Chapter 8
The unknown is terrifying.
When humans can't understand what something is, they feel extreme anxiety.
For instance, when they hear an unidentified sound in the dark.
The human brain tends to interpret dangers it doesn't know as greater than dangers it can see.
We've evolved to fear the 'unknown something' we can't see more than dangers plainly visible before our eyes.
And Kang Yul, who was born human, was no different.
Squirm— squirm—
Until just moments ago, the Worm had been a supernatural life-form whose actions Kang Yul couldn't predict.
What it wanted, what it ate, what it was thinking, what it wanted from him.
It was an utterly unknowable something.
But Kang Yul was different after acquiring the skill.
Squirm— squirm—
﹝Special Features﹞
: It likes the surrounding environment.
: It feels fondness for the being that woke it.
: It wants to eat soft soil.
Kang Yul now knew that the Worm liked this environment.
He also knew it liked Kang Yul, who had woken it.
He'd learned that it wanted to eat soft soil, too.
'There isn't any soft soil here… Do I have to go out and buy some?'
The Worm was no longer a frightening presence to Kang Yul.
Just knowing he could communicate with it had already eased his fear of the unknown.
And once he learned what was in its heart, there was no longer any reason to fear it.
"I bought some at the flower shop nearby, but… will this do?"
Chrrk— chrrk— chrrk……
Of course, the fact that the Worm was a B-rated supernatural life-form hadn't changed.
It was still a life-form full of unknowns, capable of turning on him and attacking at any moment.
But still.
Chrrk…… …Blech!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It thinks the soil is soft but tasteless.
: It wants to eat tasty soil.
"It doesn't taste good? Ah, is it because it's ordinary soil without mana?"
Knowing what was in its heart was more useful than Kang Yul had expected.
Squirm—!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It wants you to mix it with the surrounding soil.
: It wants to eat tasty soil.
"Hold on. If I look up the ideal ratio… weathered soil (decomposed granite) 40–50%, horticultural potting soil 40%, leaf mold or compost 10–20%…? I wonder if the flower shop sells that stuff."
Even supernatural life-forms were, in the end, living creatures.
Ultimately, there was probably a reason they attacked something: they wanted something, and Kang Yul could learn what that purpose was.
"I made this in a hurry, but I don't know if you'll like it. Want to try some?"
Chrrk… chrrk…… chrrk………!
Chrrk… chrrk… chrrk… chrrk…!!!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It thinks this is tasty soil.
: It feels deep affection for you.
"Easy there, you might choke. Take your time."
Kang Yul was no longer afraid of the Worm.
It was a small moment of mutual understanding, but he'd managed to build a relationship with the Worm and increase its affection for him.
Chrrk… chrrk…!!!
'Maybe it's kind of cute…?'
Of course, if he said that in front of other people, they'd point at him and ask if he was crazy, or lock him up in a treatment facility for having a high level of mental corruption.
Kang Yul thought it was perfectly natural to feel proud when watching someone enjoy a meal (nutritious soil) he'd lovingly prepared.
And the Worm felt the same way.
Squirm…
﹝Special Features﹞
: It thinks this is tasty soil.
: It feels deep affection for you.
: It wants to give you a present.
"A present?"
Squirm— squirm—!
Perhaps wanting to return Kang Yul's kindness in its own way, the Worm began slowly approaching, its little body undulating.
It seemed to be coming over to give him a present, and as Kang Yul watched, he hesitated for a moment before carefully asking the Worm.
"Um… can I hold you for a moment? I'll put you on my palm."
At first, he'd considered refusing.
But before long, he realized that turning down a present in such a heartwarming moment might drastically lower the affection he'd built up so far.
'That would be dangerous.'
He didn't know how a supernatural life-form would react if it got upset, but one thing was certain.
It wouldn't be good for Kang Yul.
So if refusing wasn't an option, Kang Yul decided he might as well be proactive.
"Can I touch you?"
Squirm—!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you.
"That means it's okay…?"
Squirm—!!!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
Hmm… He wasn't quite sure.
But it seemed to have given permission in its own way, so after hesitating a moment, Kang Yul carefully picked up the Worm and put it on his palm.
Squirm— squirm—
Then, as if in a good mood, the Worm started squirming around over Kang Yul's palm.
Kang Yul felt a little afraid as he watched it, but at the same time thought, 'Maybe it really is kind of cute…?'
But that thought lasted only a moment.
Squirm…?
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
: It wants to give you a present.
: It is wondering if it can bite you gently.
The Worm, which had been roaming over his palm, raised its body and looked at Kang Yul.
Then it bent its body into a question mark, as if asking whether it could bite him.
"Bite me…?"
For an instant, Kang Yul felt a chill.
The thought of being bitten by a supernatural life-form was enough to make his faded fear surge back.
Squirm—! Squirm—! Squirm—!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!!!
Perhaps sensing Kang Yul's feelings, the Worm swayed its body from side to side as if to say not to worry, making its intentions clear.
After hesitating for a long while, Kang Yul silently nodded, accepting the Worm's proposal.
As mentioned earlier, going against the Worm's mood simply wasn't an option for Kang Yul.
And then, right after.
Prick—!
He felt a pain in his palm, like a tiny bug had bitten him.
Squirm—!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
: It hopes you'll like its present.
"…That's it?"
Squirm—!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
: It hopes you'll like its present!
…That was all.
For something he'd been so scared of that he'd squeezed his eyes shut, it was a pretty anticlimactic ending.
Squirm—?
"Ahem. No, it's nothing."
