Popcorn Brought Something Strange
Popcorn flew off to the forest where he had seen something odd last time.
When he arrived, a huge bug swooped in and chomped down on him.
“Pee! Peepeepee!”
Popcorn flailed in surprise and smacked the bug with his hands.
The bug must have found it painful, because it quickly spat him back out.
The forest was full of all sorts of things.
Bugs and birds tried to eat Popcorn the moment they saw him, so he always had to stay on guard.
“Pee!”
The very moment he thought that, a crow swooped down and swallowed him whole.
Peepeepee! Peepeepeeppee!
He kicked desperately with his feet, but the crow was a formidable opponent.
It was far stronger and more cunning than the bug, so it refused to spit him out easily.
Popcorn’s strength gave out, and he went limp inside the crow’s beak for a while.
How long had it been?
It seemed he had dozed off.
When he came to his senses, Popcorn found himself in a bird’s nest.
Huh?
There were so many sparkly things here.
Popcorn loved anything that sparkled.
This one, and that one—yes, yes, they were all incredibly shiny.
Perfect. He had to take them to Dad.
Popcorn yanked a thin twig from the nest and tied all the shiny objects together, then hoisted the bundle onto his back.
His body was so small that it didn’t work very well.
But it was for Dad!
Popcorn summoned all his strength.
He flapped his wings hard and rose into the air, but the twig sagged and threatened to drop everything below.
Still, he couldn’t let go!
The image of Dad’s eyes lighting up with joy danced before him.
Whenever he imagined Dad’s happy face, Popcorn’s heart felt like it would float endlessly into the sky.
For that sake, Popcorn worked with all his might.
He had to hurry before the crow returned.
Just as he thought that, a black speck appeared in the distant sky.
The crow was coming back.
Popcorn beat his wings with every ounce of strength he had to fly back to Dad, then suddenly realized something.
Oh, that wasn’t what he had come for today. He had come to see that round, bouncy thing.
But he still wanted to give these sparkly objects to Dad too.
What should Popcorn do? What now?
While he was worrying, he spotted a large, perfectly round, wobbly creature slithering along.
It was exactly the one Popcorn had wanted to see.
Yes! Let’s go!
Popcorn stopped flying midair and dove straight down.
The crow spotted him and shot forward at terrifying speed, but its sharp talons only grazed above his head without catching him.
Hmph, serves you right!
Popcorn puffed out his chest and sneered at the crow, but the very next moment the weight of the shiny objects made him plummet downward.
It seemed puffing out your chest while carrying heavy things wasn’t a good idea.
Popcorn fell together with the crow’s shiny treasures into the round, squishy, wobbly creature.
Squelch. Squish. Glorp. Glorp.
His body began to sink little by little into the swamp-like, sticky, crunchy, soft round mass.
Blub blub. He waved his arms and legs, trying to climb back up, but this round, squishy, wobbly creature was so viscous that his arms and hands moved sluggishly.
His wings were even slower than his limbs, so he couldn’t flap them at all.
What now?
Popcorn went limp from exhaustion.
It would be nice if Dad called for him at times like this.
When Dad called his name, an incredible surge of power suddenly welled up inside Popcorn.
And before he knew it, his body would be flying straight to Dad’s side.
Dad’s voice was full of sparkles, and it gave Popcorn strength.
It felt incredibly good.
Would Dad call for Popcorn right now?
Popcorn looked up at the sky from inside the swaying, round, squishy, wobbly creature.
This fluffy, wobbly creature’s body was transparent but black.
That was why the sky visible between the trees looked somehow dark and gloomy.
Popcorn was startled when he saw the clouds passing between the trees.
Clouds were supposed to be white, but now even the clouds had turned black.
How strange.
Popcorn wriggled around inside the sticky round mass, lay on his back, and stared at the sky.
Black clouds and blackened tree branches kept drifting past.
The constantly changing shapes of the sky were somehow entertaining.
Popcorn watched the sky, the birds flying there, the animals and bugs racing across the forest, all while swaying gently.
