Chapter 16
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Right Timing
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What am I even doing right now? Nam Giseok wondered, squatting on a rock.
A large rock, situated in the middle of a waterfall basin. Squatting there, Nam Giseok was struggling desperately not to fall into the water.
“I’ve… I’ve never done training like this in my life… Ugh!”
Nam Giseok looked at the teardrop-shaped stone in his hands.
He was currently washing a glowstone in the valley stream. The problem was the stone’s weight.
“S-So heavy! What is this thing?!”
It was a stone only about fifty centimeters in size. A normal person would find it heavy, but an Awakened should have been able to lift it easily with one hand.
They should have.
“Chief! What in the world is this! Why is it so heavy! It feels like a lump of iron!”
Even as he spoke, Nam Giseok’s hands were busy washing the glowstone.
Just trying to balance while squatting on the uneven rock to wash it made his whole body tremble.
To make matters worse, the glowstone was shaped like a teardrop. The center of gravity was off, and he felt like he would fall into the water at any moment.
“It’s not that the glowstone is heavy. It’s because the demonic energy radiating from it is weakening your arms. Circulate your mana to push the demonic energy back.”
“I-Is that what it is? Ugh!”
“Don’t try to endure it with brute force. You have to circulate your mana. Find your balance. Focus on your core muscles. Tense every muscle, right down to your fingers.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Watch your fingers. The fish might bite them off.”
“Gah!”
If not for Cheon Doun’s warning, he might have lost a hand to a fish that had leaped out of the water.
Nam Giseok shot up, still holding the glowstone. He dodged the fish, but his back arched, and he staggered backward.
“Hngh-ya!”
If I fall in, I’m dead. That fear squeezed out strength he didn’t know he had.
Holding the heavy glowstone, Nam Giseok held his ground in a bizarre pose, his back bent halfway.
“Mister, look at that. Uncle is trembling.”
“So he is.”
“His expression is funny. His lips are curled up. You can even see his gums.”
“He has a face that would do well on a comedy show.”
*Don’t try to make me laugh. If I lose my strength, I’ll die!* Nam Giseok fought the urge to shout.
One wrong move and he felt like he would topple backward into the valley stream.
“I told you to circulate your mana. Focus on your back muscles. Tense your thighs. Try to stand up on the count of three. One, two…”
“Hrrr-yaaaah!”
With a strange cry, Nam Giseok straightened his body.
Sweat poured down his entire body. The muscles in his thighs felt like they were snapping, strand by strand. It felt as if he were holding them together with mana.
‘I-Is this it?!’
An expression of realization dawned on Nam Giseok’s face.
To an Awakened, mana was the energy used to manifest their abilities. Furthermore, it was like a purifier that cleansed the demonic energy accumulated in the body.
Nam Giseok felt as if he could see something beyond that.
‘A-Amazing. If I just follow the Chief’s words, good things will happen even in my sleep.’
Nam Giseok looked at the glowstone in his hand.
He had no idea how Cheon Doun had obtained such a precious item. The thought that Cheon Doun had gone to great lengths for his training brought a surge of emotion.
‘I have to suppress the demonic energy radiating from the glowstone. There’s no time to rest my mana circulation. This is an incredible training tool!’
Unaware that he was cleaning a stone to be used as a fluorescent light, Nam Giseok was filled with admiration.
‘Looking at it again, even this teardrop shape seems optimized for training.’
He had to use every muscle in his body just to maintain his balance. Holding the glowstone with one hand, squatting, and scooping water to wash it with the other.
That simple act required him to tense every muscle in his body to keep from falling into the water.
Nam Giseok squatted down again and began to wash the glowstone. Perhaps because he had gotten the hang of it, his posture was more stable than before.
“I’m done!”
Finally, the glowstone was clean. Was it because he had completed the first round of training? Nam Giseok felt as if he could now use his muscles with more finesse.
His sense of balance also felt sharper, having endured holding something so unbalanced.
‘Such an effect in such a short time. Did the Chief also become strong through this kind of training?’
Oblivious to the unlikelihood of that, Nam Giseok’s face was full of awe.
“Chief! I’ve finally finished washing this… Whoa!”
Was it because he was overjoyed and let his guard down? Nam Giseok stepped on a patch of water moss and slipped.
*Splash.* The glowstone Nam Giseok dropped fell into the valley basin. He almost fell in too, but something grabbed him and pulled him back.
