I Transferred to the SSS-rank Crafting Field - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

06 – The Lonely Sea (2)

Although she flung herself headfirst into the human world to avoid the dokkaebis’ overprotectiveness, Cha Taeyang was more like a young dokkaebi than a human.

The doting dokkaebis, who raised Cha Taeyang like a beloved daughter, passed all their skills and talents onto their little Kim-Seobang. For someone who was now more talented than any old dokkaebi, it was a piece of cake for Cha Taeyang to hide amongst people.

The same was true in the World’s Towers.

Taeyang, after departing from Yoon Gaho’s side, hid herself amongst the crowd.

‘All stories converge into one.’

Taeyang couldn’t help but reflect on this dokkaebi proverb. Thus, she strove to not miss a single word uttered by the folks in this crowd. Her eyes, observing the bustling harbor, shone like the dokkaebi’s flame.

‘It seems that the sea has been waning recently.’ ¹ This word is a bit ambiguous, but I think we’re supposed to be left in the dark about what *exactly* is happening to the sea.

‘Oh my, I should give the Player-nim a discount! Thanks to them, we survived from the brink of death.’

‘The good sights are all taken by them uppity folk–there’s no joy to sailing now.’

‘Shh–! There’s a player over there.’

Taeyang, who had been raised deep in the mountains, lacked common sense about the human world. Her words and actions were different from her peers because she was raised underneath the innocent dokkaebis’ care.

However, that didn’t mean Taeyang-ie was immature.

Sometimes, she showed keen insight, more than anyone else.

“There–that person.” Taeyang’s eyes stopped at one place.

That man, wearing a hood.

He had been sitting on the wooden box, grumbling incessantly. His fellow colleagues, other NPCs, were giving him knowing looks. However, the man could not hide his dissatisfaction.

Taeyang paid attention to him.

Not long after, he left his seat. Taeyang, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, followed him out of the restaurant.

After tailing him, they arrived at a shantytown: a small village where the lower-class folk of Sheila lived, enduring each day after day. There were no rewarding quests or stores selling useful items here, so the Hunters didn’t even bother to look through the area.

Rrring–!

“That makes noise, Shh!”

“You said this would be fun!” The dokkaebi, Sori, whimpered from boredom.

Taeyang raised her index finger and placed it in front of her mouth, “I’m working right now. If you promise to stay still, I’ll give you some buckwheat jelly later.”

“Buckwheat jelly! Really?! You promised, okay!”

“Mhmm! It’s a promise.”

Sori didn’t become quiet until the reward of buckwheat jelly was guaranteed.

Taeyang, who handed over the last of her jelly, pouted. ‘I bought it to eat myself, though…’

She darted between the shadows as she examined the shantytown.

Despite the densely packed houses, the shantytown was quiet, unlike the harbor. Occasionally, she could see an elderly person or a child guarding their homes.

“Uughh, I’m hungry.” Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned the buckwheat jelly. Or perhaps, she had expended too much effort today walking around. The sudden surge of hunger made Taeyang tear up.

‘Me too!’ the sounds seemed to say. In the mountain, three meals a day were baseline–a given! She ate five meals plus some snacks, usually consisting of buckwheat jelly, yakgwa ² A sort of molasses cookie , bukkumi ³ pan-fried rice cake made out of glutinous rice flour or sorghum flour. It’s usually filled with adzuki bean paste. , and corn.

“Why do humans only eat three times a day?” Taeyang asked.

“That’s what Kim-seobangs always do! They’re all so weird!”

“…A delicious smell!”

“Mmm, it’s coming from over there, Taeyang-ah!”

*Sniff Sniff* Taeyang, who had smelled something savory, approached the front of the house as if she were possessed. She could hear the voices of a mother and child through the thin wooden walls.

“It’s bean porridge again today? I don’t like beans!”

“Jack! If you’re a picky eater, the merpeople will take you! Hurry up and sit at the table before the monster merperson appears.”

