PRSR | Chapter 3.1

“I’m sorry, Soul. The merchant caravan changed their mind. They said they won’t stop by our village.”

“There’s no need to apologize. It’s not your fault, sir. I appreciate you looking out for me.”

“They said they won’t come because the inn was destroyed and there’s nowhere to stay, but I think that’s just an excuse. They’re probably scared of more monsters showing up. Otherwise, why would a merchant who’s all about profits go out of their way and take more time to go around the village instead of passing through? Don’t you think so, Soul?”

Hearing that the merchant caravan wouldn’t be coming to the village, the uncle seemed more disappointed than I was.

“To think they’re letting go of a friend like you, Soul, who works so well… They’ll regret it later, hitting the ground in regret when they realize what they missed!”

I figured the uncle was upset because I lost my chance to go to Belford. But I wasn’t bothered at all.

I had Jjikjjiki, my incredibly strong Awakened mouse with a stat of 80.

‘If it’s Jjikjjiki, we’ll be able to safely move to the next village.’

The system, which only gave basic quests like goblin hunting, wouldn’t suddenly throw a quest that Jjikjjiki couldn’t handle. The quest to move to the next region would be perfectly suited for Awakened who had completed all the Beginner Village quests.

If Jjikjjiki, who could clear the quests of the Beginner Village alone, was ready for this one, there wouldn’t be any problems.

I immediately started preparing to leave the Beginner Village.

“Thanks for everything. Here, take this.”

The pouch the uncle gave me had more money in it than I had earned working at the general store for the past few days.

“Uncle…”

“This is for everything you’ve done so well, so don’t refuse it. You’ve got to feed that Jjikjjiki too, right? It’ll take a lot to settle in another village, so you’ll need the money.”

“Jjik!”

Jjikjjiki protested, saying its name wasn’t “Jjakjjak.”

“I’ll accept it, even if it’s a little embarrassing. Thank you. For giving me a job and helping me out like this…”

“Here, this too. It’s the clothes you wore when you first came here. They look pretty valuable, so keep them safe.”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that these fancy pajamas were worth 35,800 won, including shipping. But it was good news that my pajamas were being treated as something valuable here. If needed, I could always sell them for travel expenses.

“Take care of yourself, uncle.”

“Alright. Be careful, and come back rich one day.”

Had I gotten attached in the meantime? My steps, which I thought would feel light, were harder to move away from. I kept stroking Jjikjjiki, holding it in my arms, until the Beginner Village was no longer in sight.

“Chik-chik.”

As expected, stroking Jjikjjiki calmed my heart.

To get from the Beginner Village to Belford, we had to pass through a wide forest. While Jjikjjiki kicked and chased away the monsters and dangerous wild animals, the responsibility for meals and sleep fell on me.

I decided to stop traveling before the sun set and set up camp. Inside my travel pouch were a few things I had asked the general store uncle to pack, along with my blue pajamas and a packed lunch.

‘The uncle even packed me a lunch.’

The lunch was carefully made with food that wouldn’t spoil easily, and next to it were various fresh vegetables. These were for Jjikjjiki.

The uncle used to say that if a rat came out of the store, the customers would run away, so he hated them. But it seemed like he had grown quite fond of Jjikjjiki now.

“Jjikjjiki, let’s eat some napa cabbage.”

Crunch crunch crunch. As I listened to the sound of Jjikjjiki munching on the cabbage, I lay down next to the makeshift campfire I had built.

“Soul- jjik. Are you cold?”

“Yeah. A little.”

Jjikjjiki spread its arms wide and hugged me, saying it would warm me up.

One side of my chest grew just a little warmer.

* * *

As night fell, the temperature dropped sharply. The makeshift campfire I had built from branches lying around on the ground wasn’t nearly enough to warm me up.

“…Sniff.”

Now even my nose was running.

‘Ugh, it’s so cold.’

I shivered as I wrapped a long, stiff cloth that I had prepared around my body.

“Chik.”

Suddenly, Jjikjjiki, who had been stuck between me and the cloth, wriggled out and poked its head out from the fabric, looking up at me. Its nose touched my chin.

“Sorry, Jjikjjiki. Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m not cold.”

“Really?”

“Maybe it’s because I’m awakened.”

“…I envy you.”

It would have been nice to have a sleeping bag or a tent, but sadly, I didn’t have the strength to carry anything that heavy. If I tried to carry everything I needed, I’d collapse in less than a day.

No, what am I saying? Even half a day would have been too much. I’d be lucky to last that long.

“I’ll carry the luggage for you.”

“It’s fine. I’ll carry it.”

Jjikjjiki offered to help with the luggage, seeing how exhausted I was, but I refused. I wasn’t the kind of person who would make a small mouse carry heavy bags.

‘I really need to build up some stamina.’

Besides, there was no way I could get a sleeping bag or tent. The villagers in the Beginner Village rarely left, so even the general store, which sold all kinds of things, didn’t carry camping supplies. And since I didn’t know how to make a tent, I had no choice but to deal with things the best I could.

I decided to weave a large sackcloth into a long rectangle, folding it like a mat to carry around. As expected, it was a complete mess. The only advantage was that it was light and easy to carry, but it had no other benefits.

“Soul- jjik. Are you still cold?”

