Chapter 22: Maintenance and Preparation (3)
TL: Hanguk
"Sigh..."
The pork belly party was a success.
Though it was not the quality of pork raised in a farm like I used to eat, I selected the best parts, thinly sliced the meat, and tenderized it with a pork cutlet hammer bought from the shop, and grilled it. It tasted much better than expected.
The boar was surprisingly young, given its size.
The meat was neither tough nor did it have a gamey smell.
I expected wild boar to have a strong scent and to be somewhat tough, but it was a pleasant surprise.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, it was very delicious. Especially, did you say it was called Ssamjang? It goes really well with the meat."
Moreover, while visiting Gauido, I brought various seasonings, and that helped us enjoy the pork belly even more. Willia's satisfaction was very high.
Especially, the foreigner-level reaction that Willia showed after dipping the meat in ssamjang, seemed like it could get quite a number of views if uploaded to YouTube.
[Willia's favorability has increased by 2%.]
[Willia's favorability has reached 70%.]
'Good.'
Now there's really not much left.
When her favorability reaches 80%, I'll be able to recruit her as a companion, adding a healer and buffer to the party, which will greatly increase our combat capability and survival rate.
And there's another benefit to her favorability rising...
"By the way, I heard that a strange monster has appeared on the mainland."
"Oh, you mean the Elder Monster?"
"Elder Monster?"
"Yes, it's a boss-level monster that can act independently and command regular monsters as its minions. Isn't that what you're talking about?"
"That's right. So you call that monster an Elder Monster? We simply referred to it as a high-level monster."
As her favorability rises, I can get more information from her.
"Can you tell me about the Elder Monster?"
"Yes, I'll tell you as much as I know."
Now that her favorability reached 70%, instead of cutting me off with 'I can't answer that,' she tried to give the best answer she could within her ability.
Willia and I sat side by side, busily gnawing at the wild boar's bones, petting the Woof-woof's furry back, and chatting.
"As I mentioned earlier, Elder Monsters can act independently and command regular monsters as minions. But there is one more important characteristic."
"An important characteristic?"
"Regular monsters recognize each other as allies and don't attack each other. However, Elder Monsters have a concept of territory, and they recognize other Elder Monsters that enter their territory as enemies."
"So you mean that Elder Monsters can fight each other?"
"Yes, exactly. And in the process, if they kill another Elder Monster, they can absorb its power and become even stronger."
This was entirely new information.
I must inform my father about this.
"Is there a specific condition for an Elder Monster to spawn?"
"There is no clear rule, but they are more likely to appear in areas with many humans or monsters."
An uncertain answer.
Does that mean the appearance of Elder Monsters is largely random?
"What about the chances of them appearing on a deserted island like Wolgwang Island?"
"It's almost nonexistent, but it's not an absolute 0%."
An Elder Monster, with its uncertain nature, seemed like a rather frightening foe.
And the combat power of Elder Monsters varied, generally falling between levels 20 and 50.
However, since Elder Monsters can consume other Elder Monsters, they have a lot of growth potential.
"That's everything I know about Elder Monsters."
"Growing monsters sound terrifying."
Well, humans can grow too, so should I see it as not much different?
I grinned and took the opportunity to ask various questions since her favorability surpassed 70%.
Of course, this included questions about why the world had changed this way and about the entity operating the system.
Willia didn't know much about this, and she answered as follows:
"You all describe the laws that are leading the world's changes as the 'system,' right?"
"Yes."
"It's not a wrong expression. We understand it similarly. We call it 'the will of the world.'"
"The will of the world?"
"Thanks to the will of the world, I was born, and I was able to meet you, Baek-ho."
"Then, is it also the entity worshiped by this shrine?"
"Correct. We worship the will of the world, not someone with a physical form."
In the end, an NPC is not a resident from another world, but a being born from the system itself.
Neither she nor I know what lies behind the system.
But I already had the keyword to solve this curiosity...
"If you want to find the origin of the incident, and a solution, you just need to complete the main scenario."
"I see."
The main scenario piece that I obtained in Mongma's dungeon was it.
"If Baek-ho continues to become stronger as you are now, you will naturally come across the rest of the scenario fragments."
And Willia kindly told me what I needed to do.
"You might find Wolgwang Island suffocating due to its isolation, Baek-ho, but in my view, this place is the perfect spot for uninterrupted growth. Why don't you focus on leveling up for a while, without worrying about anything else?"
She was right.
That would be best.
I nodded in agreement to Willia's suggestion.
"Visit Mongma's dungeon again. It's probably changed a lot."
"Really?"
Mongma's dungeon has changed?
I tilted my head, and she smirked.
"And when you have some free time, I recommend exploring the northern region of Wolgwang Island."
What could possibly be there?
With her favorability at 70%, Willia was acting like a manager.
