Chapter 9

The moment I opened my eyes again, I had a feeling. If there’s a heaven, it’s here. The soft thighs wrapped snugly around the back of my head. The overwhelming maternal presence radiating like the sky before my eyes. And then, tickling the tip of my nose… fur.

“Achoo!”

“Woof! Master, are you awake?”

With a grand sneeze, my mind snapped awake. I must’ve passed out. Earlier, I got hit in the side by a boar and flew. This time, I got smothered in someone’s chest and blacked out. Man, I’m so weak, seriously. Starting tomorrow, I’m doing early bird morning workouts. Running, push-ups, the works…

“Are you okay, woof?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m fine.”

Honestly, I wanted to enjoy it a bit more, but what if I got attached? Swallowing my regret, I sat up properly. The place where I comfortably passed out was the bench in the square where I had met Lumi earlier.

“Anyway, to explain a bit more…”

“Uwoo, no need for explanations, woof! Master is Master! Lumi will protect Master, woof!”

So enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is a good thing. Without needing any persuasion, Lumi started following me, wagging her tail. I’ll ask later if I can pet her.

—

Guild House. It wasn’t like we hadn’t interacted before, but… an awkward silence hung between the two women. Ari, for her part, felt uneasy being alone with the Saint, who was arguably the most famous person in the city. Yo-Hena, on the other hand, was stuck in a swamp of misunderstanding, wondering, “Did she really do it? Nah, probably not. Should I ask? No, that’d be weird… It’s not like it was wrong…”

Creak— The moment the Guild House door opened, “Welcome back, Arc!” “You’re back?” came the lively greetings.

“I’m back,” Arc replied.

“Nice to meet you, woof!” A dog beastgirl suddenly popped out from behind.

Sway, jiggle. The overwhelming presence left Ari and Yo-Hena momentarily speechless. Naturally, their gazes drifted to their own chests. ‘……’ Faced with that incomparable heaviness, the two women couldn’t help but feel a bit solemn.

—

“That’ll be 23 gold.”

After a brief introduction among our heroes, I focused on making up for the morning sales I missed due to mental issues and recruiting Lumi. But I was also racking my brain over one problem: Lumi. How to use her? Since I’d already made a contract, I had to figure out how to integrate her into the current party.

Even a rotten fish is still a fish. Being a natural 5-star, her stats were higher than the 3-star tanks, so the early stages wouldn’t be a problem. But long-term planning is essential. Running future simulations, she’d inevitably fall out of the party.

“Sigh.”

If I hadn’t seen her in person, if she were just a data file, I wouldn’t have known. But the vividness I felt from her standing illustration, Live2D, and in-game 3D model left me… Lumi-fied.

Should I go extreme with the party composition? Remove the tank and use Lumi as a damage-tank while stacking ranged DPS? Or maybe double up on healers to manage health even while taking hits?

I’d have to try various setups. If I were a player chronically short on resources, I’d need to focus on specific growth paths. But now, as a shop owner, given enough time, I could gather several times the resources and pour them in.

“30 gold, thank you.”

Like when I worked part-time at a convenience store, my brain kept running Lumi simulations. Truly, brain-rafel!

—

But my delusions were futile. After pouring all the day’s EXP potions into Lumi and entering the Tower with a 3-person party…

“Lumi, you’re amazing!” “…Impressive.” “Yeah…”

Yo-Hena didn’t need to heal. Ari didn’t need to shoot arrows. Before entering the Tower, Lumi was just a docile dog wagging her tail and panting. But the moment she faced monsters…

“Growl!” A roar to dominate the field!

“Woof!” She leaped up and punched the boar’s head—bam!

Even in the original game, unavoidable hitboxes would’ve chipped away at her health, but…

“Woof!” She easily dodged the boar’s charge, grabbed its tail, and swung it around before slamming it down!

That’s right. Lumi could *dodge*!

Moreover…

“Lumi! Aim for the head!” “Got it, woof!”

When I gave her specific combat instructions, Lumi, who had been randomly punching wherever she could reach, started targeting the boar’s head precisely.

Following orders is a big deal. Using my knowledge, I could preemptively dodge threatening attacks, use taunt skills at the right moments, or even pre-buff her attack power before combat.

In other words, I wasn’t just a simple player or observer. I could be an active commander intervening in the battlefield!

Let’s test a bit more.

“Lumi, jump!” “Woof!”

“Lumi, sit!” “Woof!”

“Lumi, bang bang!” “Bark!”

Suddenly, I missed our family dog. I hope she’s doing well.

As I petted Lumi, who had obediently followed my commands and nuzzled her head against me…

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just, a little…” “Arc? Lumi is a beastgirl, but she’s still a girl. Some commands might make her uncomfortable—” “Lumi likes it, woof! So excited, woof!”

Oops. Even if the person in question is okay, the Saint’s point was valid.

“Lumi, I’m sorry.” “It’s fine, woof! Lumi likes Master, woof!”

Lumi is rubbing her head more aggressively.

