n

n

n– You killed the Ice Troll. You gained 1060 EP.

nIan put his hand on the Troll’s dead body to get the items. He then complained as he wiped off sweat

nthe on his forehead.

n“Hu, it is so hard to gain EP.”

nHe had received about 900 EP when he hunted the Goblin Warrior.

nNow, as he had hunted the Ice Troll whose level was more than 10 times higher than the Goblin

nWarrior, he only got 1060 EP.

nIan had his reasons to complain.

n‘I used to share EP only with Ly. Now that there are four of us to share EP, gaining levels is certainly

nhard.’

nHe had hunted all day as soon as he arrived at the Mountains, but he could only gain one level.

nThat was the speed of most late Lv. 30s users’ level-up. However, Ian had been gaining level like

ncrazy. He couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

n“Let’s take a rest for a minute and move!”

nIan wanted to look for the next prey right away, however, Big Guy needed to recover his Health and

nIan himself needed to catch his breath.

nNext, Ian sat on a rock and looked around and he saw Bukbuk sleeping peacefully.

nIan glared at it, ‘He lives like a king. He gets to doze off and gain the EP we earn…’

nIan shook his head, ‘But he will do his part later if I work hard to raise him…’

nIan tried to comfort himself and ignore the reality.

nWhether Bukbuk would do its part in the future, we shall see.

n…

nNext, Ian continued to hunt.

nExcept for eating for 30 minutes and sleeping for 5 hours, he never left his capsule.

nIt had already been a week since he left his home.

nHowever, it was worth it.

nAll pets, including Bukbuk, reached Lv. 40.

nIan and Ly were Lv. 42, Big Guy was Lv. 43 and Bukbuk was Lv. 40.

n‘Let’s see… Big Buy’s Potential must be almost 100 by now?’

nIan opened Big Buy’s information window to check its progress.

nAnd a while later, Ian was surprised.

n‘What? What is wrong with this?’

nBig Guy’s Potential had already reached 100.

n‘Why isn’t it evolving? Shouldn’t it evolve when Potential becomes 100?’

nIan was confused, ‘100 Potential must be one of the required condition to evolve… are there more

nconditions other than Potential?’

nIt was the only possible explanation.

n‘Is the level too low? But Ly was only Lv. 20 when he evolved…’

nIan’s first guess was about levels.

nEach monster might need different levels to evolve, so the fact that Ly evolved at Lv. 20 didn’t mean

nthat Big Guy would do so as well.

n‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about it, so…’

nIan couldn’t find the answer now, so he stopped thinking about Big Guy’s Potential.

n‘Should I use the Training skill on Bukbuk now…’

nHe hadn’t found out that not all monsters evolved at 100 Potential, so he thought it would be better to

ntrain Bukbuk and bestow a skill on it first.

nIf Bukbuk received a decent skill, it would be another skill Ian would be able to use with his knuckle’s

nUnique Ability so it would be of much help.

nAfter that, he should raise Ly’s Potential again.

nIan turned his head to Bukbuk.

n“Bukbuk.”

nBuk-?

n“Come here.”

nBukbuk-

nBukbuk turned its head away.

nIt was clearly showing that it wouldn’t obey.

nIan sighed and went to Bukbuk. He used the Training skill on it.

n– You used Intermediate Training skill. (Cooldown time: 25 minutes)

n– Your pet Bukbuk understands your commands better and learns from them for 10 minutes.

n– Repeated Training raises the pet’s Potential.

n– Your pet Bukbuk’s current Potential: 2

nPotential had risen a little, probably because Ian had been traveling around with it.

nIan threatened the stubborn Bukbuk.

n“If you continue to act like this, I won’t give you any meatballs.”

nBuk…?

nBukbuk was surprised at Ian’s sudden attack.

nBuk- Bukbuk-!

nBukbuk understood what Ian said thanks to the Training skill. It suddenly got sad.

n“Bukbuk come here.”

nBukbuk moved fast at Ian’s gesture.

nIt moved as fast as a soldier who had just joined the army.

n“You could have been a good turtle from the beginning, you know.”

nBuk.

nIan easily subdued Bukbuk with meatballs. He then started to move.

nHe had rested, so it was time to resume hunting.

n“Big Guy, you see that Ice Troll down there?”

nBig Guy slightly nodded. Ian continued to talk, “You go there first to distract it. Then Ly and I will attack

nit. Ly, you got it?”

nGrowl-

n“Ly, let’s use Frenzy this time. There are four more Trolls nearby, so if we don’t kill it fast, we might get

nkilled.”

nHe gave orders clearly.

