Chapter 64: Umbrella Murderer?

"Sigh…"

As Go Nam-tae let out a sigh and flopped down, Danhong rushed over.

- Boss, you can do it next time! You can do it ten times, a thousand times next time!

At the encouragement that could be either comfort or a curse, Go Nam-tae's lips parted.

"...I did it!"

- What did you say?

"I opened it. …It closed right away, but I opened it! Hahahahaha!"

Go Nam-tae let out a roar of laughter that could have blown the roof off.

Just one more time, the very last try!

He had been attempting that for several days now.

In an unexpected moment, he had succeeded in tearing open the space.

He didn't know for sure, but the space outside the tear might have become tattered.

It was that difficult.

If this were anywhere on Earth, he wouldn't have even dreamed of doing such a thing.

His Kin also rejoiced with him.

Among them, the one with the biggest reaction was undoubtedly Danhong.

- It's done? It's really done?

"Yeah, let's rest a bit. No, I'm tired today, but tomorrow we should all be able to see it."

- Wooooow!

Danhong's fire show was becoming more spectacular by the day.

Honestly, it was Go Nam-tae who wanted to scream like Danhong.

The moment the cube coordinates first became readable, he had truly let out a shriek.

But that moment was brief. The difficulties in the Erosion Zone were nothing compared to this.

Back then, focusing the coordinates was just the hardest part.

In the Labyrinth, however, the coordinates hidden in the mist were unstable, and the door seemed glued shut and wouldn't budge.

The Labyrinth was the Erosion Zone, the goblin den, and his hometown's chaos all combined and upgraded by another level.

But in the end, he had opened it.

Something he thought might take a thousand times, or even more, had succeeded like this.

It felt like his chest had been cleared wide open.

The creature that had been spewing jet flames returned and asked again.

- Boss, so can we meet the handsome skeleton again now?

"Handsome… You mean Seong-yeon?"

- That's right, Park Seong-yeon.

Let me say it again, you really have to watch your words in front of the kids.

"...Seong-yeon probably won't stay on the 50th floor forever. We'll probably have to meet him when he goes home."

- Then we still can't have the woman start working?

"Huh?"

At the sudden question, Go Nam-tae recalled that he was the one who had said that.

He had decided to have Jin Gayoung work, but Go Nam-tae himself wasn't ready yet.

To have a blacksmith work, you needed materials, but more importantly, you had to create the environment first.

Setting up the forge facilities came before the materials.

And the basic tools to gather weren't just one or two items either.

This wasn't something to ask Kim Gu-bok for.

- Park Seong-yeon might be on the 51st floor. Is opening the 51st floor hard?

'We just opened the 50th floor, for goodness' sake!'

Go Nam-tae placed the flame girl on his head and pressed down firmly.

- Oohie, oohiehee!

While Heung-bok would thrash around if wrapped in a leaf, this one just laughed, saying she liked it when he did this.

Toto slipped in between.

[If you mark more coordinates on the 50th floor, it will be easier to find the coordinates for the next floor.]

That was something he had already prepared for.

The fact that he had opened it this time might actually have been due to luck.

...Or maybe this was also a result of taking in a Vassal?

[There are other methods as well.]

"Other methods?"

[The method of sending the Boss's Kin or Vassals to find the path.]

[It works on the same principle as moving from the coordinates to a place within sight.]

[It would be possible if you could send a Vassal with combat capabilities.]

Go Nam-tae waved his hands dismissively.

Jin Gayoung alone was terrifying enough; he didn't even want to think about other Vassals.

Sending his Kin wasn't even a consideration.

He could have sent Baby Heung-bok.

But seeing how it couldn't last long even in the Erosion Zone, it was even less viable in the Labyrinth.

Since he couldn't send anyone anyway, it wasn't even a problem worth worrying about.

It was better to just prepare a praise gift for Park Seong-yeon.

But what Go Nam-tae didn't know at this time was that sometimes the world flows in directions you don't want.

