She had been summoned as my ‘Hunter.’
Her asking me to guide her to the hunting ground must have been so that she could begin hunting right away.
But no matter how I looked, I could not see any proper equipment.
That was why I had asked.
“I do…… have some.”
She did have some.
Serin sounded unsure as she took out two weapons.
They were a bow and a dagger.
“……These?”
Their condition looked rather serious.
The bow was so old that the string looked ready to snap, and the stave looked ready to break.
The dagger’s edge was so badly chipped that it looked closer to a blunt weapon than a blade.
As for arrows, all she had were five crude wooden arrows whose fletching had completely fallen out.
If I had to grade them, they would be level 1, F-grade weapons.
I wondered if they might be keepsakes filled with memories, but judging by her reaction, that did not seem to be the case.
In that case.
“Please wait a moment. I will make you some right away.”
For now, I decided to make her standard equipment as quickly as I could.
Had things gone my way, I would have liked to make her proper equipment using monster materials.
Unfortunately, I had just run out of monster materials.
That meant I had to settle for making equipment only with the materials I had gathered from the Mine and the forest.
‘A dagger will be no problem.’
[ Crafting is complete. ][ Crafting Evaluation: S ][ You have obtained ‘Standard Dagger’. ]
Since the Standard Dagger was an item I often made, all I had to do was make it suited for level 3.
The problem was the bow.
It did not matter whether I made the bowstave from metal or wood, but making the bowstring was rather troublesome.
However, I had practiced by making all kinds of items.
[ You have successfully disassembled Small Grass. ][ Lowest-grade Fiber has been created. ]
I disassembled the grass gathered from the forest and made Lowest-grade Fiber.
Then, with that.
[ Crafting is complete. ][ Crafting Evaluation: S ][ You have obtained ‘Lowest-grade Bowstring’. ]
I made a bowstring.
It was a bowstring made by twisting together Lowest-grade Fiber.
Its performance would be somewhat lacking, but for now, it was the only bowstring I could make.
Once the bowstring was finished, there was no problem from there.
All I had to do was make a bowstave from the wood I had cut in the forest and fit the bowstring onto it.
[ Crafting is complete. ][ Crafting Evaluation: S ][ You have obtained ‘Standard Bow’. ]
I was able to make a bow in an instant.
On top of that, I made a generous number of arrows as well.
Originally, arrows needed feather fletching at the back.
Since I did not have any feathers, I used leaves for the fletching instead.
They had been made in haste, but perhaps because they were items for my first assistant, I focused hard enough that they all received an S-grade evaluation.
“Use these for now. I will make you something better later.”
“……Thank you, Master. This is an excellent bow and dagger.”
Thankfully, Serin seemed to like them.
Judging by her expression, she also seemed a little surprised.
I tried to make her armor as well, but.
“It is all right. I plan to take only a brief look for now, so weapons will be enough.”
She refused first.
And so, we headed straight to the hunting ground.
Ah, before that.
“One moment.”
“……?”
I put on my armor first.
Just in case.
Only after equipping iron armor, an iron helmet, iron shoes, and iron gloves, fully arming myself in a reassuring layer of protection, did I say,
“Let us go!”
Then we entered the hunting ground.
Sure enough, the moment we stepped inside.
“GRAK!”
“RRAAGH!”
Goblins, Kobolds, and the like.
Aggressive Monsters began attacking me.
The moment I unconsciously tried to step backward.
“Master.”
Serin.
Her dependable back blocked the path in front of me.
Then.
“I will handle this.”
With a reassuring voice, she drew the bowstring.
I had briefly tried drawing the bow after making it, and though it might not have looked like much, it had taken quite a bit of strength to pull that string.
Yet Serin nocked an arrow to that very bowstring and drew it with effortless ease.
The moment her slender fingers released the string.
“SCREE—.”
THUNK!
The arrow embedded itself precisely between the Goblin’s eyes.
Before I even had time to be surprised, another arrow had already been nocked to her bowstring.
THUNK!
This time, it pierced the forehead of a Kobold that had leaped over the fallen Goblin and was rushing toward us.
Just like that.
THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!
The Aggressive Monsters charging toward us fell in rapid succession.
Her rate of fire was tremendous.
And that was not all.
When she drew the bowstring a little harder and released it, the arrow flew with a sharp whistle through the air, pierced through one monster, and skewered the monster behind it as well.
After clearing the monsters that way.
“It seems I should conserve my arrows.”
She murmured in a low voice.
Fair enough.
I had made plenty of arrows for her, but even then, there were only a few dozen.
In contrast, the number of monsters in the hunting ground seemed endless.
After all, the monsters I had cleared out with the Volcanic Revolver had only been the ones near the entrance.
At that, she drew her dagger.
DASH!
She charged straight toward the monsters rushing in.
A Hunter was supposed to be a ranged job by nature, so I wondered if that was really all right.
SLASH!
“Wow…….”
Her combat power was overwhelming.
She was clearly the same level as me.
Yet she was slipping between the monsters at incredible speed, cutting only their vital points with absolute precision.
The attack power of the dagger I had made was excellent, but since she was cutting only their weak points with such accuracy, not a single monster could endure it.
