PRSR | Chapter 5.1

‘What in the world is going on?’

I was so shocked that I thought time had stopped. As I stood there in a daze, the man, who I assumed was Jjikjjiki, tilted his head in confusion.

“Soul?”

Jjikjjiki leaned in again. Once I regained my senses, I hurriedly pulled my head back, successfully avoiding his second kiss.

The bright smile on Jjikjjiki’s face faded in an instant. Perhaps thinking I had rejected him, the strength in the hand holding my cheek loosened.

“Soul…”

“…Jjikjjiki?”

“Yeah, it is me, Jjikjjiki.”

Liar. My Jjikjjiki does not say “yeah.” He always says “Jjik!”

‘There is no way Jjikjjiki can be this huge!’

The man before me was taller than me by a lot, probably over 180 cm, with broad shoulders. He had a solid, muscular build. There was no trace of the small rat who used to stuff his belly with carrots and lay down, patting his rounded stomach.

“Wait, hold on. Let go.”

I pushed against Jjikjjiki’s chest, trying to create some distance. Even without being an Awakened, Jjikjjiki’s size was such that I felt like he could easily overpower me, but he was gently pushed back.

“I am Jjikjjiki…”

Jjikjjiki’s dark eyes filled with sorrow, the same look he gave me when he messed up and said, “Do not hate me.”

Seeing that expression made it feel real that this was indeed Jjikjjiki.

With pale skin, dark grey hair, and pitch-black eyes, his slightly reddish fingers seemed to prove that he was indeed Jjikjjiki.

Despite the overwhelming situation, I could not help but feel my heart soften. I did not want to hurt Jjikjjiki. I wrapped the arm that had pushed him away around his back and gently patted him, as though I had meant to hug him from the start.

“…Soul!”

The bright smile returned to Jjikjjiki’s face, and he eagerly embraced me. He hugged me so tightly that I felt like I was being squeezed into his chest.

‘Help… I am suffocating.’

I wondered if this was how Jjikjjiki felt when I had hugged him so tightly. Maybe he was pretending to welcome me, but was secretly seeking revenge for that time.

“Take it easy.”

A voice came from behind Jjikjjiki, and I looked up to see Jane, who had her hat pulled down low. Jane grabbed Jjikjjiki’s shoulder and tried to pull him off me, but Jjikjjiki did not budge, still clinging to me.

“Jane. Thank you. For… well… helping Jjikjjiki with his humanisation…”

I did not know if I should be confused or in disbelief. I could not find the words to express what I was feeling. In any case, I was so stunned that I could not even thank her properly.

Jane clicked her tongue as though she understood exactly what I was feeling.

“I told you, did I not? This guy is not a rat, he is a human in a rat’s body.”

“Uh… Jjikjjiki was smaller than other rats. So, why did he grow so big?”

I was not sure if it was okay to ask this in front of Jjikjjiki, but since he showed no sign of letting go, I had no choice. Besides, Jjikjjiki was not really paying attention. He had his chin on my shoulder, rubbing his head against my cheek.

“That is one of the traits of rat beastmen. Compared to other beastmen, they are ridiculously weak, so they specialise in escaping and hiding with their small bodies. So even when a rat beastman becomes human, their size is still about the same as when they were a rat. Did you not know that?”

I did not know. Until recently, I did not even know beastmen existed, so how would I have known that?

“The Brown Merchant Caravan situation has been resolved thanks to you. For now, there should not be any trash running around hunting beastmen in this area. Jjikjjiki is strong, so you do not need to worry about him, but still, be careful. He might hold a grudge because he was used as bait.”

“Ah, about that…”

“Rat is too clueless.”

“Now that you have said it, do you not think he will understand?”

“He probably will not. When I humanised him, he could not understand me.”

“Huh?”

“Rats only understand me when I am in wolf form. I have introduced him to a few other friends, and they all behave the same way. They understand when I am an animal, but not when I am human. What a funny guy.”

Even though Jjikjjiki was a beastman, once he was humanised, he must have used the language of his birthplace. I guess Jane had to speak Tutorial Field language with him, while Jjikjjiki spoke Korean. Jane seemed to be explaining this with some difficulty.

“It was way harder teaching him to humanise as a wolf.”

“Thank you, Jane.”

“No, I should be thanking you. Well, I am off.”

“Wait a moment.”

“Why?”

“The person who is with you gave me a pouch of money. Is this the reward from the Brown Merchant Caravan for me?”

“Yeah, that is right. You can spend it however you want. Buy Jjikjjiki a weapon or something. I am really leaving now.”

Jane waved her hand casually and disappeared deeper into the forest. Jjikjjiki did not care that she left. Instead, he started rubbing his snout—no, his lips—against the back of my neck. It was not like he was kissing me. It was more like how he used to poke me with his snout when he was a rat.

“Stop it, Jjikjjiki.”

“Why?”

‘What is going on?!’

I could not say it out loud, but of course, I was uncomfortable with a grown man, bigger than me, pressing himself up against me and putting his head near mine.

“Let us talk face to face.”

Only then did Jjikjjiki let go of me. Though he stepped back, he did not seem interested in keeping his distance, standing right beside me, grinning.

