[Now I understand.]

Vere realized.

[The pet system seems to be a kind of war captive.]

The shadow extraction skill was the ability to extract shadow soldiers from enemy corpses.

On the other hand, the pet system could enslave enemies without killing them.

The difference between the two was the presence or absence of ‘growth’.

[If we killed Kkuringi right now and extracted it as a shadow soldier, Kkuringi would forever remain a wolf cub.]

Grey was different from Vere, who was temporarily weakened due to a lack of magic power.

The shadow soldier would be extracted in their current weak and young form.

[Of course, it will have some effect as the Lord’s level increases, but there will be clear limits. On the other hand, if we keep it alive and raise it like this……]

“It could grow into a giant wolf-like Broki.”

[Yes. It would be helpful to the Lord when that time comes.]

“When will that be?”

Suho chuckled at the idea that it would be helpful to him.

[Grey Lv.2]

Fang Wolf

“Kkuuuung……”

Grey returned to being a fluffy puppy again as the madness of the ‘skill: cruel command’ disappeared.

Although it seemed like it could die at any moment at first, its condition looked much better thanks to leveling up.

However, the sight of it huddled in a corner and rolling its eyes towards them still seemed unfamiliar to Suho.

Suho let out a sigh.

“When am I going to be able to make use of that?”

[It may seem useless now, but wouldn’t it be helpful if it gets bigger? We’ll earn experience points automatically, so to speak.]

“It’s like automatic hunting in a game.”

However, the problem was that the game was currently at the mini-game level.

“Okay. Let’s keep raising Grey here from now on.”

-I agree. Since we have to feed him three meals a day anyway, this environment is perfect.

“Huh?”

Hmm?

“Why. What. Haven’t we become allies now?”

“…”.

It was Rakan’s fang that added his opinion naturally from the side.

By the way, Rakan’s fang had been floating around the guardian’s side by the power of the dominator since earlier.

Snap.

The guardian caught the guy’s handle and said.

“Okay. Then should I try leveling up too?”

Entering the Shadow Dungeon wasn’t just because of Gray.

Even after completing a four-hour survival quest last time, wild goblins still roamed around the Shadow Dungeon.

Without a quest, they would accumulate experience points by hunting them.

“Last time, I was too weak and only focused on running away, but now the situation is very different.”

Indeed, leveling up during that time was worth it.

Most of their name tags had turned white.

At this level, he had the confidence to face them no matter how many there were.

However, he had no intention of searching for every goblin hiding in the darkness.

“Inventory.”

The Guardian took out an item that dropped when the goblins died during the last survival quest from his inventory.

Berth looked at him quizzically.

“My lord, what is that?”

“This?”

The guardian chuckled.

[Item: Horn Flute]

Acquisition difficulty: E

Type: Musical instrument

A horn flute is used by the goblin chief to call its subordinates.

“Since we got this item, shouldn’t we use it?”

The guardian put the horn flute in his mouth and blew it with vigor.

Puwooo-!

[Use the ‘Horn Flute’ item to call nearby goblins.]

At that moment.

Kieeek-!

The monochrome world, which had been quiet, became noisy.

The goblins that were hiding in the darkness started to jump out all at once.

The goblins that had been hiding in the darkness started rushing out simultaneously. They expressed their anger at the fact that the ones who had summoned them were humans.

“Keurk, keurk! Kerrrrrrk!”

“Oh! You are truly ingenious! Such recycling!”

Suho fiercely revealed his fangs as he watched the goblins attacking him from all directions.

“Vere.”

“Yup!”

“Now it’s your turn to eat.”

“Kieeek!”

Vere’s greedy eyes lit up as he curled his tail, eagerly awaiting his next meal.

Although magic stones were good, it was much more efficient to charge magic by directly consuming magical creatures.

But then, a message appeared in front of Suho.

[“Daily Quest: Shadow Dungeon Cleanup” has arrived.]

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a message appeared in front of him.

[“Daily Quest: Shadow Dungeon Cleanup”]

100 Goblins: Incomplete (0/100)

10 Goblin Lieutenants: Incomplete (0/10)

1 Goblin General: Incomplete (0/1)

“Daily quest?”

Suho’s eyes widened.

Since he was going to hunt anyway, it was fortunate that a timely quest had appeared.

“Well, isn’t this great?”

Since it was a quest, there would naturally be rewards.

And since it was a daily quest, it meant that the rewards would be given out daily.

“It seems that the system wants to make this place completely your territory, my lord.”

“…My father’s system, huh.”

Suho murmured with a nostalgic expression.

“I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to shine my shoes and give me an allowance.”

“Okay! Let’s see how much allowance we’ll get this time!”

Suho swung his sword with enthusiasm.

[“Skill: Storm Slash” is being used.]

A fierce storm raged.

***********************

And sometime later.

“Kek!”

[You have eliminated a Goblin Archer.]

[Goblin 100: Incomplete (89/100)]

“Keruk!”

[You have eliminated a Goblin Ten-Boss.]

