Chapter 25: As If Nothing Had Happened

There was a limit to putting everything in the basket. 

Even though the basket itself was an infinite pouch, it didn't mean that items were automatically sorted. 

Furthermore, items too large for the opening couldn't be put inside. 

This meant he couldn't store corn in sacks or bundles of rice. 

So, he searched through the treasure warehouse again.

Originally, there were more than four types of carts in the warehouse, but only one wheelbarrow remained. 

However, it boasted specifications that left no room for disappointment.

[Boss's Wheelbarrow: 90% weight reduction of loaded cargo]

[Loading Grade: Maximum load of 100 tons for a single item type]

[Volume Limit: None]

[Loading Grade: Maximum load of 10 tons when mixing two or more types]

[Volume Limit: Loading capacity decreases per volume ratio exceeding the wheelbarrow]

"Wow, with this, I could move everything at once."

He had to hurry a bit today. 

It was because a damp scent was lingering in the air. 

He used a skill to finish drying the grains that were naturally drying, then completed the threshing and moved them to the storage.

Immediately after, he headed to the fields. 

Thanks to the plenty of packaging bags that had arrived, he could bag the crops right in the field. 

The Divine Beasts and Haeul’s group worked in perfect harmony to fill the bags.

90% weight reduction, 100-ton maximum load. 

Thanks to that, he succeeded in moving the harvests from all five fields by loading them onto the wheelbarrow one by one.

As Go Nam-tae and the Divine Beasts pushed the wheelbarrow, there was one being who was restless.

'Faster, I have to grow even faster...!'

The root, which had eaten some good shells in the morning, moved with a creaking, dragon-like surge. 

Kukukukuku! 

A small vibration echoed underground.

But the moment the Boss approached, it swallowed its sound. 

Tuk. 

Pretending nothing was happening.

'Welcome back, Boss?'

Rustle, rustle. 

The leaves shook shyly.

***

Swaaaa!

Rain was pouring down. 

The merciless downpour was so fierce it seemed as if it would wash everything away.

...However, a feast was in full swing inside the Boss's house.

"Pancakes are a must on rainy days. Today is Savory Pancake Day!"

Ppee-ppee-ppee-ppee-ppee! 

Ttong-ttong-ttong-ttong!

Along with the enthusiastic response from his family, he went out to hunt for pancake ingredients. 

Swaaaaaa! 

When he opened the door, a concentrated fire of rain poured down as if it would pierce through his body. 

Nevertheless, not a single drop splashed onto Go Nam-tae's body. 

The hat and shoes he had obtained from the previous Boss had transformed into a perfect raincoat. 

Toto said.

[You are probably the only Boss who would use those items like this.]

"How else are they used?"

[One would use the innate abilities they possess.]

Go Nam-tae furrowed his brows. 

It was because he had learned the characteristics of the hat and shoes.

That bewitching hat had the trait of stirring up and ruining others' minds. 

The shoes were similar. 

The ability to move quickly was good, but they could leave curses in their footprints. 

If another living creature stepped on a footprint engraved with a curse, it caused pain, confusion, and memory loss.

However, the ability to be sturdy and transform at will was incredibly useful. 

He just wouldn't use the special traits. 

Work clothes and a raincoat were more than enough.

After gathering a variety of harvests from the vegetable garden, Go Nam-tae also went to the stream. 

Kwarueu, kwalkwal! 

The clear, trickling water had turned into a violent torrent of bright red muddy water. 

At this level, it seemed as if the creatures living inside would have been swept away or gone into hiding, but wasn't this the 100th floor?

"Shall we see?"

Plop, plop. 

Go Nam-tae threw something into the stream. 

The vines wrapped around his wrist shook madly along with the current.

...A moment later. 

In Go Nam-tae's hand as he returned home was a large crayfish. 

Behind him, the Divine Beasts followed excitedly, clutching pancake ingredients.

"Shall we start eating now?"

Ttong-ttong-ttong-ttong! 

Ppee-ppee-ppee-ppee-ppee!

The pancake party began with a roaring response. 

Song-song-song, kong-kong, the sound of knife work. 

Sizzle, sizzle, tadak, tak! 

The sound of frying in oil. 

A savory scent filled the house all day. 

Until the very last of the flour and soybean oil ran out.

However, if one looked a little closely, they could tell that Go Nam-tae was slightly different from usual. 

Swaaa! 

His head turned toward the window often at the sound of the rain. 

Sigh... 

A faint sigh escaped him, unnoticed.

Whenever he looked into the distance, an unerasable sorrow spread in his eyes.

'Father, why did you have to leave on a day like this...'

On a day when a heavy downpour was falling, Go Nam-tae's father had quietly closed his eyes while holding his son's hand. 

On rainy days, Go Nam-tae’s body and mind sank. 

No matter how cheerful he tried to pretend to be, the regrets stuck in him like thorns made him sink even deeper.

'I'm really... a tree frog.'

His father had left a will asking to be turned into a handful of bone meal and scattered. 

He had asked for his traces to be erased from this world. 

However, out of the greed to hold onto even that small trace, Go Nam-tae had made a grave. 

Thinking that he could move his father later, much later.

But... he was here now. 

On the 100th floor of the Labyrinth, where no human had ever set foot.

'I will definitely go back and send you to my mother's side.'

The subordinates quietly cleaned up without disturbing the Boss. 

Drunk on the rain, Go Nam-tae sought an early sleep.

That night. 

Someone was stealthily approaching his house.

