Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Three Eyes
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Creeeeak—Crunch!
The massive boulder, spinning ferociously, let out a scream.
It wasn't the sound of machinery, nor the cry of a beast.
It was the death throes of a rock that had been buried underground for centuries, nurturing its grudges, now forcibly torn apart.
[...It hurts...! Stop... I said stop...!]
The Self-Moving Stone's voice twisted in agony.
It strained desperately to halt the rotation.
But the rotational energy, already warped off-center by the rebar, had spiraled out of control.
With nowhere to go, the energy collided within itself, beginning to devour the boulder from the inside.
At the center of that chaos, Fry remained utterly calm.
He stood crookedly atop the churning millstone, using the embedded rebar as a foothold.
Like a veteran surfer riding the waves of a stormy sea.
"Pek."
He chirped shortly, then lightly spread his wings.
And with that, he kicked off the boulder on the verge of collapse, soaring gracefully into the air.
That was the moment.
[GRAAAAAH!!!]
BOOM—!!!
Having crossed the critical point, the Self-Moving Stone exploded.
It wasn't a chemical blast like gunpowder detonating.
It was a pure physical explosion, as the multi-ton boulder succumbed to its ultra-high-speed rotation and shattered in all directions.
"Argh!"
"Run! We're all gonna die!"
Kim Foreman and the workers, hiding behind a distant container, screamed and flattened themselves to the ground.
I needed to dodge too.
My instincts were screaming at me.
But my legs remained frozen in terror, refusing to move.
It was too close.
The world before my eyes flowed in slow motion.
Shattered black stone fragments sprayed outward like shotgun pellets.
Each one carried enough force to snap rebar.
And then something even more terrifying than the fragments came crashing down on me.
The shockwave.
A massive, transparent wall of compressed air erupted from the explosion's center, barreling straight toward me.
"Wha...?"
I couldn't even let out a proper groan.
It felt like being smashed head-on by an 8-ton truck going 60 mph.
With the gut-wrenching pain of my insides twisting, my body floated lightly into the air like a feather.
Whiiish—
My vision spun.
Sky and earth flipped.
My ears rang with a piercing 'beeeep.'
I couldn't even tell where I was flying.
All I felt was the weightless defiance of gravity and the pain hammering my entire body.
'Ah, ten million won... I still need to get that...'
Even in my fading consciousness, my last thought being about money. What a guy I am, I thought, as I closed my eyes.
Splash!
A cold shock enveloped my whole body.
It wasn't hard ground.
It was icy water.
The North Han River flowed right beside the construction site.
The blast had launched me at least 100 meters into the river.
"Pffft... Glub!"
I instinctively tried to gasp for air and swallowed a ton of water.
Bitter, muddy water flooded my nose and mouth.
My mind snapped awake.
I'll die like this.
I flailed, struggling to reach the surface.
But my winter long padding was the problem.
Saturated with water, the down jacket dragged me down like a lead weight.
On top of that, my body, hit dead-on by the shockwave, wouldn't obey.
No strength in my limbs.
I was sinking deeper and deeper.
The light on the surface grew distant.
The cold, dark river swallowed me whole.
Air starvation clawed at me.
My lungs felt like they would burst.
My vision flickered like a dying bulb.
'Am I... dying like this?'
I hadn't even had my fill of hanwoo beef.
Couldn't even earn Fry's keep.
It was unfair.
So unfair I wanted to scream, but opening my mouth only let in more river.
Just as consciousness was about to snap—
Splash.
Something dove into the water above.
Fry? No, he hates water.
Then Kim Foreman came to save me?
Swish.
Something brushed past my leg.
Not a human hand.
The soft feel of fur.
And the sensation of four small, nimble legs slicing through the current.
I cracked my eyes open faintly.
The murky river made it hard to see.
Just drifting debris in the darkness.
But then.
In that darkness, an eerie light appeared.
At first, I thought it was the sinister glow of a yokai's eyes.
Some water ghost come to devour me.
But no.
It was a soft, mystical, clear blue light.
A small puppy swam before my eyes.
Its body black as the night sky, looking like a Jindo pup.
Its two dark eyes gazed at me with worry.
And... right between those two eyes, smack in the center of its forehead.
A third eye, vertically slit, emitted a blue glow.
'...Three... eyes?'
Was I seeing wrong?
