Chapter 138: Monster Friends (2)
A forest horned rabbit sprawled out in the middle of a well-worn animal path.
“Kyuu…… Kyuruuk…… Help…… me……. “
As if sensing someone’s presence, it cries even more desperately than before.
The forest horned rabbit, which should have just been whimpering ‘kyuruuk kyuruuk’, was lying helplessly on its back, crying and speaking human words.
“Whoa……. “
The four members of the Bioengineering29Forever net were struck speechless by the bizarre sight.
A monster speaking human language?
They had heard that monsters capable of human speech were extremely rare.
Moreover, even then, it was said to be limited to creatures with intelligence levels comparable to orcs, goblins, or at least trolls or ogres.
But the monster lying sprawled on the ground, crying, was a forest horned rabbit.
They had never even heard of a forest horned rabbit speaking human language.
Suddenly, a smile spread across the faces of the four Bioengineering29Forever members.
“Did that thing just speak, for real? Did it?”
“Anyone could tell it was speaking human language.”
“Isn’t this it? That…… a hidden piece?”
“Holy sh♡, jackpot! fuc(beep)ing awesome!”
A forest horned rabbit speaking human language and asking for help.
It was definitely a hidden piece.
They had to save it, no matter what!
The four decided to play rock-paper-scissors to fairly determine who would get the hidden piece.
“Rock-paper-scissors! Rock-paper-scissors! Yes! I won!”
“Wow, bro, you’re so lucky.”
“Damn it…… Why did I throw scissors…….”
“Ah, sh♡ (nice words) You little (nice words) Son of a (nice words) Damn it!”
The winner of rock-paper-scissors was BusanMan.
“Alright! Watch your brother do his thing!”
BusanMan, leaving behind PoliteWords0187 and the other two who were still cursing, approached the struggling forest horned rabbit.
“Help…… me…… Kyuruuk…… Help…… Kyul……. “
“Oh my, oh my. Our poor little forest horned rabbit. What happened to you~”
As BusanMan took out a potion from his inventory and tried to give it to the forest horned rabbit.
“Kyuruuuk!”
(This is my chance!)
“Gah―?!”
Thud!
[Player 『BusanMan』 has died.]
BusanMan was instantly killed, his neck pierced by the forest horned rabbit.
[You will be forcibly logged out.]
Shatter!
BusanMan vanished into thin air, like shattered glass.
The remaining three members of Bioengineering29Forever were frozen stiff by the sudden turn of events.
But it was only for a moment.
The Bioengineering29Forever members, regaining their composure, immediately attempted a counterattack.
“You little bastard, how dare you do that to our bro……! Huh?!”
“What the ♡! How can a rabbit this (nice words) bite like a ♡ing (nice words), huh?!”
Thud! Thud!
The forest horned rabbit’s powerful jump stab!
SuncheonSea and PoliteWords0187 followed BusanMan, scattering into the air.
“S, See, I told you it was too much! I’m out of here, going back to town!”
SafetyFirst, leaving the forest horned rabbit behind, started running away as if his life depended on it.
But that was a mistake.
Instead of a clean death with one blow, he had to suffer dozens.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud!
Dozens of forest horned rabbits that had sprung out from the bushes riddled SafetyFirst’s entire body with holes.
“Uh…… Ugh……. “
Thump!
Shatter!
In the end, SafetyFirst met the same fate as his comrades, albeit a little further away.
…….
Clatter.
Kyung-joon, the mastermind behind this entire spectacle, emerged from the bushes.
Looking around, he saw the items dropped by the four Bioengineering29Forever members upon their deaths.
The surrounding forest horned rabbits were frowning.
“We succeeded in the hunt, kyul. But there’s nothing to eat, kyul. Come to think of it, these humans disappear quickly, kyul…….”
Since players disappeared immediately upon death, there was nothing for the forest horned rabbits to gain.
Anticipating this, Kyung-joon had come prepared.
Thud!
Kyung-joon gave the forest horned rabbits a large amount of wolf meat that he had asked the villagers to roast beforehand.