***

The rain and the darkness were on the side of the intruders.

In the dawn before the sun had even risen, there were those who secretly crawled into his territory under the cover of darkness. 

They were those who came from the north, west, and south respectively.

Every Boss has their own absolute territory. 

No one can enter that territory except for the Boss's authorized subordinates or prey. 

However, if one pushed themselves, they could peek inside.

But this time, it was particularly easy. 

They expected that they would have to risk their lives just to approach, but they had come almost to the very edge of the absolute territory.

This much alone was incredible information. 

However, if they explored further, they would surely receive the Boss's favor.

The first to arrive there were two. 

They were monsters whose amorphous bodies fluttered like wings, resembling their Boss, Irshak. 

Though they appeared as two, they were a being where two were one and one was two. 

Since they could revive as long as a part of their body was intact, they were the best as spies.

Since there had been no interference so far, returning alive was almost guaranteed. 

'Almost.' 

Or so they thought.

As if by magic, the rain stopped. 

From high up in the sky, they were able to see Go Nam-tae's house. 

But the moment they confirmed the sight, their eyes tore open wide.

-That, that is!

-Do you see it too?

-Me too...!

Even combining the eyes on their respective bodies, there were hundreds. 

They couldn't deny the scene they saw with so many eyes.

-E-enough, that's it! We-we have to return...!

The judgment was quick. 

No, it was too late.

Pak, pa-pa-ba-ba-pak! 

The moment they perceived something had flown toward them, it had already pierced through their bodies. 

They were beings whose instantaneous speed was faster than a jet. 

Perhaps if they had been just a little, even for a split second, faster, could they have escaped?

-Kuaaaaaak!

The scream was later than the fall.

'At least you escape!'

If even one could escape, there was hope. 

The attempt to become a shield even while falling was futile.

Pa-pa-pa-pak! 

That thing, fast as a ray of light, flew back and smashed both of their bodies into mountain-like fragments simultaneously.

If even a part of a body, even a quarter of a quarter, had remained for just one of them, there would have been a chance for regeneration. 

When they fell to the ground, only small traces scattered in all directions remained.

A moment after Irshak's subordinates were erased. 

The second group of spies arrived.

This time, there were three. 

They were Birdmen who boasted white and transparent wings like frost.

Sniff, sniff. 

Even before they reached the absolute territory, they caught a strange scent.

"Doesn't it smell fishy?"

"It smells like jellyfish."

"Filthy things, they left traces of their visit."

"That's exactly what those guys would do."

The three began to enter cautiously while cursing Irshak's subordinates. 

The appearance of the ground, which was ground so perfectly, was so artificial that they didn't dare set foot on it. 

However, as they were winged beings, they approached from the sky from the start. 

And they too confirmed 'its' existence. 

At that moment.

Sshhaaa-ek! 

Why did it fly at them from behind? 

Puk, pu-pu-puk! 

It accurately pierced through their wings first. 

Was it only natural that it flew into their torsos again as they began to fall?

Khak! Kuaak, kuaaaaak! 

It was already too late to avoid it. 

No, they couldn't even avoid it.

From behind, from the front, from the side, from all directions, it flew in and tore their torsos apart without mercy.

Kuaaaak! 

The fastest individual among them, their captain, covered his body by using his two subordinates as shields.

By the time he crashed to the ground, his subordinates were already dead. 

The captain, carrying and holding his subordinates' corpses like shields, began to crawl away on all fours.

'I have to report this! This must be...!'

He only managed to crawl a few dozen meters, drawing a long trail of blood. 

The captain had no choice but to stop.

Ppee, ppee-ppee! 

A small white weasel was standing in front of him, tilting its head. 

The way it tilted its head was dainty and cute, but not a single grain of such sentiment remained in him.

The captain extended his claws long. 

The moment he swung his hand, that insolent weasel would surely be torn to pieces.

Hwi-ik! 

He certainly reached out his hand. 

He did, but... why was his body tilting...?

The captain did not know that the little weasel was smiling at him until his head fell off.

Thud, roll. 

The captain's head rolled away. 

The corpses he used as shields also rolled on the ground.

Ppee, ppee-ppee-ppee! 

Chak, cha-cha-chak!

At the father weasel's command, the weasels began to move in perfect order. 

They began to drag the bodies away in groups of three.

The subordinates' bodies were thrown into the stream. 

Splash! Splash, splash! 

As soon as the bodies were thrown in, giant claws rose up. 

One, two, three...

With an unprecedentedly rich abundance of bait, all the crayfish in the stream began to gather. 

The torn and shredded corpses flew over the current.

While the feast was taking place in the stream, another owner claimed the captain's body. 

A thick vine that crossed the stream wrapped around the captain's body. 

Enveloped in the vine, it was slowly dragged toward the roots. 

Just like the eggshells had been dragged away.

Dreee-keu—, the corpse was swallowed into the parted earth. 

All that remained was the long trail of blood. 

Bouncing water droplets followed that path and erased the traces.

Ppee-ppee-ppee. 

Ttong-ttong-ttong-ttong!

The small sentinels nodded toward the massive leaves surrounding the entire absolute territory.

Saaaa... shaaa... charr... 

The sounds of dawn neatly erased even the remaining traces.

Drip. 

The sound of rain forming on the roof and falling was rhythmic. 

In the distance, the sun began to rise.

The white weasels and the water droplets hurried back to the Boss's side. 

As if nothing had happened.

Today, too, they had to wake up with the Boss.