Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Showdown of the Little Monsters
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When he opened the drawer, an egg the size of a chicken’s egg was revealed.
It had yet to break out of its shell. The egg wobbled from side to side, signaling the struggle within.
“Mister, it looks like it’s having a hard time. I don’t think it can break the shell.”
“Monster eggs are tough. It’ll probably take a while.”
It was so hard that it wouldn't have cracked even if a rock had fallen on it. Breaking out was the first trial.
“Mister. Can we help it? Let’s crack the egg for it.”
“That’s not something I’d recommend.”
“Why not?”
“If it can’t even break out of its own shell, it’ll die within three days of hatching. It’ll just end up being eaten by another monster.”
Cheon Doun hadn't brought the egg with the intention of raising it. If it hadn’t cracked when he was mining the luminous stones, he would have left it there.
He only planned to keep it until it hatched, so he had no intention of creating an overly artificial environment.
“Besides, many monster species are ferocious by nature. With their low intelligence, they’re often swayed by instinct. Like their appetite. You shouldn’t carelessly keep a species like that around.”
It might be possible to keep it out of misplaced pity. But even if he saved it that way, the day would inevitably come when he’d have to dispose of it with his own hands.
“Wouldn’t it be harder if you grow attached to it, only to have to kill… I mean, send it back to where it lived?”
“Oh, I see.”
For the sake of Kim Nari’s mental well-being, he changed the word “kill” mid-sentence.
As if she understood, Kim Nari nodded obediently. She didn’t insist on raising it.
Even Kim Nari knew that Guu was unusually gentle.
As the two chatted, Nam Giseok, who had been on high alert from a distance, cautiously approached.
A chance to witness a monster hatching from an egg. The rare opportunity piqued his curiosity.
“Oh… so this is a monster egg.”
He had joined them and was now watching the egg as well. If anything dangerous happened, Cheon Doun would surely flatten this monster.
With that in mind, he watched for twenty minutes. The egg only wobbled, unable to properly break free.
Nam Giseok, who had started watching out of curiosity, soon found his face etched with anxiety as he began to cheer for it.
Even if it was a monster, it was heartbreaking to watch something struggle so desperately to live.
“Sir. What if it can’t break out?”
“That’s a possibility. Monsters that hatch from eggs don’t have a high survival rate. The shells are so tough that many starve to death, trapped inside.”
At Cheon Doun’s words, Kim Nari’s expression darkened. She clenched her fists and stared at the egg as if to cheer it on.
*Crack.* A piece of shell about a millimeter in size fell away. Through the triangular hole, something yellow was visible.
“Scales…! I just saw yellow scales.”
Kim Nari exclaimed. As the creature inside the egg moved, a pair of pitch-black eyes appeared.
Seeing the moist eyes, Kim Nari grew restless.
“Ah, Mister. I think it’s crying.”
“Unlikely. It’s probably just wet from the amniotic fluid inside the egg.”
“Its eyes look like they’re pleading for help.”
“Monsters don’t ask other species for help. They’re highly cautious creatures.”
Faced with this dose of reality, Kim Nari fidgeted anxiously. Unable to bear it, she snatched the egg and held it out to Cheon Doun.
“M-Maybe this egg is growing weak because of us!”
"What are you talking about?"
"The egg cracked inside the crater. It must have inhaled toxic gas because of that. That’s why it’s so weak. I’m sure of it.”
Kim Nari squeezed her eyes shut as she spoke. Not entirely sure what she was saying herself, she desperately continued.
“So we have to help it. Otherwise, it’s not fair to it. It would have hatched just fine if we’d left it alone. But we didn’t. So…!”
Was it okay to say something like this? Kim Nari could feel her heart pounding in her chest.
This was on a completely different level from picking out clothes. With the clothes, Cheon Doun had told her to pick some out first.
But not this time. This was a situation where she was opposing something he said she shouldn't do. What if he thought she was being insolent? Kim Nari bit her lip in fear.
The situation was terrifying. But she didn’t want to watch the little monster in the egg die, either.
