Chapter 50: Your Honor, I'm Innocent (1)
Vroom.
"So, what kind of world is the Continent of Aernor?" Oh Kang-Woo asked Echidna while driving back to his place.
Echidna was sitting on his lap. Kang-Woo had initially offered her the passenger's seat, but she didn't budge from his lap.
'Well, it's not like she's bothering me.'
Because Echidna had become so small, she was more cute than a bother.
[I'm not sure what you mean.] Echidna seemed troubled by Kang-Woo's question.
Her reaction was understandable. It was probably similar to asking someone from Earth what Earth was like.
"Hmm... What kind of nations there are, what kind of people live there, how they live—stuff like that."
[Okay. First, the largest nation is the Arnan Empire. Then...]
Echidna's explanation continued for quite a while.
The Continent of Aernor that she was describing was a place similar to a world in medieval fantasy stories, where people used swords and magic. It was a world in which fairies, monsters, and dragons existed.
'In that case, do the monsters in Gates come from Aernor?'
Monsters like Goblins and Trolls, which appeared in the Gates, did not exist in Hell. They were monsters that used the power of mana stones to move, rather than demonic energy.
At first, Kang-Woo thought the monsters in the Gates were weak compared to demonic beasts like the Hellhound or Buer, but that wasn't necessarily true.
'A demonic beast like the Buer shouldn't be appearing in a B-rank Gate in the first place.'
If the Buer had appeared in an A-rank Gate, the situation wouldn't have been as chaotic.
'Monsters aren't weak. The monsters in S-rank Gates are proof of that.'
Kang-Woo couldn't ignore them just because they weren't demonic beasts.
"Tell me about yourself too, Echidna," Kang-Woo requested while turning the steering wheel.
[Me…?]
"Yeah. Stuff like how your life was like, and how you got involved with Reynald."
[I... used to live with my dad. But one day, he left me and disappeared.]
"He disappeared?"
[Yeah. After that, I spent all day reading in my lair until someone suddenly entered it...]
"And that was Reynald?"
Echidna nodded.
Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and said, "You must have been lonely."
[Yeah... I was so lonely,] Echidna replied in a depressed voice.
Kang-Woo didn't really understand how she felt because he didn't know what loneliness felt like.
'There hasn't been a time when I wasn't lonely.'
He had lived alone since he was born, so his sense of what loneliness meant to others had dulled considerably because being alone was normal for him.
"Then, how did you get summoned here?"
[While I was fighting Reynald, I felt like someone was calling me. Then a Gate suddenly appeared.]
"Hmm."
Kang-Woo still wasn't sure what the mechanism for the summoning was, but it seemed like the reason wasn't that she'd wished for it.
"We're here."
They eventually reached the shabby apartment complex where Kang-Woo lived with Han Seol-Ah.
[So, this is Kang-Woo's nest...]
"No. The word nest is a bit... To be honest, the apartment isn't even mine."
Kang-Woo smiled awkwardly and parked the car.
His car stood out quite a bit among the other more reasonably-priced domestic cars in the parking lot.
'Maybe I should just buy a place.'
He didn't intend to live apart from Seol-Ah and her mother, Kim Mi-Jeong. However, it couldn't be denied that their apartment was shabby and small. Seeing as Kang-Woo was now earning a lot, it seemed like a bad idea to move to a bigger place.
'Hopefully somewhere near the Red Rose Guild.'
Kang-Woo and Cha Yeon-Joo had become true allies. He was quite satisfied with their relationship and wanted to maintain it, so he thought moving closer to the Red Rose Guild's base would make it easier for him to do that.
'We could also go to the internet cafe together.'
Kang-Woo laughed as he recalled that time when Yeon-Joo flipped out.
"Let's go."
[Okay.]
Kang-Woo lifted Echidna and walked toward the apartment.
* * *
"Kyaaaa!!" a scream rang out in the living room.
"So cuuute!!" Seol-Ah took Echidna from Kang-Woo and hugged her aggressively.
Echidna flapped her wings as she felt two big balls of flesh pressing against her.
[S-Save me, Kang-Woo!] Echidna called for Kang-Woo desperately.
Meanwhile, Kang-Woo gulped. 'I envy you.'
In Kang-Woo's eyes, Echidna was screaming out of pleasure.
[K-Kang-Woo...]
Of course, in reality, she was suffering.
"You said her name's Echidna, right? Haa... How can she be so cute~?" Seol-Ah shrieked elatedly.
"I didn't think that you'd have zero aversions to it," Kang-Woo said.
"Why would I be averse to such a cute summoned beast?" Seol-Ah looked at him confusedly.
Kang-Woo laughed. "She's still a monster."
"But she's cute! Cute things are justice!" Seol-Ah hugged Echidna even tighter.
Kang-Woo laughed upon seeing a side of Seol-Ah that he hadn't seen before.
[S-Save me...]
"Echidna is struggling, so why don't you let her go first?" Kang-Woo said.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was too caught up in the moment," Seol-Ah replied.
Seol-Ah finally let Echidna go. As soon as Echidna was free, she flew toward Kang-Woo, hid behind him, and glared at Seol-Ah warily.
'I guess her strength also reduced along with her size,' Kang-Woo realized.
If Echidna had her original strength, there was no way Seol-Ah would've been able to keep hugging Echidna if she wanted to break free.
[Kang-Woo, that person is scary.]
"Well, she didn't have ill intentions, so don't be so wary of her."
