Like a Snake Over the Wall
I squatted in front of the wrecked shutter and breathed in the dawn air.
This summer had turned out surprisingly pleasant. Of course, it would have been even more pleasant if I didn't have a half-destroyed workshop at my back.
Two hours had passed since I'd filed the report with the Association. Still no one had shown up.
Korean government offices were always late. They sure collected taxes with surgical precision, though.
"Kuuu… kuuu…"
A steady rhythm of breathing.
My right shoulder felt heavy.
I turned my head to find the self-proclaimed Snake God dozing off with her chin planted on my shoulder, bobbing gently.
In the end, she'd stolen both of the tuna mayo triangle kimbap that had been my late-night snack, and the moment digestion finished, she'd fallen asleep. For the culprit who'd half-demolished someone else's workshop, it was a remarkably peaceful slumber.
Appetite first, then sleep? A life devoted to pure desire. I was almost jealous.
Just as my shoulder started going numb, a van rolled into the alley from the far end.
The Association mark. Finally.
"Ugh, I'm so sorry. An emergency call came in during night duty, so our response got delayed."
Among the investigation team, I spotted a very familiar face.
"Oh? Awakened Jin Hanul? Running into you again in a place like this."
Exhausted eyes. A tablet in her hand. It was Han Sehee.
The same employee who'd handled my trait measurement—and the one who'd handed down the death sentence of zero percent mana conductivity on my first creation.
"…So you do trait measurements, weapon appraisals, and field investigations?"
"That's Korean civil service for you. No staff, endless work."
"You're a jack of all trades."
"I just do what I'm told. Not a jack of all trades—I'm getting ground into dust. Anyway, complaints later. Let me confirm the report first. You said a monster appeared?"
"Yes. A snake-type monster about two stories tall. Blue. Minimum A-rank. Possibly higher."
Sehee looked around with her tablet raised.
The shattered shutter. The collapsed wall.
And the piles of salt blanketing the alley in white.
"…So you're saying an A-rank monster turned into this salt?"
"Yes."
Sehee crouched down and scooped up a handful of salt from the ground.
Ssshhh.
White crystals trickled through her fingers.
"Normally, an A-rank monster leaves a sizable magic stone in the corpse. Compensation is calculated based on that stone. But this…"
"This?"
"It's coarse salt. Perfect for kimchi-making season."
An A-rank monster had become a kimchi ingredient.
Fortunately, the CCTV at the alley entrance had caught the snake's form on camera, so I was spared the fate of being labeled a false reporter.
The investigation team muttered among themselves as they scrubbed through the footage on their tablets.
"No gate reaction at all… so it's a Phase Leak. Those have been spiking lately."
"A Phase Leak?"
"Not an official gate—just a phenomenon where the gaps between floors briefly spring a leak. Petty leak reports like this have been climbing lately. Cause still unknown."
"You're awfully confident about admitting you don't know the cause."
"Claiming to know something you don't would be the real problem. Honesty is a civil servant's virtue."
That was when it happened.
"Hwaaam… What, more humans?"
Nagi stretched and got up. Her silver hair stuck out in every direction.
Rubbing her eyes, she spotted the civil servants, then suddenly planted both hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.
"Listen well, humans! The one who defeated that monster earlier was none other than this body—the great Snake God, Nagi-nim! Go on, you may worship me!"
Sehee looked at me. I averted my eyes.
"…Ah, so this is a fellow Awakened."
Sehee stared at Nagi for a moment, then typed something into her tablet.
"Why aren't you shocked? Why aren't you prostrating yourselves?! I said I'm a god! Nagi-nim!"
"Oh, we get a lot of those these days. Demon Lords, True Ancestor vampires, and Heavenly Demons have already exceeded two seats. Everyone's worldbuilding is rock solid."
"It's not worldbuilding, it's real!!"
"Yes, yes. Even gods need to fill out a witness statement. Name and resident registration number…"
"Re-resident… what?"
"Ah, you haven't gotten an ID issued yet. Unregistered Awakened? Then at least a guardian's contact information."
"Why do the humans of this era have so little faith!!"
Nagi stamped the ground in outrage, but the investigation team just kept taking photos of the scene with practiced hands.
Click click.
Professionals. They clearly had a response manual for concept hunters.
About an hour later, Sehee finished the investigation and held out a document.
"First-round damage compensation estimate is ready. Please review and sign."
I checked the number.
It wasn't even half the cost of the shutter.
"…Excuse me. This wouldn't even cover a shutter handle."
"Nothing I can do. Regulations tie damage compensation to the value of resources recovered on-site. It pains me too. Really."
"So my shutter became sea salt."
"Think positive. At least you can make kimchi."
