Chapter 38
Chapter 38
Patting my belly, which was swollen like a hill, I walked out into the yard.
Kyang!
Kkamang-i, who had been sitting on Mom's head, flew toward me.
"Aww, aww, yeah, you're hungry, aren't you? I'll feed you."
I smiled and took a can out of my inventory.
"Son, you woke up late today, didn't you? What do you want to do about food?"
Mom approached me, brushing the dirt off her hands.
I opened the can and placed it on the ground, and Kkamang-i happily feasted.
"Did you eat, Mom?"
"I ate the bread Eunmi-ssi made. It was delicious since it's been a while~"
"Uh... is there any left?"
"Ate it all~"
Damn it!!
--
Yesterday lunch.
Our family finished a filling meal.
"Unnie~ let's have dessert!"
"Okay, I'll cut it up in a sec, wait a moment."
I was flustered by Eunmi-nuna getting up and asked Ha-rang.
"Ha-rang-ssi... aren't you full?"
"I'm full-ung!"
"But you can still eat bread...?"
At my innocent question, Ha-rang furrowed her brow.
"Jagi! A meal stomach and a dessert stomach are different, you know!"
Is that... even a thing...
I tilted my head and looked at Mom.
"Son, your problem is that your willpower is weak~ The human body is controlled by the brain. The human stomach can eat more if you want to."
Mom also said something completely incomprehensible.
"Ah... is that so..."
I'm getting out of here!
Screech
As I pulled my chair back and stood up, Eunmi-nuna returned with freshly baked bread.
"Geumseul-ssi, it's most delicious when it's freshly baked, won't you have some with us?"
The savory smell of bread tickled my nose, but
"I'll eat later. I feel like my stomach is going to burst..."
"Jagi! It might not be there later, you know?"
"Ahaha... please save me a portion."
With those final words, I went out to the yard and lay down on the sunbed.
--
I was so resentful of the fact that I hadn't been able to eat Eunmi-nuna's bread.
"Kheuk... so, was the bread delicious...?"
"How delicious was it~? It was a match made in heaven with the apricot jam Mom made, dear~"
"Y-you'll make it again later, right? Ahaha..."
"Of course, if my husband asks me to make it, how could I not? Ho ho ho~"
Mom laughed and went back to the vegetable garden to start tending to the plants.
Husband... Hehe.
"Ah, Mom! Come to think of it, where are Ha-rang-ssi and Eunmi-nuna?"
"Don't know? Wouldn't they be at home?"
At the vague answer, I tilted my head and headed toward Mom's house.
Screech
Even though I opened the front door and entered, the inside was quiet.
"Hm...? They aren't home?"
I came back out to the yard.
'Did the two of them go out?'
If it were just Eunmi-nuna alone, it would be a big problem, but with Ha-rang-ssi, there shouldn't be any major issues.
"Should I go out and earn some money for the kids' food too?"
I took out my armor, helmet, and weapon from my inventory and fully equipped myself.
"Kkamang-i! Let's go out!"
Kyang!
Ppiririk!
I stepped out the front gate with our cute little guy.
--
"I've already looted the surroundings... so I'll have to go a bit further today. Kkamang-i, I'm counting on you, okay?"
Kyang kyang!
At my words, the guy grew in size and lowered his wings so it was easy for me to ride.
Flap! Flap!
As soon as I climbed on, Kkamang-i started flapping his wings excitedly, and
Krowaaak!!
He let out a screech and soared into the sky.
"Whoa..."
Perhaps because Kkamang-i's cry contained the effect of the skill [Intimidation], all the normal zombies were scared and ran away, and even the mutants flinched for a moment before scanning their surroundings.
'Come to think of it, I need to level up Kkamang-i's skills too...'
I operated the system while on his fluffy back.
[My Pet]
Name: Kkamang-i
Level: 10
Free Points: 9
Health+7 / Agility+6 / Stamina+4 / Dominance+8
I was surprised by his status window.
Wow... looking at the stats alone, he's stronger than me...?
Perhaps because I kept feeding him the highest-grade pet food, he was showing tremendous growth.
'I thought he was a money-eating hippo, but seeing him like this, I'm proud of him, you little guy.'
I gently stroked Kkamang-i's back.
Krowak?
He turned his head to look at me, wondering what was up.
"Nothing, just that you're cute."
Kwak!!
While I was pondering for a moment, we arrived in downtown Daegu.
"Kkamang-i! See that tall building over there? Let's go there."
I pointed to the top of the academy building I used to attend when I took TOEIC classes in the past.
--
Thump!
"Good work."
I stroked his head after landing and looked around.
On the building rooftop, there were tents and trash scattered about, as if someone had lived or was living there.
"Hm... did the person who was here go out for a moment?"
