Chapter 26

The flash was almost blinding.

Normally, you’d protect others first—but I covered my own eyes as fast as I could.

Some time passed like that.

“You can open your eyes now.”

It was Gong Ahyuk’s voice, sounding a little dazed.

When I peeked, two hands blocked my view.

Gong Ayeon and Gong Ahyuk—both had immediately covered my eyes the instant the flash went off.

I told them to dodge, yet I ended up being the one protected.

Embarrassingly, I had protected myself before even thinking about helping them.

These two really lived up to the ideal of “saving the world.”

Without shielding themselves, they instinctively protected me, as if by some unspoken pact.

It’s a famous hunter principle: strong hunters must give their all to protect the weak.

“Hunters exist to properly protect the weak.”

One of the first awakening hunter’s sayings, often cited.

But in reality? Lately, strong hunters rarely protect the weak. Often, they’re used as bullet shields.

Even if someone shouts that hunters have a duty to protect the weak, few truly do.

“…….”

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

They were people for whom protecting the weak was second nature.

If I had tried to protect them, they’d have felt embarrassed—receiving protection as a “savior” is not something they would take lightly.

Squinting, I surveyed the room.

“Jiae, I almost let this slide, but isn’t that thing more like a familiar than just an item?”

Ahyuk lowered his hands and pointed.

There, the orb that had radiated such immense presence until moments ago now shone with extraordinary light.

[Master of Hexennacht (B?) realizes that humans cannot withstand brightness very well.]

I knew it wasn’t human.

I exhaled, thinking I could endure it a little longer.

Even if I lied openly, the twins would overlook it.

Still, my conscience wouldn’t let me.

I shrugged and nodded.

“Not entirely sure, but it seems to have a consciousness. It will hatch soon.”

Only a day left, and if measured by midnight, just a few hours.

If it could produce this much power before hatching, who knows what it might do afterward.

I’d never heard of a B-rank producing such force—so the question mark behind the rank was key.

It had promised to provide a replacement for someone it knocked down, yet nothing had changed after the burst of light.

Squinting, I heard a buzzing sound.

<Eyes, little energy… sorry… apology.>

“Huh?”

“What now? Another thing?”

“Didn’t you just hear that?”

Ayeon and Ahyuk tilted their heads, puzzled.

Only I could hear it—a voice with no gender or age, buzzing directly in my ears.

<When I hatch… you’ll hear everything. All. Only for you now. To you. For you. To Bang Jiae. You. You fool. That guy. That thing.>

<Currently learning human language… vocabulary limited, please understand. Desire. Request. Expectation. Suggestion… recommendation…>

Got it.

I understood.

It sounded like an AI struggling to pick the right words.

Ayeon tilted her ear toward me, as if that would let her hear the orb’s voice.

So your name is Hexennacht?

<Hexennacht. Witch’s Night. Meaning.>
<I am the leader of the witches. Chief. Head. Boss. Owner. Employer. Employee. Organizer. Creator. Start… not that, that’s bad Korean. Remove the last ‘start’. Delete. Exclude.>
<And you, Bang Jiae. My chief. Head. Boss. Owner. Employer. Employee. Organizer. Creator. Start…>

Let’s just stick with “owner” as the system said.

<Owner. Got it.>

I just hope that once it hatches, it can speak proper sentences instead of this cryptic dialogue.

Otherwise, I’d want to run away—it would be impossible to catch the meaning.

“Really… you two can’t hear this?”

“There’s definitely weird mana coming off that stone. The item info keeps changing. It was an item, now it’s a summon.”

“Can you tell what kind of item or summon?”

“No. Looks like its attributes changed with that flash of light.”

As expected from SSS-rank crafters, they could read item data quickly.

It needed something to replace Minhak, so maybe a healing-capable summon was about to be born.

So… what’s the name?

<Human language.> <Lilith.> <Not “rock”… wait.>

“Not rock—Lilith. Don’t call it a rock.”

I looked at Ahyuk, who had casually referred to the orb as “rock” or “circle.” He shrugged, as if to say, “We didn’t know the name, what else could we do?”

“Alright, I’ll call it by its name. Lilith? Isn’t that a demon name?”

“Could be a namesake. Anyway, it wants to be called by its name.”

“Got it. So it wasn’t a rock, but an egg.”

The orb shook its entire body as if satisfied.

It landed lightly on my shoulder. Considering it had crushed Minhak’s head before, it felt surprisingly light.

But my friend… it said it wants to reward me. How?

