chapter_0648

648 – Ketchup

648 – Ketchup

“Ju-ing Dukkubi.”

“Dukkubi? How do I make a toad out of shadows…?”

After playing with shadows, it was time for lunch, and the afternoon had arrived.

In the afternoon, I decided to quickly head to the dungeon.

‘What kind of dungeon would be good?’

Using the guild’s system, I found a simple four-star dungeon.

Just in time, a dungeon had opened near my house, so I hurriedly submitted my application.

“Hey guys, I’m going to the dungeon.”

“Should we go together?”

Saebyeok made a motion to join me in the dungeon.

I waved my hand at Saebyeok, assuring her it was fine.

“It’s okay, it’s a low-level dungeon, so I’ll be back soon. You rest at home, Saebyeok.”

“Okay. Got it.”

After saying goodbye to the kids, I moved to the dungeon.

And there, I unexpectedly met some familiar faces.

It was my academy classmates, Yoon Hyunseo and Han Taehwi.

“Oh? Gyeoul!”

Yoon Hyunseo approached, waving her hand excitedly.

I also felt happy, my tail wagging in response.

“Hello.”

“Hey. Are you going to the dungeon, Gyeoul?”

“Yes.”

“Then should we party up?”

“That sounds great.”

I jumped up in joy at this unexpected connection and then came back down.

I felt good about partying with friends I hadn’t seen in a while.

“But do you know what kind of dungeon this is?”

“I know. It’s the Red Orc Dungeon.”

“The Red Orc…?”

Hmm.

Han Taehwi, seemingly lost in thought, stepped into the portal, and Yoon Hyunseo and I followed behind.

I expected the world beyond the portal to be a forest, but surprisingly, it felt more like a jungle ruin.

It seemed like a rough structure made of stacked stones.

“Oh, here.”

Han Taehwi stroked his arm while looking at the ruins.

He seemed to know about the dungeon, but I couldn’t understand why he was touching his arm.

“Do you know this dungeon?”

“Yeah. It’s a strength-based dungeon, so it stuck in my memory.”

“Strength…?”

Can’t I just shoot the monsters with a bow?

Why would strength be necessary?

Seeing my confused expression, Han Taehwi pointed to a temple that looked like it was carved from rock.

“Let’s head over there first.”

“Okay.”

We pushed through the jungle.

A few Red Orcs appeared along the way, but they weren’t a problem for us.

Finally, we arrived at the entrance of a small temple.

Han Taehwi pointed at the tightly shut stone door and spoke.

“We need to open this…”

“This…?”

It looked incredibly heavy.

I used the weight-increasing item I received from Jeong Yuna and tried to push the door.

Unfortunately, the stone door didn’t budge at all.

“……”

Han Taehwi, watching me struggle, slowly walked toward the stone door.

As he raised his hand toward the door, I could see his arm muscles bulging impressively.

“Ugh…!”

“I’ll help.”

Yoon Hyunseo used magic to assist in pushing the door.

Then, the stone door, which seemed fixed in place, began to move with a heavy sound.

Oh my.

How on earth are they moving that?

Feeling useless in the dungeon, my ears drooped.

“There’s a special monster that only appears inside this temple… Gyeoul?”

“Uh… yes…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, I was just thinking.”

Hehe.

I smiled at them, assuring them it was nothing.

Then I focused my attention back on Han Taehwi’s explanation.

“There’s a special monster that only appears inside this temple.”

“A special monster?”

“Yeah. It’s a golem, and if you close the door and leave, it will respawn later. So it’s good manners to close the door when you leave.”

“Uh… isn’t a dungeon cleared once you finish it?”

“It can come back later.”

“Ah…?”

I couldn’t open or close the door by myself, but I still listened carefully.

It would be helpful to know for the future.

“There are many temples around, so let’s look for them as we go.”

“Okay.”

**

Gyeoul wandered through the jungle with her party, searching for temples.

Thanks to their small but tall stature, they could easily spot them even in the jungle.

“I’ll open it.”

“Okay.”

The door was so heavy that Han Taehwi had to give it his all, and Yoon Hyunseo had to use magic to help him.

Seeing the two of them sweating and straining to open the door, Gyeoul’s expression was not good.

‘I can’t help at all.’

I thought I had grown as an adventurer.

I never expected there would be a dungeon where you had to use strength to gain anything.

Gyeoul felt very uncomfortable being a bystander even though she was in a party.

And the two of them were secretly glancing at Gyeoul.

–
Why is Gyeoul like that?

–
I don’t know…?

Han Taehwi shrugged at Yoon Hyunseo’s puzzled gaze.

Why does Gyeoul seem so weak?

