Chapter 32: Rainy Days and First Vacations

The first day of a sweet vacation.

Though the sky was overcast and a gentle rain soaked the earth, Mujae’s heart was at peace.

“Gguuuuu~chya!”

“You sure know how to stretch with a bang.”

Watching Mujae sprawl out on the wooden floor, Hallakgoong clicked his tongue.

Whether his white eyes were open or not beside him, Mujae remained utterly unbothered.

“Aren’t you going home?”

“Do you want to be with your boss during vacation?”

“Ah.”

At Hallakgoong’s exasperated remark, Mujae recalled the previous day, which he’d momentarily forgotten.

Yesterday, the Promotion Team had staged a little insubordination(?) against Sara and managed to wrangle a vacation. It had happened just yesterday, but it already felt like ages ago.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

Even escaping from Northern Ice Hell was just yesterday.

Lying on the wooden veranda, Mujae heard the soft… tap… tap… of the drizzle pattering on the roof.

“But you know…”

As Mujae closed his eyes, white clouds drifted gently through his mind.

“What am I supposed to do on vacation?”

“…This is when it shows you’ve only ever worked.”

Centuries on the Judgment Platform, then six months at Seocheon Flower Garden. In all that time, the concept of a holiday simply didn’t exist for Mujae.

No one ever made him come in or gave him work on weekends, but after he’d suddenly become Seocheon Flower Garden’s ‘Promotional Officer,’ he could only ever think about work.

Watching Mujae, Hallakgoong clicked his tongue again. Mujae, feeling slightly slighted, pouted and asked,

“Then what do you do?”

“Me?”

This time, at Mujae’s question, Hallakgoong was the one left speechless. Hallakgoong’s triple-folded eyelids blinked dumbly as Mujae smirked.

“You’re just the same!”

“I’m not!”

“Then why can’t you say what you did?”

“That’s…”

Flustered, Hallakgoong frowned. As his lips trembled, he finally blurted out the truth just as Mujae was about to dig in.

“I went to see my mother.”

“…Ah.”

A brief, awkward silence passed between them. As Mujae sat up, searching for something to say, Hallakgoong quickly changed the subject.

“Where did Zack go so early in the morning?”

“He said he was heading to the Facilities Team.”

“What?”

Hallakgoong let out a sound of genuine disgust at Zack’s unexpected vacation destination.

Why on earth?! Mujae just shrugged his shoulders.

“He said he’s got a lot he wants to know.”

“You could feel a pulse?”

Nod, nod.

Zack was currently at the Research Pavilion of Seocheon Flower Garden, where the Research Team worked.

It was the place responsible for developing all sorts of new technologies at Seocheon Flower Garden, attached to the greenhouse and rarely open to outsiders.

The Research Team, which gathered only the most unusual Shinsomi, seldom had reason to interact with other teams.

Typically, they would communicate with the Facilities Team, who in turn relayed information to other teams and distributed technology.

But today was different.

“You used to work only with seeds, right?”

Nod.

There was a cheat code in play: the Facilities Team Leader Shinsomi, who was immensely interested in Zack’s abilities.

“But this time you worked with soil?”

Next to her, the Research Team Leader Shinsomi, who looked almost identical, adjusted her glasses with interest and asked another question.

“Did you ever feel a pulse from the seeds before?”

Shake, shake.

Zack shook his head and explained in more detail using sign language.

‘I never had the chance. As soon as I touched them, they’d go pop, and explode.’

“Ah…”

It had already been half a year since Zack left his hometown.

At first, he just wanted to escape from a tough situation, but over time, he had experienced all kinds of things—and changed in many ways.

The biggest change was…

‘What kind of power do I really have?’

He had come to feel a deep curiosity about the very ability that had once led him to self-loathing. Although still a young god whose power hadn’t fully blossomed, he had been able to experiment with his abilities in a variety of situations.

His recent experience in Northern Ice Hell, in particular, left a strong impression.

“So why did you decide to touch the soil this time?”

Prompted by the Research Team Leader Shinsomi, Zack recalled that moment.

‘Hallakgoong, possessed by the Glacier Labyrinth, was nothing like his usual self. He was desperately pushing me away, and he was so strong… I knew something had to change.’

“Hm…”

As she watched Zack’s sign language, the Research Team Leader Shinsomi’s pen flew across her notebook. The Facilities Team Leader Shinsomi peeked over and said,

“Ooh~ Is there anything you don’t know, big sis? You’re good at sign language, too?”

“It’s easy, you could do it too.”

Watching the Research Team Leader Shinsomi’s pen scratching on the page, Zack rolled his eyes nervously. Meanwhile, the Research Team Leader seemed unbothered, tilting her head thoughtfully.

“Hm… So did the soil go pop! and explode, too?”

