PRSR | Chapter 3.3

I held my breath quietly and listened to their conversation. I wasn’t trying to figure out why they wanted to kidnap me, but I couldn’t move, my hands and feet completely bound, so I had no choice but to overhear. It seemed like the sleeping bag had some binding effect.

“Isn’t it strange? Outsiders usually don’t understand our language, but this one speaks it perfectly. He’s probably not an outsider.”

Outsider?

‘Are they after awakened ones?’

Are humanoid enemies targeting awakened ones the moment they leave the Beginner Village? This doesn’t make sense.

“Have there been any other black-haired outsiders? And this guy, he used a rat to mess up my finger. Do you think a rat could do that? Huh? Of course, it’s this guy’s ability. He used the rat to attack me. He wanted to see my reaction!”

The traveler who had been bitten by Jjikjjiki couldn’t hold back his frustration, growling as he stomped toward me.

“This won’t do. I’m gonna slap him just once.”

“Stop. They have strange abilities. If we free him and something happens, what are we going to do?”

“Just slap him on top of the sleeping bag. If we hit him on the sleeping bag, it won’t hurt. But hit his face.”

The traveler laughed unpleasantly, stretching his legs behind him, and then kicked at my head, as if he were kicking a soccer ball.

“Jjikjjiki! Kick!”

Out of the sleeping bag, Jjikjjiki leaped out and kicked the traveler’s leg.

“……!”

The traveler couldn’t even scream before being sent flying into a tree.

Crash!

The tree cracked in half.

Whoa. If the tree split like that, I bet it wasn’t just the tree that got damaged.

“What… what’s with this rat?”

“It’s that guy’s doing! He’s got the ability to control rats!”

“Run away, we can’t handle this!”

“AAAAHHH!”

Apparently, they didn’t have much loyalty. The remaining travelers fled in a hurry, leaving their fallen comrade behind.

“Jjik. Soul, are you okay, jjik?”

Instead of chasing after the fleeing travelers to punish them, Jjikjjiki rushed back to me in a panic. It seemed he was eager to tear apart the sleeping bag and rescue me.

“Jjik, wait!”

“Jjik?”

“Don’t rip the sleeping bag.”

Jjikjjiki tilted his head as if he didn’t understand, but reluctantly loosened his grip on the sleeping bag.

Until just now, Jjikjjiki had been moving freely inside the sleeping bag. Even when the travelers were trying to kidnap me, I felt Jjikjjiki’s presence crawling on top of me, which reassured me. So, instead of panicking or fainting, I gave Jjikjjiki a timely command.

Whether Jjikjjiki’s ability as an awakened one was the reason or because he was so small that the binding effect didn’t activate, I couldn’t tell. But if Jjikjjiki could move inside the sleeping bag, there was no need to tear it.

“Want to come inside for a sec?”

“Jjik.”

“There are buttons inside, right? Could you unbutton them all for me?”

“Jjik.”

The sleeping bag had buttons inside to close it. Jjikjjiki walked over me with his little paws, moving around while unbuttoning the fastenings one by one, acting on my behalf since I couldn’t move.

It took quite a while to undo the big buttons, which were much larger than Jjikjjiki’s paws. After some time, I finally escaped from the cocoon-like sleeping bag.

This must be what it feels like for a snake shedding its skin.

“Soul, jjik.”

“You did great, Jjikjjiki. You really did.”

I lifted Jjikjjiki onto my hand and kissed him repeatedly.

If it hadn’t been for Jjikjjiki, I would have been beaten up and dragged off to who knows where. I still had so many questions: Why were they targeting awakened ones? Did they know I was here and approach me because of that? But for now, all I could think about was praising Jjikjjiki.

“Soul, jjik. Kiss, jjik.”

“Alright, alright.”

Jjikjjiki put his paw on my bottom lip and brought his little face closer for a kiss.

“The villagers treated me so well that I thought all NPCs were nice… I guess I trusted the people here too much. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s not your fault, Soul, jjik. It’s all those NPCs that are bad, jjik.”

“The only one I can trust is you, Jjikjjiki.”

“You can trust me, jjik. You can trust only me, jjik.”

Jjikjjiki tapped my lips with his little nose, over and over.

“Is it okay if I attack anyone who hurts Soul?”

“Yeah. You can attack anyone who does.”

“Jjik.”

With Jjikjjiki, filled with excitement, we began going through the things the travelers had left behind. Of course, the sleeping bags were among the items we took. With some money and food secured, the bag became heavier, but my heart felt much lighter. I happily packed up my things.

“Huff…!”

Actually, I’ll take that back. My heart was lighter, but my bag was heavier. Way heavier!

I staggered and dropped to the ground. I never thought of myself as weak… Did I carry too much water? Should I take out a few bottles now?

“Soul, jjik. Give the bag to me, jjik. Leave it to me, jjik.”

Before I could even say it was okay, Jjikjjiki climbed onto my back and effortlessly lifted the bag. In an instant, the massive bag disappeared.

“What’s going on?”

“I put it in the inventory, jjik.”

“In the inventory…? You can put things other than weapons and items in there?”

I didn’t even know about the inventory… I’ve really been making things harder for myself.

“Jjikjjiki, how much space is left in the inventory?”

“I don’t know, jjik.”

“Well, let’s just keep putting things in until it’s full.”

