PRSR | Chapter 4.6

He left me alone at the inn and, with surprising speed for someone so big, turned and walked away.

“…”

I had no other choice. As I entered the inn, the innkeeper handed me a key as if they had been waiting for me. I followed the number on the key to find my room.

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Clink.

The room I was given was spacious and clean. After having been cramped up in small spaces, this luxury felt like a treat.

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It would’ve been nice if Jjikjjiki was here.

Maybe it was because the room was so big, but the emptiness felt even greater. As I washed myself with warm water and lay down on the soft bed, I couldn’t help but think of Jjikjjiki. I closed my eyes, hoping the next day would come quickly, but sleep didn’t come.

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Why is this happening? Is it because Jjikjjiki isn’t here?

The absence of the usual furry lump curled up against me was surprisingly fatal to my sleep. I put my hand over my chest, but it wasn’t soft and squishy like Jjikjjiki.

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In the end, I tossed and turned all night, and it wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that I finally fell asleep.

Thud. Thud.

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The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a knock on the door.

“Haa… I’m so sleepy.”

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I hadn’t had a moment of proper rest since I was almost kidnapped on my way to the bathroom. The exhaustion didn’t fade easily. I opened the door in a daze, and the bear beastman, standing straight, was there.

“Good morning…”

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“Three hours from now. The entrance of the eastern forest.”

“Huh?”

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Having delivered his message, the bear beastman handed me a small pouch and left, stomping away.

Did he come all this way just to say that?

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He must be telling me to come to the entrance of the eastern forest in three hours, right?

I opened the pouch the bear beastman gave me. It was filled with silver. There were also a few gold coins mixed in.

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“…!”

I was so surprised by the unexpected contents that I quickly shut the door. Thud. The sound of the door closing echoed like the beating of my heart.

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…No one saw me, right?

In a situation where I had no means of protection, I didn’t want to be targeted just because I had money. I didn’t want to relive the terrifying experience of almost being kidnapped just because of my black hair.

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Why did they give me this…?

The pouch had “Brown Merchant Caravan” written in big letters on it. It seemed this money wasn’t from the bear beastman or Jane, but from the Brown Merchant Caravan itself.

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A bribe to keep quiet?

They had said that if the word spread, the Brown Merchant Caravan would be in trouble. Perhaps this was compensation, a payment to ask me not to share the incident. Or maybe it was a reward for helping them out.

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I’ll have to ask later.

The only people who could have sent me a message through the bear beastman were the Brown Merchant Caravan or Jane. If they had just sent me the pouch without a note, the Brown Merchant Caravan probably wasn’t looking to meet me. That left one possibility.

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It’s Jane.

So, Jane must already be in Traine. While I was finishing my quest, Jjikjjiki’s humanization lesson must have already concluded.

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I’ll get to see Jjikjjiki again.

Excited, I waited for time to pass. About an hour later, I checked the time and was taken aback.

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It had only been ten minutes since the bear beastman left.

Did my clock stop?

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But the clock was fine.

I guess time was dragging because I was doing nothing. This time, I decided to pass the time by organizing my thoughts.

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I should start being more proactive with quests from now on.

Now that Jjikjjiki had become human, he could interact with other Awakened. If we formed a party with other Awakened, we could speed up the progress of quests. Meanwhile, I could gather information in the village to make things more efficient…

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Oh. But Jjikjjiki would probably hate that.

Honestly, I didn’t like it much either. If I sent Jjikjjiki alone, I would worry all night and wouldn’t be able to sleep. He’d probably feel lonely too.

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The rest… Well, I can’t make a plan yet since I don’t know the details of the next quest.

I had nothing specific to organize about the quests. So, I decided to think of something else. This time, I thought about the tiny little rat, Jjikjjiki, caught between a bear beastman and a wolf beastman.

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So cute.

I knew Jjikjjiki kicked huge monsters around, but it was hard not to feel that he was just harmless and adorable.

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It must be time to leave now, right?

I checked the time again. Only five minutes had passed.

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This isn’t good.

I couldn’t wait to see Jjikjjiki. I quickly washed my face and left the inn.

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Since I now had money, I thought I’d get a small gift for Jjikjjiki to celebrate his humanization. Walking around the village would make time pass quickly.

Fortunately, Traine didn’t seem to discriminate against Awakened like Belford did. No one seemed to care that I didn’t hide my hair under a hat, and occasionally, I saw Awakened walking down the street.

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I wandered around the town at ease. I also observed the weapons and armor that Awakened were using, trying to gather information. Everyone had different types of items, so it wasn’t very helpful.

Everyone has such different weapons.

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How did they even get their weapons, considering NPCs don’t interact? Did they steal them from monsters? The Awakened walking around with shining weapons looked incredibly strong.

Until now, I hadn’t encountered any Awakened who were really strong. But here, there were Awakened who had leveled up by completing quests, so their stat values might even surpass Jjikjjiki’s.

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Okay. I’ll get Jjikjjiki a good weapon.

Until now, Jjikjjiki had been hunting monsters with just his tiny arms, but that was because he didn’t have a weapon he could hold in his rat form. Now that he was human, he could wear armor and use weapons. A good weapon might help him close the gap between himself and the other Awakened.