I sat on an academy chair I hadn't seen in a long time.
Kyang!
Kkamang-i turned into his cute form and sat on my head.
"Alright, let's level up your skills first and then farm."
I operated the system, opened the My Pet window, and started to ponder.
"Hmm... I can keep pumping stats with food... so I definitely have to level up skills..."
A Traveler could use Free Points really freely, but for a pet, it wasn't that free.
"Skills also unlock by level..."
[Skill]
[P] Flight
[P] Intimidation
[A] King of the Sky
[P] Communion: Random stats increase at a certain probability upon leveling up.
It seemed like the skill [Communion] unlocked once Kkamang-i reached level 10.
"First off, I'm curious what kind of skill [King of the Sky] is... Kkamang-i? Want to try using it?"
Kyang?
Kkamang-i tilted his head for a moment, then grew in size again and let out a loud cry toward the sky.
Krowlarak!!
"Ooh... my ears..."
I covered my ears at the loud sound that assaulted my eardrums.
Flap! Flap!!
I was flustered by the abnormal wind and flapping sounds, so I looked up at the sky.
"Holy...?!"
In the sky, a Zombie Bird was flying—the one that used to screw over users level 90 and above, which was called the minimum standard for veterans back in the Ruined Game days.
'I... insane...'
There was only one, but knowing this guy's notoriety, I just got goosebumps.
Krowak!!
Kiiik!!
When Kkamang-i shouted, the Zombie Bird landed in front of him and bowed its beak to the ground as if a king were receiving an audience from a subject.
This is seriously insane...
As for the Zombie Bird's representative notoriety, "You can't stop this guy's flight..."
Since it was the only flying mob in the Ruined Game, countless veterans used all sorts of methods to try and seal its wings, but those wings, which were scary just to look at, were harder and sharper than anything else.
Not only were ropes useless, but even iron capture traps didn't work, so there was only one way to kill it: popping its relatively soft brain.
"Such a broken guy... can be summoned by Kkamang-i's skill...?"
'This guy... he won't attack me, right...?'
I first approached Kkamang-i and stroked his head.
"Kkamang-i...? That friend won't harm me, right...?"
Krowak!
He nodded as if it were obvious.
Gulp...
I swallowed dryly and approached the Zombie Bird, which was still bowing its head.
'Back in the Ruined Game days, I was a total noob who hadn't even reached level 40!!'
Seeing the guy I had always seen on NewTube and the internet in person made me even more nervous.
Swoosh
Huh? Its head is surprisingly fluffy?
I stroked the Zombie Bird's head.
Kiik!
When the Zombie Bird made a small sound, I was startled and pulled my hand away.
'A... are you crazy?'
The guy started rubbing its face against my chest.
"Ahaha... you... are cute..."
I carefully stroked the guy, who was doing something unexpectedly cute.
Krowak!!
Kkamang-i also pushed his head toward me as if asking to be stroked too.
"Yes, yes, I'll stroke our cutie too."
I couldn't believe the reality that I was stroking a three-eyed monster bird and a notorious Zombie Bird.
"Ha-rang-ssi would be shocked if she saw this, right? Hehe."
I was really scared when I first saw the Zombie Bird, but as I stroked it like this, it was a guy I started to feel some affection for.
'Does this guy have a status window too...?'
I used [Blessing of All Things] while stroking it.
[Name: Crop Eater]
[Level: 90]
[Defense+100 / Agility+50 / Health+30]
[Blessing of All Things] didn't work on zombies or mutants, but it seemed like I could read the information because this guy was recognized as Kkamang-i's subordinate.
'Isn't this going too far, f*ck!'
I was thinking that as time passed, stronger guys would appear, given that a mutant had appeared despite not matching the level.
"This is seriously not it..."
It was a Zombie Bird that could appear at any time, but its specs were such that the moment you saw it, your survival instinct would disappear.
As I hung my head in frustration, Kkamang-i must have read my emotions, as he embraced me with his large wings, and the Zombie Bird also rubbed its face against my chest.
Thanks...
I felt grateful to Kkamang-i and the Zombie Bird for being considerate of such a pathetic master, and I slowly stroked them.
Wait...
'What happens if I max out [King of the Sky]...?'
I immediately operated the system and dumped 5 of Kkamang-i's Free Points into [King of the Sky].
Krowak?!
The guy flapped his wings, perhaps flustered that something had changed.
[A] King of the Sky Max: Dominates creatures of the sky.
[The higher the Dominance stat, the stronger the subordinates become.]
"Th-this is it!!"
I found a way to survive the attacks of Zombie Birds, the only aerial monsters.
"Kkamang-i!! You're truly the best!!"
