PRSR | Chapter 6.4

Shin Youngho, overcome with gratitude, moved to embrace me, but I dodged swiftly—so quickly it was hard to believe I wasn’t Awakened.

He didn’t know it, but I had just saved his life.

“You’re fast, haha.”

Shin Youngho scratched his head awkwardly, completely unaware that Jjikjjiki was now dangling from his hand.

“…Jjikjjiki!”

“Huh? What kind of—Ow! What’s this?”

Jjikjjiki had sunk his front teeth into Shin Youngho’s finger. He must have interpreted the no-kicking rule as permission to bite instead. It was absurd.

“Come here, Kang Jjikjjik!”

Despite Shin Youngho shaking his hand vigorously, Jjikjjiki clung on until I reached over and picked him up. Only then did he release his grip and nuzzle against me.

“Sorry about that. Are you okay?”

“This is a rat, right? I’ve seen someone keep one as a pet. They said rats nibble lightly to greet new people. It’s fine.”

Blood was dripping from his finger—was it really fine?

“Do you have a handkerchief or towel? I’ll treat it for you.”

“It’s really not necessary.”

“It’s necessary for me.”

“In that case, I’ll accept.”

I soaked a cloth with a potion I always carried and dabbed it on his bleeding finger. Startled by the contact, Jjikjjiki let out a shrill, “Jjiik!”

“Ow, this stings a bit.”

“I’m really sorry. Jjikjjiki doesn’t like it when people touch me…”

“Are you a Tamer?”

“What?”

“Jjikjjiki—isn’t he a monster?”

Jjikjjiki protested indignantly, declaring he was my companion, not a monster, but to Shin Youngho, it probably just sounded like, “Jjiik, jjiik!”

“At first, I thought he was just a rat, but no ordinary rat could make me lose 50 HP from a single bite.”

Oh, Jjikjjiki.

“With that kind of attack power, he can’t be an ordinary rat. Is he a tamed rat-type monster?”

“Yeah, a rat-type monster.”

“Jjiik!”

Jjikjjiki jumped in outrage at being called a monster.

I’m sorry, Jjikjjiki, but there’s no way to explain this otherwise.

“Ah, the bleeding stopped. I’ll take care of the rest myself. Let’s get back to business.”

Worried about the other kidnapped Awakened, Shin Youngho sat back down, completely ignoring his bloodied hand, and started recounting his story.

Shin Youngho had completed his quest to encourage other Awakened to progress and left the Beginner Village with two others. However, every path to other regions was blocked by landslides, except for one leading to Belford.

‘Suspicious.’

Was that really a coincidence? No way.

“The slave traders knew Awakened emerged from the Beginner Village. Using the landslides as an excuse, they funneled Awakened toward Belford to abduct them easily.”

“But I saw it with my own eyes. The landslides weren’t a lie; the roads were genuinely blocked. Could a few slave traders have altered the terrain on such a large scale?”

“Belford issued a bounty on Awakened. If mercenaries or bounty hunters collaborated for the money, it wouldn’t be difficult.”

“A bounty?”

A village-wide bounty meant the entire village was complicit. Even if not everyone was a slave trader, someone influential had to be orchestrating the kidnappings. Shin Youngho’s expression darkened as he realized the gravity of the situation.

“This… This is worse than I thought. There may be far more kidnapped Awakened than I anticipated.”

We exchanged more details, but Shin Youngho’s information was vague and not particularly helpful. Luckily, I had a trump card: the Brown Merchant Caravan.

What I had requested from them, in exchange for my money pouch, was cooperation in rescuing “black-haired outsiders.” Just as Jjikjjiki’s quest wasn’t complete despite rescuing Shin Youngho’s group, the Brown Merchant Caravan would stay involved until every Awakened was freed.

When I returned to the room after the conversation, Jjikjjiki lay limp on my palm, looking utterly deflated. Flattened out like that, he almost seemed to be protesting something. I gently stroked his back.

“…Jjik.”

Though he pretended to be full of discontent, Jjikjjiki’s ears twitched twice every time I petted him. Such an honest little rat.

“What’s got you so upset, Kang Jjikjjik? Did it bother you that I shook hands with that guy earlier?”

“I didn’t like it jjik. I want to be the only one to touch Soul’s hands jjik…”

I had meant to ask if he disliked the idea of cooperating with others, but Jjikjjiki had taken my question literally, as if I was asking if he didn’t like me physically touching someone else.

Jjikjjiki climbed onto my palm and started fiddling with my fingers. He seemed to be scrubbing them, as though trying to erase any traces of contact with the other person.

“Is that why you’ve been sulking all this time?”

“They called me a monster jjik.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t exactly say I brought a rat from Earth. If word got out about the system error that created you, it might cause trouble later.”

“You don’t think of me as a monster, do you jjik?”

“Of course not.”

“You don’t hate me like a monster, do you jjik?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then it’s okay jjik.”

Jjikjjiki cautiously looked at me before rubbing his cheek against my palm.

‘…Maybe I shouldn’t have joked about that.’

But at the time, I couldn’t think of any other explanation. Feeling guilty, I tried to soothe him with another gentle stroke.

“Soul doesn’t like monsters jjik. I was worried you’d hate me too because I’m kind of like a monster jjik.”

“That will never happen. Ever.”

“Even if I turn into a rat or a person jjik?”

“No matter what form you take, you’ll always be my precious Jjikjjiki.”