Echidna was hiding behind Kang-Woo like a scared child. He found that cute and patted her head softly. Echidna closed her eyes and rubbed her head against his hand.
'She's cute.'?Kang-Woo smiled and kept patting her.
He felt like his emotions, which had dried up after spending so many years in Hell, were finally returning to him.
"How have you been doing, Seol-Ah? Are your hunts going well?"
"Oh! Yes, of course. We're leveling up super quickly, so we'll be getting our Third Awakening soon. Then we'll be able to move on to C-rank Gates."
"That's good to hear," Kang-Woo said while nodding.
He wasn't surprised by Seol-Ah's abnormally fast leveling speed.
'After all, Kim Si-Hun is with her.'
Kim Si-Hun, the Player who had the overpowered SSS-rank Trait, was leading the party, so it was only natural that the rest of the party would also level up fast.
'Moreover, Tae-Soo and Seol-Ah are talented.'
Choi Eun-Bi, who was a ranged damage dealer, was also quite talented compared to an average Player. So, it would be strange if they took a long time to level up despite their great talent and Si-Hun helping them.
"To think that we'd level up so quickly... I was surprised. Fufu. This is all thanks to you, Kang-Woo."
"I didn't really do anything, though."
"What do you mean? You have no idea how much your feedback during our first hunt has helped us. And... if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even dreamed of living like this." Seol-Ah smiled, blushing slightly.
Seeing that smile made Kang-Woo happy.
'Wanting to be loved, huh...?'
He thought of his very distant past, which he had recalled when he met Echidna. The memories were from back when he was a child who craved love and affection.
'It's not a bad feeling.'
It felt nice to have someone give him such a blatant show of affection. Kang-Woo sat on the couch with an unfamiliar but warm feeling in his chest.
"Ah! Let's have a party to celebrate Echidna's addition to our family. Fufu, it's all on me today," Seol-Ah said.
"Are you sure?"
"I've been making lots of money in my hunts with Si-Hun, Tae-Soo, and Eun-Bi, so this much is nothing to me now," Seol-Ah replied while smiling brightly.
It seemed like the poverty that had continuously harassed her had disappeared somewhat.
'It also has to do with the fact that she doesn't have to associate with Han Tae-Hyun anymore, I guess.'
In any case, it was an irrefutable fact that Seol-Ah was now able to smile in a way that she had never been able to before.
After hearing that Seol-Ah was going to host a celebration party, Kang-Woo nodded and said, "Okay, then let's get us some kimchi st—"
"No kimchi stew."
"Wh-Why?" Kang-Woo looked at her with his feelings hurt.
Seol-Ah sighed and answered, "You've been having kimchi stew every single day lately."
"That's true."
"… Don't you get sick of it?"
"How could I ever?"
Would he ever get sick of kimchi stew? There's no way something like that would happen.
After seeing Kang-Woo's determined gaze, Seol-Ah put her hand on her forehead as if she was having a headache.
"Anyway, let's eat something a bit more extravagant today," she said.
"Extravagant?"
"Fufu. Ta-dah! Please take a look at this, Kang-Woo!" Seol-Ah excitedly showed him a pack with a golden tag on top of it. "It's Hanwoo[1] beef! It was on sale today, so I bought some!"
"Hanwoo..."
"Let's have some delicious grilled beef sirloin today~."
Seol-Ah took the pack of meat to the kitchen with a smile on her face.
Kang-Woo said disappointedly, "How about we add that into kimchi st—"
"That would be an insult to the beef. Understood, Kang-Woo?"
"… Yes." Kang-Woo lowered his head in sorrow.
* * *
"I should go to bed soon."
After enjoying the beef party, Kang-Woo lay on his bed with a tired expression. Echidna flew over to the bed.
"Was it delicious?"
[… It was pure bliss.]
Echidna trembled elatedly while thinking about the beef she had just eaten. Kang-Woo smiled, lifted her, and placed her on his chest.
"It's been a long day, so let's sleep."
[Okay.] Echidna nodded and curled up on Kang-Woo's chest.
She quickly fell asleep. It seemed like she was tired because she wasn't fully recovered yet.
'Now that I think about it… If Echidna had turned into a human, we wouldn't have been able to sleep together like this.'
Kang-Woo didn't care about that now, since she was like a large lizard. Nevertheless, Echidna was female, so it would have been a huge problem if she had turned into a human.
'Well, I guess this isn't so bad.'
After patting the sleeping Echidna for a bit, Kang-Woo closed his eyes. His accumulated fatigue soon guided him into slumber.
* * *
The next day, Kang-Woo woke up and opened his eyes because of the bright rays of sunlight shining into his room through the window.
"Hmm?"
Just then, he realized there was something heavy pressing down on his body.
'Is it Echidna?'
However, it was too heavy for it to be Echidna. After all, it felt like it weighed at least thirty kilograms.
Kang-Woo looked down and found a naked little girl, who had long jet-black hair, asleep with her head on his chest.
"The hell?" Kang-Woo stared at the little girl bewilderedly.
"Zzz… Zzz…" The little girl was deep in dreamland, but she was firmly gripping Kang-Woo's clothes.
'What's going on here?'
Kang-Woo's expression became stiff at the sight of the little girl, whom he'd never seen before, sleeping on his chest.
'Is this a dream?'
1. Hanwoo is a breed of small cattle native to Korea. It's regarded as a premium, top-quality beef. 👈
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