Looking back now, the Sultan Boys Amin bromide was securely taped at the top, but the bottom used to flutter slightly.
It would flap in the breeze if I left the door open.
“…”
Thinking about it carefully.
The wallpaper in 202 was torn exactly at this spot.
And when I tried to go in once because of the leak…
She tackled me, right?
Circumstantially, it makes sense that 202 did it to hide this hole.
But why was there a hole in the first place?
If I dig into that, the biggest possibility is shoddy construction on my part.
“Looks like the leg bristles of a giant mosquito…”
The part blocked with the Noble Lady Academy bromide—then smashed by 202’s headbutt and covered with Sultan Boys Dean—was actually destroyed when I punched it.
It’s just dramatically holed.
But the hole from killing the LV34 enlarged mosquito was shaped exactly like the mosquito, making repairs difficult.
Even an enlarged mosquito’s legs or mouthparts are thin lines.
Instead of carefully filling those thin parts, I sloppily patched with plaster that dripped over.
I expected that part to be weak.
The problem is that 202 might have peeped through here.
The Amin bromide was probably covering it at least…
“…Look at this?”
Behind the Amin bromide, right where the hole was, there are poke marks—like from chopsticks.
So… only that section of paper is pushed up, and the outer photo is worn.
Thankfully the paper isn’t pierced, but why bother?
She either peeped, or wanted to.
That’s what it means.
This girl’s getting on my nerves.
Of course, I don’t walk around naked at home.
With all these freeloading family members—if I even took off my shirt…
Ot…!
There’s that weird creature who blushes, rubs her knees, and enlarges herself, so I change in the bathroom.
To prevent that kind of behavior, I probably didn’t expose any critical areas or important scenes(?).
But if she saw monsters coming out, that’d be trouble…
“Hm.”
Peering the other way, the room isn’t clearly visible.
Especially hard to see the gate area.
“Let’s see.”
The hole isn’t that big, so the view isn’t clear. Using my phone zoomed in…
It reaches what seems like 202’s butt area in clothes.
Since it’s toward the bed.
This woman’s sprawled out sleeping again. Impressive, really. Doesn’t she go to school?
She’s here for four years just to sleep?
I saw her major textbooks.
“Oh boy.”
This feels like I’m the one peeping, so I decided not to remove the bromide for now.
I can hear signs of life.
If she wakes up, I’ll ask later.
If worse comes to worst, I can use this as an excuse to evict her.
But with a hole like this, sounds would carry even better.
No way just hearing sounds wouldn’t be a problem.
These days there are issues—Yong-gae speaks, the Nightmare Queen speaks Korean too.
I need to plug it with something. If whatever I stuff in falls out, I’ll brand 202 a pervert and kick her out.
Her looks and figure are my type—I’ve thought about dating her sometimes—but I don’t think I could handle her mentally.
The issue is how much 202 knows…
“Should I erase her memories while she’s sleeping…”
“No need for that.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve blocked any gate-related conversations from leaking with my whispering technique.”
“You knew?”
As expected of the Nightmare Queen. I trusted you!
But.
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“…”
“What is it.”
“Because any woman who feels affinity due to being the same species needs to be preemptively blocked on my end!”
Earning charm stats again today.
“You should block other conversations too?”
“The Fairy Princess’s tantrums—and that woman stepping in isn’t entirely bad?”
“How strategic.”
The Nightmare Queen’s intentions are truly pure white.
[Ang, aeng, aeaeaeeng.]
That damn RiceCookerMan.
Around September 15 last year, he heard a civil defense siren once and has been like this ever since.
I wondered why he suddenly started, but there was indeed a drill then.
“What now?”
Then something sloshes out of the gate.
Puhak?
This is oil…?
Next, black water like wastewater starts gurgling into the rice cooker.
“Hm hm, uh?”
“Is this petroleum? Kerosene?”
It smells exactly like oil.