Hallucinating from lack of oxygen?
But that third eye illuminated the dark water like a searchlight.
No hostility at all.
If anything, eyes mixed with joy and relief, like 'Found you.'
[Don't die.]
A childlike yet oddly raspy voice seemed to echo in the water.
The three-eyed dog bit my jacket hem.
Too small to pull me up, but it grunted without giving up.
Then, something behind me began pushing me upward.
A small but firm force.
Like an invisible current buoying me toward the surface.
'Who...?'
I tried to turn my head, but my neck had no strength.
All I could do was watch as the forehead's blue eye vanished into the darkness below my feet, deeper into the water.
Gasp!
I finally broke the surface.
I gulped air raggedly.
The cold air filling my lungs was more precious than ever.
I swam to the bank with every ounce of strength left in me.
The moment my fingers touched the gravel, I crawled out on all fours.
"Cough! Cough! Blech!"
I collapsed and vomited river water.
My body shook like a leaf.
Cold, terror, and relief at surviving mingled, leaving my head spinning.
My teeth chattered so hard I couldn't speak properly.
"Pek?"
Then, a familiar chirp.
I looked up to see Fry standing before me.
Not a feather wet, fluffy as ever.
Not a speck of dust on him from that massive blast—infuriatingly perfect.
He stared at my drowned-rat state, then shook his head pityingly.
"Pek. (What a mess you are, human.)"
"Hey... cough! I almost died because of you! You should've warned me about the shockwave!"
I yelled in indignation, and Fry hopped closer.
He perched on my soaked padding.
Whoosh.
Warmth spread.
Cozy heat radiated from his body.
Like hugging a top-notch heater.
My frozen body melted in seconds.
The waterlogged padding steamed white from his heat, drying rapidly.
My wet hair fluffed up like blow-dried.
"...Thanks."
I stroked his back.
Couldn't stay mad at the guy.
Master of breaking and fixing in one go.
"Master!! Oh man, Master! Are you alright?!"
Kim Foreman came running from afar, panting.
Seeing me alive, he sighed in relief and collapsed on the spot, legs giving out.
"Wow... you're incredible! That monster millstone goes boom, I nearly pissed myself! But you take it head-on, fly off, and come out fine? You're no ordinary man!"
Fine my ass.
I'd brushed death's door.
But I played it cool, sweeping back my now-dry hair.
Style over substance.
That's the way of the master, right?
"Ahem. Yeah... went for a swim. Water's chilly. Anyway, you didn't forget our deal?"
"Of course! Right now! Transferring it! Ten million! No, bonus million on top!"
Kim Foreman whipped out his smartphone and opened the banking app.
Moments later, my phone chimed cheerfully.
Good thing it's waterproof.
Ding!
[Deposit: 11,000,000 won (Cheonji Manpower)]
Done.
Eleven million won.
Not bad for my life.
No, excellent.
This could buy a whole cow, not just beef.
I grinned at Fry.
He wagged his tail contentedly.
"Alright, let's head home. Dinner's top-grade hanwoo tonight. Sirloin, your favorite."
"Pek!"
We hitched a ride back to the city in Kim Foreman's car.
Heater blasting warm, wallet fat.
Perfect ending.
Kim Foreman's nonstop praise of me as a 'living legend' the whole ride fell on deaf ears.
My mind was filled with the memory from the river.
Definitely not a hallucination.
Those three eyes staring at me in the cold water.
And the soft touch that pushed me to the surface.
'What the hell was that? A stray dog around here? Or... another yokai?'
I gazed at the North Han River flowing past the car window.
Moonlight shimmered on the dark waters.
For some reason, it felt like someone was watching me from beneath.
I fiddled unconsciously with my padding pocket.
It felt emptier than usual today.
Fry's enough trouble already—hope nothing else is latching on.
But I didn't know.
That the one who saved me from the river had already emerged, shaking off its wet fur.
Among the reeds by the riverbank.
A small shadow trembled, shaking off water.
Jet-black fur.
Perked-up ears.
And the blue eye embedded in its forehead blinked.
[...Found him. My meal ticket.]
It sniffed the air.
A powerful, delicious scent wafting from the receding car.
With a wag of its tail, it dashed into the darkness.
Destination set.
Gwanak-gu, Sinlim-dong.
My studio apartment.