By Zephyria It had been a full day since he left home. Compared to the time spent, the return trip felt heavy with the weight in his arms.
Jin Mu-hae had purchased Guiho leather, set aside by the owner of the Central fabric store, for nearly 9,000 dill.
It was a pretty insane price, but the moment he saw the quality of the item, he couldn’t hesitate. This wasn’t something you could buy just because you had money.
Besides, he had been lucky enough to receive that exact amount of money just in time.
Watching the leather, which had a reddish hue from some kind of treatment, Jin Mu-hae seized the great fortune that had come his way without delay.
“Buy lots of meat skewers, good.”
“You can buy them near the house, is there any reason to carry several kilos all the way back…?”
“It’s different. It’s the Seogyeong City version.”
“Do as you please.”
He handed the remaining money to Joo-oh. He was thinking of adding to it if there was anything he wanted to buy.
But he poured it all into buying cheap snacks at a makeshift rest stop outside Seogyeong City.
He filled his bag to the brim and even carried an extra bag, munching away inside the Small aircraft all the way back to Goryeo City.
It wasn’t even an hour’s journey. By the time they were about to get off, everything in the bag had disappeared, leaving only the contents of his backpack.
“The sticks.”
“Put them in the bag.”
He was vaguely uneasy that there were no remnants of the eaten skewers, but he figured even he wouldn’t have devoured those too, so he let it go.
As Jin Mu-hae, with Joo-oh trailing behind him, arrived at the back gate of Goryeo City, people’s gazes gathered once again.
This time, they were openly staring at Joo-oh. At the golden goblin emanating a delicious smell from his bulging bag… no, the meat skewer goblin.
“Wow… I heard you hit the jackpot near Seogyeong City this time?”
Someone spoke in an unpleasant tone. It was obviously a Jackal mercenary.
Mu-hae didn’t even turn his head in that direction, just nudged Joo-oh and took care of him. He planned to tell him to pull his hat down even further once they got on the hover truck.
It was a nuisance. Even with his face completely covered, Joo-oh seemed to attract attention in a strangely conspicuous way.
“There will be some leather scraps left over.”
“Really?”
“When we get back, I’ll make shoes for you with them.”
He glanced at Joo-oh’s boots, already tattered from how much he had worn them, and Joo-oh’s mouth gaped open.
“The same as Jin Mu-hae’s?”
“Suit yourself if you don’t want them.”
“No! I want them!”
For a moment, Jin Mu-hae could practically see Joo-oh’s half-covered face. He must have been wide-eyed, looking overjoyed.
“I want them so much.”
“I get it, so put on your mask.”
“Ugh, oww.”
“Who told you to cover your mouth? Just put on your mask.”
It wasn’t like he didn’t know he played a significant role in catching the Aberrant.
He should be asking for half the reward money, but he was thrilled with just a bit of leftover leather. It felt a little strange.
It wasn’t a bad deal for Mu-hae, but he felt uneasy. It was like having a camera attached to his clothes and being sent in place of someone else for a transaction.
“Get in. Let’s go home.”
“Okay!”
He was even newly moved by the suggestion of going home, clinging tightly to Mu-hae’s arm.
Joo-oh didn’t let go of his arm until they got off the hover truck on Starlight Road and entered their shabby home.
It was annoying, but he had a lot to think about. He had a lot of work to do. Jin Mu-hae decided not to care whether he was almost hugging him or not.
[Would you like to view the log?]
Yes
* * *
[Day 5640]
I eat the same food as Jin Mu-hae and live in the same house.
Now I even get to wear shoes made of the same leather as Jin Mu-hae’s trademark red jacket.
I succeeded. I think.
No one who played this game has ever gotten as close to Jin Mu-hae as I have.
Of course. I’m probably the only one who crash-landed in this game like this!
Today, I finally witnessed the glorious moment when Jin Mu-hae upgraded his jacket.
This one suits Jin Mu-hae better than the gray clothes he was wearing when we first met.
I wonder if the new boots suit me too. Jin Mu-hae just said, ‘They fit perfectly,’ so I don’t know for sure.
I told him they looked good on me, but he was a little cold.
But that’s what makes him more like a protagonist and cooler.
Hmm…
To be honest, that day was a bit hectic.
I knew that Jin Mu-hae wouldn’t get hurt if I stepped in.
But I didn’t expect my head to suddenly throb like that. Something was bursting out from inside.
I felt like I shouldn’t, so I swallowed it down with great difficulty.
▒▒▒
I saw the same thing.
I want to ask my malfunctioning More Form mode what would have happened if I had left it as it was.
If revealed-
Yeah. I can’t become that. What can be by Jin Mu-hae’s side is a human, not an Aberrant.
The story is slowly reaching a turning point, and it would be a problem if I fell away from his side.
I was so excited and thrilled to suddenly enter the Central area of Seogyeong City.
