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[[Eww!]]
Surprised fairies flew around the cave, flapping their short arms.
And it was even noisy.
[The rope is loose! The rope is loose!]
[You look angry! You’re going to kill us!]
[You have to run away! Run away quickly!]
I pressed my throbbing temples.
I already have a headache because I just woke up, and these things are driving me crazy.
“···I won’t kill you, so just stay still.”
[[Aaaaah! I said it again!]]
After a while, the fairies hiding behind the wall peeked their heads out and glanced at me.
Among them, one particularly plump fairy, who happened to be chosen as a representative, cautiously flew towards me.
The guy had a face that looked like he was going to cry if you shouted, “Whoa!”
···I was dragged here by these timid guys.
I let out a small sigh, feeling sorry for myself.
“Haa. I told you I won’t kill you.”
As I spread out both my palms and held them out in front of me, the plump fairy made a puzzled expression.
[Really?!]
“Yeah. It’s annoying that you dragged me into the cave, but….”
[I, I’m sorry about that! I thought you were an intruder!]
The plump fairy said, flapping her short arms vigorously.
I nodded vaguely.
These guys are fairies living on the continent of Nostalgia.
The Continent of Nostalgia is also called the Continent of Fairy Tales, and is a world that is literally like a fairy tale, filled with fairies, mysterious flora and fauna, and beautiful nature.
After gate travel became popular, it became a place that many people visited as a tourist destination.
I worked there as a guide and bodyguard for a few months before. The pay was low, but there wasn’t really anything dangerous, so it was comfortable…
Well, that’s not important right now.
“Your name is… Nunnuni, right?”
It’s funny to say it in Earth’s pronunciation, but in the language of the Nostalgia Continent, it means ‘sacred drop of water.’ These guys were fairies who mainly lived in clean lakes and rivers.
They are basically a kind and innocent race.
[You know us?!]
The chubby-eyed boy opened his eyes wide.
And then the questions started pouring in randomly.
[You’re from the continent of Nostalgia! How can you understand what I’m saying! What happened outside!]
“I’m not from that dimension. I’m from this dimension, and you’re just trying to make money… Wait a minute.”
I got up from my seat. My head didn’t hurt anymore.
“What crime have I committed? These people have kidnapped a person and are interrogating him.”
When I glared at him, the chubby-eyed boy shrank his neck in embarrassment.
[Ooh, I was just curious. We can’t go outside… Sorry!]
“Okay, I know.”
Now the conversation has taken over for me.
I said, looking around the cave.
“Why are you guys here?”
I had never heard of fairies being found here in the past. If I had known, I would have come prepared.
As if they had been waiting for my question, the chubby-eyed ones began to cry and pour out their strange stories.
[We, we···!]
To summarize that long and tedious story briefly,
The dimensional distortion that occurred during the First Gate moved the entire lake on the Nostal Continent to here, and these guys who lived in the lake at that time came over with it.
After that, monsters appeared as multiple dimensions opened and overlapped, and they began to prey on the people living in the lake. Those were days that could only be described as a disaster for the peaceful Noonuns…
[We kept running away and eventually hid here···.]
The chubby-eyed boy looked back at his fellow tribesmen behind him.
Less than ten people, all of whom were sobbing, were crying.
Chubby-eyed shouted, clenching his small fists.
[Everyone except our own kind here was eaten! That octopus monster ate the most of us! I will definitely get my revenge someday!]
Seeing as it’s an octopus monster, it’s probably referring to the Kraken that Baek Chang-soo defeated.
[But there was a big mana reaction outside today! I was curious about what was going on, but I was too scared to go out of the cave···.]
Didn’t you just say you were going to get revenge?
[So I’m living like this, hiding at my friend’s house…]
“Yeah. That must have been hard.”
I looked around the inside of the cave, listening to the chubby, chubby-eyed man’s story with one ear.
I could feel the magical powers wrought throughout the cave. Since I couldn’t see the cave entrance, I guess I was brought somewhere in the middle.
···It would be difficult to go out alone.
Finding the exit in a place where you don’t even know where it is is like wandering through a maze.
If you happen to encounter the ‘monster’ living here, there will be no answer.
I turned my head again and looked at the chubby eyes. The guy was still complaining with a sullen face.
[We have no future now… We’re getting weaker and weaker because we don’t get enough sunlight… We’re all going to die in the end…]
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“Hmm.”
I thought I had a rough idea.
These guys would have all died out soon after, and it would have been after that that the superhumans would have come here.
Or maybe the superhumans thought these guys were monsters and just killed them.
Because we don’t communicate as well as I do.
Either way, these fairies were beings that did not exist in the history I know.
So, I decided to become these guys’ benefactor.
“The octopus monster is dead.”
At my words, the Snow-Nuns who had been hiding behind the wall and spying on us shouted in unison.
[[[That’s a lie-!]]]
I put my right hand forward.
“If in doubt, check it out.
These fairies had the ability to detect lies.
It wasn’t something that could be used at any time, but if the other person opened their heart, it could be used to determine whether what they were saying was true or not.
A chubby, snowy owl came over and rested its tail gently on my palm.
[Say it again!]
I said it again.
“The octopus monster is dead. I planned to kill it, and it died just now.”
I told the truth. I didn’t say I killed him.
Of course, there was no reason for the fairy tail lie detector to fail.
