I’d worked kitchen assistant part-time jobs before, my hands swelling and splitting from dishwashing, and I’d cooked countless times. But right now, the problem wasn’t my skills.
Dried-up garlic, rotting onions, and a lump of meat that looked a hundred years old.
“How am I supposed to cook with this, cook.”
Even to me, my own figure letting out a long sigh seemed like a comedy. No matter how much I looked around the room, there wasn’t even a shadow of anything that could be called money—what on earth did the original innkeeper live on? Did they resemble me not just in name and face, but even in this poor fate?
Of course, this fate was still a bit better. Even if it was a falling-apart house, it was still my own property, wasn’t it?
“This won’t work. I need to go to the village.”
Because if I just stuck to the inn, I might starve to death first.
Muttering like that, I opened the door and once again the landscape of two worlds forcibly stitched together unfolded before my eyes. It was still bizarrely magnificent.
“So it really is another world.”
Along with a brief impression, only a hollow laugh escaped. Even though I’d suddenly possessed someone, the landscape before my eyes was overwhelming enough to make me forget reality for a moment.
Soon, as if shaking off my thoughts, I slightly shook my head and fixed my gaze on the verdant forest side.
“That side must be where people live, right?”
I arbitrarily concluded and stepped forward. No, anyone could see that sandy plain was a cliché. If I went in there, my feet would sink deep and monsters like scorpions would obviously pop out, right?
Imagining that, I looked around the forest with half relief and half fear when my toes caught on something like a vine, causing me to stumble and kick hard against a tree trunk.
“Ah!”
As if I’d kicked a lump of metal, my leg throbbed with pain and tears reflexively welled up. I was about to sit down right there and grab my leg, but there was no time for that.
Because the ground immediately began to shake violently.
“Wh-what?!”
Thud, thud—
What I’d thought was a tree trunk had a shinier gloss than expected, and as it vibrated and slowly heaved up, the ground rumbled. That rumbling soon traveled up from my toes through my body. The forest shook noisily as if caught in a massive tremor, and a huge shadow fell over my head.
As the vibration subsided and slowly revealed itself, there were legs far exceeding human height. Hard shells glistening black were densely layered, and dozens of legs writhed entangled with each other.
“…A centipede?”
It was a word that slipped from my mouth, but I soon denied it myself.
“No, crazy, it’s a monster?!”
More precisely, since this was a demon forest, it would be a demon, but was that important right now?
“Why! I avoided all the clichés!”
I possessed someone less than an hour ago and I’m already facing a monster?
Don’t tell me that wasteland-like place was actually where people lived? Damn it, that wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the original!
Cold sweat trickled down my spine, and having finished my quick situational assessment, I immediately ran in the opposite direction.
Right. Escape is the answer. At times like this.
“Huff… huk.”
Grass blades whipped my face hard and I nearly fell over when my foot caught on a thick branch. Even though I ran with all my might until my breath surged up to my throat, the thing only got closer. From behind, the sound of scraping the ground and legs brushing past cut through the wind and reached me.
Damn it, it’s not even summer yet and it’s a horror movie. At this point, I wondered if I’d possessed not an innkeeper but a horror movie protagonist. Usually in the opening, the protagonist unknowingly moves into a strange house or enters a forbidden zone through trollish behavior. I, too, had entered the demon forest like those stupid protagonists.
“Huu… kuk…”
I accidentally bit my tongue and the fishy taste of blood rose in my throat. No, maybe it was from running at full speed. Breathing out hot gasps, I shouted almost like a wail.
“Help, please!”
At that moment, a roar erupted from behind.
Crash—!
Something cut through the air past my side and struck the monster’s head squarely. A dull impact sound shook the forest, and the monster’s scream burst out afterward. When I glanced back, the monster with half its head blown off was staggering. After swaying a few times, it soon toppled its massive body.
I was staring at that sight when—rustle—at the sound of grass brushing, I turned my head straight again.
A man was standing there.
“Haah… haah…?”
Breathing heavily, I looked at him. Brown hair grown bushy enough to cover his eyes, a shaggy beard, a physique built with muscle. He looked like a Viking who’d jumped out of an old picture book.
Out of habit, I tried to read his expression, but with his hair and beard covering half his features, it was difficult to even guess his age. However, with that much beard, wouldn’t he be well over fifty? That was just my rough guess.
