Chapter 11
Translator: Roshi
Leaving behind Park Ki-ho, who had unwittingly become the delivery man in mind, Kim Do-yoon stood at one corner of the yard, holding the seeds he had bought from the mart.
Having finished brunch, he thought it was a good time to plant the seeds before the damp ground, thanks to the spring rain, dried out.
“Wow!”
Interested, Hanuri came bouncing over.
Trailing behind her, waddling clumsily, was the Wyvern. The two of them together looked exactly like a playful puppy and its owner.
Although no divine power could be felt from Hanuri, the Wyvern was still behaving like this.
‘What kind of ability is this? It’s fascinating.’
He wasn’t sure if this was a power that had appeared after her twisted energy was unraveled or if it was something she had all along.
Looking at Ddugi and Chuchu, it seemed like it might have been something she always had...
‘Maybe her abilities strengthened as her energy unraveled?’
That was a possibility as well.
In any case, it didn’t seem to harm Hanuri, so he didn’t dwell on it too much.
He figured keeping a watchful eye on her should be enough.
“Ajosshi. Umm... should I dig here?”
The child asked with eyes full of anticipation.
Her question made him realize something.
“Hmm.”
How were seeds supposed to be planted?
He hadn’t thought that far ahead when he bought them.
Swoosh.
His gaze naturally turned to Park Ki-ho.
Still wearing a blank expression, Park Ki-ho snapped out of it when he noticed Kim Do-yoon looking at him.
“Do you know how to plant these?”
“Pardon?”
At Park Ki-ho’s questioning tone, Kim Do-yoon held up the bag of seeds.
“Oh... are you talking about planting seeds? I do know how...”
“Is there a specific method?”
“Yes, there is. But... did you buy these at the mart?”
“So what if I did?”
“Well, seeds are usually better purchased from a seed shop. These are generally... for kids’ activities.”
“...”
Kids’ activity seeds.
He had bought them seriously, though.
“Ahem... I just bought them to plant with Hanuri.”
He offered a half-hearted excuse.
“If it’s just for that, then it doesn’t matter. They’ll grow regardless.”
Park Ki-ho, who had been panicked earlier, seemed to regain some composure when it came to something familiar to him.
Words started flowing naturally from him.
“You seem to know a lot.”
“My mother is a farmer, so...”
In any case, Kim Do-yoon focused on Park Ki-ho’s words, as the man seemed to know quite a bit.
“So, do I just plant them?”
“You need to till the soil first.”
Park Ki-ho took the lead and demonstrated.
He was surprisingly proactive.
Should he say he was quick to adapt to the situation?
Park Ki-ho turned the soil and dug furrows for planting.
Kim Do-yoon watched him for a moment before subtly moving his hand.
Rumble!
“This is how it’s done, right?”
With a small gesture, the ground turned over, mixed, and furrows formed neatly.
Although Park Ki-ho looked momentarily flustered at the sight, he quickly returned to his usual self, surprisingly enough.
‘To survive and get out of here, I need to stay on his good side...’
He had his own thoughts, after all.
The fact that Kim Do-yoon possessed a divine relic, a Cauldron, and casually traveled on a Wyvern was something he would worry about later.
For now, Park Ki-ho’s priority was to stay in Kim Do-yoon’s favor and figure out a way to escape.
After all, that seemed like the only way out of here.
That’s why he was being so proactive.
“This should be enough. Now, you just dig a small hole here and plant the seeds.”
Whatever was going on in Park Ki-ho’s mind didn’t matter much to Kim Do-yoon.
After watching the seed planting process closely, he called over the eagerly waiting Hanuri.
“Okay, just dig a little hole like this, put the seeds inside, and cover it up. Got it?”
“Yeah!”
“Want to give it a try?”
He handed Hanuri the bag of seeds.
Taking it enthusiastically, Hanuri immediately began planting seeds in the furrows he had prepared.
“Grow big and strong, like Hanuri. Hehe.”
“If they grow as big as Hanuri, wouldn’t that be a bit too small?”
“Huh? Is Hanuri small?”
Snicker.
Her diligent covering of the seeds and patting down the soil was so adorable that he couldn’t resist teasing her. Her reaction, of course, was just as cute.
Sitting crouched and looking dejected, Hanuri stared wistfully at the seeds. Her back view resembled that of a disappointed puppy.
It was the kind of irresistibly endearing sight that made you want to reach out and pat her head without even realizing it.
But what happened next was anything but cute.
Shooooop!
Sprout!
The sprouts began to rise immediately.
It hadn’t grown any further from that point, but even this much was already an extraordinary event.
This was yet another ability of Hanuri.
“Huh?”
The child crouched down, curiously observing the sprout as if it fascinated her.
Then, she suddenly turned her head and looked at Kim Do-yoon.
“Ajosshi! Look at this!”
“Yeah, I’m watching. By the way, does it talk?”
By now, Kim Do-yoon had more or less accepted the idea that Hanuri could communicate with Chuchu, Ddugi, and Yongyong. Based on her newfound abilities, such powers seemed plausible.
