Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Home, Sweet Home
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“There sure are a ton of rooms on the second floor, huh?”
It was like some kind of dormitory, or maybe a university lab. Rooms packed right up against each other.
I’d figured it might be something similar since the first floor was one big open space.
“We all lived here together. It was like a dorm.”
Jin-ah gazed around with a fond look in her eyes. Maybe she was reminiscing about old times.
“Suddenly missing those days or something?”
“Not at all. You’d have to be crazy to miss back then.”
Maybe she felt embarrassed for no reason. Jin-ah snapped back at me, then turned away first.
But contrary to her words, her gaze lingered on one spot for quite a while. Maybe that had been where her bed was.
“Anyway, we’ve checked out the second floor. Let’s head up.”
Jin-ah made a show of brushing the dirt off her shoes with exaggerated gestures, then took the lead.
“What else is up there?”
“Yeah. The rooftop and stuff.”
Hearing the word rooftop made one side of my chest twinge for some reason. It was like the familiar scent of the sky was brushing past my nose.
No way… it’s really there?
Kkiiik…!
“Ta-da~”
And it really was.
“A rooftop room…? Why’s there a rooftop room here…”
There it stood, smack in the middle of the factory roof—a rooftop room far more stylish, spacious, and sturdy than the one I’d lived in before.
“Originally, the owner of this place… who was it again…”
Jin-ah closed her eyes and tapped her temple a couple times.
When that didn’t jog her memory, she popped another candy into her mouth.
“…Is that stuff really that good? Cut it out already.”
Ha-young frowned at the sight of the black juice bursting in her mouth.
“I need these to get my brain working.”
“You don’t need them anymore, right? Didn’t Sa-byeok give you those herbs?”
“Yeah, but… it’s a habit. A habit. And I can’t smoke in front of Sa-byeok. This is my substitute.”
Jin-ah glanced my way, so I gave her an understanding smile.
To be honest, it didn’t really matter to me one way or the other.
Her body was still that of a girl, so her raw physical strength wasn’t anything special.
‘But she’s got an insane amount of mana.’
If you molded a human out of mana elixir, you’d probably end up with me. With the mana I had now, I could even summon a dragon.
That was why ordinary drugs had zero effect on me.
“Anyway, yeah. The owner of this building used to live here.”
“For real…? That’s weird.”
“That’s why I recommended it to Sa-byeok. He needed a place to crash anyway… and I figured he’d like that there’s a rooftop room.”
She was right on the money.
Like a salmon returning to its birthplace, I felt a warm pull toward the rooftop room.
It was the place I’d lived in from the very first moment I had memories, after all.
A lifelong companion.
A space tangled up with every good memory and bad.
Swoosh.
Without thinking, I reached out and touched the rooftop room. There was no real warmth in the white-painted wall, but somehow, a cozy feeling seeped through.
“This is it, then.”
And just like that, I’d made up my mind.
“Knew you’d say that. Oh, and check that out.”
Jin-ah stretched out her finger, pointing off into the distance.
Something sharp and pointy shimmered near the horizon.
“You can… see those from here?”
Five skyscrapers.
Towering so high they were visible even from this far away.
I liked it. I’d use the sight of them every day for motivation.
I’d build ones even taller in the future.
“They say you can see them from Jeju Island too.”
“…Huh? Really? No way…”
“Yeah, right. As if. You actually believed that?”
“…What?”
Jin-ah teased Ha-young mercilessly, then headed toward the edge of the roof. Probably to have a smoke.
“Unbelievable… Sa-byeok, you’re really going with this place?”
Ha-young grumbled at Jin-ah’s back, then turned to me.
“Yeah. Money works out perfectly.”
The factory’s purchase price was 2.1 billion won. It’d scrape my bank account down to the dregs—my entire fortune.
“Sounds good to me, honestly.”
I smiled at Ha-young, then pulled up an app on my smartphone.
A real estate transaction app.
[Transferring to contract page.]
The world had gotten way too convenient.
Buying a whole building with your phone? Unreal.
Of course, you still needed a computer for the miscellaneous paperwork.
“…….”
I read through every detail carefully as I filled out the contract.
My movements were steady, without hesitation—except once, right at the end, when my finger hovered in midair.
[Confirm the sale contract?]
One tap, and everything I had would swap for this factory.
“…….”
I looked up at the rooftop room again. It felt like the boxy space was waiting for me all this time.
