“What the hell is that…?”
“We’re going to tame it and take it with us, so watch carefully.”
“You’re going to tame that thing?”
“Yes.”
“Is that even possible? Do you have some kind of taming skill or something?”
Taming?
As if such a skill would exist.
If he had something like that, he would have tamed all the monsters and swept through the field long ago. Sa-yoon was about to reply “no” to Geon-joo’s incredibly naive question when the Shadow Worm lunged, twisting its body.
Kwagagaga!
The creature moved close to the ground, digging up the soil. A sandstorm kicked up, and their vision blurred with a dusty cloud. It was a violent movement that didn’t seem to care at all about its skin being scraped by the ground.
Sensing that a hot-tempered one had arrived, Sa-yoon stopped talking and gripped his weapon with the blunt side of the blade facing forward as he charged towards the Shadow Worm. Since he intended to tame it and use it as a mount, it would be a problem if it got too injured in battle.
To avoid causing harm, he faced the creature with the bluntest part possible. The back of the S-rank longsword struck the Shadow Worm’s side.
―Gueeeeek!
The giant monster twisted its body left and right, then Kwadeuk! It bit Sa-yoon’s arm. If it just twisted its body now, Sa-yoon’s arm wouldn’t be able to withstand the bite force and would be torn off. However, Sa-yoon had no intention of giving his arm to the creature.
Kwadeudeudeuk!
The Shadow Worm that had bitten Sa-yoon’s arm turned its head in place. Sa-yoon immediately followed the creature’s movement, kicking off the ground.
As it turned its head, as it twisted its body, Sa-yoon nimbly followed along. Angered, the Shadow Worm moved its mouth as if trying to sever Sa-yoon’s arm with its teeth.
The time it took to open its mouth wide and then bite down on the arm again.
Thanks to that brief opening, Sa-yoon was able to slip his shoulder out of the creature’s mouth instead of his numb arm. Moving swiftly, Sa-yoon mounted the creature’s back and swung his sword.
―Gueoook!
As he struck down with the back of the blade, the Shadow Worm screamed. If he were trying to kill it, it would have been over in an instant, but taming it wasn’t so easy. Clicking his tongue, Sa-yoon fixed his legs to the Shadow Worm’s sides, squeezing to maintain his position, and struck the creature’s body once more.
Bang! Bang! The back of the blade struck the skin forcefully. Sa-yoon, timing it with when the creature curled up as if in pain, used a skill.
<Skill ‘Induce Fear’ is activated.>
<The enemy is terrified!>
The awaited notification window appeared. The aura emitted by the Shadow Worm subsided considerably compared to before. Sa-yoon lightly scratched the Shadow Worm’s skin with the sharp tip of his blade.
―Gueueu….
Realizing that what was touching its body was not the back of the blade but the edge, the worm flinched and then lowered itself close to the ground. It was an action acknowledging that its opponent was stronger than itself.
Sa-yoon gently patted the back of the Shadow Worm, which was trembling in fear and lowering its body to let him dismount.
“That’s right.”
At the praise, the worm’s body twitched. It wasn’t clear if it was startled or pleased, but it seemed the taming had been successful anyway.
“……”
Geon-joo, who had been watching Sa-yoon’s eccentric behavior with surprised eyes, looked dumbfounded as he saw his guild master actually taming a giant monster and bringing it back. He took out a potion from his inventory. He poured the potion on Sa-yoon’s arm. While leaving the treatment to Geon-joo, Sa-yoon kept his eyes on the Shadow Worm, alternating between stroking its back and lightly scratching it with his sword, using carrot and stick to placate the creature.
After repeated threats and praises, the confused Shadow Worm finally lay flat on the ground in a sign of submission.
“…Is it done now?”
“Not yet.”
Sa-yoon swung his arm, which had been restored to normal thanks to Geon-joo’s timely application of the potion, and approached the front of the Shadow Worm. He grabbed the creature’s head and stared directly into its eyes. The dark blue pupils momentarily took on a grayish hue.
Woong, woong.
Sa-yoon’s body and the Shadow Worm’s body resonated once. It was a signal that their senses had been shared.
‘Share (S)’ and ‘Communicate (A+)’.
These were skills that had helped Sa-yoon, as the leader of the Night Rat, handle crows and snakes to collect information. Skills that could share the memories and five senses of a designated target. This time, by using these skills on the Shadow Worm, Sa-yoon made it so that what the creature saw and felt was transmitted to him as well. He stroked the back of the Shadow Worm, which was now docile as a lamb, quietly accepting his touch.
The senses of monsters and animals are keener than those of humans.
It was probably instinctively realizing that it was sharing senses with the human before it and feeling a sense of security.
“It’s unbelievably docile now…”
Geon-joo reacted as if amazed by the sight. Sa-yoon shrugged once and patted the Shadow Worm’s body, commanding it to dig into the ground.
The creature, having received the shared thought, sluggishly returned to the hole it had sprung from. Geon-joo, surprised, pointed at the worm’s retreating figure.
“Isn’t it running away?”
“It’s following my order to dig a tunnel. It’ll dig about 5 kilometers and then come back. Then we’ll ride on its back to move.”
“…Doesn’t this feel like abuse?”
“If it’s not being utilized, it would just have to die. Why worry about such things?”
“……”
“If you feel so sorry for it, why don’t you dig the tunnel yourself? I’ll give you a shovel.”
Sa-yoon took out the shovel he had put away from his inventory. Only then did Geon-joo shake his head, saying it wasn’t that pitiful, and refused the shovel Sa-yoon offered.
