TL: Hanguk
Day 177 of being stranded.
Today, before the black rabbit called, Sejun went to the pond first to move the piranhas and prepared lunch.
His work speed increased after raising his agility, giving him a bit of spare time in the morning farming.
There was no clock to measure the time accurately, but he could definitely feel that he was faster.
Since there was some time left until lunchtime, Sejun went to the green onion field, where he had harvested seeds from the green onion flowers and planted them, and cut a few green onions.
And then,
Slice, slice, slice.
He thinly sliced the green onions with a dagger and garnished the grilled fish with them.
While Sejun and the black rabbit were preparing lunch, the white rabbits finished their own tasks and helped in preparing the meal.
Starting today, the white rabbits are eating separately in the cave. The reason is that the wife rabbit’s belly has grown so much that she can no longer control her body. It seems that the baby rabbits will be born soon.
“Pull!”
Kkoo! Eung! Kkoo! Eung!
The baby bear pulled Sejun and the black rabbit, who had prepared lunch, and the three of them ate lunch above ground.
Sejun took a bite of the grilled fish seasoned with salt and garnished with green onions, and chewed it together with a dried sweet potato. He wanted to create the feeling of eating rice as much as possible.
Chew chew.
The familiar taste was similar. As the salty fish entered his mouth, his brain naturally thought of white rice. The dried sweet potato was also a carbohydrate, so it felt a bit similar, but it couldn’t replicate the texture and taste of rice.
“Ah, I want to eat rice.”
Sejun looked at the vast wasteland and imagined rice ripening as he ate the grilled fish and dried sweet potato, but he still felt unsatisfied.
“Someday, I’ll eat rice.”
Until recently, Sejun was happy just to be able to eat sweet potatoes, but human greed had no end.
As Sejun set a new farming goal,
Buzz buzz.
Ten poison honeybees came up from the cave entrance and scattered in pairs, patrolling about 300 meters around.
From the day Sejun came up to the ground, the poison honeybees also followed him up like this and patrolled. They were protecting Sejun.
“Interesting…”
Sejun watched the poison honeybees flying around and finished his meal.
And then,
Plop…
Hrrrr…
The black rabbit and baby bear naturally approached Sejun, who was drinking coffee, to take a nap.
The black rabbit had a small body, so it didn’t matter, but the baby bear pushed its head forward recklessly.
However, Sejun’s lap was too narrow for the baby bear, which had grown bigger in just a few days.
Hrrrr.
It seemed frustrated that it couldn’t sleep in Sejun’s arms as it used to. After tossing and turning a few times, the baby bear changed its strategy.
The baby bear lay down sideways, sticking its belly to Sejun’s back and curled up to sleep. It looked as if Sejun was in the baby bear’s arms.
Grrrrrr.
The baby bear fell asleep as soon as it lay down.
Gulp.
Sejun took a sip of coffee and completely leaned his body onto the baby bear’s soft body.
“Soft and cozy.”
Feeling the warmth as if he were covering himself with a blanket for the first time in a while, Se-jun fell asleep.
How long had they slept?
Slap! Slap!
“Uhmm…”
Se-jun woke up from the sound of something hitting his thigh.
Squeak!
The father rabbit had come up to wake him, as Se-jun hadn’t come down. He must have fallen into a deep sleep because the baby bear’s belly was so soft.
“Guys, let’s wake up.”
Groan···
Groan···
Se-jun woke up the sleeping black rabbit and baby bear.
These days, the black rabbit practiced with the baby bear in the afternoon. More precisely, while the baby bear was playing, the black rabbit was desperately fighting.
Bounce!
Plop! Plop! Plop!
The black rabbit tried hard to hit the baby bear with his hammer while dodging the bear’s front paws, but
Groan!
The baby bear excitedly rushed towards the black rabbit. It seemed to think they were playing tag.
While the two practiced and played, Se-jun planted the tops of the carrots he had brought up and went down to the cave to harvest cherry tomatoes.
And then
Rustle.
As he was cutting the cherry tomato branches for a while,
Buzz.
