episode_0017

A giant mass slowly leaned forward.

Thud.

Only after my head hit something hard did I realize it was an apology, and I waved my hand.

“It’s fine, honestly, I didn’t even know what you were trying to do.”

Ah, so that’s what’s considered ‘nothing much.’

“Then what happens?”

So, it’s about creating a doppelganger.

Is this thing insane?

Stroke, stroke.

“Hehe.”

I stroked the head of Geomgeomi, who was clinging to my leg, and thought.

A widow who’s also a volatile woman? That’s an extremely dangerous combination.

Every step is a minefield.

Geomgeomi, you didn’t take revenge because I gave you bread instead of human flesh, did you?

I smiled at Geomgeomi, who was looking up with wide, innocent eyes.

“Pthh!”

Geomgeomi, smiling as she spat silk. When I wiped her mouth with my sleeve, a messy habit of hers, the wriggling children gathered around me.

The kids have all caught the silk-spitting habit.

As I wiped the mouths of the children who zipped onto my body, oozing spider silk, Geomgeomi’s mother chuckled and explained in a gentle voice.

A widow, a volatile woman, and mind-reading as a passive ability.

“I didn’t say anything, though?”

The spider-like entity, chuckling as it looked down at me, slowly shrank.

I stroked the children climbing on me, and in a blink of an eye, an unfamiliar woman appeared.

The woman, with elegantly braided dark purple hair, purple eyes, and her mouth covered only by a veil, chuckled and looked down at me.

And a woman dressed in a dark gray dress, seemingly woven from spider silk.

Is it standard practice for all women here to wear a veil?

She, now a tall woman easily over 2 meters, answered in a shy voice.

“It’s a bit unsightly for a man to see.”

Well, she doesn’t read minds because she wants to, so I don’t feel bad.

Rather, thinking positively, isn’t it good that we can communicate without me having to speak?

“First, I should introduce myself. I am Han Yuseong.”

I extended my hand, offering a handshake.

The woman, smiling shyly with her eyes, slowly approached—

And I stared wide-eyed at Geomgeomi, who had cut in line.

“I’m Geomgeomi.”

“Nice to meet you, Geomgeomi.”

As I held Geomgeomi’s small hand and shook it, the children pushed past their mother to get in line.

Bending down to shake each one’s hand, I smiled and exchanged names.

“I’m sorry, the children don’t know the common language…”

“And your name, Mother?”

My turn came to the mother, after shaking hands one by one like a politician on a campaign trail.

She took my hand with a shy smile and said her name.

“Talasha, please call me Talasha.”

“Please call me Yuseong Han too.”

An alias for an alias.

As I watched Talasha chuckle and withdrew my hand, the quietly waiting children began to chatter.

“Yes, yes, I know it’s hunting time, don’t rush me~”

Hunting time, huh? Nowadays, mothers seem to be raising their children quite robustly.

“This place is divided into various countries and regions. It’s quite amusing to see the former rulers, relying on their meager power, make such a fuss… so I enjoy hunting with my children.”

Talasha spoke at length about how it let them experience the vast difference in power.

The ecosystem of Dreamland was subtly brutal.

“Would you like to come and see?”

“Well, yes.”

There’s nothing else to do if I refuse, and Geomgeomi, clinging tightly to my leg, had her eyes sparkling.

She likes hunting, huh? When I go back to reality, I should go bug hunting with her.

“Hehe, I would have been sad if you had refused…”

Drip. Slimy spider silk flowed down from beneath her veil.

Since the mother started spitting silk, the children must have learned it from her.

Understanding perfectly, I set off with the children, Geomgeomi, and Talasha to enjoy hunting time.

As I glanced at the children scampering along like ducklings, thud, Geomgeomi, riding piggyback, slapped my forehead.

Alright, alright, I’ll only look straight ahead.

As I teased Geomgeomi, who was on my shoulder, by shaking her, delightful giggles echoed.

Then, tug, tug, a delicate hand pulled at my trouser hem.

