The Chatty Ingredient
We crossed the construction site to reach the Stubborn Man's House.
Buildings with only pillars and outer walls standing.
Piles of dirt and materials stacked haphazardly.
Woof—
One of the dogs lunged at me.
Caught off guard by the sudden charge, I was knocked back and fell.
Rubbing my backside, I asked,
“Ow… what’s wrong?”
At that moment, a massive wooden beam crashed down exactly where I had been standing.
Thud—
A construction material the size of my forearm.
I looked up at the sky.
But all I could see were the hollow, open walls above. No sign of anyone.
‘Terrain hazard?’
Phenomena that occur like random accidents.
Every attempt to find the cause had failed.
‘This is… more unpleasant than I thought.’
When people spoke seriously about terrain hazards, I used to think they were overreacting.
The reported cases were just getting briefly trapped in elevators or having doors lock behind you.
Annoying, sure, but nothing major.
Now I understood.
This discomfort didn’t come from the fear of pain.
It was the small, nerve-grating incidents.
The kind that distracted you, gnawed away repeatedly, and wore a person down.
‘Now I get why they were so sensitive…’
I stared at the wooden beam for a moment, then turned away.
Reacting strongly to these things only made them more powerful.
I’d stay alert, but I wouldn’t let them get to me.
“Let’s go.”
Before long, we arrived at the Stubborn Man's House.
I approached the front door and turned the handle.
Click—
According to the experts, the moment you opened the door, you’d hear a chilling “Get out!”
A deafening roar that made your mind go blank.
And if you followed that sound, the Mandrake would be there.
But when I opened the door, no scream came.
I smiled in the silence.
‘Bingo. This is the right place.’
From the community’s analysis of the event.
There were three main stages to solving an event: location, object, and interpretation.
Every known event had been resolved this way.
Event locations appeared as distorted areas on the map.
Just like now.
Normally there should have been a screaming creature, but a “distortion” had removed it.
Finding the location was usually tedious and exhausting.
Look at the Stage 3 map.
Something like Special Meal might appear right at the starting point, but an event like The Chatty Ingredient could be hidden in the most random spot.
‘Nice work, Expert.’
Thanks to my helper, I’d found the location easily. Next came finding the object.
But I already knew, didn’t I?
There was a 99.99% chance the Mandrake was the key object for the event The Chatty Ingredient.
“You two, stand guard at the entrance.”
I posted the dogs as sentries.
Then I grabbed the door with both hands and ripped it off its hinges.
Crack—snap—
I wasn’t about to risk any “accidents.”
If there was no door, we couldn’t get trapped inside, right?
Once everything was ready, I stepped inside slowly with the three dogs.
A quiet darkness.
The interior looked different from the known version of the Stubborn Man's House.
‘No loud noises or traps…’
In the unlit living room, various pieces of furniture stood: chairs, a table, a sofa, a TV.
At that moment, with a crackle, the television turned on.
The screen showed a horrific accident scene through static.
A collapsed cave.
And people trapped inside.
‘A cave…’
Just then, I heard movement.
I whipped my head around and saw someone sitting on the sofa, watching the TV.
I instinctively grabbed a chair.
As I was about to swing, the figure spoke without turning.
“You don’t look like construction workers… Why’d you rip off someone else’s front door? That’s a bit much…”
‘Huh…?’
There was no hostility in the voice, so I paused.
But I kept my guard up as I replied.
“I’m the one asking questions. Who are you?”
“That’s funny! Who am I? The owner of this house, obviously. Shouldn’t I be the one asking who you are?”
The figure stood up.
Small stature.
Chest height on me, but frail like an old man.
‘Not human…’
When he turned, I saw his face.
A neatly trimmed beard, white hair, and deeply wrinkled eyes.
At a glance, he looked like a grumpy old man.
But a plant was growing from his head.
‘Is this guy the Mandrake?’
The old man stared at me steadily.
Then he smiled as if he’d realized something.
“So you’re a user here to clear the event!”
That was even more unexpected than the earlier question about the door.
I was briefly thrown off.
The old man sat back down on the sofa.
The motion was slow and natural.
“Have a seat. I’ve been bored anyway. Chat with me for a bit and I’ll count it as clearing the event.”
‘Is it really just talking?’
Even if it was, I wasn’t free enough to chat with some unknown old man.
I’d finish this as quickly as possible and leave.
I sat on the sofa he indicated.
“I don’t have much time.”
“Then I’ll only ask three questions. I ask, you answer. If you don’t want to answer, just say so. No problem. How’s that sound?”
“That’s fine…”
The old man smiled warmly.
I’d expected someone ill-tempered because of the Stubborn Man's House, but his expression was surprisingly gentle.
Come to think of it, he’d also let the door incident slide.
Maybe he was a good person after all.
‘Was I being paranoid…’
“First question, then. Are you satisfied with life here? Don’t you want to go back?”
Was I satisfied with my life?
It felt like I was at a therapy session.
‘The Chatty Ingredient… so that’s what it meant?’
I decided to answer honestly.
There was nothing to hide anyway.
“I don’t know… but I have to adapt. Life is wild every moment. Even in the civilization humanity built, we kept devouring the weak who fell behind. I don’t think life on Earth and life here are all that different.”
