< Chirp (3) >
-Kkiook!
Puuhk!
The Moss Monkey that got its head crushed fell from the tree. At the same time, Chirpie on top of my head flapped its wings.
-Cheep cheep! Cheep cheep!
It was a sign that the monkey killed just now had a magic stone.
I had found two F-Rank magic stones and fed them to it, and afterwards, when I caught monkeys with magic stones, it started to chirp as if asking for them. It seemed like it was feeling the presence of magic stones.
“Chirpie, you’re more of a big eater than I had thought.”
With this, it was already the sixth, but it was still flapping, saying it would eat. On top of that, unlike Peace, it didn’t even touch meat and only ate magic stones.
-Chirp! Chirp!
“Alright, alright.”
It hadn’t even been thirty minutes since you met me. But seeing how it was sticking right to me and even pressing for food, the kid was a bit shameless. Was it too young to distinguish people’s individuality[1]? Or was it that it regarded anyone as its parent if they fed it?
Moss Monkeys’ magic stones were usually around below the nape. When I took a knife and cut the skin, above my head, it was really tap dancing.
-Cheep cheep cheep! Cheep!
Ugh, blood splattered. Even though I was careful to the upmost, I couldn’t help but get, of course my hand, but also the sleeves to the elbow spotted with blood. I should wash at the pond or something before I go out.
I passed the magic stone over to the beak of Chirpie, who had come down to my shoulder in the meantime. It was small because it was an ordinary F-Rank monster magic stone, but it was still a size that was hard to swallow in one gulp, and yet it went down really well.
-Chirp!
“Are you going to eat more?”
-Chirp!
I didn’t know what it was saying, but it didn’t sound like it was full. Alright, let’s see how much you can eat.
I thoroughly rummaged through the not that large forest, and caught and killed Moss Monkeys. During a dungeon attack, you didn’t need to catch all the of the ordinary monsters. You just had to hunt over half of the entirety and catch the boss monster. But the more you hunted, the little longer the dungeon would be stabilized, so the Association recommended to exterminate as much as possible.
Technology that could accurately tell a dungeon’s saturation state hadn’t been developed yet, so in cases where you caught only half and came out, you had to separately report it.
I didn’t feel the presence of Moss Monkeys anymore, so I went toward the pond. Chirpie, who had eaten up the magic stones every time they appeared, must have been in a good mood because it was humming softly.
“If magic stones were normal food, your stomach would’ve already burst.”
While eating everything I gave it, in the end, it ate an amount that was larger than its body. Even if they were magic stones, they should still pass through the stomach, so it seemed like the absorption was fast.
-Cheep cheep cheep~ cheeeep
“You’re a glutton, a total glutton.”
This guy’s food costs would be formidable. Even if it was F-Rank, exactly how much was it?
The pond that was at the edge of the forest was considerably big. In the middle of the clear water where lotus-leaf-like things were floating, there was a small green island.
-Gooreureuk
Maybe it had sensed us, because a giant Moss Turtle extended its head. The long canine teeth were considerably threatening.
-Chirp! Chirp! Cheep cheep! Cheep! Chirp!
“…My head is ringing. Calm down.”
As soon as it saw the turtle, Chirpie started to make a commotion. It didn’t seem like it was frightened – was it asking me to catch it? Since it pestered me to give it magic stones after catching the monkeys, it seemed like it thought that that turtle’s magic stone was extremely appetizing.
-Cheep cheep cheep!
“Okay, okay.”
I thought that the excited Chirpie would fall off or something, so I lowered it from my head and held it in my arms. In the meantime, the giant turtle cut through the water and slowly came over. If you came over, then I was thankful.
-Koouhh!
“What koouhh.”
Swish!
I grabbed the long neck by wrapping a tentacle around it and,
Puuk!
I pulled strongly and flung it out of the pond. The upside down turtle struggled. Not dragging it out, I cut the bent neck with a knife.
-Cheep cheep cheep! Chirp!
“I got it. Just wait a mome-.”
[Surprising achievement! With stat F, attack skills less than F, and using less than three items, you have successfully attacked an F-Rank dungeon by yourself!]
……Huh? Suddenly why an achievement message window…
[S-Rank title ‘Miracle Rookie’[2] granted!]
Continuing, a miscellaneous items acquired window popped up. No, before that, what was this?
“Miracle Rookie?”
