Chaegeundam 1-1
After hanging up the phone, my mind feels even more tangled.
—Chik, chik.
"Whew— A friend of mine said they’re sick. I’m thinking of making time to visit." I feel bad for the viewers, but this has to stay private. Just the news that Grandfather is ill will send the stock price into chaos. At this rate, the circuit breakers might even kick in as a joke.
"Were you having fun playing, my little one?"
"Eung!"
Doruruk. Dororuk. Baek Seol just seems happy. "Whew—" I’m already happy enough right now. I don’t want anything bigger than this. I just hope this happiness doesn’t break.
"Want to eat, Baek Seol?"
"Excited!"
Ttiring! When I pull out a flower, Baek Seol scurries down from her ball. "Eat plenty. That way you’ll grow up big and strong."
"Eung!"
Baek Seol diligently tears into the flower she’s holding. When I gently stroke the top of her tiny head with my finger, her ears perk up.
"Baek Seol’s ears."
"Eung!"
"Aang." When I take one of her ears into my mouth while she’s sitting on the table tearing petals, she freezes with her eyes wide open.
"You ate it!"
"I ate Baek Seol’s ear?"
"Eung!"
When I pet her again, she goes back to diligently tearing petals. "Guys, what should people eat to get healthier?"
"Hmm." Grandfather is sick because he couldn’t obtain something I can get? That premise doesn’t make sense from the start. It’s not like he’s sick because he doesn’t know how to exercise either. The best experts will be taking care of his health, so in the end there’s nothing I can do.
—Chik, chik.
"Whew—"
The cigarette smoke scatters and drifts away over the rooftop. "I need something strong enough to cure even a sick person."
"The idea that someone on the verge of death can eat wild ginseng and come back to life is just an urban legend. Especially in the East. You know how they say you’ll die if you sleep with the fan on? It’s that kind of thing."
"It might really be good. After all, only a tiny fraction of the things that exist in this world have been scientifically proven."
Modern science is advancing brilliantly, but when you consider the whole picture with no end in sight, the reality is that we haven’t even reached the development stage. "Have you heard of the Mpemba effect?"
"It’s one of the unsolved problems in physics. Hot water freezes faster than cold water under certain conditions. But science still can’t explain why."
"I don’t know either. It’s just expensive because supply is low compared to demand, but that doesn’t mean it has hundreds of millions of won worth of effect."
There are still so many simple things we haven’t figured out. Why most humans are right-handed. Why ice is slippery, like the viewer said. And does the Great Return Pill really work just from smelling it?
"The Great Return Pill?" Everything starts from observation. We discovered gravity by observing an apple fall, and realized the Earth is round by observing the movement of stars. Since I observed that Baek Seol’s fur became softer, a few more verifications should do it.
"Baek Seol, do you remember sniffing it last time?"
"Eung!"
"How was it?"
"Good!"
Verification complete. I need to verify the claim that it’s good for the body, but I only have one sample. Since that one sample said it was good, the sample mean also indicates that the scent of the Great Return Pill is good for the body.
"But how do I get it?"
"I don’t know."
"Me neither." Baek Seol, who was eating, tilts her head.
"I guess I’ll have to go look for it myself."
—Tang! Victory! As the letters float in the center of the screen, a man’s crying voice comes from the speakers. 『Uwoaaah uwoaaah!!!』
"That wraps up today’s stream too." 『Why only me! Why only me!!』 When I end Radelli’s broadcast, it becomes quiet. "Sweet dreams, my kids. Bye bye."
<Han Ga-eul has ended the stream>
"Baek Seol, let’s go."
"Eung!"
When Baek Seol pokes the air, the world flips over. —Chik, chik.
"Whew— Baek Seol, can you bring up the list?"
Ttiring!
You can select a training ground
1. Main Story
2. Song Training Ground
3. Sonata’s Lovers
4. That’s Love!
5. Starlight’s Secret Garden
6. The Secret Love That Crossed Borders Between Nolbu’s Magpie and Jiknyeo’s Crow
7. The Dangun Myth and Tenderloin and Sirloin
7. Earth
.. .. .. ..
The suspicious list still scrolls down. Among the endless, indiscriminate entries, I should probably pick the one that feels the most old-fashioned. From what I’ve felt in a world full of monsters, the things you gain during the process are bigger than the clear rewards. Though I’m not even sure if there are rewards.
