PRSR | Chapter 3.2

Jjikjjiki squinted his eyes.

“Soul… I know you didn’t drink any, jjik.”

Now that I thought about it, Jjikjjiki wasn’t just an ordinary rat—he was a beastman. Even though he spoke human language, I had forgotten because he still looked like a little baby rat to me.

“Soul, jjik. You can drink all the water you want, jjik. I’ll find some more for you.”

“Water? How?”

“Follow me, jjik!”

With great energy, Jjikjjiki dashed off. Jumping up and down, he moved quickly but always in a way that followed the easiest path for me.

After walking for about ten minutes following Jjikjjiki, we came across a stream with clear water.

“Wow!”

“There’s a stream nearby, jjik. We’re lucky, jjik.”

“Good job, Jjikjjiki! You’re amazing!”

“Praise me, Soul, jjik.”

I lifted Jjikjjiki onto my palm and gave him a few kisses. Jjikjjiki looked really proud of himself.

The stream Jjikjjiki found was clean, with plump fish swimming in it. While I made a fire and started boiling water, Jjikjjiki caught fish. Even though the fish were more than twice his size, he didn’t seem to have any trouble at all.

Standing on a large rock embedded in the stream, Jjikjjiki would wait for fish to swim nearby, then stomp his foot hard. Shocked by the impact, the fish would faint and float to the surface.

“Soul, jjik!”

Jjikjjiki excitedly ran over with a fish in tow.

Isn’t that heavy? With his awakened strength of 40, I briefly wondered if he could carry the load instead of a weak human like me. Just briefly.

“Good job.”

I praised Jjikjjiki the same way I would praise a monster I had just defeated. After giving him a kiss on his water-soaked head, Jjikjjiki happily ran off to catch more fish. Soon, a pile of fish was stacked beside me.

“Alright, that’s enough. Come over here, Jjikjjiki. You’ll get cold.”

“Jjik.”

Even though it was still early, I decided to end today’s schedule. Today, I planned to rest well and eat the fish Jjikjjiki had caught.

I made a fire and started roasting the fish on a branch. Jjikjjiki sat beside me, drying his wet fur by the fire.

“It’s done.”

Peeling off the crispy skin, I revealed the warm, cooked white flesh of the fish. I grabbed a piece, cut it into a manageable size, and ate it slowly. My cold body warmed up immediately.

“Jjik.”

Jjikjjiki tugged at my arm, opening his mouth wide. I tore off a small piece of the fish that had cooled down enough and fed it to him.

“Is it tasty?”

“Jjik!”

I wanted to smoke the remaining fish, but it wasn’t going well. I understood the concept of cooking with smoke instead of fire, but no matter how hard I tried, it didn’t feel like the fish was actually cooking. I eventually gave up and roasted the rest of them as well.

With the roasted fish and a water container filled with boiled water, my bag was stuffed to the brim.

“Tomorrow, let’s follow the river and walk along it. It’s not marked on the map, but we should be able to go this far.”

“Jjik.”

As I checked the schedule for the next day, I noticed the sun was starting to set. I spread out a cloth on the ground, lying down on it and rolling myself up.

‘Back to this again.’

The thought of waking up to aching muscles made me feel a little down.

‘I should just sleep quickly.’

As I closed my eyes, Jjikjjiki burrowed into my arms.

Ssss.

Just then, I heard the sound of dry leaves being stepped on.

“……”

Dry leaves being stepped on?

Sensing the presence of someone else, I quickly opened my eyes. I met the gaze of someone looking down at me, their eyes locked with mine.

On the rolled-up mat.

“Ahhh!”

“Ahhh!”

The unexpected guest screamed in response to my shriek.

“I’ll protect you, jjik!”

Jjikjjiki leaped out of my arms and rushed at the intruder, throwing a punch.

“Wait, Jjikjjiki!”

Seeing their frightened reaction and judging that they weren’t a threat, I immediately jumped up and reached out to stop Jjikjjiki.

Thud!

The intruder staggered after my erratic punch landed on them.

“Ugh!”

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Well, getting hit by me is probably better than getting bitten by my rat.

“What’s going on?”

“Eek! Ben’s being attacked!”

Two more unfamiliar faces appeared behind the staggering intruder. They alternated glancing at me and Jjikjjiki, who was now holding the injured person, then charged toward me.

“Enemy! Kill them!”

“Don’t touch Soul, jjik!”

It was a disaster… no, a rat disaster.

“No! Wait. They’re not enemies.”

The first intruder, who had been hit by me, waved his hands at his companions. In the meantime, he snatched up Jjikjjiki, who had been preparing to jump, and held him in his arms.

“They were already camping here, and I just disturbed them. I wasn’t attacked.”

“Really? You almost collapsed, didn’t you?”

“That’s just because I was surprised. Look, I’m not hurt at all.”

The first intruder was perfectly fine, no marks from my hit, while I could feel my hand hurting… but I must have been imagining it.

“I’m sorry. We misunderstood.”

