Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Drip, drip.

Red blood trickled down his neck.

She tried to dodge swiftly, but it was too late to avoid it completely.

“Guh.”

He stares blankly at the harpy soaring skyward.

Its swift movements made even blocking the attack a struggle.

No, his thick leather hunter’s armor was already torn in places.

‘Is this really too much?’

I’ve hunted harpies before.

Among monster grades, the weakest is Grade 10.

Hapi is only an 8th-grade monster, so it’s not particularly strong.

But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for me.

I’m the weakest of the weak, an F-rank, aren’t I?

Even during that raid, the main raiders did most of the hunting, and my role was just to finish off the Harpies that fell to the ground.

‘Plus, it’s just too disadvantageous.’

The location itself was extremely disadvantageous for me.

There was no cover to hide behind, and no terrain I could use to my advantage.

The harpies flying overhead could see me clearly.

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

After gracefully circling the sky once, the harpy plunged toward the ground like an arrow again.

Perhaps using its momentum, it was too fast for the eye to follow.

Thud.

I lose my balance, tumbling awkwardly and landing on my butt.

‘If only I had a sword.’

The dagger for cutting, dropped when suddenly teleported in the dungeon, and the hunting longsword, propped against a wall to collect loot, flicker before his eyes.

Fighting bare-handed with no weapons only increases the damage on my end.

“What kind of quest is this?!”

Is this some kind of quest designed to make me suffer and die?

It wasn’t worth trying, and they made me face a vaguely strong monster, just wanting to see me die in the end.

‘At least give me a magic stone!’

If I had a magic stone, I could use the Golem Summon skill.

And I’m not even asking for a guardian-level golem to be summoned.

If I could just summon the weakest Stone Golem.

If I could just stop that swift harpy for a moment, I could somehow land an attack.

But if I just keep barely holding on like this, I’ll die from excessive bleeding before thirty minutes pass, let alone six hours.

‘There must be a way.’

This is a qualification test.

The quest clearly said so.

Then it wouldn’t make it this easy to die.

I must think of a way to survive here.

‘Golem…. Summoning a golem…. The golem’s heart….’

The magic stone embedded in its chest.

And the skill to summon a golem.

The skill description said a core was needed, but it didn’t specify what kind of core.

The moment I thought of that far.

‘Wait. If any magic stone will do….’

Whoosh-!

I barely dodged the harpy diving down to attack with its talons.

The harpy soared high into the sky to launch another attack.

Now.

‘Please!’

I placed my hand over my chest.

More precisely, on the magic stone, the golem’s heart.

And.

“Summon Golem!”

Creak, creak-.

The stones scattered around me began to tremble.

As if a magnet were brought close to a heavy iron lump.

As if the iron lump were being pulled along by a powerful magnetic force.

The stones slowly began to be drawn in.

Degururu-.

Dozens of pebbles have reached my feet before I know it.

Defying the natural law of gravity, they slowly climbed up my legs.

Crunch-.

Crunch-.

Finally, stones completely cover my entire body.

They bumped against each other, finding their place.

As if unwilling to allow even the slightest gap, their sharp edges fit together perfectly.

And.

I was reborn in the form of a golem.

Pahh-.

[New skill acquired.]

[Active Skill ‘Golem Armor’ added.]

[Skill]

Skill Name: Golem Armor

Level: 1

Type: Active

Description: Forms Golem Armor using the golem’s heart as its core. Strength and resistance increase. Golem Armor is affected by the user and skill level.

Effect: Attack Power +10 / Defense +20

Mana Cost: 1 + α

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The harpy screams as if torn apart.

Realizing my form had changed, the harpy began diving at full speed.

Clang!

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Thud-thud-.

The harpy’s talons swept across the golem’s armor.

Some of the stones composing the armor broke off under the impact of her sharp claws.

Wrum-.

The magic stone positioned over the left chest, where the heart should be, began to tremble.

A slight drain of mana was felt.

And the shattered armor regenerated in an instant, as if nothing had ever happened.

Click-clack.

I stretched my body, moving this way and that.

I felt no weight, no discomfort.

It felt as if it had always been part of me.

“Feels good, huh?”

Click-clack-.

I clenched my fist tightly.

The defense and regeneration of the golem armor I just confirmed.

With this, a mere swift harpy is nothing to fear.

“Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

The harpy screeched and flew toward me.

I stood still and waited.

“Kyaaah!”

The moment it attacked.

I swiftly grabbed its wings.

Thud.

Then I flung it to the ground.

Dust billowed up with the strong impact.

Crunch-.

I pressed down firmly on one wing of the fallen harpy.

Fluttering pitifully, but it’s futile resistance.

“Hand over the feathers.”

he said in a soft voice.

It was only because the golem armor covered my entire body; had it seen my expression, even a monster would have been terrified.

“Squeak!”

The tables had turned.

The one getting eaten was the harpy.

***

Night fell.

Streetlights begin to glow one by one.

And beneath them.

Eun-hee says with a coy expression.

“Why are you laughing?”