Yoon Hyunseo, who was watching Gyeoul with concern, realized something as they opened a new door.

‘She’s feeling sorry for not being able to help open the door.’

Because Gyeoul is particularly weak.

While she couldn’t help with the strength part, she was definitely not useless in the dungeon.

Thanks to Gyeoul’s exceptional detection ability, they were opening doors without any worries.

Her unique combat skills were also a great help when hunting monsters.

Even though she had been helpful to this extent, was she still worried about not being able to open the door together?

After a moment of contemplation, Yoon Hyunseo decided to help improve Gyeoul’s mood.

“Ugh, ugh!”

Yoon Hyunseo, using Mana to open the door, let out a groan.

This door was much lighter than the previous one, so why was she suddenly acting like this?

It was a moment of panic for Han Taehwi.

“This door is heavier than the last one…! I really feel like it would open if we just put in a little more strength…!”

Han Taehwi realized while watching Yoon Hyunseo struggling.

That Yoon Hyunseo was acting like that for Gyeoul.

“Y-Yeah, it really feels like it would open if we just put in a little more strength…”

Han Taehwi awkwardly joined in.

At that moment, Gyeoul perked up her ears and ran toward the door.

“I’ll help you…!”

Gyeoul strained and pushed against the door.

At that point, Han Taehwi and Yoon Hyunseo put in even more strength to push the door.

Creeeak—

With the familiar sound of stone, the door opened.

Gyeoul’s eyes began to shine brightly.

“Phew… I guess it was just a little bit lacking in strength for Gyeoul.”

“Right. We’re really lucky to have Gyeoul.”

“……!”

Was she happy to be helpful?

Gyeoul’s tail began to wag gently.

She smiled, and her eyebrows lifted slightly, giving her a strong impression.

She looked mature, but in moments like this, she was just a child.

Yoon Hyunseo smiled at Gyeoul.

She thought it was a good decision to become an adventurer.

**

“Today’s dungeon was really fun.”

“Yeah. I had fun too.”

“Let’s go together again next time.”

After leaving the dungeon, I said goodbye to Yoon Hyunseo and Han Taehwi.

Thanks to defeating many golems, I was able to earn quite a bit of money, even though it was a four-star dungeon.

‘Party play really is important.’

If I had come alone, I wouldn’t have been able to defeat any golems.

Thanks to the party, I had a great experience.

With a happy heart, I ran home.

Clack—

“Hey guys.”

As I opened the door, I spotted the kids sitting at the table.

Each child had a plate in front of them, with simple foods like fried eggs and sausages on them.

It seemed they were about to have a snack.

“Wang is here!”

“Gyeoul!”

The kids pulled me to sit in front of the table.

To my delight, my snack was also prepared.

“Wow, who prepared this?”

“We all prepared it together…!”

“That’s amazing. I was hungry, so I’ll enjoy it.”

As I speared a sausage with my fork, Haneul picked up a plate and sat down next to me.

“Master, should we put ketchup on this…?”

“Yeah. That would be really tasty.”

“Yes…! Then I’ll…”

“Gaeul-ikgakguk!”

Gaeul, with a sausage in her mouth, dashed toward the fridge.

Was Gaeul also wanting to put ketchup on hers?

Thud thud thud—

Just as I was about to eat the sausage that Saebyeok was handing me.

“Juyak!”

Gaeul’s strange scream echoed.

Startled, I turned to the side and saw Gaeul tripping over the remote control on the floor as she ran.

“Gaeul!”

I hurriedly entered acceleration mode, but Gaeul was already about to hit the ground.

I quickly grabbed a pillow and placed it under her knees.

Then I moved to her head and caught it with both hands.

Thud—!

The time that had been flowing slowly returned to normal.

I thought I had done well, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Squeak—!

In the moment Gaeul fell, she instinctively let go of the ketchup, and the fallen ketchup was squished between her belly and the floor, bursting out under pressure.

The ketchup shot out directly at me, who was holding Gaeul’s head.

Splash—!

Ketchup splattered all over my head, face, and belly.

“Jju-ing?!”

Gaeul’s face, startled awake, was also covered in ketchup.

Hehe.

I barely held back the laughter that was about to escape.

The ketchup smeared across my front looked like blood, and I wanted to try something.

“Ugh…! Kkeukkadak…!”

I clutched my belly and fell backward.

I was pretending to be a blood-soaked person.

“Jjuin! Jjuuiin!”

Gaeul shook my body vigorously.

It felt like a scene from a sad movie.

In this situation, there was only one thing I could do.

That was to pretend to be dead and close my eyes.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!

Everyone! Let’s have a fighting spirit for the new week…!