“It can live if we just help a little. So… I, so…”
*Pat.* A gentle hand stroked Kim Nari’s head. When she opened her eyes, Cheon Doun had already taken the egg from her hands.
“I’m not going to break the shell for it directly. If it gets used to relying on someone from birth, it won’t survive long inside a Gate.”
At Cheon Doun’s words, Kim Nari’s expression brightened. She beamed and nodded her head.
Seeing her, Cheon Doun let out a faint smile. He infused mana into the hand holding the egg.
The hatchling, which had been losing its strength, felt a surge of energy and its eyes shot open.
*Uooooh, I feel so strong! What is this? I don’t know what it is, but I can’t miss this chance.*
The monster pushed against the shell with its tail with all its might.
Its eyes glinted with determination, as if it knew this was its last chance.
*Crack.* A large piece of the shell broke off. As light streamed in, the monster poked its head out.
“A snake…! Mister, it’s a snake!”
What emerged from the egg was a snake as yellow as a chick. The snake slithered onto Cheon Doun’s palm.
“Ooh…? It, it has legs! They look like chick legs!”
Kim Nari hopped in place as she exclaimed.
The snake’s lower body had two chick-like legs. It stood tall on those slender legs. It straightened its long body and looked around.
Twenty centimeters long. A slender snake, the thickness of a pinky finger. The yellow snake looked at Cheon Doun and let out a ferocious roar.
-Peep!
The sound of a chick came out of the snake’s head.
***
A group of people sat huddled around the tiny snake.
Cheon Doun looked down at the baby snake with a vague expression.
“Coming from a volcanic region, I expected a dangerous species to hatch.”
What came out was a yellow snake the thickness of a pinky finger. A snake with chick legs, at that.
The way it trotted around like a chick didn’t look threatening in the slightest.
“Guu. Have you ever seen a species like this?”
-No, this is the first I've seen of it. I've encountered many snake-type monsters… but never one like this. Its cry is rather peculiar as well.
While the two conversed, Kim Nari brought a piece of bread from the drawer. It was bread she had saved from the previous night to savor later.
She tore off a fingernail-sized piece and offered it to the snake, drawing everyone’s attention.
The snake trotted over to Kim Nari. It inspected the piece of bread on her fingertip, then snatched it up.
“It ate it!”
Kim Nari smiled brightly.
“Mister. This one is gentle. It didn’t bite my finger. It only ate the bread.”
Cheon Doun smiled, anticipating what she would say next.
“This one is gentle, and it’s weak, too. It’ll die if we send it back to the volcanic region.”
“You think so?”
“I do. Your house is safe because there are no monsters. I think it would be good for it to recuperate here, like Guu.”
As the words flowed smoothly, the corners of Cheon Doun’s mouth lifted.
Kim Nari had become quite confident in expressing her opinions.
“What about you, Nam Giseok? What do you think about keeping this snake?”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yes. I was wondering what a Hunter who subjugates monsters thinks.”
“Uh, well… a Hunter’s opinion would be… um…”
Nam Giseok’s mind raced. What was the intention behind this question?
Perhaps he was supposed to answer like a Hunter and say they should kill it. But next to him was Kim Nari, who wanted to save the snake.
He couldn't bring himself to say they should kill it while she was looking up at him with those pleading eyes.
“Well… how about we let it live? From the looks of it, it’s so tiny, I don’t think it’ll be a threat.”
“Is that so? Guu, what’s your opinion?”
-Is my opinion necessary?
“If it’s going to live here, we should hear everyone’s thoughts.”
-Hmm… live here, you say.
Guu wasn’t a monster species that lived in groups like the snow rabbits of the frozen mountains.
Therefore, his basic nature was to dislike crowds, but strangely, he liked living here.
There was Cheon Doun, with whom he could communicate.
There was Kim Nari, who couldn’t understand him but still took care of him.
There were the hu-eung-ing Mandragoras and even Nam Giseok, who was entertaining to watch.