After a while, the plump, blue tail of the snowball glowed green.
Translated, it meant, “Beep! It’s true!”
[[This is real-!!]]
All the snowballs hiding behind the wall flew towards me and danced around in circles with me in the middle.
[Thank you! Thank you!]
[They avenged our enemies!]
[From now on, we are friends!]
[[Friend dot-!!]]
That’s how I became friends with the fairies.
But the chubby-eyed boy’s expression quickly darkened again.
[But there are many monsters outside besides octopuses. If you go out, you’ll get eaten anyway…]
Everyone was getting gloomy. Their mood swings were like a roller coaster ride.
This situation may not be so bad for me, though.
“I’ll protect you. Come out of here with me.”
The eyes of the children opened wide in surprise at my words.
The chubby guy asked on behalf of the group.
[Oh, how come?]
“Well···.”
I looked around at the fairies looking at me with innocent eyes.
Small, cute fairies flying over the emerald lake.
When I thought of that scene, a picture emerged.
A place where dreams and hopes, lakes and fairies, tourists and money gather.
A picture of a snowy theme park.
In a few years, this will be a hit.
“···Aren’t we friends?”
At my one word, the crowd cheered in unison.
[[Friend dot-!!]]
And then it started circling around me again.
It was twice as fast as before.
[[I’m so excited-!!]
I pressed my temples, which felt like they would hurt again.
“Friends. This is so crazy. Can you stop it?”
*
*
*
I was walking inside a cave with my friend, a chubby, snowy owl.
The chubby-eyed girl circled around me, chattering nonstop.
[Thank you so much! Now I can go out and enjoy the sunshine again! Thanks to you!]
“What are you doing with friends?”
I nodded roughly and carefully examined the terrain inside the cave.
We were now on our way out of the cave.
I don’t know how long I was passed out, but it was probably well past dinner time.
The hungry little one might be throwing a tantrum right now.
At that moment, I felt a bit eerie.
“···Let’s hurry up a little.”
[Okay!]
My original goal was to obtain the ‘power of the other world’ in this cave.
If you gain the power of the other world here, it will be much easier to deal with the first disaster.
But beside the power of the other world, there was a powerful guardian protecting it, and it was burdensome for me to deal with it alone.
So today I was just going to check the location and go back…
[That’s a trap! Don’t step on it!]
I jumped over to the place that Snowy had told me to go. I turned around and threw a rock there, and dozens of iron skewers popped out from the ground.
···If I had come alone, I would have had a hard time.
The chubby-eyed boy shouted with an excited face.
[We’re almost there!]
For now, I was planning to go back with the Snowballs today and come back here in a few days.
Let’s get familiar with the terrain with our eyes.
Then the chubby-eyed one said.
[I’m just going to say hello to my friend for a moment!]
“Friend? Do you have another friend?”
[That’s right! We are grateful to our dear friend who allowed us to live here! The other members of our clan have already gone to say hello!]
By the way, this guy. My friend was talking about something earlier.
I guess you really like making friends.
Chubby-eyed boy bragged about his friends.
[My friend is so big! Strong! Kind! Even the octopus monster can’t invade here because of my friend!]
···It was an explanation that made me feel a little uneasy the more I listened to it.
I said, thinking, “No way.”
“Does that guy look like this? He’s about twice my height…”
As I described the monster I knew, a chubby, snow-eyed creature flapped its short arms vigorously.
[That’s right! We’re friends!]
“······.”
The ‘friend’ these guys are talking about seems to be the guardian guarding this cave.
I stopped walking right there.
No matter how positively I tried to think about it, it didn’t seem like I could become friends with my friend’s friend.
Please, let’s just go home today.
“You two go say goodbye. I’ll wait here.”
The chubby, wide-eyed boy tilted his head with an innocent expression.
[They all came?!]
At that moment, the wall next to me split left and right.
Kugugugugugugu!
In the wide open space, the Snowballs that had gone before were playing around the body of a giant ‘friend’.
[We’re here!]
That guy turned his head and looked at us.
It was a smooth movement that did not suit the huge mechanical body.
A hard, mechanical sound came from the guy.
[Intruder detected. Trial area sealed.]
Thump thump thump thump!
The wall behind me came down, blocking my escape.
The Guardian is an iron golem measuring approximately 4 meters.
It was a guy made with a fairly high level of technology.
Even by my standards, having seen robots made 20 years later.
[Intruder. Beginning type analysis.]
The golem’s eyes glowed red. It seemed to be scanning me.
[Type analysis complete. Confirmed to be a target for removal.]
At the same time, the golem’s form changed.
Clank! Clank clank clank!
His flat fist transformed into a hammer, his limbs grew longer, his back opened up, and wing-shaped propulsion devices unfolded.
A distinct horn grew on his forehead.
[Remove, Start.]
I looked at the running golem and sighed.
“I like good friends. They look like devils.”
I operated the watch on my left hand with my right hand.
Chorrrrrr!
The metal of the watch spread up and down, transforming into a gauntlet shape that wrapped around the left hand up to the elbow.
I really didn’t want to use it yet…
“There’s nothing we can do. It’s an emergency.”
The golem’s fist was already right in front of my eyes.
I didn’t dodge and just swung my fist.
-Kwaaaaang!
ⓒ Ganjjajang
