[※ ‘Collect’ dungeon plants and cook them.]

‘Ah, I need to collect them too.’

It seems what I have doesn’t count since I collected it before the quest appeared.

But how does the warning pop up in real time like this? Is the system only watching me?

“Is there a problem?”

As I made a dumbfounded expression while looking into the air, Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon approached.

“No. Have you finished preparing?”

“Yes.”

In his hand was a clean fish without a single drop of blood. His skill was truly outstanding, even upon second glance.

“Is there any Lilien around here? I need to collect and add it for the quest, but I can’t see well because of the powder.”

“Shall I blow it away for you?”

“That would be great.”

He replied lightly as if it was a very easy task. Does he have a wind skill too?

I thought it might be possible if he had a skill stone or received a monster’s blessing, though it wasn’t related to his exclusive skill.

Whoosh.

However, contrary to my expectation, he used his exclusive skill. Circular portals appeared here and there in the air, and gentle winds flowed out from them.

The silver powder was swept away like fallen leaves in that wind. Soon it swirled like a snowball inside the Silver Tree.

‘Oh my…’

The sight was so beautiful that my mouth opened involuntarily. I stared in a trance for a while before my attention was drawn to a somewhat out-of-place color in this space.

“There it is!”

Lilien has pink leaves with blue spots. I saw pink leaves among the green vines.

I ran like an arrow and shouted the skill.

“Found a seed, found a seed, found a seed!”

[Yu Bom (D) uses ‘Found a Seed (C)’.] [Yu Bom (D) has collected ‘Lilien (C)’.]

The grade is somewhat disappointing, but I was able to obtain Lilien. Besides Lilien, there were various types of mushrooms nearby.

“Hunter. Can you clear the powder around here too? I want to pick some mushrooms.”

While we’re at it, it would be good to add various things. Especially mushrooms, which improve the aroma and texture when added to spicy fish soup.

“Yes, of course.”

Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon created portals in the areas I pointed to as well. A soft breeze blew pleasantly.

Indeed, a capable person!

“Achoo!”

“Huh?”

As I was admiring his abilities once again, I heard a strange sound.

“What was that sound just now?”

“What do you mean?”

“It sounded like a sneeze? Was it you, Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon?”

“No? What was it?”

He reacted as if he hadn’t heard anything. The tone was a bit high for Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon to make.

But I asked because there were only the two of us here…

It’s obviously not me. Then who made that sound?

“Achoo!”

As I was puzzled, not knowing what was going on, that sound was heard again.

“I heard it again just now! What is it?”

I parted the bushes in the direction of the sound. Then a small winged creature curled up and sneezed again.

“Achoo!”

“Oh…!”

Realizing what it was, I was surprised and at the same time a notification popped up.

[‘Blue Starlight Fairy (A)’ has appeared.]

It was a fairy the size of a palm with its hair tied in a ponytail.

The fairy had been sneezing because of the silver powder blown by the wind.

The hair tie was a fully bloomed dungeon flower. Its entire body shimmered in various colors as if embodying an aurora. On its back were butterfly-shaped wings of the same color.

“It’s so pretty!”

When I made a hand shade to prevent powder from falling on the fairy, transparent pupils carefully gazed at me.

[♥ : 38%↑]

The affinity was already approaching 40%. It must have been hiding and listening to the music box.

“I need you, would you like to come with me?”

When I asked in a whisper, its pointed ears twitched. When I carefully held out my palm, it moved a step further away instead.

The way it fluttered its wings little by little somehow seemed like it was trying to run away. The fairy’s gaze anxiously darted here and there.

‘What should I do if I can’t use the skill because the affinity doesn’t exceed 50%?’

I was worried about losing the fairy I had found with difficulty. The melody that had been flowing smoothly suddenly stopped.

The fairy’s gaze immediately fixed on the music box. The ends of its eyebrows drooped, seeming disappointed that the song had stopped.

“Hunter!”

“Yes.”

“Can you throw that music box over here?”

“This?”

“Yes!”

He watched the fairy from afar, and instead of throwing it, he opened a small portal to deliver the music box to me. The music box that Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon put into the portal was spat out of a portal created next to me.

I caught the music box and wound the spring slightly before letting go. The beautiful performance flowed again.

The fairy listened to the song with a somewhat reverent posture, clasping its hands together. Soon, when the song stopped again, it alternately looked at my face and the music box as if asking me to wind the spring again.

“If you come with me, I’ll let you listen to the songs you like as much as you want.”

