Chapter 20

"Now I understand."

Beru had come to a realization.

"The pet system seems to be a sort of prisoner-of-war system."

Shadow Extraction was an ability that extracted shadow soldiers from enemy corpses. The pet system, on the other hand, could enslave enemies without killing them. The difference between the two was whether they could grow.

"If you killed Growly right now and extracted him as a shadow soldier, he would remain a wolf pup forever."

Gray's situation was different from Beru's, whose small size was only temporary due to his lack of mana. The moment Gray became a shadow soldier, he would be extracted in his current weak, immature form.

"Of course, your leveling up would have some effect on him, Young Monarch, but there would be clear limits. On the other hand, if you raise him alive like this..."

"He could keep growing until he's a huge wolf like Broki."

"Yes. By then, he would be of use to you as well."

"And how long will that take?"

Suho chuckled at the claim that Gray would be useful to him and looked at the pup.

[Gray Lv.2]

Fang Wolf

"Whiiine..."

Once the madness from 'Skill: Harsh Command' wore off, Gray had reverted to a feeble little pup. Still, considering he had looked ready to drop dead at first, he seemed much better thanks to leveling up. But the way he huddled in a corner, only moving his eyes to glance their way, suggested he was still wary of Suho.

Suho let out a short sigh.

"Seriously, how long will it take to raise him into something useful?"

"He may not amount to much now, but surely he will be of some use when he grows. He will earn experience for you on his own, after all."

"So, in game terms, it's like auto-hunting."

The trouble was that, for now, that game was little more than a minigame.

"All right. Then let's keep raising Gray here."

-I agree. He needs magic beasts for all three meals anyway, so we couldn't ask for a better environment.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

-What? Why? Aren't we on the same side now?

"..."

Rakan’s Fang had casually slipped its opinion into the conversation. Incidentally, it had been floating beside Suho under the effects of Ruler's Authority this entire time.

Suho snatched its hilt and said, "All right. Shall I get started on leveling up myself?"

Gray wasn't the only reason he had come to the Shadow Dungeon. Even after he had completed the four-hour survival quest last time, the dungeon was still teeming with wild goblins. Quest or no quest, hunting them would earn him experience.

'Last time, I was so weak that all I could do was run. Things are very different now.'

All that leveling up had certainly paid off. Most of their name tags had turned white. At this level, he was confident he could handle them no matter how many there were. But he had no intention of searching for them one by one in the dark.

"Inventory."

Suho took out an item the goblins had dropped upon dying during his last survival quest.

Beru tilted his head.

"Young Monarch, what is that?"

"This?"

Suho grinned.

[Item: Horn]

Acquisition Difficulty: E

Type: Musical Instrument

A horn used by a Goblin Centurion to summon its subordinates.

"Since I have it, I might as well put it to use, right?"

Suho put the horn to his lips and blew hard.

BWOOOO!

[Using 'Item: Horn' to summon nearby goblins.]

At that moment...

SKREEE!

The silent monochrome world erupted with noise. Goblins hidden in the darkness began rushing out all at once. Realizing that a human had summoned them, they bared their vicious nature in fury.

KRRK, KRRK! KRRRRK!

"Oh! How very clever of you! What an ingenious way to repurpose it!"

Suho bared his teeth fiercely as goblins charged at him from every direction.

"Beru."

"Yes!"

"Now it's your turn to eat."

"Skreeee!"

Beru's lips curled upward, his eyes gleaming with greed. Mana stones were all well and good, but eating magic beasts directly was far more efficient for replenishing his mana.

Just then...

DING!

['Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon' has arrived.]

"Huh?"

A message had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon]

100 Goblins: Incomplete (0/100)

10 Goblin Decurions: Incomplete (0/10)

1 Goblin Centurion: Incomplete (0/1)

"A daily quest?"

Suho's eyes widened. He had been planning to hunt anyway, and a quest had appeared at the perfect time.

"Nice."

Since it was a quest, there would naturally be rewards. And since it was a daily quest, that meant he would receive those rewards every day.

"It seems the system wants to make this place entirely your domain, Young Monarch."

"... So this really was Dad's system."

Suho murmured with a wistful expression.

'It reminds me of getting pocket money for polishing Dad's shoes when I was little.'

"All right! Let's see how much pocket money he'll give me this time!"

Suho swung his sword with vigor.

[Using 'Skill: Storm Slash.']

A fierce storm swept through.

* * *

Some time later...

"Kek!"

[You have defeated a Goblin Archer.]

[100 Goblins: Incomplete (89/100)]

"Krrrk!"

[You have defeated a Goblin Decurion.]

[10 Goblin Decurions: Incomplete (9/10)]

Wielding twin swords, Suho was slaughtering goblins like a madman. But unlike before, he wasn't fighting alone. He had picked out only the largest Goblin Decurions to serve as his shadow soldiers. He had no fewer than seven of them.

