n

n

nAfter hearing the news about the guild’s members, Ian also got curious about how they were doing

nwith the base, “How is the base? How is the clearing of the nearby areas going?”

n“It’s so hard. At first, we were so happy at having such a big base. However, with the wider area of the

nvillage’s influence, it’s very hard to raise the Public Order by 1 point just through hunting monsters.”

n“I see. I really want to see the base.”

nKawin added, a little sulky, “It would have been a lot easier if you hadn’t reset your character… but

nyou just had to do that…”

n“Just wait a little more, kid. I will recover my former battler power soon.”

nIan really thought so, without a bit of exaggeration.

nIan was Lv. 69 now.

nHe thought he would be able to fight as well as his former Archer character when he reaches Lv. 80.

nWith his current speed of hunting, it would be hard to reach Lv. 80 in two weeks, but he would be able

nto get closer to that.

nOf course, Kawin didn’t buy that, “You’re just bluffing…”

n“I’m not bluffing. I will be Lv. 70 soon.”

n“?!”

nBoth Kawin and Harin looked very surprised at hearing this.

n“But, it has been only about two weeks since the Arena closed… and you are already Lv. 69?”

nIan shrugged while Kawin shook his head, “Oh, you gain levels by not getting any sleep… that is

nmore than 1 level per day. That’s crazy!”

nHarin concerned said, “Ian… your life will shorten…”

nThe three talked like that for a while.

nBut then, Harin recalled something and looked at Ian, “But Ian, can you show me your new friend who

nlikes my meatballs?”

n“Oh, you mean Bukbuk?”

nHarin was a little confused at hearing the name Bukbuk.

n“What? Bukbuk is his name?”

nIan smiled and replied, “Yes. You will understand why he is Bukbuk when you see him.”

nHe then put down Bukbuk which had been on his back.

n“Bukbuk, come out.” Ian called Bukbuk who stuck its head out from the shell.

nBuk-

nHarin’s eyes widened at seeing that, “Wow, he is so cute!”

nAt once, Harin fell for the cute Bukbuk. She knelt in front of it, “Hello, Bukbuk.”

nBukbuk turned its head away from the stranger!

nBukbuk was a chic turtle.

nHarin was hurt by Bukbuk’s cold attitude. Disappointed, she asked Ian, “Ian, Bukbuk seems to not like

nme much. Why is that?”

nAs Bukbuk’s owner, Ian knew the answer, “Bukbuk is hungry. That’s the reason, you should give him

nsomething you made. Do you have any meatballs?”

nHarin brightened and started to rummage through her inventory, “Wait, I’ve made some while working

nto raise my Cooking Proficiency… let’s see…”

nThen, Harin took out a yellow meatball that was slightly different from the previous ones.

nIt looked as if it had been fried once more after being coated with flour.

n“Oh, its color has changed!”

n“Yes, that’s right. I changed my recipe to make it even more delicious.”

nA delicious smell spread from the meatball.

nBukbuk who had already spotted it couldn’t take its eyes off it. Even Ian looked excited.

n“Oh…”

n“I coated it with flour once more after applying my special sauce and fried it, so it must taste really

ngood. Its raw meat taste is gone, so you can enjoy it as well.”

nHarin introduced her new meatball and knelt down again.

nShe then gave it to Bukbuk.

nBuk-!

nAs if it had been waiting for it, Bukbuk snatched that immediately.

nBukbuk started to chew it while the three watched with interest.

nA while later…

nBuk… buk!

nWith its eyes closed, Bukbuk savored the meatball to the very end. It shook its shell with joy.

nThen, it ran to Harin with a happy face while rubbing its head on her.

nBuk-Bukbuk!

nThe chic Bukbuk was nowhere to be seen.

nThere was only a greedy turtle who wanted the meatball!

n“Bukbuk is feeling better now!”

nHarin also felt happy about her customer’s enthusiastic reaction. She put her hand on her bag to take

nout another meatball.

nBut then…

nIan stopped her.

n“Harin, don’t give him more. It will just spoil him.”

nAt that moment, Bukbuk glared at Ian so hard as if it would start firing laser beams from its eyes.

nHowever, Ian was determined.

n“Give the meatballs to me and I will give one to Bukbuk when he gets hungry.”

nHarin nodded, she took out the box of meatballs and handed it to Ian.

n“Okay then. I guess you will take good care of Bukbuk.”

nWhat a tragic scene! A box with dozens of meatballs going into Ian’s bag!

nBukbuk could do nothing but to bear it.

nThe pet almost shed tears at watching this.

nKawin, who had been watching, took pity on Bukbuk and spoke to Ian, “I think he’s about to cry. Why

ndon’t you give him just one more?”

nAt this, Bukbuk’s tearful eyes looked at Ian again.

nMore accurately, at his bag that now contained the meatball box.

nHowever, Ian was firm, “No. One will become two and two will become three.”

