A Delicate Relationship

, “That’s so, so cowardly, Blood Demon King…!”

“The world of competition is a cold one.”

I said coolly to Jupiter, who was clinging to me and whining.

The race to the dungeon that started from the Capital City.

We had been maintaining a similar speed until right before reaching the destination, but right before reaching the final destination.

I jumped off Eureurang’s back and used Blink.

Naturally, my body reached the destination first, so I could say that the result of the competition was my victory.

Of course, Jupiter didn’t want to admit the result of the competition.

“Cowardly… Cowardly… As expected of the evil Blood Demon King…!”

“Shut up. Let’s just enter the dungeon.”

In fact, I didn’t care about the outcome of this race.

I only had one goal.

The special Transcendence Stone that drops in the dungeon.

“I’m sorry… Rupellius…! I’ve lost again…”

Jupiter seemed very upset about losing the match, as she squeezed her eyes shut and clung to her white foal, whining.

I waited for Jupiter with my arms crossed.

Because I had no intention of interrupting her role-playing.

After some time, Jupiter unsummoned her white foal and approached me.

Looking at her expression, she had a small smile on her face, considering how upset she had been.

“Shall we go in now?”

“A-Are you sure? Just the two of us?”

“Yep.”

“We should get party members…”

“It’s a low-level dungeon. The two of us can clear it easily.”

I shook my head at Jupiter’s words and replied.

It’s a combination of a Paladin tank and a Mage dealer whose Ether grade of equipment has reached the highest level.

We could clear not only low-level dungeons, but also the highest-grade dungeons that exist today.

“I see…”

Jupiter seemed to be looking forward to playing in a party.

I shook my head as I watched her.

How has she been playing so far that she’s so excited just to clear a dungeon?

I became quite curious about Jupiter’s past.

But I won’t ask.

Just because I’m curious doesn’t mean I can dig into her painful spots.

Jupiter shook her head and smiled brightly.

“Alright. Blood Demon King. I’ll trust only you!”

“Then let’s go in!”

I said that and jumped up, throwing myself into the entrance of the dungeon.

The second dungeon that opens up when you follow the main story, [Crystal Cave].

True to its name, the dark cave was filled with dazzling crystals popping up everywhere.

I was admiring the scenery of the dungeon when it happened.

Kong-!

Right behind me.

The light yet heavy sound that came from the entrance of the dungeon drew my attention.

“Hmm… This is it…”

I silently watched Jupiter.

As expected of a smart kid, she figured out how to enter the dungeon by watching what I did, without me having to tell her.

Jupiter jumped into the dungeon.

As proof, there was a small footprint stamped on the spot where Jupiter was standing!

This means that Jupiter’s weight is heavier than it looks.

Even though she has the appearance of such a small girl, her Strength stat and the weight of her equipment haven’t decreased.

“Let’s go.”

“W-Wait a moment… I have the dungeon’s layout memorized…”

Jupiter said that and rummaged through her bosom.

What came out was a small notebook.

I tilted my head and scanned her notebook.

[★Crystal Cave Walkthrough★]

Go around to the right path and check the quests of the party members while clearing the way.

If there is a quest, go to the room with the NPC and talk to them.

(Very important. Work to appear as a skilled Paladin tank)

It is necessary to defeat the named monsters that appear here in order and open the door to the final boss.

“What is this…”

“I wrote down the walkthrough through the internet just in case… Don’t worry, Blood Demon King. I know the structure of this dungeon very well…”

Jupiter said that and looked into her notebook for a long time.

I blankly opened my mouth at the sight.

“Hey, Jupiter.”

“Wait… Just wait a moment. I’ve almost finished reading it.”

“No…”

Her enthusiasm is good.

But this dungeon is a dungeon that users who have just started the main quest run.

For over-spec users like us, we didn’t need a walkthrough or anything.

All we had to do was run to the room with the named monster and slam a skill into it, and it would explode on its own.

Tak-!

“Okay… Perfect.”

But I didn’t open my mouth.

Jupiter’s expression looked too serious, and she was so full of anticipation that I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“Now, follow me.”

Jupiter started walking with a confident expression.

Her gait was very cautious, and Jupiter’s gaze was busily scanning the front.

Following Jupiter, we encountered the first monsters.

[Crystal Lizards] with crystals growing all over their bodies.

In fact, they were closer to dragons than lizards.

“Enemies!”

Jupiter looked at the crystal lizard and took out her shield.

Then, she charged straight at the enemy.

“Uryaahhh!”

Kongkongkongkong-!

Jupiter’s heavy footsteps echoed loudly inside the crystal cave.

I sighed as I watched her.

I knew that Jupiter didn’t have much party play experience, but I didn’t know it would be this bad.

If it weren’t for over-spec users like me and Jupiter, the entire party would have been wiped out.

“Heuyaaah!”

