Chapter 037
[Chapter 037]
< Spiritual Private Water Spring >
Next morning, the rain had stopped like a lie.
I headed toward the private spring in the back yard once more with Muryong, just in case.
The household private spring where I dropped the White Snake's scale last night.
It was a space my maternal grandfather had made for my now-deceased mother so she could fetch and eat water coming from the mountain long ago.
“...Wow.”
The spring water, which was full of muddy water until yesterday, had turned clear as if it never happened.
Not to mention the dust was gone, the water itself had become much more clear and clean than before.
“Let's see.”
I scooped up a mouthful of the spring water and tasted it.
“!”
It was a taste that couldn't not draw an exclamation.
A refreshing yet sweet taste spreading throughout the mouth.
The feeling as if even the last residue in the body was being washed away.
“This... the taste has improved too much?”
It felt as if the water itself had changed, rather than just being slightly upgraded.
“Muryong, try it.”
I scooped a bit of water in my palm and brought it before Muryong’s nose.
Muryong extended its tongue and lapped the water "hal-jjak", then.
-HMYOOOOOOOOO-T!!!
In that instant, I saw the fur of its whole body stand on end.
A joyful scream as if experiencing a new world tasted for the first time in its life.
“That scale, the effect was really good.”
I stroked Muryong’s small head.
“I was right to listen to our Muryong. Commendable fellow.”
-Hmyoot!
Muryong rubbed its cheek against my palm as if the praise made it feel good.
“Hmm?”
Just then, my gaze stopped on the traces on the damp soil around the spring.
Traces of something very giant having passed were clearly remaining there.
“Perhaps... is this that White Snake?”
It was a trace of a snake of giant thickness having circled around the spring and vanished.
“Muryong, is it your friend?”
Muryong opened its eyes wide and nodded.
“Really? Then invite it to our house sometime. I’ll make something delicious.”
-Hmyoot!
Muryong responded excitedly and jumped back onto my shoulder.
* * *
“Honey, are we really almost there? I’m dying of tiredness.”
“Almost there. Turn that corner and it's the summit right away.”
Celebrating the weekend, Chairman Lee Jin-seong of MK Group and his wife were enjoying a hike alone for the first time in a long while.
Lee Jin-seong was a well-known hiking maniac who had climbed every single mountain in South Korea.
“Ah, that's why I said I wouldn't come to such a nameless mountain.”
“What are you talking about. It's only been a while since you fully recovered, you should manage your health while breathing such clear air.”
Lee Jin-seong always took along his wife, whose health he worried about since she recovered from illness.
Of course, the actual hiking party was not two, but also the bodyguards and primary physician who always accompanied them.
“Give me some water.”
“Ah, what to do. I just drank all the last bit left earlier.”
Lee Jin-seong shook the empty water bottle with a troubled expression.
In that instant, his wife's body swayed.
“Honey! Are you okay?”
“Ye, yeah. It's nothing much, just a bit dizzy....”
“This won't do, let's go back right now.”
It was right when he was about to call the primary physician who followed.
“Excuse me, if it's okay, would you like to drink some of this water? It's not strange water, it's clear water that came from the mountain.”
It was a young man coming down from the summit.
The young man who spoke shook a metal tumbler that looked to be about 2L.
With an appearance that looked far too light for someone walking this rugged hiking trail.
“Really... if it's okay, could we get a little? My wife seems to have dehydration symptoms.”
As Lee Jin-seong requested, the youth nodded nonchalantly.
“It's okay, I have plenty of water. My house is close too. Give me the bottle.”
The youth said so and tilted the black metal tumbler to pour clear water into Lee Jin-seong’s small water bottle.
“Oh dear, thank you so much. I was so thirsty....”
And as soon as she drank the water in a hurry.
“...!”
Her eyes widened very minutely.
“Wh-the taste of the water....”
“Hmm?”
The water taste was mysterious.
The moment it touched the tongue, not to mention it was refreshing like spring water gushing from a rock crevice.
At the end, a faint sweet taste even lingered.
“Honey, you try it too. The water taste, the water taste is so good.”
“Is it?”
Lee Jin-seong also received the cup his wife handed and drank the water without much expectation.
But.
‘...This!’
Lee Jin-seong also couldn't hide his surprise.
The moment a mouthful of water passed down his throat, the heavy fatigue vanished like a lie.
His head, which was throbbing from days of management meetings, cleared as if washed with ice water.
