episode_0017

Through the internet, he learned to make traps and traveled all over the mountains setting up numerous traps.

He didn’t do it alone; he took two servants with him for hunting, and even hired a professional hunter, paying him to accompany them.

Using birds or small animals as bait, he caught them with his bow.

“Can we really catch a tiger with this?”

The hunter continued to shake his head in disbelief.

“Hehe. Why do you doubt? Do you think we can’t catch it?”

“How ferocious can a tiger be? It will probably just eat the meat and leave.”

“We’ll see about that.”

After about two days, they were able to catch a tiger for the first time.

When they found it, it was trapped in the trap, barely alive and almost dead.

“Wow, we really caught it? It’s still alive.”

“Haha. This is just the beginning. We will catch many more tigers with this trap.”

“It’s not dead yet, so let’s just leave it as it is. If you disturb it unnecessarily and it fights back, you could get seriously injured.”

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

There was no rush.

They left it there until it died so its skin wouldn’t get damaged.

After confirming its death, they removed the stones, carried the tiger’s body, and the hunter who accompanied them skinned it.

The tiger hunting continued for several months.

How many did they catch with traps?

A total of ten tigers!

Indeed, Korea was overflowing with tigers.

They also caught many small animals using bows and spears.

Having caught so many, the hunter said he had never caught this many in his life, shaking his tongue.

Enduring the cold and trekking through the mountains was extremely tough but excellent for physical training.

“I think this is enough.”

After finishing the tiger hunting, they returned to Hanyang (Seoul).

Before parting ways, the hunter asked if he could use traps himself, to which he chuckled.

“If I tell you not to use them, will you listen?”

“Haha. Of course. What trouble would I stir up by using them without permission?”

“Am I scary without any official title?”

“Yes, even without an official title, you are a nobleman.”

“You can use them as much as you want.”

If traps spread throughout Korea, they would catch more tigers, reducing the number of people killed by them.

When he brought home ten tiger skins, Gemi was astonished and couldn’t close her mouth.

“My goodness. Did you catch all of these?”

“Yes.”

“I knew you were extraordinary, but even so…”

“Hehe. Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“I can’t help but believe it when I see it, but it’s amazing.”

“I will give one to your father. Two have specific uses, and you can use the rest.”

“Me, use the rest?”

Her eyes trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.

Well, with such high-quality tiger skins, why wouldn’t she react like that?

“Will you give them to your father or brother?”

“Well, I don’t know if they will like them.”

“They will appreciate the precious tiger skins. With so many, you surely won’t regret giving them away.”

“Will it be a waste…”

But honestly, it felt like a waste.

The tiger skins he brought back were flawless, and if he were to sell them, they would fetch a hefty sum as luxury items.

Especially for his brother, he had no intention of giving them away.

Because of Gemi, he reluctantly had to send one tiger skin to his hometown and another to his brother.

He gave one to Hanhwak as well.

Even so, being able to give Gemi five tiger skins made him feel content.

#

Some time later, Gemi gave birth.

Was it six months ago?

One day, with flushed cheeks, Gemi approached him and cautiously tugged at his clothes.

“Huh? What’s this?”

With no baby yet, and although they were still newlyweds, she wasn’t a maiden who hadn’t spent her first night. Why was she acting so shyly?

After looking around, he took Gemi’s hand and gently pulled her.

“Let’s go.”

“What?”

“Um… A sign… No, it wasn’t a signal that was given?”

“What kind of signal?”

“Well, the bed…”

“Oh my!”

Gyemi’s face grew even redder.

“Hehe. The signal was given by you, making it embarrassing.”

“N-no, it’s not like that.”

“Then?”

“Uh, I think I’m pregnant.”

“…..”

For a moment, it felt like a misunderstanding.

“A baby? Life? Me? In a world inside a game?”

Of course, while living here every moment as if it were reality, whenever the help window popped up, it reminded me that this was a world within a game.

“Your Highness? Why are you silent?”

“Um… It doesn’t feel real.”

“What?”

“It’s hard to believe. That I have a baby. Ha… Haha… Hahaha. A baby! A baby~!”

Hopping around.

Someone might say I’ve lost my dignity, but what does it matter?

Isn’t it a joyous occasion?

