Chapter 21: Suddenly?
After gathering everything I needed to take from the gate, I headed home. I'd slept inside the gate, so no issues there. The only thing nagging at me a bit was Baekya.
"Baekya will be okay on his own, right?"
Nyaang!
That means yes. If Hoya says so, then it must be true. Still, it tugs at my heart a little. Hoya and I get to roam around out here, but Baekya can't come out. If he did, it'd be a dead ringer for one of those gate disaster scenarios straight out of a novel—people would freak out.
Just to be safe, I'd tried bringing Baekya out of the gate once, but it didn't work. It felt like the gate itself wouldn't allow him to cross. I could take the Brann chickens out alive, no problem. So why not Baekya? Maybe because he's a threat? I have no way of knowing for sure, so I won't speculate.
"Hoya, did you miss Grandma and Grandpa?"
Nyaang!
She purrs it cutely. Mom had always doted on Hoya especially. She loved how refined and elegant she looked. That's probably why, even when I lost Hoya and was half out of my mind, Mom never said much to me about it.
"Thinking back on that time still hurts."
Nyaang.
Hoya licks my hand as I hold the stick. How hard must it have been for her, separated from me? Her intelligence wasn't as developed back then, so being thrown into that situation without understanding... it must've broken her heart.
"Sorry."
I stroke Hoya's head, and she starts purring loudly, rolling over softly onto her side. Then she begins grooming her front paws. Watching her like that lifts my spirits.
It's still early, so no traffic jams. Once we left Seoul, the air was fresh, and everything felt great.
"I'm here."
"Oh, you're back? Come on in. What's with all the bags?"
"Stuff for the family to eat."
"Where'd you get all this?"
She says it with a smile on her face. That's when Si-yeon burst out.
"Oppa, what the heck!"
"What?"
"Why's your skin like that?"
"Born this way?"
"I thought we were blood siblings, but you had some birth secret?"
Si-yeon's been dealing with crazy skin trouble from studying so hard. High school stress, I guess. That's partly why I brought the pineapples.
"Actually, you were born under that bridge over there..."
"We weren't living here back then?"
"So this is your hometown, right?"
"Is that it? That's why you always felt so at home here?"
"You buying it?"
"As if. I was just playing with my old-man brother. Anyway, seriously, what's up with your skin?"
"Here, take this."
I tossed her the tub of pineapple.
"What's this?"
"Eat it, and you'll end up like me."
That was when it happened. The pineapple tub in Si-yeon's hand vanished in an instant.
Click.
And it went straight into Mom's mouth.
"You kids are young; you're fine. I'm the one in a rush."
Can't argue with that. But there's more.
"Mom, there's plenty more."
Mom's face hardened at my words.
"Why didn't you say so sooner? Here, Si-yeon, eat up."
"Wow, should I go down to the bridge and look for my real parents?"
Si-yeon glares at Mom and me. Fair enough, at her age.
"Everyone, sit down."
Dad, who'd been listening to us, spoke up. He probably wanted to talk about the gate.
"Sure."
We gathered at the dining table. Dad looked at me.
"You explain it."
"Got it."
I took a sip of water from the glass in front of me, stroked Hoya, and began.
"Everyone knows I lost Hoya, right?"
Mom and Si-yeon nodded.
"Hoya went into a gate back then."
"What?"
"Seriously?"
I explained everything that had happened since, including what I'd been bringing home. Si-yeon looked dazed after hearing it all, and Mom worried.
"Who else knows besides us?"
"Seon-woo."
"Hmm, Seon-woo seems trustworthy."
"Yeah, turns out he's a hunter. He helped me out. But he only knows I got an island-shaped gate. He doesn't know about the ingredients from there that boost stats."
"Hmm... Won't he feel hurt if he finds out later?"
Mom had a point. He might. But I'll keep it hidden as long as I can. If it comes time to tell him, it'll be because we need him in combat. For now, no immediate danger, so sorry, Seon-woo, but I'm holding off.
Then my parents glanced at Si-yeon.
"What? You think I'll blab? You know how much I get called stingy?"
"You kids still say 'stingy'?"
"My teacher calls me that. Why?"
"Nah, just thought modern kids don't use that word anymore. No big deal."
Actually, women might be better at keeping secrets than men, surprisingly. Personal opinion.