Being with them felt good. Since coming here, he hadn’t once felt the loneliness that had followed him like a shadow.
If that was the case, wouldn’t the joy double if a new family member joined? A smile formed on Guu’s lips.
-Having a new little one wouldn't be so bad. I also agree to keeping this snake.
“It’s unanimous, then. Let’s let it stay here. Of course, if this one’s nature is to be alone and it decides to leave, we’ll let it go. Kim Nari, you have to understand this too. If we forcibly cage it in the name of saving it, that would be more painful for the snake.”
“It would still be painful even if it’ll die if it leaves your house?”
“Probably. Everyone pursues different things. There are always those who would rather live one day in freedom.”
Cheon Doun spoke, recalling an incident from the research institute.
A roommate he’d lived with for four years, though they weren’t close. A bird-headed boy who had always yearned for freedom.
His head had transformed to resemble a bird’s due to the side effects of an experiment, and he had longed to leave the institute and live freely.
With a body that had changed to be like a monster’s, there was no way for him to survive outside. If he was unlucky, he’d be mistaken for a monster and subjugated by Hunters.
Even knowing that, the bird-headed boy had always tried to escape the institute.
‘Perhaps he was too strongly influenced by the avian cells.’
It was like caging a creature that could fly in a small box.
This snake was the same. Caging it in the house to save it might actually be an act of inflicting pain.
Cheon Doun’s thoughts were interrupted by Guu’s voice.
-Come to think of it, I forgot to mention something. If we’re keeping this one here, there’s something you should be careful about. Monsters from volcanic regions like to eat plants, so be wary.
“Plants?”
-Yes. It’s not their main diet, but they consider it a delicacy. It’s hard for grass to grow in volcanic areas, you see. So they eat it whenever they find it.
Guu looked outside the house.
-They especially like grass with strong demonic energy.
“Grass with strong demonic energy, you say.”
Cheon Doun’s gaze also turned outside. The leaves of the Mandragoras planted in the garden were rustling in the wind.
-You should probably keep an eye on this snake tonight. It will surely try to dig up and eat the Mandragoras.
Guu warned with a serious face.
The second trial for the snake to stay here. Building a good relationship with the Mandragoras had emerged as a critical issue.
***
Late at night, when everyone was asleep, an emergency meeting was held in the garden.
-Hu-eung, hu-eung!
-Hu-eung!
The three Mandragora roots touched each other’s rootlets underground to confirm their safety.
Their expressions were dark. Serious. The days of contentment in the abundant demonic energy since they had moved had been peaceful.
That peace was shattered this afternoon.
-Peep!
At the sound of a predator nearby, the Mandragoras flinched and froze.
They dug through the soil with their rootlets and climbed up into the garden. In their eyes, a small snake was trotting towards them.
Mandragoras have poor eyesight. But to compensate, they had the ability to sense an opponent’s movement through the flow of the air.
-Hu-eung!
Hostility, murderous intent, the aura of predation. That snake was targeting them. Sensing this, the Mandragoras moved swiftly.
*Fwip.* The small, ten-centimeter roots formed a triangular formation.
Formation A. Mandragora defensive line established. The three roots stood back-to-back and spread their leaves.
-Hu-eung!
*Don’t come any closer. We have our rootlet attack.* With such a threatening cry, they whipped their slender rootlets about relentlessly.
*Pat, pat.*
Each time the seven-centimeter rootlets struck the ground, they made a pattering sound.
-Peep!
Faced with the threatening attack, the yellow snake paused.
The snake stood tall on its chick-like legs. It raised its body high like a cobra to make itself look bigger.
The snake didn't know that this threat was useless against the poor-sighted Mandragoras.
*Hiss, hiss.* The snake swayed its head from side to side, putting on a menacing display.
*Pat, pat, pat.* The Mandragoras swung their rootlets to block its approach.
A serious atmosphere, grave expressions. They glared at each other, circling as if in a standoff.
“Well now… this is a showdown for the ages.”
Cheon Doun, who had come out to sit in front of the house at some point, murmured with an amused look on his face.