Chapter 117
“So, you’re going to call me Master now?”
“Bibeong!”
“Hm, that was quite the sudden shift in attitude.”
“Bibeobeong, Bibeong.”
“You’re saying you always meant to do this? Really? And you want me to call you Bibeong now?”
“Bibeong!”
“Hm.”
King Stomah—no, Bibeong—nodded his pudgy head.
Lloyd stroked his chin.
His skeptical gaze locked onto Bibeong.
“You… something’s definitely fishy here.”
“Bibeong?”
“Your attitude changed way too suddenly. Just a minute ago, you were growling like you were ready to fight everything that moved.”
“Bibeobeong?”
“It’s true. I honestly thought you were going to bite the hand holding you.”
“Bibeong?”
“Don’t act like you don’t remember. That was literally a minute ago.”
“Bi, Bibeong.”
“You don’t remember?”
“Bibeong.”
“You say you just wanted to test my sincerity?”
“Bi, Bibeobeong.”
“Hmm.”
King Stomah—no, Bibeong—sat quietly in his palm.
Lloyd’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
‘There’s definitely something going on here.’
He recalled what had just happened.
Bibeong had been genuinely ferocious.
The blue sunflower seed had shrunk him down just fine, but negotiation or persuasion had been completely out of the question. Holding any sort of conversation had been impossible.
He had shown open hostility toward humans.
‘He was like a complete wild beast.’
Being able to speak meant nothing.
He simply wasn’t willing to open up.
No persuasion or coaxing worked.
It was frustrating.
That’s when it occurred to Lloyd—maybe showing him Ppodong, Bangul, and Hamang would help.
He thought that seeing similar types of Fantasy Beasts might change Bibeong’s attitude.
But what actually happened…
The moment Lloyd summoned his own Fantasy Beasts and showed them—
Bibeong’s attitude flipped completely.
It was a dramatic turnaround at light speed.
‘Yeah, there’s definitely something going on here.’
This was the same creature that had been acting so aggressively.
No way he’d act like this for no reason.
‘If I can figure out the reason, I might be able to use him more effectively.’
Lloyd’s eyes narrowed further.
He closely inspected Bibeong sitting in his palm.
His chubby gestures, facial expressions, even the glint in his eyes.
He scanned and analyzed everything.
Then, something caught his eye.
‘The angle he’s standing at… a 45-degree slant from Bangul’s side. Is that his slimmest-looking angle? And he’s sneakily stealing glances only toward Bangul?’
The pieces came together.
‘Wait… could it be?’
Siiigh—
Lloyd’s lips curved into a smirk.
“Hey, you.”
“Bibeong?”
“You’ve got your eye on someone, haven’t you?”
“Bi, Bibeong?”
“I think I know who it is.”
“Bi, Bibeobeong?”
Bibeong’s expression visibly wavered.
Lloyd’s smile deepened.
“Oh yes, her head is perfectly round, her body adorably plump, and on her tail, a cute jingle-jangle Ban—”
“Bibeobeong! Bibeong! Bibeobeobeong!”
“Absolutely not? You’ve never heard of anything like that? Really?”
“Bibeong!”
Bibeong nodded frantically.
Lloyd’s smile grew even deeper.
‘Confirmation complete.’
This guy was clearly head over heels for Bangul.
‘Then what about Bangul?’
He glanced at her reaction.
She tilted her head, looking at Bibeong.
But there wasn’t a hint of emotion beyond curiosity in her eyes.
‘Ahh, the sorrow of unrequited love.’
Welcome to the singles club.
Lloyd beamed with a bright smile.
“Well, fine. If you say so, then I believe you.”
“Bibeong!”
“Alright. So, you’re officially taking me as your master now?”
“Bibeobeong.”
“Good decision. But I’ve got one question.”
“Bibeong?”
“Who summoned you?”
He was genuinely curious.
Who had summoned this creature?
And why had he been living alone in a place like this without a master?
‘That might mean someone else besides me can summon Fantasy Beasts.’
That would be a huge deal.
Being able to summon a Fantasy Beast could mean—
They might be someone who also benefits from the RP system.
That’s why Lloyd was so curious to know who had summoned Bibeong and what kind of person they were.
Which was probably why—
When he heard Bibeong’s answer, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
“Bibeobeong, Bibeong! Bibeongbibeong.”
“What? No one summoned you?”
“Bibeong!”
Bibeong nodded.
He continued.
“Bibeong, Bibeobeong, Bibeong!”
“Hmm, let me get this straight. One day you just popped into existence in this world, completely alone, and never once met another Fantasy Beast like you?”
“Bibeong!”
“…For over 500 years?”
“Bibeong!”
“Hm.”
It seemed Bibeong was one of those extremely rare naturally occurring Fantasy Beasts.
