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[Linked Quest: Hunt the Clam Golem.]

Rank: SS

Requirements: Ben’s favor.

Rewards: ???

Penalty for Failure: Sharp decrease in Ben’s favor.

Description: You have finally caught the Golden Salmon! Now, the only thing that you need to do is to use the Golden Salmon to lure the Clam Golem out!

Minhyuk trembled in excitement. He thought, ‘Kgghk! This is just like what father said, a special touch!’

Without meaning to, Minhyuk truly felt happiness. The feeling of finally being able to catch the fish after waiting for hours on end was truly delightful.

Ben felt like his heart was bursting with tension when the Golden Salmon bit the bait. Once the fish broke out of the water, he could not help but let out a huge sigh of relief and happiness. He quickly tied a rope around the body of the salmon. He said, “This rope is magical. You can never untie it once something is tied by it.”

The scales of this fish were slippery, so to prevent it from jumping away from their grasp, Ben had specifically prepared a magical rope. Minhyuk nodded as he checked the title that he received.

(Fishing King, Kang Taegong)

Unique Title

Title Effects:

•The probability of catching a special fish increases by 1.5x

•All five basic stats +5

Minhyuk smiled happily when he saw that there was an increase in his chances of catching special fish.

Flap, flap, flap, flap!

The Golden Salmon was flapping wildly as it desperately tried to get out of the boat. Ben quickly finished tying the magic rope on its body, before tying the other end to his hands. He then threw the Golden Salmon back in the water.

Ben was once a part of the Pinnacle Strong Men, so his strength could easily subdue the Golden Salmon. This was also the reason why they were not worried that the Golden Salmon might escape from a lack of strength.

“Now, all we have to do is lure that bastard out!” Ben said, his expression turning dark.

‘It has been five years. I have waited for this moment for five, long years.’

The boat slowly moved. Ben chewed on a Dorito's Bubblegum. Minhyuk copied him and chewed on a Dorito's Bubblegum too. Then, he spat out the gum after chewing it.

“...Why did you spit it out?” 

“The sweetness is gone. Oh, right! We have to go under the sea!”

“...”

It was the Dorito's Bubblegum that could help anyone breathe underwater freely, but Minhyuk ate five in one go! Not only that, he was eating it for the taste rather than the effect!

“I have to chew a lot so I won’t have to spit it out.”

“...Uhmm,” Ben hummed as he nodded blankly. Then, he said, “Follow closely behind me.”

“Yes!”

Ben jumped off of the boat with the spear strapped on his back. Minhyuk quickly followed him into the water.

[Due to the effect of Dorito's Bubblegum, you will be able to breathe underwater for a duration of one hour.]

Minhyuk felt that it was truly something amazing. He was under the sea, but he could still breathe freely. Minhyuk could swim well and easily followed Ben under the sea. Just like that, they arrived at the bottom of the sea. He could see plenty of mysterious creatures growing near the rocks, as well as hidden crabs and schools of fish swimming past them.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Of course, Minhyuk did not forget to snatch them up and put them in his inventory while closely following behind Ben. 

Minhyuk happily swam and continued grabbing seafood along the way, until they arrived in front of the cave. They slowly landed on the sea bed. Strangely enough, Minhyuk felt as if he was walking on land instead of walking underwater. This was another effect of Dorito’s Bubblegum.

The scene at the depths of the cave was unclear, since it was covered in darkness. Minhyuk squinted his eyes to look inside. He thought, ‘There are grilled clams here...!’

Ben tugged the Golden Salmon and guided it in front of the cave. The light that was glowing from the body of the Golden Salmon slowly stretched out towards the cave, illuminating the scene inside. That was how bright the light of the Golden Salmon was.

Ben held the shaft of his spear tightly. He thought, ‘Son...!’

When Ben turned his head, he caught sight of Minhyuk peering inside the cave.

‘Come to think of it...’

His son would be around the same age as Minhyuk had he been alive.

‘It’s been quite a while since I last laughed.’