I wondered. If it was really going to be a healer, it could tell me now.

“Actually, it seems sorry for breaking Minhak’s head… so it wants to make up for it.”

“That’s okay. If a healer’s around, it’s fine as long as no one gets hurt.”

“But this isn’t just anywhere—it’s Uranus.”

“Doesn’t matter, it’s not Neptune or Pluto either.”

Absurd logic, yet the twins nodded like there was no better solution.

If we went to Pluto, they’d just say, “Well, it’s a dungeon there too, what’s the difference?”

It wasn’t the right moment to say, “It could awaken as a healer.”

Yet the orb spun gleefully, bursting violet light.

<Correct.>

“…It says it’s correct?”

So, no one gets hurt means: survive via Ahyuk’s skill and have Ayeon work hard to create something.

I raised my head, incredulous. The orb vibrated.

<Repeat my words. Exactly. Copy. Perfectly. Precisely. Carefully.>

Got it. Enough.

“Uh, it wants me to say something. Even if it sounds like a strange spell, just follow along.”

“Oh, lots of skills have weird spell chants. Gong Ahyuk was lucky he used his skill silently.”

Both twins watched me calmly.

<All-seeing eyes of the universe. Command the star grave that balances the end of the world.>

I followed exactly as I heard it.

The twins remained expressionless.

“That chant’s long.”

“Right, we could die chanting it.”

<Lilith, the servant of fortune, declares divine law upon the star grave.>

“Lilith, the servant of fortune, declares divine law upon the star grave.”

Mana began draining, as if being pulled somewhere.

It was clearly being absorbed by the orb. My vision swayed. Mana sliced open before my eyes.

<Sixth grave, respond to the witch’s master, restore life.>

“Sixth grave, respond to the witch’s master, restore life…”

My vision went dark.

“Jiae!”

“This is… something else.”

I felt a firm hand supporting me and lost consciousness.

[‘Probability Boost’ skill updated.]
[Update declares a safe zone ‘Witches’ Night’ in the dungeon ‘Uranus’.]
[Update Note <Check>]

Chapter 27 

Huh… I must have fainted.

I guess there was no way around it since my mana got drained all the way to zero so suddenly.

If you were going to consume this much, you could have at least warned me beforehand.

But did I really faint? Can you even think this clearly while fainted?

Suddenly, my vision cleared. I was standing upright in a black void.

My limbs were moving fine, which made me doubt whether I had fainted or not.

It felt like I was dreaming. I scratched my philtrum absentmindedly.

Then, as if to answer my question, a blue system window appeared in the darkness.

Now that I think about it, the last thing I saw must have been some kind of update window.

[Update Notes <Check>]

Sure enough, it followed me as if insisting that I check it immediately.

I felt a heavy pressure, as if something irreversible would happen if I looked at this system window.

Even if I tried to move away, it stubbornly followed me.

At this point, I had no choice.

I scrunched my face and tapped the “Check” button.

Immediately, blue light spread everywhere, and the window stretched endlessly.

I’m the kind of person who never reads the terms properly before checking them.

“If I don’t read all of this, it won’t let me leave, right?”

I shouted into the air, but there was no reply.

Usually, silence in this situation implies a “yes.”

Sighing, I focused on the screen.

[Update Notes

Hello, Hunter Bang Ji-ae. This is the system administrator.

Congratulations on establishing a Creature Partnership!]

“A Creature Partnership?”

Honestly, is it okay for me to think this… but the naming sense is awful.

Is this kind of bizarre naming standard for world-class systems?

I scratched the tip of my nose and began reading again.

[A Creature Partnership is a contract forming a partnership with a life form from another world, maintaining an equal relationship under system approval.

Creatures can include humans, spirits, fairies, pets, ghosts, and other diverse races not native to Earth.

Unless one party has a serious fault, unilateral termination is not allowed.

General clauses follow system regulations but can be added or removed by mutual consent.]

And then there were countless explanations.

The two parties must do their best to respond to crises from Mercury to Pluto, and they should avoid actions that harm each other.

Fault is determined at the system’s discretion, and unless that applies, partnership termination requires mutual consent.

In short, that was the gist.

But when did I even agree to a Creature Partnership?

I scrolled endlessly, seemingly without end, until I finally reached the last page.

[If you agree to all of the above terms, please sign below.

Bang Ji-ae (seal) Lilith (seal)]

My signature field was empty, but Lilith’s was filled with a string of unreadable characters.

Probably written in her world’s language.