I looked down to see a few children, separated from Talasha, looking at me with sparkling eyes.

I assessed the situation and, without hesitation, lifted the children onto my arms.

Geomgeomi, sitting on my shoulder, was as light as a feather, like a baby spider, so these must be the same.

As I linked my two hands like a loop, the children neatly sat on my joined arms, giggling.

As I watched them fondly, Talasha approached, laden with children, and said to me.

“You’re quite strong.”

“The children are very light.”

“Hehe, as a mother, I’d wish they were sturdier, though.”

“Sturdier than that?”

I pointed at a child who had run ahead and was growlingly biting something, and spoke.

As the child bit into the dog-like creature with its sparse teeth and shook its head, the creature, with its limbs torn off, howled.

But do spiders hunt like that?

“There are so many enemies, you see.”

As we walked, conversing, a precipice appeared before us.

As I pondered how to cross it, whoosh, Talasha extended her hand, and pure white spider silk shot up into the sky, forming a staircase.

We climbed the sturdy spider silk staircase and crossed the spider silk bridge that connected it like a suspension bridge.

There was a tiny mishap where my foot slipped and I almost fell, but I swung across the bridge like Tarzan, earning applause from everyone.

Haha, how embarrassing.

“Alright, everyone, one by one! Go on, run!”

At Talasha’s signal, the children, including Geomgeomi, started running on all fours.

With a scurry-scurry sound, the children raced, digging into the ground with their four paws in sticky mud, gnawing at the sky and biting into the earth.

“Ah, how lovely…”

Drip. Spider silk flowed from Talasha’s mouth as she watched the children.

Actually, the silk-spitting isn’t a big problem, but there’s another issue.

She, watching the children with a fond expression, was standing behind me.

Every time the tall woman let out spider silk, drip, drip, sticky spider silk clung to my hair.

Shake, I shook my head and looked up, gazing at the mouth subtly visible beyond the veil.

Beautiful lips, stained with sticky spider silk.

“Mother.”

“You can call me whatever you like.”

“Mom?”

“Not that comfortable, though.”

“Talasha, bend down for a moment.”

Talasha, without question, knelt down and bowed her waist obediently.

Purple eyes gazing at me with an innocent look.

Her eyes, sparkling as if containing stars, and irises woven like twisted spider silk, were impressive.

I silently wiped her mouth and veil with my sleeve.

Sticky spider silk clung to it, but a good shake was all it took to get rid of it.

“Oh…?”

“You should wipe your drool.”

It’s dripping on my head, you know.

Her purple eyes gazing at me narrowed.

Her eyes, beautifully curved like a crescent moon, stared at me quietly before whispering.

“You’re kind, and for the first time in a long time… I felt an emotion.”

You just said “how lovely.”

That’s an emotion too.

“…Hmph, I don’t want to talk to a grumbler.”

“If you do that, then…”

“I was going to help you remove the mark you’ve been branded with…”

A mark?

At the interesting news, tug, tug, I pulled Talasha’s wrist like the children who had pulled me earlier.

“What do you mean, mark…”

“Hmph.”

“Aww.”

“…Hmm.”

“Older sister.”

“Huh?!”

It’s a world where my antics, which would earn me a slap on the ear back on Earth, actually work.

Isn’t that practically a utopia?

I showed various acts of charm to Talasha, whose ears were red, and after a long standoff, she finally surrendered.

“Ah, alright—I called it a mark, but it’s not that serious.”

Usually, when people say that, it is serious.

The older women here have standards truly beyond imagination.

“Leruye, her scent lingers very strongly.”

“?!”

“I don’t hold a strong grudge against her, so it doesn’t concern me, but… like this, wouldn’t it be a matter of time before you become prey here?”

To be reduced to prey in Dreamland, a source of healing and inspiration.

I let out a silent scream at the terrifying future and looked at Talasha.

“How about I help you a little?”

Talasha’s face seemed to ask, “Don’t you want to take control?”

To ask a question when she knew full well I wouldn’t refuse.

Yet, I obediently nodded and awaited Talasha’s help.