Bbaek

Bbaek

Although I said not to eat the stone,

Somteol ignored my words and quickly gobbled up the stone.

Shocked by this sight, I wondered if it was okay and tried to pick up Somteol upside down… but gave up because it was too heavy.

I urgently requested help from Han A-rin who was nearby.

“So-Somteol ate a stone!”

When I shouted urgently, Han A-rin ran over here, assessed the situation, and after confirming there was no external intrusion, she said to me.

“A stone?”

“Yes…!”

Ha-eun thought about trying the Heimlich maneuver to make it spit out the stone.

But given how small Somteol is, and the fact that its body structure is different from humans, it was difficult to do hastily.

So while I was wondering what to do.

“Burp.”

A sound like a burp came from Somteol.

Somteol started bouncing around happily, making ‘beep beep beep’ sounds as if it had enjoyed its meal.

“…?”

Was Somteol a creature that could safely eat stones?

Or was the luck-bringing pebble edible to begin with?

I’m not sure what the correct answer is, but as it didn’t seem to be a big problem, I was sighing in relief when.

Han A-rin lifted Somteol up and started using various types of magic.

Blue and turquoise lights spread out and faded repeatedly.

Somteol, just happy to have eaten the pebble, stayed still in Han A-rin’s arms with a contented expression.

Chae-a, Yuna, and I watched anxiously, waiting for the results.

“There’s no problem.”

As if there wasn’t any major issue unexpectedly, Han A-rin put Somteol down in front of me and continued speaking.

“The examination showed no problems, but just in case, I’ll contact the researcher.”

I nodded after stretching Somteol’s cheeks, who was laughing ‘beep beep beep’.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing, Somteol is family to me too.”

Thinking that it’s fortunate, I was smiling when.

Chae-a, who was watching this from the side, spoke with sparkling eyes.

“So since Somteol ate the lucky stone… it became a lucky Somteol?!”

“Pii!” (That’s right!)

“Wooow! Amazing!”

Chae-a flapped her arms like wings like a baby bird.

Then she lifted Somteol up and said.

“Now Somteol is an amazing Somteol…!”

“Pii!”

With those words, Chae-a stuck to the window with Somteol on her head.

She starts talking about various things.

“Great Somteol-nim…! Look at this…! Isn’t it amazing?”

“Pi? Pii.”

Chae-a used honorifics whenever she acknowledged something as amazing or had a wish, and talked to Somteol.

Somteol chirped in agreement every time it heard Chae-a’s words.

I don’t really understand, but I think they’re playing really well together, giving and taking, and I’m giggling.

Yuna, who had been watching me closely, seemed to have made up her mind and hugged me.

“Ha-eun is also an amazing Ha-eun. You’re amazing.”

She started patting my head vigorously and showering me with compliments.

I didn’t dislike it, but I was a bit flustered and blinked my eyes, when Han A-rin, who was next to me, smiled contentedly and said.

“Maybe because Yuna is the older sister, she takes good care of her younger sibling. Then I guess I should take care of Yuna as the older sister?”

Han A-rin patted Yuna’s head, and Yuna patted mine, starting an inexplicable cascade of affection.

Just as I was feeling unsure if this was right…

Chae-a and Somteol, having finished their sightseeing, came running over and said to us.

“Chae-a too!”

“Beep!”

At their request to join in, Han A-rin smiled brightly, then hugged all the little ones including Chae-a and patted their heads.

* * * * *

Monsters were born not only in dungeons or gates, but also in places that met special conditions.

Among such places, the worst was considered to be ‘urban areas’.

“The streets are complex, it’s easy for human casualties and property damage to occur. Furthermore, the density is too high, making it extremely difficult to perfectly locate hidden monsters.”

Therefore, it was essential to deploy defensive measures in urban areas to prevent monsters from being generated.

However, for some reason, the defense mechanisms that had been working well until now stopped activating, and monsters started appearing.

Of course, there wasn’t much damage due to various other defense mechanisms in place besides the prevention devices.

But the fact that the barrier that could prevent all problems in advance had been breached was itself a huge issue.

The Association had assigned investigation missions to numerous hunters to look into this matter.

“So, check under and behind vending machines you might usually pass by, and if you notice anything suspicious, report it immediately. That is all.”

Seo-rin nodded as she listened to the person in front explaining the mission overview and strategy.