The intruders were a three-person NPC traveler party. They apologized and explained that they had approached when they saw our fire, intending to set up camp.

They made an offer.

“It’ll take a while to find a new place, but could we share your campsite?”

At first, I was going to refuse.

“I’m sorry for disturbing your rest. If you share your campsite with us, I’ll give you this. It’s a buffalo sleeping bag I bought for a high price.”

If they hadn’t offered me the thick sleeping bag, which I could only dream of with my mat-made life…

“In a forest where monsters appear, it’s better to have more people on watch. Come over here.”

I greeted them with a smile. The buffalo sleeping bag wasn’t as comfortable or durable as the Geosan sleeping bag, but it was great for keeping warmth, and I thought the thick padding would protect my hips and back, which made my eyes well up.

‘They’re such good people.’

Those who provide a soft place to sleep should always be welcomed with open arms.

I shared my makeshift campsite, which was barely a fire, and generously gave them the fish I had caught, which I couldn’t even smoke or carry all of.

“Wow, thank you. These fish are big and so fast. How did you catch all of them?”

“Jjik.”

Jjikjjiki shouted, “If you like the fish I caught, get away from Soul!”

“Is this a pet rat?”

One of the travelers smiled kindly and reached a finger to pet Jjikjjiki. Without hesitation, Jjikjjiki bit the finger.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Jjikjjiki!”

I thought it was just a playful bite like he usually does to me, so I let it be, but blood started pouring from the traveler’s hand.

“Ahhh! My hand! My hand!”

Suddenly, the campsite turned into chaos.

“Ahhh!”

“I’m sorry, our rat can be a bit wild… I’ll treat it.”

“Potion! Do you have a potion?”

“Potion?”

It wasn’t like they were asking for liquid medicine… It must have been some kind of game potion. There’s no way that exists here.

“I’m sorry. If you use your potion, we’ll pay for it.”

“…It’s okay. What use is a potion to someone who doesn’t even have a sleeping bag? I was just saying that.”

“I’m really sorry.”

The traveler glared at Jjikjjiki and me as if we were about to be killed.

I understand the desire to slap me, but please just think about it and don’t act on it. If you do, it won’t just stop at your finger bleeding.

“…It’s fine. I was trying to grab him anyway… Now that we’ve met like this, there’s no need to be uncomfortable. It’s not even a serious wound.”

The traveler awkwardly laughed while shaking his finger that was now full of holes.

‘Thank goodness these people are nice.’

It’s clear that NPCs were created to help awakened ones. Even with a hole in their finger, they smile and understand.

“Haha, hahaha.”

“Hahahaha.”

After awkwardly laughing and quickly ending the situation, I took Jjikjjiki aside and quietly scolded him.

“Jjikjjiki, why did you do that?”

“Jjik?”

“You can’t bite people.”

“Then is kicking them okay?”

“Of course not.”

“Can I kick goblins?”

“Goblins are monsters, and that person is not a monster.”

“Monsters and people are the same to me, except for Soul.”

Jjikjjiki, smiling brightly, ran toward me as if to hug me. I lifted Jjikjjiki away from me and put him at a distance.

“Jjik.”

“Promise me, Jjikjjiki. Don’t touch people.”

“Jjik.”

Jjikjjiki nodded with a disgruntled expression. Even though his face showed discontent, he was obedient, so I was confident there would be no more biting or kicking people in the future.

I patted Jjikjjiki’s head and quietly added.

“If I allow it, you can kick.”

“I’ll try my best until Soul gives me permission.”

Jjikjjiki spread his arms wide and came closer. This time, instead of pushing him away, I embraced him in my arms.

***

“……”

In the deep of night, I woke up from a peaceful sleep, lying in a cozy sleeping bag for the first time in a while.

I thought it would be easy to fall asleep since it was warm and soft… but maybe I had gotten used to sleeping on hard surfaces after always laying down just a blanket on the floor back at the general store? It was so soft that it actually kept me up all night.

“……”

There was a faint whisper in my ear.

Could it be the travelers? What are they doing awake at this hour?

“……”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s him, right? The one with black hair… this…”

“Then why is he wearing these clothes…?”

Black hair? Are they talking about me?

I tried to move, attempting to sit up, but my arms and legs wouldn’t budge.

‘…What’s going on?’

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even move a finger.

‘My face… I can move my face.’

The only part of me that was free was my face, which was sticking out of the sleeping bag. I tried moving my mouth, squinting my nose, and rolling my eyes to regain some sensation, but… I locked eyes with the person who had been staring at me earlier.

It was the same gaze I had met yesterday when I was wrapped up in the mat.

“……!”

“Hey, he’s awake.”

“Woke up? He’s pretty sensitive, huh.”

“Anyway, he can’t move, so don’t worry about him. Let’s get our stuff and move before daylight.”

“Who brought this one here?”

‘What’s going on? I can already guess what’s happening.’

I was about to be kidnapped.

‘How did this happen?’

The travelers, with whom I had shared fish and laughter just hours ago, were now glaring at me with murderous eyes.

Did they plan this from the start?

‘Why?’