Sehee left behind a soulless consolation and a business card.
Inside the workshop.
I picked up a broom and dustpan.
Nagi sat cross-legged on top of my workbench.
What was this. The division of labor felt off.
"Hey! That corner! There's still salt left! Oh, and those brick fragments over there! This is going to be Nagi-nim's residence, so polish it until it sparkles!"
"Are your own hands just for decoration?"
"They are decoration, actually?"
Nagi spread both hands wide and pressed them to her cheeks, forming a flower pedestal.
"See? Pretty, right?"
"…"
"And when a god works, that's called creating heaven and earth. It throws the order of the human world into chaos."
"That's creation-of-the-universe-level sophistry."
I gave up on the conversation.
There was no beating that mollusk-like logic with reason. She wasn't someone you could talk sense to.
I swept the floor with the broom, gathering only the salt into an empty sack.
The moment I tied the sack shut—
Leviathan's Crystal
"…"
I shoved the sack onto the bottom shelf of the materials rack.
Kimchi-making was on hold for now.
Once the cleaning was roughly done, Nagi cleared her throat from atop the workbench.
"Ahem. Hey, Hanul?"
"What."
Her gaze was fixed on one wall of the workshop.
The wall densely hung with failed works.
"Those things on that wall. Are they all divine artifacts?"
Nagi's pupils had narrowed vertically like a snake's.
"You… you're actually a blacksmith god pretending to be an ordinary human, aren't you? Hiding your power and coming down to the human world for amusement, right? Nagi's right, isn't she?"
"I'm an ordinary Korean citizen. I pay my taxes on time, too."
"Then what the hell are those?"
"Unsellable dead stock. Lumps of metal that can't even hold mana—in the hunter industry, they're ranked below steel pipes."
Nagi rolled her pupils around.
"Hmm~ Just as I thought. This Nagi-nim's eye for talent never fails. I really did pick the perfect shrine priest."
"Who decided I was a shrine priest."
"Ahem, listen carefully. The magnanimous Nagi-nim will specially explain the situation. Sit. No, kneel. No, the floor's dirty, so just stand and listen."
"Which is it."
"Anyway, the posture of attentive listening is what matters."
Nagi lifted her chin and thrust forward a chest that wasn't even there.
"This Nagi-nim is a very, very great and noble snake god. How great, you ask?! So great that the greatness overflows and other snake gods get jealous!"
"Right."
"That blue eel from last night? That was a terminal endpoint of Leviathan, a very, very nasty and cunning snake god. Probably jealous of the cutest and greatest Nagi-nim in the world, and came after me to hurt me!"
"Uh-huh."
"So Nagi-nim used up a ton of power running away! And the conclusion is that I need a sanctuary to recover my strength for a while!"
I organized the information so far.
Fled from the upper floors = homeless god with nowhere to go.
Needs a sanctuary = plans to freeload at my workshop, eating without permission.
Conclusion: a penniless Awakened intending to squat in someone else's home.
"No."
"Th-then how about this!"
Nagi stretched out her hand. The scale spot on her nape glowed, and blue-white light condensed in midair.
Shiiing—
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.
The divine sword I'd forged last night was now in Nagi's hand.
What? Was she planning to threaten me with a sword?
Of all things, the weapon had to be my own work.
"Look! The divine artifact you made! Just holding this sword, my divine power is pumping up like crazy, and I can even feel my old lost strength recovering little by little!"
"Hold on."
I pointed at the sword in Nagi's grip.
"You're not seriously planning to just snatch that, are you?"
"Huh? Snatch-snatch? Like a snake?"
"Material costs alone—otherworld alloy—eight million won. Labor fees, months of work. Plus yesterday was a midnight job, so night surcharge applies. Want me to draw up an estimate?"
"I-it's Nagi's! Nagi gave you the scale! Core material provided! One hundred percent stake!"
Ssshhk, shnk.
Nagi hastily shoved the katana back into her nape. Her words were bold, but she seemed scared of having it seized.
"And why are you so money-money obsessed! Is Hanul a materialist?"
"In a capitalist society, chasing money is a survival instinct."
"Ah, right! In those old stories, if a snake enters your house, wealth rolls in! A house serpent! If you properly serve a great snake god like Nagi-nim, your household fortune will explode!"
"A house serpent?"
"Do you understand Nagi-nim's value now?"
"So fortune exploded and blew up my shop's shutter? Besides, a lucky charm that steals someone else's triangle kimbap the moment it walks in—I've never seen one like that in my life."
"Th-that's warding off bad luck! Before really big money comes in, you offer a sacrifice first!"
Ziiing—
Nagi glared at me. I glared back at Nagi.
The first to look away was Nagi.