[Goblin Ten-Boss 10: Incomplete (9/10)]

Suho was slaughtering goblins with his dual swords like a madman.

But he wasn’t fighting alone like before.

Suho had chosen only the largest Goblin Ten-Boss among the goblins and had made him into his Shadow Soldier.

There were seven of them.

[Extractable Shadow Soldiers: 7/7]

It was thanks to capturing Broky and increasing his Intelligence stat.

But even compared to before, Suho still felt a sense of regret for the significant improvement that he had undergone.

“Whenever something like this happens, it’s a shame that the Shadow Soldiers disappear automatically over time. Didn’t Father have a Shadow Storage Skill?”

[Yes, that is correct. Your Lordship has commanded eternal soldiers.]

“Does that mean I can do it too later?”

[I do not know about that.]

Suho clicked his tongue with disappointment.

‘Anyway.’

Despite his progress, he still had not received any news of leveling up.

Experience points came in less as the battles became easier.

‘It’s almost like morning exercise at this point.’

Even if the daily quests were too difficult, it was still a problem. Fighting for your life every day was also stressful.

But.

‘It’s not worth it like this.’

Suho took out his horn again on a whim.

Puhuuu! Puhuuuuuu-!

[Use the ‘Item: Horn’ to call nearby goblins.]

Then, immediately.

Kerk! Kerk! Kerk! Kerk!

A new goblin unit started jumping out of the darkness.

Beruga opened her eyes wide and looked at Suho.

“My Lord? Haven’t you almost finished the daily quest?”

“So what? We have plenty of time today, let’s run until we level up.”

“Hehe. My Lord is truly a born soldier ant.”

“Is that a compliment?”

Suho laughed and was surrounded by the newly incoming goblins.

And then, after a moment.

[Daily Quest: Shadow Dungeon Cleanup]

100 goblins: complete (107/100)

10 Goblin captains: complete (10/10)

1 Goblin chief: complete (1/1)

[“Daily Quest: Shadow Dungeon Cleanup” has been completed.]

[Reward has arrived.]

[Do you want to check the reward?] (Y/N)

“…… Huh?”

Suho, who suddenly checked the quest window, opened his eyes wide.

He had not even checked the message that the reward had arrived, as he was busy fighting the goblins, but he had discovered something strange.

[100 goblins: complete (107/100)]

“Why is the count still accumulating even though we have completed the goal?”

Suho’s eyes lit up sharply.

Is this really a coincidence?

Swish!

Suho beheaded the incoming goblin captain.

[You have killed the Goblin Captain.]

[10 Goblin captains: complete (11/10)]

“Exactly!”

Similarly, other counts were also accumulating continuously.

Curiosity suddenly struck Suho.

“How many can we count?”

Suho started hunting the goblins even more enthusiastically than before.

As a result…

[100 goblins: complete (200/100)]

[10 Goblin Lieutenants: complete (20/10)]

[1 Goblin Chief: complete (1/1)]

When the target number was exactly twice the goal, no more counts were accumulated.

‘There’s something about this.’

Suho’s curiosity had now turned into certainty.

[1 Goblin Chief: complete (1/1)]

Now there’s only one Chief left.

“Krek!”

If I kill that one, all the counts will be doubled.

‘What will happen then?’

I’ll find out when I check.

“Don’t let him escape!”

[Kerung!]

At Suho’s command, the shadow goblins rushed in and grabbed the limbs of the large goblin chief.

“Kyaah!”

The chief struggled and screamed.

Suho ran up and cut the chief’s throat.

Then.

Ding!

[‘Hidden Quest: Shadow Dungeon Clean-up’ has been completed.]

[Completion rewards have arrived.]

[Would you like to check the rewards?] (Y/N)

“A hidden quest?”

When all the counts were doubled, the type of quest changed.

Suho felt elated at the fact that his intuition was correct.

Since there were no more goblins to fight after killing the chief, he decided to check the rewards right away.

“Check rewards.”

Ding!

[The following rewards are prepared.]

Reward 1. Status recovery

Reward 2. Ability points +3

Hidden reward 3.

[Accept all?]

“Three rewards?,” he asked.

First, he decided to check the first reward.

Although he leveled up in the middle of the fight against 200 goblins, his body was completely exhausted.

“Accepting the first reward.”

At that moment, the whole body of the guardian was surrounded by faint blue energy.

It was as if all conditions were perfectly restored, just like when he leveled up.

“Oh, this is great.”

As soon as he experienced it, he realized how to use this reward effectively in the future.

When injured during battle, leaving this reward and using it at an appropriate time would eliminate the need to vaguely wait for a level-up.

“Accepting the second reward.”

The second reward, ‘Ability points +3,’ was also great.

Today’s experience showed that as his level increased, leveling up would become increasingly difficult.

But since this was a daily quest reward, it meant that he could become stronger every day in this way.

And now, only the reward for the hidden quest remained.

Hidden Reward 3.

Before the guardian lay a choice.