‘If you’re not going to eat it, then give it to me!’ Taeyang, who momentarily forgot about her duties, eavesdropped until her ears perked up at the mention of a monster merperson. With her curiosity piqued, she went straight up to the doorstep, blatantly listening in on their conversation.

“Argh, I’m not afraid of any monster merpeople at all! The Player-nims defeated all of them. See if they show up again!”

“Tsk, there’s things you shouldn’t say… Kyaaa! W-Who are you?!”

Clank–!

A fist-sized rock flew through the open window and shattered a plate.

Quickly turning around, Taeyang identified the culprit.

A small girl stood there, her stature struggling to match up to her presence. As the woman in the house began to chase her, the girl hurriedly vacated the premises.

‘Something like a dokkaebi couldn’t exist in the real world!’

Taeyang, when she made eye contact with the girl, abruptly paused.

A reproachful voice echoed in her head; a small flame alighted in the corner of her heart. After shaking her head to brush away the auditory hallucination, Taeyang chased the girl.

The gleam in the girl’s eyes was all too familiar.

Taeyang felt like she knew the girl’s true identity.

Noticing the player chasing after her, the girl panicked and began to run faster. Considering her young age, she was surprisingly agile, but she was just an ordinary child who couldn’t outpace an awakened individual like Taeyang.

“Stop right there!” Taeyang shot up off the ground with one leap, somersaulted, and landed right in front of the girl.

The girl, who was at a bit of a loss, bowed her head. Her small face was buried behind bushy dark-blue hair. However, her eyes, peeking out from behind the strands, did not appear resigned.

Taeyang said nothing as she stood in front of the girl who was at least one and a half hand-span smaller than her.

The child, unable to endure the silence, asked timidly, “…Aren’t you going to catch me?”

“Why would Taeyang-ie do that?”

“Heeeee! The bells spoke…!” ⁴ Taeyang’s dokkaebi is disguised as a bell. There’s a characteristic bell the dokkaebi is usually portrayed as in Korean folklore. I’ll put it here The child, startled, cried out.

Then, out of nowhere, the voice, Sori, grumbled, “Is there a law that says bells can’t speak?”

“M-monster… I should hurry to the security guards…”

“Mo-on-ster? I’m a dokkaebi! Our Taeyang-ie even gave me a name: Sori. Aren’t you jealous? And, following Taeyang-ie, my surname is ‘Cha’ as well. Cha Sori!” ⁵ Btw, I don’t know if this is intentional, but the dokkaebi’s name sounds like “the noise of a car.”

“W-What should I do? I-I should run away…”

“Young Kim-seobang, you smell good. I’ll bestow upon you a special favor and let you use my name.”

Cha Taeyang piped up at that moment, “Hey, what’s your name? I’m Taeyang, Cha Taeyang.” She reached out her hand for a handshake.

The girl cautiously stared at Taeyang and the strange tiny bell for a while without saying a word.

Taeyang didn’t push her.

Realizing that the two beings had no intention of harming her, the girl reached out carefully and held Taeyang’s hand. Then, in a quiet voice, she told them her name.

Upon hearing that answer, Taeyang smiled broadly.

***

“What? You knew?” At first, I thought that Cha Taeyang had no idea that Atera was an NPC. Hunters who first entered the World’s Towers often made this sort of mistake.

However, when I sent Atera to the bathroom and talked to Taeyang, Cha Taeyang was well aware that Atera was different from the people in the real world.

“Of course. The color of their souls are different,” she said.

“Soul?”

Cha Taeyang nodded. She then explained the difference by gesturing with her hands, but it was a bit difficult to comprehend.

When Cha Taeyang struggled to explain but I couldn’t understand, her shoulders slumped. “Unni, you don’t know something like this?”

“Kim-seobangs are known to be a bit frustrating. Every dokkaebi knows what that is.”

“Let’s try to make her understand!”

