After lunch, I planned to set up the newly purchased items. Starting with the most important one – the tent.

[Medium-sized Tent

– Suitable for 4 people
– Setup Instructions (Expand▼)

1. Spread out the tent skin and attach each pole to its respective sleeve according to the ‘installation order’.
2. Pass the final eaves pole through the center loop while inserting the pole ends into the tent corner fixing packs.
3. Pull the skin while pushing in the poles to make it stand.
4. Attach the loops to match the pole positions.
5. Drive the steel pegs into the ground]

Just looking at the setup instructions, it seemed more complicated than a small tent. While the small tent was pyramid-shaped, the medium-sized tent was dome-shaped with multiple poles and many angles.

“Teddy, can you help me a little?”

“Yes!”

I originally planned to set it up alone, but it seemed daunting. I managed to attach the sleeves and insert the pole ends into the tent corners, but making it stand by pulling the skin was surprisingly difficult.

“Isn’t it a bit crooked? Or is there something wrong with my eyes?”

“The left side seems a bit lower.”

“Teddy, please hold it up alone for a moment.”

“Okay.”

Indeed, when I went to the left side, that part was sagging. The pole wasn’t properly inserted into the fixing pack.

“I think it’s fixed now.”

After correcting the shape, I finally attached the loops to the poles and drove in the steel pegs. A sturdy medium-sized tent was completed.

[‘Yu Bom’ has succeeded in ‘Pitching a Tent (F)’.] [Tremendous energy surrounds ‘Medium-sized Tent ‘! Hardship is my strength!]

Tremendous energy? Seems like another good effect has been added?

[Stamina recovery speed increased by 10% per hour]

Stamina was a stat used by assassin or martial arts class. Though not as universally used as health recovery, a 10% increase per hour was indeed a tremendous effect.

‘It’s good to have variety, isn’t it? It’ll be useful someday, right?’

After happily finishing the tent setup, I started installing the items bought from the camping market. I hung a bug-repelling lamp inside the tent to light up the interior.

I connected the spaces between trees with blue starlight plant bulbs. I also cleared the ash pile from the campfire where I had been building a fortress by continuously burning fires for days.

I lit a new fire in the fireplace that didn’t need cleaning.

Although it wasn’t very noticeable since it wasn’t dark yet, I thought the atmosphere would be quite nice when it got darker.

[The charm of the campsite increases.] [‘Campsite with cozy lighting’ has been added to the campsite’s reputation.] [10% mana recovery speed has been added to the campsite effect] [The campsite’s status has changed to ‘Clean’.] [10% movement speed has been added to the campsite effect.]

As Teddy said, additional effects were added after improving the landscaping. Just by clearing the ash pile, the status changed to clean, and I could also receive a movement speed bonus.

“Yes!”

“Master, you’re amazing!”

[The campsite has leveled up. (3->4)] [The campsite area has expanded.] [Congratulations! You have acquired the sub-skill ‘I’ve Seen This Before (C)’ as conditions have been met.]

And it leveled up once again. Moreover, a new skill was created.

[I’ve Seen This Before (C)

– There are many rare and special plants in dungeons. Just pull them out and brazenly insist.
The more desperate you are, the more it turns clumsy hands into golden ones.

– Effect: Gathering

– When you chant ‘I’ve seen this before’ loudly three times, a high-grade plant will be gathered.]

“It’s a gathering skill!”

“Yes. But the skill description is a bit…”

Gathering is a sub-skill that many hunters possess. But a skill that activates by pulling something out and then loudly insisting ‘I’ve seen this before’?

Just thinking about it made me cringe with embarrassment.

And I’ve felt this before, but why are all these sub-skill descriptions like this?

Does the system look down on me? Is it just my imagination?

“Hmm… I feel like I’m being made fun of.”

“But if you chant ‘I’ve seen this before’ three times, you can gather high-grade plants!”

“That’s true.”

I felt a bit upset for a moment but decided to let it go. Looking at the conditions alone, it was certainly a useful skill.

[Quest

– Gather plants inside the dungeon. (0/1)
– Completion Reward: Plant Encyclopedia]

Along with that, a general quest appeared for the first time in a while, not a Spring Campsite quest. It was a relatively easy quest.

Since it said plants inside the dungeon, I could probably gather anything nearby.

Next, I went to the vending machine. I wanted to check if new menu items had been added as the level increased.

[Dumplings (50C)
Pink Ham (50C)
Dongeurangddaeng (50C)
Garaetteok (50C)
Cheese Sticks (50C)
…]

Many types of frozen foods were added. But the newly added items were five times the original coin price.

A whopping 50 coins.

I scrolled down to see what else was added.

[…
Ramen (50C)]

I stopped scrolling right there.

“How can this be…”

“Master, is there a problem?”

“A very big problem. The king of outdoor food has finally appeared.”

“What is it?”

“It’s ramen.”

I said with a rather solemn tone.

“What’s ramen?”

“What? Teddy, you don’t know ramen?”

“No.”