“Here, eat this wolf meat. Go ahead.”
“……?!”
“It’s meat, kyul!”
“Kyuruuk!”
As Kyung-joon offered the meat in the rabbit language he had become quite familiar with, the forest horned rabbits swarmed in like rats and began to tear at the meat.
Chomp chomp!
The sight of cute rabbits engaging in carnivorous behavior was truly bizarre and surreal.
Still, seeing them eat so deliciously made him understand why people kept pets.
‘Let’s take a look at the items.’
While the forest horned rabbits were busy eating, Kyung-joon decided to check the items dropped by the players.
▼Aegis Protectorate Ceremonial One-Handed Sword
▼Portable Advanced Cooking Tool Set
▼Rare Binding Stone
▼Admantite Ore
The ceremonial one-handed sword was, as its name suggested, an ordinary one-handed sword, and the cooking tool set was much the same.
The only items that particularly caught his eye were the Rare Binding Stone and the Admantite Ore.
Kyung-joon immediately checked the status windows of the two items.
[Binding Stone]
▶A white, translucent ore. It possesses strong cohesive properties.
▶When ground into powder and infused with the appropriate mana during transmutation, it can be used as an extremely strong adhesive.
▶Item Grade: Rare
The Binding Stone was an item used like glue to join parts when crafting equipment or weapons.
Next, he checked the Admantite Ore.
[Admantite Ore]
▶An ore that is the source of both 『adamantium』, obtained through refining at extremely high temperatures, and 『adamantine』, an ultra-rare mineral produced with a very low probability during the process.
▶Item Grade: Unique
Admantite, said to be practically essential for crafting Unique grade or higher items.
Although it was said to be not as hard as diamond, the reason why it was frequently mentioned was clear.
This was because admantite had the property of 『becoming harder the more mana was poured into it.』
‘These are quite interesting items.’
Kyung-joon decided to ask the forest horned rabbits if it was okay for him to take these items.
After all, it wasn’t him, but the forest horned rabbits, who had hunted down the Bioengineering29Forever members.
Chomp chomp. Munch munch.
However, he had been told not to bother them while they were eating, so he decided to wait a bit…….
“Burp! I’m full, kyul!”
“That was delicious, kyul!”
“Kyul kyul!”
Finally, the forest horned rabbits finished their meal.
“Mr. Rabbits, if you don’t need these items, can I take them all?”
“Take them, kyul!”
“We don’t need them anyway, kyul!”
“We don’t care about things we can’t eat, kyul!”
“Oh, thank you then.”
Delighted with the unexpected windfall, Kyung-joon gathered the items one by one.
Then, he made a proposal to the forest horned rabbits.
“From now on, when you guys are hunting and you get items like these, bring them to me. I’ll trade them for meat.”
Anyway, there was more than enough wolf meat in the territory.
The Energy Tower was catching prairie wolves every day.
“Kyul?! Really, kyul?”
“Are you sure you can give us that much, kyul?”
“I don’t understand, kyul!”
“This isn’t giving away for free, it’s a trade. You guys give me the items you get from hunting, and I give you meat in return. That’s what a trade is.”
“Trade……! Okay, kyul! Let’s trade, kyul!”
“We’ll trade with Kyung-joon, kyul! We’re friends, kyul!”
“As a token of our friendship, we’ll groom you, kyul! Kyumul kyumul! Smoock smoock!”
The forest horned rabbits swarmed towards Kyung-joon and began to groom him vigorously.
Kyung-joon’s pants became soaked from the forest horned rabbits’ grooming.
Squelch squelch.
However, Kyung-joon didn’t mind and let them rub their bodies and heads against him in order to become closer to them.
When he finished interacting with each and every one of the forest horned rabbits, a new status window popped up before his eyes.
[You have formed a contract with the forest horned rabbit colony at the edge of Whale Forest.]
[From now on, the forest horned rabbits will bring you the spoils of their hunts.]
[In return, you must provide food for the forest horned rabbits.]
