Chapter 036
[Chapter 036]
< White Snake Water Purifier >
Honestly, I was surprised when I heard the Bureau news.
[General] Hunter Management Bureau, Living Legend Old Man No, retires after 20 years
I didn't know that the person whose affection for the Bureau was so deep would kick everything away in an instant.
But at the same time, I felt heavy at the thought of why he would do that.
How many burdens was he carrying alone in that rotten organization.
‘It's just one of the articles passing by, dozens of which pour out daily.’
But it was obvious how large a ripple this short line of news would cause.
Still, I hoped he’d spend time peacefully now.
‘He should be doing well.’
I shook off the light worry and sat on the veranda.
Rural life was peaceful and satisfying, but occasionally I thought it was too quiet.
Even if it wasn't boring, I wanted to pour this overflowing time and power somewhere more.
‘Shall I get a hobby.’
It was a luxury I couldn't even imagine during Bureau days.
I opened the terminal and searched for several hobbies.
Fishing?
No, it seemed keeping fish would suit my aptitude more than catching them.
Woodworking?
This is also not bad. The fun of personally decorating an old house seemed like it would be there.
Otherwise, how about directly making artifacts with materials obtained from the Tower?
Even if not grand, I might be able to make minor items that So-ye or the fellows could use.
‘Hmm....’
With nothing strongly appealing, I was staring blankly at the yard with my chin in my hand.
Muryong and Hasuo were eating lunch.
Yam, yam.
Bbo-jak, bbo-jak.
The menu was a nutritional special meal made with crops I just harvested from the garden this morning.
Of course, no seasoning was added at all, and the method was entirely steaming or boiling so the nutrients of each ingredient wouldn't be destroyed.
But they were happy as if they were eating the world's most delicious food.
-Hmyoot, hmyoot!
Muryong held a boiled potato as large as its body tightly and munched on it with its small teeth while humming a happy tune.
“Pwa-aeng, pwa-aeng.”
Hasuo wagged its short root legs, as if it liked the sweetness of the steamed carrot.
To think they like it so much just by steaming to save the original taste of the ingredients.
‘Even though they're such delicious ingredients....’
Suddenly, I felt sorry.
I only steamed, grilled, or boiled them exactly the same way every day.
The food sent to So-ye was the same.
Of course....
Crunch! Munch! Munch munch!
In a corner of the yard, the Gorani was munching on steamed potatoes I threw whether dirt was on them or not.
The appearance of inhaling even carrot scraps dropped nearby without leaving anything like a vacuum cleaner.
I know that fellow will like whatever I give like that, but nevertheless, the heart wanting to feed better things is very natural.
‘Shall I try learning cooking?’
If I could make more delicious things with those good ingredients.
I opened the terminal and entered a new term in the search box.
[Cooking Class for Beginners]
Somehow, my heart began to beat a little.
It was a thrilling thing to learn something for myself.
* * *
Blink.
As if waking from a long dream, the Hellhound opened its eyes wide.
“!”
Last night, what happened to me.
Memory was vague.
Led by hunger, it entered the humans' territory and discovered prey.
And... memory was cut off after that.
S-nap!
Trying to move its body, it regained its senses at the sensation of being bound throughout its body.
Thick wisteria vines were tightly wrapping its entire body like steel ropes.
It tried struggling a few times to escape, but the vines were motionless.
In that instant, the memory of last night flashed through its brain like a lightning bolt, making its fur stand on end.
“...!”
That thing.
The black shadow that popped out from the darkness and rammed it.
The overwhelming power that flicked it away like a toy.
And the absolute intimidation that existence emitted, which could not be dared to be resisted.
Just what was that.
The Hellhound was a clear predator with no match in this area.
But the one it encountered last night was of a different class of existence.
A primal fear as if an ant faced an elephant.
Why didn't it kill me?
With that level of power, it would have been possible to annihilate it without leaving a speck of dust.
Prickle!
Larger fear rushed in as it couldn't know the reason for being left alive.
It also couldn't know why such a strong existence was hidden in this periphery.
Unable to dare move carelessly, just holding its breath while bound by vines.
Sli-de-
Flinch.
Someone came close.
“This... how should I process it. It would be right to report to the Bureau, wouldn't it?”
