The child stayed with me for a while, and sometimes even helped me gather the stars. It wasn't a problem for me that he stayed here; he could remain as long as he wanted, but one day, he said something I still didn't understand. After that, he took some fruits and left the shelter.
If I said I wouldn't miss him, it would have been a lie. He was probably my only friend in this world. He was also the only person I knew.
After he left, I focused all my attention on improving myself. My first goal was to kill the Slime King after crafting a golden armor. What? Did someone say I couldn't summon the boss because I didn't have a crimson altar?
If that's the case, I have to disappoint them. Everything in the game is real as long as I want it to be. There's a Crimson biome nearby, and I've already tunneled there. I can craft what I need without coming above ground.
Also, I had destroyed a Cthulhu heart and obtained a cute spear from it. The spear's damage was quite appealing. I was almost sure I could now fight those wolves from last time. There was, however, another option.
Like stars falling from the sky, game monsters also appeared naturally. The difference from real monsters was that they wouldn't be noticed by others unless I wanted them to.
I had accumulated a lot of bones, and taming a wolf might be possible. Who wouldn't want a pet that could teleport to them in times of need? Wolves were strong creatures, much more noble than dogs. If we said that dogs were the royalty of lakes, it would be fitting. Of course, felines were generally stronger than canines, but what mattered to me was loyalty.
"Is it worth taking the risk?"
I thought about it for a long time, until I accidentally noticed a wounded pup sleeping on top of my shelter.
"How cute."
It really was adorable, and I wasn't exaggerating. All the girls would go crazy trying to adopt it. Even though I was a guy and liked cats more, I couldn't resist the urge to adopt it.
I took out a piece of meat from the chest I had prepared earlier. I poured some health potion on it, hoping it would heal the wolf's wounds, and tossed it up.
The piece of meat fell right next to the pup due to gravity. The silver-colored pup opened its blue eyes and looked at the meat.
Its foot was injured, but it managed to drag itself toward the meat. Just as it was about to eat, it hesitated because it didn't know the source of the meat. That's when something happened. It saw a larger wolf approaching, intending to take the food, something it hadn't seen in a long time.
Its ears perked up, and its tail, which had been gently wagging, stopped. It started to run away; the scarcity of food made it especially hard for a carnivorous animal like it.
But just as it was about to flee, something happened, something that its small mind couldn't fully comprehend. The ground beneath it suddenly gave way, and it fell a few meters below. The fall wasn't high enough to cause injury, but it was enough to scare the little wolf.
"Auuuuwwww."
When its feet touched the ground again, it looked up and saw a wolf, its own kind, eating the meat it had intended to consume. The sight of the two wolves suspended in mid-air made for a completely ridiculous image.
It turned around and saw a child smiling at it. Or perhaps he was older, it was hard to tell his age. The child placed a piece of steak on the ground and stepped back a bit.
The wolf looked at him cautiously. It felt like it might die if it opened its mouth, so even though it was cautious, it slowly approached the meat. It took a bite, and after ensuring it was safe, it began to devour it as if it were its last meal.
Its tail wagged at an incredible speed. After finishing its meal, it looked back at the human in front of it. Its gaze was skeptical. Seeing this, I spoke.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm a good person."
Out of nowhere, the man pulled out a metal knife and made a small cut on his finger. He then showed the shallow wound to the pup.
"Watch carefully."
As the knife disappeared, a potion bottle appeared in his hand. The man took a sip from it, then showed the pup his healed finger.
"See, I'm healed, you'll heal too."
The man placed the health potion on the ground and took a few steps back. The wolf seemed to understand his intent, but still approached the bottle cautiously.
Since it didn't have hands, it gripped the bottle's neck with its teeth, lifted it, and drank all of it in one go. Afterward, it calmly placed the empty glass bottle on the ground.
Its wounds were now fully healed, and it looked much healthier. Its big blue eyes were fixed on the child in front of it. The wolf's movements were now softer, and it seemed to have stopped being so nervous, although its ears were still alert to any possible danger.
Seeing the wolf in a more relaxed state made me feel at ease as well.
"So, are we friends now?"
The wolf looked at me, clearly not understanding a word I had said. We stared at each other for a while, then the pup turned and left.
Time passed quickly. The cute wolf visited me once a day. After eating a meal, it would leave, and I didn't mind. It let me pet it while it ate.
Aside from that, I had some tough times with the Slime King. Just like various elements of the game world were becoming compatible with the real world, it had also changed. It was even stronger than the expert mode version and had a battle intelligence.
I tried to kill it with the spear, but it suddenly split into fifty smaller versions of itself.
After strengthening my armor and equipping better weapons, I tried again. This time, I had weapons that allowed me to fight multiple enemies at once. But this time, the Slime King fought back by changing the shape of its body. Whip-like extensions shot from my body.
It didn't seem like something I could defeat anytime soon.
And what about the Eye of Cthulhu? It was even worse, and unlike its game counterpart, it was living up to its name. When I summoned it, I thought I had accidentally summoned the Demon King. If I hadn't erased it from existence, it would have been a complete disaster.