That was probably her ability, ‘Weakness Detection.’
After the monsters nearby were reduced in an instant.
Serin stopped for a moment, her expression growing even more serious as she took out her bow again.
Then, far in the distance.
She aimed at the far end of the hunting ground, on the exact opposite side from the entrance, a place beyond even the reach of sight.
WHIZZ!
She released the bowstring.
It was a bow I had made, but the arrow flew so far that I found myself wondering whether the bow’s range had really been that long.
THUNK!
Far beyond the limits of distance.
From far away came a chilling sound as it burrowed into muscle.
At the same time.
“Grrrrrr…….”
A wolf appeared.
However, even at a glance, it was no ordinary wolf.
“A Twin-headed Wolf ?”
A wolf with two heads.
It was also far larger than an ordinary wolf.
To think that such a monster existed in my ‘Blacksmith’s Hunting Ground.’
Honestly, it looked like a monster even the Volcanic Revolver would not work on.
If I had seen a monster like that, I would definitely have run away without looking back.
Toward such an enemy.
DASH!
She charged.
As she did, she fired arrows.
THWACK-THWACK!
“ROOOAR!”
They pierced the Twin-headed Wolf’s eyes with perfect accuracy.
While the Twin-headed Wolf screamed and writhed in pain, Serin swiftly slipped into its embrace.
SLASH!
With her dagger, she cut the Twin-headed Wolf’s throat.
The battle that followed was…… honestly, one-sided.
The Twin-headed Wolf thrashed about, trying somehow to fight back, but Serin lightly avoided every one of its attacks.
Arrows lodged into every part that could be called a weak point, and her dagger slashed across them.
Not long after.
THUD.
The Twin-headed Wolf collapsed where it stood, blood pouring from its body.
It was truly a one-sided battle.
Serin’s combat power was far beyond anything I had imagined.
Honestly, it was enough to make me wonder whether this even made sense.
As I was marveling at that.
[ Your level has increased. ][ Serin’s level has increased. ]
A sudden level-up message appeared.
It was only natural that Serin’s level had risen, but why had my level gone up?
All I had done since entering the hunting ground was quietly watch her from behind.
The answer came from Ember.
-Serin is Jang Gang-cheol’s assistant.
-Therefore, all experience Serin earns is shared with Jang Gang-cheol.
Good heavens.
To think I could level up without hunting personally.
That was not all.
Serin carved through the fallen Twin-headed Wolf’s hide with smooth, practiced strokes, butchering it, and brought back more spoils than I usually obtained when defeating monsters.
-Serin is a Hunter.
-Through butchering, she can obtain more spoils.
This, too, was the system’s help.
In other words.
It meant that from now on, I could level up and obtain monster materials simply by sitting still in the corner of my room.
This was what a true auto game meant.
It was the moment automatic hunting began.
***
Serin’s automatic hunting.
The thought of it made me.
“Heh heh heh.”
“……Are you all right?”
“Of course I am. This is far beyond merely being all right!”
Laughter came out on its own.
Now I could level up without going out hunting.
All I had to do was make items with monster materials.
Serin’s existence was nothing short of the greatest gift to me.
Now that things had turned out this way, I considered selling the ‘Volcanic Revolver’ I had made.
‘I should keep it for now.’
I needed to have a means of self-defense too, did I not?
The Volcanic Revolver was small and convenient to carry, after all.
I decided to keep it in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.
Well, that was that.
It was not what mattered right now.
“Could you take that out?”
The spoils we had obtained from the hunting ground.
We had placed all the spoils from the other monsters into the bag as well, but the most important spoils were something else.
Namely.
“Here they are.”
These.
They were the Twin-headed Wolf’s fangs, tendons, and hide.
Materials obtained from the Twin-headed Wolf, which I presumed to be the boss-level monster of my hunting ground.
As such, even at a glance, they contained a power on a completely different level from the spoils of other monsters.
“They are impressive.”
They were the best materials I had seen since becoming an Awakened.
With these, no matter what kind of item I made, it was certain to become a top-tier item.
And I had already decided what item I would make with them.
“Serin, could you tell me the shape of the bow and dagger you originally used? Your armor too.”
It was Serin’s equipment.
“Pardon? Oh, no. This is enough for me.”
Serin said that and shook her head, but.
“No. This is for me as well. The better you hunt, the faster my level rises, and the more spoils we obtain, right?”
My mind was firm.
I absolutely had to make these into Serin’s equipment.
Perhaps she sensed my resolve as well.
“……Thank you, Master.”
“Tell me the shape first. It would be better if they were similar to what you originally used, would it not?”
Accepting my words, she told me the shape and characteristics of the equipment she had used.
Fortunately, they were not very different from what I knew.
There were quite a few items with similar forms in Final Gate too.
Even so, just in case, I drew up designs for the size, handles, and other details, creating the optimal form suited to her.
Then, for the first time since I had made the Volcanic Revolver.
“Special Crafting!”
[ Using the Special Crafting skill. ][ Please draw the blueprint for the specially crafted item. ]
I began Special Crafting for Serin.