Chapter 3

Translator: Roshi

The fact that no human hands had touched it meant it was that much harder to access.

It was either a terribly rugged wilderness,

or extreme weather conditions,

or something that threatened humans.

The place he found fell under the third category.

Although there was a primeval forest spreading out, it wasn't much of an issue once cleared, and the weather was suitable.

The real problem was the monsters, like ogres, that poured out from an uncleared dungeon.

"Rise."

He spoke toward the ogre that had collapsed with its head severed.

Then

Sssss!

Black smoke rose from the severed neck and formed a figure resembling the ogre.

Its face was pitch-black, making it hard to distinguish its features.

"Stand guard here while I check the surroundings."

Nod.

Leaving the shadow ogre that nodded its head, he flew up into the sky.

‘So this area was under that guy’s control?’

It seemed that the ogre’s territory happened to be in the location he had been looking for.

Thanks to this, no other monsters were visible in the vicinity.

If the shadow ogre he had raised could inherit the original ogre’s territory, there wouldn't be any unnecessary commotion.

"Hm?"

Just then, as he was looking down from the sky, he spotted something.

It was a building whose form as a house was still preserved, hidden within dense grass.

‘A villa?’

He wasn't sure what it was, but there was a single building intact, enveloped by vegetation.

Despite the teeming monsters and the bombardment that had been launched to secure the land, it remained unharmed.

It was truly a stroke of luck.

Without hesitation, he flew to the place where the house stood.

"It's in good shape, too."

Up close, it looked even better.

If he just cleared the surrounding vegetation, it seemed like it would be quite usable.

This way, he wouldn’t even need to build a house from scratch.

All he had to do was move it.

Without delay, he began to dig around the ground supporting the building to move it as it was.

Since the land was abandoned anyway, the water supply and other lines were practically useless.

Tsss tsss tsss tsss!!

The shadow starting from his feet gradually expanded to both sides.

Once it stretched enough to surround the building, it stopped and manifested as a giant hand.

Poof!

The revealed shadow hand lifted the building and the ground under it as if scooping up sand.

It then followed him as he moved.

Boom!!

He placed the building down in an appropriate spot in the clearing he had made.

With the house in the open space, it looked even more impressive.

‘Should I clean it up a bit?’

He drew his greatsword and swung it lightly.

Then, a gentle, black wind like a breeze swept over the building.

Swish, swish, swish!

In an instant, the vines and dirt clinging to the outer walls of the building were cut off by the black wind and fell away.

"This should do."

Ninety percent of the building’s exterior was now revealed.

The structure resembled a traditional Korean hanok with a wooden veranda.

However, it wasn't a genuine hanok but rather a pension-style building that imitated one.

Concrete walls and pillars were visible here and there.

He liked it.

He didn’t need to worry about durability.

The remaining vines and moss blended well with the building and the surrounding landscape, so he decided to leave them as they were.

An hour later.

After finishing the interior cleanup and returning to the hospital, he wore a troubled expression.

Sniff, sniff, hic!

No matter how much he wiped, it was impossible to stop the child’s tears from flowing like chicken droppings.

“Sniff… Hanuri… thought… you left me behind. Hic!”

It seemed the child had been very startled by his sudden absence, even though he had only stepped away briefly.

Well, he had been there all week, so it was understandable that she’d be scared when she woke up to find him suddenly gone.

“Here.”

“Sniff. I don’t want it!”

“This too?”

When the child refused the banana milk, he pulled out his secret weapon.

Sotteok-sotteok.

Could she really resist this snack coated in sweet sauce?

“……”

The child quietly took hold of the sotteok-sotteok skewer he handed her, without a word.

Then, she quickly ran out of the hospital room.

As expected.

There was no way the sausage-loving ghost could resist this.

Looking at her other hand, she had somehow also managed to grab the banana milk as well.

He chuckled.

He watched the child’s retreating figure and chuckled, then unfolded the tray on the bed and placed a black bag on top of it.

Tteokbokki, fried snacks, soondae.

He had stopped by a snack shop on his way back and picked them up.

'The red one...'

Even as he took each item out, his eyes kept drifting to the tteokbokki.

After days of looking at bland hospital food, the sight of something as vividly red as lava… it was making his mouth water.

But he held back and carefully set everything up to enjoy his meal in peace.

The other patients sharing the room were still napping, so he made sure to be quiet.

'All set.'

After finishing the setup, he sat on the bed and carefully picked up a pair of wooden chopsticks.

To be honest, he had been sorely tempted to start eating right when he got the food from the shop.