Lloyd organized his thoughts that way.
But just then—
Bibeong spoke in a worried voice.
“Bibeobeong? Bibeong?”
“What? You’re asking if that guy’s okay?”
“Bibeong!”
Bibeong was pointing in concern toward someone.
The person he was pointing at was…
“His name’s Javier Asrahan. But why?”
“Bibeong, Bibeobeobeong. Bibeong!”
“What? He started spouting nonsense all of a sudden?”
“Bibeobeong! Bibeong!”
“He was completely off his rocker? Like, seriously losing it? And you’re worried?”
“Bibeong!”
“Oh, he’s fine. He’s always like that sometimes.”
“Bibeobeong?”
“He used to be called a prodigy back in the day, but then when he was seven, he fell off a persimmon tree and—”
“Lloyd, I can hear you.”
“…”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be skilled at spreading misinformation and slander through false rumors.”
“Ahem, you saw that, right? Normally he’s totally fine. It’s just an occasional thing. Try to be understanding.”
“Bibeong!”
Bibeong nodded innocently.
Javier’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.
Seeing that, Lloyd smiled faintly.
‘Well, mission accomplished.’
Waking up the ruler of Lake Capua, King Stomah.
And using the activated territory marking of the awakened King Stomah to stop the monster domino.
He’d accomplished that goal.
Actually, he went beyond that.
Not only did he wake him up, but he even established a master-servant relationship and could now command him.
‘You could say I overachieved.’
Of course, establishing a bond didn’t mean it was over.
And Bibeong, once known as King Stomah, had his own pros and cons.
‘He has the exact opposite traits of the other Fantasy Beasts like Ppodong.’
Ppodong and Bangul were small by default.
They were easy to carry around in his inner pocket.
And when needed, he could just feed them a red sunflower seed to enlarge them.
But Bibeong?
The opposite.
His normal size was a whopping 100 meters.
He could only be shrunk temporarily using a blue sunflower seed.
And that shrinking effect likely had a maximum duration of 24 hours per use.
‘Meaning it’s not practical to keep him with me all the time.’
So should he stick to the original plan?
Leave him in Lake Capua to roam freely and act as a living barrier against the monster domino?
And only bring him along when absolutely necessary?
Lloyd fell into thought.
But then—
“Lloyd?”
Javier beside him called out.
Lloyd turned to see Javier pointing to the opposite side of the lake.
“Over there—I believe it’s our estate’s reconnaissance team.”
“What? The scouts?”
“Yes. The ones you sent beyond the Eastern Mountains last time.”
“Oh, them?”
He looked toward the far side of the lake.
He saw a group in Frontera Estate’s engineering corps uniforms.
The distance was far, but he could tell who they were.
It was the scouting team he’d sent beyond the Eastern Mountains to check on the orcs after the mastodon herd attack.
“Let’s go.”
They were likely returning from their mission.
Lloyd led everyone across the lake dam.
The scouts, too, greeted them cheerfully.
“Lloyd? We didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Right? Everyone made it back safely?”
“Yes. Thankfully, not a single one was left behind.”
The one leading them was the very soldier who had thrown out his back during the ice storehouse construction in the orc village.
“That’s good to hear. How’s the orc village?”
“Well, about that…”
The soldier’s face darkened.
“They’re fighting fiercely.”
“Fighting? Against the incoming monsters?”
“Yes.”
“Whoa.”
Lloyd was taken aback.
He knew the orcs were brave warriors.
But he hadn’t expected them to stay and fight rather than flee.
‘The damage must be serious.’
This monster domino was no joke. Defeating one wave didn’t mean it was over.
Wave after wave of different monsters came crashing like tides.
Fending off one or two waves wouldn’t cut it.
Each wave wore you down. Fatigue piled up. Eventually, you’d collapse.
That was the truly terrifying part of this situation.
‘That’s why I came up with the ecological barrier plan using Bibeong.’
But despite such an overwhelming threat, the orcs stood their ground.
He couldn’t help but admire their valor—and their recklessness.
At the same time, he felt the need to save them.
‘They’re a solid ally.’
It wasn’t a moral judgment.
It was a purely practical one.
They were dependable allies he could rely on again and again.
He didn’t want to lose them so easily.
‘So what should I do?’
He pondered for a moment.
A way to effectively support the orc tribe.
While minimizing their own casualties.
And maximizing the benefits they could gain.
The current situation.
Available manpower and resources.
Timing and opportunity.
Gains and tradeoffs.
Process and outcome.
He fit every piece into place.
Built it up, stacked it, completed it like a construction plan.
And finally, he reached a conclusion.
“Bibeong?”
“Bibeong?”
“Do you think you could carry us all if you grew big again?”
“Bibeobeong?”
