chapter_0571

571 – Strategy

571 – Strategy

The art sale with the children was a great success.

Thanks to the copied drawings, we were able to sell everything despite having a huge stack of paper.

The price of each drawing was one hundred won.

Our pockets were filled with one hundred won coins after selling all the drawings.

“Chyu In! Chyu In!”

The one who was the happiest about selling out the drawings was none other than Gaeul.

To be precise, she expressed her joy by hopping around the pile of coins.

“Look at all the one hundred won coins that Gaeul likes!”

“Neigh! Gaeuri buys!”

It wasn’t enough money to become rich, but it was up to Gaeul how she wanted to use it.

I clapped my hands to congratulate Gaeul, who had become a coin millionaire.

“What are you going to do with this money, Gaeul?”

“Beef!”

“Milk?”

“Neigh! Beef, buy!”

Gaeul proudly declared that she would buy everyone milk.

I felt so proud of Gaeul, who thought of her family first even with money in hand.

“Thank you! Then shall we count how much we earned?”

“Hack…!”

We gathered in a huddle in the middle of the mat.

As I reached for the coin pouch to count the money, Levinas grabbed it first.

“Gaeul, my puppy! Don’t you want to feel the rain of coins?!”

“Coin rain?”

“Yeah! Levinas will sprinkle them from above! Gaeul will catch the coins falling from the sky!”

Levinas suggested this for Gaeul, who loved coins.

Thanks to that, Gaeul showed an excitement that was obvious to anyone.

“Coin rain…!”

With sparkling eyes, Gaeul lay flat on the ground.

She flailed her arms and legs like a little angel, eager for the coins to be sprinkled.

“Sprinkle?!”

“I want to do it too!”

“Me too…!”

We each grabbed a handful of coins and sprinkled them over Gaeul.

Gaeul giggled as the coins jingled down.

In her joy, she shook her body and even bumped her head on the mat.

“Kyah.”

Gaeul grabbed the coins that had fallen to the ground and scattered them again.

We were enjoying the coin rain for a while.

“Oh.”

With Saebyeok’s surprised voice, we heard the sound of coins rolling.

Turning to where the sound came from, we saw a one hundred won coin rolling on the floor.

Forgetting the thought of catching the coin, we stared intently at the rolling coin.

Where on earth was that coin going to roll to?

As if it was waiting for our dazed moment, the coin jumped precisely under the drain.

“Ugh!”

“Coin! Coin!”

Snapping back to reality, we hurriedly ran toward the drain.

It was a drain blocked by bars, and it looked to be about one meter deep.

“This is bad. What should we do?”

We could have left a single one hundred won coin behind, but I didn’t want to show the kids that money could be treated carelessly.

Even if it was just one hundred won, money was still money.

Of course, regardless of the amount, I didn’t want to treat the one hundred won that Gaeul loved so poorly.

“I’m sorry, Gaeul… Levinas suggested the coin rain…”

Did Levinas think it was his fault for suggesting the game?

Feeling guilty, Levinas’s ears drooped.

Levinas also knew how much Gaeul loved coins.

“It’s okay.”

“There’s a coin stuck here, is that alright…?”

“Hack…!”

Tap-tap—

Gaeul tapped Levinas on the head.

With each tap, Levinas’s rabbit ears began to perk up again.

I was relieved that Levinas regained his spirits.

“But how do we get this out?”

I pointed to the coin that had fallen into the drain.

Then Haneul showed her mechanical arm.

“Shall I try to take it out…?”

“No, I’ll do it.”

“It’s dirty, so I think it’s better if I do it…?”

“It’s fine.”

While Haneul and Saebyeok argued about who would do it, Gaeul stepped forward.

Gaeul was staring intently at Levinas as if she had something to say.

“Bububub! Pibubub!”

“Huh?”

With her cheeks puffed out, Gaeul began to blow air.

What on earth did that mean?

We watched Gaeul for a while, and soon we realized what she meant.

“Ah! Soap bubbles!”

“Hack! Matta!”

Levinas pulled out his prized soap bubble from his bag.

Phew.

Levinas blew the soap bubble down into the drain.

The bubble floated down perfectly and retrieved Gaeul’s coin.

“Coin! Coin!”

“Ahem.”

With the rescued coin in hand, Gaeul jumped up, and Levinas puffed out his chest in joy.

The children overcame their troubles and regained their happiness.

It was another incredibly happy day.

**

The next day.

I moved to the four-stage dungeon with the Divine Beasts that had shrunk thanks to Bomi’s magic.

With the Divine Beasts, I was invincible even in the four-stage dungeon.

‘I need to clear this quickly and get out.’

Just as I was about to enter the dungeon with the Divine Beasts, I stopped in my tracks.

About forty people were loitering near the portal.

‘What’s going on?’