But resisting had turned out to be a smart decision.

Holding off until now would make it taste even better.

Besides, the stark contrast of bright red food in the otherwise pale surroundings heightened his appetite.

'Tteokbokki first.'

Naturally, his chopsticks went straight for the tteokbokki—a piece of chewy rice cake, barely visible under the thick red sauce, hinting at its soft white insides.

Spicy, sweet, and salty.

The ultimate snack combining these three flavors that Koreans love.

'Mm…'

He popped a piece of chewy wheat rice cake into his mouth, feeling a thrill.

This was it.

This was exactly the bold, stimulating flavor he had been craving.

The rich gochujang sauce had a deep, savory flavor that danced on his tongue with a kick of spiciness, rounded out by the subtle sweetness from sugar and plum syrup, and the salty undertone of soy sauce.

The sauce enveloped his tongue, followed by the chewy texture and nutty flavor of the rice cake, finishing off the taste.

Even though it was just a typical neighborhood snack shop, not exactly gourmet, it was enough to bring back vivid memories.

After-school snacks by the school gate, grabbing a bite in front of a local shop on the way home after a hard day’s work… simple memories, but the kind that warm you up when you think back on them.

‘This is fun.’

He’d only had one bite of tteokbokki, and he was already feeling all this nostalgia.

After enjoying the brief warmth of the memory, he snapped back to reality and picked up his chopsticks again.

Next up was the square fish cake, soaked in sauce—a different kind of delicacy.

'Next.'

He turned his chopsticks toward the golden, crispy fried snacks.

"Huh?"

But his chopsticks stopped before reaching their target.

"Why?"

“Is it that delicious?”

The child had somehow returned, perched on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling in the air as she watched him.

‘Was I too absorbed?’

Now that he looked around, he noticed that the other patients in the room had also woken up and were watching him.

He’d been so focused on eating that he hadn’t noticed at all.

He’d done the same thing the first time he ate hospital food here too.

“Ahem.”

“Kim ssi, should we order some tteokbokki today? Now I’m craving it.”

“Why not? My grandson’s visiting today—I’ll tell him to bring some.”

“That sounds great.”

As soon as he paused his eating, the other patients snapped out of their focus too and began chatting among themselves.

It seemed the hospital room would be filled with the aroma of snack food today.

“Ajosshi! I want a bite too.”

"It'll be spicy though?"

“But I still want it~.”

With the child’s pleading, he turned his chopsticks away from the fried snacks and picked up a piece of rice cake instead.

"Ahm!"

The child eagerly accepted the tteokbokki and chewed it, puffing her cheeks as she chewed.

But then…

“Ssss…!”

As expected, it was too spicy for her.

Seeing the child flailing as if her mouth was on fire, he chuckled briefly and picked up an egg fry.

Then, he quickly popped it into her mouth.

“Mm?!”

“Chew it. Slowly.”

"Mmmp?! Mm!"

She seemed to want to complain, but her mouth was too full of egg to form proper words.

Yet, as she kept chewing, her expression started to change.

“This is… yummy…”

It was delicious enough that she forgot all about being upset.

Her puffed-up cheeks and slightly pouting lips made her look like a chipmunk.

Her eyes softened as the flavor of the egg settled in, her expression melting with pleasure—he almost wanted to record this adorable sight to keep forever.

For a moment, he found himself staring blankly at her, then quickly picked up a piece of squid tempura.

As cute as she was, he couldn’t let his eating be interrupted.

He dunked the fried squid deep into the tteokbokki sauce and took a big bite.

Crunch!

The freshly fried, crispy texture of the squid, almost springy as if it were alive… well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it did have a pleasant chewiness.

Gulp!

“Ajosshi…”

“Here.”

The child looked torn, somewhere between complaining and wanting more. After swallowing the egg, she seemed unsure whether to be mad or ask for another bite.

He took the remaining piece of the squid tempura that he had already bitten into and popped it into her mouth. This time, it was the part without any sauce.

The child quietly accepted it and began chewing, her expression calm.

She was such a simple, truly adorable child.

As he watched her with a fond gaze for a moment, he picked up his chopsticks again.

“Soondae is best with dipping sauce.”

Tteokbokki sauce, salt, pepper, ssamjang, and chojang. The snack shop had prepared a variety of sauces, as if they weren’t sure what he’d like.

Being a tteokbokki sauce enthusiast, he dipped the soondae generously in the sauce before eating it.

“Hey!”

The child, having finished her squid tempura, put her hands on her hips and glared at him with a little pout.

She seemed upset now that she’d eaten her portion and wanted more. Though it was just cute.

