Chapter 12
Translator: Roshi
Park Ki-ho felt as though he had just awoken from a vivid dream.
A picturesque house.
A man who looked like an elf from a fantasy world, and a young child.
And a mesmerizing whole roast barbecue.
That moment played out in Park Ki-ho’s mind like a panoramic scene.
Sizzle sizzle.
On the charcoal grill, a cow-sized Point Boar was roasting.
Who would have thought someone would turn the famously expensive Point Boar into a whole roast barbecue?
Even as Park Ki-ho picked lettuce, he couldn’t stop his gaze from naturally drifting toward the scene.
‘I should be heading back…’
At first, he planned to ask the man to take him back to where he came from as soon as the man returned.
But the moment he saw the barbecue, that thought vanished completely.
‘That looks delicious!’
His head was now filled with nothing but thoughts of the barbecue.
At that moment, the clear voice of a child reached Park Ki-ho’s ears.
It was a pure, melodious sound that made him instinctively turn his head.
“Ajosshi~ Ajosshi~ Let’s keep it! Please? Please?”
“I’ll send it back after it eats this.”
“Heeeeng…”
Nearby, the man and the child were having a little squabble over a baby bear.
‘How cute.’
Both the child and the baby bear were adorable.
The cuteness was compounded to the point where it felt like the two were amplifying each other’s charm.
A child and a baby bear!
It was like a doll holding another doll.
Park Ki-ho, having momentarily forgotten about the barbecue, stared blankly at the child, only to meet the man’s gaze.
For some reason, the man was intimidating.
Swish.
The moment Park Ki-ho’s eyes met the man’s, he quickly turned his head away.
He felt like he needed to eat the barbecue and leave as soon as possible.
“It’s done. Take that and sit on the porch.”
“Ajosshi, you’re mean…”
It seemed the barbecue was finally ready as the man approached the grill.
Sensing his chance, Park Ki-ho discreetly gathered some lettuce and leafy vegetables and tried to approach where the child was sitting.
Grrr!
But it seemed the Wyvern had the same idea, and their paths overlapped.
The Wyvern furrowed its brow in displeasure as it bumped into him.
At that moment, Park Ki-ho realized the Wyvern in front of him could easily gulp him down without a second thought.
“Yongyong-ah! Come here.”
Kurung~
Thankfully, when the child called out, the Wyvern wagged its tail and moved away.
He had narrowly avoided being swallowed by the Wyvern instead of enjoying the barbecue.
He made up his mind: he would just eat the barbecue and leave.
Entranced by the child’s cuteness, he almost forgot about the danger to his life. It was clear that getting out quickly was the safest option.
“What are you doing?”
"Yes?"
“Come and sit.”
“Yes!”
The man called out to him.
After hesitating for a moment, Park Ki-ho automatically sat down the moment the man began carving the whole roast barbecue. Crackle!
Slice~ Slice~
The knife smoothly cut through the crispy, golden-brown skin.
Just by looking at the juices, it was obvious.
How tender that meat would be inside.
“Here, try the skin first.”
“Aahm~.”
The first taste was given to the child.
The man lightly dipped the crispy skin in salt and placed it into the child’s mouth.
‘I want to eat it!’
Watching that scene, Park Ki-ho felt an uncontrollable hunger.
The child’s cuteness no longer caught his attention.
But he couldn’t recklessly pounce on the food.
The man was there.
So, he restrained himself with all his might, merely watching.
And then, finally.
“You try it too.”
The man gave him permission.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Park Ki-ho reached out for the portion of barbecued back meat placed in front of him.
Then, he took a big bite.
As expected, the crispy skin offered a delightful texture… and the incredibly tender meat inside melted in his mouth.
And the deep, rich aroma of the meat.
This didn’t need any additional seasoning.
It was perfect as it was, right from the first bite.
His mouth was flooded with savory juices, and he hesitated to swallow, savoring every moment.
But this tender meat refused to linger, sliding down as if it were eager to be devoured.
In the end, Park Ki-ho reluctantly swallowed the bite of meat, feeling a pang of regret as he did.
And just as he was about to take another bite....
*
Gulp!
"Park Ki-ho, are you okay?"
"Y-yes?"
"Your saliva…"
"Huh?!"
Slurp!
Snapped out of his daydream, Park Ki-ho hastily swallowed the drool that had unconsciously escaped from his mouth.
He had been so lost in his recollection that he actually drooled.
"First, recovery is more important."
"Ahem. I'm fine. More importantly, has the investigation team… still not contacted you?"
Park Ki-ho had returned to Seoul on the Wyvern, but the investigation team that had left with him was not with him.
Apparently, contact with them had been cut off as well.
