Chapter 74
Chapter 74
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Laboratory (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I stared blankly at the vivid yellow exclamation mark [!] floating above Leo's head as he wagged his tail at my feet.
Yeah, fine, a quest popping up was good.
But... how the hell was I supposed to accept the quest?
There was no way Leo would spill his troubles in fluent human speech if I asked what was wrong, like I would with Hanbit or Han Sora.
Even so, I asked.
"Leo... do you have something bothering you?"
I just stood there dumbly, pondering how to pick up this guy's quest, staring at him.
Then, as if reading my mind, Leo took a step closer to me.
And right at that moment, a translucent system window slid into view before my eyes.
[Leo trusts you.]
[Leo wants to visit the laboratory with you.]
"Oh..."
Fortunately, the quest window kindly translated Leo's intentions for me.
A laboratory, huh. I asked Leo to confirm.
"Leo, you... want to go to this laboratory place with me?"
The moment I finished speaking, Leo's eyes went wide in surprise, and he let out a high-pitched "Krrrng!" that I rarely heard from him.
His face was like, How did you know?
Seeing that reaction, it seemed the quest info was spot on.
But... there was one problem.
Where the hell is this laboratory? Leo couldn't tell me that either. The quest window just had the word "laboratory" sitting there alone, with zero clues about the location. I stared hard at Leo again. Was this guy supposed to lead me there himself or something? "But..."
I couldn't tear my eyes away from that first line for a while.
Trusts me now? How much time have we already spent together, and it's only now that he trusts me?
It left a bit of a sour taste, somehow. When I shot Leo a hurt look, he just wagged his tail innocently, like he had no idea what the issue was.
"Kyang."
I glanced at Daeho, who was rolling around on the living room floor with his belly up.
How long had it been since we met, and this guy was already completely without a shred of wariness.
...Or maybe he was too quick to open up, excessively so?
Monsters didn't exactly warm up to humans easily.
Maybe Leo was the normal one?
"A laboratory..."
Setting aside info on the place for now, it suddenly hit me—there was something that had been nagging at me about how I met Leo.
Leo wasn't some cat I randomly picked up off the street.
After first arriving in this other world and settling in, I'd been lonely and scoured the internet until I bought him from some guy.
Back then, I'd thought it was just a normal cat adoption.
"Leo was a monster, huh."
Which meant that guy might know something about Leo's true nature.
Maybe even clues about the laboratory.
I immediately pulled out my phone and dug through my call logs.
Luckily, the chat history with that guy was still there. With trembling fingers, I sent him a short message.
[Hello. This is the person who adopted a cat from you before. I have a quick question about the cat. Would you have time to meet sometime?]
And while I was at it, I reached out to another info source.
Choi Yerim.
[Ms. Choi Yerim, do you know anything about a place called the laboratory? Seems related to monsters.]
Truth be told, the text to Yerim was more of a hail-Mary.
With her vast network, maybe she could dig something up from just that vague word.
I sent off the texts to both and stroked Leo's head as he sat quietly beside me, waiting for replies.
This guy's quest was my next goal.
Sent late in the evening, replies didn't come right away from either.
I set Leo's quest aside for the moment, savoring the rare peace of mind as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, only Choi Yerim had replied first. Still nothing from the cat seller.
[What laboratory?]
Her one-liner felt more reassuring than anything.
Like she already had a list of every secret lab in the city.
Bolstered by her confidence, I racked my brain for details from when I got Leo and fired off what info I had to narrow it down.
[It's around Dongto Corporation, and might be related to animals. That's all I've got. Any leads?]
That was the extent of my knowledge.
Hail-Mary mindset again, I waited for her next reply.
It didn't take long before she shot back with two addresses, like she'd been waiting.
[That narrows it to two spots. One's an animal hospital in the alley behind Dongto Corporation. The other's a handmade doll shop—you don't see those much anymore. These are the prime suspects, so I'm attaching some Monster Gallery posts I checked that relate.]
She even included the Monster Gallery threads that led her to pinpoint them, along with the addresses.
Definitely the right call pulling her in as an info source.
Sending relevant gallery posts off a single question, no less.
"This is admin quality..."
Yerim was so competent, there was no stopping her from visiting our place.
Sorry, Leo, Daeho.
Animal hospital and doll shop.
With leads in hand, the only way was to check both in person.
Conveniently, the company gave us another day off. Four-day workweeks were the best.
No work interruptions—I could focus entirely on Leo's quest.
I threw on some light clothes for heading out.
Unlike usual, Leo glued himself to my leg, refusing to let go.
Like he knew I was off to solve his quest, he looked up at me, protesting to take him along.
"No, Leo. You stay home."
I tried to refuse firmly at first.
It seemed dangerous.
But Leo ignored me, using his big front paws to somehow climb up my pants.
He made it to my shoulder, then slipped right into the hood of my hoodie and settled in.
Peeking out with just his head, he stared at me like, You gonna leave me now?
I couldn't just ditch a guy showing that much determination.
"...Fine, you're a monster too."
I still sometimes thought of Leo as a regular cat.
But he was a monster.
Going together should be okay.
Worst case, I'd protect him.
"...Stick right by my side, got it?"
With a deep sigh, I threw up my hands against his stubbornness.
No choice—I headed to the first stop, the animal hospital, with Leo hidden in my hood.
Feeling him squirming inside, I figured it was for the best.
A random guy barging into a vet with no pet looked way more suspicious than bringing along a cat.
"Here it is?"
I took a taxi to the address Yerim gave: the animal hospital in the alley behind Dongto Corporation.
As the familiar Dongto building flashed by outside, I gave a wry smile, realizing every shop around there had shady rumors.
Not just rumors, either.
People had actually been imprisoned and exploited in the basement cafe right in front of Dongto.
Now an animal hospital with a lab?
At this point, every shop nearby looked suspicious.
Still, what did Leo want to do once we got to this lab with me?
Just arriving probably wasn't the whole quest.
Likely some follow-up would pop when we reached the spot.
Lost in those thoughts, I got out in front of the animal hospital. "Clear Sky Animal Hospital," the sign read—way more ordinary than I'd imagined.
Just like the typical vet clinic in my head.
"Woof woof!"
"Shh, Yeppi, quiet!"
Dog barks echoed sporadically inside, with a few owners holding their pets, waiting for checkups.
But having received Yerim's Monster Gallery posts about this place, I knew this normal scene wasn't the full picture.
I patted Leo, tucked quietly in my hood, then steeled myself and pushed open the door.
"Welcome. First time here? ...Huh? Where's your pet...?"
Perfect timing—Leo poked his head out of the hoodie, and the nurse at the counter gave a warm smile, handing me a form.
It was for filling out during the wait: pet's symptoms, how long it'd been sick, type of pet, etc.
Not breed details, just big categories like dog or cat.
Monster. I hadn't planned to fill it out anyway, and couldn't. Pretending to head to the bathroom, I found the stairs next to it, as mentioned in the gallery. Leo was sniffing around. "This the place?" "...Krrrng?" Leo seemed unsure too. Guess I have to go down first.