Chapter 9: The Mysterious Egg Part 2

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Yejin once saw something similar in her life—a strange egg absorbing orbs. It was colorless, yet somehow vibrant.)

“Ah!”

A faintly blue-green glow emerged where the egg hovered.

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Usually, eggs like that can produce a puy. The one that hatched was probably a very strong creature.)

“… What is this?”

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Yeah, that’s right.)

He shared a story. In his hometown, there were monsters showing similar traits. All of them were fierce monsters.

Starting from Dragons, to those with powers on the level of the Spirit King, and even Imugi.

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Normally, those eggs consume orbs and absorb anything with mana. The nature and type of the monster born depends on the mana it absorbs.)

So, it seems certain that monsters do emerge from those eggs.

‘Damn, this is kind of scary.’

I couldn’t just throw away the item I got by chance. I tried briefly to send the egg away using a tribute skill from my party, but that seemed impossible.

Because it would be out of character for the party to act like that—

“Right, then! If something hatches from the egg, I’ll raise it!”

I thought it was a responsibility-free pet. I could just think of it as a buff and raise it carefully while living.

I selected one of the three remaining golden saphi eggs.

“You said it absorbs most foods containing mana, right?”

I placed it inside the golden saphi egg.

Pfff–!

A strong gust of wind swept through, and the saphi disappeared in an instant.

Looking at the golden specks inside, it was clear the egg had absorbed the mana.

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Even so, the monster born inside will consider you its parent and follow you. You just need to take care of it.)

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Probably. Just think of it as a strong pet. You’ll need to train it so it doesn’t harm others.)

“Hmm, understood.”

(Spirit of Life: Then you’ll be okay. No need to worry.)

[Father of Agriculture]: I’ll provide mana-infused food ingredients and supplies to support the monster hatched inside.

“… Really?”

It wasn’t a chance given lightly.

([Official of Agriculture]: Ah, that monster didn’t eat? Wait a moment, I’ll check again.)

I nodded firmly and tucked the egg away.

“I’ll resume the broadcast later, so take your time. No rush.”

I smiled and said.

“Now, you must keep your promises as a party member. If you don’t give me the monster, I might not be able to broadcast. It would be too frustrating to handle otherwise.”

(Spirit of Life: That won’t do!)

([Official 1]: Without sponsoring Jinwoo, everything falls apart.)

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Hammer, threatening like that is crazy. Insane indeed.)

“Since you’re called the Father of Agriculture, surely you’ll give good things, right? I’m counting on you.”

He smiled warmly and showed me the capitalist smile of a merchant system.

[Father of Agriculture]: Ah, damn it, I don’t have much left…

I ended the call and closed the window.

*****

As soon as the broadcast started, the Father of Agriculture bit into a fresh snake.

The flavor was crisp and tender, with occasional slight resistance from the muscle fibers.

The snake was perfect in both taste and texture. For a lifetime farmer, it was like a treasure.

“Hmm… I should give him a gift.”

Honestly, sponsoring with coins was a burden, but supporting the farmer was not.

“He set the stage, so I have to give him something worthwhile.”

Jinwoo ended the broadcast holding the egg carefully. The Father of Agriculture thought of this as an opportunity.

“Humans broadcasting monsters in real time—that’s incredible. Other party members don’t know it yet, but word of mouth will spread, and all the warriors will watch Jinwoo’s broadcasts.”

After giving away surplus agricultural goods to Jinwoo, he thought about imposing a partner fee.

What if Jinwoo’s supporters bought these buff food ingredients?

‘Jinwoo’s sponsorship will send messages to the warriors.’

Once word gets out to the warriors, everyone would spend coins to buy the farmer’s goods.

The Father of Agriculture rubbed his hands together. Just from Jinwoo’s partner fees alone, he could earn a lot.

A farmer must sell his goods externally.

With his talent for business, he handed Jinwoo good agricultural products to sponsor.

Jinwoo would bear the partner fees.

That was his solid plan.

*****

The next morning.

I woke up and went down to the nearby river to wash.

The water here was really clean. Compared to other places, this river had far less sediment, making washing easier and more peaceful.

After washing thoroughly, I headed toward the city gate and opened the system window.

‘I was going to broadcast about the egg, but…’

Since it was early morning, and I was curious about other party members’ broadcasts, I browsed the system’s live broadcast list.

[Advanced Warrior’s Swordsmanship Training]

[I Don’t Know About You, But I’m Going to Drink. Everyone Come In]

[Novice Warrior’s Daily Novel Reading]

[All Food Lovers Enter]

…9?

Seeing the number of broadcasts, I was taken aback and glanced around nervously.

Someone behind me asked, ‘Do you see that egg?’ I was scared.

For such noble and powerful warriors to pull in a controller and stream like this was quite stimulating.

Among them was a broadcast by a warrior called Jinsol, also known as “True Selection.”

“Alright, I’ll go in.”

