chapter_0641

641 – Moldy Food

641 – Moldy Food

Wild boar.

My long-time nemesis.

The moment I saw it, fear blossomed deep within my heart.

Even though I knew it was no big deal now, it was hard to erase the relationship formed over a long time.

“Ugh…”

Still, I had to warn everyone about the dangers of wild boars.

As I tapped my immobile thigh, Gaeul, with her ears perked up, pointed at the wild boar with her finger.

“Kkukkuui!”

“Huh?”

The wild boar raised its head in response to the sound.

I hurriedly pressed Gaeul’s head down and hid among the bushes, and my family followed suit.

Since I had used an item to mask our scent, we wouldn’t be detected by the wild boar.

“Hey, you guys, don’t make loud noises in front of a predator.”

When I warned Gaeul, she nodded quietly.

However, Bomi and Haneul, who didn’t know about my relationship with the wild boar, were puzzled.

“Gyeoul, why is the wild boar a predator? It shouldn’t be a match for you.”

“That’s right…!”

They were questioning why I was scared when it was obvious I would win.

I wanted to show the kids a cool side of me, but I decided to just be honest here.

“Well, actually, I used to live alone in the mountains, you know? Back then, I was really weak…”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah… I used to get bullied by wild boars a lot. They would break my tent and steal all the crops I grew.”

Hehe.

It was a moment where I smiled awkwardly out of embarrassment.

Around Haneul, who was watching the wild boar, a wild aura began to rise.

The wild boar flinched and froze in place.

“Master, what should we do about the wild boar…?”

“Um… For now, let’s leave it be. I want to teach people how to deal with mountain predators.”

“Ah…! Yes…!”

At my words, Haneul concealed her wildness.

As the wild boar regained the ability to move and looked around in surprise, I checked the chat window of the broadcast.

[Wait, what do you mean the wild boar broke your house…]

[Are you talking about the tent house where Gyeoul originally lived?]

[Gyeoul was famous back in the tent days, haha…]

[I was wondering why Gyeoul’s tent was torn up here and there; it was because of the wild boar?]

[Ugh… If I lived alone in a tent and the wild boar broke it, I would have lost my mind.]

“Ah.”

The viewers were discussing my past.

Rather than explaining it to them, I decided to gloss over it.

It was already in the past, and it had ended with a happy ending.

“Um… First of all, knowing the habitat of predators is really important for survival in the wild.”

[Oh, Gyeoul just brushed it off.]

[It probably isn’t a good memory. Let’s not mention it.]

It wasn’t a good memory, but it wasn’t that bad either.

Thanks to it, I was able to become who I am now.

Of course, I had no intention of bringing it up.

“Just knowing the habitat of predators can significantly increase your chances of survival. You can choose a safe camping site, secure food, and create appropriate shelters that match the level of the predator.”

[Shelter?]

A question filled with someone’s curiosity appeared in the chat.

Instead of answering, I decided to show it through action.

“Gaeul, do you have a shelter?”

“Hek…”

A large rubber shelter appeared in a spot invisible to the viewers.

I held the sturdy rubber shelter and asked Levinas for help.

“Levinas, could you dig a hole just big enough for this shelter?”

“Uh…! Arat…!”

Levinas quickly and discreetly dug the ground.

In just a matter of seconds, a hole was created that was enough to secure the shelter in place.

I placed the shelter into the hole Levinas had made and immediately stepped inside.

Just in case, I had my family step back a little.

“Look… Hey!”

After entering the shelter, I shouted loudly at the wild boar that was trying to move away.

The wild boar quickly turned back in response to the sound, and it looked like a reaper to me.

“Ugh…”

Indeed, the wild boar was scary.

But I was no longer the old me who would just take it.

“Come at me!”

I unleashed my wildness toward it and provoked it in my own way.

Sticking out my tongue seemed to have worked well.

“Kkiik!”

It stomped its feet and charged at me.

Even though I knew the shelter was safe from experience, fear surged within me.

“Nyahhh!”

With my scream, the wild boar slammed its head into the shelter.

Thud-!

The shelter shook violently, but its basic material was rubber.

Thanks to that, the impact was dispersed, and I was safe.

“Phew…”

Both my family and I let out a sigh of relief at the wild boar’s charge.

Thud-! Thud-!

After hitting the shelter a few times, the wild boar seemed to think it couldn’t win and snorted in anger as it moved away.

“See, did you see that…? If you know about predators in advance, you can prepare shelters accordingly…”

Huff.

I let out a sigh of relief and checked the chat window.

