【Waaaaah! Did he tame the imugi?】

【No, look at its eyes. It’s totally glaring at him.】

【Still, it doesn’t seem to think of him as an enemy, right?】

【Its grade is too high to be tamed right away, I guess.】

Even so, it showed no signs of charging at Seo Kangrim to kill him like it had moments ago.

Seo Kangrim made a hand signal suggesting they head upward.

As he began swimming toward the surface, the imugi reluctantly followed behind him.

“Puhat!”

The moment Seo Kangrim emerged from the water, he took a deep breath.

The air above the surface filled his lungs.

Even if breathing underwater was manageable, the open air was far more refreshing.

Yoon Bom and Yoon Gyeoul, who had been sitting on the bridge waiting for Seo Kangrim to emerge, jumped in surprise.

“Master! Are you okay?”

“Master…! You didn’t come up for so long, I was worried!”

“I’m fine. Thanks to my special ability, it was bearable.”

Seo Kangrim said as he effortlessly pulled himself up onto the bridge.

He had been holding his breath underwater for nearly ten minutes, so it wouldn’t have been strange for them to think he was dead.

As Rini shook itself dry like a dog, Yoon Bom’s eyes widened.

“M-Master! There’s a demon beast over there…!”

The imugi had poked its head above the surface and was glaring at the people.

Yoon Gyeoul also spotted the imugi and abruptly stood up.

“Huh? That’s not a demon beast, it’s a snake… Eup!”

At that, Seo Kangrim hastily clamped a hand over Yoon Gyeoul’s mouth.

He spoke in a low, threatening voice.

“Did you read the manual?”

“Eubeub.”

Yoon Gyeoul shook his head to indicate he hadn’t read it.

Seo Kangrim kept his hand over Gyeoul’s mouth and spoke in a hushed tone.

“From now on, even if you see a snake, don’t call it a snake.”

“Eup, eup.”

When Yoon Gyeoul nodded, Seo Kangrim finally let him go.

A bright red handprint lingered on Gyeoul’s face.

Yoon Gyeoul rubbed his face in annoyance and asked.

“But why shouldn’t I call it that?”

“Read the manual first.”

At Seo Kangrim’s sharp tone, Yoon Gyeoul sheepishly brought up the manual.

Amidst the various rules listed, a new section for the ‘Snake’s Room’ had been appended at the bottom.

As he read down through the entries, Yoon Gyeoul’s gaze locked onto one specific line.

[9. When encountering an imugi, do not refer to it as a snake. If an imugi hears itself called a snake, it will fail to become a dragon.]

“If I call it that, it can’t become a dragon…?”

“Exactly. You almost blew hundreds of years of that imugi’s life away.”

Seo Kangrim said as he hurriedly dressed himself.

He had gone through the trouble of bringing the imugi along; a single misspoken word could have turned all his efforts to foam.

Yoon Gyeoul stared blankly at the imugi.

“So that’s an imugi… But we’re supposed to protect a snake. Is it okay to protect an imugi instead?”

“It’s fine. The notification window updated normally.”

The twins watched the scene with fascination before Yoon Bom abruptly stood up.

“Alright! Then I’ll go find an imugi too!”

Saying that, she began taking off her shoes, apparently intending to get in the water.

Seo Kangrim stopped them.

“Try finding another way. There should be snakes in the forest too.”

“But I want an imugi too…”

“You don’t have any water-related special abilities. And there are demon beasts down there.”

Seo Kangrim had Rini accompanying him, so it wasn’t an issue, but for an ordinary person, it would be tantamount to suicide.

“Besides, your weapons are a bow and a rifle. Do you think those will be effective underwater?”

Yoon Gyeoul, who had been taking off his clothes next to her, paused at Seo Kangrim’s words.

While most weapons suffered a decrease in power underwater, bows and rifles incurred an even more severe penalty.

Yoon Bom eventually nodded and quickly put her shoes back on.

“Then I’ll look around the forest. Yoon Gyeoul, come with me!”

“Hey, wait a sec. My clothes…”

Half-dressed, Yoon Gyeoul was grabbed by Yoon Bom and dragged off.

Watching the twins disappear noisily, Seo Kangrim glanced back at the water’s edge.

The imugi was still watching him as if observing him.

He bent one knee and sat down, speaking toward the imugi.

“My name is Seo Kangrim. My mission is to protect you for a week, but…”

Seo Kangrim tossed the words out dismissively, as if it were a bother.

“Well, you’ll probably survive fine even without my protection, right? Just don’t come out of the water and live as you normally do.”

“?”

The imugi stared at him as if asking what he was talking about.

The gods had similar reactions.

【Look at him neglecting it just five minutes after catching it.】

【Can you just leave it like that? What if it gets eaten by a demon beast?】

Did he really have to explain himself?

Just as Seo Kangrim was about to ignore them out of annoyance, another god chimed in.

【You idiots, it’s not a snake, it’s an imugi.】

【What are you talking about?】

【An imugi has a baseline grade, so it won’t die easily.】

That was one of the reasons he had chosen an imugi instead of a snake.

The demon beasts inhabiting this area were quite powerful, making it easy for young snakes to be hunted and eaten.

‘But with an imugi, it’s a different story.’

A creature like an imugi was equivalent to a Ghost-grade demon beast.

It was likely the strongest demon beast in the water.

As long as the demon beasts didn’t swarm it, nothing here could harm the imugi.

If he had saved a snake, he would have had to stay by its side all day to protect it, but since it was an imugi, it saved him the trouble.