Chwaaak-!

Kweeek!

Chwaaaak!

“You evil lizard bastards!”

It couldn’t be helped since the battle had already begun.

I fired ice arrows and fireballs at the lizard bastards clinging to Jupiter.

Chwaak-! Puh-wong-!

The party’s engagement time was about 20 seconds.

The number of monsters defeated was five.

Jupiter, who had rushed ahead, killed two, and I took care of the remaining three.

It wasn’t difficult. It wasn’t dangerous.

It was obvious. The Ether grade of this dungeon was very low.

But if it continued like this, it would be very troublesome.

“Hmm…!”

Jupiter was smiling contentedly as she looked at the fallen enemies.

I frowned and called out to Jupiter.

“Jupiter.”

“Why do you call, Blood Demon King?”

“Didn’t you look up any basic videos about tanking?”

“Is that necessary? If there’s an enemy, you defeat it. That’s all.”

As expected. Jupiter had only looked up the walkthrough for the dungeon itself, and didn’t seem to understand what role her job should play in the dungeon or how to perform it.

I nodded as I recalled the past when I ran dungeons with Jupiter.

Her incomprehensible behavior in the dungeon when she was an Innam character was, as expected, due to a lack of knowledge.

“Jupiter. There are only two of us. If you keep running ahead like this even in higher-level dungeons, it’ll be troublesome.”

“Hmm…”

“So I’ll tell you. How a tank should run a dungeon.”

“But aren’t you a mage right now…”

“Just follow me quietly and watch.”

“I understand…”

Jupiter nodded with a sullen expression at my words.

I smiled slightly as I watched her.

She’s a quick learner, so she’ll be able to absorb what I teach her quickly.

“First of all, walking slowly is good. You have to do that when you don’t know what monsters are where in the dungeon.”

Praise what deserves praise.

And correct what’s wrong and let her know.

That was all.

“Now, forward.”

As I entered the right path with Jupiter, I encountered elite monsters again.

The guys that appeared this time were also crystal lizards.

“Enemies…!”

“Actually, with our specs, we don’t even need to do this, but I’m telling you because it seems like you don’t know.”

“What are you saying?”

“The monsters that appear in dungeons are basically elite monsters. They’re stronger than the ones that come out in the field.”

“I know that.”

“You’re someone who knows that, yet you charged in without thinking? Listen. A party with normal specs wouldn’t be able to handle elite monsters that are clustered together like that.”

“That’s true…”

“So you need to pull them in little by little, just enough to handle. This is called pulling.”

Pulling.

Pulling in. That is, the act of pulling monsters into one’s party.

“Now, do you see over there?”

I reached out and pointed to where the lizards were clustered.

There were a total of seven crystal lizards that appeared this time.

But not all seven were attached to each other.

They were scattered on both sides, attached in groups of three, with one roaming in the middle.

It was a very good situation to demonstrate.

“It’s not easy to fight seven elite monsters at once. Even with a party of five. So you need to pull three at a time.”

I said that and created a small fireball on my hand.

Then, I threw it at the three lizards attached to the right wall.

Hwareureuk-!

Kwang!

Kieeeek!

The lizard that was directly hit by the fireball and the ones around it started running towards me.

There were a total of three running towards me.

The roamer walking next to them and the remaining three were not moving because they were not within the recognition range.

Kwieeek!

“You bastard!”

Bbaak!

I swung my staff and smashed the head of the lizard that had come close.

The fate of the remaining two was not much different.

“Now, did you see?”

“Oh…”

“But even if you pull like this, there’s something you need to be aware of. It’s the roamer that’s wandering around like that.”

The explanation wasn’t over yet.

I pointed to a lizard that was crawling slowly and opened my mouth.

“If it’s wandering around like that, it means that its recognition range is constantly changing. What if that guy was a little closer when I pulled the three lizards?”

“That’s…”

The monster’s recognition range is connected.

In other words, if the roamer was in the middle when I pulled the three lizards, the remaining lizards that were overlapping with its recognition range would have come along as well.

It’s faster to show than to explain.

I cast a fireball and threw it when the roamer was about halfway there.

Kwang!

Kieeeek!

This time, a total of four reacted.

All the guys that were left over after being dealt with started running.

“Do you have a rough idea of what it’s like?”

“I understand…!”

I nodded at Jupiter’s words and smashed the heads of the lizard bastards that were clinging to me.

Kwajik-! Kwajik-!

“But Blood Demon King. What should I do when I have to fight all the monsters no matter what?”

“Good question. In that case, you need to use each job’s crowd control skills to exclude some of the monsters from the battle.”

“I understand…!”

I’ve taught her the basics.

I took a step back and said to Jupiter.

“Now, try it.”

“Hmm…!”

The small girl Paladin nodded at my words, then walked forward, kongkwangkongkwang.

Her back looked quite reliable, unlike before.