<Black Water of the Sea of Death>
That’s the label.
Is there an ocean of petroleum over there?
“Ah, ahh, it seems like water scooped from the Black Sea in the maritime clan’s territory—but one they can’t enter to live in? It corresponds to petroleum here.”
“You know about petroleum?”
“Of course. I learned it along with the language when absorbing it here.”
Certified by the Nightmare Queen.
“Salamander bastard.”
This isn’t welcome.
The gate is small.
Just a small hole.
If I think back to the studio flood incident…
It wasn’t the water from the gate that was the problem.
Vapor from the gate formed clouds and artificially rained from the ceiling.
The effect of water from the gate—I experienced it with the hot spring water before; it flowed all day.
It looked like a lot, but it only amounted to one modest mountain spring.
In barrels?
At most a few drums like in the military Type 1 warehouse.
“Phew.”
And I don’t have much common knowledge about this.
Naturally, I don’t know how to process it.
Even if I don’t know much about petroleum, I know you can’t just use it raw.
I’ve gone to fill a kerosene heater—the oil is clear, right?
I heard it needs distillation or something to separate by use.
Even processing it is a problem.
I don’t have a car anyway. Nowhere to put oil.
If not a car, what home use is there for oil?
They should’ve melted gold and sent liquid gold—I’d have praised them.
“If you boil this, will it distill?”
[Possible!]
“No, never mind.”
I can’t distill oil at home anyway.
For now, I’m scooping the oil into a basin.
I could open a portal and send it to the field, but sending crude oil?
There’s groundwater there from before—can’t send it.
“Haaa.”
That CatMan.
Bringing 50,000 won isn’t particularly useful anymore, so I’ve left him in the room as Yong-gae’s caretaker.
Better a tiger than a dog.
He agrees with that noble cause and is trying to raise it like a cat.
[Mosquito.]
With the oil smell strong, I’ve opened the windows—outside creatures are crawling in, and CatMan sparks trying to catch them.
“Uh, uh? Hey! Don’t!”
I was searching about petroleum—vapors rise and can explode if ignited.
Even static electricity is dangerous—I’m reading that now.
Yet this crazy CatMan tries electricity on a mosquito—I urgently shouted to stop him.
[Just trying to catch a mosquito—why? I have that dangerous cat tick disease or something—if a mosquito bites me then you.]
“No, with your speed you can swat a mosquito—why use electricity and make a fuss? Want to get fried!?
Huh?!”
[Not good for cartilage. Ate a mouse.]
CatMan’s expression looked a bit sulky, so I soothed him.
“Anyway, with Cat’s Gratitude, go bring some treasure or something.”
[Hm.]
“It’s dangerous, that’s why. Oil catches fire.”
[It’s safely contained—why would fire start here?]
“No…”
I gave up explaining oil vapors igniting to this humanities-cat.
He steadily raises intelligence—why no science knowledge?
[Don’t take it out on animals. I’ll be generous, but even mute creatures read emotions.]
I placated CatMan, sent him to fetch treasure, and dealt with the oil—my irritation with the salamander skyrocketing.
“Damn, this is tricky to dispose of.”
No matter how much I rack my brain, I can’t think of a use or way to profit.
It’s oil anyway. Surely there’s a use, or I could sell it.
Oh…
I need a tanker truck for oil.
Or those many drums.
Where do I get those? Now?
The amount isn’t much—wouldn’t need many.
And it’s not worth money.
$100 per barrel. Who’s nose do I stick this on?
Ah.
“Right, abandon it in Saemangeum.”
Just dump it.
Who knows? Someone spots the oil deposit and says Korea finally struck oil—investments pour in, development booms, the land prospers?
[Blocked!]
I was about to open a separate portal to secretly dump the crude—but the gate clogged.
Not that sending stopped; it literally blocked.
“What, residue left and turned to asphalt?”
Then visually like constipation.
Like rabbit poop.
