NOVEL FROG Chapter 74
Even if I evolve…
There was a possibility that the Clown’s curse wouldn’t disappear.
To prepare for that moment, I decided not to use one Evolution Ticket, so that everyone could say their goodbyes.
If I fell into an evolution state, I wouldn’t be able to bid farewell to the Clown.
As time passed, the Clown completed his evolution and revealed himself.
Fortunately…
I was able to avoid the worst future where I had to say goodbye.
The curse that had engulfed the Clown… no, the Necro Puppetmaster, had vanished.
For the record, my severed arms, which the Clown had connected through his psychic ability to prevent decay, were still the same. The Clown had just evolved; he wasn’t dead.
“Now, I need to choose the next one to evolve…”
I looked over the gathered monsters.
I had already decided which monster would use the Evolution Ticket.
The Jellyfish and the Melody Fox.
Those two.
But due to an unexpected accident, I ended up evolving the Clown, so now it was time to choose one of those two.
“Well, the candidates are Jellyfish and Melody Fox.”
First, I explained to the other monsters who weren’t chosen.
The Jellyfish was the one I tamed initially.
It was the only one among the monsters back then that hadn’t evolved, so I wanted to give it priority.
As for the Melody Fox, if it evolved, I believed it could help the other monsters in their evolutions more.
As I carefully explained my reasoning, those who initially looked a bit disappointed started to understand one by one.
That was as far as my role went.
“You two discuss and decide who will evolve.”
I left the final choice to them.
The Jellyfish and the Melody Fox kept their heads still.
Their eyes subtly darted to each other.
After a while of sizing each other up, they cautiously closed the distance and began to converse in quiet voices.
Bii~
The Jellyfish waved its tentacles.
Kyuuuu~
The Melody Fox flicked its tail.
Biiiii~
Kyuuuuuu!
Their conversation continued.
It seemed they were having a hard time narrowing down their opinions.
【Mysticism】─
Analyzing their gestures and expressions to translate their conversation:
Bii~
─You go first.
Kyuuuu~
─No, you go first.
That’s the vibe I get.
No matter how I looked at it, they didn’t seem to be fighting.
As we speculated, they were indeed relinquishing the Evolution Ticket to each other.
Right now, they were pushing each other towards me.
The two were pushing each other to concede.
Surprisingly, it was the Jellyfish that lost the strength contest.
The Jellyfish was pushed forward by the Melody Fox.
Bii?!
Looks like the Melody Fox has some hidden strength, or maybe the Jellyfish was pretending to lose.
The Jellyfish still seemed sorry.
It glanced back at the Melody Fox.
Bii…
Kyuu! Kyuuuu! Kyuuu!!!
If I were to translate that, it probably means “Don’t feel sorry! Just evolve already!” or something like that.
【Mysticism】─
Anyway, since he lost the strength contest and got pushed, the next evolution target was decided to be the Jellyfish.
*
Day 39 in the Labyrinth.
The Jellyfish still hadn’t awakened.
It was still deep in slumber inside the egg for its evolution.
This time, the color of the egg was different.
It wasn’t gold like with the Black Magma Slime.
Nor was it black like with the Necro Puppetmaster; the egg enveloping the Jellyfish was red.
‘There’s still quite some time until the evolution.’
I didn’t just sit idly in front of the egg.
After placing a few monsters to guard the egg, I was doing my assigned tasks.
“Iris. If you sense anything even slightly dangerous, don’t look back and run away immediately.”
─Confirmation.
Iris was moving down Passage 1.
Today, I planned to explore the spot where I first fell into this Ancient Labyrinth.
Honestly, by now, that giant Skeleton Monster should have moved somewhere else.
But just in case, I figured I’d be as cautious as possible.
To minimize damage, I only sent Iris, and while I was focusing on her moving through Passage 1…
The Assistants began to gather one by one in the broadcast.
But why does that nickname sound so weird?
It was so long that I thought it was someone else for a second.
Ha Yumi, who arrived late, seemed bothered by Pururu’s nickname and commented.
Ha Yumi didn’t know what she was talking about.
Alice isn’t particularly normal either.
Of course, she’s one of the few true warriors I acknowledge…
But from an objective standpoint, there’s no way she could be considered normal.
Especially during combat, she acts like a crazy lady.
Anyway, like Ha Yumi, I also didn’t like those nicknames.
“Hey guys, can you change your nicknames? It’s a bit distracting with the long ones.”
Not long after saying that…
The Assistants had changed their nicknames.
They were well-behaved, those Assistants.
Moreover, it looked like Pururu and Missy had gotten quite close.
Maybe they hit it off during a gathering or something.
【Too Many Defeated Boglebogle】─The trend just changed…
Leaving behind the oddly chaotic chatroom, I focused back on Iris’s view.
In no time, Iris had passed through the narrow passage and emerged into a spacious chamber.
The very spot I first set foot in the Labyrinth.
─No Danger.
The giant Skeleton Monster was gone.
It had already moved to another place.
I felt a sigh of relief as I confirmed it wasn’t there.
─Resume Exploration.
Iris moved again.
Meanwhile…
Amidst numerous monster corpses, one particularly torn and unrecognizable corpse caught my eye.
“Iris, hold on a second.”
─Hold on. Confirming.
“Do you see that body over there? It looks severely damaged.”
─Body detected.
Iris approached the corpse and zoomed in.
It was indeed the body I mentioned.
“When we return, make sure to collect that. It would be great if you could grab the other bodies too, if possible.”
─Confirmation.
If we brought that body back, I would ask the Necro Puppetmaster to turn it into a puppet.
By the way, the corpse belonged to the former explorer, Min Hyeong-seok.