When I held out my palm again, this time the fairy quietly climbed onto it.

[♥ : 100%↑] [You can no longer increase the affinity of ‘Blue Starlight Fairy (A)’.]

The affinity reached its peak in one go.

“Bring the net!”

[Yu Bom (D) used ‘Bring the Net (A)’ on ‘Blue Starlight Fairy (A)’.] [Successfully captured ‘Blue Starlight Fairy (A)’.] [You can give orders to the captured monster by giving it a name.]

I named the fairy based on my first impression when I saw it.

“Aurora!”

[The name of ‘Blue Starlight Fairy (A)’ has been changed to ‘Aurora (A)’.]

“Well, nice to meet you, Master…!”

Aurora said in a shy voice. As if embarrassed by that one word, it covered its face with both hands.

“Aw, too cute! I’ll call you Rora for short.”

“Yes, Master…”

They say there are too many cute and pretty monsters in the world, but I never expected there to be a monster that fits the skill description of ‘Bring the Net’ so well.

I caught a Blue Starlight Fairy in an unexpected situation!

[This is the timeline separator]

We left the Silver Tree after the sun rose. The weather was unusually clear.

‘Has the rainy season ended?’

The clear sky after a long time felt welcome.

[Quest

− Register the list in the fish encyclopedia. (48/50)

− Completion Reward: Rank Up]

I had captured a monster to manage the facility, and the fish encyclopedia quest was almost complete.

“What should we do since we couldn’t fill the encyclopedia completely?”

“It’s okay. I think we can fill it near the campsite with this much. There are only two species left.”

“Still, it’s a pity. I wanted to fill it all.”

“You’ve helped more than enough. Thank you, Hunter.”

We were walking to the campsite as Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon’s magic was now almost depleted. He seemed to regret not completing the quest.

“But I didn’t expect it to be hiding and listening. I should have considered the fairy’s shy nature.”

Even now, Aurora was hiding inside my hair. It seemed still unfamiliar with Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon, as it peeked out its face when we talked about it, only to hide again.

“Rora, you don’t have to be afraid. He looks suspicious, but he’s a good person.”

Hearing what I said to Rora, Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon chuckled. Rora slowly came out and whispered quietly so that only I could hear.

“He, he’s only good to Master. I saw everything!”

“What did you see?”

Rora shuddered as if the mere thought made it shiver.

“That, that person took away many of my friends!”

“Friends? Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon, have you ever caught Blue Starlight Fairies?”

Come to think of it, if he carries items to lure fairies, he must have tried to catch them before. When I asked with a suspicious look, he opened his mouth as if he had heard something strange.

“I’ve summoned them for help, but I’ve never caught them. Sometimes fairies act as guides in dungeons. To find shelters or desired locations. That’s when.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And the natives value fairies highly, so I also don’t touch them for the sake of our relationship with them.”

He doesn’t seem to be lying… In fact, when he encountered monsters, he chose to avoid them even though he could handle them.

Usually, he seemed to avoid hunting unnecessarily since he came for reconnaissance purposes.

The same goes for the native story. He seemed to refrain from actions they dislike as much as possible to maintain a friendly relationship.

Did Rora misunderstand something?

“No, no… I saw it…”

Rora muttered quietly as if something was strange. Then suddenly, one hypothesis came to mind.

“Could it be that Blue Starlight Fairies were swept up during battle? They seem small enough to be easily caught up.”

“That could be possible.”

He replied nonchalantly as if not very interested. Is he taking it lightly because it’s just a hypothesis?

“We’re almost there. It’s fortunate we found the second Silver Tree near the campsite.”

“You’re right. Otherwise, we might have had to sleep outside the campsite again today.”

Red flames could be seen in the distance. And tents surrounding them.

Mo Gyeon was grilling meat for the guests, and Teddy was serving with a pot of ramen.

‘Looks like everyone’s been doing well.’

And one person who wasn’t moving, like a black dot, caught my eye. That person was sitting blankly in front of the campfire and then looked in my direction.

Even though it was too far to distinguish with the naked eye, I clearly felt that he was looking this way.

And who he was.

‘Hunter Chae Dong Hwa…?’

As we got closer, my guess became more certain. He slowly got up and walked towards the entrance.

He still exuded that neat and uniquely heavy atmosphere. He looked at me and then turned his gaze to Hunter Ju Cheong Yeon.

The space between his eyebrows wrinkled. Even though he rarely shows expressions, it was enough to feel that he was not in a good mood.