Anyway, as if to move past the awkward moment, Kang Yul gave a couple of dry coughs and looked at the palm the Worm had bitten.
He thought there must be something there, since it had said it was giving him a present.
And in fact, there was something in Kang Yul's palm.
"A gemstone…?"
Kang Yul examined the tiny gemstone resting in his palm.
It was a transparent gem with a deep vermilion hue.
He thought that if the amber he'd seen earlier were processed into a gemstone, it would look exactly like this.
'I'm sure it ate all of it earlier… Did it store some inside its body and share it with me?'
It was a reasonable suspicion.
If a finger-sized Worm had eaten a watermelon-sized piece of amber, it was only natural to think it had some supernatural organ inside its body to store it.
"Thanks, Worm."
Squirm—!
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you!
Well, either way, a good thing was a good thing, so he thanked the Worm.
He'd already been disappointed to lose the amber, so he couldn't help being grateful that it had given him at least a piece of it.
He didn't know much about it, but it was amber that had been sleeping inside [Primordial Land - Terra].
And considering the Worm itself had processed it into a gemstone, its value would be hard to put a price on.
'If I sell this, I won't have to worry about money anymore.'
Kang Yul wanted to put it in the box right away and ask for gold bars worth as much as the gemstone.
He figured receiving gold would be more reasonable than money, since the sum would be too large.
Unfortunately, he couldn't do that.
He'd already used up today's transaction by asking about the Worm, so transactions were impossible for now.
'I'll have to keep it safe.'
Looking forward to tomorrow, Kang Yul decided to store the processed amber carefully.
He moved it with care so it wouldn't get even the tiniest scratch, so he could trade it in the best possible condition tomorrow.
But that thought lasted only a moment.
"?"
The moment Kang Yul tried to pick up the amber resting on his palm, he felt something was off.
When he tried to lift the amber, his hand came up with it.
As if the amber had fused with his palm.
It looked as if it were embedded in his palm.
"Wait, seriously?"
He thought he was mistaken, but he wasn't.
No matter how violently Kang Yul shook his hand, the amber stayed embedded in his palm, showing no sign of coming loose.
By the time he realized this, a familiar sound had already rung out, and a notification window appeared before his eyes.
Ding—!
[You have learned how to eat mountains from 'Mountain-Eating Worm - Bakai'.]
[You can now eat soil.]
"I can eat soil…?"
Kang Yul picked up a little of the soil the Worm had left behind and put it in his mouth.
It tasted somewhat nutty and sweet… like chewing on a chocolate cookie, but…
"Is this a good thing…?"
If this had been back when he was poor, he might've been glad he could save on food expenses by just eating dirt.
But now, when he could buy food without worrying about money… honestly, he couldn't think of how he was supposed to use it…
"…Did you give this to me so I'd make soil that suits your taste?"
S-squirm—?
﹝Special Features﹞
: It feels deep affection for you.
: It thinks its stomach is full and it wants to sleep.
: It wants you to cover it with soft soil.
Judging by how it suddenly said it was sleepy, maybe that had been its intention after all.
"All right, let's get some sleep. I'm tired too."
A lot had happened today, so Kang Yul gave up on questioning it about this.
Or rather, he gave up because he didn't think it would change anything even if he did ask.
Anyway, he covered the Worm with soil, then went to bed early himself.
#####
A Worm had hatched from the amber.
He'd gotten a new skill and could hear the Worm's inner voice.
He'd used that skill to win the Worm's favor, receive a present, and even gained the ability to eat soil… The day that felt like a strange dream was over, and morning came.
Chime—!
"…?"
Kang Yul woke up to a familiar notification sound.
"What is it? Did I get something again…? Or did the Worm do something…?"
He fumbled at the air with half-open eyes, searching for the notification window that should have appeared before him.
But after looking around for a while and seeing no notification window, Kang Yul felt something was strange.
'Ah… It was a text message sound…?'
Only after checking the smartphone beside his head did he belatedly realize the notification sound had been a little different than usual.
It was a small misunderstanding caused by the fact that he usually kept his phone on silent and almost never received texts.
Anyway.
'Who sent it?'
He'd quit all his part-time jobs, so there was practically nowhere left for a message to come from, but when he checked, it wasn't spam either.
Puzzled, he opened it and was surprised to see it was a text from the Hunter Management Bureau.
───────────
[Web message]
Hello, Hunter Kang Yul. This is the Field Management Team of the Hunter Management Bureau.
We request your assistance with the Suraksan Gate management operation scheduled for next week.
▪ Date and time: Next Monday at 9:00 a.m.
▪ Meeting place: Hunter Management Bureau, Nowon Branch
▪ Duties: Assist a Hunter under exclusive contract with the Hunter Management Bureau
This operation is for routine Gate stabilization and risk-factor inspections, and requires your participation, Hunter Kang Yul.
We will provide further details on the schedule and preparations later. Please reply to confirm whether you can participate.
Thank you.
───────────
'Ah, come to think of it, it's already been over two weeks since I registered as a Hunter?'
He'd forgotten while spending all his time mining in his Gate, but it was about time they contacted him.
'Next Monday… That's four days from now.'
I haven't even gotten any decent Hunter gear yet. I wonder if this will be okay.
Of course, since he's joining as an assistant to a Hunter under exclusive contract, he'd basically be little more than extra manpower who only needed to show up.
But there's no such thing as an absolute guarantee.
'For now, I should prepare as much as I can.'
Four days left.
I should prepare as much as possible and keep myself safe.