“Huh? Uhh… it doesn’t talk…”
Thank goodness.
The thought of eating a talking lettuce was unsettling, to say the least.
“Hanuri, keep doing what you’re doing.”
“Huh? Ajosshi, where are you going?”
“Over there. I need to check on something real quick.”
“Okay, okay! Then I’ll stay here with Yongyong and do this!”
Smiling at Hanuri’s spirited response, Do-yoon patted her on the head before turning to Park Ki-ho.
‘There shouldn’t be any problems.’
Even though divine relics were objects that seemed borderline supernatural, they didn’t grant power indiscriminately. They typically lent their strength to those with pure and virtuous souls.
Which made them quite useful.
In the case of the monster Yongyong, it likely came under Hanuri’s influence. As for Park Ki-ho, he was just naturally that kind of person.
So, Do-yoon concluded that nothing would happen in his brief absence.
Having made up his mind, his body melted into a Shadow, disappearing from the spot.
He reappeared near Soyang Lake, where he intended to finish what he had started earlier.
‘Is it because of the Wyvern? It’s quiet now.’
When he had visited the lake earlier in the morning, the area had been bustling with noise. Now, it was eerily still.
Such was the power of an apex predator.
Even the Point Boars had gathered quietly in one corner, grazing on grass.
‘Not bad.’
In this state, there didn’t seem to be a need for him to intervene.
The ecological changes caused by the Dungeon Explosion had been settled, thanks to just one Wyvern.
But one question remained.
‘Where’s the Dungeon Boss?’
The unstable energy he had detected earlier had been massive in scale.
This indicated that a large dungeon had exploded, meaning the boss monster would be formidable.
Do-yoon spread his senses, extending his energy to track down the monster.
If possible, he wanted to clean this up neatly.
‘Did it move this way?’
He arrived in front of a cave.
‘A fight?’
The area around the cave was in complete disarray, as if a fierce battle had taken place.
Judging by the traces, it wasn’t the work of the Wyvern... This had to be the result of a clash between the original owner of this territory and a newly arrived intruder.
‘It went that way…’
Kying-yung- kying-
Just as he was about to follow the trail of the battle, an unusual sound reached his heightened senses.
It was coming from very close by.
“Hm?”
At that moment, Do-yoon discovered something unexpected in front of the cave.
The shattered remains of a Dragon Tree Fruit.
It seemed that the nocturnal intruder from the other night had been the owner of this cave.
Kyiung! Kyiung!
‘A baby?’
Judging by the whimpering sound and faint energy, it was a baby hiding inside the cave.
It appeared that the mother, who originally inhabited this territory, had led the intruder away to protect her young.
Sparkle!
From within the cave, bright but frightened eyes peeked out, meeting Do-yoon’s gaze.
Swoosh.
With a wave of his hand, Do-yoon erased the traces of the Dragon Tree Fruit remains and the signs of battle from the area.
This was simply a natural occurrence, so he had no intention of intervening.
But as his eyes locked with the golden-furred baby curled up inside the cave, he couldn’t help but think of Hanuri.
Those trembling, lost eyes reminded him of Hanuri when she had looked at him in the hospital, having nowhere else to go.
That was why he had erased the traces, he couldn’t bring himself to just leave the area as it was.
He wanted to ensure that no other intruders would discover the baby while its mother was away.
‘This much should do.’
Determined not to grow too attached, as he had with Hanuri, he got up without hesitation and resumed tracking the energy trail.
In the distance, he sensed two distinct presences.
One of them was significantly weaker.
Boom!
Do-yoon stomped the ground sharply, launching himself forward.
In the blink of an eye, all that remained near the cave was the deep imprint of his presence, while he himself vanished entirely.
*
A faint, weak breath.
Shhh…
Although he had arrived as soon as he located it, all he found there was a small bundle of fur resembling a bear, barely clinging to life.
"Tsk."
The energy emanating from this little ball of fur was similar to the one he had sensed from the baby in the cave earlier.
It even looked identical.
‘Did the other one escape?’
If so, it meant the creature that had emerged from the Dungeon had fled.
Shak... shak...
He was about to move on and chase after it, but his steps faltered as he noticed the little bear cub struggling to rise, even with its labored breaths.
“Was it not the mother, but a sibling?”
It was too small to be the mother.
Compared to the baby he had seen in the cave, this one wasn’t much bigger, so they were likely siblings.
Kyiing...
Despite its wounded body, the cub kept trying to get up.
Where could it possibly want to go in that state?
To flee?
No.
Judging by the direction…
‘It’s trying to head to the cave. It must think the other cub went back there.’
This small cub, not yet fully grown itself, was trying to protect its even younger sibling.
A barely weaned youngster…
‘Hmph.’
The image of the baby furball’s eyes in the cave flashed in his mind.
If this one died here, where would the gaze of that baby cub in the cave turn?
Hanuri had looked to him for help, but that cub…
“Tsk.. Just stay still.”
Squeak!
In the end, he reached out his hand toward the wounded bear cub.
The monster that had fled likely sensed the trace he left earlier at the cave and had run away because of it.