"Not yet. They're organizing a second investigation team, but… well… who knows."
The thought that he might have been the only one to survive weighed heavily on Park Ki-ho's heart.
It wasn’t confirmed yet, but…
Park Ki-ho's gaze drifted out the window toward the Wyvern.
*
Kyup! Kyup!
The baby bear, holding a large chunk of meat in its mouth, waddled along with its short, chubby legs.
Juices from the meat dripped down, tantalizing its tongue, but the cub resisted the urge to eat it.
Suppressing an instinctive hunger like that couldn't have been easy…
Especially for such a young cub. It was remarkable how it endured.
Kyup!
After enduring and enduring, the cub finally arrived at its destination. It placed the meat on the ground.
Before it lay another baby bear, one covered in wounds.
Kiiing...
The injured cub seemed too weak even to eat. It simply stared at the meat.
Kyuung!
The first cub, seemingly distressed for its sibling, brought the meat directly to its mouth, but the injured cub still lacked the strength to eat.
"How troublesome."
Just then, Do-yoon clicked his tongue and stepped into the cave.
This was the same baby bear that had shamelessly come to his house earlier, begging for meat. Yet now, after being given the meat, it hadn’t eaten it itself and had instead carried it somewhere else.
Curious, Hanuri had followed after the cub, disappointed, only to find this scene.
Kyuung...
He hadn’t intended to concern himself further, but seeing this made it difficult to ignore.
Indeed, he had grown softer because of Hanuri.
"Only until you're healed."
In the end, Do-yoon scooped up both baby bears in his arms.
Ever since Yongyong and Park Ki-ho had left, Hanuri had seemed gloomier.
Although they would return eventually, time seemed to pass far too slowly for Hanuri.
If she spent time playing with the healthy cub and caring for the injured one, time might pass more quickly for her.
Swish.
Using Shadow, Do-yoon returned to the house and placed the two cubs on Hanuri's lap, where she lay on the porch, her belly full.
"Whoa?!"
Startled by the sudden weight, Hanuri was briefly taken aback. But when she realized they were baby bears, her face lit up.
"One of them is injured, so Hanuri, you need to take care of it."
"Okay, okay! Hanuri will take good care of it! Ajosshi, I like you just as much as Hanuri! Hehe."
A moment ago, she had been lying around listlessly, but now she was bursting with energy.
Do-yoon gently patted her on the head, then stepped back outside.
'What should I feed them?'
Neither of the baby bears seemed to have eaten properly.
While looking for something to feed them, he noticed the leftover Bearbear Mushrooms.
Seeing them reminded him of the events from earlier.
The Point Boar and Bearbear Mushrooms hadn’t been much help in calming Hanuri’s twisted energy.
That was a shame, but he didn’t dwell on it.
They’d had a delicious meal, and that was enough.
He decided to use the leftover mushrooms to make porridge for the baby bears.
Placing a pot over the still-burning fire pit, he finely chopped the Bearbear Mushrooms and stir-fried them in the pot.
He added a bit of sesame oil for flavor.
They weren’t dogs or cats, so eating this wouldn’t be an issue.
'No matter how I look at it, they’re Golden Cloud Bears.'
Now that he could examine them more closely, the baby bears seemed to match the species he had in mind.
'The Bearbear Mushrooms came from that place, and so did these cubs…'
What kind of connection did that dungeon have with this place?
Sizzle!
While lost in thought, he realized the mushrooms were starting to stick to the pot.
He quickly stirred the pot and added water.
Then, using his hands, he crushed some rice into powder and sprinkled it into the pot.
All that was left was to let it simmer gently.
"Ajosshi! Hanuri gave them names!"
"Names?"
"Yeah, yeah! The oldersister is Kkomi, and the younger brother is Kkoma!"
She had named the Wyvern Yongyong, and now, proudly, she was giving names to the baby bears and boasting about them to him.
‘If they’re really Golden Cloud Bears...’
He wondered whether those names would still suit them when they grew bigger, but what did it matter?
More impressive was the fact that she had managed to distinguish between male and female.
To him, they all looked the same, but apparently, they were siblings, a brother and a sister.
“Well, you named them well.”
"Yeah! Heehee."
At his praise, Hanuri beamed, her smile bright and radiant.
And that was all that mattered.
As Hanuri and Kkoma played, the porridge was finally ready.
Do-yoon cooled it down a little and started by feeding Kkomi, the injured one.
Even though it had cooled, the nutty and fragrant scent of the mushrooms whetted the appetite.
Lick.
Lick, lick!
The cub weakly stuck out its tongue to eat, but thanks to the Bearbear Mushrooms, its wounds were healing quickly, and its energy seemed to be returning little by little.