"I'm not dumb enough to spill family secrets."
"I believe you."
"Duh. So this pineapple's the good stuff, huh?"
"Yeah, great for your skin. I'll cook something with it. Eating it prepared will make it even better."
"Sweet!"
"Cooking? Mom'll do it."
Mom stepped in.
"No, I have the Cooking skill. It'll taste amazing—just wait a bit. We still have that oven, right?"
"Yeah, it's there, just not used."
Most homes don't use ovens much. Ours is the same. The previous owners of this countryside house installed one, and it came with the place. Korean food doesn't call for it often, so Mom tried baking cookies and such at first but gave up. She dusts it occasionally.
"Perfect. Wait here."
I handed Hoya to Si-yeon and got straight to cooking. Lunch was pineapple pizza and sweet-and-sour pork with pineapple sauce. I used island wild boar meat, so it tasted great. The dishes I made had the same effects as those cooked inside the gate, and my family, with no resistance to the pineapple pizza, enjoyed it. Si-yeon griped about the mandatory sauce-dipping, but she couldn't pass up the skin benefits.
"Aww, poor Hoya, all alone in that scary place? Must've been tough, huh?"
Si-yeon was smothering Hoya with kisses and cuddles. Hoya found it annoying but tolerated it—she doesn't hate Si-yeon. Cats often put up with people like that. They don't love being held, but if the human wants it, they'll endure for a bit. Not forever, though. Hold too long by force, and you'll get a paw punch or scratches.
"You've been through a lot."
I can't save Hoya here. I'm the weakest in this house. Si-yeon's the baby, but with our age gap, I shouldn't let her win. Gotta keep her in line, or she'll go astray. I've spoiled her, and now she's getting cheeky. Time for some discipline. Cut off her pineapple, maybe.
"Heh heh heh."
"What's that? That cheeky laugh?"
"Si-yeon."
"Yeah?"
"You like your oppa, right?"
"W-what?"
"The pineapple effects should kick in a few hours. Who do you think will bring more?"
Si-yeon flinched.
"Oppa?"
"Shooting a sageuk?"
"This girl calls her oppa 'oppa'—how could oppa be displeased?"
"Whoa, chills."
I bantered with Si-yeon to pass the time. Once our stomachs had settled, I brought out the minotaur tail bone soup I'd simmered into a rich oxtail-like broth.
"Everyone, have a bowl."
This would grant skills. No telling what kind. It said skills appear, but not specifically minotaur skills. Random generation. So my Fear skill must've been random too.
"What's this?"
"Eat it, and you'll get a skill. Randomly."
"Random?"
"Yeah, completely random."
"I know that much English, dear."
"Sorry."
"So it's one of those hunter skills?"
"Yes, but since it's random, no clue what you'll get. Could be a production skill like cooking, or something useless. Or nothing at all. No one else here has a status window but me."
"But our stamina and smarts improved—that wouldn't make sense otherwise."
I nodded at Si-yeon's point. We'd all eaten stat-boosting ingredients. Stamina and intelligence had gone up. Si-yeon said she could focus better on studies now, understanding problems faster than before.
Mine didn't feel different... Guess intelligence only affects skill power for me.
"So don't be disappointed if no skill pops up. You can get them inside the gate later."
"Yeah, what difference does a skill make now?"
"Your mom's right."
My parents treated it like a fun game. But...
"What're you doing?"
Si-yeon was bowing over a bowl of water like it was a ritual.
"Hey! Don't interrupt the sacred rite."
"Mom, what drama's she watching these days?"
"No idea. Something about nights without moons, dynasties in modern times, vampires...?"
"Uh, yeah..."
"The girl is prepared, my lord."
"No way that line's in it!"
"How would you know? You watched it?"
"Forgot I'm a book addict?"
"Tch! Anyway, gimme. Rite's done. Let's snag a good one."
Her antics were ridiculous, but I wondered if I'd gotten something better than Fear if I'd done a ritual too. Humans are all superstitious deep down.
My family ate the tail soup reverently—except me. They denied it, but Mom and Dad were expecting something too.
They finished their bowls.
Will you grant gate access permission using the gate owner's authority?
"Suddenly?"
No gate here, and it's asking if I'll grant access? What the hell is this out-of-nowhere prompt?
As I wondered what it meant, another alert followed.