Zack, who had been shaking his head, now nodded.

‘Not exactly explode—the soil caved in, more like.’

“So it wasn’t expansion but contraction?”

Zack nodded vigorously at her question. After writing and erasing on her notebook several times, the Research Team Leader Shinsomi looked at Zack straight on. There was an air of certainty.

“Listen, Zack.”

She opened her laptop and launched a presentation.

The conference room lights dimmed, and a smooth, projected screen displayed captured moments when Zack had used his powers.

“I’ve gathered all data on every time you used your abilities, except for that recent Northern Ice Hell assignment.”

The Research Team Leader Shinsomi quickly flipped through the slides, stopping at a scene of Zack hurriedly blooming a magma flower in Boiling Hell.

“This wasn’t when you used your power, right?”

Nod, nod.

After confirming Zack’s answer, she quickly deleted the Boiling Hell scene.

An anatomical diagram of a heart appeared.

“When you say you feel a ‘pulse,’ you’re usually referring to the heartbeat—a rhythmic wave caused by blood flowing.”

“……”

“So, technically, you shouldn’t be able to feel a pulse from soil. But…”

Click.

With a click, the red and blue veins on the heart diagram turned green.

“‘Maek’ is energy flow.”

“Energy?”

“If you sense the flow of energy in objects, as if it were a pulse, that changes things.”

The Research Team Leader Shinsomi’s eyes flashed sharply.

The look was so predatory, like a beast spotting prey, that Zack shivered.

“Blood vessels can contract or expand, you know.”

“Aha~!”

Even the Facilities Team Leader Shinsomi, seemingly following the explanation on her own.

With their scheming glances, Zack felt a chill run down his spine.

“All right, let’s run a simple experiment.”

The Research Team Leader Shinsomi announced in a clearly excited voice.

With her humming along, the group headed to a special laboratory in the basement of the Research Pavilion.

Surrounded by thick reinforced glass walls, the place resembled an indoor gymnasium.

“This is a room made for dangerous experiments. Both the floor and the walls are coated with special materials.”

“It’s strong enough that even a magma flower explosion is no problem!”

From the proud looks of the two Team Leaders, this must have been a collaboration between the Facilities and Research Teams.

As Zack looked around, he noticed sprinklers and ventilation equipment in the ceiling, and behind transparent windows in separated spaces, banks of monitoring devices packed the room.

The Research Team Leader Shinsomi, prepared in advance, took out a small flowerpot.

“It’s a dandelion seed. Nice and ordinary, right?”

“……”

For Zack, who had once destroyed a greenhouse with a Dandelion Monster, “ordinary” was hard to nod at.

Sensing his unease, the Facilities Team Leader Shinsomi grabbed the Research Team Leader and pulled her away.

“We’ll be over there! Go ahead, don’t worry about us.”

Apparently, the transparent room was the observation booth.

Once the two had gone in completely, Zack let out a deep breath.

Just then, the Research Team Leader’s voice came from the speaker, not from her lips.

[Hold on! We’ll check your current condition first, Zack.]

With that, the round platform in the floor began to move. Projectors rose from various angles, showering Zack in blue light.

“Ugh…”

As Zack groaned and shut his eyes, the light formed a ring, scanning his whole body. The big monitor in the observation booth instantly displayed his biometric data.

[Heart Rate: 72 BPM / Body Temp: 36.8°C / Divine Power Level: 47.3]

“Hm…”

“Is that high?”

The Facilities Team Leader asked the Research Team Leader, who nodded with care.

“That’s really high. Ordinary lower-level gods have a Divine Power around 20. And look at this.”

“Ooh…!”

On their monitor, Zack stood there, looking a bit bewildered. From his fingertips, orange waves flickered. Another line appeared on the monitor.

[Note: High concentration of Life Energy detected in both hands]

The Team Leaders’ eyes gleamed.

“There’s a different energy flowing, separate from Divine Power.”

“Is that Zack’s ability?”

The Research Team Leader Shinsomi pulled the microphone closer.

[Zack, could you raise your hands and draw a circle in the air?]

Still a bit lost, Zack raised his hands and drew a circle. An orange aura traced his hands, drawing a round shape in the air.

[Good, now after three deep breaths, calm your mind and touch the dandelion…]

The Research Team Leader’s hands, which had been fluttering above her notepad, paused.

[…try not to think about monsters for now.]

[Focus on the living being before you, try to feel its pulse.]

Zack nodded. Taking three slow, deep breaths, he carefully reached out.

Soft soil.

Soft fuzz.

Soft… sprout.

Blink. Blink.

When Zack opened his eyes, a green living thing was touching his hand.

For him, those few seconds felt like five, even ten minutes.

‘It didn’t turn into a monster…!’

[The seed has grown!!]

Everyone was celebrating for their own reasons.