So, This is Esai, and This is Lavito?
Jin-cheol scratched his head and asked, "So this is Esai, and this is Lavito?"
Tobi shook his head firmly. Then he pointed at the drawings again and said, "Lavito. Esai."
"No, both have long ears. The only difference is the ears—how the hell am I supposed to tell them apart?"
Jin-cheol grumbled as he leaned back in his chair. Tobi, who had been so insistent, started fidgeting the moment it seemed like Jin-cheol had lost interest. He quickly spread out the papers with drawings in front of him again.
"Lavito, Esai, Olrog, Baika."
"And Kampoeni."
"Yeah?"
"You guys are people too, right? So you have to be in there. Kampoeni."
Tobi grinned sheepishly, whether he understood or not. Jin-cheol chuckled gruffly and patted the kid's head.
"Hehe, Jin-cheol. !@#!@#. Good."
Good. At least after a few days, he could pick up that much. Jin-cheol watched Tobi pant like a real puppy as he nuzzled into the touch, and fell into thought.
Tobi was the one who'd fetched Elder Atukai when Jin-cheol first woke up. Ever since, he'd stuck by Jin-cheol's side, helping him navigate life in the Kampoeni village. He'd shown him where to eat, sleep—even where to take a shit. And after a few days, Jin-cheol had learned something else: Tobi and his friends were the ones who'd dragged him from the riverbank to the village.
That much he'd pieced together while gauging the atmosphere.
Tobi was just a kid. You could tell from how the other Kampoeni treated him. The adults saw him as reliable but still a child who needed watching.
Jin-cheol's eyes drifted to the table in front of him. It was woven tightly from bamboo, just like everything else. On it lay a few sheets of paper covered in crude drawings and squiggly writing that seemed to explain them.
The papers described the races of this land: Lavito, Esai, Olrog, Baika.
From Tobi's gestures, they were the main races of this world.
"...What the fuck, so many races. My head hurts. Is this really some isekai shit?"
"Jin-cheol, fuck again?"
Tobi echoed Jin-cheol's mutter. Jin-cheol made a sour face.
"Fuck is a bad word. Good kids don't say it."
"...Fuck?"
Tobi's innocent tilt of the head made Jin-cheol feel a faint pang of guilt for corrupting the pure puppylike kid. He turned back to the papers.
The Kampoeni weren't great artists—the drawings were a mess, like something from an elementary school kid. But they'd nailed the key features here and there.
"Esai are long-eared humans. Elves, then? Baika look like fat frogs... Lavito are straight-up bipedal rabbits no matter how you slice it. Olrog are the closest to normal humans—at least if you ignore the ripped muscles and bald heads..."
"Olrog !@#!@#. Dumb. And bad."
Tobi reacted to the word Olrog in Jin-cheol's mutter. Jin-cheol held up the Olrog paper and asked in Kampoeni words, "Me and Olrog. Same?"
Tobi shook his head vigorously. He launched into an animated explanation, mixing gestures and simple words for Jin-cheol's sake.
"Olrog dumb. Jin-cheol smart. Already speak our words. Olrog big. Bigger than Jin-cheol. Olrog fight. Always. Dumb and fight only."
Tobi said more, but that's all Jin-cheol caught. He crossed his arms, leaned back, and sighed.
This really might be some isekai world. No truck crash or anything—why'd he end up in a dump like this? Were there no real humans? Olrog seemed the most humanlike—
"And Olrog eat Kampoeni."
"What?"
Jin-cheol frowned at Tobi's whisper. But Tobi mimed grabbing something and chomping it down, confirming he'd heard right.
"Olrog hungry, eat anything. Kampoeni, Esai—no pick. Sometimes eat own kind."
"...Yeah, definitely not human. No way I'm getting lumped in with cannibal fuckers."
Jin-cheol neatly sorted his thoughts. He had no desire to call human-talking Kampoeni "prey" for starving bastards.
After a few days, he'd seen the Kampoeni weren't just naive fluffballs. They had their own culture and way of life. They'd saved him, given him shelter, taught him words—all without asking for shit. Just because he was a lost guest.
So even if he starved, Jin-cheol didn't want to eat them.
"Alright, got the gist on Olrog. Now these Lavito? The rabbit-looking ones—explain them. They really rabbits?"
Jin-cheol held up the Lavito paper. Tobi suddenly raised his small, squishy hand into the air and whooshed it around with a "Shoooowing~."
"...What?"
"Lavito fighter craft. Lavito fly around, war. Ants—like tribes fight. Their tribe best, they say. Sometimes fight other races too. Tobi never seen, but Elder say they sing. War songs."
He mumbled something songlike, majestic in rhythm. Jin-cheol's face soured again at the picture forming from the description.
"Fly fighter craft, sing about their tribe being superior, war maniacs... Fascist flying rabbit legion? Fucking dizzying."
