The blue starlight chimera inhabits dense jungle areas. It dislikes water and doesn’t come down to lower areas.

This place was also a jungle, but there was a river nearby.

‘How did it end up coming down here?’

When the guild members tried to continue the expedition without caring about Mo Gyeon’s absence, Seok Hyeon said he would go look for him first and followed Mo Gyeon’s tracks.

But there were no traces of Mo Gyeon anywhere in the jungle.

So he came down, wondering if Mo Gyeon had really been swept away by the river below the cliff, but it was the same here. Mo Gyeon was nowhere to be found.

‘Perhaps…’

Seok Hyeon looked at the chimera lying on the ground. The chimera was paralyzed by poison and rigidly stiff.

Clearly, before chasing after it, Mo Gyeon said he thought he saw a black shadow. If Mo Gyeon had mistaken this monster for Hunter Chae Dong Hwa and chased it.

If they had fallen off the cliff while fighting.

And if Mo Gyeon had turned into a puppy and encountered this chimera again…

“Seol Mo Gyeon… You’re not in there, are you?”

Seok Hyeon said, staring at the chimera’s belly. A puppy-sized Mo Gyeon would be no match for the chimera.

If Seok Hyeon’s assumption was correct, Mo Gyeon would certainly have been eaten by the chimera. Suddenly, a chilling premonition sent shivers down his spine.

“No way… It can’t be… Damn it. Seol Mo Gyeon, stop fooling around.”

Thinking it was absurd, Seok Hyeon took out a dagger and cut open the chimera’s belly. To find at least a corpse if he had been eaten.

Fortunately, the chimera’s stomach was completely empty. Seok Hyeon could feel somewhat relieved.

‘Then where is he…’

After that, Seok Hyeon wandered aimlessly through the dungeon. Honestly, when he first went to look for Mo Gyeon, he thought he would find him quickly.

He was known for making a lot of noise during battles, and Seok Hyeon hadn’t expected him to be in trouble in such a short time.

When Seok Hyeon first met Mo Gyeon, he had a premonition. That even if he couldn’t become a king himself, he could be a kingmaker.

He first met him when he joined a guild as a mercenary. At that time, Mo Gyeon was a newcomer who had just awakened less than 3 months ago, while Seok Hyeon was a 3-year hunter due to his early awakening.

“Ahhh!”

“Everyone run away!”

The smooth raid faced a crisis of annihilation when they failed to prevent the boss monster from going berserk. When a monster goes berserk, its combat power increases tenfold, becoming SS-class.

“Hey, newbie! Come here quickly! Do you want to die?!”

While everyone was saying to run away, one person stood his ground.

“Why? It’s just starting to get fun.”

That person was Seol Mo Gyeon.

In the end, although it was close, he managed to defeat the monster. It was remarkable enough for a newcomer to prevent a boss monster’s rampage, but what was more surprising was that he had no sense of danger in battle and treated it merely as an entertaining game.

Mo Gyeon was that bold and didn’t find battles difficult. Seok Hyeon lured such a Mo Gyeon to create a guild.

He firmly believed that if guided well, they could create a guild that would dominate the Korean Peninsula.

He supported Mo Gyeon’s weaknesses as much as possible, instilling a sense of awareness to take hunter work seriously.

As a result, Hwarang rose to 3rd place in the domestic guild rankings within 3 years of its founding, getting closer and closer to the dream.

There’s no way someone like Mo Gyeon would die so miserably.

‘What’s that?’

It was almost sunset. A red light could be seen in the distance.

As he approached, blue lights glowed between the trees.

‘Light bulbs…?’

As he narrowed his eyes to look more closely, he saw a sign.

As he passed by the sign with an incomprehensible meaning, something suddenly appeared.

“Wow! A new hunter! Welcome! Master! We have a guest!”

“Ahhh!”

What appeared before his eyes was a large bear. It was a monster he knew well.

‘Why didn’t the system alert appear when Doldoli showed up? More importantly, why has it become so small?’

He briefly doubted if it was a different individual, but apart from the size, that heart-shaped nose and pink ribbon were unmistakably those of the blue starlight teddy bear.

But how could Doldoli speak human language?

“What the!”

Seok Hyeon immediately took out his bow and assumed a battle stance. The bear froze and stepped back.

“Uh, um? Please calm down, Hunter. I’m a captured monster.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why are you here!”

“Teddy! I told you not to go out alone, it’s dangerous.”

While they were in a standoff, another voice was heard from afar. It was a woman’s voice.

“Oh? It really is a guest. Welcome.”

There was a person. A small woman about half the size of the bear.

“This is a campsite and shelter. Attacks are prohibited. Please disarm your weapon.”

“Shelter…?”

[Shelter Time Limit: Unlimited
Owner: Yu Bom (F)]

When he checked the system window, it really said shelter. If so, this bear was not a threat.

But there was something strange that raised questions.

The time limit that should normally be present for a shelter was missing.

‘And what’s with the owner? Is it malfunctioning?’

There’s no way a shelter could have an owner. Seok Hyeon was confused because the system had never malfunctioned before. Even when he opened the window again, it was the same.

“If you want to stay at the campsite, you need to rent a tent. We have various buff items prepared, would you like to rest for a day?”

The woman spoke in a friendly tone, but Seok Hyeon was even more baffled.

It was absurd to have a campsite in a dungeon. Above all, shelters are public areas.

As he was about to argue, a familiar sound was heard from afar.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Choco. We have a new guest. Want to say hello?”

“You bastard!”

He could recognize it immediately. Mo Gyeon, who he had been searching for, appeared in puppy form.