*
"Huh?"
I headed straight to Mongma's dungeon, as Willia had said.
Then an unexpected message appeared before my eyes.
[Would you like to enter Mongma's dungeon?]
- You can freely enter and exit cleared dungeons. - There are currently no named monsters or boss monsters inside. - Boss monsters will reappear one week after being defeated, and named monsters will reappear a day after being defeated.
The dungeon had abandoned its kidnapping approach and instead asked very politely if I wanted to enter.
"Oh wow."
It was an unexpected change, so I had to exclaim.
"Let's go in, Woof-woof."
- Awoo!
So when we went inside, it was no longer like last time when I was thrown into the middle of the dungeon; now we started at the entrance and could proceed step by step, exiting whenever needed.
It had become a typical dungeon.
‘Bosses and named monsters reappear after a set amount of time.’
I guess later on, when more people have adapted to the changed world, there might be fights over dungeon bosses.
Wasn't that the case in games with similar systems?
'So I have exclusive access to this dungeon?'
I chuckled and slowly explored the dungeon to see if anything else had changed.
It was a dungeon that had been quite a challenge to clear even just yesterday, but whether it was due to the experience of clearing it once or simply because Woof-woof and I had become stronger, we were able to advance smoothly.
"It only took 2 hours to complete one round of the dungeon..."
Even without the dungeon bosses and named monsters, the experience points and coins earned in those 2 hours were substantial.
I guess I'll be revisiting Mongma's dungeon frequently for a while.
'Plus, if I keep defeating the named and boss monsters as they appear, I'll gain big in item and skill farming.'
While repetitive hunting can be tedious, reality is not a game.
The ability to level up safely is a tremendous advantage in this crazy world.
Leveling up in Mongma's dungeon, exploring the northern part of Wolgwang Island that Willia wouldn't have suggested for no reason, plus handling matters in Gauido, it seems I'll be quite busy.
'Not to mention setting up the base camp on Wolgwang Island.'
***
Most of Gauido is made up of mountains.
The mountains are not small in scale, so the actual area where the villagers live doesn't even make up one-tenth of the island's area.
In that 10% of the land, only slimes appeared, making it look peaceful, but in the depths, where people don't tread, there are powerful monsters and unexpected abnormal terrains.
In the mountains surrounded by an almost right-angled coastal cliff on the south side of Gauido Island.
- Groan.
In the place where the Orc's territory is located, a muscular gray-skinned male appeared with light.
A long horn grew from the man's head. Anyone could tell he wasn't human...
"Where is this?"
From his mouth, fluent Korean language flowed.
Wearing baggy pants that resembled work clothes and no shirt, he glanced at his writhing upper body muscles and tilted his head.
"Who am I?"
But his confused look was brief.
"Yes, I am the Taker. I am the chosen being to rule over human territories."
As if he never showed a confused look, he stood upright with an arrogant expression and signaled the orcs, who were watching him nervously.
Then, as if possessed, the orcs rushed to him and bowed their heads in front of the grey man.
"From today, I am your master."
- Grunt!
One of the worst situations that Seo Baek-ho had ever imagined.
The moment an elder monster appeared in his territory.
*** [Status Window]
-Level: 30
-Title: None
-Stats
Strength: 16(+1) Agility: 17(+1) Magic: 11(+9)
Remaining Points: 0
-Coins possessed: 12,571
After enjoying the pork belly party with Willia, a day passed.
I finally reached level 30.
It took me about 2 hours to go to Gauido during the day to deliver greenhouse materials and train the youth group of four there, but aside from that time, I was in Mongma's dungeon all day.
Thanks to that, I was able to reach level 30 before sunset and meet the quota I had set for today.
"Hmm... It's best to be near the safe zone after all. There's a restroom and a bathhouse inside."
If I had reached level 30 a bit earlier, while the sun was still high, the rest of my schedule would have been exploring the northern part of Wolgwang Island.
But with the sun setting soon, I wandered around my activity area and soon stopped at a certain spot.
“Honeymoon house... Ah, no, a base. If I'm setting up a base, this place would be better.”
A place with the safe zone behind it and a wide ocean view ahead.
-Kuek! Kuk!
-Thud!
It might be uncomfortable to be adjacent to the orc's territory, but if I build a wall, I won't have to see them. So, it doesn't matter.
Above all, I have a safety tent, and I think there's no need to worry as the Orcs can be taken care by Woof-woof, just like now.
So, what am I doing now?
I'm looking for a place to build accommodations to stay with Willia.
‘If Willia becomes my companion, I have to provide her with a place to stay, right? Hmm.'
If she follows me, a new NPC will be assigned to the shrine.
Willia will no longer belong to the shrine.
That means she needs a new home, so I'm looking for a place with a good atmosphere, hence the reason for my current endeavor.
*****
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