It knew from hearing the voice.
The existence it faced yesterday.
The human who shared a conversation equally with ‘that thing’.
“It's much smaller than last night.”
In fact, the body size had decreased by 1/5 from yesterday.
The Hellhound was flustered by the change that happened to its body.
Living for dozens of years, an experience of the body shrinking like this overnight was never even once.
Just what did that thing do to it last night?
It did emit a mysterious sound effect like "chwap-chwap!" while striking out its front hooves toward its body, was it because of that?
“What to do with this?”
The human before it was intently looking back and forth between its two heads.
The Hellhound stopped breathing.
That human's gaze. It was an analytical gaze as if a butcher was grading meat.
Fear that its neck might be cut off right now struck.
“If I hand it to the Bureau, it’ll clearly be dissected or become an experimental subject....”
Dissection? Experimental subject?
It couldn't perfectly understand human language, but it could clearly feel the terrible and ominous energy those words held.
“Shall I decide the treatment later? Being here, there's no worry of catching others' eyes.”
Clatter-
“Eat some milk.”
Then he placed something before each of the Hellhound's heads.
Food given by a human.
From the Hellhound's perspective, it was humiliating.
But....
Fragrant-
The savory milk scent was approaching very temptingly.
In case it couldn't eat well, the human had already moved away.
A meticulous person.
Lap.
Eventually it cautiously extended its tongue and began to lap the milk.
Lap, lap....
Warm milk.
It was the first warmth felt in its life.
The taste of the world. The feeling was mysterious yet not bad.
The tired heart from yesterday's shock felt softly loosened.
Strangely, the thought that it's comfortable and good came.
The feeling that it wouldn't be bad to just settle in this territory and live while receiving delicious things given by the human.
Of course, he’d have to accept it first.
How can I stay here?
The Hellhound began to vigorously turn its two heads.
* * *
MK Sphere Tower, Executive Shin Seung-ah’s office.
“Queue number 3,452? Does this make sense?”
Shin Seung-ah muttered as if unable to believe it while looking at the Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) app screen.
The competition to buy Gorani Man 12's crops was entering almost a realm of madness.
The moment an item was posted, tens of thousands of people flocked simultaneously.
‘Why is it so tight?’
Shin Seung-ah recalled the time she was in charge of a multi-trillion won overseas guild M&A project early in her career.
Picky conditions, meticulous competitors.
She thought it wasn't even this blood-drying back then.
‘Buying a few tomatoes is harder than an M&A.’
Just what kind of great person is it.
Gorani Man 12, who she watched over the last few days, was as perfect as she thought.
The crops Gorani Man 12 posted always maintained top-tier quality, and there was not a single claim.
The time he posted items was irregular, but once posted, he processed orders cleanly.
It was a processing speed hard to believe for a person doing it alone.
“Whew.”
Yu Jin-hyuk’s illness still showed no sign of improvement, and he was only waiting for Gorani Man 12's crops.
Knowing that heart, she couldn't hesitate anymore.
‘Frontal approach won't work. I must find another route.’
With the method of standing in the queue, she would never be able to put his crops in her hand for her entire life.
She must be chosen by him.
Among the thousands of buyers, she had to make him want to trade directly.
‘Then what would he want?’
Artifacts?
Our prototypes would already be one class below the items someone like Yu Seo-jin would have proposed.
‘Yu Seo-jin, no way she didn't contact him.’
She was also paying attention to the news from Valhalla, and talk that tomatoes are the company's welfare was often being heard.
If money and artifacts are no use, then just what....
Let's think.
And finally, she pulled out a faint clue from a corner of her memory.
‘Seed.’
Right, surely resolving this many crops, the profession was likely a farmer.
Then what kind of item would be attractive to him?
Shin Seung-ah immediately recalled the item Yu Jin-hyuk donated to the company for research purposes saying it was useless.
‘There is. There surely is.’
An item Yu Jin-hyuk bought from a high-floor Dimensional Shop out of curiosity a few years ago, but which was put away because it was useless.
A gray seedling whose biological activity was perfectly stopped, whose value no one knew.
They tried to revive the seedling by providing world-best soil and nutrients while mobilizing every technology, but no expert could revive it.