But what caught my attention was something else. A frying pan gleaming heavily in his right hand. And on the ground beside the monster’s head, another frying pan was deeply embedded.
I muttered with a dumbfounded face.
“…A frying pan?”
The man calmly nodded and, looking me over, asked bluntly.
“You alive, kid?”
His voice was low and solid. Not an old man’s hoarse sound, but a voice with strength embedded in it. Maybe he’s younger than I thought? Blinking my eyes, I barely squeezed out my voice.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Can’t you tell by looking? It’s a demon.”
“……”
It’s my first time seeing one.
Those words rose to my throat but were ultimately swallowed.
The man casually scratched his chin beard and continued speaking.
“Anyway, what’s a kid doing here?”
“…I was trying to go to the village.”
“While walking into the demon forest?”
I felt indignant. To anyone, the verdant forest side looked like where people lived. Tears welled up, whether from frustration or sadness—I didn’t know which.
Probably both. It could have been because I was scared by the first monster I’d seen, or it could have been sadness from being forcibly scolded.
Seeing me on the verge of tears, the man scratched his beard for no reason and said.
“Well, for a man to cry over something like this. I’m also heading to the village, you gonna follow?”
At those words, I was wiping my tears with my sleeve when I stopped and narrowed my eyes.
“How can I trust you, ahjussi?”
“Huh, you enter the demon forest without fear but you’re full of suspicion.”
Isn’t not following strangers basic? Especially in such an unfamiliar world. When I sulked and glared at him for no reason, the man chuckled and continued.
“Gilbert. What’s your name, kid?”
“…Baek… no, Sion. It’s Sion.”
And then, growl.
An embarrassingly loud cry erupted from my stomach. Looking up at Gilbert with a tearful face, he gestured with his chin and asked.
“So, you gonna follow?”
“…Yes.”
Playing hard to get twice isn’t charming. And it’s much better than being left alone in the demon forest.
I shakily straightened myself up. I thought about grabbing a frying pan and glanced back, but the moment I saw the centipede’s corpse writhing, I was horrified.
Getting close was out of the question from the start, and I quickly followed along before Gilbert retrieved his frying pan. When I stuck close to his side, he just shrugged his shoulders. Fortunately, it seemed he didn’t intend to take it.
Soon after leaving the verdant forest and starting to walk on the sand, the village finally revealed itself not long after. It wasn’t a desolate place with only sand and wind like before—I definitely felt the smell of human habitation.
Stone walls and wooden roofs, a marketplace full of crooked old signs bustled with people. It was clearly the scene of a medieval village. I newly realized this was another world.
Walking a bit more, the place we arrived at was an inn in the village center. The exterior was quite shabby, but the moment I opened the door and entered, an unexpected sight unfolded. As if the outside shabbiness was a lie, the interior was spacious and neat. Wooden tables and chairs were placed orderly, and a savory smell that stimulated my nose spread out.
“This place…?”
“My inn.”
He looks exactly like a bandit chief but he’s an innkeeper? I glanced at him with suspicious eyes, and Gilbert gestured with his chin.
“Sit there. Now that you’ve worked up a sweat, eat some porridge before you go.”
What Gilbert handed to me as I sat obediently was a large bowl. Thick porridge steamed upward, stimulating my hunger.
“…Wow.”
I immediately took a spoonful and the savory aroma tickled my nose. The moment I took that bite, hot warmth went down my throat and warmed my insides. It felt like my rapidly pounding heart was gradually calming down.
“It’s delicious…”
My hungry stomach clamored for more. Enchanted by the warm, savory taste, I gripped the spoon as if possessed and devoured it. Tears even welled up from emotion. The tip of my tongue felt numb as if burned, but I couldn’t stop. Eventually, I frantically scraped to the bottom and held out the empty bowl to Gilbert, saying.
“Thank you so much. That was delicious.”
At my sincere words, Gilbert propped his chin and stared at me, then smirked. No, actually I didn’t even know if he was smiling. All I could see was the twitching beard part.
“You leaving now?”
“Huh? Ah… yes. I just came to look around.”
“Money?”
“…What?”
“If you ate, you should pay.”
“……”
An alarm rang in my mind.
…Is this some new type of scam? A new inn scam system where you pick up someone about to starve to death on the road, feed them a bowl of porridge, and then overcharge them for it?