As if controlled by invisible threads, Nam Giseok’s body was pulled upright.
“Get a grip.”
“Ah… Ch-Chief? Was that your ability just now?”
Nam Giseok was astonished, having been manipulated like a puppet.
He had never seen an ability like this before. As he looked on with a fascinated expression, Cheon Doun pointed to the water.
“What are you doing? The glowstone fell in.”
“What?”
“Get it.”
“M-Me?”
Nam Giseok looked into the water, flustered. It looked to be over five meters deep. He could also see a school of aquatic monsters swimming leisurely inside.
Surely he wasn't telling him to go in there.
“Ch-Chief. Um… I’m sorry, but could you please give me a hand?”
“No. I’m busy.”
Hearing that he was busy, Nam Giseok scanned him over. Cheon Doun was sitting in front of the stream, holding a long rod.
A thin rod carved by hand, with a thread attached to it. The thread extended deep into the water.
‘He’s just fishing!’
No matter how you looked at it, he was a leisurely wanderer. Nam Giseok turned his gaze to Kim Nari, who was sitting next to him.
‘Kim Nari, you’re my only hope. Look over here!’
Did his telepathy get through?
Their eyes met, and Kim Nari set down her fishing rod and stood up.
‘I knew you wouldn’t abandon this uncle!’
Nam Giseok beamed. Kim Nari beamed back.
“I am fishing!”
After her grand declaration, Kim Nari sat back down. *Why did you even stand up?* Nam Giseok wanted to ask, but held his tongue.
Cheon Doun offered Nam Giseok a piece of advice.
“As long as you’re not falling in defenselessly like before, you should be able to retrieve it.”
“What?”
“Envelop your body with mana to protect it. Try operating your mana as if you’re wearing armor made of it.”
Nam Giseok was at a loss for words.
*Aren’t you the only one who can do something like that, Chief?* The thought crossed his mind, but his expression soon changed.
‘That’s right. Maybe entering the water is also part of the training.’
Feeling like an ascetic monk, Nam Giseok sat on the rock. He closed his eyes and began to circulate his mana.
‘Mana like armor… make the mana solid… like hell I can!’
Nam Giseok glanced toward Cheon Doun. The two of them were sitting in the cool shade of the trees by the waterfall.
The pair, holding their fishing rods and chatting, looked happy.
‘I’m jealous. I like fishing, too.’
How nice would it be to just fish over there? For that reason alone, he had to pass this trial.
Nam Giseok clenched his teeth and circulated his mana.
***
The sun set, but Nam Giseok still couldn’t bring himself to jump into the water.
In the end, it was Kim Nari who retrieved the submerged glowstone.
“I have no excuse, Chief. I wanted to do well…”
“It’s fine. You can’t expect to be full on the first bite. You stay here and practice your mana control some more.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Even if diving is too hard, you should at least be able to put your hands in the water.”
“Understood!”
*Is he telling me to learn to control mana from my fingertips?* Nam Giseok nodded with a serious expression.
Cheon Doun was pleased by his motivated look.
‘He needs to be able to put his hands in the water if I’m going to make him do the dishes.’
It would be nice if he became skilled enough to do laundry, too. Cheon Doun smiled contentedly and picked up the cleaned glowstone.
“Well, I have something else to do. You stay here and practice putting your hands in the water.”
“Yes!”
Nam Giseok answered with a booming voice. This year, he would definitely get his A-Rank Hunter license.
Nam Giseok, who was on his way to becoming an A-Rank cleaner, strengthened his resolve.
***
Arriving home, Cheon Doun cut the glowstone into flat pieces.
“A thickness of about ten centimeters should be enough. I can divide it into six pieces and attach them to the ceiling.”
The glowstone, sliced into thin plates, became light enough to stick to the ceiling.
He smeared one side with green spiderweb silk, placed it on a long pole, and pressed it against the ceiling, completing one fluorescent light.
After attaching three on the right and three on the left, the inside of the house became bright.
-How strange. Just by adding one glowstone, the atmosphere seems to have changed.
“Right? I guess this is what people call the lighting effect.”
A soft light spread through the house, creating a cozy feeling.
“Mister. There’s a lot of glowstone left. What are you going to use the rest for?”
“I have something in mind.”
Cheon Doun took the remaining glowstone and went out to the yard.
“I’ll use the rest to build a fence.”