Tobi, still humming, raised both hands to mime the craft again and explain more. But Jin-cheol's gaze shifted to the door.
Visitors.
"Tobi!"
Tobi's face lit up. "Chakai! Dambha!"
The guests peeking through the door were Tobi's friends—the ones who'd rescued Jin-cheol. They rushed to the table.
"What doing? What? Stranger !@#!@? Fun?"
"Hungry? I bring !@#! fruit. Super sweet, ripe. Eat together."
The two chattered noisily at Tobi. With Tobi replying, it was like three puppies yapping.
Jin-cheol watched quietly, then spoke up. "What fruit? Gimme some."
Chakai and Dambha's already big round eyes doubled in size. Chakai stared up at him in wonder.
"Jin-cheol, already speak our words?"
"A little."
Tobi puffed up proudly for some reason. Then Chakai and Dambha bounced around excitedly.
"Jin-cheol! Amazing! @#$$@! Cool! !@###$!"
"Smart, Jin-cheol. Ah, this !@#! fruit. Jin-cheol eat."
Jin-cheol smiled at the bouncing duo and took the fruit Dambha offered. Familiar color and shape.
"...This banana?"
"Banana?"
Ignoring the tilting fluffballs, Jin-cheol peeled it expertly. White flesh emerged from the yellow skin. He took a big bite—soft, sweet banana flavor filled his mouth.
"Mmm. Sweet... Shit, this is insanely sweet. Isekai bananas got triple the sugar or something."
While Jin-cheol munched, the fluffball trio stared blankly. Only when he swallowed did they hurriedly peel their own.
"Sweet!"
"Yummy."
"Jin-cheol, one more."
"Thanks."
The three fluffballs and one ex-soldier polished off a bunch right there. All four mouths smelled of sweet banana.
Jin-cheol chuckled at the fluffballs licking his hands and sniffing his face. The scene etched into his eyes: forest crickets chirping softly beyond the wide-open door, cool air flowing through the bamboo house. The humid jungle thickness mixed with banana scent into a strangely sweet, reassuring atmosphere.
All in all, Jin-cheol felt languid and at ease here.
Slouched in his chair, watching the fluffballs, he suddenly tilted his head and muttered, "Don't wild bananas have tons of seeds? These sweet, seedless ones are bred by humans, right?"
Had these fluffballs selectively bred bananas like humans? Come to think of it, meals the past few days included rice and beans. But no paddies or fields anywhere around the bamboo village hanging like hives from giant trees.
"Tobi."
"Yeah? Why?"
"Rice. Where grow?"
Tobi grinned at the gestured question.
"From ground!"
"...From ground?"
Where else would rice grow? Stumped by the obvious answer, Jin-cheol paused.
"Wanna see?"
Jin-cheol nodded. Studies were getting boring anyway. Tobi led the way boldly.
But they stopped at the door. The other two fluffballs weren't following.
Tobi turned. "You not go?"
"...We stay here."
Chakai and Dambha wouldn't meet their eyes, like guilty pups.
Jin-cheol got it instantly. "Heh. You slack off from work?"
"...Slack what?"
"What you're doing now."
Chakai and Dambha glanced at each other, then grinned mischievously.
"Right! Slack! We slack!"
"Snuck out. Get in trouble if caught. We stay."
Unlike earnest Tobi, these two were little rebels. Jin-cheol glanced at Tobi, who looked back. He shrugged. Not his place to scold—he wasn't their parent.
Tobi mimicked the shrug with a grin. In the end, just Tobi and Jin-cheol left the room.
Bamboo stairs and swaying bridges stretched ahead—complex yet reassuring. They descended.
Passing other Kampoeni, Tobi gave light greetings; Jin-cheol nodded. They smiled back warmly.
"Everyone like Jin-cheol. Rare guest like you."
"What'd I even do..."
Jin-cheol gave a wry smile, reminded of isekai tropes where learning to drink water earned praise. Hope he didn't wake up as human stew someday.
Soon, Tobi stopped at the bottom of the stairs—the village's lowest level, at the tree's base. A door there.
"Wait. Open soon."
Tobi brushed the wooden surface. Squiggly writing like their script glowed.
Jin-cheol's eyes lit with anticipation. "Oh. Isekai magic at last?"
A bright ding sounded, and the door opened. Stairs led down. Ground meant underground.
Eyes gleaming, Jin-cheol followed Tobi down the short stairs.
They stopped. Tobi turned.
"This farm level one. Grow rice here."
"..."
Jin-cheol blinked at the school-field-sized farm. Or rather, the vertical layers of glowing lights and vibrant green rice paddies stacked beneath them.
He muttered softly, "Not magic... science."
The fluffballs' underground farm was a massive vertical hydroponics plant.
KakaoTalk_20240215_152954546_01 (1).jpg
Author's Note: Added a simple sketch to help visualize appearances. I'll include basic ones for new races going forward.