Jjikjjiki, determined to warm me up, started rubbing my chest and stomach with all its might.

But no matter what, it just tickled, and the cold didn’t go away at all.

“Stop, Jjikjjiki. Come here.”

“Chik.”

Jjikjjiki crawled out from the cloth, stretched out its body, and laid on top of my eyes. It felt like I was wearing a soft eye mask, with the gentle beating of its tiny heart against my skin.

‘It is warm, though.’

Sigh…

I want to go home.

* * *

“Ugh, heh…”

The next morning, when I woke up, my whole body ached. My back, my waist—there wasn’t a spot that didn’t hurt. At least I was grateful I didn’t catch a cold.

Once we get to Belford, the first thing I’ll do is gather some camping gear. Before that, I’ll need to build up some stamina to carry it all…

‘I’m so tired.’

I reached up and picked up Jjikjjiki, who was still resting on my eyes, serving as both a warm eye mask and a bodyguard. Jjikjjiki, who was always a late riser, blinked its dark eyes in a dazed expression, still half asleep.

“Did you sleep well, Jjikjjiki?”

“Chik.”

Jjikjjiki stretched its arms wide, then placed its hands on my face and rested its snout against me.

Seeing Jjikjjiki’s cute gesture made the stiffness from my tired body seem to ease just a little. I set Jjikjjiki down on the ground and stretched my own arms high, trying to loosen up. Crack. The sound of my joints creaking echoed loudly.

It seemed that the feeling of relief was just an illusion. I was still exhausted.

“Hah… Jjikjjiki. I’m so tired.”

“Chik. Chik.”

Jjikjjiki fidgeted anxiously, stomping its little feet. It wanted to help, but with its small body, there wasn’t much it could do, and it looked upset about that.

“It’s just me complaining.”

I gently massaged its tiny head with my finger, pressing down until its soft fur flattened.

“Soul- jjik.”

Jjikjjiki, now completely flattened from my massage, suddenly flopped down onto the ground and exposed its little white belly. It patted its round stomach and loudly exclaimed,

“Touch it!”

“…What?”

“Soul- jjik, do you like touching my belly?”

Well… I do like it. It’s only natural to feel happy when petting something cute and fluffy, right?

But this situation was a bit surprising. Usually, a pet rat wouldn’t flip over and offer its belly like this.

“Hurry!”

Well, since the opportunity was given, I decided to pet it and think about it later.

In silence, I gently stroked Jjikjjiki’s belly.

“Chik-chik.”

Hmm. I started to feel more at ease.

‘This is more healing than I expected.’

I kept rubbing Jjikjjiki’s belly until I was completely calm. I rubbed it so much that I started worrying whether I might wear out Jjikjjiki’s belly, but thankfully, the Awakened mouse’s belly was sturdy.

“Soul- jjik, you look happy.”

“Yeah. I feel better.”

“I’m glad.”

Once I regained some energy, I felt bad for making Jjikjjiki worry about me. With that in mind, I handed it a fresh piece of celery.

…Crunch.

Jjikjjiki still seemed to be waiting for my reaction as it took a bite of the celery, then held out the rest to me.

“I’ll give it to you.”

“It’s fine. You eat it.”

“Soul- jjik, you haven’t eaten anything since last night, right?”

Since my food supply was limited, I couldn’t just eat whenever I felt hungry. I didn’t know when I’d be able to find more food, so I had to be careful not to eat too much right now.

“I’ll eat later.”

“Then I’ll eat with you when you do.”

I embraced Jjikjjiki, which was still refusing to eat, and fed it the celery piece with my own hands.

“…”

After a moment of hesitation, Jjikjjiki finally put the celery in its mouth.

Crunch crunch crunch.

When Jjikjjiki is picky, this is the best way.

“I want to be more helpful to you, Soul.”

“Then, will you pet my belly every time I’m struggling?”

“Sure, I promise!”

Jjikjjiki proudly extended its pinky finger. Where did it learn something like this? I brought my finger to touch its tiny pinky.

After the small healing time spent with Jjikjjiki, the journey toward Belford continued.

The shoes here quickly wore out and broke. I had brought spare shoes, but maybe because the path was so rough, even the new shoes wore out fast, and the soles ripped. I slapped a piece of stiff cloth, which I had used as a blanket, onto the sole of my shoe, roughly cutting it to fit.

It’s better than walking barefoot, I guess.

‘This is so uncomfortable.’

Maybe walking barefoot would have been better.

“Jjikjjiki, let’s rest here for a bit.”

“Jjik!”

I decided it wasn’t going to work like this and spread out a mat, sitting down on it. Of course, the mat was just the stiff cloth I had been using as a sleeping bag.

“Phew. I think I can live.”

I cupped some water in my palm and fed it to Jjikjjiki. Rats need a lot of water, but since leaving the Beginner Village, I’d noticed Jjikjjiki hadn’t been drinking enough, which worried me.

“Drink more water.”

“Soul, jjik.”

“I’m fine. Drink up.”

Jjikjjiki shook his head firmly. I brought the water I had cupped in my palm to my lips, pretending to drink, then offered it to Jjikjjiki again.

“Ah, that was good~ Now you can drink the rest, Jjikjjiki.”