The Partnership
Had Cheongo seen them? He probably had. The bird was clever, and judging by the way he spoke, he possessed his own brand of caution. That was undoubtedly why he had only shown himself after those monstrous birds departed.
'It doesn't seem like a bad thing.' The few drops of blood the monstrous birds had spilled on the ground exerted a powerful pull on him. Like a starving man suddenly drawn to a feast laid out before his eyes, Jekyeong had been drawn to those few drops of blood. It was by no means normal, but at the time, he had felt neither doubt nor hesitation. When he thought about why, it seemed to be because he was absolutely certain they would benefit him. If asked how he could be so sure... he could only explain it as pure instinct.
Yes. In the end, it all came back to instinct. This time, too. As expected. While he preferred not to be swayed by uncontrollable instincts, the decision of his instincts seemed to be correct once again. Vitality surged through his entire body; he felt as though he could crush that wild boar in a single squeeze right now. Of course, it might just be a temporary enhancement or awakening effect... but his gut told him otherwise.
'Time will tell.' That was a problem for later. The immediate problem was that he couldn't sleep. Jekyeong forced his eyes shut and began counting sheep in his head.
Ever since he had struck out on his own, Jekyeong had never once slept soundly. No matter how exhausted he was when he closed his eyes, he always maintained a constant state of vigilance in his mind. Thanks to this caution, he had managed to avoid serious injury during several minor crises. Most small-to-medium beasts capable of climbing trees avoided attacking him first due to his sheer size, but occasionally, dim-witted birds would mistake his sleeping form for a dying carcass and bravely swoop in.
"Snake. Wake up." At the sound of the chirping bird, Jekyeong reflexively snapped his eyes open and coiled his body. However, upon confirming that the one waking him was not an attacker but a small bird emitting a faint blue glow, he let his guard down.
"How did you find me?"
"Huh? It was easy to find you. There are no other snakes as big as you around here."
It was both an advantage and a side effect of his massive size. 'So there are no others of my kind around here.' He could deduce a useful piece of information from Cheongo's brief remark. There was a high probability that no other giant serpents lived in this vicinity. Then again, if snakes the size of buildings were abundant, the local ecosystem wouldn't be this quiet.
"I'm hungry. Do you have anything to eat?"
"No," Jekyeong replied with a mix of absurdity and grumpiness. But right at that moment, a brilliant idea flashed through his mind.
"Come to think of it, I'm hungry too. I should go find some food." His eyes gleamed as he looked at Cheongo, who was hovering at a safe distance despite his friendly tone. "So, I think I'm going to need your help."
"Huh?"
Jekyeong did not rush to judge Cheongo. Could he trust this little bird? He didn't know. Despite being a bird, this creature could speak. And the ability to speak meant the ability to lie, so a brief conversation was far from enough to make a judgment. How could he possibly know if this fellow was trustworthy or not?
However, the prerequisite for cooperation was not trust. What mattered was whether they could be of mutual benefit. If both sides could profit, that alone was reason enough to cooperate.
"Like you said, I'm big. And strong. I can hunt beasts that are smaller and weaker than me—the kind of prey you can't hunt on your own." Jekyeong didn't expect Cheongo to harbor some miraculous power within his tiny body. While the mysterious blue light flowing through the bird was certainly unusual, the fact that he kept a safe distance while chattering suggested his actual physical power was likely negligible.
"Hunting?" Even now, it was the same. Cheongo neither interrupted nor denied his words. He merely showed interest.
"Yes, hunting. I'm a decent hunter, but finding prey is the hard part. I can't fly like you, nor can I look down from high above." Cheongo was not foolish. His eyes lit up instantly. For a brief moment, Jekyeong even wondered if Cheongo's naive way of speaking was merely an act.
"If you help me hunt, I'll share the prey with you. I think it's a win-win deal. What do you say?"
"Deal!" Cheongo nodded vigorously, like a woodpecker searching for food, seemingly grasping the concept of cooperation immediately.
A faint smile played on Jekyeong's lips. To anyone else, it might have looked grotesque or threatening, but to him, it was a pleasant smile. And so, a snake and a bird became business partners. They didn't drag things out unnecessarily. Having been awake for some time and starting to feel hungry, they immediately began discussing today's hunt.
"Find some prey nearby. But it has to be something I can hunt without too much trouble."
"Huh? What does that mean?" When Cheongo tilted his head, Jekyeong realized his explanation was a bit too vague and chose his words more carefully.
"I mean, the prey must be an ordinary beast." Jekyeong recalled the two birds he had seen yesterday. Outwardly, they didn't look particularly special, but the bizarre power dwelling within them was strong enough to completely defy their size. He was half-certain that his obsession with the few drops of blood they had spilled was connected to that power.
"Ordinary? You mean not a Yo-beast?"
"A Yo-beast? Were those birds yesterday Yo-beasts?"
"Yeah."