nAs Ian said that, he glanced at Bukbuk, ‘I should coax him a little now.’

nIan moved and sat in front of Bukbuk.

n“Bukbuk.”

nBuk-!

nBukbuk turned its head away.

nIt was very mad, just like the time when Ian used it as a shield for the first time.

n“Bukbuk, listen to me.”

nBukbuk didn’t reply, but Ian continued to talk.

n“Bukbuk, do you know who the most handsome and the coolest turtle in the world is?”

nBukbuk pretended not to hear and stayed still. However, it was already listening to Ian.

n“I heard that there is a turtle called Bakbak up on the North Continent and he is the coolest turtle in

nthe world.”

nBukbuk turned its head a little.

nIts face said that it couldn’t believe that.

nIan spoke again with a soothing voice, “I couldn’t stand it when I heard that. As far as I know, no turtle

nis as handsome and cool as my Bukbuk.”

nIan’s cool turtle story made even Harin and Kawin focus.

n“So, I thought hard about it.”

nGulp-

nWithin the silence, Bukbuk swallowed hard.

n“Maybe you were defeated by that Bakbak because you have eaten too many meatballs and have

nbecome fat.”

nBukbuk was shocked.

nIt had felt that its shell was feeling a little tight as if it had put on weight.

n“That’s why I cannot give you many meatballs, Bukbuk. You understand, right?”

nBuk!

nBukbuk hadn’t known that Ian cared about it so much!

nBukbuk looked touched. It rubbed its head on Ian’s hand.

n“So, bear it for a while, Bukbuk. I will make you into the most handsome turtle in the universe.”

nKawin and Harin shook their heads at seeing the touching friendship of the two get deeper.

nKawin muttered in a small voice, “That fraudster…”

n…

nIan had received enough supplies from Harin. Now, he was moving again on Ly to go over the Forcal

nMountains again.

nHe couldn’t summon Big Guy because it was too slow, but Ly was enough to move while hunting

nmonsters that seldom appeared by one or two.

n‘But, will Harin’s new meatballs work on the Lava Witch?’

nHarin had said that her meatballs might work on capturing monsters.

nThat made some sense.

nIan had given some to Bukbuk and those meatballs turned out to be irresistible.

nHowever, Ian didn’t know if Lava Witches, who were entirely made of red lava, would like them as

nwell.

nHe thought they might not be able to eat food like Big Guy.

n“I will be leaving Forcal soon.”

nIan had been hunting all the monsters he saw as he moved through Forcal, now, he was about to

nreach Lv. 70.

nHe would hunt a few Lv. 72 Sandworms that lived on the Scorching Land before entering the

ndungeon, and, Bukbuk, who had the lowest level among Ian’s pack, would be able to reach Lv. 70 as

nwell.

nAs Ian had thought, the Forcal Mountains soon ended while the Scorching Land appeared.

n“Oh, I really don’t want to go there.”

nThe land was barren. There were cracks on the ground because it was so dry.

nThe air simmered because of the heat.

n‘I am sweating just by seeing the place. If Big Guy didn’t evolve, it would be a little cooler to ride

nhim…’

nBig Guy would have been terrified at hearing that.

nWhen Big Guy was an Ice Golem, the heat was a calamity.

nAnyway, Ian got out of the Forcal Mountains and started to walk on the Scorching Land.

nSoon he found four, five giant scorpion monsters.

nIan knew them well, they were ‘Sand Scorpions’.

nHe then thought about it for a moment, ‘Hmm, it would be hard without Big Guy… should I pass

nthrough them or just hunt them?’

nIan still had a long way to go, so he planned to postpone summoning Big Guy as much as he could.

nHowever, he could not hunt multiple Lv. 70 monsters without Big Guy.

nUnfortunately, Ian could not ignore the EP bags in front of him.

n“Big Guy, summon!” Ian decided to fight in the end.

nKung-

nWith a huge sound, Big Guy was summoned in the middle of the Scorching Land.

nBecause of its massive size, the Scorpions focused on it just after it was summoned.

nKiiik-

nTherefore, the Scorpions spotted Big Guy and approached quickly Ian.

n‘They won’t be a big problem, as long as I am careful about their Poison attack.’

nThe Scorpions’ Lethal Poison attack was deadly.

nLethal Poison was an upgraded version of the Poison skill that was well known in Kailan. When

naffected by it, you would receive additional damage.

nWhen falling in Poisoned mode in Kailan, a user received 1~2 % of maximum Health per second.

nHowever, the Scorpions’ Lethal Poison inflicted damage that was proportional to the maximum Health

nand gave 500~1500 additional damage according to the user’s poison resisting ability.

nTo sum it up, Lethal Poison was as deadly as Poisoned and Bleeding modes combined.

nSo, even high-level users would be killed in an instant if they lowered their guard.

nHowever, of course, there was still a way to kill them.

n