That was my genuine feeling.
At first, I’d thought this was someone’s scheme.
And if someone could pull off something this big, maybe they could grant what I wanted.
So I’d thrown myself into “climbing stages,” thinking that was what the being wanted.
But after meeting that “lunatic,” I’d vaguely realized there was no absolute being.
And because of that, I wanted to climb even higher.
If this power was truly mine, there was no reason not to devour everything offered and keep moving forward.
“Is it… because of that department manager, Park Gibeom?”
“Something like that…”
‘Wait, what?’
This conversation felt off.
The old man in front of me wasn’t getting information from my words—he was reading my thoughts.
It didn’t make sense.
If he could truly read my mind, the name that should’ve come up wasn’t Park Gibeom.
‘He can read my thoughts… but not deeply?’
A chill ran down my spine.
A piece of information I’d momentarily forgotten flashed through my mind.
The final stage of solving an event.
Interpretation.
Once you found the event’s object, you had to interpret it correctly to end the event.
So what was a Mandrake?
A root plant said to cure insomnia and anxiety.
Because it grew in dark places and had a human-like shape, legends claimed evil spirits possessed it and bewitched people.
Wasn’t this situation exactly the same?
The old man clumsily reading my past and thoughts, using them to talk to me…
His attempts to put me at ease and draw me into conversation.
And that face.
It was my late grandfather’s face.
‘Ah… the cave on the TV. So that’s where we are.’
This place was a manifestation of my mental world.
And he was an intruder in my domain.
A wave of unbearable rage and disgust rose from deep inside, then sank again.
It felt like I might go mad.
But it was fine.
All of that was a past I’d already overcome.
“That was a filthy trick…”
“What do you mean?”
“Park Gibeom is definitely someone I want to beat into a pulp. But you couldn’t see any deeper, could you?”
I stood up.
“Now I think I know what you are.”
Whoosh—
I swung the chair at the old man, but the attack passed right through him and cut through empty air.
As expected, everything was an illusion.
The old man’s mouth stretched into a wide grin.
“Heh heh heh. Where did I slip up? I was sure the charm had taken hold properly…”
The creature revealed its true nature.
“I’ll admit it. You almost had me. If I hadn’t known anything… I might’ve thought you were just a skilled counselor.”
“Then how about we talk a little more? I’ll ease your terrible pain.”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Once I recognized that everything was false, the old man’s form began to blur.
And not just him.
The entire house and its furniture grew fainter.
The old man screamed in panic.
“What a waste! Just a little more and it would’ve worked! What a shame, what a shame! More! Let’s talk more! I’ll make you comfortable. I’ll embrace your pain. I…”
Smack—
I raised my hand and slapped my own cheek.
Because if I kept listening, I felt like I might actually accept the old man’s offer.
A sharp sting.
And everything melted away like paint.
“Ugh…”
When I opened my eyes, I was lying at the entrance of the house.
The dogs were all collapsed too.
Plant-like things were wrapped tightly around their bodies.
‘Ah, I’ve got some too…’
I yanked out the stems trying to enter my nose and ears.
A stinging pain followed.
Some of the barbs had already dug into my skin.
Pop—crack—
I tore the ones wrapped around the dogs as well.
But the dogs remained in a deep sleep and showed no sign of waking.
‘Getting rid of the source will be faster.’
I followed the stems to their origin.
In the center of the living room, a Mandrake the size of an adult man was planted in the floor.
Its surface was covered in black scorch marks that writhed like a demon’s face, staring at me.
“If I talked too much… I’d become the ingredient, huh?”
What a twisted sense of humor.
Special Meal was food for the Slime Pufferfish; The Chatty Ingredient was food for the Mandrake.
Whoever designed this had a terrible hobby.
I picked up a chair.
And slammed it repeatedly around the spot where the Mandrake was planted.
Bang—bang—bang—
Cracks spread across the floor, revealing the roots below.
The roots tried to burrow deeper to escape.
“Almost got eaten by something like this…”
I could feel the difficulty had risen sharply.
The gap with the community’s Stage 3 information was serious.
“Cat… this is sponsored content, right…?”
My respect and gratitude toward Cat seemed to have diminished just a little.
If Cat had been nearby, I would’ve had words.
Crunch—
I grabbed the roots and yanked them out with all my strength.
At the same time, a system message appeared.
Event ‘The Chatty Ingredient’ has been concluded.
“Haa…”
I felt mentally exhausted.
As expected, I was much better suited to moving my body than dealing with this kind of thing.
Another system message appeared.
Event ‘Special Meal’ has been concluded.
Baengnae had successfully completed her mission as well.
I’d known she would win, but a quiet sense of relief rose from deep in my chest.
‘Come to think of it…’
The reason I was satisfied with this world.
A certain little zombie had no small share in that.
And the dogs.
I shouted at the dogs as they staggered to their feet.
“Get up already, you slugs. You didn’t do a single thing in this event! Prepare for special training.”
“Kki… kkiing.”
The dogs tried to stand, whimpered, and collapsed back to the floor.
“Geez…”
Time to head back.
To the store where Baengnae was waiting.