Like a manic-depressive patient, my emotions, which had been depressed until just a moment ago, shifted completely to happiness, and I expressed that feeling of happiness by pouncing on Kkamang-i.
Krowak?!
Thump!
I threw my body at Kkamang-i, and he was startled, took a step back, and fell over after bumping into me.
"Uahaha! This is huge, this is huge!!"
Flap! Flap!
Krowaaaak!!
Kiik..?
Kkamang-i flapped his wings asking to be saved, and the Zombie Bird tilted its head as if asking what was going on.
--
A while later, I calmed down.
Peck, peck!!
Kyang!
"Ow... sorry, Kkamang-i..."
I was getting my head pecked by Kkamang-i, who had turned small.
Perhaps [King of the Sky] had a casting time, as the Zombie Bird disappeared midway.
To calm him down, I opened a can from my inventory.
Kyaang!
Kkamang-i happily picked through my hair with his beak.
'He's so simple-minded, hehe.'
Watching him eat like he was starving, I sat on the chair and opened my status window.
Name: Kim Geum-seul
Level: 26
Free Points: 6
"Hmm... if I do this right, couldn't I push for a summoner concept...?"
I pondered for a long time like that, then "Screw it," I operated the system and learned a new skill.
[P] Trainer: Provides additional experience and stats every time you feed a pet you own.
And I dumped all my points into it to max it out.
[P] Trainer Max: Provides a large amount of additional experience and stats every time you feed a pet you own.
"Mmm, good... ah... but it's a bit of a shame. I should have learned the skill before feeding him..."
Because of the order of operations, a precious can was wasted, but seeing him eat happily made that feeling disappear too.
"You eat well, you little guy."
I reached out and stroked his head.
Krrng!!
He pecked my hand.
Ah, seriously... that nasty temper really doesn't go anywhere...
I stood up and instinctively disassembled the chair into peanut butter.
Ah... there might be an owner here...
"Eh... there probably isn't an owner~"
I perfectly disassembled the tent and the trash left around it, cleaning up the rooftop.
Kkamang-i also sat on my head, seemingly finished with his meal.
"Hoo, double the experience~ double the peanut butter~"
I got nearly 30 peanut butters just from cleaning the rooftop, and humming a tune in excitement, I opened the rooftop steel door.
--
Entering the building, the inside was, as expected, nothing but darkness.
Occasionally, I could see glow-in-the-dark stickers indicating the location of the emergency exit, but 'I'll have to wait until my eyes get used to it...'
I closed the door and waited until I could see objects.
--
After playing with Kkamang-i for about 10 minutes, I started to see my surroundings.
"Shall we get going?"
Kyang!
I gripped my spear and dagger tightly and slowly went down the stairs.
Thud... thud... thud...
After going down half the stairs, the number 6 was written on the glow-in-the-dark indicator.
'Below this is the 5th floor.'
I went down the remaining half and pushed open the heavy steel door.
Click! Screeeech...
I opened the door wide and fixed it with a doorstop, and numerous doors came into view.
'Ah, the 5th floor here was a self-study room...'
I slowly opened the nearest door.
Screech...
Inside the narrow room, empty desks and chairs were placed.
While opening the self-study rooms one by one and disassembling numerous desks and chairs, Screech... Hm?
A bag someone had left behind caught my eye.
'To think they were studying when this situation occurred...'
I opened the bag, wishing that the owner of this bag had survived well.
Zip...
Inside, there were a TOEIC book I used in the past, a pencil case, a tumbler, and some simple snacks.
"Oh!"
I was able to discover the Nagana Chocolate I wanted to eat most in this changed world.
I immediately cast [Blessing of All Things] and stocked it in the shop.
Snap!Chiririk...
After peeling off the wrapper and foil, Crunch! I put the chocolate in my mouth and chewed.
Crunch... crunch...
'Ah... this sweetness... it's been so long...'
I ate without stopping at the addictive sweetness the chocolate provided.
Kyang!
"Hm? You want some too?"
Snap!
I broke the chocolate into a size that was easy for him to eat.
'Is it okay for a bird to eat chocolate...? Well, he's a monster bird, so it should be fine~'
"Here, try it, it'll be delicious."
The hesitation didn't last long, and I put the broken chocolate into Kkamang-i's open beak.
Crunch crunch!
Hm? Aren't birds supposed to not have teeth?
The question was momentary; thinking conveniently that "he's a monster bird~," I finished eating the remaining chocolate.
--
"Ugh... that was delicious... So, what's the shop price~?"
I operated the system since I thought I'd eat it often.
[Nagana Chocolate]
Price: 1 Peanut Butter
"Good price! Thank you!"
I immediately bought 6 and put them in my inventory.
"Hehe, everyone will be surprised when I get home~?"
Humming a tune in excitement, I started the disassembly work again.
--