When Minhyuk cooked ramyeon for Ben, the latter felt that it was truly delicious. He even laughed at Minhyuk after watching the boy eat his food deliciously.

‘It’s been years since I last ate with someone else.’

Ben was truly grateful to this kind, young man named Minhyuk. Then, he saw Minhyuk spitting out the gum again.

“Ack! M, my breath...!” Minhyuk exclaimed in horror, before quickly popping out another ten pieces of Dorito’s Bubblegum in his mouth. He said, “Phew... Dorito’s gum is really delicious!”

Minhyuk was a strange man, full of weird antics, but Ben was definitely grateful to him.

Time flew by as they waited in front of the cave. An hour, two hours, five hours, twelve hours. They have been waiting for quite a long time now.

“...What the hell?” Grandpa Ben asked loudly. He could not understand what was happening. In all the years that he had spent in the Dragon King’s Sea, he had seen a variety of creatures, including a bipedal fish, mermaids and even guardians. Through them, he had learned that the way to lure out the Clam Golem was to lure it with the Golden Salmon. According to them, the Clam Golem had a big appetite, and it would lose all reason once it saw the light of the Golden Salmon. However, twelve hours had already gone by, and nothing was happening.

‘W…why the hell is it not coming out!’

Ben was flustered and it was the same for Minhyuk.

‘I…I want to eat grilled clams!’

Grilled clams. This was what friends at Minhyuk’s age would usually do… One of these friends would have a car or two, and the friends would ask him to go to the sea. The person with the car would then become the designated driver as they laughed and talked among themselves. And once everyone fell asleep...

‘These f*ckers!’

The friend with the car would rub his nose helplessly as he looked at his sleeping friends before leaving them alone. However, once they arrived at the beach, everyone would be in high spirits, as they all hung out and ate grilled clams.

For most others, it was a normal routine. 

‘Hey, let’s get clams today! Okay?!’

That was it. However, the same was not true for Minhyuk. He also wanted to try grilled clams while sitting on the shore and enjoying the sea breeze. 

‘But this bastard’s not coming out!’

Minhyuk turned to Ben and asked, “Do you know how strong this predator is?”

Ben thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s as powerful as a knight of a regular empire?”

“Hmm?” Minhyuk hummed in thought. It seemed like it was not as tough as he thought it to be. In fact, if it was as strong as an imperial knight, then its level would be around Level 300~360.

‘I think I can try and hunt it?’

“The reason why that bastard is famous in the Dragon King’s Sea is mainly due to its rarity. Also, that bastard will only eat things that aren’t usually eaten, also mainly preying on the trash in the Dragon King’s Sea.”

Minhyuk nodded as he listened intently to what Ben was saying.

“This is also the reason why the Dragon King said that there was no need to hunt such a guy.”

“I see.”

It was just special because of its rarity. It seemed like having the legendary tag added to its name did not necessarily mean that it would be strong. It could also be tagged as legendary based on its rarity. In fact, Minhyuk had seen plenty of monsters whose strength did not match their rank in the dungeon filled with hungry monsters. It would be easier to think of it like this… Rare or unique mobs would also sometimes exist in dungeons for Level 100 players. One could say that this case was similar to such a scenario. 

“Then, why don’t I go inside and lure the guy out? I’ll take the Golden Salmon with me.”

Ben’s eyes trembled in anxiety when he heard those words. He tried to discourage Minhyuk, “H…how can you go so far inside? There might be danger.”

Minhyuk shook his head when he heard Ben’s worry. He could not keep waiting like this for a day or two. With the Golden Salmon already tied and caught, Minhyuk knew that it would die sooner or later. What would happen if the Golden Salmon died?

‘Then, the taste of the salmon sashimi would drop...!’

Salmon sashimi would only taste good if it was fresh, right? Without understanding the motivation behind Minhyuk’s ‘courage’, Ben felt deeply moved.

“Grandpa Ben needs to finish his fishing career. So, let’s hunt it down quickly. I’ll be quick and lure it out as soon as possible. Also, I have an invisibility cloak that can hide my body and aura.”

