chapter_0575

575 – Being Manipulated

575 – Being Manipulated

Is there a fresh prank to surprise Bomi?

I pondered with Gaeul, our heads together.

The idea for a fun prank came to me just as Gaeul started licking my ear.

“Gaeul, I thought of something.”

“Is it a confession?!”

“Yeah. Want to see?”

I picked up a candy from the living room table.

It was a twist-wrapped candy that would pop out when you pulled the wrapper from both sides.

What I needed for the prank wasn’t the candy but the wrapper.

So, I placed the candy into Gaeul’s mouth.

Gurgle—gurgle—

I could hear the sound of the candy rolling around in Gaeul’s mouth.

I told Gaeul to hold on for a moment and moved to the kitchen to find something to wrap.

‘Is there anything useful?’

As I scanned the kitchen fridge, my eyes landed on cherry tomatoes.

The round, red ones would be hard to distinguish from candy if wrapped properly.

‘Shall I give it a try?’

I placed the cherry tomato into the candy wrapper and returned to Gaeul.

The first victim of my tomato candy was Gaeul.

“Gaeul, do you want to eat some candy again?”

“Hek…!”

Gaeul received the wrapped tomato.

Without any suspicion, she unwrapped it and popped the tomato into her mouth.

Nom.

Was it because she thought the tomato was a hard candy?

Gaeul bit down on the tomato quite hard, and the juice squirted down her chin.

“Huh?”

Gaeul’s eyes widened in surprise.

She thought it was candy, but it was a tomato, so she couldn’t help but be shocked.

“How is it? You thought it was candy, right?”

“······!”

Clap clap clap clap—!

Gaeul stood up and started clapping like a seal.

Thanks to that, I felt like I had successfully pulled off an amazing performance.

“How about it? This will definitely surprise Bomi, right?”

“Cold…!”

Whether she liked my prank or not, Gaeul dashed to the bedroom.

In the bedroom, Bomi was lying on the bed, resting.

“Bang bang.”

Gaeul shook Bomi’s body vigorously.

Bomi, looking tired, stared at Gaeul while still lying down.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m giving you something to eat.”

What Gaeul handed to Bomi wasn’t candy but a snack.

I couldn’t help but be surprised by the large bag of snacks.

Not candy, but a snack.

While I was bewildered, Bomi accepted the snack Gaeul offered.

“Thank you, Gaeul.”

“Hek…”

“I was just playing a prank on you, but our Gaeul is so sweet.”

Bomi hugged Gaeul tightly.

At that, our Gaeul’s face began to turn red with embarrassment.

I had intended to play a prank, but seeing her so innocently grateful made me feel guilty instead.

“···No.”

Gaeul, who had been wiggling her fingers, took the snack back from Bomi’s hand.

Feeling like it was being snatched away, Bomi’s eyes widened.

“Are you not giving me the snack?”

“No…”

Gaeul, who was fidgeting, pulled out a new snack from the portal.

It seemed she didn’t want to disappoint the happy Bomi, so she took out a perfectly fine snack.

“Why did you change the snack?”

“To eat…”

Eat the changed snack.

Gaeul gestured with that meaning.

At that, Bomi’s eyes narrowed, sensing something was off.

“···Could it be that you played a prank on the snack?”

“······.”

Gaeul rolled her eyes around, trying to evade the question.

Fortunately, Bomi was a child who loved pranks quite a bit.

“Then give me the snack you pranked!”

“To eat…?”

“Yes! I want the snack that Gaeul pranked!”

“Huh?”

Gaeul tilted her head in confusion.

It was only natural to be puzzled when asked for a snack that had been pranked rather than just a regular snack.

“Hurry! Change it for me!”

“Hek…”

Gaeul returned the snack she had taken.

What kind of prank could be hidden in that snack?

I watched Bomi tear open the snack bag with anticipation.

Bang-!

As Bomi tore open the snack bag, shredded colored paper burst out from inside.

Seeing the confetti scatter everywhere, I realized.

‘Did she change the contents with the portal?’

But how did the snack burst out like fireworks?

Did she compress air inside?

I cautiously looked inside the snack bag.

And there, I discovered a doll of a Divine Beast.

‘Aha.’

She had put a Divine Beast in there.

I reached into the snack bag and pulled out the Divine Beast.

“Wow! Gaeul is the best!”

“Chae-go…!”

Bomi expressed her joy as the colored paper scattered everywhere.

Thanks to that, Gaeul’s tail wagged rapidly.

“Gaeul, thank you for playing a prank on me!”

Expressions of affection vary from person to person.

I realized late that for our Bomi, playing a prank was a form of affection.

**

The next day.

I decided to take the kids to the dungeon after a long time.

Since it was a level five dungeon, we decided to bring the Divine Beasts along.

The turtle Divine Beast Gubugi, the monkey Divine Beast Kiki, and the horse Divine Beast Hihihing joined us.

With just the Divine Beasts, even a level five dungeon didn’t seem scary.

“Let’s do our best today.”

“Ugh.”

After filling out the application, we entered the dungeon.

Inside the dungeon was a swamp filled with ancient trees.

