Hound Step and Crooked Finger Summoning Potion

Gong Qiying sat on the spotless shrine, staring blankly at the ceiling.

A new day, and the Crystal Ball was broadcasting the adventurers' latest antics, but he had no heart to watch.

Because he'd suddenly realized something—wasn't his life a bit too monotonous?

Every day, all he did was check for gaps and repair the dungeon. Sure, it was interesting, but a person couldn't just do one thing forever, right? He didn't want to become some dungeon hermit.

But if he wanted to do something else, he couldn't leave the dungeon. All he could do was eavesdrop on adventurers' conversations and imagine the outside world from their words.

Sounded pretty miserable, honestly.

People said life was about building connections with others, and he'd been in this world for a while now without making a single friend.

"Feeling a bit lonely."

Gong Qiying's face was plastered with boredom as he turned back to the Crystal Ball, spotting plenty of familiar faces.

Vierde was back again. He seemed to treat his encounter with Sakaki (Gong Qiying) as some kind of adventure, believing he could gain benefits from Sakaki, who appeared to know a lot of mysterious knowledge. Determined to keep it to himself, he'd charged into the dungeon alone.

The result was dying in some random corner. He probably wouldn't give up that easily.

The adventurer with Giant Race blood was also there, tirelessly challenging the dungeon every day like clocking in. Unfortunately, he hadn't even made it to the guardian Gargoyle.

This guy was always obsessed with the thrill of battle. He knew the Curse Frog's spray could one-shot people, yet he still gathered them all together before fighting. Honestly—

Respect, best wishes, but no understanding.

Maybe it was Gong Qiying's imagination, but it seemed like this guy's Curse of Death duration was getting longer. Could dying more really boost immunity?

Si Telan was there too. This time, she wasn't with her companions and planned to face the monsters alone. From her stance, she was ready to die just to map out the terrain.

With a resolve to die, she explored more calmly. Some of the sneaky traps were no longer a threat to her.

Summing it up, the traps in Zane Dungeon shared a few common traits: high density, low damage, strong obstruction, hidden positions, and they needed coordination with monsters to kill.

Si Telan had figured out a rule herself: wherever there were lots of monsters, there were bound to be traps; but where there were traps, monsters weren't guaranteed.

Her actual exploration matched her rule pretty closely.

"This one's got some talent."

Gong Qiying felt a spark of appreciation for her. This elf was the fastest-improving adventurer so far. Her early performance might not have been great, but she could learn and apply.

Look, Si Telan was approaching a corner on a narrow path. What would she do?

The moment she saw the turn, Si Telan stopped, picked up a stone from the ground, and tossed it over as a test.

"Plop, plop." The stone hit the water, making a series of sounds. Nothing else happened. Did that mean no monster ambush at the corner?

Not at all!

The best way to deal with 'Old sixes' was—

She pulled out a bomb and hurled it fast, accurate, and ruthless!

"Boom—"

"Ahh!"

The explosion mixed with a monster's scream. The smell of scorched flesh and blood wafted over, and Si Telan took a deep, satisfied breath.

"Phew, that feels good."

"That's it!" Gong Qiying snapped his fingers. He loved seeing adventurers improve!

"Time to give a little reward. Let me see."

Not long after, Si Telan spotted a strange Living Dead wobbling toward her, completely unguarded and careless, as if deliberately baiting her to kill it.

This was actually a disposable pawn Gong Qiying had sent to deliver a reward.

But.

Si Telan frowned, sidestepped out of the way, and watched the Living Dead walk past her. She didn't attack!?

"Something's off. What if this monster explodes after one hit?" Si Telan muttered to herself. "Or maybe it turns into a stronger monster when it dies?"

Zane Dungeon had trained her into a paranoid personality.

"..."

Gong Qiying paused, thinking, Why overthink this? Just hit it already!

He made the Living Dead walk back in front of Si Telan, staring at her motionlessly, arms spread wide as if offering a hug.

Si Telan shot it a disgusted look, ducked past it, and hurried away.

"Hey, you can resist that?"

Out of options, Gong Qiying ordered the Living Dead to charge and attack Si Telan.

"Knew you'd show your true colors!"

Si Telan kicked the Living Dead's head clean off, then instantly leaped back, eyes sharp and wary on its corpse, afraid something unexpected might happen.

Nothing unexpected happened. The Living Dead crumbled to ash and vanished, leaving behind two glowing dots in place.

Huh? No trick?

Si Telan was briefly stunned, almost unaccustomed to it, but she still walked over and picked up the light orb.

A weapon and an item. The weapon appeared to be a pair of hook claws—a type she had absolutely no idea how to use.

"Maybe I'll just sell it for money,"

The thought had barely crossed her mind when knowledge of a Weapon Skill called Hound Step flooded into her brain—it was the skill inherent to the hook claws.

And once she understood what Hound Step did, a delighted smile spread across her face again.

"Seems like a pretty strong Weapon Skill, huh. Wait, no—why would a weapon give me skill knowledge?"

She tried taking off the hook claws, and instantly her mind forgot Hound Step, as if that knowledge had never existed.

"That's amazing,"

Si Telan marveled. She felt an urge to send the hook claws to the Elf Race and have their craftsmen study them.

Too bad it was too far—sending them would take way too much time.

Besides the treasure that was the hook claws, the other item left her puzzled.

It was a small, antique-looking box. When she opened it, inside was something golden and shiny—she couldn't tell what it was at all.

As if afraid she wouldn't understand, information was directly injected into her mind.

Crooked Finger Summoning Potion x5

Upon use, you can see Summon Signs drawn by Helpers or Fighters in the same underground layer. Summoning a Helper will assist you in clearing the dungeon until the area boss is defeated. Summoning a Fighter will initiate combat with you.

"What kind of amazing thing is this?"

It was the first time Si Telan had ever heard of an item that could summon someone from across regions!

"Can it really summon someone? Is the person I summon alive or what? Do they have this item too?"

A flood of questions filled her mind. She hesitated, staring at the Crooked Finger Summoning Potion. It seemed to be a consumable, but since there were five total, wouldn't it be fine to try using one?

With that thought, she couldn't hold back any longer. She raised the Crooked Finger Summoning Potion and scattered its contents into the air.

"What's going to happen? What does a Summon Sign look like? I'm so excited,"

Under her expectant gaze, not far away, a golden Summon Sign slowly materialized.