Chapter 10
Translator: Roshi
A moment ago.
Do-yoon, who was toasting bread in a buttered pan, suddenly saw Park Ki-ho get up and head toward the pot.
At first, he ignored it, but feeling something strange, he looked more closely and noticed it.
A faint pulse emanating from the pot.
It was a typical charm designed to enthrall humans. So he stopped Park Ki-ho from approaching it. It wasn’t hard to figure out the reason.
It was the connection between the wyvern and Park Ki-ho.
Those two had eaten kimbap made with the rice from that pot.
The divine artifact, crafted into a pot, infused its power into the rice, and that power was passed to them through the kimbap.
Woooong!
As its plan was exposed, the divine artifact, which had been concealing its presence, started to vibrate intensely.
Although it was formed by his hand, it seemed that the will of the divine artifact still lingered.
Fortunately, it hadn’t affected him or Hanuri.
A divine artifact chooses its master on its own, and neither he nor Hanuri, who had received his energy, could ever become its master.
His energy was almost the opposite of the artifact's nature.
“Let’s deal with this after we eat.”
Do-yoon reached out his hand toward the pot.
A dark shadow emerged from his hand, attempting to envelop the pot.
Paht!
In response, the pot emitted a brilliant white light.
But it was a futile effort.
The darkness that emerged from Do-yoon’s hand absorbed the light and pushed the pot into the shadow.
‘Who is this guy, really…?’
Park Ki-ho, who had finally come to his senses, was even more bewildered after witnessing the whole scene.
“Ajosshi! And the sausages too…!”
“No sausages; I’m putting in ham instead.”
“Ham? Ham is good too! As good as Hanuri!"
The tense expression on his face, hardened by the divine artifact’s influence, softened at Hanuri’s comment.
Ignoring the frozen Park Ki-ho, he resumed preparing brunch.
He stacked the crisply toasted bread and lightly grilled some slices of ham this time.
Originally, he had planned to just toast some bread and spread jam on it, but now that it had turned into brunch, he decided to make it a bit heartier.
Chop, chop, chop.
He beat some eggs and mixed in finely chopped colorful vegetables.
Then, he added a spoonful of butter to the pan.
The rich aroma of butter filled the air.
When he poured in the beaten eggs…
Sizzle~
A delicious sound accompanied the eggs as they started to cook.
He purposely made it wide and thick.
That way, it would be more satisfying to bite into.
Gulp!
Park Ki-ho, who had been standing there blankly, swallowed unconsciously at the smell of the cooking eggs.
“Yongyong! Looks tasty, right?”
Growl.
By now, the child and the wyvern, who had become best friends, sat crouched in front of the pan, waiting.
To anyone else, it would look like a big dog and a child waiting for food.
A big dog the size of a small house, that is.
‘Why does it listen to Hanuri so well?’
His gaze lingered for a moment on the child and the wyvern.
They were far too docile to just be following him out of fear.
It had to be the work of the divine artifact that had brought them here…
‘Does it have something to do with Hanuri’s abilities after all?’
Chuchu, who had suddenly grown, and Ddugi, who seemed a bit different.
Hanuri definitely had some kind of power.
“Ah! Ajosshi! It’s burning!”
“Hm?”
Distracted for a moment, he quickly turned his attention back to the pan at the child’s call.
Fortunately, it hadn’t actually burned.
It had only gotten a bit golden on the surface.
He flipped the egg pancake, making it look as if that’s what he’d intended all along.
It was a bit overcooked, but the taste would be even better.
He took out the unintentionally crispy egg pancake.
It was practically done now.
Even though the filling only consisted of ham and an egg pancake, it was thick enough to be filling.
‘A salad would be nice too, but…’
He skipped it since he didn’t have the ingredients.
He spread a generous amount of homemade dragon fruit jam on the well-toasted bread.
Then he placed the thick egg pancake, cut to a suitable size, on top, followed by the ham.
He drizzled ketchup and mayonnaise over it, sprinkled a bit of sugar, and then topped it with another slice of bread.
It was a toast with a thick egg pancake inside, almost like a hamburger patty.
“Come here. Let’s eat now.”
“Yeah!”
He set up the table on the floor, placing one for Hanuri and one for himself.
He placed the toasts on the table and added glasses of milk as well.
“Thank you for the meal!”
Watching the child pick up her toast, he picked up his own as well.
Then he took a big bite.
Crunch!