【The imugi is probably the strongest creature underwater right now.】

【It’ll survive perfectly fine on its own without Seo Kangrim’s protection.】

【Oh, I see. Kangrim totally calculated that.】

Of course, there weren’t only advantages.

He looked at the imugi and spoke in a serious tone.

“From now on, stay in the deep parts of the water as much as possible. You must never be seen by people.”

What Seo Kangrim was worried about wasn’t demon beasts, but people.

Of course, the chances of it dying at the hands of humans were low.

People had no reason to kill a snake in the first place, and with the imugi’s abilities, it could easily escape.

【Is Seo Kangrim scared? Most humans wouldn’t be able to touch a single scale anyway.】

【Right? You could just take a nice break for a week.】

“I’m not worried about the imugi dying. I’m worried about it failing to become a dragon.”

If the imugi were to hear itself called a snake during the protection period, it would be an absolute disaster for Seo Kangrim.

However, the way to prevent that was simple.

He just had to keep the imugi from crossing paths with people.

If it stayed underwater and out of sight for a week, he could easily succeed in the clear.

“Then I’ll untie that string in a week. Understand?”

As if understanding Seo Kangrim’s words, the imugi gave a single nod before sinking back beneath the surface.

Though it continued glaring at him until the very end.

Seo Kangrim glanced up at the sky and spoke.

“Looks like I’ve earned myself a special one-week vacation.”

【Ugh, you cunning bastard.】

【Now he gets to relax all by himself.】

【So what are you going to do now?】

“I plan to raise my ability stats.”

For the next step, Seo Kangrim needed to increase each of his abilities.

Quite a few powerful demon beasts lived in this area.

It was the perfect place to gather Spirit Jade and Merit Points, and to train.

‘I’ll probably run into that person here too, so it’s better to be prepared in multiple ways.’

Seo Kangrim stood up abruptly before his wet body could even dry.

Time to rest was a luxury not afforded to him.

Without a single complaint about that fact, he gripped his sword and walked toward the forest.

* * *

A massive crash, like a great tree falling, shook the forest.

It was the sound of a giant demon beast resembling an anteater collapsing.

The corpse lay sprawled across the blood-soaked ground.

“Huu…”

I swung my sword, flicking the blood off the blade.

As the blood splattered, I saw Rini, who had been hiding nearby, flee in terror.

“It’s okay. It’s over.”

“Ung! Ung!”

Rini hid behind a tree and cried out as if in protest.

It seemed to be saying, ‘How is any of this okay when you’ve killed so many?’

Looking around, the corpses of the demon beasts I had slain were scattered everywhere.

It was a situation where I couldn’t help being hated.

【The kirin is great and all, but it hates blood.】

【Well, it still did a good job casting its buff on Seo Kangrim earlier.】

Thanks to the ‘Harmony of Five Elements’ that Rini cast on me, I was able to hunt the demon beasts with ease in various ways.

It must have been a difficult task for a kirin, a creature that despises slaughter.

It was cruel to Rini, but it couldn’t be helped.

Raising my grade came first, after all.

═══════════════

[Strength] Level 26

[Stamina] Level 23

[Agility] Level 26

[Senses] Level 26

[Magic Power] Level 23

═══════════════

Since I was raising my levels purely through hunting without using Merit Points, the progress wasn’t as fast as I wanted.

I had a use for Merit Points, so I wanted to save them as much as possible.

It was a relief that I had been given a week of free time, at least.

“Rini. Let’s rest a bit and then resume hunting.”

“…”

Rini didn’t answer and was staring off somewhere.

Was it throwing a tantrum?

But judging by its expression, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Rini’s ears were perked up as if it was listening to something.

I also maximized my ‘Senses’ and strained my ears to listen.

“…Jang! Where on earth… are you…!”

A faint voice was drifting over.

A voice that sounded like it was arguing.

They weren’t voices I was familiar with, so I tried to ignore them, but there was a chance it could be that person.

“Rini, let’s go check it out.”

“Ung!”

The sound was coming from deeper within the forest.

As I pushed through the bushes and ran, the voices gradually grew louder, and the figures of people began to come into view.

“You took the money and this is how you act? I hired you! If so, you should do your job properly! You just wasted my money back in the Room of Tread too!”

The owner of the voice was a member of Zone 2.

His face was familiar, but I couldn’t quite recall who he was, so I searched my memory for a while.

【Aren’t those the guys who bought the dried rations in the Room of Tread?】

【Right. The guys who bought the free dried rations for 200 Spirit Jade.】

I finally remembered.

His name was Choi Sangwon, wasn’t it?

No wonder he had been glaring at me like he wanted to kill me every time we crossed paths lately.

At that moment, Choi Sangwon threw a fit and screamed.

“What are you guys even good at? If you’re going to be like this, spit the money back out!”

While Choi Sangwon screamed, the people he was yelling at kept their heads down.

His voice grew increasingly louder.

“You useless parasites who can’t even do your jobs right! Even trash would be more useful than you!”

“Ah, so having money makes you everything.”

One of them, who had been silently listening, couldn’t hold back any longer and blurted it out.

Choi Sangwon was dumbfounded by the reaction.

“What? What did you just say? You should be begging for forgiveness right now, let alone…”

“Does having money make you better than everyone else? This is filthy, I’m done working for you!”

“That’s right! And you keep comparing us to other people!”

Saying that, he spat at Choi Sangwon’s feet.

The viscous saliva splattered onto his dress shoes.

“We’ll return the money as soon as we get back to the Education Facility. Try doing everything on your own from now on.”

“Yeah. Go hire that Seo Kangrim you keep talking about!”