Is there some special dungeon here?

As I was about to enter the dungeon, I naturally blended into the crowd.

Thanks to that, I quickly realized why they had gathered here.

They were here to receive training for the four-stage dungeon.

“This is a dungeon where Leviathans appear. Does anyone know what a Leviathan is?”

“A monster that looks like a demon.”

“Yes. Leviathans do resemble demon imps.”

A senior adventurer who smiled lightly looked around at the adventurers receiving training.

When our eyes met, he seemed a bit flustered.

‘Ah.’

Am I not supposed to be here?

Just as I was thinking I needed to enter the dungeon quickly, the senior adventurer continued speaking as if it didn’t matter.

“Do you know what the biggest characteristic of a Leviathan is?”

“Resurrection?”

“Yes. A Leviathan can resurrect even after dying. The scariest one among them is the self-destructing Leviathan.”

“Self-destruct?”

“Yes. The one you thought was dead suddenly gets up and self-destructs. Many adventurers died when they first discovered it. That’s why Leviathans are considered top-tier among four-stage dungeons.”

Self-destructing Leviathan.

It was a creature I had seen in the monster encyclopedia written by the Master.

Fortunately, it also mentioned how to counter its self-destruction.

“What should we do if a Leviathan tries to self-destruct?”

“You either run far away before it explodes or have a magician or warrior throw it far away. Since Leviathans are small and light, they can be easily thrown.”

Oh.

That was a bit different from the countermeasure written in our Master’s encyclopedia.

Of course, that didn’t mean their method was wrong.

Adventurers had their own ways of doing things.

Someday, I would have to use that method.

I stored the newly learned countermeasure against Leviathans in my mind.

“Senior, but we can’t perfectly handle a Leviathan yet…”

“It’s okay. I borrowed this friend from Dawn.”

The senior adventurer reached into his pocket.

What he pulled out was none other than our Gubugi.

“Ah.”

I wondered why they didn’t kick me out for attending the class freely.

They borrowed Gubugi for that reason.

I waved at Gubugi with a happy heart.

“Oh, turtle…!”

“Hey, it’s not a turtle, it’s Gubugi.”

The beginner adventurers attending the class also expressed their delight at Gubugi’s appearance.

It seemed many people knew how amazing Gubugi’s shield ability was.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.

**

I followed the people attending the class into the dungeon.

Of course, I proceeded with my own battle.

‘That’s…’

A demon-type monster, Leviathan, slightly smaller than me.

However, unlike the others with a dark blue hue, this Leviathan had a red color.

It was a characteristic of the self-destructing ones.

Squeak—!

Thud—!

I immediately shot an arrow into its head.

It fell without a sound, but I remained alert and watched it carefully.

‘As expected, it doesn’t move.’

The resurrection condition for Leviathans was getting close.

I nocked another arrow and approached it.

Whoooosh—!

As I got closer to the Leviathan, mana began to rise from its body.

“Eek…!”

The creature, rising like a zombie, rolled its eyes and charged at me.

The red glow of its body meant it was about to explode.

‘In this case…’

The self-destructing Leviathan was a dangerous creature that activated all its mana to explode its body.

This meant that if I cut off this activated mana, it wouldn’t explode.

‘This is how I was told to use mana.’

I checked the mana flowing through the Leviathan’s body and infused my arrow with the opposing mana.

Then, without hesitation, I shot the arrow at it.

The target was the area around its heart, where the most mana flowed.

Squeak—!

Thud—!

The arrow that hit the self-destructing Leviathan’s heart scattered its mana.

It took less than a second to think, read the flow of mana, and shoot the arrow.

‘I understand why people don’t use this method.’

To prevent a Leviathan from self-destructing, quick judgment was essential.

It was a difficult task unless you were a skilled senior adventurer or someone who could see the world slowly.

‘That’s why they said to run away or throw it far.’

Even if adventurers caught the same monster, each had their own way of dealing with it.

I felt a sense of joy in catching monsters in the same way as our Master.

“Hehe.”

Feeling the trembling tail, I processed the body of the self-destructing Leviathan.

The method of preventing the self-destruct was good because I could harvest the magic stone without damage.

‘The magic stone is red too.’

I put the red magic stone in my pocket and perked up my ears to search for other monsters.

However, what I heard was not the sound of monsters but the astonished voices of people.

“Ugh!”

“What’s with all these?!”

What’s going on?

Is there some kind of problem?

I hurriedly ran toward the source of the sound.

And there, I discovered an enormous number of self-destructing Leviathans.

The self-destructing Leviathan, which was supposed to appear one out of ten, was almost twenty.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!

Sigh… I love Monster Hunter, but it’s not running on my computer right now…

So, I made a big decision and changed my computer after seven years, but it still hasn’t arrived after a week…!

Oh no… oh no no no…!