I began rummaging through the travelers’ bags, taking anything I couldn’t fit before due to their size or weight.

After that, the journey continued smoothly. With a soft sleeping bag, the fatigue accumulated during the day was easily relieved. The only downside was that every morning, Jjikjjiki had to unbutton the sleeping bag for me to escape from it.

After a few days of traveling, we finally arrived at Belford.

“Jjikjjiki, look over there. That’s Belford.”

“Belford, jjik!”

It was a village on a completely different scale compared to the Beginner Village. With excitement for the new beginning, I eagerly approached Belford.

And then, I was arrested.

“Black hair! And your eyes are almost black, too. Outsider! Arrest him!”

“Excuse me? Wait a second, I’m…”

“Soul, jjik!”

Just as I was about to convince them I wasn’t an outsider by explaining that I could communicate with them, Jjikjjiki jumped with all his might.

“Don’t touch Soul, jjik!”

Ah, right. I had said that anyone who harmed me should be attacked.

Boom!

Jjikjjiki kicked the guard who was trying to drag me away, sending him flying. The guard soared past the village entrance and slammed into the ground.

‘This is bad.’

For now, let’s run!

* * *

I was placed under a warrant for allegedly kicking a guard unconscious and fleeing.

‘…This is crazy.’

Of all the places to run, I ended up fleeing into the village, which meant I got branded as a suspicious criminal trying to hide in the village by attacking the guard. Even if I said it wasn’t me, but my rat, who did it, no one would believe me.

Thankfully, this world didn’t have a way to take photos or record videos. Because of that, the wanted poster didn’t have a photo of my face but a drawn picture instead. It was so poorly drawn that no one could possibly recognize who it was meant to be.

“A picture of Soul drawn like this…!”

For some reason, it seemed like Jjikjjiki really liked it.

“With a picture like this, there’s no way anyone will recognize me. I just need to change my clothes.”

Unlike my face, which was hard to recognize except for my black hair, my clothes were drawn quite in detail. I unpacked and looked for something to change into. I hadn’t packed many spare clothes, so all I had with me was a blue pajama set, apart from my underwear.

‘Wearing this around might be a bit…’

If I had known this would happen, I would have at least stolen clothes from those traveler kidnappers. But I had focused on gathering money and food, not thinking about changing clothes. I certainly hadn’t expected to be a fugitive either.

‘Still… it’s better than being locked up in a prison.’

If I just ended up locked up, I’d consider myself lucky. If I got executed, that would be the end of it.

I hid in a secluded alley and quickly changed my clothes.

“Chik.”

Jjikjjiki swiftly climbed up my leg and into the pocket of my pajama top, sticking its head out from the pocket.

I patted Jjikjjiki’s head and asked,

“Do you really like that pocket?”

“Chik.”

“Why? Do you like being squeezed into tight spaces?”

“It’s comfy here. I can hear Soul’s heartbeat well.”

That was an unexpected answer. I thought it was just because it liked being in my arms.

“Jjikjjiki really likes me, huh?”

“Most in the world!”

“I like you the most, Jjikjjiki.”

“Most in the world?”

“Most in the world.”

When I petted its little head sticking out of the pocket, Jjikjjiki tilted its head upward and pressed its nose to my finger. Tap.

‘So cute.’

Seeing Jjikjjiki act so adorable made some of my anxiety disappear.

After getting the sleeping bag, I had no use for the stiff fabric, so I cut it into a suitable size and tied it like a headscarf. Blue pajamas with a stiff headscarf— it looked a bit ridiculous, but it couldn’t be helped.

At least if I went out like this, the guards wouldn’t notice me… or so I thought. I would definitely stand out from a hundred meters away.

“Jjikjjiki, do you want to run an errand for me?”

“Chik?”

***

“Isn’t the atmosphere a bit chaotic these days?”

“Don’t even mention it. The guards are walking around at all hours, causing trouble, so business isn’t going well.”

The market square of Belford, lined with various street vendors, had a strange atmosphere today. The vendors weren’t tending to their shops but were instead gathered in small groups, whispering to each other.

“This is all because they’re trying to protect the village from those foreigners with black hair. They say those guys are vicious.”

“I heard that a foreigner kicked a guard and sent him flying? Look at this, the wanted poster’s up too.”

“Whoa, 30 gold? If we catch one of those foreigners and turn them in, we’ll be rich in no time!”

“This guy here is a vicious criminal who attacked a guard and hid in the village, so the reward’s high for him. Normally, it’s around 5 to 10 gold for each one. Lately, more and more young people have been heading out to hunt foreigners.”

“Even so, they’re still people…”

“People? These guys can’t even speak our language. They talk in some strange, incomprehensible language. They call these ‘foreigners’… some even say they’re demons.”

“Demons?”

“Black hair. Weird abilities and an unintelligible language. Plus, the high bounty set by the lord. If they’re not demons, then what are they?”

“Demons? I’d be too scared to live if that were the case… ugh… Wait? What’s that over there?”

The street vendor, who had been shaking his head, looked up and made eye contact with a small lump on the stall.

The lump, covered in white fur with gray patterns, bowed its head as if greeting the vendor.

“Ugh… A rat!”

By the time the vendor realized what it was, the rat had already disappeared at lightning speed.

“A rat! A rat!”

“Catch it!”

Where the rat had been sitting, a single silver coin was left behind.