But it was too expensive to throw away, and the 출처 (origin) was mysterious so it was a thing kept only as a storage with a vague expectation that it might be useful someday.
‘With this, would it be possible?’
With a heart filled with hope, she looked out the floor-to-ceiling glass window.
Swoosh-sh-sh-
A heavy shower, which had started since when, was hitting the city.
* * *
I looked at the spring that had turned into muddy water after going to the 약수터 (water spring) with an empty water container and sighed.
A 지긋지긋한 (dreadful) rain hadn't stopped for several days.
“I won't even be able to cook rice like this.”
The water for cooking rice and drinking was always this spring water fetched in the morning.
The rice was uniquely chewy and the tea scent was deep, so it was water I now couldn't do without.
But on a day when it rains like this, I couldn't fetch water for several days because it was mixed with muddy water.
My small daily happiness was broken because of the bad weather.
“Should I cook rice with tap water today? It's a bit regrettable.”
Sitting on the veranda, Muryong, who was sleeping on my lap, opened its eyes while squirming.
-Hmyo?
Muryong recognized like a ghost that my mood wasn't good.
“The water is too murky, is there any way?”
Muryong wouldn't know the solution, but it was just words said in frustration.
-Hmyo!
But Muryong seemed to understand my words and began to search somewhere with a determined expression.
It was Muryong’s small inventory, its cheek pouch.
“Is there something there?”
Then it pulled out something while struggling.
“Huh? This is....”
It was the White Snake's scale Muryong brought a while ago.
It had given it to me before, but since I didn't have a particularly good place to use it, it was exactly that scale I had returned to Muryong to keep.
-Hmyoot!
Muryong placed the scale on my palm and pointed toward the spring with its front paw again.
“...Tell me to take this to the spring?”
I lifted the scale.
Then, a slightly changed item description window popped up before my eyes.
[Item: Reverse Scale (Ni Lin) of the White Snake (Held)]
[Rank: Heroic+]
[Description: The root of power for the White Snake of the Moon (Wol-baek-sa), a spiritual animal that lived for hundreds of years while eating the moon's essence. It condenses pure Yin Qi. (Energy became more 정순 (pure) as the primordial being held it.)]
Hmm?
The description seemed to have changed a bit.
‘Tell me to purify that muddy water with this?’
Since there's no other way, isn't it worth a try?
“Fine, shall I trust our Muryong once.”
Muryong wagged its tail.
I headed to the spring again with Muryong on my shoulder.
And then I carefully dropped the scale into the deepest part of the spring where muddy water was gushing.
* * *
That night.
A tiny figure sat alone in the private spring in the back yard.
-....
Two horns were looking at the spring that had turned into muddy water with dissatisfaction.
A moment later.
Slid-slid....
As the surrounding fog lifted, the giant White Snake revealed its form soundlessly.
-Hmyoot?
The White Snake, which was called out while sleeping, had a bewildered expression, but it couldn't dare to defy the tiny existence's call.
When Muryong pointed to the spring with its chin, the White Snake soon grasped the situation and showed a troubled expression.
You mean purify that.
Just 바친 (offering) one reverse scale to the primordial existence last time took away dozens of years of power, and to purify that spring, probably even more power would be needed.
Of course, it was a perfectly natural providence for that great existence to personally grace my territory and command me to clear away the dirtied thing.
Just a bit... just a bit hard.
The White Snake gave up all resistance.
No, it didn't even have the intention to resist.
Being helpful to that great one was the honor of the clan.
And soon, it huddled its giant body over the spring.
Flash-sh-sh-
Condensed moon essence poured out from its horn like a waterfall and spread through the water.
It was a different way from tearing off a scale, an act of directly consuming its own fundamental power.
Whish!
The entire spring began to be tinted with a blue light like faint moonlight.
The sound of impurities in the muddy water being washed away by the clear energy and evaporating echoed.
-Hmyoot.
A quite satisfied reaction came from Muryong only then.
As expected, friends are good, the expression seemed to say.
Pop, pop-
In that water, tiny light particles repeated blooming and vanishing.
As if a light like all the wishes held by every life in the world being contained in the spring and breathing.
< White Snake Water Purifier > END