If it’s something that can overcome aging, it can’t be ordinary. For that level of power to be contained, the object must have carried a long story. Tales passed down by word of mouth become folktales, then legends, then myths. In other words, the story contained within is converted into power. Wild ginseng and cordyceps, which are called elixirs of immortality in the present age without any verified effects, are the same.
"Want to try this one?"
"Good!"
Ttiring!
Even if you make doenjang out of beans, I won’t believe it
Not just this one—none of the others are distinguishable by name either. "Let’s go." When Baek Seol waves her front paws, the world flips once more. Before I even open my eyes, I feel a pleasant earthy scent and fresh air.
"A thatched house?"
"Grass!"
Something feels off, so I look to the side and see Baek Seol, who was on my shoulder, rubbing her cheek against me. "Huh? You can come with me now too?"
"Eung!"
When I pet Baek Seol, she rubs her face against my fingers. "That’s great."
"Excited!"
While I’m talking with Baek Seol, someone comes running quickly from afar. "Huff, huff. What are you doing here!"
"Who are you?"
The person who approached is a woman with her hair in a daenggi. She doesn’t look very friendly. "Kongjwi, I told you to fill the reservoir with water!"
"Kongjwi? Me?"
"Hey! Did you trip on a protruding stone or something? Did you hit your head? Go quickly!"
"Alright, fine." If I do what I did with Toast Guy last time, it’ll probably fail right away. I slowly move my feet toward where the daenggi girl is pointing, and she yells from behind for me to hurry up.
"This feels like the Kongjwi Patjwi story. A quest to fill a leaking jar with water."
"Fill it?"
"Eung. She just told you to put water in the jar earlier." But there’s no jar, not even a pot. As I keep walking while looking around, I hear a strange noise from afar. "——!!"
"Baek Seol, where’s that sound coming from?"
"Over there!"
In the direction Baek Seol points, there’s a massive dam. The sound is coming from a dried-up area where water can’t overflow. "Baek Seol, hold on tight."
"Eung!"
After checking on Baek Seol, I throw myself down the slope and the ground appears in an instant. Thud! "Aaaagh!"
"What? Where are you?"
"Over here!!"
The source of the sound comes from below the dam. Creak. Creak-creak! A cracking sound echoes loudly from the huge embankment that’s more like a dam than a levee. Below it, a toad is wedged into a small hole, holding it back with its body. "Kongjwi! I’m dying!!"
"Huh, what? Toad, was that you talking?"
"I said I’m dying!"
—Kwaaaang! Before I can do anything, water bursts out from the dam that collapses right away. "Waaah!"
Bang!! I hurriedly step back, but the water gushing madly from the dam chases after me quickly.
The dam has collapsed.
"What?" In an instant, the sky and ground flip, and a familiar scene unfolds. "……" Come to think of it, the daenggi girl said reservoir, not jar. It’s a time-attack mission. "She’s lost it."
"Excited!"
I feel Baek Seol shaking on top of my head. Does this little one always feel safe when she’s by my side? "Baek Seol, show me the list again."
"Eung!"
Once again, that damn list scrolls out in front of my eyes. To break that just now, I shouldn’t have walked slowly to the dam—I should have run like crazy. Then what next? "Does it want me to pour concrete or something?"
"Concrete!"
This time I definitely brought Baek Seol’s toy. "Baek Seol, let’s use this one."
Chaegeundam
At least the name looks peaceful. It sounds like something a ginseng digger might pop out of, but I don’t want to see Toad twice. Ttiring! A grassy scent wafts over. When I open my eyes, I’m in a forest filled with fresh green colors. Plop. Plop-plop. "It’s raining."
"Rain!"
Ttiring! I take out an umbrella from my inventory and open it. Baek Seol taps the umbrella pole. —Chik, chik.
"Whew— So this is an umbrella." After playing with the umbrella pole for a while, Baek Seol slips into my pocket. She did this last time too—she doesn’t seem to like rain very much. "Whew—" I like the rain, but going outside is a different story. Every time I take a step, the muddy ground squelches. From the slope, it looks more like a mountain than a forest, but the surroundings are so dense I can’t tell.
After walking for over an hour, I see a building touched by human hands. An old hut is half-collapsed. From the complete lack of maintenance, it doesn’t look like anyone lives here. Creaaak. When I open the wooden door with its loose hinges, an unpleasant noise echoes. "Is Baek Seol sleeping?"
"Eung!"
Baek Seol pokes her face out of my pocket.