Do-Jun got up from his seat after finishing dinner.
He was getting ready to finish some office work, which only involved grabbing his work-issued SpacePad from the office and putting on his sneakers. With the Fissure surveys nearing their conclusion, only one remained on Do-Jun’s list: the F-rank Fissure known as the Horned Squirrel’s Cave, home to Anne’s nest.
Having just finished washing the dishes, Yoon-Hee wiped her wet hands on her apron as she bid him farewell at the entrance.
She also patted Byeol, who was sticking close to Do-Jun like glue, and smiled. “Byeol, listen to Daddy, okay?”
When Do-Jun entered the Fissure, he turned on the SpacePad. A clear, melodic voice echoed, as smooth as rolling pearls. Advancements in technology made machine voices nearly indistinguishable from human ones.
[Welcome to the Fissure Management System.]
[Accessing information for Fissure Hyoamdong-001, Yongsan District, Seoul.]
[Activating Inspection mode.]
Do-Jun and Byeol started their walk along the path inside the Horned Squirrel’s Cave. It was Byeol’s first time seeing a cave-type Fissure, and she looked around curiously, marveling at her surroundings. She paid special attention to the stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
“This is sparkly!” she said, pointing at a glistening stalactite.
“That’s because they have mana,” Do-Jun answered.
“Does that mean they’re mana stones?”
“Kind of, but they don’t have enough mana to be used as one.”
Byeol seemed fascinated by Do-Jun’s work. As they walked, he would occasionally stop to take photos or jot down notes with his pen. Today, the cave was devoid of other Hunters, so aside from the monsters, it was just Do-Jun and Byeol.
The Horned Squirrels quickly darted away as soon as they spotted Do-Jun. This wasn’t specific to him; it was simply their survival instinct to hide from humans. However, when Byeol strayed even slightly from Do-Jun, the Horned Squirrels would rush toward her. They didn’t attack but instead seemed to shower her with affection, rubbing against her as if trying to be cute.
“Go away!” Byeol waved her hands in annoyance.
“You smell like one of us!”
The Horned Squirrels rubbed against Byeol’s legs. She was dressed in a short summer dress, with her calves exposed, and the soft fur of the Horned Squirrels brushed against her skin.
“Ahaha!” Byeol giggled at the tickling sensation.
“State your identity!” the Horned Squirrels urged her.
Initially laughing, Byeol eventually became serious as the ticklish sensation turned into irritation. Despite her protests, the Horned Squirrels continued to cling to her, causing Byeol to alternate between uncontrollable laughter and glares with furrowed brows.
Hearing her annoyance, Do-Jun stopped in his tracks and sighed. When he turned to look, the Horned Squirrels instantly scattered.
“Waahhh!” Tearing up, Byeol ran to Do-Jun and threw herself into his arms.
He picked her up and gently patted her head. “There, there. It’s okay.”
“Daddy! They wave mean to me!”
Do-Jun scratched his head, then pointed toward the fleeing Horned Squirrels.
“Eh? W-what’s happening to my body?!” Against their will, the Horned Squirrels suddenly began running back toward him.
More than ten Horned Squirrels assembled in a neat line before Do-Jun. Although they desperately wanted to flee, they were frozen in place, paralyzed by an unseen force.
“Do you all want to play with Byeol?” Do-Jun asked the squirrels.
One of them cheekily stuck out its tongue and said, “Nunya.”
Clicking his tongue, Do-Jun grabbed the squirrel that had spoken by the head, lifting it into the air and bringing it close to his face.
“Care to repeat that?” he said to the squirrel.
“P-pardon...?” The Horned Squirrel’s face turned pale.
How could a human possibly understand monster language?
Byeol stared intently at the Horned Squirrels, who now kept their distance. Do-Jun had told her to play with the squirrels while he finished his work. Although she enjoyed walking around with him, Byeol had grown slightly curious about the squirrels.
“What’s your name?” a Horned Squirrel asked.
“My name’s Byeol. Daddy gave it to me.”
“That’s a nice name. So, what kind of monster are you?”
“I’m not a monstah! I’m a pewson!”
“Then why do you smell like one of us?”
The one she called “Daddy” was undoubtedly human, but in the squirrels’ eyes, Byeol wasn’t human; she was a monster. Monsters, no matter their appearance, could instinctively recognize each other by scent.
“I smell like you?” Byeol asked, curious.
The squirrels recognized Byeol as a monster because she was one, classified as a mythical creature born in the Core. Of course, Byeol didn’t know this.
“Yep. And you have such an interesting scent. A really nice one,” the squirrel remarked.
“Maybe because I just took a bath?” Byeol offered an explanation.
Her lingering annoyance toward the squirrels for tickling her earlier had completely disappeared. In fact, she now found it amusing that over ten squirrels had gathered around her, listening intently as she spoke.
“What are your names?” Byeol asked.
“We’re just Horned Squirrels. We don’t have names.”
Hearing this, the other squirrels nodded with innocent eyes. They used to give each other names for fun, but they stopped caring ever since humans began entering the Fissure and capturing them. With no guarantee of who might be gone the next day, names had lost their meaning.
“Oh...” Byeol drooped her head.