“Young man, thank you so much. You saved us.”
Lee Jin-seong expressed gratitude plainly.
And he took his business card out of his wallet and handed it to the youth.
“I am Lee Jin-seong of MK Group. If you ever have business in Seoul, please contact me. I’d like to treat you to a meal.”
“No, that's okay.”
“No, take it. Repaying a debt is the right thing to do.”
As Lee Jin-seong urged again, the youth finally took the business card and greeted lightly.
“The mountain path is steeper than expected, so be careful climbing up.”
The more he looked, he was a polite youth with a neat impression and kind eyes.
The youth greeted and began to walk down the steep mountain path they were struggling up, as if he were taking a walk on flat ground.
The appearance of not even a single breath being disturbed despite having reached the summit and coming down.
Staring at that appearance for a moment as if lost, the youth had already vanished without a trace in the forest path.
“Honey, that person... doesn't seem like an ordinary youth.”
“Right, he's a mysterious youth.”
Lee Jin-seong fell into thought while looking at the forest path where the youth vanished.
“A young youth... feels like a hidden expert.”
Come to think of it, the appearance he showed when he handed over the business card was also different from other people.
Surely he must have checked the title of Chairman and the name printed on the card, yet he didn't care in the slightest.
He might have been slightly surprised, but even such an appearance was not seen at all.
Anyway, he was a very mysterious youth.
* * *
“So, is there anything you want to eat?”
-No? Everything is already very delicious~
So-ye was always like that.
Whether because she matured early, or because of her sick body.
She didn't easily say what she really wanted.
She was a kind sister who always said she was fine, fearing her brother would have a hard time or worry.
“Then let's say just one thing on count of three. One, two....”
-Th-then hamburger!
It was a wish that burst out even before three was shouted.
“Ah... hamburger.”
Outside food.
Especially fast food was no different from a taboo to So-ye.
Mana Hypersensitivity Syndrome patients reacted sensitively to external food ingredients that had a possibility of being contaminated by unrefined mana.
So So-ye had never eaten a hamburger in her life.
“Understood. Oppa will make it for you.”
-Really? Oppa knows how to make hamburgers too?
“Of course. I’ll make the world's most delicious hamburger for you.”
After hanging up, I firmed my resolve.
To make more diverse foods for So-ye.
“Would it be okay here.”
Among numerous academy information, there was one advertisement phrase that particularly caught my eye.
[Cooking, it's not hard! We’ll make even you, who only knows how to boil ramen, a chef!]
[1:1 customized lectures for the menu the student wants! (Children's snacks, patient food, even pet special meals OK!)]
I pressed the registration button without hesitation.
Muryong, the Gorani, and Hasuo would also like it if I made more delicious things.
Ch-ch-
Just then, the sound of the rice cooker emitting steam from the kitchen was heard.
It was rice cooked for the first time with water fetched from the spring.
“Shall I taste it.”
As I opened the lid, a rice scent much more savory and sweet than usual spread out.
Each grain of rice was lively and plump, and the surface had a luster as if honey were applied.
“Hmm.”
Taking a spoonful and putting it in my mouth, the sweetness and savoriness that deepened with chewing filled my entire mouth.
“Wow... this is.”
The rice taste was good before of course, but the current one was of a different class.
The pure sweet taste that deepened with chewing filled the mouth.
“The water taste is this good.”
If the difference that changed surely is felt even in my mouth.
“Wait, then if I give this water to the garden?”
Then just what kind of thing would happen.
Filled with expectation, I headed to the field with the water container.
And I sprinkled the water evenly over the entire herb garden.
Splash-
It soaks in.
The moment the water soaked into the soil, a faint blue light rose like a haze from the entire field.
The [Absolute's Herb Garden] began to change while absorbing the pure Yin energy of the White Snake.
[The skill ‘Absolute's Herb Garden’ acquires a new trait.]
Huh?
New trait?
Soon windows appeared in succession.
[Trait: Taiyin Soil (Incomplete)]
[Description: The garden's soil absorbs the White Snake's energy and takes on a powerful Yin attribute. Every crop growing in this land receives moonlight during the night and gains an additional ‘Mental Stability’ effect.]
Taiyin Soil.
A concept of attribute was granted to my garden for the first time.
‘Incomplete?’
I read the description further.
[In order to make the Taiyin Soil complete, a powerful Sun (Yang) energy opposite to this is needed. When the harmony of Yin and Yang is achieved, the garden unlocks its true potential.]