“So that means I’m in a contract with that Hexennacht thing, huh.”

Seeing the name Lilith reminded me.

The black stone that constantly spewed words like a thesaurus.

And now I remembered—suddenly, a declaration of safety in the Uranus zone or something had occurred, and then I passed out.

It seemed that this partnership was formed without my consent.

Honestly, that Lilith seems thousands of times stronger than me… isn’t this her loss?

Sure, sometimes she might lose mana to me like this, but overall, it’s her loss.

I awkwardly scratched my philtrum and signed my name in the box with my index finger.

[Creature Partnership agreement completed.]

[As a result, the “Uranus” safety zone is now under Hunter Bang Ji-ae’s control, and you may now view some of Creature “Lilith’s” skill tree.]

[Viewable skills: Witch’s Night, Hate Amulet, Bona Peti!]

[We hope for your continued cooperation as a Hunter. Thank you!]

“Done?”

As if responding to my words, the window vanished.

Gradually, light entered the dark space. How much time had passed?

“Gah!”

I jumped upright.

Looking around, it was unmistakably a hospital.

A single room I could never afford with my income, likely reserved for VIPs.

Silence and darkness hung in the room.

I must have fainted before finishing my shift; maybe my twin got me admitted here.

‘This counts as a work-related injury, right? Please don’t make me pay the hospital bill.’

Which is more expensive these days, corneas or kidneys?

I even considered selling an organ just in case, when I felt a warm weight on my leg.

It felt like a small dog had jumped on me.

Looking down slightly, I saw two blue glowing eyes staring at me from the darkness.

When I tilted my head one way, it tilted too; the other way, it tilted the opposite.

Three seconds like that.

“Ahh…!”

Just as a scream was about to escape, small hands clamped over my mouth.

It was a movement so practiced it was obvious it wasn’t the first time.

Where did this skill come from?

Had I really played rough like this before?

“Shh… other nurses and doctors are sleeping. Staff on duty are busy in the ER.”

“Uwh, uw, uuh, uu?”

“I’m Lilith. Correct. I hatched three human hours ago, but since the master is asleep, I waited.”

Even though it sounded like gibberish, Lilith nodded as if she understood me perfectly.

So she had hatched from an egg, and since I seemed unconscious, she had just been waiting.

A soft, fluffy feeling reached me.

Soft?

Lilith’s blue eyes sparkled, and I felt calmer.

At the same time, the room lit up with warm yellow light.

Only then did I see Lilith properly.

Her silvery-white fur shone brilliantly, and she looked at me with her blue eyes. Not quite a dog…

“An owl?”

“A barn owl.”

“Sorry.”

It wasn’t hands covering my mouth, but wings.

Her body glowed, then shifted into a small girl with silver hair and blue eyes.

She wore a black cloak, gloves, and a hat, like a princess from the Arctic.

“This is my human form. Is this better?”

“Both are cute.”

“Earth… it’s cold.”

Lilith shook her head and quickly transformed back into an owl, landing on my lap.

As she spread her wings and flew around the hospital room, I recalled something from my subconscious.

‘Skill tree view.’

At that moment, the window popped up.

[Creature Partner “Lilith” skill tree available.]

[Due to Hunter rank, viewable once per day.]

“One time? Only once per day? No way.”

How depressing.

Being F-rank is bad enough, now there are restrictions on viewing skills.

[Which skill would you like to view?]

[Viewable skills: Witch’s Night, Hate Amulet, Bona Peti!]

The one she used on me was Witch’s Night.

‘Witch’s Night.’

[Witch’s Night (Rank Calculation in Progress)

Declares a “Safety Zone” around Lilith or the partner in the dungeon.

Automatically activates upon entering a dungeon.

Duration: 6 hours. Up to 2 allied members can be registered. (May vary with rank)

Inside the Safety Zone, partner allies receive 50% reduced damage; the partner themself is immune to damage below the zone’s rank.

Zone range is proportional to the number of witches Lilith can summon.

Current zone rank: Uranus

Allies registered: 0/2]

So if I enter Uranus, all damage coming to me is automatically blocked.

And the two allies registered get 50% reduced damage?

I nodded as a lightning-like realization hit me.

“Wait, so I have to enter Uranus too?”

With Gong Ah-hyuk?

The beautiful owl nodded vigorously.

“The Witch’s Law.”

“What’s that?”

“Before you get hit, it kills. No treatment needed.”

“….”

This time, it was truly the right moment to scream.