She knew that humans hunted monsters, but learning that they couldn’t even name one another out of fear of disappearing the next day was a heartbreaking revelation.
“It is what it is,” a squirrel said in a sing-song voice.
Silence followed. Byeol stared at the squirrels, a sudden idea forming in her mind. She pulled out a coin purse adorned with a cute bear. Dumping its contents onto the ground, she began counting.
“What’s that?” a curious squirrel asked.
It totaled 2,100 won—a result of her careful saving.
Just then, Do-Jun returned after finishing his work.
“It’s time to go home,” he said to Byeol.
Byeol stood up and followed him, waving goodbye to the Horned Squirrels as they left the cave.
The Treasure Goblin Company was as bustling as ever, a lively marketplace filled with people searching for artifacts and those looking to sell them. Bibik was busy conducting business as usual, engaged in a heated argument with an adventurer.
“You said it only costs one chocolate bun, didn’t you?” the adventurer lashed out.
“There’s no label! Where the hell is the label!” Bibik did not back down.
“What even is this label you keep talking about?”
The adventurer was trying to buy an artifact, Taig’s Spear. The listed price was either eighty red mastery stones or one chocolate bun. After much effort, the adventurer finally managed to obtain a chocolate bun, only to have Bibik refuse the transaction.
The bun that the adventurer held in his hand was made from the sap of the Sugar Tree found on the fourth floor of the Core. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a true chocolate bun but a sweet pastry that resembled one.
“This is tasty too, you know!” the adventurer pleaded.
“Well, I don’t take fakes.”
“How the hell am I supposed to know which one’s real and fake if I’ve never seen one? Ugh, forget it! I’m not buying!” Frustrated, the adventurer stormed off, fuming.
Bibik clicked his tongue and sat down. As he recalled the taste of a genuine chocolate bun he had once tried—Choco Pie brought to him by a child named Byeol—Bibik froze. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“T-that kid!” he stammered as he noticed a child carrying a cute little backpack walking toward him.
Bibik immediately shot to his feet, waiting for the child to approach. His heart raced.
“Mistah,” Byeol said.
“Y-yes! Welcome back!” Bibik bent over so deeply that it seemed his head might touch the ground.
Byeol unzipped her backpack and pulled out a Choco Pie, showing it to Bibik.
“Do you want this?” she asked, holding out the chocolate bun in packaging bearing the label he had been so desperately searching for: Choco Pie.
Bibik teared up, nodding furiously. Then Byeol pulled out six more Choco Pies and showed them to Bibik.
She then added, “Under one condition, though.”
No matter the condition, Bibik thought, he would accept.
Byeol was back in the Horned Squirrel’s Cave. She opened her backpack and dumped out its contents with a loud thud. What spilled out were dozens of bright red vials, each containing around five milliliters of liquid.
[Elixir of Speed Enhancement]
Category: Consumable/Miscellaneous
Effect: Permanently enhances movement speed upon consumption (limited to one use per individual).
Description: An elixir crafted by extracting blood from the ancient monster Thunder Squirrel. Drinking it increases movement speed. (Effects cannot stack.)
“This is for you guys,” Byeol said to the Horned Squirrels.
“Yup. And I will also give you names.”
The Horned Squirrels lined up in formation in front of Byeol. Starting with the first squirrel on the left and continuing to the thirtieth squirrel in line, Byeol named them all: Squa One, Squa Two, Squa Three, and so on.
“Yippee! I have a name! Call me Squa Twenty-Three!”
The Squas downed the Elixirs of Speed Enhancement that Byeol had brought. Moments later, a red glow enveloped their bodies before fading away, and their qi subtly transformed.
“It feels like I’ve been... reborn!”
The Squas felt light as a feather. Some of them raced through the cave, their speed noticeably different from before. In fact, the Squas darted around the cave at blinding speeds.
Watching this unfold, Byeol quietly remarked, “Now, pay me back.”
Just out of the shower, Do-Jun sat on the sofa, drying his wet hair with a towel before dinner. He turned on the TV and switched it to a news channel.
⌜Now, for our next story. Hunters who ventured into the F-rank Fissure known as the Horned Squirrel’s Cave in Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu, have reported facing difficulties. The problem lies with the Horned Squirrels themselves. Reporter Park Ki-Dae is on the scene with more.⌟
Moments later, a reporter standing outside the entrance to the Horned Squirrel’s Cave Fissure started his segment.
⌜Thank you. This is Park Ki-Dae reporting live. Currently, many F-rank Hunters are struggling because the Horned Squirrels have suddenly become incredibly fast. Even higher-ranking Hunters are finding it difficult to keep up with them or hit them with mana guns.⌟
The reporter held his microphone out to a nearby Hunter for a comment.
⌜You know what, just watch for yourself. If you blink, they’ll be gone. Thankfully, they don’t attack, but... the weirdest thing is, they go crazy whenever they see money. It’s absolutely terrifying.⌟
⌜I heard they stole a one-hundred-won coin from you. Is that happening to others, too?⌟
⌜Yes. They only take one-hundred-won coins. Not a single won more or less. Just one hundred won exactly.⌟
Why the Horned Squirrels were taking exactly one-hundred-won coins was a mystery to everyone.
Except for Do-Jun, that is.