Was it a title you could get when you solo attacked a dungeon with stats and attack skills F-Rank or lower and using only a few items? The condition really was nasty. How could you get this? They should at least make it so that you can wear a lot of equipment.
Though I got it.
‘Did they consider it without the skills and stats from the Repayment skill?’
If someone had special skills like me, or had found a few high stat equipment with attack skills attached, I guess they could get it. Though who would do something weird like that. If you had equipment that could be used to beat a F-Rank dungeon alone, you should make a team and go to a D-Rank dungeon. On top of that, having that kind of ability meant that you were incredibly rich. Equipment costs should be in units of a billion, at minimum.
-Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp!
When I stood blankly, Chirpie went past urging to breaking out of my arms and jumping down. Then, it flapped around and dashed to the giant turtle.
-Chirp!
Ah geez, that glutton. Blood got all over your feathers. First, I cut the turtle’s belly and took out the magic stone. It was a F-Rank, but it was a boss monster’s magic stone, so it was considerably big. It was about the size of two fingers, so it was impossible for Chirpie to swallow.
-Chirp! Chirp!
“Ok, wait. I’ll break it for you.”
-Chirp, cheep!
When I was just holding the magic stone, it grabbed my pant leg by its small beak and stretched it. Why was it so greedy for food? I tsked and showed the magic stone to Chirpie.
“Look, it’s too big.”
-Chirp!
Chirpie, who had happily cried when it saw the magic stone, quickly bit the magic stone. Then,
-Chweep chweep chweep
Letting out gusty noises, it struggled to swallow it no matter what. Hey, would that go in? Why don’t you pass a camel through the eye of a needle?
“You’ll die like that. Hand it over.”
In case it would get sick trying to forcefully swallow it, I took the magic stone back. When I did, it froze as if shocked, and then it flopped down and,
-Cheeeeeeeep! Cheeep, cheeeeep!
It looked up at me and started to cry loudly. It was a tone that said that it was upset to death because its food was stolen. It was dumbfounding and it was cute; where did this kind of pig pop out from?
I quickly broke the magic stone and scattered it on the ground. Then, it excitedly pecked and ate as if it hadn’t ever cried.
I looked at Chirpie doing that for a moment and then opened the status window. I saw the newly registered title.
[Miracle Rookie(S)
A surprising beginner Hunter who solo attacked an F-Rank dungeon with very weak abilities.
Twice as many dungeon item rewards]
……Wow, twice as many item rewards. It really was good. It was quite good, but I didn’t need to do dungeon attacks.
‘They’re giving out these bauble[3]-like titles?’
Something like this was amazing[4] only if someone at least A-Rank got it. Especially if you went into an S-Rank dungeon, two S-Rank magic stones would fall out each time and there would be twice as many S-Rank items and if the first attack reward special items also fell out doubled, then it would be an incredible jackpot.
Giving this kind of thing as a title a stat F-Rank can get – were they joking around?
‘Though, even if it’s a low rank Hunter, it’s better than nothing.’
Even if I thought about it simply, the income was doubled, and it would be much easier to find a team using this. If you did well, you could follow into even a C-Rank dungeon.
Though as low rank Hunter use, it didn’t seem to be S-Rank level.
Would I be able to use it when the Repayment skill was initiated someday?
Outside of that, there weren’t a lot of items. Maybe because they were rewards from a solo attack, they were good despite being F-Rank, so it was almost to the level of being D-Rank dungeon attack rewards, but they were common things.
‘But this, if I attack a dungeon of a different rank by myself, would they give me a title as a reward?’
That was immediately captivating. If it was my current ability, I could beat up to a D-Rank by myself. A C-Rank probably would be possible too, but from there, it would get too big so if I went into attack by myself, I wouldn’t be able to finish in one or two days. There also wasn’t much time left for the Repayment skill, so it would be good to challenge up to a D-Rank safely.
‘I’m a little sorry to Peace, but I should say that I’m going to rest at home for a while and…’
The exclusive entrance pass was the problem. Still, it probably wouldn’t be hard to find up to D-Rank. If I couldn’t find one, then that was that. First, let’s just try.
“If you’ve finished eating, let’s wash up and go home.”
I washed my hands first and then took off my clothes and dipped them into the water. The blood seeping out spread over the surface and then disappeared. It seemed it would be hard to completely erase it, so it’d probably be better to wash cursorily and then buy new ones on the way and wear them before getting back.