Sun energy.
I don't have a clue how to find that yet, but anyway, the mental stability effect obtained now was already immense.
Because for a hunter, what's scarier than a physical wound is the invisible mental attrition.
Awakener, player, Tower ranker.
During the 6 years I worked at the Bureau, I watched the downfall of numerous rankers.
Flashy glory seems eternal, but what collapsed in an instant was the hunter ecosystem.
Mental management more important than physical management.
The bizarre environment of the Tower, repeating slaughter, fear of death gnaws at even the strongest hunter's soul.
I watched too many tragedies where yesterday's hero retired while suffering from Heart Demon (Simma) today, or in severe cases took their own life.
In that sense, this mental stability effect might have a more precious value than an S-Rank potion.
‘If so....’
In the very moment I recalled the first customer for this new crop.
Ding-dong!
On Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market), a chat notification popped up from an unfamiliar ID.
[Shin Seung-ah: Hello, Gorani Man 12. I am Executive Shin Seung-ah of MK Sphere.]
[Shin Seung-ah: I have obtained a difficult opportunity to speak with you, seller. I contacted you because I definitely want to request a trade, even if it's shameless.]
‘Shin Seung-ah?’
It was strange.
It's not the time for a chat to come?
When I didn't post crops, I had blocked every chat and set it so that conversation is possible only with those for whom trade was completed.
But how did contact come from a stranger?
[Gorani Man 12: How did you contact me?]
[Shin Seung-ah: First, I bought the dialogue right. You can think of it as I moved your next trade sequence forward while paying a massive premium. Probably the commission has been deposited.]
‘Was there such a thing?’
Out of curiosity, I checked the Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market) account.
[Deposit: 130,000,000 won]
[Depositor: Dang-geun-tap Management Team (Priority Dialogue Right Commission)]
130 million won.
So, she burned over 100 million won just to have a single conversation?
There were many hidden functions I didn't know in the Tower system.
Of course, just because she bought the priority dialogue right didn't mean I had a mandatory obligation to reply.
Since I could just ignore it.
[Shin Seung-ah: First... I will speak bluntly.]
[Shin Seung-ah: The treatment of our guild's S-Rank Hunter, Hunter Yu Jin-hyuk, is in a desperate situation. Gorani Man 12's crops might be the last hope for him. No matter how many items, I will procure whatever you want.]
Shin Seung-ah was honest. And she was desperate.
It also seemed she had laid down all her pride.
[Shin Seung-ah: And, there is a gift I will give first.]
[Shin Seung-ah: You can think of it as a gift before the contract or as a down payment. Of course, it doesn't matter if you void the contract process if you don't like it.]
[Shin Seung-ah: Actually this is... an item whose value cannot be known unless measures are taken with a special method.]
When I clicked the link Shin Seung-ah sent.
‘Hmm?’
[Item: Incomplete Seedling Seed Found in Ashes (Hatch-type)]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Description: A seedling seed found in ashes left behind after an immortal Sun Bird (Phoenix) burned to death in the heart of an ancient volcano in the Tower's high floors. It is in an incomplete state where it is no different from an ordinary general seedling unless it is through a special method. Upon germination, it instantly hatches into the seedling stage.]
Seedling seed?
[In the Tower, seeds that grow directly to the seedling stage simultaneously with germination are idiomatically called seedling seeds. Unlike ordinary seeds, the internal endosperm is already partially differentiated into seedling tissue.]
An explanation was also added.
And.
Gaze stopped at the word "high floors".
In the Tower, high floors meant the acquisition difficulty was that extreme.
The 50th and 60th floors are also high floors by human standards, but items appearing randomly on floor levels existing above that which humans haven't raided yet.
Of course, very occasionally high-floor items were discovered on middle floors too.
If lucky, an incomplete form of high-floor reward could be obtained.
Mostly they were useless as they were in an incomplete form, but among them there were also high-floor items whose possibility was found through research.
The seedling seed Shin Seung-ah proposed as a gift and down payment would be the same.
Incomplete and uncertain.
But anyway, if it's an item from high floors, it was meaningless to even put a price.
Meaning it's an item that cannot be obtained with hundreds or thousands of Gold, regardless of its use.
Of course, even if traded, there was a possibility it could be a dud because it's in an incomplete state.
After thinking for a moment, I sent a reply.
[Gorani Man 12: That seedling, can I see how it looks once?]
< Spiritual Private Water Spring > END