Teddy asked with an innocent face. Just like she didn’t know cola, she didn’t know ramen either.

It was natural for a monster, but for a moment, I felt sorry for Teddy who had never tasted ramen.

“Teddy, follow me right now!”

I immediately bought ramen from the vending machine and took out a pot.

As I poured the seasoning into the boiling water, the familiar spicy scent tickled my nose.

I finely chopped some green onions, added them appropriately, and soft-boiled an egg. I had to keep licking my lips while cooking as my mouth watered involuntarily.

“It’s a spicier and more addictive food than cola. There are various cooking methods, but next time I’ll add cheese for you.”

“If it’s toxic, isn’t it too dangerous?”

“Ah, it’s just a saying. It means it’s a food you keep thinking about.”

“Oh.”

Teddy stretched out her nose to smell it first.

“Ke, keck. Master, is this really safe food? I think my eyes are tearing up.”

“That’s because I just chopped green onions. Trust me, Teddy. Cola was delicious too, right?”

“But still…”

Teddy stuck out her tongue to taste the soup first.

“Oh…?”

“Delicious, right?”

Slurp. Teddy picked up the ramen noodles with a fork and ate them. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards.

“Master, this is incredible!”

She gulped down the ramen with the pot and all. It was even more impressive than when she drank cola.

When she put down the empty pot, her eyes were dazed as if she had taken drugs.

She looked ecstatic for a moment, and her expression was so relaxed that it seemed like she had been to paradise.

“One more bowl!”

‘This feels like my past memories are repeating…’

I was terrified at the thought of spending 1.5 million won on ramen again. No, it’s five times that, so 7.5 million won.

‘No way!’

Bang!

At that moment, a loud noise was heard. It was a huge sound, as if someone was body-slamming into a rock.

Judging from the tremors on the ground, it seemed to be coming from nearby.

Kigiigik!

“Te-Teddy. What’s that sound? Looks like there’s a fight nearby!”

Although I knew monsters couldn’t enter the shelter, the rough bursting sound of something breaking naturally made me shrink back.

I was told that only spirit monsters inhabit this place, so I had no idea what was going on.

“To scare my master at such an important moment! Don’t worry, Master. I’ll go and resolve this!”

“I’ll come with you!”

I stuck close behind Teddy. The shelter acts as a barrier preventing monsters from entering and has its own invisibility, so we wouldn’t be visible from the outside.

If it was a fight between monsters, we would just watch, and if by chance it was a hunter hunting monsters, I planned to do some business.

“Kyaak!”

“Kying, kkng.”

But as we got closer to the loud noise, a thin sound was faintly mixed in.

“What’s that?”

As we passed the Spring Campsite signpost and followed the path, something wriggling could be seen in the distance.

[‘Blue Starlight Chimera (S)’ is guarding the surroundings.]

The loud roar indeed belonged to a monster. The front looked like a lion, the lower body like a snake’s tail, and in the middle, a goat’s head was protruding.

It was a hybrid like no other. The Chimera’s fur was a mix of colors from the different animals.

And beneath it, another monster was pinned down.

“Kkng…”

No, that’s not a monster. It looks familiar…

“A beagle… isn’t it?”

“Huh? Master, what did you say?”

“A beagle.”

The creature pinned down was only as long as my forearm, with brown patches on its head and completely white on its belly.

It had short fur and a black nose. While the Blue Starlight Valley monsters had blue manes or body parts,

this creature didn’t show a single hint of blue. If I’m not mistaken, it was definitely a beagle.

“The thing pinned down there doesn’t seem to be a monster, but an animal from our world…? A beagle is a type of dog, you know? It looks exactly the same.”

“Really? Now that you mention it, I’ve never seen a monster like that in the Blue Starlight Valley either. Why would an animal from your world be here?”

“I wonder…”

Fortunately or unfortunately, the monster showed no sign of trying to eat the dog. It occasionally stamped the ground threateningly, but only tapped it lightly with its front paw, like a cat playing with a mouse.

However, due to the huge difference in size, the dog was suffering. Even to the naked eye, the dog looked very tired.

I thought of one possibility.

“Do you think someone brought their pet dog to the dungeon and lost it?”

There was no law saying animals couldn’t enter dungeons. Even ordinary people could enter if they wanted to.

But no matter how hard I looked, there was no one nearby who could be the dog’s owner. At this rate, the dog would fall victim to the monster.

“Is there any way we can save that animal? Preferably without fighting.”

That monster was S-rank and Teddy was A-rank, but I had heard that Teddy was unusually tough, so I asked for her opinion.

“First, I’ll go out and try to distract it. In the meantime, Master, you can… Huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

Teddy stopped mid-sentence and gestured in the air as if talking to the system.

Then, with a shocked face, she delivered some shocking news.

“Master. It says I can’t leave the campsite. Apparently, ‘Bring the Basket (A)’ is a skill that kidnaps into the campsite, so once you enter, you can’t leave?”

“What?!”

“What should we do?”