The crispy bread, coated in butter, along with the well-cooked egg pancake, filled his mouth.
Next came the salty ham, followed by a blend of sauces that added a tangy, sweet, and savory taste that no one could dislike.
The most distinct flavor was, of course, the jam.
The refreshing, slightly tart fruit that made up the jam was outstanding, even in this form.
The jam balanced out the potentially overpowering sauces and cut through any heaviness with its fresh taste.
“Mmm… it’s yummy!”
The child exclaimed with wide, round eyes.
She looked like a startled cat.
This time it seems it's so delicious she can't even say it's as good as Hanuri.
Well, it was a combination she couldn’t possibly dislike, so her reaction made sense.
He handed her the glass of milk.
He poured himself a cup as well.
Gulp!
After a bite of toast, he chased it down with the refreshing milk.
After that palate cleanser, he was about to take another bite of toast when he heard it.
Gulp!
Gulp!
This time, it wasn’t the sound of drinking milk.
Park Ki-ho and the wyvern were both watching them, swallowing their own saliva as they stared.
“Yongyong, paw!”
With a swift motion, the wyvern, as if selling its soul, extended its massive paw, which was larger than the child’s whole body.
Then the child broke off a piece of toast and gave it to the wyvern.
The creature took it carefully so as not to hurt the child’s hand.
Now, the child’s gaze shifted to Park Ki-ho.
“Um.”
After hesitating for a moment, she spoke.
“…Paw?”
Freeze!
Park Ki-ho, who had instinctively started to extend his hand, caught himself at the last moment.
To think he’d almost turned into a puppy for a bite of toast!
“Tsk.”
Worried that the child might pick up bad habits from this, Do-yoon handed the rest of the toast to Park Ki-ho.
He’d made enough to feed one more person.
As for the wyvern…
‘Go over there and hunt a Point Boar.’
Krung!
The toast wouldn't be enough to fill it up anyway.
A Point Boar by Soyang Lake would make a good meal for it.
‘Circle around Soyang Lake and make sure no one else gets near the Point Boars.’
Instead of a sheepdog, he had something like a 'sheep wyvern'.
Receiving Do-yoon’s instructions, the wyvern hesitated for a moment before taking off.
Whoosh.
As it flew away, Do-yoon attached a shadow chain to its ankle.
It was a chain only he and the wyvern could see.
It could come in as it pleased, but it couldn’t leave without permission.
‘It better earn its toast.’
One simple paw didn’t cover the cost of that piece of toast.
“Yongyong! Where are you going?”
The child, unaware of the exchange between Do-yoon and the wyvern, shouted out.
“He’s going to eat.”
“Huh? Eat?”
“He’s big, so he has to eat a lot. He’ll be back soon.”
"Ah."
The child seemed to understand immediately after Do-yoon’s explanation.
“Want some more?”
“Yeah! Hehe, it’s as tasty as Hanuri!”
Seeing the child’s smile made him want to give her more.
He quickly made another toast and cut it in half.
Half for her, half for him.
As he handed her her half, he observed her internally.
‘It doesn’t seem to be affected by quantity.’
The dragon tree fruit jam had no special effects this time.
It seemed the effects only appeared when it was eaten for the first time.
Though it was a bit disappointing, he was still satisfied watching Hanuri enjoy the food.
*
After brunch time ended, the child went off to play near the cabin with the wyvern that had returned.
Left on the floor were only Do-yoon and Park Ki-ho, just the two of them.
“I was on my way to investigate the dungeon explosion. Then, suddenly, that wyvern grabbed me and brought me here…”
Park Ki-ho went into more detail about how he ended up here.
“The pot kept whispering to you?”
“Yes, I couldn’t understand what it was saying, but it kept…”
That was typical of a divine artifact.
It would disturb a human’s mind with the language of the gods.
If one succumbed to it, a part of their soul would resonate with it, just like what happened to Park Ki-ho.
‘It’s clear that the divine artifact has chosen him.’
For Do-yoon, this wasn’t a bad thing.
It didn’t matter whom the divine artifact chose, as long as it wasn’t Hanuri.
However, he did have a good idea on how to make use of this situation…
Swish.
Do-yoon alternated his gaze between the pot and Park Ki-ho.
Park Ki-ho felt a sense of unease for some reason.