That meant it wouldn’t be returning to the cave, so there was no need to chase it down and kill it.
‘Fortunately, it’s just severe blood loss; internally, it’s still intact.’
Of course, if left alone, it would die, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to heal in its current state.
It also seemed to have good fortune.
Kim Do-yoon extended his hand and plucked a mushroom growing beside the cub.
Bear-Bear Mushroom.
It was a mushroom shaped like a bear’s paw, and he had given it that name.
Its flavor resembled shiitake mushrooms, so he often ate it, making it memorable.
To think it was growing here as well.
It seemed that the Dungeonification of the area had caused it to grow in this land. Truly, the cub was lucky.
‘It’s great for wound recovery.’
After closely examining the cub’s condition, he took immediate action.
He crushed the mushroom and carefully applied it to the cub’s wounds.
The cub whimpered, likely feeling pain, but perhaps instinctively realizing this was its chance to survive, it didn’t resist much.
“Rest for a few days, and you’ll be fine.”
Having finished applying the Bear-Bear Mushroom, he casually picked up the cub and headed toward the cave.
Kyiung!
Inside the cave, the other baby bear cub whimpered, and he laid the injured one down beside it.
Although they were scared of him, they seemed to recognize each other as kin. The uninjured cub approached, snuggling into the injured one.
The injured cub weakly wrapped its paw around the other, pulling it close.
It was a tender moment, a bond of siblings.
It was the kind of connection Kim Do-yoon had never experienced.
"Don't lick it even if you're hungry."
He threw out a dry remark to the cubs.
Then, scratching his chin awkwardly, he turned around to leave.
Just as he was about to say his final goodbye,
“Live well... okay?”
He glanced back one last time to check on the bear cubs, and that’s when he noticed something interesting.
‘Now that I see it... could it be a Golden Cloud Bear?’
The cubs bore a striking resemblance to the Golden Cloud Bear, a mythical species from another world.
Their silky, golden fur.
The white facial markings reminiscent of a panda.
The snowy, cloud-like belly.
Their paws, resembling gloves of pure white fur.
And their eyes, like gems, a brilliant blue.
Except for the injured cub, whose eyes were green, they were otherwise identical.
‘Is it… or is it not?’
If it truly was a Golden Cloud Bear, even as a cub, it wouldn’t have been easily defeated by a mere monster.
‘Forget it. Let’s just grab a Point Boar and head back.’
Golden Cloud Bear or not, it wasn’t something that mattered to him.
He just found it interesting.
What mattered more to him now was dinner.
He had spent more time than expected, so he decided to hurry back.
*
Back Home
Grrr… Grrr…
Looking at Hanuri, sprawled out on the wooden floor and snoring softly, clearly worn out, Kim Do-yoon scratched his head.
“More than I expected...”
“It’s an incredible ability! She’s still just a child, and yet, to achieve this… it’s astonishing!”
At his comment, Park Ki-ho spoke in an excited voice, practically trembling with amazement.
“It’s not that amazing. All she did was grow some plants a little faster. By the way, you’re still here?”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you say someone was waiting for you?”
"Ah, that..."
Park Ki-ho’s eyes shifted to the side at Do-yoon’s words.
There, his gaze landed on a whole Point Boar, slowly roasting over charcoal. The fat dripped off as the skin turned crispy, while the inside cooked to juicy perfection.
This was the Point Boar Do-yoon had hunted earlier, and tonight’s dinner menu.
Gulp!
Park Ki-ho swallowed hard, unable to hide his longing as he stared at the roast. It was obvious he wanted some.
“If you want to eat, go pick some lettuce.”
“Yes!”
Adding another mouth to the table didn’t mean there wouldn’t be enough.
As soon as Do-yoon finished speaking, Park Ki-ho bolted toward the vegetable garden.
What had once been a simple patch of seedlings, which he thought would barely have grown, had turned into a lush, overgrown forest in the short time he had been away.
This was also the result of Hanuri’s abilities, but even for him, it was beyond what he had anticipated.
Rustle.
Watching Park Ki-ho harvest lettuce from the masterpiece Hanuri had created, Do-yoon turned his head slightly, his gaze tilting as if sensing something.
Kyiung! Kyiung!
A familiar sound reached his ears.
Golden fur.
And blue eyes.
It was that baby bear.
It seemed to have come looking for food.
He briefly wondered how it had found its way here, but then he remembered, it had already visited once before as the night guest.
Having gone hungry after its sibling failed to bring back food, and now with the aroma of roasting meat filling the air, it was no surprise that it had been drawn here.
Kyup!
The cub’s eyes locked with his, and as if certain it had come to the right place, it ran straight toward him.
Unlike the timid night visit it had made before, this time it appeared much bolder as a day guest.
"Mmm... Ajosshi?"
Just then, the sound of Hanuri waking up reached his ears.
“Haneuri is hungr.... uwaah! A baby bear!”
Hanuri, who had been whining in his arms right after waking up, suddenly froze upon spotting the cub that had come right up to her nose.
It seemed he would have to feed it before sending it off.
The number of mouths to feed had increased by two.
*****