a skill. Of course, this hypothesis alone couldn’t explain why other skills like magic or spirits appeared, but he could only guess that it might be related to the player’s attributes. While there was still a possibility of purely random selection, the appearance of a skill like Dual Storm strongly suggested at least some correlation.

Jun-sang then checked the title message that appeared next.

“I’m the Best of the Best…” It sounded vaguely familiar, but Jun-sang ignored it for now and moved on to the detailed information.

[I’m the Best of the Best]

Title granted to the first person to reach Level 20.

-Effect: Can acquire the special reward ‘Pouch Squirrel’.

-Would you like to acquire the special reward ‘Pouch Squirrel’ now? (Y/n)_

“Pouch Squirrel?” Curious, he pressed Y. Immediately, new messages began to pour in.

Congratulations!

You have acquired the special reward ‘Pouch Squirrel’.

:’Pouch Squirrel’ is a complex pet with two special skills.

-Special function ‘Pet Management’ is unlocked.

-Currently summonable pets: 1.

“A pet, huh…” What was the difference from a summoned creature? Jun-sang tilted his head and checked the next message.

Congratulations!

Special function ‘Pet Management’ is unlocked.

:A pet refers to a companion animal that a player can take with them.

-1 ‘Pet Collar’ is granted.

-Currently summonable pets: 1.

-Total summonable pets: 1.

1. Pouch Squirrel [Detailed Info]

-If you wish to summon a pet, press the corresponding number. If not, press n (1/n)_

Jun-sang first checked the detailed information of the Pouch Squirrel.

Pet Info

Name: [None]

Species: Pouch Squirrel

Level: 1Lv

Experience: 0

Grade: Rare

Category: Complex

Growth: Normal (Medium)

Attribute: Earth

Skills: Insight 1Lv, Storage 1Lv [Info]

Affection: 50

Loyalty: 50

Card Slots: 2 [Info]

Description: This cute squirrel with a pouch on its belly is a magically altered rare species, possessing the ability to recognize valuable items and an extradimensional pouch to store collected items. The pouch can fundamentally store items with a volume of 1 cubic meter, with no limit on the type or number of items that can be stored within the allowed volume.

“Oh!” He was already annoyed by having to painstakingly smash zombie heads to acquire seeds, but it seemed he wouldn’t have to anymore. Judging by the pouch’s size, large items like Langdajal’s Fury or Bloodsucker might be a stretch, but other armor and accessories would be easy to acquire and store. Jun-sang immediately summoned the Pouch Squirrel.

A small squirrel, emitting a white light like the wolves and wearing a tiny collar around its neck, appeared on Jun-sang’s shoulder. Jun-sang immediately commanded the squirrel. “Go on, collect the items.” The squirrel tilted its head, then leaped from his shoulder. As he watched, the squirrel simply tilted its head and hesitated near the head of one of Bukail’s subordinates.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang stroked his chin, pondering for a moment. He realized that while fallen items might be easy to pick up, acquiring seeds from inside a monster’s head still required smashing the head first.

“Hmm? Wait a minute…” Jun-sang, in his contemplation, suddenly noticed the “Card Slots” section in the Pouch Squirrel’s information window. Could it be… that unlike summoned creatures, pets could equip cards? Jun-sang pressed the “Info” button in the card slot section of the pet information. Two empty card slots immediately opened.

“Ohh…” Jun-sang looked at his unused cards. He had one of each of Bite, Double Strike, Rampage, Blood-soaked, and Heavy Blow cards remaining besides those used in combos. He also had a Thick Skin card that he had never used before. Jun-sang thought for a moment, then equipped the Rampage and Bite cards to the squirrel.

Suddenly, a red glow emanated from the squirrel’s eyes, and it began to gnaw mercilessly at the monster’s head with its front teeth.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

“…” The squirrel quickly gnawed through the monster’s skull and extracted a seed from the viscous brain matter, placing it into the pouch on its belly. It was… impressive, but also a little unsettling. It looked like something that would severely negatively impact the emotional development of a minor. Jun-sang listened to the bizarre sound of the squirrel gnawing on monster skulls as he checked the next message.