“That expression just now. You should have seen it yourself… Ha!”

The man bursting into laughter right in front of her.

It was Dojae.

“What’s wrong with my expression!”

“Your flustered face… Ha!”

Eun-hee puffed out her cheeks in a sulky expression and put a cigarette in her mouth.

“Why are you laughing so much!”

“Hahaha. No other intentions. I just thought your reaction was too cute.”

“What did you say?”

Eun-hee’s face flushed bright red.

She hurriedly lit her cigarette.

Sizzle-.

“That’s incredibly rude.”

Eun-hee hid her expression completely and spoke bluntly.

Only then realizing his mistake, Dojae quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry. That was crossing the line.”

“Well, since you’re someone who came back from the dead, I’ll let it slide.”

About 15 minutes earlier.

Eun-hee arrived at the hospital where Do-jae’s younger brother was staying to deliver the news of Do-jae’s death.

Delivering a death sentence was incredibly uncomfortable, but conveying it as quickly as possible was one of her principles.

Because no matter how long you wait for someone lost in a dungeon, they won’t come back.

She didn’t want to give them false hope.

But when she saw Dojae’s younger sibling, she couldn’t help but pause.

He was such a young child, and the thought that this boy would have to live alone from now on made her feel pity and sorrow.

She stood there, unable to step into the hospital room.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from behind me.

There stood Dojae, whom I thought was dead.

Surprise and relief washed over him.

And even curiosity about how he had managed to return alive.

A flood of emotions washed over me.

Little did he know Dojae would catch that expression.

“I didn’t get to ask you properly earlier, but how are you alive?”

Eun-hee asked, taking a few puffs on her cigarette.

“Ah, well. I came out first.”

“Huh?”

“Because my stomach hurt. I had to go to the bathroom.”

Do-jae pulled out the excuse he’d prepared.

He knew full well it wouldn’t hold water.

When a raid party is inside a dungeon, there’s always someone guarding outside.

But sometimes even a flimsy excuse can work if you give specific examples.

“Our staff are on standby…”

“I did speak to the person using that Apple phone rather hastily because it was urgent.”

“Ah, Mr. Min-su, is it… I told him not to just stare at his smartphone like that.”

There’s nothing more boring than just standing guard in front of a dungeon.

After waiting for hours, it’s only natural to want to play games on your smartphone or check your messages.

Since many people use Apple phones, I figured at least one person would be there, so I mentioned it.

“I didn’t explain it clearly, so please don’t scold the staff too much.”

“I understand that… But why didn’t you come back?”

“Well, obviously, the strategy was nearing completion, and I had already informed them, so I went to handle other tasks.”

“Huh… I see. Got it.”

Eun-hee felt a sense of emptiness.

All she did was go to the bathroom.

Forget about the documents she’d have to redo—she felt drained.

Tap- tap-.

Eun-hee tapped out the nearly burned-out cigarette butt.

It was time to head back.

“Thanks to you, I’ve got overtime work to do. I’ll be heading out now.”

“Yes. I’m sorry about that.”

“And Mr. Dojae.”

“Yes?”

“Smile more often. It’s nice to see you smile.”

Eun-hee gave Do-jae a gentle smile and left.

Do-jae stood under the streetlight for a long time afterward.

“Huh.”

He exhales deeply and lifts his head.

‘That went okay, I guess.’

He’d been worried she might say something out of the blue, but Eun-hee left without another word.

‘I almost got caught up changing clothes and was going to be late.’

How shocked would my little brother be to hear about his older brother’s death?

He’d been extra cautious lately because his immunity had dropped significantly, leading to several dangerous moments.

It was pure luck that we happened to meet right in front of the hospital room.

Thud.

Do-jae sat down on the bench and slumped his back against it.

Exhaustion washed over him all at once.

‘What does he want?’

Once he could catch his breath, curiosity about the quest arose.

Suddenly, he became a Golem Sorcerer and gained skills.

Before, fighting a harpy was something he couldn’t even dream of.

And this wasn’t the end.

Leveling up meant I could grow even stronger.

‘Is there anything I actually want?’

Perhaps there was no real intention behind it all.

As the world changed and Awakened ones emerged, people tried to understand why things had transformed so drastically.

But no one could uncover the truth.

As time passed, most people—except for a few scholars—came to accept Awakened and monsters as a given.

Just as life appeared on Earth at some point, it was seen as a series of coincidences piling up.

In the same way, Dojae’s reawakening—or perhaps it isn’t reawakening, but regardless—gaining this ability might also have no particular reason.

‘For now, let’s just follow along.’

At this moment when nothing is known.

There’s no need to assume it’s all bad.

Think of it as a reward for living hard, level up, and get stronger.

An opportunity has come to change this insignificant life that’s been nothing special until now.

All I need to do is seize this chance.

Swish-.

Dojae slipped his hand into his coat pocket.

And what he pulled out was a small box.

A brown box about the size of a few thousand won worth of boxed cookies.

‘Let’s open it.’

Click-.