Yo-beasts. As expected, they were no ordinary birds. "What's the difference between an ordinary beast and a Yo-beast? Am I not a Yo-beast?"
"You?" Cheongo stared intently at Jekyeong before speaking hesitantly, sounding unsure. "No, you're not. Yeah, probably not. You're smart, but you don't have a spiritual spark. So you're probably not a Yo-beast."
Having said that, Cheongo quickly added, "I don't know what a spiritual spark is. I don't know, but I can feel it. I felt it from those birds yesterday, but I don't feel it from you."
Jekyeong, who was about to speak, closed his mouth and smacked his lips. Was this little bird tired of his relentless curiosity, or did he truly not know? Swallowing his disappointment, Jekyeong asked once more about the few drops of blood that had captivated him yesterday. Fortunately, this time Cheongo did not avoid the question.
"That's only natural. They're Yo-beasts. Beasts whose Spiritual Intelligence hasn't awakened are bound to be drawn to a Yo-beast's blood."
"So it's an instinct?"
"Instinct? Yeah. Instinct. It's instinct."
This was another highly useful piece of information. Jekyeong no longer tried to fully comprehend the knowledge and information of this world. For now, he just had to memorize it. True understanding could come after he had learned enough about this world. 'If I can stay alive until then, that is.'
Superhumans. Seonin. Yo-beasts. There were far too many dangerous things in this world—no, even just in this immediate vicinity. Jekyeong had no idea how long he could survive against them.
'Were my parents Yo-beasts too?' Jekyeong suddenly thought of his parents in this life, whom he hadn't seen in days. Their colossal size, easily fitting for a monster movie, was certainly impressive, but that was all. They lacked the overwhelming pressure of the two demonic birds he had seen yesterday. Was it because they were his flesh and blood? Perhaps, but Jekyeong felt that his parents hadn't been Yo-beasts. It was a vague, inexplicable feeling.
A moment later, Cheongo soared high into the sky. It wasn't long before he returned with information on a suitable target. "A fat mole. It's so fat, it's slow."
It was the perfect prey, completely meeting his criteria. Jekyeong slithered silently, following Cheongo's guidance. Before long, he spotted the "fat mole." It was digging diligently in the dirt. From a distance, it looked as though it had four legs in addition to the two front paws it was using to dig. Moreover, unlike the moles of his previous life, it was incredibly large. Since it was as plump and fleshy as Cheongo had described, Jekyeong would have doubted it was even a mole had he not been told beforehand.
"Distract it."
"Distract? How?"
"Just fly around in front of it and keep it from looking in my direction."
The mole seemed focused on digging, but it couldn't be completely defenseless. It had to be maintaining some level of vigilance against potential predators. While Jekyeong prided himself on being an experienced hunter and was confident he could approach silently, it was always better to be absolutely sure.
"Got it." Without hesitation, Cheongo flew toward the mole. Keeping a safe distance, he began to chirp noisily. After a few seconds of this, the mole, which had been digging happily, finally reacted. As its head lifted and its gaze locked onto Cheongo, Jekyeong glided silently behind it like flowing water.
Snap! When he was about a meter away, Jekyeong launched his entire body forward, sinking his fangs into the back of the mole's neck. The mole tried to thrash, but Jekyeong instantly coiled his entire body around it. With a single squeeze, a sickening crack echoed as the mole's bones shattered. That was it.
The first joint hunt between the snake and the bird was not just successful; it was almost anticlimactic. Jekyeong squeezed once more. The mole, which had already been half-dead and twitching, went completely limp. At this rate, it wasn't just its bones—its internal organs had likely ruptured as well.
Jekyeong climbed a tree with the limp mole in his jaws. Using his saw-like teeth, he tore off chunks of flesh and tossed them a short distance away. It was a gesture of consideration for his tiny business partner. Snatching the meat that landed nearby, Cheongo flew up to a much higher branch and began to fill his belly. Seeing this, Jekyeong also began his meal in earnest.
Partnering with Cheongo was a decision so wise that Jekyeong could confidently rank it among the top three choices of his entire existence, spanning both his first and second lives. Previously, hunting meant spending ages just searching for suitable prey, and even when he found something, he had to approach with extreme caution, which was mentally exhausting. But now, with Cheongo locating the prey and even distracting it, hunting had become incomparably easier. He felt as though he could easily do this five or six times a day if he wanted to.
Of course, just because he felt he could didn't mean he actually would. What was the point of hunting so much when he couldn't even eat it all? Lacking hands, he couldn't preserve his prey for long, meaning whatever he caught had to be consumed that day or by the next at the latest. Therefore, hunting once or twice a day was more than enough. If he caught a large beast, once was plenty; if it was on the smaller or more ambiguous side, he would hunt once more to feel full.
With the time spent hunting drastically reduced, he naturally found himself with a significant amount of leisure time. Jekyeong began to ponder how he should spend these free hours.