He saw a single poison bee carrying something the size of a fist with great difficulty, leaving the cave.
“What is that?”
Se-jun, driven by curiosity, stopped harvesting cherry tomatoes and followed the poison bee up the rope to the ground.
“What is that?”
When Se-jun asked the poison bee, which was searching for something around,
Thump.
Instead of answering, the poison bee carefully placed what it had been carrying on Se-jun’s hand and returned to the cave. It had left the disposal to Se-jun.
“What is this?”
Se-jun carefully picked up the thing, which looked like an ivory-colored larva.
[You have acquired the Poison Bee Queen’s Cocoon.]
“Poison Bee Queen’s Cocoon?”
The fact that a message appeared meant it was an item. Se-jun examined the cocoon closely.
[Poison Bee Queen’s Cocoon]
-A poison bee larva is preparing to metamorphose into a poison bee queen by consuming only royal jelly¹.
-There are 10 days left until metamorphosis.
-It will consider the first creature it sees after metamorphosis as its owner.
The poison bees had come out to abandon it because a new poison bee queen was about to be born, even though it was not the time for the division of the hive.
However, it was an opportunity for Se-jun to get a second beehive.
Se-jun dug a hole in the shade near the rock where the rope was tied and carefully placed the poison bee queen’s cocoon.
Then, he brought up a bunch of green onion leaves from the cave and covered the cocoon.
“Will this work?”
Se-jun didn’t know how to ensure the safe emergence of the poison bee queen from the cocoon, so he minimized external stress for the time being.
He then resumed harvesting cherry tomatoes, helped the other white rabbits with their tasks, and another day passed.
***
178th day morning.
Grrr!
The baby bear announced its arrival at the cave entrance. As always, the baby bear arrived early today.
“Yeah. Hi.”
Sejun and the rabbits woke up and busily prepared for the morning farming.
Munch munch.
Gulp gulp.
Sejun had sweet potato for breakfast, while the rabbits had carrots. Just then,
“I will take revenge, meow!”
Theo’s voice was heard.
“Huh? What revenge?”
Sejun hurriedly climbed up the rope.
***
Theo, who rushed to secure Sejun’s lap.
“Meow meow meow. Finally, I’m going to be on Park Sejun’s lap, meow!”
Theo happily hummed while moving toward the cave where Sejun was.
At that moment,
Thud. Thud.
He saw Crimson Giant Bear was digging the ground above Sejun’s cave.
“It was this, meow…”
Theo hurried here with a sense of unease that something was targeting Sejun’s lap. Sejun must have already been dead. Why is it that ominous thoughts are never wrong, meow?
Theo mistakenly thought that the Crimson Giant Bear was burying Sejun’s bones.
If the Crimson Giant Bear had really eaten Sejun, it wouldn’t have left any bones, but the enraged Theo was not in a situation where he could discern reason right now.
“How dare you kill Park Sejun, meow!”
“Stealing my comfortable lap, meow!”
“I haven’t even used up all of my representative time, meow!”
“I will take revenge, meow!”
Clang!
Theo took out the hidden claws and rushed towards the baby bear.
At that moment,
“Theo, you’re here?”
Sejun climbed up the cave with the rope and stuck his head out.
“Oh?! That’s right, meow! I’m back, meow!”
Theo quickly changed direction and charged towards Sejun’s face.
Thump!
“Get off.”
Sejun told Theo, who clung tightly to his face.
“Puhuhut. Okay, meow.”
Theo, relieved to see Sejun safe, smiled, climbed down from Sejun’s face, and jumped to the ground.
“But what’s with this Crimson Giant Bear, meow?”
“It accidentally fell into the cave and we became friends. Now its mother is protecting the area around here in exchange for giving honey to the baby bear.”
Sejun fully climbed up to the ground and answered.
“Is that so, meow?”
“More importantly, did everything go well?”
“That’s right, meow! I completed all the tasks, sold everything, and came back, meow!”
Theo confidently replied and climbed onto Sejun’s lap.
And then,
“This time, I sold 1,800 cherry tomatoes for 220 Tower coins, meow!”