[Number of shadows that can be extracted: 7/7]

It was thanks to the increase in his Intelligence stat after defeating Broki.

Yet even with this tremendous improvement over before, Suho still felt something was missing.

"At times like this, it's a shame the shadow soldiers disappear on their own after a while. You said Dad had a Shadow Storage skill too, right?"

"Yes, that is correct. My liege commanded eternal soldiers."

"Then will I be able to do that later too?"

"That, I cannot say."

Suho smacked his lips in disappointment.

'Anyway...'

Despite doing so well, he still hadn't received a single level-up notification. The easier the fighting, the less experience he earned.

'This is practically just a morning workout.'

Then again, it would be a problem if a daily quest was too difficult. Fighting for his life every day would be stressful too.

But...

'Where's the sense of accomplishment in this?'

Since he was at it, Suho took out the horn again.

BWOOO! BWOOOO!

[Using 'Item: Horn' to summon nearby goblins.]

Immediately...

KRRK! KRRK! KRRK! KRRRRK!

A fresh troop of goblins began rushing out of the darkness.

Beru stared at Suho with wide eyes.

"Young Monarch? Have you not nearly finished the daily quest?"

"So what? I've got plenty of time today anyway. Let's keep going until I level up."

"Ahh. Young Monarch, you truly are a born soldier ant."

"That's a compliment, right?"

Suho grinned as the newly arriving goblins surrounded him.

A little while later...

[Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon]

100 Goblins: Complete (107/100)

10 Goblin Decurions: Complete (10/10)

1 Goblin Centurion: Complete (1/1)

[You have completed 'Daily Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon.']

[Your completion rewards have arrived.]

[Would you like to view your rewards?] (Y/N)

"... Huh?"

Suho happened to check the quest window, and his eyes went wide. He had been so caught up in fighting the goblins that he hadn't even checked the reward notification yet, but now he had spotted something strange.

[100 Goblins: Complete (107/100)]

'Why is the count still going up when I've already met the target?'

A sharp gleam flashed in Suho's eyes. Could this really be a coincidence?

SLASH!

Suho cut off the head of a Goblin Decurion that charged him just then.

[You have defeated a Goblin Decurion.]

[10 Goblin Decurions: Complete (11/10)]

'Just as I thought!'

The other count was continuing to rise as well.

Curiosity suddenly struck him.

'How high will it count?'

Suho began hunting goblins with even more enthusiasm. He finally leveled up along the way, but he didn't stop hunting.

As a result...

[100 Goblins: Complete (200/100)]

[10 Goblin Decurions: Complete (20/10)]

[1 Goblin Centurion: Complete (1/1)]

Once the counts reached exactly twice their targets, they stopped increasing.

'There's something to this.'

Suho's curiosity had now turned to certainty.

[1 Goblin Centurion: Complete (1/1)]

All that remained was one centurion.

"Krrrak!"

If he killed that one, every count would be doubled.

'What happens then?'

He would find out by trying.

"Grab him! Don't let him get away!"

"Krrrk!"

At Suho's command, the Shadow Goblins rushed in together and seized the hulking Goblin Centurion's limbs.

"Kyaaak!"

The centurion thrashed and roared viciously. Suho rushed up and cut its head clean off.

Then...

DING!

[You have completed 'Hidden Quest: Cleaning the Shadow Dungeon.']

[Your completion rewards have arrived.]

[Would you like to view your rewards?] (Y/N)

"A hidden quest?"

The moment every count had doubled, the quest type had changed. Suho felt a thrill at having his hunch confirmed. With the centurion dead, no more goblins were attacking, so he decided to check his rewards right away.

"View rewards."

DING!

[The following rewards are available.]

Reward 1. Status Recovery

Reward 2. Stat Points +3

Hidden Reward 3.

1) Blessed Random Box (Select)

2) Cursed Random Box (Select)

[Would you like to accept all rewards?]

'Three rewards?'

He decided to check the first reward for now. He had leveled up partway through, but fighting two hundred goblins had left him utterly exhausted.

"Accept the first reward."

At that moment, a soft blue aura enveloped Suho's entire body. He was restored to perfect condition, just as when he leveled up.

"Oh, this is nice."

The moment he experienced it, he realized how he could use this reward in the future. If he saved it and used it at the right moment when he was injured in combat, he wouldn't have to simply hope for a level-up.

"Accept the second reward."

The second reward, 'Stat Points +3,' was excellent too. As he had experienced today, leveling up would only get harder as his level rose. But this was a daily quest reward, meaning he could grow stronger this way every single day.

And now, finally... only the hidden quest reward remained.

Hidden Reward 3.

1) Blessed Random Box (Select)

2) Cursed Random Box (Select)

A choice lay before Suho.