For months afterward, I watched over Gyemi.

And finally, the day of childbirth arrived.

How nervous I was.

Internally, I regretted a lot.

‘Ah, I should have made it even if it took time.’

What I had in mind was the first antibiotic… Sulfapyridine!

Obtaining the blue mold to make penicillin is close to impossible probabilistically.

However, sulfapyridine, which can be produced through a chemical reaction, was difficult to make, but its effectiveness was 100%.

Why did I try to make sulfapyridine?

Because it treats puerperal fever that kills mothers after childbirth.

The inspiration for this idea came from a famous Japanese animation that depicted a scientist awakening after the extinction of humanity and advancing future knowledge.

Here, the process of making sulfapyridine is described.

Of course, this knowledge was also obtained through the internet.

‘It was too difficult to make it alone, so I postponed it…’

I prayed that Gyemi wouldn’t get puerperal fever.

And finally, the baby was born…

A daughter!

“Hahaha, a daughter! A daughter!”

Honestly, since it could be a world within a game, I never expected to have children.

It was quiet and nice with just Gyemi and me.

I was even more delighted because she was a child I hadn’t experienced in my past life.

But Gyemi seemed melancholic.

“It should have been a son… Your Highness, I’m sorry.”

“What are you saying! You’ve got such a beautiful daughter!”

However, any newborn baby is adorable.

So, while it may be normal not to use terms like handsome or beautiful, to my eyes, she looked so lovely as if she were wearing a halo.

My daughter, born in 1419, was named Miok.

Taking one character from Gyemi and one from Jinyok.

Even though I gave birth to a baby, I hired a wet nurse separately, and there were several maids and servants, so I didn’t have to take care of childcare myself.

‘I’ll have to use the inoculation method on Miok too.’

I was afraid to use the inoculation method on a baby who was still so young.

After all, the inoculation method isn’t without risks of death.

‘But it’s better than actually getting smallpox, right?’

I pondered, but the conclusion was that I had to do it.

In Joseon, smallpox was widespread, so it was easy to find cowpox to inoculate with.

However, I decided to wait a few years until Miok grew up rather than doing it right after birth.

Late at night.

Sneakily, like a thief in my own house, I opened the door where Miok, Gyemi, and the wet nurse were sleeping together.

‘Phew, what if they catch me?’

Did the baby want to see me?

Or did Gyemi want to see me?

On a moonlit night where objects were faintly distinguishable, I approached without a light.

‘Please, please endure and succeed.’

With earnest prayers, I took out the cowpox lymph from my pocket and inserted it into the baby’s nostrils.

Cough, cough.

Miok coughed.

In an instant, my spine turned cold, and my gaze went to Gyemi and the wet nurse sleeping in the same room.

But I couldn’t reach out to cover the baby’s mouth.

Fortunately, it was just two coughs, and the baby continued to sleep.

‘Thank you, Miok.’

After this incident, the incubation period ended, and the cowpox appeared.

“Oh my goodness! M-Miok!”

The wet nurse’s scream echoed.

“M-Miok…”

Thud.

계미 fainted upon seeing Miok’s face.

“Madam!”

I quickly caught her beside me.

It was fortunate that it was me; otherwise, it could have been a big problem.

Miok suffered for a month but eventually overcame it and survived.

Although there were marks left on her face, they were not as severe as mine and Gemi’s.

I considered it fortunate, and so did Gemi, but every time she saw the traces on Miok’s face, Gemi secretly shed tears.

Anyway, this is a story for another time.

#

#

As an unemployed commoner, time passed indifferently, and I managed my living expenses with the stolen money from before.

Gemi claimed it was money her father had given her, but even though she would get angry in front of me, she was grateful for parents who took care of their children behind their backs.

In reality, he never gave her a single penny and even told her not to come down for holidays.

Her older brother, who lived in the same Hanyang, completely cut off contact.

There wasn’t even a response to receiving tiger skin as a gift.

I realized once again how strict my father was.

“He must have been so strict that he decided and raised the futures of the three siblings from an early age.”

Even if he was a nobleman himself and a scholar, wouldn’t he have tried to teach them writing before giving up and deciding on an official career and raising them?

In the 21st century terms, my father decided and raised the futures of the three siblings as officials from kindergarten.