Congratulations!

You have acquired the item card ‘Pet Collar’.

:Tame your favorite animal and make it your pet.

-To forcibly make a pet, the animal’s HP must be below 10%.

-Monsters and Undead cannot be made into pets.

-If the animal has high affection for the user, it is possible to make it a pet with a certain probability, regardless of HP. However, in this case, it may be affected by your Luck stat.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang nodded. But he didn’t particularly feel like making anything a pet. With three wolves and now a squirrel, it already felt like a kingdom of animals, and he wondered if he needed to add more. He briefly considered if it was possible to make summoned animals like the wolves into pets, but then shook his head, thinking it wasn’t necessary at this point. It also felt a bit wasteful to use the newly acquired Pet Collar when he didn’t know what kind of special skills might emerge.

Jun-sang then checked the next message.

Congratulations!

You have acquired your first complex pet.

-In celebration of your achievement, you are granted the title ‘Happy to Be Two’.

[Click here for detailed title information.]

“Pfft…” Jun-sang gave a wry smile at the title. “Happy to Be Two…” It somehow felt like a sarcastic jab at himself, wandering alone in this unfamiliar world. But since he had acquired a new title, he needed to check its information.

[Happy to Be Two]

Title granted to the first person to acquire a complex pet.

-Effect: The number of simultaneously summonable pets increases by 1.

-The title’s effect is automatically applied upon acquisition.

“Simultaneous summoning, huh…” So, he could summon two pets at once now? Jun-sang finished checking the messages and rested, waiting for the squirrel to collect all the seeds.

Come to think of it… He only just realized that he hadn’t eaten dinner all this time. Jun-sang took out his cabinet, pulled out some emergency rations, and began to chew. And then he suddenly realized something. He had become so nonchalantly accustomed to eating amidst scattered monster blood and flesh.

“Heh…” After a while, the wolves finished recovering. Jun-sang threw them each another boar bone with plenty of meat. As he was resting, the Pouch Squirrel, its mouth smeared with blood and flesh, scurried towards Jun-sang. It was… oddly grotesque.

“Morning Dew, clean him.” Following Jun-sang’s command, the Water Spirit slowly cleaned the dirty squirrel’s body. Although its low grade meant it couldn’t gather large amounts of water, it was more than enough to clean this small squirrel.

“Alright, take them out.” The squirrel then spilled dozens of seeds from the pouch on its belly onto the ground. He had no idea how long it would take just to check all of them. Jun-sang roughly swept the seeds into his pouch and stored them in the cabinet. Then, he took a handful of roasted peanuts, which he kept as emergency rations, and offered them to the squirrel. The squirrel took them, put them in its pouch, then took them out one by one, holding them with its front paws and gnawing on them.

“Well then… shall we go again?” Jun-sang placed the squirrel on his shoulder and recalled the wolves. “Open Sprint.” And then, activating the Sprint skill, he ran along the dark mountain path towards the quest marker on his mini-map.

Meanwhile, as Jun-sang was running towards his final objective, the Humvee driven by Seo-yoon, carrying his companions, slowly climbed the rugged mountain path.

“Could we have taken the wrong path?” Se-ah said, as they had traveled quite a distance from where the hyena corpses were scattered, but saw no other traces.

“I wonder… I can’t really say much right now…” Seo-yoon, who had been answering with a somewhat sleepy expression, suddenly had his eyes flash brightly. “Just a moment.”

“…” At his tense voice, the three women dozing in the back snapped awake. Seo-yoon slowly drove the car, then stopped it in front of a spot where something resembling tattered rags was scattered everywhere.

“This is…”

“What is that?” Jung Da-bin asked with an uneasy expression, but Seo-yoon didn’t answer. He got out of the car, took out a flashlight, and examined the scattered remains.

“Huh…” These were human remains, quite old and decomposed. Based on his experience so far, it was reasonable to assume these were zombie remains. The problem was… all of it was shattered and scattered as if caught in an explosion. Seo-yoon swept the flashlight around.