Yeah, no need to overthink it. Doubts would just delay things.
Squish.
[Contract confirmed. Purchase complete.]
**
Once I’d picked a place to move, everything else fell into place smoothly.
The very next day, I terminated my rooftop room lease first thing. Surprisingly, the landlord returned my deposit without a hitch.
Apparently, he’d been planning to sell the building. No wonder there weren’t any other tenants downstairs.
With the money stuff sorted cleanly, next up was the actual move.
The move itself was a breeze. I had Molangtori, after all.
“Every time I see it, it’s still amazing. How does this even work?”
Ha-young, who was helping with the move, let out another gasp of admiration.
Whenever we stuffed stuff into the Molangtori like now, an unconscious exclamation always escaped her.
“Our kids are a little special like that.”
!!!!!!
The 22 pudding slimes bounced in agreement with me. Their slightly offbeat jumps created a rippling wave.
“They’re so well-behaved… You can’t put them in the Molangtori?”
!!!!
At Ha-young’s offhand comment, the slimes’ bouncy movements came to an abrupt halt.
They trembled all over, then hid behind my legs.
“…Did I say something wrong?”
As Ha-young looked troubled, I soothed the slimes and explained.
“Can’t put living things in Molangtori.”
The unique mana of Molangtori repelled living beings outright. Especially if they were slimes—it rejected them hard.
It was a fact I’d discovered when I first made the Molangtori.
If it could hold living creatures, all sorts of horrific things would happen in the world.
Molangtori instead of 55-gallon drums in movies…?
Ugh, nightmare fuel.
I might’ve given up on the Molangtori business altogether.
“Oh, really? That’s unexpected.”
“Can’t put Molangtori inside Molangtori either, same vibe.”
The fragments couldn’t merge to begin with—it was something I’d learned trying to fuse them. Giant slime fragments were the exception, of course.
“This the last one?”
Ha-young consciously brushed off her hands and looked around.
“Yeah, looks like it.”
Only the original furniture was left on the floorboards. The rooftop room, which had seemed so packed before, was now completely empty.
“…….”
It felt like my heart had been emptied out too. What was this inexplicable hollowness?
“Guys, come here.”
I shook off the feelings and gathered the slimes.
Mini and Dart were already in Ha-young’s car.
These were the last ones left.
Molang!
Molcang!
Under Molang-i and Molcang-i’s lead, the slimes began to clump together.
They formed a perfect sphere like a ball, compressing themselves as much as possible.
As the technique piled up, a slime ball slightly bigger than me took shape. This size should fit in the car.
I wrapped the slime ball tightly in a cloth bundle. Just in case any escapees tried to break free.
“Wow… You could do a circus act with these later. Or one of those talent shows. The American one. You’d win for sure.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Right? I’ll go start the car.”
Ha-young hoisted the bundle and left the rooftop room.
Now it was just me.
I started the final cleanup.
Swish. Kkiiik.
I straightened the curtains and closed the windows.
Click.
Turned off all the lights.
“…….”
Morning sunlight streamed through the windows, brightly illuminating the rooftop room.
I’d always started my days feeling that gentle warmth, relaxing with the monsters.
“…….”
For some reason, my feet wouldn’t budge. I finally lifted them with effort.
I took exactly five steps.
Kkii…
Crossing one threshold, the kitchen and bathroom blocked my path.
The familiar water smell stung at my nose. It even smelled faintly like nostalgic food.
“…….”
This time, three steps. I crossed the second and final threshold.
Bang!
The rooftop room door shut firmly. Even turning the knob wouldn’t open it.
I’d never step foot inside again.
“…….”
I set foot on the stairs.
Thud.
They’d always felt too steep and annoying for me.
Today, though, I took my time, savoring the height as leisurely as I could.
But despite my efforts, the stairs eventually reached their end.
“Sa-byeok, hop in.”
Ha-young was waiting for me. Mini and Dart, in the back seat, grinned happily at the sight of me.
“…….”
Before getting in the car, I paused and looked up.
The rooftop room at the edge of my vision.
Staring up at it like that, it finally sank in.
………I’m really leaving.
Drip.
Drip drip.
The lump of unknown emotion I’d been holding back rolled down my cheeks.
“…….”
I wiped them away roughly with the back of my hand and turned away without regret.
Goodbye. Home, sweet home.
Act Two of my life was starting right now.