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I eagerly went to the weapon shop.

On one side of the village’s only weapon shop, there were large armor and shields, and on the other side, various weapons were displayed.

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Swords, spears, bows, and arrows… As I browsed the weapons, I paused to think.

‘What weapon would Jjikjjiki use?’

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In my mind, I wanted to buy all kinds of weapons for her to try out, but I didn’t have enough money for that. At least until she got her skills and we figured out our direction, I needed to pick something temporary.

‘A sword is probably the best choice.’

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A sword was a versatile weapon, generally considered reliable and suitable for anyone.

“I’d like to buy a sword.”

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“A longsword?”

“Yes.”

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“How tall are you?”

“Me? 178 cm.”

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“Arm length.”

“Arm length? …I’m not sure.”

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The shopkeeper looked me up and down and then went to get a tape measure to check my arm length. That’s when I realized the shopkeeper had misunderstood, and I quickly explained.

“It’s not for me. I’m getting it for my… family.”

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“Well, then you should tell me their height.”

“Uhh…”

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15 cm? Definitely not. I wasn’t sure.

“Is it necessary to know their height to buy a sword?”

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“Of course! You need to know their height, arm length, and hand size to recommend the right sword. Different people need different sword lengths and weights. What were you planning to buy if you didn’t know these? A dagger?”

I almost forgot I wasn’t in a game world for a second. I thought I could just pick any sword and it would adjust automatically to the person’s body, but that wasn’t the case here.

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“Well, then I’ll buy armor instead.”

“Will the customer be wearing it?”

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“No, it’s for a gift.”

“What’s their body type?”

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“…”

“If it doesn’t fit and you bring it back later, I can’t refund you.”

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I gave up on buying weapons and armor. It seemed better to wait until Jjikjjiki returned before choosing.

‘I’ll get her accessories instead.’

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In a world with magic, there were magical artifacts in the Tutorial Field. Rings, necklaces, and bracelets imbued with magic effects that provided beneficial effects to the wearer. I had seen a Brown Merchant Caravan trader in Belford wearing a ring that boosted health recovery.

But artifacts were expensive. Some were so costly that no matter how much money you saved, you couldn’t afford them.

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‘Wow, these are expensive.’

I picked up a few artifacts with defensive effects, checked the price, and then put them back. Even though I had some extra money for now, I didn’t know how much I’d need in the future. I couldn’t afford to waste it.

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In the end, I bought a relatively cheap health-boosting bracelet. It had a small, dark gem that matched Jjikjjiki’s eye color.

‘Jjikjjiki will like this.’

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As I wandered around the village, time passed quickly. I bought an apple for Jjikjjiki and arrived at the eastern forest thirty minutes earlier than our agreed meeting time.

The longer I waited, the greater my excitement grew.

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‘What will Jjikjjiki look like in human form?’

He must be small and cute. Maybe his belly will be a bit round. Jjikjjiki always ate a lot and would fall asleep right after meals.

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‘What if he looks like a middle-aged man with a big belly?’

Maybe he would.

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Rats like Jjikjjiki only live for 2-3 years, and he’d already been with me for over a year. He was a rat who had grown old.

‘What should I call him if he comes back looking like an older man?’

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This was a serious problem. I wasn’t sure I could call a middle-aged Jjikjjiki by his name or speak casually with him. What if he tried to hug me like he always did? I couldn’t imagine how to react to that.

‘But once he’s human, he probably won’t act like that anymore.’

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There was no way he’d still try to crawl into my pocket or cling to my legs. It didn’t make sense. The reason he acted that way before was because he was a rat. Once he was human, he couldn’t possibly act like that.

“…”

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But what if—just what if—he did?

I imagined Jjikjjiki in human form treating me the same way he always had. In my imagination, he was a small, stocky man with a big belly.

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The imagined middle-aged Jjikjjiki yelled.

“Soul-jjik!”

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The middle-aged Jjikjjiki ran up to me excitedly and clung to my arm. It would definitely be heavy. If he hung on, I’d fall over and crash into the ground.

In my imagination, middle-aged Jjikjjiki was trying to climb onto my head after I fell to the floor.

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I was being crushed beneath him.

It was a disaster.

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“Noooo!”

“Soul?”

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Just then, I heard a voice behind me.

It was deeper and more refined than I expected, but I instinctively knew who it was.

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It was Jjikjjiki calling my name.

“…”

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I turned around with a racing heart, hoping, praying, that middle-aged Jjikjjiki wouldn’t come running toward me.

And there, standing before me, was a handsome man beyond anything I had ever imagined.

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“…”

“Soul!”

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“…Jjikjjiki?”

The handsome man, who I presumed was Jjikjjiki, walked confidently toward me.

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And then, he cupped my face in his hands.

“Look, Soul.”

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He kissed me on the cheek.

“…?”

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What was going on right now?

“Soul.”

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Jjikjjiki, smiling brightly, looked at me, who was frozen and dumbfounded.

“I can kiss you without getting caught in your nose now.”

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