I grabbed Chirpie too and dipped it in the water. When it got wet, it became about a quarter the size. So it was relying on its feathers, huh.
-Chirp cheep!
I wondered if I had wet the baby bird too much, but when the water was shaken off lightly, it became fluffy. Convenient.
Just in case blood drops had splashed onto my face, I washed my face too. When I doused myself with cold water, the inside of my head felt like it became clear.
At the same time the message content that had been pushed back for a bit came to mind.
‘Do I have to move more actively?’
I had thought the speed of the dungeons’ level of difficulty rising and number increasing would definitely be the same as before the regression.
But apparently it wouldn’t be.
They said they were delaying the progress, but it seemed like it couldn’t help but get faster than before.
‘The familiars could cover it to a certain extent… but instead of monsters should I pay attention to people?’
The person who made the system – no, since they said ‘we’, it was people – tossing me the quest to fill up with 50 S-Ranks seemed to mean telling me to prepare by raising S-Ranks. Since, if I found and raised Hunters that originally couldn’t reach S-Rank and couldn’t get special skills, like Yerim, or possibly Myeongwoo, then it would be a huge help for combat power.
Of course, because the optimized Awakening was limited to 30 days, I wouldn’t be able to use it often, but besides that, there was something else that I could do.
‘Special skill Awakening Center.’
It was something I had briefly wondered about making and then stopped.
After checking optimized skills with Seed-Leaf, a facility that prepared that person’s matching environment.
If people who would just get passable combat related skills, were Awakened suited to their aptitudes, it would obviously be helpful in various ways. Even if they happened to not get their optimized skills, if it seemed like a waste, I could apply the keyword and raise them, like with Myeongwoo.
“……The problem is that I only have one body.”
-Chirp
I grumbled as I twisted my clothes to squeeze out the moisture. Fuck, how could I do that many things alone? Raising monsters, checking the aptitudes of people too, Awakening them, applying the keyword to raise their skills too, and also connecting the Dokkaebi and Suk Hayan in my spare time.
Was it ‘please work alongside child care’?
“Still, letting go would be worrying for the future.”
So what if I had a building. If an S-Rank dungeon burst nearby, it would be boom. Just see, if something like a 1st rank dragon type burst out, it would become a sand castle.
I had thought I would be able to live at least the next 5 years without worrying, shit. Why was my life so difficult?
Taktak
I loosely shook the moisture off my clothes and then put them one. I also washed the soles of my shoes. I only put on the sunglasses and the cloth that covered my mouth, and then put Chirpie inside the upside down hat and covered it with the remaining cloth.
“You definitely can’t come out.”
-Chirp!
The sound was similar to a normal chick, so people would probably think I put in a bird. If it was a person you couldn’t even see the outer appearance of, you’d think it was a baby of a big type of bird.
I quieted Chirpie, telling it not to come out again, and left through the gate next to the pond.
When I left the dungeon management building, I checked my cell phone first. While inside the dungeon, the phone would have been out of service, and the piled up texts were only from unknown numbers. If it was discovered that I had disappeared, as soon as I had come out of the dungeon, my cell phone probably would’ve gone wild.
Before going back to Haeyeon Guild, I dropped by a clothes shop and bought new clothes to wear. I purposely picked a slightly loose shirt and put Chirpie inside, and then tried using Lizard Stuck on the Wall toward a sales assistant. Thankfully, the sales assistant couldn’t notice, of course me, but also Chirpie.
‘Chirpie, please stay quiet.’
It just didn’t need to make a sound.
Thankfully, after eating even the turtle’s magic stone, maybe its stomach was full, because it was half asleep.
I safely came up to the dorm floor using a similar method as when I was leaving the building. The entrance’s Hunter had put aside the book in the meantime and was knitting of all things. Maybe thanks to the high stat, the speed was really fast.
After reaching my house’s door and searching the surroundings, I let go of the skill. I took off the hat and sunglasses, and moved Chirpie back to the hat. Now all I had to go was go inside.
‘……Is it be okay to put a baby bird and a cat together?’
Suddenly a worry came up. Peace was a unicorn subspecies, but he was as close to carnivores and the cat family as a lion, and no matter how you looked at Chirpie, it was a baby bird.
……If I went in like this, wouldn’t there be bloodshed? No, in the first place, could I even raise them together? If I taught them not to harm each other, would they understand?