“Kids, be careful not to fall into the swamp, okay?”

The swamp in the dungeon was always something to be cautious about.

If your feet got even slightly submerged while facing an enemy, it would be a big deal.

Fortunately, my kids followed my words well in the dungeon.

Of course, they listened to me well even outside the dungeon.

“Okay.”

“Alright.”

We avoided the swamp as much as possible.

There were plenty of rocks, trees, and dirt piled up over the swamp, so it wasn’t a problem for the nimble Beastmen.

“Wait a moment.”

I raised my hand, and the kids immediately stopped moving.

They didn’t make a sound, expressing any doubts.

Crack—

In the silence, the sound of the swamp being stepped on could be heard.

Today, the monster we had to face.

Groombash.

It looked like a lion standing on two legs, wearing a grotesque mask on its face.

The mask wasn’t just for decoration; it was worn by the boss of this place to control Groombash.

‘They said it moves freely in the swamp.’

There was a disadvantage due to the terrain, but if things went south, Gubugi’s shield was there.

I nocked an arrow made by Jeong Yuna onto my bow and shot it at Groombash.

Swoosh-!

Thud-!

The arrow hit Groombash’s thigh perfectly.

There was a reason I didn’t aim for the head.

If I broke the mask, the boss would notice and show up.

It would appear with numerous Groombash, so breaking the mask was something to avoid.

That was the strategy for the Groombash dungeon I had read in Master’s book.

“Everyone, be careful not to break the mask.”

“Okay!”

Saebyeok, riding Hihihing, charged toward Groombash.

Nothing could stop our Hihihing’s dash, not even the swamp.

Thud-!

Saebyeok slammed her fist down onto Groombash’s head.

At that, Groombash’s body crumpled and fell.

The hunt for Groombash had begun.

**

We diligently hunted Groombash.

Thanks to the monkey Divine Beast Kiki, we were able to take down numerous Groombash.

Using its tail and hands to swing through the trees, it drew a lot of Groombash’s attention.

Since we had to keep an eye on the trees as well, it was impossible not to be distracted.

“Wow.”

“There are so many masks!”

We piled up the Groombash masks in one corner of the dungeon.

The masks were special items to be managed until we cleared the dungeon.

“Hek…!”

Gaeul picked up one of the stacked masks.

As she tried to wear the mask on her face, I hurriedly grabbed her wrist.

“Gaeul, if you wear that, you might get controlled by the boss.”

“Confession?!”

“Yeah. So be careful…”

Just as I was about to warn Gaeul to be careful.

Suddenly, a purple light emanated from the mask, and it began to fly toward Gaeul’s face like a magnet.

“Ah…!”

I quickly pushed Gaeul’s body to the side.

The mask flew like an arrow, but my shove was faster.

Swoosh-!

The mask, losing its target, changed direction and flew toward me.

It turned at an incredible speed right in front of my face, but my reflexes were quicker than that.

“······!”

Just as I turned my head, Gubugi’s shield appeared and deflected the mask.

Thanks to that, the mask didn’t stick to my face.

“Phew.”

That was close to being controlled.

As I let out a sigh of relief, for some reason, my body wouldn’t move.

What was going on?

Why couldn’t my body move?

As I rolled my eyes around, frozen, I heard a sneaky laugh nearby.

“Hehehe.”

It was a creature twice the size of a normal Groombash.

With a staff in one hand and a mask on its face.

I realized that it was the boss of the dungeon.

‘This is bad…!’

The boss was right in front of me, but my body wouldn’t move.

Could it be that it successfully controlled me?

Although the mask hadn’t been placed on my face, it had succeeded in getting close enough.

Perhaps it had taken control of my body at that moment.

“Kids, kids, I can’t move my body…!”

“What?!”

“It seems the boss is controlling me…!”

My hand was forcibly pulling out an arrow.

Could it be trying to make me shoot the kids?

I tried to resist by tensing my body, but I couldn’t stop the movement.

“Don’t…!”

As I was forced to pull out the bow, I found that I couldn’t feel the bow at all.

Looking to the side, Gaeul had taken all my bow and arrows.

“Oh.”

It seemed Gaeul had taken everything through the portal.

I wanted to give her a high five for doing well, but I couldn’t move my body.

“What?!”

The boss Groombash looked bewildered at the sudden disappearance of my weapons.

However, it didn’t stop attacking my kids through me.

Crack-!

My fist was forcibly clenched.

Could it be that it intended to make me hit the kids?

I shut my eyes tightly against my forcibly moving body.

“Saebyeok…! Dodge…!”

“Uh…?”

My fist reached out toward Saebyeok’s face.

I hoped Saebyeok would dodge, but I was moving faster than the controlled Saebyeok.

“Don’t…!”

My fist flew toward Saebyeok.

Thud—

The punch that hit Saebyeok’s forehead made a small sound as it bounced back.

“Ow.”

Naturally, it was me who groaned, not Saebyeok.

Saebyeok merely scratched her forehead, expressionless.

“Ouch.”

The punch that attacked Saebyeok’s forehead hurt a lot.

“What?!”

I couldn’t help but feel a bit of hatred toward the bewildered boss Groombash.