Usually, she would carry out missions without any emotion after hearing only the important points.

But perhaps because the location was an urban area, she felt more subdued than usual as she thought of Ha-eun, Chae-a, and Yuna.

‘I should go around spreading mana.’

By spreading mana, she would be able to detect the surroundings and pinpoint the location of an enemy the moment it touched her mana.

Let’s walk around quickly and spread this around.

After deciding that, I explained this method to the hunter assigned to the same team.

“… Is that possible? You’ll run out of mana even if you just walk for 30 minutes.”

A somewhat negative opinion came back.

“Maybe in a dungeon or gate. But in a densely populated urban area, doing that would mean not even being able to search one building completely…”

It’s not wrong.

For ordinary hunters, mana was very limited and growth was slow.

However, in my case, I had an abnormally large amount of mana compared to other hunters.

‘Rather than saying a large amount, would it be more correct to say infinite?’

Of course, if we’re being precise, it’s not exactly infinite.

I completely denied their words, as I could spread mana around for a whole week without any major problems.

“A month? That seems a bit exaggerated.”

They showed disbelief and sneered.

“I know Seo-rin is an S-class prospect, and I understand you’re talented. But you’re still a rookie, right? Rather than being stubborn, it’s better to proceed step by step…”

From those words, I could understand one thing.

The fact that the person in front of me was not telling the truth.

‘Rather than feeling like they’re saying this because I really can’t do it… it feels like something else.’

Wondering what it could be, I glanced around and saw everyone averting their gaze or smiling awkwardly.

At that moment, I realized that they didn’t want to properly carry out the mission.

Feeling suspicious and about to say something, the person next to me added a comment.

“Let’s not pick a fight with the newcomer and just be honest. You, Seo-rin? You don’t need to work hard.”

“What?”

“The integrated mission has a fixed reward. In other words, it means there’s no gain or loss no matter how hard you try, so take it easy.”

At that realistic but selfish answer, I felt something in my mind shake slightly.

When I was with Ha-eun, everyone seemed kind and caring for each other.

But here, the reaction was as if they didn’t care about anything else as long as they could benefit themselves.

‘This must be reality.’

Come to think of it, even in the prison (laboratory), everyone turned a blind eye to violence, and no one stepped up except for Ha-eun.

Smiling bitterly at that fact, I said,

“Then everyone stay here. I’ll work alone.”

It’s more comfortable to work alone from the start anyway.

Just as I came to that conclusion and was about to leave, someone lightly hit the back of my head with their hand and said,

“You’ve been hanging out with Han A-rin and now you’re acting like her. By the way, that’s an insult.”

Wondering who it was, I turned around to see Perseus.

He shook his head a few times looking at me and briefly said,

“I’ll take this one with me. Now, go do your jobs.”

At those words, everyone looked around nervously and quickly left for other places.

As I watched the surroundings become deserted in an instant, I let out a hollow laugh.

Perseus looked at me and said,

“You don’t need to understand them, but you need to comprehend why they act that way.”

I didn’t understand what he meant by “acceptance,” so I looked at him, and he briefly said:

“It means don’t get hurt.”

At the mention of “hurt,” I opened my phone and looked at the screen.

Ha-eun, Chae-a, and Yuna were huddled together, sleeping.

Seeing this, I felt my heart calm down, and I briefly said:

“I won’t get hurt. As long as I have Ha-eun, everything is fine.”

Perseus looked at me and smirked, then nodded.

“Ha-eun is a major factor.”

After confirming this, I gently stroked the phone screen and regained my resolve.

* * * * *

I felt like I’ve been playing around too much lately, so I decided to go back to my original mindset.

‘I should work.’

Thinking that I’ve become too complacent recently, I decided to work hard to fix this messed-up(?) state of mind.

‘Seo-rin’s errands, Han A-rin’s errands, helping people who ask for help…’

Unlike when I first came here, there are countless things I can do now.

Of course, these were all made possible by the kindness of people around me, not something I achieved on my own, so I shouldn’t be arrogant.

But I can’t help feeling proud, I thought, standing there confidently when Han A-rin asked me a question.

“Oh right, Researcher Jung Jae-hyun said he wants to see Somteol and has something to ask Ha-eun. Want to go?”

I nodded, looking at Somteol who was squeaking and burping in front of me.