“Uh, but where exactly is this place? I really need to get back! I don’t have a rabbit-like wife… or a fox-like child… I mean, I don’t have children either! But I’m the only one who can take care of my tiger-like mother!” (TL Note: rabbit-like wife meaning hot wife, fox-like child meaning cute child and last you can guess)
Although his words were a bit odd, his desperation was genuine.
Watching him glance back and forth between the wyvern and Park Ki-ho, Do-yoon chuckled internally and spoke.
“Even if you go back, you’ll end up coming here again.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll keep hearing the voice.”
“What… what do you mean…?”
Tap!
Do-yoon lightly touched Park Ki-ho.
Suddenly, a pure white helmet appeared over Park Ki-ho’s head.
“With something like this stuck to you, you’ll keep feeling drawn to the pot.”
It wasn’t a lie; it was the truth.
Swish.
“Then… what should I do?”
Park ki-ho, after removing the helmet, asked Do-yoon.
He thought he was reawakening, but it turned out he’d been enchanted by the pot!
“You just need to cook rice in it little by little, slowly.”
"What?"
“Remember the kimbap?”
“……!”
Seeing Park Ki-ho’s shock, as if wondering how he knew about that, Do-yoon drove his point home.
“That kimbap was made with rice cooked in this pot.”
“Then… doesn’t that mean I shouldn’t be eating anything cooked in it…?”
“No. You need to keep eating from it to drain all of its power. Slowly. If you eat too much at once, you’ll get indigestion, but if you eat slowly, it’s fine.”
It wasn’t incorrect.
If Park Ki-ho had absorbed all of the artifact’s power at once, he wouldn’t have maintained his sanity.
The divine artifact would have consumed him instead.
“Very slowly, just enough that you can control the power on your own.”
“Can’t I just stop eating from it altogether?”
Park Ki-ho still looked skeptical, asking the same question.
Do-yoon shook his head and explained kindly, although with a look that resembled that of a salesperson. Park Ki-ho, however, didn’t notice.
“If the power it holds is stronger than yours, you’ll keep getting drawn to it.”
“Oh…”
It was a type of power struggle.
To gradually, little by little, gain control over the divine artifact’s power.
That was the best path for Park Ki-ho.
“Come by often to eat.”
Do-yoon reached the same conclusion.
"What?"
“We’re near Chuncheon, by Soyang Lake. If you ride that thing, you’ll get here quickly, so come often to cook and eat. Slowly.”
Park Ki-ho instinctively put on a wary expression at Do-yoon’s strange friendliness.
And Do-yoon, seeing that wary expression, revealed his true intentions without regret.
“Oh, I’ll also give you a list of groceries to bring along. You should at least pay for your meals, right?”
Nothing came for free.
He felt a bit uncomfortable leaving the child alone while he ran errands… but it seemed he’d found a good delivery person.
Maybe not missile-fast delivery, but with wyvern delivery, it could be the fastest service in the countryside.
"Ex-excuse me! Did you say Chuncheon?! And by 'that' do you mean that wyvern? How am I supposed to ride that thing here?!"
Coming to his senses, Park Ki-ho called out to Do-yoon in a panic.
This time, he was asking a rather realistic question.
“You managed to ride it here just fine, didn’t you?”
To be precise, he hadn’t ridden here; he’d been caught and brought here.
However
“Since you’re sharing the same power, you should be able to communicate with it. In your mind.”
Do-yoon tapped his temple with his finger as he spoke.
Because they shared the power of the same divine artifact, the two would be unknowingly drawn to each other with a sense of kinship.
And as that bond deepened, they’d even be able to share thoughts and emotions.
“As the power you gain grows, it’ll start listening to you better and better. Until then, I’ll help things along a bit.”
This, too, was a kind of power struggle.
The more of the divine artifact’s power Park Ki-ho possessed, the more obedient the wyvern would become.
Park Ki-ho, who was hesitating like a cautious customer, was now just about ready to stamp his approval on the final promotional offer.
“Riding a wyvern…”
“If you gain this power, by this world’s standards, you’ll be… let’s see… at least an A… no, probably close to S-rank in ability.”
“S-rank!”
At his words that seemed casually muttered, Park ki-ho was completely sold.
'Getting rid of unnecessary things and getting free delivery. Perfect.'
Watching Park Ki-ho’s reaction, Do-yoon chuckled inwardly and moved toward Hanuri.
She hadn’t paid the slightest attention to their conversation, her cheeks still puffed up as she enjoyed her brunch.