“A fence?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking of starting to properly decorate the surroundings. I’ll put a glowstone at the end of each fence post. At night, the lighting effect will be quite impressive.”
Cheon Doun looked around the house and its surroundings as if measuring the distance.
Since the fence wasn’t meant to fend off monster threats, it didn’t need to be high.
The fence would only be knee-high to keep the view open. If possible, he wanted to build a charming fence, like one for a country house.
‘I’ll be expanding the house later, too. It’s probably best to make the fenced area wide, right?’
He would have to clear more of the surrounding trees to expand the lot. An image of his home, enclosed by a fence, flashed through Cheon Doun’s mind.
***
On the third day after Nam Giseok joined them.
In the early dawn before sunrise, Kim Nari, buried in her sleeping bag, quietly opened her eyes.
‘Mister and Uncle are asleep. Now’s my chance.’
With a triumphant smile, Kim Nari tiptoed out of the house.
-It seems she goes out like that periodically, only at dawn. Where is she going?
Kim Nari was mistaken in thinking everyone was asleep. From behind Cheon Doun’s sleeping bag, Guu lifted its head.
“I’m curious too. I’ve been pretending not to know until now, since she might have her privacy. But it’s starting to bother me. Is something wrong?”
Cheon Doun, who had seemed to be sleeping, also opened his eyes. No different from wild animals, they would wake at the slightest stir.
Cheon Doun and Guu quietly followed Kim Nari. Her constant outings were becoming a cause for concern.
Kim Nari headed for the waterfall valley. They kept a moderate distance, hiding and observing the situation.
What they saw through the bushes was a silver android.
Its metallic body gleamed. Kim Nari had returned to her original form and was washing her clothes.
“All done.”
Finished with the laundry, Kim Nari vigorously shook out a shirt.
“Now it’s clean. I learned that clothes should be worn clean.”
Kim Nari pressed the clothes against her body and raised her internal temperature. As the clothes dried with a hiss of steam, she smiled with satisfaction.
The reason Kim Nari snuck out every dawn was to wash her only set of clothes.
“This way, I can wear it right away. I am a laundry prodigy. Hm-hm-hmm.”
Kim Nari hummed a tune and wiggled her shoulders. But it was short-lived. A presence nearby startled her, and she spun around.
As luck would have it, a small monster had just passed by Cheon Doun’s feet.
Spotting Cheon Doun, Kim Nari froze in shock. Her hands, clutching the clothes, trembled slightly.
‘Looks like she still has no intention of revealing her identity.’
*I’ll pretend I don’t know for now.* Cheon Doun walked past Kim Nari with an indifferent expression.
“Never seen that monster before. Does it live around here?”
His acting was as wooden as if he were reading from a book. Nevertheless, having been given an out, Kim Nari leaped into the bushes.
For Cheon Doun, who was mistaking her for a monster, she even put on a show of running on all fours like a beast.
A meeting of awful acting and awful acting. Guu, watching it all, let out a small, incredulous sound.
-You’re falling for this?
“She’s a lot younger than she looks.”
Cheon Doun guessed her to be around five years old. She might even be younger.
Kim Nari was some kind of creature with no worldly experience, into which only knowledge had been crammed.
“You pretend you don’t know, too, until she reveals it herself.”
-Understood. She must have her reasons for hiding it.
A moment later, Kim Nari, now in human form, walked out from behind the bushes. Seeing Cheon Doun, she raised a hand in an awkward gesture.
“Mister. What a coincidence. What are you doing here?”
“Just out for a walk. You?”
“M-Me too. I am also on a walk. I often take morning walks.”
Her stiff voice sounded like she was reading from a textbook. Cheon Doun played along, his eyes scanning Kim Nari’s clothes.
A drab-colored adult t-shirt. It was one of the pieces of clothing Cheon Doun had scavenged from the snowy mountain.
Kim Nari was still wearing the same clothes she had on when they first met.
Perhaps imitating Cheon Doun, she had tied a thin vine around her waist, turning the shirt into something like a dress.
She had been getting by with that single shirt all this time. Even though she wore it carefully, the harsh life in the Demon World had left it frayed in several places.
‘This… I don’t think building a fence is the priority right now. Have I been too thoughtless?’
Cheon Doun had never felt uncomfortable in his own primitive attire.
Because of that, things he had never paid attention to before were now coming into view for the first time.
“Kim Nari. Is there anything you need?”
“Something I need?”
“Yeah. For example… clothes, or something.”