“I’m thinking of heading east. All the way to the wilderness at the foot of the Eastern Mountains. Think you can do it?”
“Bibeong? Bibeobeong?”
A troubled look appeared on Bibeong’s face.
He’d spent nearly his whole life near this lake.
Now Lloyd wanted him to leave the lake and cross the mountain into the wilderness?
Even if Lloyd was now his master, the idea didn’t sit well with him.
But then—
“If you do this for me, certain someone might be ‘very’ happy.”
Lloyd’s voice dripped with subtle sweetness.
And at the end of the sentence, he even gave a slight nod toward Bangul.
“…Bibeong?”
Bibeong gulped.
Seriously?
If I carry everyone to the Eastern foothills—
Bangul will be happy?
Lloyd’s voice became even more persuasive.
“Think about it. Just imagine how joyful she’ll look. And she’s been faithfully serving me too, you know? So if she sees you being obedient to the same master… won’t that give her a sense of connection and comfort?”
“Bi, Bibeong?”
“She might even start seeing you in a different light.”
“…”
“Well? What do you say?”
A tempting question, like a sweet forbidden fruit.
In the end, Bibeong nodded his head vigorously before he could stop himself.
“Bi, Bibeong! Bibeobeong!”
“You ‘can’ do it? Wow, that’s amazing. I bet she’ll think so too.”
“Bibeong!”
For her sake!
Bibeong raised his pancake-like paw high into the air.
And while sneaking a side glance at Bangul, he took the red sunflower seed Lloyd handed him.
After confirming that the group had backed up about 100 meters, he crunched it.
Crunch. Gulp.
The transformation was immediate.
Pooof!
The world shrank again before his eyes.
No, he had returned to his original size.
“Bibeong! Bibeobeong!”
Now back at 100 meters tall, Bibeong let out a mighty roar. He lowered his body to the ground and motioned to Lloyd to hop on.
Boarding commenced like clockwork.
Lloyd, Javier, the 20-member reconnaissance team, and 500 White Lance Knights.
Thanks to his broad, cushioned back, there was still room even after everyone boarded.
“Alright, let’s go. Eastward!”
“Bibeong!”
Hold on tight!
He kicked off the ground with power.
And thus, they departed from the familiar Lake Capua.
Charging boldly toward the east.
One stride cleared a valley.
A few more carried them over a ridge.
Panting and running, they crossed the mountain range.
In just six hours, they traversed the Eastern Mountains.
“Good. Keep heading east!”
“Bibeong!”
Lloyd stood atop Bibeong’s head, serving as the group’s living GPS.
Soon, familiar terrain came into view.
The path to the dark mage’s lair from long ago.
The granite quarry where Javier first used blasting.
And beyond it—the barren, yellowish wasteland.
He could see the huge clouds of dust rising there.
‘That’s where the Steel Sand Tribe lives.’
Lloyd’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the dust.
No doubt about it.
The dust was rising exactly from where he remembered the village to be.
He listened closely and could hear shouts and roars mixed together.
Lloyd spoke quickly.
“Bibeong, listen carefully now!”
“Bibeong!”
“Drop us off up ahead. Then once we’re all down, head straight toward the dust clouds.”
“Bibeobeong?”
“Yes, run straight into them. You’ll see orcs and monsters fighting in the dust.”
“Bibeong? Bibeobeong?”
“No no, the orcs aren’t the enemy. Leave them alone. Just smash the monsters.”
“Bibeong?”
“As intimidating and savage as possible. So terrifying and overwhelming that the monsters that made it this far freak out and run away to the east, spreading rumors of your power. Think you can pull that off? If you do it right—”
Lloyd’s voice turned silky again.
“‘That girl’ might be ‘very’ impressed.”
“Bibeong!”
Indeed, “that girl” was a magical trigger phrase.
Bibeong immediately nodded.
After dropping everyone off, he charged toward the Steel Sand Tribe.
Confident Bangul would witness his magnificent display.
Hoping she might even fall for him.
He burned with the greatest determination of his life.
“Bibeobeobeong! Bibeong!”
All orcs, clear the way!
He roared as he charged into the dust.
He raced past the startled orc warriors.
Spotted his target amid the thick dust.
“Grrrk?”
A 50-meter-sized monster, eyes wide in shock at the sudden intruder.
Its jaws long like a crocodile’s.
Inside, jagged teeth jutted out.
Its scales were more like armor than skin—horns couldn’t pierce them.
Its claws were made to rip through a prey’s belly.
This was the wasteland’s most fearsome predator, the Megalania.
But Megalania or not, it meant nothing to Bibeong.
The creature blocking his path was nothing but an offering to his first love!
“Bibeobeong!”
THOOOOM!
With a powerful roar—
Bibeong’s 3,000-ton first-love punch slammed into Megalania’s face.