The expression is really weird though.

She’s really like a dog……

Even the way her fur flies from her tail……

Anyway, I feel a bit relieved.

Let’s keep going like this!

[Tower of Wishes 2nd Floor – Evergreen Forest Area 9 Clear!]

“Alright. Let’s break through Area 10 right away.”

The party’s stability has definitely improved.

Even though Ari’s normal attacks deal AoE damage.

Sometimes, not even a single arrow would wipe them all out.

But now, like yesterday, if a boar gets to our flank, that kind of problem can still happen.

“Woof!”

Lumi jumps in, showing off her colorful mane among the monsters.

“Arf! Arf!”

She uses an AoE taunt right on my signal.

“Oink!”

“Oink!”

The boars start rushing toward Lumi.

“Ari!”

“Yup!”

After a few experiments, we found out that allies aren’t affected by AoE attacks.

So Ari aims and shoots without any hesitation!

The arrow leaves the bowstring and explodes at Lumi’s feet.

[Earth Boar (LV.17) defeated!]

[Wind Boar (LV.17) defeated!]

Look at how lazy the mob names are.

It seems like the easy part is coming to an end.

“Oink!”

One boar, barely alive, lets out a pitiful roar.

“Shut up, woof!”

Thud!

Lumi’s punch cleanly lands on the boar’s head.

[Earth Boar (LV.19) defeated!]

A clean sweep.

Even though these monsters could be easily handled by Lumi alone.

We were practicing to get our teamwork right.

As we kept crushing the mobs and moving forward.

[Great Boar (LV.20)]

The boss of the 2nd floor revealed itself.

Roughly estimating its health.

Five arrows.

Or three arrows and three dog punches.

If we were just using normal attacks.

“Lumi. You don’t have to attack. Just keep the boss’s attention. Ari, let’s stick three arrows in it first. Don’t kill it.”

“Woof!”

Lumi just nods at my command.

“Huh? Okay……!”

Ari, who’s been full of courage since Lumi joined, also nods.

“Arc, is there a reason you’re not killing it?”

Only the ever-curious Saint asks the question.

Good attitude.

“There’s something I want to test.”

At my kind explanation, Yo-Hena seems to agree and casts blessings on Ari and Lumi.

“Oooooooink!!!”

Roughly calculated, the Great Boar lets out a roar that’s four letters and two exclamation marks more intense than the regular boars.

Clash.

“Woof~ Woof~”

Lumi skillfully dodges the Great Boar’s mindless charges, jumping around like an acrobat.

Our obedient Ari calmly fires one, two, and then three arrows.

Since its health is now below 50%.

It’s time.

I gauge the distance between the Great Boar and us.

Grabbing Ari and Yo-Hena’s clothes, I slowly back away.

Right after.

“Ooooh…… Ooooooh……!”

The Great Boar stops charging and starts scraping the ground with its hooves, gathering energy.

The precursor to a massive attack pattern.

It scrapes the ground five times, jumps into the air, and slams down, dealing massive AoE damage to everyone.

It’s easy to miss on a small screen.

But in real life, the movements are way too obvious.

Two, three, four, five…….

“Lumi! Taunt!”

“Woof! Arf! Arf arf!”

Instead of her usual cute “woof,” she lets out a fierce “arf!” sound.

“Ooooh……?”

Just as the boar boss was about to jump and bid farewell to the ground, its eyes suddenly turn red.

Thud.

It lands very softly on the ground.

“Nice! Lumi! Triple dog punch!”

“Woof!”

Thud thud thud!

[Great Boar (LV.20) defeated!]

With clean damage calculations.

The Great Boar flops down.

“Hahaha, hahahaha……!”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

The hypothesis was proven.

In the original game, Last Felix, one of the core techniques for climbing higher floors is timing skill usage.

Skill cooldown reduction.

Attack speed.

Previous round clear time.

Other characters’ buffs.

By controlling all these factors.

You need to strategize so that countermeasures like taunts or AoE shields are ready when threatening attacks come.

If not?

DEFEAT.

Party wiped. Please spend more money.

But!

I don’t need to go through all that suffering.

Just turn off the heroes’ auto-mode for a bit.

And drive manually with my Class 2 driving skills.

Pattern? Taunt it.

Continuous pattern? Shield it. Or take the hit and heal up.

Insane pattern? Dodge! Breath! To the corner!

[Tower of Wishes 2nd Floor – Evergreen Forest Area 10 Clear!]

[You can now enter the 3rd floor of the Tower of Wishes.]

[New feature unlocked: Daily Dungeon]

And.

Even with the shopkeeper’s authority.

A place where we can get those experience potions that our heroes can’t get enough of.

The Daily Dungeon has been unlocked.

“Otapal.”

“Otapal? What does that mean?”

“It means ‘Today’s Tower was fulfilling.’ Let’s stop here. Let’s have a meat party with the boars we caught today.”

“Meat! I love meat, woof!”

Good job today, heroes.

Let’s grease up our bellies a bit.