Perhaps because the shelter had a direct collision with the wild boar, the chat was rapidly scrolling up.

[It surprised me when it suddenly charged;;]

[Digging a hole and putting the shelter in was a big deal.]

[Gyeoul probably didn’t do this well from the start either.]

“Yes. I didn’t do this well from the beginning either. You all can do it if you practice.”

[Practice??]

[1 practice = death]

[So, does that mean we just need to find a wild boar and pick a fight??]

The practice process is indeed quite tough.

Having nothing to say, I just chuckled.

“I need to go home and eat now, so I’ll end it here for today.”

[No~~]

[Gyeoul bye-bye~]

[You worked hard.]

I looked at the shelter that had collided with the wild boar and turned off the broadcast.

Since it was a sturdy shelter that I had carefully chosen, it was only slightly scratched.

“Hehe.”

This is definitely my shelter.

No, now it’s Gaeul’s.

It was a moment where I fell into my own thoughts while looking at the shelter.

“Master, is it over now…?”

“Yeah.”

“Then…”

Haneul watched the spot where the wild boar had left.

Then, she exchanged light glances with Saebyeok and Ensia.

“Let’s go, I’ll lead the way.”

“Yes…!”

The three of them ran toward the direction the wild boar had gone.

In my flustered state, I could only watch their retreating figures.

“Kwaaaak!”

A little while later, the wild boar’s scream echoed throughout the mountain.

It seemed our family was not going to let the harmful wild boar go easily.

“…Kkukku an-nya?”

Gaeul, who was with me, tilted her head at the sound of the wild boar.

She was puzzled by the wild boar’s cry, which sounded more like a “kwaaak” than a “oink.”

**

We returned home and took a rest.

Gaeul took the Animal King Card from Levinas and started playing with Ravi.

“Kkaegui!”

“Gaegul gaegul?”

“Onni!”

“The duck… goes quack quack?”

“Hek… Kkukkuui?”

“Piggy goes oink oink, right?”

Gaeul shook her head firmly at Ravi, who was smiling with his eyes.

She had realized that pigs don’t just go “oink.”

“Kkukku an-nya.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Naeng! Kkaeek!”

Gaeul made a sound similar to a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Ravi, faced with this, opened his Horned Rabbit eyes wide.

“Does the pig go kkaeek?”

“Hek…”

“Isn’t that the sound it makes when you catch a pig?”

“Ing…?”

Gaeul, blinking her eyes, slowly turned to Saebyeok.

Saebyeok avoided Gaeul’s gaze, rolling her eyes to the side.

“The wild boar tried to attack Gyeoul. So I gave it a little punishment.”

“What? The wild boar attacked Gyeoul?”

“Yeah. But it failed.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

Phew.

It was a moment when Ravi let out a sigh of relief.

Levinas, who had been out in the park for a while, opened the door and rushed into the house at an incredible speed.

“Big trouble! Big trouble!”

“Huh, what…?”

“Our staff is eating food waste!”

“Food waste?”

“Yeah! They’re eating moldy food!”

Eating moldy food?

I used to eat that only when I was really desperate; what is going on?

Surprised, I ran with the kids toward the Ggaemmi Guild.

“Over there…”

I hurriedly opened the door and looked for the staff.

The office staff, Hwang In-ho and Shin Ah-rang, along with the blacksmith staff, Shin Hae-il and Betty, were all in the pantry.

A savory yet rotten smell wafted from the pantry.

There was also a strange ammonia smell.

“Oh, Master.”

Shin Hae-il waved at me.

Under the waving hand were various types of cheese and biscuits.

“Master, do you want some cheese?”

“Cheese?”

“Yeah. We made it at our house?”

The cheese Shin Hae-il pointed to had blue and white mold growing on it.

Cheese is supposed to have mold.

I felt relieved, but the kids’ reactions were different.

“Y-you can’t eat mold!”

“Gaeuri kkaakkajuka…?”

Levinas was running around among the people eating cheese, trying to stop them.

Gaeul was even willing to give up her precious snacks to make them stop eating the moldy cheese.

Seeing moldy cheese for the first time, it was no wonder they reacted that way.

In fact, I felt a bit of aversion too.

“Gyeoul, it seems our company is tight on budget. The staff is eating moldy food.”

“Hmm…”

That probably isn’t the case.

I scratched my cheek while thinking that to myself.

At least I was glad it wasn’t maggot cheese.

Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

Thank you so much for reading today!

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

I like cheese, but I don’t eat it much.

I always try and fail, try and fail…!