I was curious about what the warriors were broadcasting.

I clicked into [Advanced Warrior’s Swordsmanship Training].

I didn’t watch much, only about 10 minutes, before considering ending my own broadcast.

The system window showed a male warrior’s sword. There was a space to chat.

‘Is this the perspective of a controller?’

[Viewer Count: 100]

For an ordinary controller like me, 100 viewers was a huge number.

So, swords are basically killing weapons of the kingdom. Swordsmanship is important, but technique and style matter. The sword must be wielded with finesse! Oh, newbie here.

Since I didn’t have a name, I left a message in chat.

-So, you’re a swordsman too?

I responded politely to the warrior’s question.

If you become an advanced warrior, you gain a power far beyond ordinary warriors.

Ordinary warriors already surpass many in strength, but what about advanced warriors—

I lied, saying I was an ordinary warrior, then listened carefully to their explanations.

-Hehe, a polite warrior is rare these days. I like you!

The warrior praised me, the polite one who carried a sword and was timid in spirit, then said he’d return later and ended the broadcast.

As expected, this was useful.

I thought being able to watch broadcasts was a blessing.

By advancing as a human, I could learn cooking skills from other party members, or hear old stories from experienced farmers through their broadcasts.

I reassured myself.

‘It must be wonderful to imagine.’

After the broadcast ended, it was time to watch others.

I organized my thoughts and began my own broadcast.

([User 1]: Version 1!)
([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Version 2.)
[Father of Agriculture]: Version 3. Lots of honey here.
At that moment, the guardian Halibeoji climbed up to the city gate.

“Halibeoji.”

“Dear one, this isn’t punishment. It’s a gift from our village. Enjoy it well.”

“Thank you! I can’t eat enough of this!”

Out of courtesy, I looked inside the basket. There were many expensive things I usually couldn’t eat: rare monsters, garlic-seasoned beef cuts.

I had thought the countryside was poor, but that was a misconception.

“Isn’t this too much?”

“It’s okay. It’ll rot if it just sits there anyway.”

“Thank you, I will enjoy it.”

I gratefully accepted the gift.

Rather than returning it, I preferred to show genuine thanks. That was good for both sides.

([User 1]: Don’t refuse us. The dragon keeps asking for more.)

I ignored the chat.

“Come eat at Mina’s place sometime. The guardian likes you a lot.”

“I will. Should I bring some grilled meat?”

“We have plenty at our place.”

“There’s a little leftover meat from my father.”

My grandfather’s eyes widened twice as large.

“You can tame monster beasts?”

“Yes, I have a skill for that.”

“Heh, then that’s settled. I wanted to try that home-cooked meal.”

“Of course.”

For travelers, fresh and delicious ingredients were crucial. Today, I planned to cook the leftovers into rich red wolf meat stew.

After the guardian went down the mountain, I opened the system window again.

[Father of Agriculture]: Jinwoo, are you there? I’m waiting.

“Yes, I’m here. I was waiting too.”

I smiled broadly. Honestly, I’d been looking forward to this. I’d learned that there was nothing tastier than the farmer’s products.

Plus, there were buff effects, making it irresistible.

[Notification, from Father of Agriculture: Offering buff food ingredient items.]
-Would you like to accept?

I nodded eagerly at the new function.

As soon as I accepted, the Father of Agriculture’s chat began to display in color.

-Jinwoo, can you see my chat? Try replying with chat too.
-Yes, I see it.

I opened the system chat and started typing. Thinking of it as sending chat messages helped me craft the right wording.

-How about partnering up?

He got straight to the point. Though he explained carefully, the gist was that he would send necessary buff items and occasionally ask me to promote them to viewers.

I would obtain buff-type food items separately, and the Father of Agriculture would benefit from total promotion—a clear win-win.

“… Sounds good?”

After some talk, he immediately sent me some sponsorship items.

-These are things I don’t use. You can absorb their mana to help the egg’s growth.

[Notification: Buff food ingredient items sponsored by Father of Agriculture!]
[Notification: 200 coins sponsored by Father of Agriculture!]

Ten golden saphi eggs, a wind orb, and 200 coins were sent as sponsorship.

With that, the brief conversation ended.

([User 1]: What are you doing? Spacing out there?)

“Party members, want to try a golden saphi egg each?”

([Spirit of the Rainy Day]: Looks like the farmer had a good harvest.)
(Spirit of Life: Even so, I want to try one.)

I immediately began the ritual. Using the tribute skill, I gave one golden saphi egg each to three party members, then stored the remaining five eggs in the mysterious egg’s inventory.

Since I could get more eggs when the effects wore off, I could absorb mana without worry.

Pffft–!

The mysterious egg absorbed all the golden saphi eggs and the wind orb.

Not long after, it began to glow faintly.

Green dots, blue dots, red dots, and golden dots spread evenly.

Crackle, crackle–!

Finally, the aura began to glow brighter and brighter.