[Side] Need new clothes (Completed)
Originally, Jin Mu-hae would report the Aberrant hunt and spend the night in a shabby lodging at a makeshift rest stop outside Seogyeong City.
Then, thanks to the consideration of a Seogyeong City citizen who lost a friend to the 〈1st Class〉 Stonemason, he would receive a temporary pass and go to the factory district.
He would bring up the keyword ‘caught the Stonemason’ to a merchant who recognized Jin Mu-hae and obtain the red hidden leather.
Entering Seogyeong City Central during this period is a development I’ve never experienced in countless playthroughs!
What is it? What was different?
Was it because I got the beacon parts instead of Jin Mu-hae?
But all you can expect from that is a change in exposure.
I don’t know what happened…
But Jin Mu-hae eventually got the leather, and he made me shoes too.
I now have weapons, shoes, and I’m the only person Jin Mu-hae touches. -Probably-
Soon, a signal will come from Gu-reum, and all the necessary parts are proceeding properly.
A new helper will appear when we move on to Chapter 2.
I have to follow Jin Mu-hae more diligently if I don’t want to miss anything.
I want to be with Jin Mu-hae longer.
Nom
Mmm!
I’ve filled my Inventory with tons of incredibly amazing-tasting jelly and Seogyeong City’s special meat skewers.
I won’t be hungry for a while. I’m a being who thinks a little more than usual when I’m not hungry, can smell Jin Mu-hae, and can touch Jin Mu-hae.
I am Joo-oh who thinks!
So, whatever happens, it’ll be okay.
As long as Jin Mu-hae doesn’t disappear, new variables are just fun.
* * *
Static-.
[Log saved.]
Jin Mu-hae put on his new jacket and carried out a Company request.
This time it was an escort mission. A simple task of taking two of their employees to the Crystal Zone to inspect it directly and bringing them back.
It was a stable mining area where variables rarely occurred. The amount of Blue Energy produced was small, but thanks to that, steady mining was possible.
So, he wasn’t too nervous even with Joo-oh in tow. What was surprising was that Joo-oh also didn’t do anything strange in front of them even once.
The people he was escorting weren’t just any riffraff from the slums, so he even let him take off his hat so he wouldn’t feel stifled…
‘Do the two of you always work as a pair?’
‘With a temporary citizenship… you practically have to be a pair. If one of them causes trouble, the guarantor shares the risk.’
‘Since we have added manpower, we can put in requests with a higher difficulty.’
Joo-oh attracted too much attention from them. Mu-hae thought it was because of Joo-oh’s aura.
If he kept his mouth shut and didn’t act up, he seemed like a sort of hidden card.
He was dressed like a mercenary, but his face looked noble, and unlike someone who did rough work, his hands had no scars or calluses.
In the midst of all that, he even lifted and moved a heavy machine that had to be transported by mobility with one hand.
In short, he seemed like someone hiding something great. That’s how Mu-hae felt, so how much more would the Company people feel it?
However, he kept munching on something by himself, so he peeked and saw that it was the meat skewers he bought in Seogyeong City.
He didn’t even know if there were any left, but he even brought them in something and was eating them even in a place like this.
When he tried to offer them to the Company people, Jin Mu-hae grabbed his wrist with lightning speed and stopped him.
‘You’re the only one who eats that kind of stuff.’
It was a rebuke that only guys like you eat that kind of food, the Company people wouldn’t even touch it.
Joo-oh really smiled brightly, as if he understood it in some other way. It was a smile that was worth seeing, to the point where he felt nauseous for no reason.
That’s how another week passed by like flowing water.
Jin Mu-hae provided Joo-oh with food to inhale every day, looked through his father’s records, and tried to understand the formulas and explanations he had never learned.
The funny thing was that it wasn’t an entirely impossible attempt. Even though Mu-hae had been working as a mercenary since he was old enough to think, he wasn’t completely without a foundation.
The codes and seemingly trivial common sense that Teacher Jung and his father had made him memorize since he was young were actually thoroughly refined ‘knowledge.’
They had really marked Mu-hae early on as the next in line for the failed plan.
The more he analyzed the Return flight records, the more Jin Mu-hae felt that fact to the bone.
Beep- Beep- Ping-!
One evening. A signal he had never heard before rang from Jin Mu-hae’s wrist while he was eating.
Mu-hae instinctively realized that this was a signal related to the Return flight.
Even Joo-oh seemed to feel a similar sensation. He was sitting across from him, diligently reducing his meat sandwich and frozen vegetables, and he even stopped eating and looked at Mu-hae.
Beep- Beep- Ping-!
[Pending reception: 1 case]
[Connect/Cancel]
Suddenly, someone’s contact came through the beacon. A familiar serial number filled Mu-hae’s eyes.
It was ‘Gu-reum.’ A figure on the emergency contact list who had been constantly trying to connect for the past few weeks, and a participant in the Return flight in the past.
He had finally responded to the call.