Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Unidentified Egg (1)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

A rural village in Hongcheon.

Even in this place full of rivers and mountains, people live. There's a village belonging to Hongcheon County, and even in that small village, there's a community center, a gateball court, a supermarket, an elementary school, and a middle school.

The young child who came to meet Jinwoo was a kid attending the neighborhood elementary school. An elementary school student being raised by his grandparents in place of his dual-income parents.

"What's your name?"

"It's Park Suho!"

Suho answered Jinwoo's question spiritedly.

Rural children generally don't have many things to play with. Since it's not like there's a PC bang in the neighborhood.

They play mobile games with friends at the community center where the Wi-Fi works, and when they get tired of that, they frequent the neighborhood valleys or mountains like their own home. Because of that lifestyle, they are generally relatively fearless.

(Anonymous 1): Hmm, that kid's cute.

(God of Rain and Sunlight): Indeed.

(Father of Crops): If he's a country kid, he must be very interested in farming.

(Water God of Cheongha): That fellow is quite handsome.

He certainly had cute looks.

"Did you come alone?"

"Yes, to take a walk."

"It'll get dark soon, aren't you scared?"

"It's okay!"

Suho answered Jinwoo's question spiritedly while continuously looking at the Red Wolf meat.

"Want a bite?"

"Okay! Hehe, thank you!"

The kid ran towards Jinwoo, smiling. Jinwoo handed over the bowl containing the Red Wolf steak and wooden chopsticks.

"I'll eat well!"

"Okay, there's plenty, so tell me if you want more."

"Hehe, yes!"

"Where's your home?"

"It's right below this mountain. Because I play here all the time, if I'm late, Grandma comes to pick me up."

"Really? That's a relief. You should hurry home before it gets dark."

The mountain at night is dangerous even for someone with a good sense of direction. Moreover, it's more dangerous for the elderly. Because even with a flashlight, one misstep can lead to serious injury.

"Should I take you home today?"

"Okay! Hyung, what's your name?"

"Kim Jinwoo. Feel free to call me Jinwoo hyung."

Jinwoo chuckled looking at Suho.

'Did I also have a time when I was that cute?'

I felt like I understood why people use words like future and hope when looking at children. Even though he was someone else's child, seeing him eat well somehow made me feel proud and satisfied.

"Is it delicious?"

"It's super delicious! I eat beef often, but this is even more delicious than that!"

(Anonymous 1): Hoho, cute, so cute.

* * *

The Constellation, Anonymous 1, was staring intently at the system window from their star.

Leaving a chat message, they recalled past events. The time when they were human, not a Constellation. It must have been several hundred years ago. That time when they lived the life of a wanderer, traveling here and there as a hero of the continent. Anonymous 1 also had memories of sharing meals with children in the mountains like Jinwoo.

Anonymous 1 inwardly conveyed thanks to Suho and Jinwoo for making them recall those forgotten times.

"I'll need to save up some Coin for a while."

There are various ways for a Constellation to earn Coin. Anonymous 1 thought they'd have to work for the first time in a long time. Because they had to sponsor.

'Eating it after a long time, it's delicious.'

Anonymous 1 ate the Red Wolf steak while watching Jinwoo and Suho. It melts gently in the mouth, and the unique sweetness of the Golden Apple and the savory taste of butter spread fully.

Taste and sight are truly fascinating. Because when you see scenery similar to what you saw before and eat food you ate before, you get lost in nostalgia as if summoned to the memories of that time.

Thanks to Jinwoo, Anonymous 1 began to feel once again that time when they had walked the world most happily.

* * *

After taking another bite of the Red Wolf, I looked at Suho.

Suho beamed, saying it was the first time in his life he'd eaten food like this. There's one thing I felt while eating the Red Wolf steak together with the kid.

Suho's grandparents run a rather large livestock business. Those many cows down below the mountain were the cows raised by Suho's family.

In that case, Suho must have eaten lots of expensive, good Hanwoo; receiving acknowledgement for the Red Wolf steak from such a Suho, a smile formed on my face.

You know, don't they say that young children can't lie?

Thinking my butchering and cooking skills had been acknowledged, a smile naturally formed on my face.

"It's super delicious!"

"Haha, that's good."

I got quite friendly with Suho.

The kid ate more than I thought, eating a lot of the Red Wolf steak, and in that process, we chatted about this and that and got friendly.

"Shall we go home now?"

I went down the mountain taking Suho with me.

The Constellations, having watched much of the conversation filled with the child's innocence, sent chat messages full of pleased smiles.

"Grandma, Grandpa!"

"Our little rascal, where have you been?"

"Hehe, I ate meat together with this hyung!"

I greeted Suho's grandmother and grandfather. The vegetable garden around the house and the cowshed where they raise cattle.

The grandfather, possessing considerably huge muscles, offered me a greeting.

"Thank you for playing with our grandson. We were worried because he was playing without answering his phone."

"Ah, right! I forgot to answer the phone!"

At Suho's words, the grandmother scolded the kid, and the grandfather and I chuckled.

"You're camping in the mountain cave here, right?"

"Yes, I think I'll rest a bit then go."

"Understood. I'll visit tomorrow bringing some snacks or something."

"Ah, okay. Thank you."

Countryside snacks are, with high probability, homegrown crops. Crops grown personally with the thought of feeding a grandchild have a high chance of being grown without pesticides.