“Woof…”

As soon as harsh words burst out of Seok Hyeon’s frowning mouth, Mo Gyeon hesitantly looked around.

How much he had worried, and yet Mo Gyeon was hiding in a place like this. He was furious inside.

“Are you perhaps Choco’s owner?”

“Choco?”

The woman called Mo Gyeon by a strange name.

“Ah. I guess you are the owner. I thought he was an abandoned puppy and named him on my own. I’m sorry.”

Mo Gyeon had even been given a name and was spending happy days.

No, more than that, the woman really seemed to think Mo Gyeon was a puppy.

“This guy is…”

[‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ growls, telling you not to speak.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ asks why you came and if the expedition is over.]

“You dare to ask that?”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. This guy, I mean Choco. Hah…”

He felt a bit of a reality check trying to call a pitch-black grown man by such a cute name.

“How did Choco end up here?”

Seok Hyeon gathered his composure and asked for the full story.

“Well… A few days ago, I found him being attacked by a monster in front of the campsite. I thought he would die if I didn’t save him, so I brought him here.”

“…Are you saying you fought the monster?”

“I didn’t fight, I just picked him up and ran away when the monster was distracted for a moment. I was planning to keep him until the owner came, but no one came looking, so I thought he was abandoned. Like a summoner forgetting about their summon…”

“Whine…”

Mo Gyeon gazed at the woman with wistful eyes beside her. Somehow, his eyes were moist as if recalling the emotion of that day.

Seok Hyeon found such a Mo Gyeon detestable.

‘What exactly is this guy doing here?’

Although in puppy form, he could tell. Mo Gyeon was different from usual.

His two front paws were neatly together, and his tail was spinning like a propeller. So vigorously that it seemed like you could feel the wind if you got close.

He was expressing his affection for the woman with his whole body. Seok Hyeon got goosebumps all over at his friend’s cringeworthy behavior that he had never seen before.

“It was a summon, right? The puppy seems a bit different from regular puppies.”

[‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ threatens you to go along with it.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ appoints Seok Hyeon as his summoner from today.]

‘Are you crazy… Do you have to go that far?’

Seok Hyeon hesitated for a moment. He wondered if he should play along or reveal the truth right now.

“…Yes, that’s right. I am a summoner.”

After a brief deliberation, he decided to go along with it, fearing retaliation later if he didn’t listen to such an unpredictable guy.

“So you’ve been temporarily taking care of our Choco all this time. Thank you. Then I’ll take Choco with me now. Choco, come here—”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“Good boy, you’ll see her again when we get back—”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“No, I said come here?”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

“Damn it. What do you want me to do!”

“Woof, woof, woof!”

[‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ tells you to go back first.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ flops down, saying he wants to rest.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ scratches his belly, saying you can finish the expedition without him anyway.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ appeals that he’s never taken a vacation, so he’ll use it all at once this time.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ has no intention of returning with ‘Ji Seok Hyeon (A)’.]

“You son of a bitch!”

“Wait a moment! Are you really the owner?”

In the end, Seok Hyeon was about to lunge at Mo Gyeon for his brazen attitude. The woman blocked Mo Gyeon’s front, eyeing Seok Hyeon warily.

The corners of Mo Gyeon’s mouth, hidden behind her, turned up slightly, then his red gums bloomed into a full smile.

It was a bizarre sight of a dog smiling like a human. Seok Hyeon was dumbfounded.

“What did you do to him? What did you do to make him like this?”

“Pardon? I only saved him, treated him, and fed him. He washed himself in the river, I really didn’t do anything else!”

“No, that’s not what I mean…! I mean, why did you save him, treat him, and feed him?!”

Listening to her words, it made sense.

The thought process of that simple-minded guy was obvious. It seemed Mo Gyeon had fallen for this woman.

A woman who saved his life. Well, it was probably for some reason like that.

“Hah… This is really driving me crazy.”

Although Mo Gyeon caused all sorts of trouble usually, he had never worried about women issues before, so Seok Hyeon hadn’t expected this kind of situation.

“Should I be hearing this after doing a good deed?”

Right. This woman is not at fault. It’s because of that guy who acts recklessly once he’s fixated on something.

Mo Gyeon said he would rest for a while and come back, but Seok Hyeon couldn’t believe it at all. Judging by that attitude, it wouldn’t be strange if he settled here for life.

It was obvious just by looking at how he had maintained his puppy form without revealing his true identity until now. He must have gone into the river himself each time to stay in puppy form, since he needed to be doused with cold water.

He couldn’t lose the guild leader of Hwarang, which was on a roll, like this.

“I got too excited earlier. Mo—I mean, thank you for saving Choco. You said this was a campsite, right? Can I stay here too?”

“Choco is the name I gave him. Are you really this puppy’s summoner?”

Due to getting too excited, he had raised unnecessary suspicion from the woman. He needed to improve his image even now.

“The summon’s name doesn’t matter, whether it’s Choco or Tail. Once I summon that puppy, the time limit is long, so I’ve been looking for him for a while.”

Seok Hyeon was originally in charge of Hwarang’s external affairs. Drawing on his experience, he quickly put on a business smile.

“There should be a heart-shaped birthmark on his bottom. If you’re suspicious, you can check.”

The woman immediately lifted Mo Gyeon with both arms and checked his bottom.

[‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ feels embarrassed.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ threatens to kill ‘Ji Seok Hyeon (A)’.] [‘Seol Mo Gyeon (S)’ spits at ‘Ji Seok Hyeon (A)’, telling him to get lost.]

Absolutely not. Is this how I raised you?