It was a pleasant time.
The round, squishy, wobbly creature occasionally moved with a great lurch and swallowed rabbits or squirrels.
The rabbit made a pitiful face, twitched a little, then went still.
The squirrel spat something out of its puffed-up cheeks, tried to escape, then stopped.
It seemed that once something came inside, everything stopped moving.
After playing like that for a long while, watching the sky and the forest, the round, squishy, wobbly creature finally stopped.
Slither, slither, squirm. It crawled along the ground and entered a large cave.
Popcorn looked around and was startled.
There were so many people here.
The humans who had run into the dark forest last night, and the humans who had been with them, were all here.
Even the human whose back Dad had smacked with a torch was huddled in the corner.
There were deer, rabbits, and huge animals Popcorn had never seen before.
Every one of them was wrapped inside a round mass.
They looked exactly like they had been trapped inside sticky water droplets.
Of course, it wasn’t water—it was the same body as this round creature.
Once the round creature reached the cave, it began spitting out the rabbits, squirrels, and small bugs it had swallowed one by one.
Popcorn came out too.
Wrapped inside a small round, squishy, wobbly piece.
The creature had peeled off bits of its own body to give to the rabbit, squirrel, and Popcorn, so its main body had grown that much smaller.
Then the round creature approached the humans and animals inside the cave.
Huh? That was what Dad and the people let out from inside their bodies.
The things Dad called poop and pee.
The round creature moved the poop and pee contained inside the small round pieces into its large body, then moved on to the next person.
The other people released their poop and pee as well, and it transferred those into its main body too.
By the time it had made a full round, the poop and pee that had entered the main body had already become tiny.
It seemed this round, squishy, wobbly creature ate poop and pee.
Would it eat Popcorn’s too?
Curious, he looked down, but since he hadn’t been inside very long, there was nothing yet.
He wanted to wait a little longer, but it was time to go to Dad now.
Popcorn shook his body vigorously.
Unlike when he had been inside the large body, he slipped out of the small round piece quite easily.
Popcorn tilted his head.
This transparent black round creature was small and cute.
Plus, with the crow’s shiny treasures inside, it looked strangely pretty.
Good. He would take this to Dad too.
Popcorn hoisted the round, squishy, wobbly creature onto his back.
Strangely, it was lighter than when he had carried the shiny objects tied to a twig.
Perfect! Now, back home!
As Popcorn flew off with the small round, squishy, wobbly creature on his back, the main body belatedly stretched out its round mass to try to catch him.
But Popcorn easily dodged it and flew upward.
When Popcorn put his mind to it, he could do anything.
Before long, the sun was high in the sky.
This was the time when Dad ate his meal.
He had to hurry back.
Dad’s food was really delicious, after all.
And swimming in it was the best.
Let’s go!
Popcorn began flapping his wings at top speed.
I had finished sowing all the seeds.
It was a tiny field no bigger than a booger, but I had finally done something.
My heart felt full.
The villagers trickled in one or two at a time to look at my field.
“It’s finally a proper field. Congratulations.”
“It’s the chief’s field, after all.”
“It’s small, but it’s a lovely field.”
The others had already started sowing their seeds several days ago.
I was probably the very last one.
Their fields were several times larger than mine.
The warm looks in the villagers’ eyes were like people watching a child grow up.
“Mister, why is your field so small?”
Ji-geu came over, looked at the field, and asked.
Kids were too honest for their own good.
Should I teach them about white lies at times like this?
The leader of the children nudged Ji-geu.
“If you say it like that, Mister will feel embarrassed. That’s what my dad said. Since the chief is new to farming, we have to praise him no matter what.”
I already knew that was what their eyes meant.
Still, hearing it out loud stung a little.
The child leader gave me a big thumbs-up.
“Mister, your field looks awesome.”
Well, damn.
I was just starting to slump my shoulders when Popcorn came flying in with something on his back.
A giant jelly?
It was all wobbly and transparent, exactly like pudding.
And it looked like something was inside it.