[This contract will last as long as you maintain a good relationship with each other.]
And so, following Ceram, Kyung-joon made his second monster friend.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Kyung-joon continued studying the monster language whenever he had time.
“Kyung-joon-nim. This time, a spotted deer really wants to talk to you.”
“A spotted deer?”
“Yes. A poor guy who has been single for 25 years. He’s about to turn 26.”
“Oh…… Oh……. “
Kyung-joon’s monster language study + making friends with monsters proceeded in the following Q&A format.
『Q. Hello. I’m a spotted deer. I’ve never mated in 25 years. The females don’t even come near me, saying I smell like poop. When I try to approach them first, they chase me away with their mana thorns. I tried washing myself thoroughly by the river, but our spotted deer have a very keen sense of smell, so I can’t get rid of it.』
[Unique Quest 『The Sorrow of a 25-Year-Old Virgin Spotted Deer』 has occurred.]
Kyung-joon was heartbroken by the sad news of the spotted deer and cried with him in deer language, ‘Kkoko’.
A true friend is someone who not only empathizes but also helps to find a solution.
Kyung-joon analyzed the spotted deer’s body from head to toe.
And it wasn’t long before he was able to pinpoint the cause.
Kyung-joon’s A to the spotted deer’s Q was as follows:
『A. This is exactly the same principle as musk. I don’t know why it’s only you, but it seems like you’re genetically predisposed to have a strong body odor. But some argue that smell is actually a pheromone that attracts the opposite sex. Okay. I’ll make you popular. Here!』
What Kyung-joon handed to the 26-year-old virgin spotted deer next year was a strong alcoholic drink.
He didn’t give it to him to forget and feel comfortable after drinking.
Kyung-joon rubbed the alcohol all over the spotted deer’s body.
Then he sent the spotted deer to where the females were.
And then.
“Kkoflower! Kkokkoflower?”
(Oh my! What’s this scent?)
“Kkokkoflower!”
(The scent of a handsome deer!)
“Flower~! Kkokkokkoflower~!”
(Ah~! I’m seduced~!)
The female spotted deer, who wouldn’t let him within 100 meters of them before, started to approach him first!
[The spotted deer you helped has been given the unique title 『Harem Master』.]
[The spotted deer is receiving endless requests for affection from the females.]
“Kko! Kkokkoflower!”
(Wow! I can’t believe this is happening to me!)
The once single spotted deer couldn’t help but marvel at his newfound popularity.
Ceram, who was watching the scene with great interest, asked Kyung-joon.
“How did you do that? That spotted deer, even I had a bit of a hard time with the smell…… Why does he suddenly smell so good?”
“I think that single spotted deer must have inherited the musk deer’s genes. But for some reason, there was a genetic mutation, and the musk smell is coming from his whole body.”
Musk, which is used as an ingredient in perfumes in the real world, originally has a very pungent odor.
“But when you dissolve it in alcohol, it extracts a certain substance that turns it into a fragrance. Was it El-muscone or Ambroxan…… I’m not sure because I just skimmed through it while I was studying. Anyway, once the substance is extracted, the stench turns into a fragrance, which becomes a pheromone that attracts females.”
“Hmm…… That’s something I’ve never heard of before. I’m impressed.”
Ceram didn’t fully understand Kyung-joon’s explanation, but he got the gist of it.
Just as Kyung-joon was accumulating knowledge of language and culture while living with Ceram, Ceram was also learning various and interesting things from Kyung-joon.
“Kkoflower! Kkokkokkoflower!”
(Thank you so much! You’re my best friend!)
The spotted deer licked Kyung-joon’s hand with gratitude.
At the same time, he handed Kyung-joon something as a reward…….
“Kkokkoflower. Kkokkokkoflower.”
(I got this from catching a human. It’s so cool to carry around, I used it a lot this summer.)
[You have successfully cleared the Unique Quest 『The Sorrow of a 25-Year-Old Virgin Spotted Deer』.]
[You have acquired the unique item 『Ice Demon Claw』 as a reward.]
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