The dokkaebi who was munching buckwheat jelly on Cha Taeyang’s shoulder chipped in to our conversation. Unlike usual, the dokkaebi appeared to be a palm-sized human. Tawny hair fluttered as the dokkaebi swayed from side to side.

‘So, it can transform as well, huh?’ I thought.

I had heard dokkaebis liked buckwheat jelly, and that rumor was proven true, I suppose. Then, I wondered if it’s also true that dokkaebis liked singing.

Shaking my head to clear my mind of unrelated thoughts, I returned to the original topic at hand, “In that case, why did you bring Atera here?”

“I felt that she knew something about the merpeople.” Cha Taeyang related what she saw and heard.

Sheila’s NPCs were sensitive to a Player’s presence.

Even though they were kind to their Player-nim saviors, they only said what was in their hearts when the Players disappeared. Many of them were wary of anyone that might listen in on their conversations.

This wasn’t a normal reaction.

Case in point: the most crucial conversation the mother and son had about the monster merpeople.

“Monster merperson?” I asked.

On the 16th floor, there were no significant monster hunting grounds. The only demonic being or monster that was worth talking about was the threatening raid boss, Avenger.

“Was Avenger a merperson? No–according to the data, it looked nothing like what we’d consider a merperson.”

Avenger was described as a beast formed by the aggregation of seawater. If it had been a type of monster that resembled a merperson, Choi Gwon-young would have mentioned it.

Something was strange, but we lacked clues.

Leaving my complicated thoughts behind, I also informed Cha Taeyang what happened on my end.

She opened her eyes wide that I had found the undersea city, Oceanbloom.

I said, “The mana circuit is still operating. Let’s go together next time if possible.”

“I’d love to! Oceanbloom… I’m looking forward to it!”

Crash–!

I turned my head at the loud sound.

Atera, who stumbled out of the bathroom, was staring our way. Even though she must be hurt, she leapt straight to her feet and approached us. Her fingertips trembled faintly. “T-Take me with you!”

“Atera, are you alright?”

“You just mentioned Oceanbloom, right? I’ll do anything. Player-nim, please take me with you as well.” Atera, who was now right by us, held my sleeve tightly enough that her finger bones protruded.

She knows about Oceanbloom? I suppose Cha Taeyang’s hunch was correct.

I sat Atera down on the sofa and asked her to explain further, but she only repeated that she wanted me to take her to Oceanbloom. “Please, Player-nim. Take me to Oceanbloom.”

Even though Cha Taeyang joined me in our bid to console and persuade her, the girl said nothing, lips tightly shut. The young girl must have held deep distrust of Players. When we asked if she was a resident of Oceanbloom, she only shook her head slightly.

As soon as I was about to give up, I suddenly thought of a method that might work. I took out the scales I obtained from Oceanbloom. “Atera, do you know anything about these scales?”

“That’s…That’s…” After seeing the seafolk scales, Atera began to cry. A long while passed as she silently sobbed. Then, as if she had steeled her resolve, she looked up at me, “All you Player-nims don’t know anything.”

“Yes. We know nothing. Therefore, please tell us, Atera.”

“…As a land-dweller I’m not qualified to speak about this/I don’t deserve to speak about this.”

‘As a land-dweller?’ So, the counterpart of a ‘Seafolk’?

Atera untied the necklace she wore around her neck; alongside her action, a system message appeared.

“If you soak this necklace in sea water, you’ll know everything. I’ll give you this. In turn, please take me Oceanbloom.”

“Unni, Gaho-unni! This is–!”

“Yes, there’s no doubt about it.”

We did it! A quest that seemed extraordinary even at first glance.

I nodded my head as I retrieved the necklace from Atera’s hand. “I accept. Atera, I’ll take you to Oceanbloom.”

TL: I mean, we sort of got a feeling with Carlos…. But does that mean the NPCs are fully sentient? No matter which floor one goes to?