He deliberately ignored her and focused on eating.

Her reaction was adorable, but he also wanted to savor the lingering taste of the tteokbokki just a little longer.

"I hate Ajosshi..."

The child finally pouted in earnest, but he quietly picked up another piece of tempura.

This time, he dipped it in sauce and wrapped it with a slice of fish cake before taking a bite.

‘Not bad, but nothing special.’

There wasn’t much point in eating it like that.

He tried various combinations, but ultimately, he went back to eating it the simplest way.

Sigh.

After finishing all the snacks and finally setting down his chopsticks, he turned his attention to the child.

She was still sitting there, cheeks puffed up in a sulk.

"Hmph hmph!"

She snorted loudly, as if she wanted him to hear it, which only made her look even cuter.

“Oh my, is Hanuri upset?”

“Why would sweet Hanuri be upset? Are you mad at that ajosshi?”

Others in the room joined in.

“Hmph. I won’t tell.”

Hanuri’s response made everyone chuckle.

“Look at her, acting so grown-up.”

“That ajosshi was really in the wrong.”

“Definitely~.”

Everyone watched the exchange with amusement, glancing back and forth between him and the child.

“I’m not playing with you anymore!”

Receiving all this attention, Hanuri finally stood up and dashed out of the room, as if to make a point.

It was almost like she wanted him to chase after her.

“…”

He smiled as he watched her go, but didn’t follow right away.

He was still mulling over something.

Could he really take her in and be responsible for her?

Maybe it would be better to just fulfill her wishes for now and leave it at that.

Ever since he’d found a place to live, this thought had been nagging at him.

Focusing on the tteokbokki had helped push that thought aside, so he’d deliberately immersed himself in the food.

“What are you doing just sitting there?”

“…?”

“Hurry up and go after her!”

The other patients, seeing him sitting there, became impatient on his behalf.

With their urging, he finally shook off his hesitation and stood up.

As he stepped outside to find the child, he had an uneasy feeling.

He quickly made his way to the flower bed where they had been together before.

He had a hunch that she would be there.

“It’s mine!”

“Ddugi and Chuchu are my friends… Give them back.”

“Hmph! Don’t be ridiculous! I picked them up first!”

“Give them back.”

“No! Go away!”

“Ow!”

Sure enough, he could hear children arguing, and one of the voices was all too familiar.

It was coming from the direction of the flower bed.

Just as he arrived, he saw another child push Hanuri down before running off somewhere.

“Mommyyyy!”

“Son! What happened?”

“That girl hit me!”

“What? Where? Let me see! Where did she hit you?”

“Here.”

“Who did this to you?!”

The boy had clearly been the one who pushed and took something, but his mother seemed too agitated to notice.

“Was it you? Did you do this to my child?”

“…No.”

Hanuri had been pushed down, but she quickly sprang back up as if nothing had happened.

Then, she stood her ground, looking straight at the boy’s mother and confidently said that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

The same kid who had cried when he’d left her alone for just a moment…

"What do you mean no? What kind of education did you receive to hit people and then pretend not to know? Huh?"

“…”

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Shouldn’t you say, ‘I’m sorry’? Didn’t you learn even that much?”

“Hanuri didn’t do anything wrong!”

Hanuri’s voice was steady, showing no sign of backing down.

Seeing this, the mother looked taken aback.

“Give it back! They’re my friends. They’re family.”

“What… what is she even saying? Hey, where’s your mom? Hmm?”

The boy’s mother, thrown off by Hanuri’s confidence, tried to turn the situation into a confrontation with an adult.

“...Give it back.”

Hanuri’s tone softened a little, almost as if she were hesitating.

Noticing the slight shift in her attitude, the mother raised her voice even more.

“What kind of kid is this? Where is your mom? Do you even have a mom? Or maybe your dad?”

“...Give me back Ddugi and Chuchu…”

“No mom, huh? Figures. Tsk. Dong-hoon, just give it back. And don’t talk to kids like this anymore—they’ll just bring you down.”

The mother grabbed Ddugi and Chuchu from her son’s hands and tossed them in front of Hanuri.

As they hit the ground, Ddugi's body cracked, and Chuchu’s stem broke, leaving them sprawled on the floor like trash.

Hanuri quietly picked them up.

Then, she turned around.

“Ajosshi…?”

And there he was, standing right in front of her.

“Hic…”

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him.

Waaah!

The tears that had been welling up burst out, and she ran into his arms, sobbing.

He held her tightly, and in that moment, he found the answer to the question he had been struggling with just moments before.