“Incredible…” Cold sweat trickled down Seo-yoon’s back. Honestly, until now, he had believed that no matter how strong a human became with bare hands, he, who could freely wield firearms, could handle them. However, his confidence was now wavering before the countless traces of zombies spread out before his eyes. Was this truly possible for a human?

Seo-yoon returned to the car with a stern expression. He then spoke to the four women who were looking at him expectantly. “I’ll need to confirm more accurately after daybreak, but… it seems Jun-sang fought the zombies here.”

“Is Jun-sang nearby?” Heness asked urgently, but Seo-yoon shook his head. “I don’t know. But given that there are no more moving zombies or monsters, he might have already dealt with all of them and moved on.”

Then Seo-yoo-mi said, “What if… he’s injured and collapsed somewhere?”

Da-bin immediately responded, “I don’t know if it’ll work, but I’ll ask the spirits.”

“Is that possible?” Da-bin nodded at Seo-yoon’s question. “It would be hard to distinguish if there were many people, but just asking if there’s a person nearby should be possible.”

Se-ah immediately said, “Then please, Da-bin.”

“Yes, unnie.” Da-bin immediately asked the two wind spirits she controlled. “Guys, can you find if there’s anyone nearby?” The gentle breezes immediately spread out to search for human traces, but soon returned, informing Da-bin that there was no one.

“I’m sorry. It seems there’s no one nearby.”

“No, you’ve been a great help.” Seo-yoon immediately started the car again and began to move up the mountain path once more. The women, looking around with tense expressions, their faces hardening at the sight of scattered human limbs and other remains, were once again aghast at the endless continuation of such a landscape.

“Didn’t you say… he was alone?” Da-bin asked with a disgusted expression, and Se-ah nodded.

“I didn’t think it would be this much…” Heness was equally disgusted, but she soon clasped her hands together in silence, wishing for Jun-sang’s safety.

Meanwhile, as they were passing the zombie remains and approaching the supply unit’s corpses, Jun-sang, who had been sprinting continuously, finally caught sight of his remaining two quest objectives as a red moon rose overhead, casting an eerie light everywhere. They were General Karkash and Guard Captain Anyut.

“Hmm…” But there was a problem. It was the immense number of monsters gathered around them. Their numbers seemed fewer than the ten thousand zombies Jun-sang had just pulverized, but these were all properly armed troops. Literally, a real army. Jun-sang fell into thought as he watched the monsters, in their entrenched camp, resting for tomorrow’s advance.

The simplest approach would be to directly confront the enemy, but doing so against a large, organized army, not just instinct-driven zombies, would be literal suicide. Moreover, it was even more out of the question with General Karkash and Guard Captain Anyut still alive, whose abilities he did not yet fully understand. Ultimately, the only option left was to launch a silent surprise attack while the monsters were resting.

Jun-sang quietly waited for the monsters to fall asleep, wrapped in Grunwal’s cloak and in a state of invisibility. After some time passed, the noisy enemy camp began to fall silent. Only then did Jun-sang cautiously, silencing his footsteps, begin to walk towards the enemy camp.

Immediately, a sour smell assailed Jun-sang’s nose. The smell of something rotting. Jun-sang grimaced and silently surveyed the smaller tent among the two quest objectives. Facing Karkash and Anyut at the same time would be foolish. Therefore, he needed to target Anyut’s side first, where the security seemed somewhat lax.

As he moved with silent steps, one of the sleeping monsters suddenly raised its head and tilted it. Had it perhaps caught his scent? Jun-sang froze and waited for a moment. The monster sniffed for a bit, then tilted its head once more before lowering it again and going back to sleep.

“…” Jun-sang inwardly let out a sigh of relief and moved even more cautiously. It took him a considerable amount of time to finally arrive in front of the small tent, seemingly Anyut’s, located in the middle of the enemy camp.

“Huuuh…” Jun-sang took a shallow breath, took out the iron balls from his inventory, held them in both hands, and then checked his mini-map to gauge Anyut’s position. Although the tent wasn’t very large, he still needed to strike the enemy as precisely as possible to pulverize them with a single blow. Finally, feeling reasonably confident about Anyut’s location, Jun-sang slowly lowered his stance and gathered his strength.