“Then give me a kiss when I’m Rio too jjik.”

Jjikjjiki, who had been pretending to be sad, suddenly launched himself at me.

“What’s with you and your antics?”

I picked him up and plopped him onto the bed. He rolled into a ball, bounced slightly, and then came charging back at me. Standing on my foot, he tugged at my pant leg.

“Soul jjik.”

“What.”

“Today’s compliment jjik.”

“I didn’t hunt any monsters today.”

“But you saved humans jjik.”

“Compliments are only for when I hunt monsters.”

“Jjiik.”

Jjikjjiki stared at me with his round, black eyes.

“…”

“Jjik.”

In the end, I scooped him off my foot. Not because I fell for his words. This was a form of mental care to ensure I’d continue receiving his help in safely rescuing the Awakened. Avoiding his mouth, I gave him three quick kisses on his forehead and around his eyes. Jjikjjiki let out a soft chuckle.

“Soul jjik.”

With his little arms stretched wide, Jjikjjiki pressed his furry belly against my nose as he clung to my face.

“I like you jjik.”

His confession was ticklish—not emotionally, but literally, because his fur brushed against my nose. I grabbed him with one hand and pulled him off my face.

“You got fur in my mouth.”

“Jjik.”

Jjikjjiki went limp in my grasp.

“What’s your answer to my heartfelt confession jjik?”

What heartfelt confession? Jjikjjiki must have learned the concept of love from TV dramas and misunderstood it. He probably couldn’t distinguish between the love a pet feels for its owner and romantic love. From now on, our go-to TV program would be Animal Farm. Everything else would be blocked.

“Let’s just sleep.”

“Together jjik?”

“…”

We always slept together, so it was nothing new. But why did that sound so suggestive?

I poked his nose lightly, and his half-closed eyes widened into circles.

“I’m going to take a shower. Go to bed first.”

“Should we shower together jjik?”

“…”

Would cutting off dramas really solve this? Maybe I should show him No Such Thing as a Bad Rat instead.

“I want to shower too jjik. With Soul jjik.”

“Rats don’t need to bathe. Did you get dirty? I’ll wipe you down with a wet cloth.”

“But I’m half human jjik.”

Jjikjjiki proudly thumped his tiny chest.

“I can shower too jjik. With Soul jjik!”

“…”

I ended up tossing Jjikjjiki into a basin in the bathroom and giving him a thorough scrubbing. Clothes on, of course.

“Jjiik!”

After drying him off and fluffing him up, I handed him a green grape and set him on the bed.

“Wait here while I shower.”

“Soul jjik!”

Thud. Jjikjjiki clutched the grape and ran after me, but I managed to shut the bathroom door first. His forlorn “Jjik” was quickly drowned out by the sound of running water.

Shhhhhh.

With no clingy rat around, I finally had some time to think. Standing under the stream of water, I started organizing my plans.

‘I’ll have to keep Jjikjjiki’s Rio version hidden for now.’

Originally, I had planned to use Rio to communicate with other Awakened, but today’s events made me rethink. If Jjikjjiki disappeared after being known as a tamed monster, it would raise suspicion. At least while I was moving with Shin Youngho, I’d have to continue pretending to be an Awakened with a rat monster companion.

‘This might actually work out better. Acting like an Awakened with Jjikjjiki by my side will be safer, and he can protect me more easily… And also…’

…And also, I’d have to scramble to hide the fact that I wasn’t really an Awakened.

Worrying about getting injured in the middle of the battlefield, dreading questions from other Awakened like “Why don’t you tame more monsters?” while I progressed through quests.

‘Nothing ever goes smoothly.’

The stress was overwhelming. If I at least knew how long I had to endure this, I could push through by focusing on that day. But the vague goal of “clear the tutorial quest” was driving me insane.

“…”

I stood there for a long time under the water. Thoughts that refused to untangle pressed down heavily as I stepped out. When I returned to the room, Jjikjjiki was sprawled across the bed, letting out pitiful squeaks. He’d planted himself horizontally, right in the middle of the bed.

‘The grape’s gone…’

He’d eaten everything and was now pretending to cry to match my return.

Such a little schemer.

“Jjik.”

Jjikjjiki stopped fake crying and peeked at me to gauge my reaction.

‘…What a cute little rat.’

I pushed him aside and lay down in his spot. Realizing his fake crying wasn’t working, Jjikjjiki gave up immediately and climbed onto my stomach.

“You smell nice jjik.”

When he buried his nose into my neck and sniffed, I picked him up and moved him to my chest.

“Go to sleep. We’ll be busy starting tomorrow.”

I flipped him onto his back and stroked his fluffy belly. It made me feel a bit better. Nothing beats the soft, fuzzy belly of Jjikjjiki to relieve stress.

‘Yeah. It’ll all work out somehow.’

I had done well so far, and if I kept this up, I’d be fine.

I flipped Jjikjjiki over again, letting him lie comfortably. Then I patted his little behind. He stretched out all four limbs, flattening himself against me. A bit more of his warmth spread across my chest than usual.

“This way, I can touch more of Soul jjik.”

He chirped in admiration of his own brilliant idea, letting out a series of gleeful squeaks.

‘You’re too cute for me to argue.’

I hugged him tightly. Jjikjjiki didn’t seem to mind, wiggling his ears in excitement.

“Goodnight, Jjikjjiki.”

“You too, Soul jjik.”