Chapter 8: The Legendary Level 100 Rabbit (3)

When Bokshil easily caught the monsters, Ian had nothing to do. Since he arrived, he hadn't even seen a monster except for the spirits.

Crack. Crack. Crack!

“Shaa—kyaak!”

“Ghuuuuuu……”

Only eerie sounds came from somewhere.

Since the difficulty was low, only junk items dropped when monsters were killed. Ian instructed Bokshil to bring only the necessary items from among them.

How long had they been wandering?

'Hmm. It's about time to leave.'

Just as Ian was thinking this, sure enough, a young man ran out of the forest.

“H-Help! We are in a very difficult situation……”

Whoosh— Thud!

Like when he met the village chief, Ian swung the mace. The difference was that this time, he didn't just threaten but actually knocked the man out.

“Bokshil.”

“Mew?”

Bokshil, who had returned at some point, answered immediately. Let's pretend not to notice the red bloodstains on the mace.

“There's a small cave a little to the right from here. Throw him in there and come back.”

“Mew! Nyew!”

The young man Ian just knocked out was definitely one of the village youths he needed to rescue.

But why did he knock him out?

The five missing village youths were also from South River Village.

'If you're being rescued, just be rescued quietly. Who are you trying to boss around?'

South River Village was more annoying than the monsters. At least you could kill the monsters, but it was difficult to do the same with the villagers.

If you rescued them, they would whine about being hungry, thirsty, or injured, and even ask for herbs. There was even a side quest to bring back a souvenir as a memento of their ordeal.

'And why are they separated, one by one, when they were all in trouble together?'

Each time he found one, three or four side quests popped up. If it were three or four for all five, it would be understandable, but three or four for each one was too much.

Therefore, Ian decided to knock them out one by one and gather them to take them back to the village.

“I found him!”

“Oh, finally we're saved… cough!”

While Bokshil hunted monsters, Ian hunted villagers.

When he found the fourth one, the last one required a bit more caution.

“Eek! Save me!”

A level 10 named monster. It was stronger than other monsters but not a match for Ian or Bokshil.

The real threat here was none other than...

“Nooooo!”

The last village youth, who was loudly drawing aggro.

“Shut up!”

Ian quickly swung the mace to knock out the village youth. However, the youth, startled by the ferocious mace, stumbled and fell backward.

As a result, he avoided Ian's attack. An attack that even a named monster would find hard to dodge, he avoided just by falling.

“Ow, that hurts…? What's this?”

When the youth fell, a foreboding sound echoed.

Rumble. Crack. Crack.

“Eek! What's this?”

Indeed, the most dangerous opponent in South River Village was the missing village youth A.

The strongest aggro, capable of summoning all named monsters in Southwood. The devil's hand, which always set traps wherever it touched. The unintentional interference.

The most unfortunate man, a worst-case scenario, who made everyone around him equally unlucky.

“Tch, it comes to this.”

It took nearly a month to clean up the dream fog in the Gangnam area, and the outstanding performance of village youth A was a significant factor.

If even one of the five missing village youths died, the quest would fail, and the failed dreamer would be trapped in the dream fog with the spirits.

Ian checked the time.

‘Three hours have passed.’

Each dream fog had different conditions for the shortest clear time. Recalling South River's conditions, Ian made a decision and shouted.

“Bokshil, let's go!”

“Mew!”

Whoosh— Thud!

Crack! Crack!

It would be a waste to leave the aggro he had drawn. They were all experience points.

Moreover, it was the best situation to increase skill proficiency.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Rhythmic hitting sounds continued. Ian flung anything that came his way, whether it was a rock or a monster.

Monsters kept pouring in toward village youth A. A, who was enthusiastically triggering traps.

While Ian was raising his skill proficiency with Bokshil, the effect of the -999 luck stat appeared in an unexpected situation.

Crack.

When Ian smashed a falling rock with the mace and stepped on it, there happened to be a small pebble, and the position he stepped on was not good.

Moreover, the broken rock fragments rolled in, and a group of named monsters attacked simultaneously, along with a fierce dust storm.

In that situation, village youth A, scared, clung to Ian's back. That was the final blow.

It was a moment when everything, living or non-living, seemed to conspire to make Ian's life miserable.

For the first time, the passive skill 'Review' activated.

Everything seemed to pause for a moment, then quickly rewound to 10 seconds ago, like rewinding a film.

“Huh, this is...”

Ian, who instantly grasped the situation, clenched the mace tightly.

It was infuriating that he almost suffered a harsh fate just because of village youth A, not some incredibly strong and difficult boss monster.

Unable to tolerate village youth A's nuisance any longer, Ian swung the mace forcefully.

“Cut it out, you bastard!”

Thud!

It was a quest that tested patience in every way.

* * *

Tap tap.

A work of art that vividly captured the dynamic flow of the river.

That's what Kang Sung-ho was creating on a small sign for South River Village.

“This should be perfect...!”

Kang Sung-ho, who completed the sign with a combination of sculpture and painting, handed it to the village chief with a bright smile.

“I'm done!”

“Oh, good. It's fine.”

The village chief, who took the labor of the outsider for granted, accepted it indifferently.

“There's a flaw here, isn't there?”

“...”

“Ha ha, just kidding. You did a decent job. Here's your reward.”

The reward the village chief gave Kang Sung-ho was three barley breads.

Silence ensued. Just as Kang Sung-ho was about to flip the table, the village chief quickly handed him the main quest.

“Wait! This is really important! Five village youths have gone missing!”

‘If you had given it to me first, how happy I would have been!’

Respect for the elderly and all, Kang Sung-ho wanted to kill the village chief in front of him. Of course, he didn't have the courage to do it.

“...Tell me more.”

Just as he was about to start the main quest, a system message rang out.

“What, what is this!”

It was the anguished cry of a man who had only done sub-quests in South River Village and ended up with nothing.

* * *

Having successfully gathered the five unconscious village youths, Ian splashed cold water on their faces.

“Are you all awake?”

“Ugh, ugh...”

As expected, as soon as they regained consciousness, the village youths tried to request side quests.

“I'm thirsty...”

“Want to get splashed again?”

“I'm hungry...”

“Eat some rice cakes.”

He splashed cold water on those who said they were thirsty and stuffed rice cakes from his inventory into the mouths of those who said they were hungry.

‘Are they so obsessed with side quests?’

He gave the mace to those who still tried to request side quests.

“Bokshil. Can you carry the unconscious ones?”

“Mew! Nyew!”

Bokshil, who carried a strong young man effortlessly, walked toward South River Village.

Seeing the young man being dragged along the ground, the other village youths gave up on side quests and followed Ian.

〈Heat-Resistant Coated Gloves〉

〈Cold-Resistant Coated Shoes〉

Rare items usually didn't drop in beginner-level dreams.

However, due to the effect of discovering the dreamstone, the item upgrade was applied, raising the item level.

‘30% attribute resistance? Such items drop in the early stages?’

These items could fetch a high price. They were sought after by dreamers who wanted to maximize their strengths or overcome weaknesses.

Next, he distributed the stats he had accumulated from leveling up all at once.

〈First Dreamer Ian〉

A level 1 dreamer typically levels up to around 5-6 levels when clearing a beginner-level dream for the first time. With hard work, they might reach 7-8 levels.

However, Ian leveled up from 1 to 13 levels in one go.

‘Monsters are fun to herd?’

The ease of leveling up made Ian feel as if his past struggles were passing before his eyes.