Go Nam-tae was weak to Danhong's persistent urging.

"Alright, I'll try to open the next floor as soon as possible."

- I want to meet him quickly! I hope Park Seong-yeon goes home soon!

There was a reason Danhong was rushing like this.

It was because she wanted Jin Gayoung to start working quickly.

Since Go Nam-tae had said you can only know a person by watching them work, the kids had become impatient.

For that to happen, Park Seong-yeon, no, Park Ki-beom needed to return to Earth.

Only with him here could a proper forge be set up.

Anyway, the Kin and Jin Gayoung were bound to meet soon.

Because an orchard had been established right next to the villa Jin Gayoung had occupied first.

He had ordered her not to leave the vicinity of the villa, but he had no intention of keeping her confined forever.

It was only a matter of time before they ran into each other while going to and from the orchard.

But before that, if Jin Gayoung turned out to be someone he really didn't like, he would have to choose one of two options.

Move the orchard or move Jin Gayoung.

The fruit harvesting plan had been slightly disrupted because of Jin Gayoung's arrival.

It had been delayed by a few days, and some fruit had even fallen, but that much didn't matter.

In fact, now was the right time to get seeds.

- Woooow! The smell, it's really, really good!

'This is an apple!'

'This is called a plum!'

'I like the round, golden fruit!'

Led by Danhong's exclamations, the kids' orchard tour began.

They each chose their favorite fruit and clung to the trees.

When they first planted the seeds, he thought the space might be too spacious, but the trees, which had grown over ten meters tall, filled the area without gaps.

Connecting the orchard and the flower garden was also quite nice.

The scents of flowers and fruit blended, adding a luxurious and abundant atmosphere to the garden.

The garden inside the rock was roughly the size of 1,500 soccer fields.

But they hadn't decorated this entire space with just flower gardens and orchards.

Thanks to Toto's meticulous design, the trees left behind formed a small forest, and the excavated and piled-up rocks resembled a fortress.

Also, in one area, there were rice paddies and fields, and spots for pavilions or villas were left here and there.

It was far from complete, but entering a place filled with fragrance from all sides felt good as it was.

Danhong, hanging from a spiky ball, shouted.

- Boss, Boss! There are so many thorns! It's round and really all thorns! Is there really something delicious inside?

Although the roots were from Earth, the chestnut burrs reborn in the Labyrinth looked a bit scary.

They were the size of soccer balls, and the spines looked more viciously long and harder.

But Danhong skillfully held and explored it before tilting her head.

- Boss, how do you eat this?

"Here, I'll show you. Watch."

Go Nam-tae firmly stepped on the chestnut burr with his foot and pushed in pliers.

Then, three plump, fist-sized nuts popped right out.

Danhong cheered and tightly hugged one of the chestnuts.

- Wow, you're the chestnut! Did you catch a tiger?

Go Nam-tae, who had probably recited 'Grandma Red Bean Porridge and the Tiger' a thousand times, had eventually asked Kim Gu-bok to bring in fairy tale books.

The problem was he forgot that Kim Gu-bok was the type to clear out an entire seed company for one simple request.

What Go Nam-tae wanted was 'one' fairy tale book, but Kim Gu-bok 'lightly' pushed in four different complete fairy tale collections.

It could be called the moment of Boss Go Nam-tae's greatest crisis.

Danhong's eyes sparkled as she faced a real chestnut, having only seen them in fairy tale book pictures.

- Boss, let's go make chestnut songpyeon now!

Should he be thankful she didn't ask the chestnut to catch a tiger?

Well, the rice cakes that Tteoksun had already been notified about by Danhong were probably more important anyway.

Hearts seemed to pop in Danhong's eyes as she rubbed her cheek against the chestnut's surface.

'Heung-bok.'

At Go Nam-tae's gesture, Heung-bok grabbed the chestnut tree and shook it.