Sneak sneak.
Her pupils rolled left and right.
Creep creep.
Her shoulders gradually hunched.
"…Is Nagi getting kicked out?"
"…"
"Nagi has nowhere to go. I've been running and running from the upper floors. For days I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep somewhere soft… are you really going to kick me out…?"
Her eyelashes trembled. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes.
"Is Nagi… allowed to freeze to death on the street…?"
"No, it's midsummer. What freezing to death."
"Th-then I'll steam to death! Die of heat! Snakes are cold-blooded! Super, super vulnerable to temperature changes!"
"Snakes are most active in summer."
"Shut up! Anyway I'll die! Nagi's going to die! Die on the doorstep and become a vengeful spirit! Haunt your dreams every night!"
After yelling something that was half threat, half plea, Nagi soon wilted completely.
A dejected puppy. No—a dejected snake.
Nagi plopped down, hugged her knees, propped her chin on them, and looked up at me with infinitely pitiful eyes.
Sparkle sparkle.
Glisten glisten.
Dirty. Those eyes were cheating. When a face like the finest masterpiece from a doll workshop fired off that kind of look, most of humanity lost. And I belonged to most of humanity.
…When she kept her mouth shut, she was mysterious and pretty like a god. As long as she kept her mouth shut.
Grrroowl.
Suddenly a pitiful sound came from Nagi's stomach.
"…"
"…"
"D-don't get the wrong idea! That sound just now wasn't from Nagi! There's a super tiny snake living in Nagi's belly, okay??"
"Haa…"
I picked up the convenience store bag I'd secured last night. The triangle kimbap had been stolen by the snake, but the potato chips were still left.
"Just eat this for now."
"What's this?"
"Potato chips."
Nagi picked up a chip with a suspicious look and popped it into her mouth.
Crunch.
Her pupils snapped wide open vertically.
"What is this?! Super salty! Super greasy! Super crunchy-crunchy!"
Crunch crunch. Nom nom.
"Do the humans on this floor eat this as their staple food? What an amazing floor! More! More!"
"It's not a staple. And one of these is mine."
"Something to drink! Don't you have something to drink? Eating salty stuff makes you thirsty!"
For a freeloader, the demands never ended.
Pssht.
I cracked open a lime-flavored zero cola and handed it over.
"Eugh?! My tongue stings! P-poison! Trying to poison Nagi-nim! You ungrateful shrine priest——"
Gulp gulp gulp.
"…You said it was poison."
"It's delicious poison! Snake gods are immune to poison by nature!"
Crunch crunch. Gulp gulp.
The chips and cola vanished into Nagi's stomach in an instant.
I took two cup ramyeon from the cupboard and put water on to boil.
Seeing that, Nagi's face lit up.
"Huh? An offering? See, even if you grumble with your mouth, in the end you surrender to this great and cute Nagi-nim!"
"It's not surrender—it's poverty relief."
"The act of offering food to a god: dedication! The one who performs dedication: a shrine priest! Therefore, Hanul is my shrine priest! Proof complete!"
"Every premise is wrong, yet the conclusion is so confident."
"If the conclusion is confident, the process follows on its own. That's a god's logic."
Watching me pour hot water into the cup ramyeon, Nagi swung her legs from atop the workbench.
Even humming a little tune. With the most satisfied face in the world.
The smell of curly noodles cooking.
…Well, just one night.
Feed her full, let her sleep deep, and kick her out when the sun rose tomorrow.
I wasn't well-off enough to raise a snake god that had rolled in.
That same day.
Seoul, top floor of Inari Corporation Headquarters.
Tatami mats covering the floor. A faint scent of incense.
The interior was closer to a Shinto shrine than an office.
Han Sehee bowed her head, tablet clutched to her chest.
"Reporting. Capital region Phase Leaks have increased 217 percent this quarter. And last night, an unregistered divine-rank reaction was confirmed in the industrial complex district."
The other party was backlit so her face wasn't visible, but the long cascading brilliant blonde hair and elegant silhouette suggested a woman.
"Of which shrine is it."
"Unknown. However, it's estimated to be of the snake god lineage, and is currently in contact with a civilian. Jin Hanul. The Awakened who received an EX-grade evaluation half a year ago."
"A snake… so it came through a crack. Since ancient times, the beasts that crawl through cracks in a broken wall have been the legless ones."
At the woman's voice, the incense smoke in the room stopped wavering.
"The old age of fearing rivers and serving snakes is over. Today's prosperity belongs to those who built dikes layer upon layer. Drive it out before it coils itself in place. For the time being, keep a close watch on that blacksmith and the snake god."
"Understood, Madam Chairwoman."
In the darkness, a golden light bristled.