Ben hunting the Clam Golem was already overkill since it was not as strong as expected. He could easily kill the Clam Golem if he wanted to, but if it did not come out, then were they just going to jump around here crazily?

Ben suddenly thought of a way around it. He said, “Just in case something happens, how about we tie this rope on your body? If you tug on it three times in a row, then I’ll pull you out quickly. No matter how good you are at fishing and cooking, you’re still a chef, right? You have to be careful, ok? Just be careful.”

Ben had thought that Minhyuk was a chef that had just learned cooking. It was not without reason after all. It looked like Minhyuk had focused all of his attention on raising his production-related skills, like his fishing and cooking skills, which would mean that he likely had a hard time increasing his power.

Minhyuk smiled when he heard Ben’s words of concern. He said, “I’m really strong, you know?”

“Hoho. Of course,” Ben said, dismissing his remarks as a joke to relieve his tension. He watched Minhyuk drag the Golden Salmon inside as if he was taking a dog on a walk.

Minhyuk quickly triggered his abilities that would buff his strength the moment he stood in front of the cave. First, he used Ellie’s Swordsmanship to increase all his stats and increase the chances of his additional damage, evasion rate, and critical hits. He also used the invisibility effect of Great Mage Arfield’s Cloak.

[Invisibility.]

[Invisibility will fade away after two hours. Invisibility will also remain for two seconds after an attack.]

“Oh...!” Ben gasped in shock after seeing Minhyuk’s body disappear in an instant. Even the rope that tied his body disappeared. It only looked like the golden rope was keeping the Golden Salmon tied.

Minhyuk walked slowly into the depths of the cave. He thought, ‘I heard that it’s the size of a two-ton truck, right?’

Minhyuk was told that it was a very huge guy and that all of the shellfish that existed in the world stuck together to form its body. He was sure that the bastard would not be that hard to find.

He continued to walk inside until he arrived in a wide open area. The area was as big as a school auditorium. However, surprisingly enough, the center of the floor was hollow.

‘Is this a separate entrance?’

It was probably a unique setting for this specific dungeon. Minhyuk stood aside to watch the schools of fish that swam and got sucked into the hole. Even trash got sucked inside.

‘Wow... Do I just have to sit here and fish will come regardless?’ Minhyuk thought. Then…

Clatter!

“...?”

…rocks started to fall from above, causing Minhyuk to look up at the cave’s ceiling.

“...!”

Minhyuk was so surprised that he almost let out a loud gasp. He could see the bastard right above him, plastered on the ceiling.

[Named Monster.]

[You are the first to discover the Legendary Monster: Angry Clam Golem.]

[You have gained 20 REP.]

[Your EXP Acquisition Rate and Item Drop Rate will double while hunting the Angry Clam Golem.]

“...?”

Minhyuk had two things that he was confused about. First, the name of the Clam Golem was not just Clam Golem, but Angry Clam Golem. Second, its appearance was completely different from what he had heard from Ben. The bastard looked like it was just a bit larger than an adult male, with a height that was around two meters. It was plastered on the cave’s ceiling like it was Spiderman. Its pair of beady eyes looked around, creepy enough to induce fear as its head slowly moved.

Creaaaaak━

Minhyuk’s eyes met with the monster’s eyes. Thankfully, it could not see anything. That was when Minhyuk saw the black light shining out of its body, as well as the parts and ingredients that he could collect from it.

‘I can eat it...!’ 

Although it was much smaller than what he expected it to be, Minhyuk would still be able to harvest a huge amount of shellfish from it. Then, the monster opened its mouth widely…

Vwooooooooooom!

…as wide as a truck! It became so large that Minhyuk could not help but gulp in fright. It seemed like the bastard was trying to suck the Golden Salmon. However, the range and size of its mouth was enough to swallow Minhyuk together with the Golden Salmon. What would happen if it successfully ate the Golden Salmon?

‘My Golden Salmon...!’ Minhyuk thought, gripping his sword tightly.