“So, how was the humanisation lesson?”

I looked into the distance, struggling to come up with a question.

“It was tough. But normally, it takes a lot longer. I have been around Soul since I was little, so I adjusted to humanisation quickly.”

“Yeah… impressive.”

“Soul, why are you not looking at me?”

Instead of answering, I rolled my eyes towards the empty air. I had thought Jjikjjiki understood everything—he knew he was a beastman, and that he would walk around in a human form by my side. But apparently, I was wrong.

This situation was so awkward it was driving me mad.

“Soul.”

I expected Jjikjjiki to be upset with my attitude, but his voice was soft. He spoke to me as if trying to coax me, throwing out a bait.

“I unlocked a skill.”

“What?!”

I turned to him, avoiding eye contact, and immediately locked eyes with Jjikjjiki, who had the expression of someone who expected this. I felt uneasy, like I had just been caught in a trap.

“It must have been marked as a question mark because I could not use it when I was in rat form. But right after I humanised, I got a skill.”

“What is the skill called?”

“…I cannot read it.”

Jjikjjiki’s face, which had always been bright and cheerful, twisted in embarrassment.

Was he ashamed he could not read the name of his skill? His expression reminded me of the time he tried to look cool as a rat. I could not help but laugh at the thought.

“Is it written in English?”

“Yeah.”

“What should we do? I do not have any paper with me right now. Should we go back to the village?”

While I was thinking, Jjikjjiki grabbed my hand and turned my palm upwards. He then placed his finger on my hand.

“…!”

Before I could even ask what he was doing, Jjikjjiki used my hand as paper and started writing letters on it. The sensation was so ticklish that it felt almost unbearable. I tried to pull my hand back, but Jjikjjiki had a firm grip on my wrist, making it impossible to pull away. I had no choice but to huddle my shoulders, waiting for him to finish writing.

Wind Cutter.

It was Jjikjjiki’s skill name.

‘Is he messing with me?’

Before the awkwardness had even faded, I found myself holding Jjikjjiki’s hand as he wrote a simple, straightforward skill name. I was irritated.

This skill could have easily been named in Korean. “칼날 바람” would work perfectly! Why did he have to make it sound like he was trying to impress people by using English? If you were going to do that, at least write “Wind Cutter” correctly!

“Soul? Why does your face look so weird?”

“Huh? No, it is nothing… Haha.”

As I ranted in my mind, I gave Jjikjjiki an awkward smile.

“Is not the description also in English?”

“No, it is not.”

Phew, that is a relief. I almost thought I would be doing paper duty for him as a human.

“So, what does it say?”

“It says that when you swing a weapon, the wind cuts through enemies.”

“Is that the only skill you have?”

“The first skill is at level 1, and the next skill can be learned starting at level 100, in increments of 100.”

“How much MP does Wind Cutter consume?”

“200.”

200 MP was all Jjikjjiki had.

“Looks like you can use it just once. The next skills might consume more MP, so we should focus on increasing your magic power.”

“Okay.”

“Are you tired?”

“No, I am happy to be with Soul again.”

“…”

Do not say that… I am trying to have a serious conversation here.

“Then… Shall we go monster hunting together?”

“As long as I am with Soul, I am happy to do anything.”

Please do not say that.

“Let us go and test the skill. We need to see how long it takes for your MP to recover and think about how to distribute your stats. Oh, by the way, is there any cooldown for your skill?”

“Nope.”

“Really? Usually, in games, the better the skill, the longer the cooldown. Guess it is not such a great skill after all.”

To test out the skill, I headed to the field with Jjikjjiki. There were several Awakened walking around, people I had not seen in Beginner Village or Belford.

“All right. Give it a try.”

Normally, I would have said something like, “All right, Jjikjjiki, let us try using your skill on that monster over there,” like a supportive parent cheering for their child. But now, such words or tone felt impossible to speak.

Seeing Jjikjjiki towering over me, I realised how ridiculous I had been in how I treated him. That is why Jane had made that expression when she saw us.

“I cannot use the skill.”

Jjikjjiki tried to swing his arm, attempting the skill, but stared blankly at the empty air.

“I need a weapon to use it.”

It seemed like a message popped up saying the skill required a weapon. If we went back to the village to get one, it would take too long. Besides, I could not just use a random stick as a sword…

“Have you ever received a weapon as a quest reward?”

“Yeah.”

“…Really?”

“I got a weapon and clothes from a quest reward. I also got some food.”

I had always wondered how other Awakened, who could not communicate with NPCs, solved their needs for food, clothing, and shelter. It seemed the system provided all necessary items if they completed quests.

“I showed it to Soul before. A round loaf of bread. Do you remember?”

“Ah! I remember.”

Back when we were in Belford, Jjikjjiki had come running with a large loaf of bread. I thought he had just grabbed it from a stall, not knowing about trading, and told him not to do that again. I guess he misunderstood and did not show me any more reward items after that.

“What about the weapon and clothes? Show me.”

Jjikjjiki rummaged through his inventory and pulled out the items he received from the quest reward. Everything was ridiculously small, perfect for a rat-sized body of about 15 cm.

“Uh… They gave rewards based on the wearer’s size, huh.”