The gate rumbles kurrrr, but the more I listen, the more it sounds like urgent poop noises.
[Kuuuuuung, it’s massively blocked!?]
“If so, cast a magic circle and send it.”
[110000000.]
Wait, the gate uses the power—why is this rice cooker straining?
“Hey, why are you straining? Crazy bastard.”
[Thinking back to marches where hunger blocked even bowels—smooth bowel movement was a luxury…]
Come to think of it, I should unplug RiceCookerMan.
This is oil—and rice cookers retain heat? If it heats up, oil boils, vapors rise, even small static could chain explode…
That can’t happen.
Then.
Peng!
“What the?”
Something clogged in the gate pops out with a tick.
For the Lilliputians’ small sends, it’s fairly thick—about palm-sized when spread—a long sharp something mixed with crude.
It seems this clogged the gate; crude gushes the blocked amount and finally overflows the rice cooker.
Of course, I set a scoop pool on the floor—no splatter to the room.
“Huh?”
Wiping with a dry rag—it’s a sharp-tipped bone about a handspan long.
<Primordial Dragon Bone>
Ancient dragon bone, material for great dragon-slaying weapons.
One of the few ways to kill a dragon.
Also favored as a weapon for holding mana besides dragons.
Bone of the longest-lived ancestral dragon, hiding mana equal to its years.
Fossil… right?
“Ah, this came out?!”
The Nightmare Queen makes a bigger fuss.
“This? What is it?”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“What?”
“The Sea of Death is the graveyard of immortals. Dragons regenerate even severe wounds with mana, but when they tire of regeneration—they lie in the Sea of Death to die. Dragons aren’t easy opponents to that extent.”
“Ah, really? Then your fight with Yong-gae’s mom was impossible from the start?”
“There was a way to oppose—but now it’s not possible.”
“Why now?”
“We left such a weapon behind. With my sisters… ah.”
Phew.
A tear rolls down—almost charmed.
They had something to counter over there?
Separate from the Nightmare Queen, it’s a dragon bone—pretty sizable.
Big enough for a dagger at most.
“But why did that guy send this to us? He’s a dragon too? He’d know this is mixed in the oil, right?”
“Prob… ably?”
This salamander bastard.
As an immortal, looking for a human to kill him?
[Kurrrrrr kuuuuu.]
Gate clogging again?
No, what’s mixed in the crude coming like this?
“S-Stop. How is this here…”
***
The dragonkin pumping from the black sea via portal into the gate stopped the portal.
A massive dragon bone was found in the black sea.
Not only that.
“124…”
Passed down immortal bird. Giant beak and bones presumed phoenix—similarly submerged in the black sea of death.
And the bones, meshing with the dragonkin’s scheme to attack with black sea water, were flowing into the otherworld.
“This shouldn’t be here?!”
There are multiple black seas of death.
The dragonkin avoided the representative vast one where dragons go to die.
Considering possibility of dragon legacies crossing over.
Thus found an unknown flammable death lake.
The dragonkin could at least sense dragon remains, confident this lake had none—and pumped its death water for attack.
This death lake held ancient dragon and phoenix bones.
Meaning this dragon was so powerful in life that even the dragonkin’s mana detection failed.
***
<Unidentifiable Bone Corroded Too Long>
I heard as a kid that oil comes from where dinosaurs died and were buried.
Is oil there also from something dying?
‘I know nothing of paleontology. From your knowledge, I learned this world had dinosaurs—but in ours, no chance for such to emerge.’
Always excuses, this pervert sage?
The Hermit of the Hovel knows deeply what he knows, but doesn’t know much.
Then go out and research.
“Looks like chicken bone… But wouldn’t chicken bone corrode in oil?”
Another clean bone—like perfectly deboned chicken leg.
Not perfectly clean—exactly blackened from soaking in black oil. Ogolgye bone?
A bone fragment.
Dragon bone labels as dragon bone—this one unknown.