Theo took out the money from the bag and handed it to Sejun. Although the amount had decreased compared to last time, it didn’t matter. Higher-grade cherry tomatoes were waiting to be released.
“Good job. Here’s a 5% incentive.”
Sejun gave Theo 11 Tower coins. Since Theo was doing a good job, Sejun increased Theo’s incentive to 5%, which was the representative rate.
“I have this too, meow!”
Theo took out the items Sejun had requested, along with churu, seasonings, and coffee.
“How many hours of my representative time available now, meow?”
Theo, with eyes full of anticipation, waited for Sejun’s words.
“Adding the previous time, it’s 38 hours?”
“Got it, meow! I’ll use up all of that time, meow!”
Having realized the preciousness of Sejun’s lap, Theo decided to enjoy the lap for a long time.
“Good job.”
Sejun stroked Theo’s head and tore a Churu (cat treat) to put it in Theo’s mouth.
“That’s right, meow! I worked really hard, meow!”
Chomp chomp chomp.
While Theo was bragging and enthusiastically licking the Churu,
Lick lick.
A strange tongue intruded.
“What, meow?
Grrr?
The baby bear tilted its head and looked at Theo. Who is this brother?
The baby bear fearlessly licked Theo’s Churu.
Haaak! Haaak!
Sejun tightly grabbed Theo, who was causing a fuss and threatening to hit the baby bear with his claws, preventing his rampage.
However,
Grrrrrr!
The startled baby bear began to scream.
And then,
Roaaar.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear, who hadn’t gone far, rushed over upon hearing the baby bear’s cries.
Grrr! Grrr!
The baby bear ran to the mother Crimson Giant Bear and pointed at Theo with its paw, telling her what Theo had done.
“Ah… Hello! I’m Theo, the wandering cat merchant!”
Theo hurriedly got off Sejun’s lap and bowed 90 degrees to greet the mother Crimson Giant Bear. Theo, whether confused or not, suddenly began speaking standard Korean, forgetting his dialect.
Roaaar.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear growled at Theo, staring at him.
“Yes! I was wrong. We will get along from now on.”
Theo earnestly apologized, unsure if the bear understood him.
“They just had a small fight. Nothing happened.”
Sejun also hurriedly defended Theo, feeling responsible for the situation. Theo had come a long way, only to encounter this upon arrival.
Rumble.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear snorted loudly, warning Theo not to touch her cub again, and left to resume her patrol.
“Hooo-nyaang. Meowhiccup. Meowhiccup.”
Theo, relieved, suddenly started hiccupping.
“Okay. It’s over. Calm down.”
“Thanks for… meowhiccup… standing up for me… meowhiccup… thank you, meow.”
Theo hiccupped while expressing his gratitude to Sejun.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”
Sejun hugged Theo and patted his chest.
And then,
Snore.
Theo, seemingly calmed by Sejun’s touch, quickly fell asleep.
Grrr.
The baby bear, thinking it was nap time since Theo was asleep, leaned against Sejun’s back and lay down.
Plop!
The black rabbit also hopped onto Sejun’s lap.
“Guys?”
Snore.
Yawn.
Grrr.
Instead of answering, he just heard low snoring. They had all fallen asleep.
“Oh, what the heck. Huh?”
As Sejun resigned himself to sleep as well, he noticed a straw hat next to him. It must have flown over when the mother Crimson Giant Bear snorted earlier.
“Good.”
Sejun, who needed something to block the sun, put on the straw hat and fell asleep.
On day 178 of the being stranded, Theo realized that causing trouble with the baby bear would lead to big problems.
“Let’s get along from now on, baby bear, meow. But please, just eat a little less Churu…”
Theo muttered in his sleep.
*****
1. Royal jelly is a secretion produced by the hypopharyngeal glands of young worker bees, and it is fed to all bee larvae in a colony during their first few days of life. However, only the larvae destined to become queen bees continue to be fed royal jelly throughout their development, which helps them develop reproductive organs and larger size.
Good Night!!!