‘Even for monsters, they weren’t all carnivores, and there should be natural enemies among them.’
So I had to think about things like that if I had to raise several, huh. If Peace clawed at a dragon wing bone in front of Seseong’s future baby dragon, the atmosphere would be strange.
“What should I do?”
For now, I didn’t think it would be good to go in defenseless. With my current stats, it would be easy to block Peace, but I only had one body. It would be hard coaxing and teaching them, grabbing Chirpie on one side and Peace on the other. Should I call for the entrance’s Hunter for their help?
No, it would be good to get the help of someone acquainted with Peace. When would Yerim return? I was taking out my cell phone wondering if I should contact her, when I felt an approaching S-Rank.
“Hyung? You said you were going to sleep because you had a cold so what are you doing standing in front of the door?”
“…Then why did you come? I told you not to.”
“I wasn’t planning on waking you, just-.”
-Chirp
Chirpie cried. Yoohyun stared at me, the hat that I was holding. Um, I was caught faster than I had expected.
“……A chick?”
“I picked it up.”
It wasn’t a lie. It was just that the place I picked it up in was a dungeon.
-Chirp chirp
“You picked it up?”
“Someone threw it away in a hallway. Or it might have wandered in. Anyways I picked it up.”
“Is it really a chick?”
That little brother had an expression full of suspicion.
“It’s not a normal chick…”
Ah well, I did need to tell him. I lifted the hat’s cloth and showed Chirpie while speaking.
“It’s a baby monster.”
“What?”
“F-Rank. It’s weak. Wouldn’t someone have picked it up, unable to kill it, and then couldn’t raise it so they threw it away? Anyways, I do raise monsters.”
Like someone who leaves their dog at an abandoned dog shelter or a pet dog cafe. Please do not abandon your pets.
“……”
“Just consider it’s that.”
Yoohyun let out a small sigh. I was the one raising it, so why were you sighing?
“Even if it’s F-Rank, it’s a monster, so get it tamed. I’ll call over someone tomorrow.”
“Okay. Before that, while you’re here, help me persuade Peace.”
“Persuade?”
“If I just thoughtlessly go in, he might mistakenly think that I brought alive food.”
After roughly explaining the situation, I covered Chirpie with the cloth again and then opened the door. Maybe he had already noticed I had come, because I heard footsteps pacing past the inner door.
“Peace, wer- will you be good?”
I was going to ask him if he was being good, but I quickly changed it.
-Kkiang!
I pretended not to see him jumping, asking to be held, and went to the living room. It would be better for the location to be large.
“Okay, Peace. You can’t attack.”
I said, holding the hat and showing it. Peace might have noticed something because he kept on looking at that hat since a while ago. His ears were perked up and his eyes were bright.
“It’s not something to eat, but your dongsaeng, your younger sibling[5].”
I slowly took off the cloth covering Chirpie.
-Chirp!
A white and round head popped up. When it chirped again, Peace’s eyes widened.
“Your younger sibling-.”
-Keureureu
Hm, as expected, he didn’t see it as a younger sibling. In an instant, Peace bared his teeth and jumped up.
But right before the canines could touch the hat,
Tak
Yoohyun’s hard grabbed the scruff of Peace’s neck. Then.
Hwiik-
He threw him?! What, the hell.
…Han Yoohyun this bastard?!
[1] lit. ‘distinguish it and me’ where ‘it and me’ is one word that means ‘him and me, or that side and this side’. Normally it’s used when talking abt sides of sth, or sth like ‘distinguish between friend and foe’. But in this context I think it means more like chirpie can’t differentiate individual autonomy, like how babies & kids are naturally self-centered.
[2] the title is in eng transliterated to krn
[3] lit. ‘chicken ribs’ where one of the metaphorical meanings is ‘sth that is mostly useless but still a waste to throw away’. There’s no exactly corresponding word in eng, but ‘bauble’ brings into mind ‘sth pretty but useless’ so I thought it would be close enough?
[4] this word is used colloquially as slang as amazing/awesome, but it originally means ‘big success/win’ so it’s kind of a double meaning? So in the next sentence I tl’d it as ‘jackpot’.
[5] unlike krn, eng doesn’t repeat words for emphasis that often, unless you use a synonym instead, so in krn, yj said ‘dongsaeng’ twice, but I tl’d it like this