episode_0031

Not long after we got out of the outskirts, we arrived at the entrance of Majangsan Mountain. Covered in pure white snow, it seemed to give off a dreamy atmosphere.

Well, it’s a place where fakes are rampant. There has to be at least that kind of atmosphere.

In the building that seemed to have originally been used as a hiking trail management office, there was a sign that I couldn’t figure out where it had come from.

‘Arcadia.’

What, are you saying that the place they live is paradise? You’re really thick-skinned, making a fuss about zombie noises in the orchard.

“It was a good place.”

“?”

The old man spoke in a faint voice.

A good place? Where? I don’t think you’re talking about a den of cults. Maybe?

“What kind of place was it?”

I asked the question naturally, as if I was asking a question out of curiosity.

“It was a place with delicious cocktails. It’s good to go with a group, but it’s really worth it when you go alone. It’s a place where you don’t feel lonely because the female employees serve you and talk to you, but now it’s become a signboard for a den of shady people.”

I blinked for a moment. So you’re saying it’s a nightclub? Not your average cocktail bar, but one where half-naked girls come out and serve drinks and do other things…?

I looked at the old man as if he were trash. I started to distance myself from him, thinking that he was the kind of person who would hang around places like that.

“I see…”

As my voice grew distant, the old man finally turned his head to look at me.

It was only at times like this that I felt like I knew exactly what I was thinking.

“No, it’s not a bar or room where old men go! It’s just a place where you can drink and chat to relieve the stress of the day, so is there any misunderstanding? ”

“I understand, how much fun it must have been to be surrounded by pretty older sisters. If you were an old man, you would definitely have used contraception, so it’s an irresponsible pleasure.”

As a human, it was incomprehensible, but as a man, it was understandable.

Aren’t men, the animals that were originally ruled by that place, beings that fell below beasts?

Of course, I was clearly an exception there.

“No, that’s a short story! I said it wasn’t like that at all…!”

The old man didn’t hide his embarrassment. He quickly narrowed the distance between me and him, making the distance I had made seem meaningless.

“Okay, so please don’t come near me. Seeing you like that makes me feel uneasy and a little bad.”

“No, why are you suddenly using formal language… It’s a flat language!”

“Ah, when I think about how other girls have filled our shelter, not just me, I think I know how the old man felt when he faced Arcadia’s closing down. I guess I should learn how to make cocktails now. Like, a valley wine? He’s going to order me to make that too? Wow… Trash, trash. Huh? I told you not to come near me? Every single one of the old man’s actions seems to prove how accurate my reasoning is, and it gives me goosebumps. ”

The old man once again made a face of resentment. It seemed that no one who had been falsely accused of being a serial killer could look more resentful than that.

But I wasn’t fooled. I knew for sure that he had intended to make me let my guard down with that expression, then grab me like a wolf and push me into a weight class without letting me go.

“That’s not true! Danhwa, why don’t you trust me!”

“Why is it that you insist on your innocence to me, even though I’m not your wife or girlfriend, just a family member?”

Isn’t it strange?

Did I tell you not to go? And did I treat you like some kind of incompetent beast if you did? Did I send a warning to the shelter people that this human is planning to eat us all soon, so they should prepare immediately.

Why are you making excuses for me when I didn’t do anything?

“No, I hate it when you have strange thoughts and look at me with strange eyes…! I’m a clean person.”

“Everyone can become clean just by taking a shower every day.”

I drew a clear line against the old man’s absurd claims. As if he sensed that there was no room for compromise in what I said, the old man suddenly ran towards me with all his might.

Let’s see the true colors revealed.

Actually, I expected it. As the saying goes, the law is far away, but the fist is close, so it would be a much easier choice for the old man to silence me by using his immense physical strength.

I didn’t panic and turned around to run away. I had no choice but to follow the footprints that the old man and I had made.

It would be enough to just accept a surrender declaration from the old man, promising to run away until he gets tired and then do nothing.

“Huh?”

My foot got caught in the snow. It wasn’t a soft pile of snow, but rather one that had melted and then froze again. The solid ice was pulling me to the ground.

Just before I fell down violently, something grabbed my back. A sliver of snow sprang up from the ground and tickled my nose.

That’s why I sniffled without realizing it.

“Are you okay? It might be okay in the mountains or in the city, but this is an open area, so there are some solid parts, so you have to be careful.”

“Well… I wasn’t hurt.”

I wasn’t hurt, but I ended up being caught by a potential sex offender. Just like the incident earlier, it wasn’t just my delusion or delusion, but it was clearly the problem on the old man’s side.

