Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Typhoon and Rooftop Room
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A romantic, sentimental spot brimming with charm: the rooftop room.
But as the price for that romance, anyone living in a rooftop room had to put up with certain inconveniences.
Bugs everywhere, trash disposal a hassle, cats yowling like crazy, stairs that went on forever, and so on...
Those were all just side issues, though.
In truth, to survive in a rooftop room, you only needed to keep three rules in mind.
First: Endure the heat.
A rooftop room was basically a sunshade for the building below. There was no escaping the sunlight pouring down from all sides.
Just yesterday, I'd nearly melted. Even now, with the AC fixed, the lingering heat was still gunning for me.
Second: Withstand the cold.
Sure, plenty of modern homes had good insulation these days, but there were still plenty of old, poorly insulated buildings out there.
A thin wall let the chill seep in endlessly. There was a boiler, but honestly, it wasn't enough.
Every winter night, when I went to the kitchen to boil some ramen, my white breath would rise first.
And finally...
"Time to prep for the typhoon."
The mere mention dried out my mouth: a typhoon.
Most of the time, it wasn't a big deal. A rooftop room was still part of a building. If it was properly constructed to code, it should hold up fine against a typhoon.
"Mini."
Mui!
At my call, Mini clenched her fist tight. Then swung with all her might.
Thud!
She punched the wall.
"Same as ever."
Thud!
The sound alone told the story. Was that really the noise of a proper building wall? It felt hollow inside.
Whether from shoddy construction or the aftermath of illegal extensions from back in the day...
My rooftop room was the king of dilapidation.
This flimsy king had clashed with powerful typhoons eight times so far.
Record: 5 wins, 3 losses.
One of those losses involved the window shattering, bits of outer wall peeling off, and the rooftop railing collapsing—an indelible defeat.
Which was why I couldn't stop swallowing hard.
[Typhoon Maria No. 18, which made landfall on Jeju Island, is moving northward, and the entire country is expected to be affected. Maria has maximum wind speeds of...]
According to supercomputer predictions, Typhoon Maria was on par with the one that handed me that crushing defeat before. Maybe even worse.
Of all names, Maria.
I couldn't help tilting my head back and venting my frustration.
"...Heavens!"
Why must you send me such trials?!
Whooooosh!
Dark clouds began to gather, and a fierce wind blew in. Was this heaven's reply to my cry?
Whoooosh!
My carefully tied silver hair whipped free. The hair tie abandoned me for true freedom.
Whiiiish!
Beside me, one of the rooftop room's top perks—the clothes drying rack—was defying the wind, showing off its resilience. That thing's gonna fly off soon too, huh?
Winds like this even without the typhoon proper... The future already looked grim.
"Mini, it's dangerous. Get inside."
Mui!
After making sure Mini was safely indoors, I started prepping.
"Ugh... cha!"
I dismantled all the metal drying racks and gathered them up. Whoa! Nearly stabbed my hand on a sharp edge.
It was so rusty that a cut would've meant tetanus for sure.
Next up: the potted plants. From the cute mini ones to the big, sturdy pots.
None of them were mine, of course. They belonged to the landlord. Up until ten years ago, there'd been a bunch of lush green plants.
That's when I inherited all that verdant romance... and the bugs.
Now? Well, you can guess. Neglected pots are just trash. Trash.
"Ugh... I just wanna dump 'em."
Why the hell are these pots still full of dirt? If you're not gonna tend them, just toss 'em.
Sweating buckets, I cleared the pots too. Now the rooftop held only a massive wooden platform.
"......"
I sat on the slightly damp surface, lost in thought for a moment.
Lying here stargazing had been pure bliss.
It was perfect for grilling meat solo too.
Of course, I didn't do that anymore these days.
Romance is like that—fun for a couple tries, then too much hassle to bother.
"Guess I should store this first."
I shoved the platform into the molrangtori nook. It was something I'd bought with my own money, after all.
If it were the landlord's, I'd have left it. How was I supposed to move this heavy thing alone?
"So, what's left..."
Last task: the shed.
The shed was the newest addition to the building.
Which made it the most worrisome.
Thud! Thud!
Was this what they called a partition wall? Anyway, it was an extension made of flimsy material like that.
Looked like it could fly away any second.
"You guys gonna be okay?"
I asked the huge slimes. They were busy playing as usual.
Thump! Thump!
"Can you hold it down with your weight?"
Thump! Thump!
A confident rumble echoed back. Truth be told, there wasn't much I could do about the shed right now.
Of course, I'd prepared one plan in case things went south...
For now, best to hope nothing happened.
"I'll head in then? Call me if it gets dangerous?"