With the added nourishment from the porridge, its recovery would be even faster.
Kyuung...
Watching Kkomi eat, Kkoma started whining, demanding food as well.
Well, it was understandable, the cub must have been starving.
Do-yoon gave Kkoma the meat he had prepared earlier.
It was the same meat the cub had tried to bring to its injured sibling earlier.
Now that it had been given directly to Kkoma, the little bear held it firmly in both paws and devoured it with gusto.
‘How did I end up as a babysitter?’
Do-yoon let out a faint chuckle at his own situation.
Not that he minded.
Purr, purr…
By the time Kkomi had finished eating the porridge, Hanuri had fallen asleep.
After eating her fill and playing to her heart’s content, it was only natural that she would be tired.
After finishing the meat, Kkoma also began to nod off.
The only one still awake was Kkomi…
The injured cub fought to keep its drowsy eyes open and locked eyes with Do-yoon. Its round eyes blinked slowly, as if to say thank you.
Do-yoon gently patted its head and closed its eyes for it.
“Just sleep for now.”
Finally, Kkomi closed its eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Do-yoon looked down at the three little ones sprawled out on the porch, two baby bears and the ever-cute Hanuri.
Just watching them, a sense of peace washed over him.
He stayed like that for a while before carrying the three of them into the house. He laid them down, tucked them in with blankets, and quietly stepped back outside.
‘What should I make for breakfast tomorrow?’
With that small thought in mind, he stood there for a while, gazing up at the night sky.
*
A few days later, in the afternoon, just past lunch.
The yard was unusually quiet.
Kkomi, who was still recovering and naturally had a calm personality, usually stuck close to Do-yoon.
But not today.
Even Hanuri, who should have been running around like a foal, and Kkoma, who usually matched her energy, were nowhere to be found.
“Ajosshi, you can’t come over here!”
Hanuri had sternly warned him and disappeared with the two cubs.
He didn’t chase after them.
After all, Hanuri’s short legs meant she couldn’t go far, at most, she’d stay within the boundaries of the area he had organized.
Besides, if anything happened, the Shadow he had planted nearby would immediately alert him, so there was nothing to worry about.
He had even set it up to react to small threats or hostile presences.
And so, the quiet, peaceful afternoon had arrived.
Pfft.
While idly enjoying the moment, a faint smile spread across his face.
He remembered the sight of the three earlier, huddling together in a corner of the yard with their heads pressed close.
What could those tiny heads have been whispering about so intently?
He kept picturing the scene, their plump little backs as they crouched together.
‘The fact that they actually understood each other was even funnier.’
Whenever Hanuri spoke, the two baby bears would nod as if they understood her.
And whenever the bears whimpered with kyuung or kiing sounds, Hanuri would nod back with a serious expression, as if she fully understood them.
It was such an adorable sight that he couldn’t help but smile every time he thought about it.
He was a little curious about what they were planning, but he decided to wait.
If he waited, they might surprise him with something amusing and unexpected.
‘Hmm…’
Lost in thought, his smiling face suddenly grew serious.
He suddenly realized that, without even noticing, he had started thinking of the three as a set.
‘My family has grown naturally.’
The idea of temporary care was long gone.
At this point, sending the two baby bears back was out of the question.
Hanuri liked them far too much for that.
Even though she had Ddugi and Chuchu, having living, moving friends was a completely different thing for her.
Kkomi and Kkoma.
If the two, who had already grown so attached to them, were to disappear…
‘This much is manageable.’
In the end, he decided to fully accept the bear siblings into his home.
However, he firmly resolved not to take in any more.
Excluding Hanuri, taking care of more than three was beyond his capacity.
They ate so much that he might have to go grocery shopping every single day.
‘Maybe I should reach out after all.’
With that thought, he decided to contact Park Ki-ho and ask him to do the shopping.
Thanks to the magic chip that allowed communication even in dungeonized areas or dungeons themselves, he could still use his phone here.
That day, before sending Park Ki-ho off after feeding him, Do-yoon had made sure to get his phone number and chat app ID just in case…
For now, he pulled out the phone that had been lying unused in his room and turned it on.
Ping, ping, ping! Messages started pouring in.
“Hm?”
Most of them were from Park Ki-ho.
- The Wyvern isn’t listening to me. But thankfully, it’s not being aggressive.
- It’s starting to listen a little bit, but it still doesn’t fully obey me.
- How can I get back there?
- Has the investigation team reached your area?
- I need to return to your location. Please contact me as soon as you see this message.
In just a few days, Park Ki-ho had sent quite a lot of messages.
For now, Do-yoon decided to deal with those messages later and focused on writing a list of groceries he needed.
Meanwhile, Hanuri and the bear cub siblings were…
*****