Pumpkin leaves, spread out like upside-down umbrellas in the middle of the tree, caught the falling chestnut burrs.

The tree next to it, and the one next to that.

Soon, a mountain of chestnut burrs rose up.

As Go Nam-tae started shelling the burrs one by one, Haeul's Family also showed interest and peeked over.

"You guys be careful, you might get pricked…"

Before Go Nam-tae's words even finished, the chestnut burrs, stripped of their spiky coats, popped out.

They were even faster than Go Nam-tae.

Once Heung-bok and Sasin-su joined in, they were soon separated into a mountain of chestnuts and a mountain of spines.

"Next time, for sure… I'll make a chestnut thresher for you."

'We can do it all ourselves!'

Hagye appealed by showing her soft paw pads, but Go Nam-tae shook his head.

Because chestnuts weren't just for planting here.

If he expanded them like the rice paddies and fields, he couldn't leave it all to the Kin.

The burrs had to be shelled, and then the inner shells had to be peeled too.

To make a thresher and a chestnut peeling machine, Jin Gayoung needed to start working first.

'To do that, I should feed her well over there, right?'

Go Nam-tae glanced toward where Jin Gayoung was and then turned away.

…He'd rather not run into her.

---

Jin Gayoung watched the water babbling along and then stood up.

The stream was wide enough to jump across if she wanted to, but this was the limit of the area she was permitted.

Fortunately, thanks to her serious homebody nature, she didn't feel stifled from not being able to wander around, but the feeling of being trapped was unavoidable.

Also, the fact that the master who said he would give her work hadn't contacted her for several days was unsettling.

'What kind of work does he plan to give me, anyway?'

Still, on the other hand, she didn't know how fortunate it was that he intended to give her work.

If there had only been unexplained kindness, her wild imagination would have made her even more fearful.

'But seeing him give such delicious food every day, maybe he's similar to a human?'

Especially the rice cake and soft tofu she ate after first waking up were truly Korean foods.

It made her think the master might be Korean, but she couldn't rule out the possibility of a monster mimicking humans.

'If it's the latter, that means a monster is coming and going to Earth…'

The food was so delicious she couldn't dare refuse it.

When white rice, kimchi, and fermented soybean paste stew came, she really wolfed it down.

Every meal had steamed dishes, grilled dishes, boiled pork, and today there was even a chicken leg that looked as big as an ostrich.

She wondered if she could eat it all, but whenever she came to her senses, she was always just scraping an empty plate.

Was it just meat? Sometimes there was watermelon, sometimes Korean melon, sometimes even tomato juice.

She often got scared wondering what kind of work he planned to give her to treat her this well.

'Look at this…'

She looked down at her own body and let out a small sigh.

The day after her first night, when she checked the various supplies by the bed, she was truly astonished.

Shoes, clothes, towels, detergent, soap, even feminine hygiene products.

Surprisingly, they were mass-produced goods sold on Earth.

It seemed the strange plant vine from before had brought them, but she hadn't seen it since the first day.

While the lunchboxes were delivered faithfully every day.

Today there was even a chicken leg that looked as big as an ostrich.

But today, she could see that vine in the sky.

The vine wrapped around the rock behind the villa where she was staying, then passed through the sky and connected somewhere.

"V-vine!"

Jin Gayoung called out loudly, but the vine showed no reaction.

She began climbing the tree right next to her, past the rooftop and the observatory.

Although she had been an ordinary person, after awakening, climbing a tree was easy enough.

Because there were many taller trees, she couldn't see beyond the villa, but she could at least see where the vine was going.

The vine was connected to the very top of a distant, towering tree.

And there were a total of eighteen vines connected like that.

Jin Gayoung looked up at the sky and whispered.

"...An umbrella murderer?"

At that moment, she thought she heard a sound from beyond the wooden fence.

Crrrrrrk!

Startled, she lost her footing in mid-air.

"Kyaaak!"

A long scream of falling echoed.