I filled a basket with mana stones and left it for them. Four days' worth. That oughta give 'em extra strength to hold on.
Thump! Thump!
Prep complete.
All that remained was to hunker down with grim determination.
**
Hmm. Looks like I'm screwed.
Crash-clang-bang-rattle!
What the hell was that noise? Maybe it wasn't just rain slamming the windows—could be hail.
And it wasn't just the wind and rain.
Rumble!
"Shit...!"
The frequent thunder and lightning stabbed at my heart.
Am I... shaking right now?
Me, scared of a little thunder?
Did turning into a girl shrink my heart to a pebble too?
Molrang!
Meanwhile, our monster pals were bouncing around the rooftop room every which way.
From the newspaper-and-tape-wrapped windows to all the stuff brought inside.
It must've all been novel to them.
They probably thought this storm was just a fun game.
With that rhythmic patter like drums, and flashes of light now and then—who wouldn't be thrilled?
Mui!
Yeah, yeah. Have your fun. I'll tremble enough for both of us.
Of course, so far it was manageable. I could tough it out.
No direct damage either.
Typhoon... maybe not such a big deal after all?
Flash!
Then the lights went out. The AC died mid-hum. The news cut off abruptly.
Power outage. Never lost power during a typhoon before.
Crack!
I peeled back a bit of newspaper from the window to peek outside.
"...Damn."
Most buildings were dark. A nearby pole must've gone down.
Time to activate the plan.
Winds strong enough to topple a pole? The shed flying off wouldn't surprise me.
"Mini, get ready."
Mui!
Confirming Mini's response, I suited up in my rain gear.
The bright yellow raincoat I'd splurged on. Stiff material against my skin. No worries about it ripping in the gale.
Creak...
Fully geared, I cautiously opened the door. Then bolted for the shed.
Whooooosh!
The wind tried dragging me skyward with insane force. Nearly toppled me.
"Uwaaaah...!"
Good thing I powered through—only ended up gargling rainwater.
Thud! Thud!
The shed was hanging in there somehow. Floor shaking like it was about to give, though.
Shake!
"You guys okay?"
Thump!
The huge slimes seemed fine. Plan was to bring them inside.
For that, I'd use the secret technique I'd trained in private.
"Ready...?"
Thump!
With confirmation, I gathered mana at my fingertips.
Like wringing the last drop from a dry rag, I poured in everything I had.
Hum—dense crimson mana glowed in my hand.
Pow!
I thrust my fist forward.
!!!!!!
At once, the huge slime split into ten pudding slimes.
I'd only recently learned this was possible.
Research showed naturally multi-fused individuals used it to escape predators.
Like a lizard ditching its tail—one sacrifices, the rest bolt.
In my case, I concentrated more mana to split them all.
Pow!
Another punch. Now twenty pudding slimes filled the shed.
"Let's move, quick."
!!!!!!
I stepped aside, and they filed out in a line, bouncing away.
Mini held the front door open inside, waiting for everyone.
A cute little evacuation over five meters or so.
But even that was a trial for the slimes.
!!!!
One nearly got swept away by the wind. The one jumping extra high, unlike the others.
"Got...cha!"
I barely stretched out and scooped it up. If I were any shorter, no chance.
!!!
The trembling little guy's eyes streamed with what might've been rain—or tears.
"It's okay. Let's get inside."
Pat pat—I soothed the one in my arms—
Bang!
Into the rooftop room, door shut. I immediately counted the slimes.
"...Nineteen. Twenty."
All twenty accounted for. Good.
"Hoo..."
Only then did I shed the raincoat, gasping for breath.
**
The very next day, the skies cleared like a lie.
If you're just gonna give a one-day demo and leave, don't come at all.
"Clear it that way!"
"Here?"
"No...! Not there, this side, this side!"
The neighborhood was extra noisy today.
I peeked over the railing to check things out.
Asphalt turned into a mess of trash, debris, fallen railings, leaves, and more.
Some workers were fixing a downed utility pole amid it all.
Power should be back by tonight. I could get back to work soon...
"...Heh."
**
[Taking a break from sales for a bit.]
[Author: Want to Raise a Dragon]
(Photo of shed with roof blown off and pillar collapsed)
Sigh. House collapsed.
Yeah. See you after cleanup.
-
-Came in grinning to flame you hard, but this...
ㄴUgh~ Trash~
ㄴYou killed it
-High roller really knows how to quit in style
ㄴlololol for real, taking a break cuz house collapsed is a new move
-Koroshitoru: Selfish prick. You want the hunter industry to crash? Shut up and start selling
ㄴFr, daring to rest?
ㄴKoroshitoru's all talk~
ㄴLmao concepttard