Carrying something bigger than my palm on his tiny body, Popcorn looked like he was struggling.
He flew down from above, sagging heavily, then stretched both arms toward me.
It seemed like he was complaining that it was heavy.
Wouldn’t it have been solved if he just hadn’t carried it in the first place?
The children’s eyes went wide.
“The spirit brought something weird!”
“What is that?”
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s black?”
The children ran toward the direction Popcorn was flying from as if to greet him.
Popcorn puffed out his chest proudly, then promptly sank straight to the ground.
The children quickly reached out their hands.
Everyone stretched out their hands, but the little leader was the one who caught it.
“I-it’s all squishy!”
“I want to touch it too.”
The children took turns poking the black pudding-like thing with their fingers.
I was a little worried whether it was okay to let them touch some unidentified object so freely, but well, it was something a spirit had brought.
It probably wouldn’t harm the kids.
While I watched quietly, the children touched it one after another and caused a huge commotion.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s so smooth.”
“My finger went inside!”
The kids were having fun poking their fingers into the black pudding and pulling them out when Popcorn suddenly jumped up as if he had just remembered something.
“Peepeepee.”
He made a loud racket, then immediately flew straight toward me.
When I held out my palm, Popcorn plopped down on it and began pulling things out of the pudding like a peddler unpacking his wares.
Whoa, that’s interesting.
They had looked small when they were inside, but once he took them out, the objects grew more than twice as big.
What Popcorn pulled out were gold coins, a gold bracelet, a necklace with jewels, a brooch, and similar items.
“Where on earth did this guy get these?”
Why were objects that clearly belonged to humans appearing in such a remote place?
It felt somehow ominous.
After laying out all the items, Popcorn looked up at me with sparkling eyes full of expectation.
He clearly wanted praise.
“Peepeepeeppee!”
Well, the items felt suspicious, but this black pudding seemed surprisingly useful.
“Yeah, good job.”
When I stroked him, Popcorn shot happily into the air.
Leaving the black pudding sitting on my palm.
“Whoa! Mister, it’s moving!”
“It must be alive.”
The children who had been staring at my palm gasped in surprise.
I was even more shocked.
This pudding—was it actually a living thing?
When the children started chattering noisily, several men from the village who had been farther away came closer.
“What is this, Chief?”
“It looks so strange.”
The people tilted their heads in confusion.
It seemed the villagers had never seen it before either.
Then shouldn’t they be more surprised?
Why was everyone so calm?
I seemed to be the most shocked one here.
Honestly, wasn’t it a little scary that such a bizarre creature existed?
Since it was small, it wasn’t scary, but if it had been bigger, it probably would have been terrifying.
The news that the spirit had brought something strange spread quickly through the children to the rest of the village.
Everyone came to see it and marveled.
“It shrinks when you put things inside? That’s really amazing.”
“It is. But has no one ever seen one of these before?”
When I asked, Geob-bo shot his hand up.
“Me! I heard from someone before that there’s a slime in the forest that’s all squishy and round like this.”
“Slime.”
“Slime?”
“Oh, if it’s a slime, I’ve heard of them too.”
The people looked at one another.
This was a slime?
I quietly stared at the round pudding on my palm.
Slimes appeared often in novels and games.
But did slimes have the ability to shrink and enlarge objects? And this one was black.
When I muttered that, Geob-bo and the others nodded.
“Now that you mention it… I think I heard slimes are supposed to be transparent.”
“My grandfather told me they’re transparent too.”
“I don’t remember hearing that they make things smaller when they swallow them.”
“It really is strange.”
“As expected, anything the spirit brings seems to be special.”
Maybe this forest was full of unknown creatures.
Even a black slime that acted like the Monkey King’s magic staff could exist.
It was soft and bouncy, just like pudding, so I decided to name this fellow Pudding.
Pudding slowly moved across my palm, squished my finger a little, then spat it out shortly after.
It seemed I didn’t taste very good.
When I set it down in the field, the children chased after Pudding for a long time.