Not missing this opportunity, I smiled.

"Haha, okay. Thank you."

Quietly looking forward to the snacks I'd receive tomorrow, I went back up the mountain.

(Anonymous 1): Wow, this bastard is really tenacious. He managed to extort something in the end.

"...I didn't extort anything. I merely don't refuse offered kindness."

(Anonymous 1): Yeah, yeah. Live persistently like that.

"Yeah, yeah."

Answering perfunctorily, I returned to camp.

When I returned to camp, I tallied up the Coins the Constellations had sponsored so far.

'Seems like I exceeded 500 Coin today.'

If you add up everything received so far, it's about 700 Coin.

If exchanged for cash, it's already 140 million Won. I don't urgently need money right now, so I could save up Coin a bit or buy other items.

'Maybe it's time to try spending some Coin.'

If you save it, it becomes poop anyway. For me, who can only live for a year, every single day is precious. I think I'll try spending all 700 Coin received over two days.

"Esteemed Constellations, please give me some advice."

Compared to yesterday, today was relatively uneventful. Cleared a Gate, grilled monster meat, met a neighborhood kid and got friendly.

So I had plenty of stamina left compared to yesterday, and I decided to spend all this stamina and concentration shopping in the Coin Shop.

That's right, meaning I will do this 700 Coin shopping very carefully. Because I said I wouldn't hoard Coin, not that I would spend it recklessly.

(Anonymous 1): If you're going to travel, buying travel-related skills is the right move.

(God of Rain and Sunlight): To get around various places, wouldn't teleportation or movement speed increase skills be good?

(Anonymous 1): No, f*ck, if you're going to do that, why travel?

(God of Rain and Sunlight): What's with the sudden outburst? Why are you angry?

(Anonymous 1): Traditionally, the charm of travel is slowly walking and moving while observing the surrounding scenery. Slowly feeling the surroundings change is the fun part. People watching is also a charm of travel. But if you use movement speed increase or teleportation skills, you can't feel that kind of fun.

Perhaps because he's a Constellation serious about travel, his personal philosophy is firm.

I hate to admit it, but I agree with Anonymous 1's philosophy. If I'm going to travel anyway, it's probably better to enjoy the leisure. And teleportation skills are too expensive. To buy this, I'd have to fleece the Constellations' pockets more.

(Father of Crops): ...I only put my crops up in the Coin Shop and have never bought anything, so I wouldn't know.

"Do you sell things in the Coin Shop too, Constellation-nim?"

(Father of Crops): That's right, because no matter how much of a Constellation you are, you have to earn Coin to use the community and watch broadcasts.

(Water God of Cheongha): If you gather a lot of Coin, choosing an Incarnation also becomes easier.

This was a fact I didn't know.

According to Habaek, if you gather a lot of Coin, you can buy Incarnation Contracts from the Coin Shop. And with that, you form an Incarnation—Sponsor contract.

(Water God of Cheongha): Also, viewing the lives of humans from one's homeland costs Coin too. In that sense, your broadcast is good in many ways.

(Anonymous 1): Hey you f*cking bastard, what are we going to do if you tell him that?

As soon as I heard those words, I grinned.

And I created the situation Anonymous 1 had worried about.

"Meaning you've been watching the human world for free, right?"

(God of Rain and Sunlight): How much have I sponsored you that you dare utter the word 'free'. Are you crazy?

"I'll receive just 100 more Coin. It would be fine if the four of you give 25 Coin each."

The Constellations object.

But in the end, I'm the one who wins.

In the end, I received 100 Coin.

"Thank you."

Leaving the 100 Coin aside as Coin to use in emergencies, I will proceed with the shopping using 700 Coin as planned.

"Anonymous 1-nim, what should I buy?"

(Anonymous 1): I don't know, just live extorting money.

"You know best about this kind of thing, Constellation-nim."

(Anonymous 1): ...I suppose so.

Anonymous began to respond to my flattery. The item he suggested was an Orb.

"Orbs?"

(Anonymous 1): Let's discard the sword you're using now and buy a new one. And buy a Fire Orb and a Water Orb and equip them on the sword. They'll be useful one way or another. Especially since you received the Water Shield skill from the Water God of Cheongha, right? The Water Orb will be very helpful.

Tempted by those words, after opening the shop, I chose a sword acknowledged as a C+ Rank item.

It was 300 Coin.

A large sum of 60 million Won in cash.

If I had bought it using my own cash, my hands would have trembled... but perhaps because I was buying it with what I received from Constellations, I was calm.

'Good... next are the Orbs.'

As recommended, I purchased the Fire Orb and the Water Orb.

200 Coin each.

Having finished buying the items, I smiled with satisfaction. Who would have known that I, who used to haggle for used items because I couldn't even buy one proper item, would become like this?

It was then.

The unidentified egg that was inside my bag instantly absorbed the two Orbs I had bought.

"...What?"

(Anonymous 1): ??

(Water God of Cheongha): What is this?

(Father of Crops): Did that egg absorb the Orbs?

(God of Rain and Sunlight): That phenomenon, I've seen it before. It seems I might know that egg's identity.

I asked the God of Rain and Sunlight.

"Please tell me!"

(God of Rain and Sunlight): What will you do for me?

Damn it, it was a case of 'like streamer, like viewer'.