12
Chapter 12
While I was having a feast with the Blood Rabbit.
A familiar and welcome face suddenly visited my home.
"Kuoh?"
Jjokkomi!
You didn't forget me!
I firmly believed you would come to play again!
[Flame Bear lv.10]
┗Pw.30
┗Rnk.Superior
Her level had increased a lot.
She was also much larger than before.
It seemed she had grown rapidly by eating well, sleeping well, and hunting hard for the past few days.
There was no way it was another Flame Bear.
We were family, after all; there's no way I wouldn't recognize her.
Her cry sounded exactly the same, and Jjokkomi was the only Flame Bear that looked so cute and adorable.
"Kuooh......."
Jjokkomi was holding a doll arm in her mouth.
It was one of my arms that had been bitten off by Urami before I left home.
Did you come to return that?
And play house while you're at it?
Yes, yes.
I'll play with you to your heart's content today.
Don't just stand there staring, come over here.
I called out, waving my hand gladly.
But Jjokkomi didn't approach.
"Ku, kuoh...!"
Instead, she stepped back.
Her face was full of wariness.
Jjokkomi...?
I was shocked.
To think that Jjokkomi would bare her teeth at me.
...Ah. Come to think of it, it's only natural.
Since my appearance had changed a lot from before.
My appearance hadn't changed drastically even after my Evolution since becoming a Ragged Teddy Bear, but the last time Jjokkomi saw me was during my Ragged Teddy Bear days.
There is a huge gap between then and now, after all.
Furthermore.
I used to be an ordinary doll.
I was nothing more and nothing less than an inanimate toy.
But now I was alive and moving, so she couldn't help but be flustered.
Her reaction was understandable.
Still, my disappointment wouldn't go away.
I had recognized Jjokkomi's changed appearance right away.
I expected her to be surprised, but I didn't think she would show hostility.......
I slumped my shoulders weakly.
"Woong."
Pat, pat.
The Blood Rabbit patted my shoulder.
Although it didn't know what was going on, it seemed to be comforting me for now.
Then it glared at Jjokkomi with fierce eyes.
Jjokkomi stared blankly at us.
"Kuoooh...."
Her gaze stopped in one place.
She seemed to be looking at the spot where my arm had fallen off.
"Kuoooh?"
Jjokkomi dropped the doll arm she was holding in her mouth onto the floor.
And she kept looking back and forth between it and me.
A one-armed teddy bear?
Is this really my Oppa?
She must be thinking something like that.
Losing an arm actually helps at times like this.
However, she still seemed unsure.
Unable to be certain, she didn't know what to do.
I decided to give her the final proof right here.
I picked up a pebble lying on the ground.
Watch closely, Jjokkomi.
I held out the pebble, showing it to Jjokkomi clearly.
Then, I popped it right into my mouth.
Gulp.
The moment I swallowed the pebble.
"Kuoh? Kuoooh!!!"
Jjokkomi jumped up and down on the spot with her heavy body.
She clearly overlapped this scene with the memory of feeding me pebbles while playing house.
Sniff. You finally recognized me.
It was so hard to prove it.
"Kuoooh!"
Jjokkomi smiled brightly and approached me.
At that, the Blood Rabbit flinched and became wary.
It's okay.
She is my family and my friend.
So that makes her your friend too.
A friend of a friend is a friend, after all.
I lightly patted the Blood Rabbit's back.
As if understanding what I was trying to convey, the Blood Rabbit immediately let its guard down.
"Kuoh!"
Jjokkomi stopped in front of me.
Then, with tears in her eyes, she hugged me tightly and preciously.
It was a moment of touching reunion.
"Woong?!"
The Blood Rabbit was startled.
It immediately hugged me tightly as well.
To be precise, it clung tightly to me.
You were scared of having your friend taken away, huh.
Don't worry, rabbit.
Just like I said earlier, we are all friends.
We'll all get along well with each other.
Like that, we stayed hugging each other for a while.
Hmm....
Will you let go now, Jjokkomi?
We can't stay like this forever.
I carefully detached Jjokkomi.
I also gently pushed the Blood Rabbit away.
Then I hurriedly ran over to the Boxwood.
"Kuoh?"
"Woong?"
Right in front of the Boxwood.
When I dug the ground a little, a dried-up corpse appeared.
It was the corpse of the Venomfang Rat that I had saved for Jjokkomi. Although I had taken the Mana Stone out.
Anyway.
It was finally time to serve this.
I immediately activated my Magic Chef skill.
[Would you like to use [Magic Chef lv.1]?]
Oh yeah!
[Using [Magic Chef lv.1].]
[Rat Jerky is complete.]
Oh. It was completed right away this time too.
Instead, it was a dish without a Buff effect.
[Rat Jerky]
┗It has no effect when eaten.
┗It has a salty and savory taste.
Holding the completed dish, I hurriedly ran back to Jjokkomi.
Here, eat up.
It's a dish I prepared just for you, Jjokkomi.
"Kuoh...!"
Jjokkomi burst into tears.