nBig Guy still had difficulty in understanding complicated orders, but Ly perfectly understood him.

nIan was planning to hunt all 5 Trolls nearby in 15 minutes while Ly was on Frenzy.

nKung- Kung-

nBig Guy approached the Troll. It naturally lunged at Big Guy and the battle began.

n– You killed the Ice Troll. You gained 1040 EP.

n– You killed the Ice Troll. You gained 1076 EP.

n…

nIan killed all five Trolls in the planned 15 minutes and prepared to move.

nHe had killed all the Ice Trolls in the area.

nIt would take at least 3 hours for them to regenerate.

n“Guys, let’s go.”

nLy and Big Guy came to Ian right away.

nBut one of them was missing.

n“Oh, where did Bukbuk go?”

nIan looked around to find it.

nHowever, Bukbuk, which had always been nearby, was nowhere to be seen.

n‘System messages would have notified me if he had been attacked or something…’

n“Bukbuk~ Where are you~ Come, I will give you meatballs~”

nIt didn’t seem that Bukbuk had been hurt, but Ian was worried.

nEven at the mention of meatballs it failed to make it come, so Ian was right at being worried.

n‘Should I dismiss him and summon him again? Where did he go?’

nOnce dismissing a pet, it was impossible to summon the same pet for 30 minutes.

nSo, Ian didn’t usually dismiss his pets.

nBut then, Ian saw the back of a familiar turtle.

n“Bukbuk, what are you doing there?”

nIan called it, but Bukbuk ignored him. It continued to do something.

n‘What is he doing?’

nIan got close to see. Bukbuk was eating a weird root.

n“Bukbuk, I told you not to eat strange things!”

nWhen Ian was about to lift Bukbuk, he received an unexpected system message.

n– Your pet Bukbuk ate mandragora.

n– Bukbuk’s Potential increased by 10.

n– All stats of Bukbuk increased by 5.

n“Khuk!”

nIan exclaimed.

n“Mandragora!!”

nIan’s eyes met Bukbuk’s.

n“And you ate it…”

nIan was feeling down.

nMandragora was a famous elixir.

nIt had a root that looked like the human body. It was a great treasure that raised all stats by 5, so it

nwas a rare item that was seldom seen on auction.

nIf Ian had eaten it, he would have gotten stats worth 5~6 levels.

nIan couldn’t help but feel bad.

n‘Ah… it should have been me…’

nBut he couldn’t blame Bukbuk.

nIt didn’t eat Ian’s mandragora; it found it and ate it.

nAt least Bukbuk’s stats and Potential rose, so it was a good thing.

nIan crouched down and stroke Bukbuk’s head.

n“Well done, Bukbuk. But next time you find something like that, bring it to me.”

nBuk-?

nBukbuk shook its head.

nIt wouldn’t be Bukbuk if he shared his food.

n“I will give you five meatballs when you bring a mandragora to me.”

nHowever, five meatballs were enough to change its mind.

nBuk- Bukbuk-!

nBukbuk repeatedly nodded.

n‘Maybe Bukbuk’s true power lies in gathering herbs. Or finding things.’

nIan thought about it seriously.

nIt made sense.

nBut then, Bukbuk confidently went toward somewhere again.

n“Bukbuk, where are you going?”

nIan followed Bukbuk.

nHe had some expectations.

n‘Maybe he found more mandragora.’

nAbout five minutes later,

nBukbuk stopped while Ian’s eyes widened.

n‘This… this is-!’

nThe place he had been looking for so eagerly was finally in front of him.

n‘Unknown dungeon!’

nNext, a system messages came up.

n– You became the first user to find this dungeon.

n– You will gain double EP in the dungeon for 5 days.

n– Probability of getting items in the dungeon doubles for 5 days.

nIt was the reason why he had come up to the North Continent.

nIan found a hidden dungeon thanks to Bukbuk. Therefore, he grinned widely.

nNext, another system message came up.

n– Would you like to register the dungeon? Your Reputation will rise by 500.

n“No! Why would I do that?”

n– You didn’t register the dungeon. You can register later if you want.

n500 Reputation was good, but Ian wasn’t going to share double EP and items.

nAs soon as he registered the dungeon, players nearby would quickly show up.

n‘I can’t let that happen.’

nIan lifted Bukbuk and put it on Ly’s back. Then he stroked it.

n“Hahaha! Bukbuk, well done! You are finally doing something worthy!”

nBukbuk got proud of itself so it lifted its chin.

nBuk-!

n“Well, shall we go in?”

nExcited, Ian went toward the dungeon.

nHe felt good because he would be able to get at least twice the EP he had lost by moving around with

nBukbuk in there.

n