The Shadow Worm used its enormous body to quickly dig a 5-kilometer tunnel and returned to Sa-yoon’s side. Sa-yoon stroked the creature’s body as a sign of approval for its successful return, then grabbed Geon-joo and mounted the Shadow Worm’s back.
“We’re going to burrow underground, so hold on tight.”
“There’s nothing to hold onto.”
“Ah.”
That was true.
Realizing the error in his words, as the worm’s body was all smooth like a mealworm’s, Sa-yoon corrected himself.
“Then grab my waist.”
“……”
“If you fall because of some needless stubbornness, I won’t catch you. Keep that in mind. After that, you can walk or crawl on your own, whatever you like.”
He had no intention of taking care of an idiot who fell due to their own stubbornness. When he pointed out that Geon-joo should at least distinguish between what he didn’t want to do and what he had to do, Geon-joo made a disgruntled face and slowly moved his hands to grab Sa-yoon’s waist. Seeing arms that looked like they might fall off with a light tap, Sa-yoon pulled them tight around his waist.
“Don’t do it half-heartedly, hold on tight.”
At the firm command, Geon-joo finally sighed once and gripped Sa-yoon’s waist tightly.
Tuk tuk. Sa-yoon patted the Shadow Worm’s body to signal departure.
Kwagagaga!
The Shadow Worm quickly moved through the tunnel again. It was a nimble speed that didn’t match its enormous size – if Geon-joo hadn’t been holding onto Sa-yoon’s waist, he would have fallen off in 1 second.
“Open up all your senses, pretty boy. If you feel anything strange, tell me immediately.”
Dungeons rarely revealed themselves openly, saying “I’m a dungeon.” Usually, they were hidden in cores that acted as mediums for the dungeon, and you had to strike these cores to open the dungeon. So, to enter a dungeon, the first step was to find a core emitting an unusual energy.
When Sa-yoon informed Geon-joo of this fact, something that was either a response or a scream came from behind. Sa-yoon clicked his tongue. It seemed that Geon-joo, fluttering like a paper doll behind him, was experiencing his limits just trying not to fall off the Shadow Worm that was dashing at a speed of about 150 kilometers per hour.
Ughk, ughk.
The sound of retching continued from behind. Wondering if he was about to vomit on his back, Sa-yoon turned his head to check Geon-joo’s complexion. He looked extremely pale. It would be believable if he said he was about to faint.
“What’s wrong? First time riding a mealworm?”
“As if I’ve ever ridden one befo— Ughk!”
“Hey, hey, don’t talk! Don’t talk!”
He regretted asking. As Geon-joo covered his mouth with a pained expression, Sa-yoon told him to just keep his mouth shut if it was that hard to endure, then grabbed one of Geon-joo’s arms to help him not fall off and stroked the Shadow Worm’s back.
Faster.
At the command, the Shadow Worm moved through the tunnel at an even quicker pace. It was a decision made to move as quickly as possible, given Geon-joo’s poor condition.
However, during the 5-kilometer journey, no special energy was detected. When the dug tunnel ended, the Shadow Worm resurfaced, let Sa-yoon and Geon-joo off, and returned to dig more. After repeating this two more times, Sa-yoon finally succeeded in detecting a suspicious energy underground. His eyes flashed open, and he patted the Shadow Worm’s back, ordering it to go up.
Kwadeudeudeuk!
The Shadow Worm immediately shot up to the surface. It was even faster than when passing through the tunnel, and Geon-joo could be heard gasping for breath.
“If it’s too hard, at least close your eyes.”
At the brief advice, the noise from behind subsided.
Kwaaa!
Finally, the Shadow Worm emerged from the deep underground and poked its head above ground.
“Puha!”
As soon as he saw sunlight, Geon-joo took a deep breath. Although Sa-yoon had provided an artifact to allow breathing underground, the artifact couldn’t completely replace the clean air of the surface. Watching Geon-joo stabilize his breathing with repeated inhales and exhales, Sa-yoon stroked the Shadow Worm’s head, ordering it to stand by here.
“Haa, ha…. Have we, found it now?”
“I’m not certain, but probably.”
The energy of a dungeon was clearly felt. As Sa-yoon looked down, Geon-joo, who was peering around the hole, spoke up.
“But why did we come up?”
“We need a hole to come up through after clearing the dungeon.”
“Ah….”
Hearing the exclamation mixed with a youthful voice, Sa-yoon used the skill ‘Insight’. As he sent out the energy of the skill, there was ground inside that resonated in response to his skill. Sa-yoon raised the corners of his mouth.
It was indeed a dungeon, as expected.
“Follow me, pretty boy!”
Shouting, Sa-yoon grabbed Geon-joo by the collar and fell into the hole the Shadow Worm had dug. The sword he held in reverse grip aimed at the ground that had been continuously vibrating.
Kwaaang!
As he struck down forcefully, the ground seemed to split along the sword, and then a vast energy poured out from inside, swallowing up Sa-yoon and Geon-joo.
“Is this right?”
Geon-joo, who had been helplessly drawn into the ground by the pulling force, shouted in surprise. And at the same time, a familiar notification sound rang in both Sa-yoon and Geon-joo’s ears.
<You have entered the high-level dungeon ‘The Worm King’s Burrow’.>
Checking the name of the dungeon, Sa-yoon’s expression suddenly crumpled.
Damn it.
This was not a very good dungeon.