She seemed more touched than I had expected.
She really is so sensitive.
***
"Kuoh, kuoooh! Kuoh!"
"Woooong? Woong."
"Kuoooh. Kuoh!"
"Woong!"
A girl's talk continued as they enjoyed the feast.
The Blood Rabbit and Jjokkomi quickly became close.
Perhaps because they both had gentle personalities, they seemed to click well.
I wondered what they were talking about.
Were they even communicating properly?
Maybe they were just exchanging meaningless cries.
The two of them deliciously scarfed down the dishes I prepared.
After happily watching that sight, I looked down at the Doll arm I received from Jjokkomi.
The arm of a Ragged Teddy Bear.
This wasn't something I particularly needed.
It was my body part from when I was weak, and there was no way to reattach it anyway.
The lost arm would grow back anew upon Evolution anyway.
So I just put it in my mouth and swallowed it.
I couldn't just throw away something Jjokkomi had thoughtfully brought for me.
After disposing of the Doll arm.
I decided to resume what I was doing earlier.
I lifted the Human face that was buried inside the chunk of the Thunder Ant corpse.
Hmm. It probably wasn't a real Human face.
It didn't make sense for a Human head to be this small.
There was a high chance it belonged to another race with an appearance similar to a Human, like a Vampire.
Riiip- Riiiip-!
I tore the face off with one arm.
It tore easily and softly like boneless fried chicken.
While I continued tearing it like that.
I discovered a Mana Stone buried inside the face.
As expected, there was a Mana Stone inside here.
No wonder I felt a dense aura of Mana.
......Wait a minute.
If the Mana Stone is here?
Doesn't that mean this face is also a part of the Thunder Ant?
I couldn't find a Mana Stone anywhere else.
This was the only Mana Stone the Thunder Ant held.
So it wasn't the face of another race?
Perhaps the owner of this face was the Thunder Ant itself.
It wasn't that it had swallowed the head of another race.
Why did it harbor something like a Human face inside its body?
Was this face perhaps the main body? Or was it undergoing metamorphosis into a race with an appearance similar to a Human?
I didn't know.
I just gave up thinking about it.
No matter how much I racked my brain, I wouldn't come up with an answer.
Monsters truly are fascinating creatures.
There are so many of them that defy common sense.
I roughly thought like that and moved on.
***
I planned to give the Thunder Ant's Mana Stone to the Blood Rabbit.
If it weren't for our wonderful rabbit, I wouldn't have been able to catch the Thunder Ant.
But the Blood Rabbit shook its head side to side.
It politely refused the Mana Stone.
Are you telling me to eat it?
If so, I won't decline.
Just as I was about to gratefully swallow the Mana Stone.
My eyes caught Jjokkomi, who was chewing on jerky right next to me.
Ah. Should I give it to Jjokkomi?
Giving it to Jjokkomi wouldn't be a waste at all.
Even if it wasn't her intention, she's my benefactor who helped me become a proper monster.
Yeah, let's yield this one.
I can always get another Mana Stone later anyway.
With my reliable, newly acquired hunting partner.
I held out the Mana Stone to Jjokkomi.
"Kuoh."
Jjokkomi took the Mana Stone, but instead of eating it, she brought it to my mouth.
No, I didn't mean for you to feed it to me!
This is for you to eat, Jjokkomi!
I'll eat plenty of playhouse pebbles later!
"Kuoh?"
Do you still not know what a Mana Stone is?
It's a stone that makes you stronger when you eat it!
I explained while moving my body this way and that.
Nod, nod.
Jjokkomi bobbed her head.
Judging by her reaction, she seemed to already know about Mana Stones.
"Kuoh."
Jjokkomi brought the Mana Stone to my mouth once again.
It seemed she was trying to yield the Mana Stone to me, just like the Blood Rabbit.
Whether it's the rabbit or Jjokkomi.
Why are these kids so ridiculously nice?
...It can't be helped.
If you guys insist on yielding it.
Shedding tears of emotion inwardly, I snatched up the Mana Stone and swallowed it.
Jjokkomi!
Your Oppa will get much stronger and protect our Jjokkomi!
You too, rabbit!
[Spicy-Sweet Fist Teddy Bear lv.6]
┗Pw.12 (+2)
┗Rnk.Uncommon
My level went up from 5 to 6.
My power increased by 2, not 1.
Because I'm at the Uncommon rank, not the Normal rank.
Since my level went up, my Physical Adaptability must have gone up too, right?
When I was level 5.
My Physical Adaptability was 29.
After going through a Limit Breakthrough and ranking up, it jumped significantly from 12.
Anyway, it should be over 30 by now.
[Current Physical Adaptability is 31, Evolution is possible.]
[Would you like to use [Evolution lv.2]?]
It works!
I decided to proceed with Evolution right here and now.
To show Jjokkomi and the rabbit something amazing and fun.
================
[Evolvable Races]
◎ Fist-Firing Teddy Bear - Uncommon
◎ Flame Teddy Bear - Uncommon
================