But just as there is no smoke from an unlit chimney, isn’t it because the old man has already set all the precedents that I can only suspect this?

“Let’s stop joking around and get in there. It’s dangerous. And stop imagining and suspecting strange things.”

Well, I thought you were going to yell at me or threaten me to keep quiet about what happened earlier. You really weren’t?

My doubts have not subsided, but I have decided to turn a blind eye for now.

We received help, and someone, I don’t know if it was the management office staff, was waving at us from the entrance to the mountain.

*

“I didn’t expect you to come here…! Brother Do-Hoon, thank you so much. Okay, this way!”

It felt like I was watching the townspeople welcoming a hero from another world.

Now, it would not have been strange if a pastor, who looked like a man or a woman, had a white beard and a cane and said to us, ‘I would like to ask you, warriors, to help us subdue the goblins…’

“I think you already know what our situation is.”

The table we were guided to already had refreshments prepared. There was a separate storage room, and the fruits that gave off a refreshing smell were placed in glass bowls.

Well… I don’t like the fact that it’s a cult, but I like the way it treats guests.

I reached out to various fruits, including peaches, without hesitation.

The crunchy texture of the flesh and the natural sweetness that lingered on the tongue seemed to insist that it should not be compared to things like canned fruit.

Pastor Lee Won-sang continued his conversation with the old man.

The gist was to find out the cause of the strange phenomena occurring in the orchard and to eliminate them.

Since I already knew this and was going to go out and do some research, I decided to focus on the fruit.

Well well.

After injecting my body with natural sweetness for the first time in a while, I felt like my head was getting sharper. Sugar is a nutrient necessary for brain function.

I nodded with satisfaction.

“It seems like Danhwa will be proactive in solving the problem. You don’t have to worry too much, Pastor.”

“Truly, this is good news. Seeing you working hard for others as if it were your own, I think both Brother Do-hoon and Sister Dan-hwa are blessings to our church.”

The gesture of appreciation I had made about the state of the excellent fruit seemed to have been distorted by the old man, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. Isn’t good good?

I instinctively moved my fork, but there was no more fruit left to eat.

What the heck, when did you finish eating?

The fork, which had lost its destination, was spinning around in the air. As soon as he put the fork down with regret, Pastor Lee Won-sang opened his mouth.

“Butler Park Young-ja, I’m sorry, but could I please have one more plate of tea?”

“Oh ho ho, Pastor too. Sorry? The guests are enjoying the fruits of our labor, so I don’t even know how hard it is.”

At Pastor Lee Won-sang’s words, a woman who appeared from the steam room went back into the steam room and made a rustling sound.

The sound of peeling a fruit was heard, and after a while the flesh was cut, and a sweet scent spread faintly throughout the room.

“Please do not hesitate and eat as much as you can. It is the virtue of a pastor to feed the hungry.”

“Yes, I will eat well.”

I wasn’t the kind of person who would be so twisted that I would be upset with someone who generously gave me delicious food.

He does that to Lina because Lina is so unlikable.

Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.

Are the things I’m easily eating now really worth buying even a decent amount of weapons?

At the same time, why doesn’t he show any sign of discomfort when he sees me eating such expensive things like they’re just snacks?

Are you just doing this to get my favor? Or do you want me to take care of things?

Hmm… If you’ve only dealt with the old man once or twice, you should know that there’s no need to spread the money around like this.

I put the newly-made fruit in my mouth. Now that I think about it, I think I was looking at the Hanmaum Church with colored glasses, calling it a cult.

If you don’t force it on me blindly, then pseudo-religion… would be okay?

*

“Short hair, what did you eat like that?”

This is what the old man said as soon as he came out of the pastor’s office after the conversation. It felt bad because it sounded a bit like a reprimand.

Why did you eat so much? I ate because you gave it to me. And isn’t it worse to not eat and leave some? How much does one of those cost?

“Mister, you should eat it too. You just gave it to me. Besides, it’s rude to turn down a valuable favor.”

The old man pretended to pick at his ears as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have heard, and then suddenly took on a serious expression.

What is it…?

Why would the man who always said something about me not eating enough tackle me like this just because I ate a little?

By any chance… what was in what I ate?

I swallowed hard. Before I knew it, I was looking at the old man’s mouth and listening intently.

“Then you become a pig.”

“Shut up.”

I was nervous for nothing. That damn old man.

I kicked the old man’s shin with all my might. The old man made a loud noise and screamed.

It looks good.