Chapter 09
I feel dizzy…
Unlike entering the dungeon, this made me slightly motion sick.
How should I describe it…
Crossing a gate felt like simply opening a door and walking through.
But this felt like riding something while being transported.
Thankfully, the sensation disappeared after a few seconds.
The first thing I saw was a golden sky.
There were no clouds, and the sun wasn’t visible, but it was a beautiful color like an autumn wheat field.
Instead of dampness, there was a warm breeze.
A sweet fragrance tickled my nose.
Below the sky stretched a wide grassland, colored with all kinds of different grasses.
And among them—
Ginseng with legs was running around.
…What?
“Ppi…?”
H-how is ginseng running?
Why does it have legs?
I was half in a daze when Cho-hee clapped her hands.
“Well then, time to start grinding aga—before that, Yeon Hee-ho. You’re summoning your monsters, right? Then I should take this one with me.”
Apparently this was a place where they split up.
I didn’t mind staying with Unni, but Hee-ho cupped me in both hands and stepped back.
“Huh? Why? Little chirpy is staying with me. Right? I was going to introduce my cuties too.”
“What do you mean, right? That little bean will faint if it sees your cuties. Have some conscience.”
“Noona, hyung, I’m heading out first. Time’s wasting. Stop bickering and gather herbs.”
Before Cho-hee’s sharp reply even finished, Ye-seung spoke indifferently—
And vanished like a shot.
Neither of them even looked in his direction.
They only reacted to the part about wasting time.
“Right. This is wasting time. This isn’t the moment to argue. Even now Ha-yan is probably suffering at home…!”
“I agree time’s being wasted. I agree; I’m worried about Ha-yan. But I cannot, in good conscience, leave a beginner with you. Unless you want to be stuck running missions and miss visiting Ha-yan, hand it over and scram.”
“Ah, seriously. This is abuse of authority. Why did Horam hyung make someone like you a vice guild master?”
“When the whole guild is full of people like you, what did you expect?”
Pouting, grumbling, Hee-ho sighed.
And handed me over to Cho-hee.
She set me on her shoulder and turned sharply without another word.
At the same time Hee-ho shouted,
“Little chirpy, be careful! That noona is fiercer than monsters!”
Cho-hee paused and muttered in disbelief,
“The one worse than monsters says the strangest things. When is Yeon Hee-ho ever going to grow up… Anyway, there are no preemptive attacks or dangerous monsters here, so don’t worry. Stay close to me.”
“Ppi!”
“Good. Then let’s get to work.”
She put away her knuckles and laced her fingers.
As she flexed them—
Crack. Crack.
My body twitched on its own.
After that…
It was kind of like tag.
“Stop right there, you little bastard!”
“Ppyu! Ppyuu!”
“Where are you running?!”
“Ppyaaak!”
Cho-hee chased the fleeing ginseng furiously.
Meanwhile, I was desperately clinging with my feet so I wouldn’t fall off from all the violent movement.
Some ginseng walked around.
Some were buried in the ground.
Every stationary one Cho-hee saw—
She yanked out.
Any monster caught by her either exploded with a pop or
Or turned into real ginseng.
And after about two hours—
I was panting from exhaustion even though I’d only been riding on her shoulder.
Then Cho-hee pulled up another ginseng and shouted brightly.
“All 77 collected!”
“Ppiii…?”
“Wow, this item drop buff is insanely good. Thanks. You saved us time.”
Apparently she had a status window open.
She said we’d saved time—
But I didn’t really get it.
They had said they came out of the dungeon because of my item drop buff.
Which meant they had already been collecting before.
And it still took this long?
Over two hours, Cho-hee alone had caught hundreds of ginseng monsters.
But only a few turned into real ginseng.
What exactly are they collecting 77 of?
I was tilting my head thinking about those tiny ginseng roots—
Smaller than even my transformed body—
When—
“Here, noona. Twenty-three herbs.”
Ye-seung suddenly appeared out of nowhere, just like when he disappeared.
He shoved out a pouch.
“Waaah, I won. I got twenty-four!”
And Hee-ho popped up from underground and held out his pouch too.
That startled me…
Both had returned in such abnormal ways that I flinched.
So it wasn’t Cho-hee alone who collected 77.
It was the total between the three of them.
Apparently party members shared gathered item counts.
That must be how they knew.
But over two hours for only 77…
These really must be rare.
Anyway, I thought maybe we were finally leaving—
But Ye-seung frowned at Hee-ho.
“Is acting like that fun, hyung? Childish.”
“Yep. Fun. It proves I worked harder.”
“What are you talking about? You just rode your tamed monsters and gave orders. I ran around myself and caught mine with my own hands. The effort is different. Ever heard quality over quantity?”
“Nope. I worked hard too. Since it’s going into Ha-yan’s mouth, I carefully caught them and beat them nicely.”
“But you didn’t do it with your own hands, did you? Everyone knows without your monsters you’re a weakling, so stop selling nonsense.”
“Weakling? Our Ye-seung called Hyung a weakling? Are you bullying me because your rank is higher now? Hm?”
“Ppi, ppii.”
Hee-ho and Ye-seung had suddenly started arguing.
And somehow I felt like I was the cause.
I chirped anxiously—
Neither paid me any attention.
“Bullying? I haven’t even started. If you’re whining already, that proves you’re the weak one. And let me be clear—Lancers show their true worth in boss fights and single combat. In a place like this, where plague and traps don’t matter, it’s a fact I worked harder than you.”
Then Ye-seung’s face went cold.
And he added,
“I’m the one visiting noona in the hospital.”
…Huh?
Hospital visit?
Despite how sharp the atmosphere felt, my tension loosened for a moment.
From the context—
He definitely meant visiting me.
Hee-ho snorted.
“Aren’t you embarrassed changing the rules now? Pretty sure we agreed whoever gathered more ginseng gets to visit.”
“It’s only one difference. We should judge fairly according to circumstances.”
“One whole difference. When root drop rate is 0.1%.”
“You had the 20% buff. And your gathering skill rank is higher than mine. Besides, Cho-hee noona and I were the ones running the dungeon first. You barged in and made it a competition. I never agreed.”
“Oh? You didn’t say no, so that means you accepted. Our Ye-seung becoming such a little thug… hyung is so sad.”
“Ah, seriously stop talking nonsense!”
For the first time, expressionless, calm Ye-seung actually snapped.
He slammed his spear into the ground.
The air hummed and vibrated.
Nearby respawned ginseng screamed and collapsed.
I froze with my beak open in shock.
But the killing intent right in front of him—
Hee-ho just smiled as usual.
“You want to settle it here? Fine by me. But don’t go crying to your guild master if you lose to hyung.”
“And don’t you rage quit the fixed party when you lose.”
In an instant, Hee-ho’s expression turned sharp.
Around him—
Multiple geometric magic circles appeared.
I had never seen it in person before—
But it was obvious.
Those were summoning circles for his tamed monsters.
