n

n

nSqueak!

nKreong…

nWhile the pissed-off black rabbit was chasing Cuengi, who plotted the coup,

n“Theo, where did this amberjack fish come from?”

nSejun asked Theo, who was preparing to put the amberjack fish into his bag.

n“Ah, this one, meow? Well, this is…”

nJust as Theo was about to explain about the amberjack fish caught by Flamie,

nMaster! What’s happening here?

nFlamie hurriedly called out to Sejun, trying to divert his attention.

n“Oh, it’s because of Cuengi. Are they being noisy while you’re resting? I’ll take them away quickly.”

nYes, thank you.

nWhile Flamie was responding,

nSwish.

nOne of Flamie’s roots grabbed Theo’s leg.

nAnd,

nPlease keep it a secret that I caught the amberjack fish.

nFlamie, who wanted to hide its size, made a request to Theo.

n“No way, meow! There are no secrets between me and President Park, meow!”

nIn exchange, I’ll catch a big fish like this every month. Big brother.

n“Pufufut. Did you just call me big brother, meow?”

nTheo was pleased with the new term of address.

nYes, big brother.

n“Alright, meow! I’ll keep it a secret, meow! President Park! I caught this amberjack fish, meow!”

nTheo fell for the new term of address, ‘big brother’.

nSigh.

nFlamie let out a sigh of relief.

nHowever,

n“Theo, you? You hate getting in the water, don’t you?”

n“Meow? That’s…”

nTheo started to stutter all of a sudden.

n“Are you hiding something from me?”

n“It’s a secret, meow!”

nTheo ran outside in response to Sejun’s questioning.

n“What’s with him?”

nSejun muttered as he watched Theo behave strangely.

nThen,

n“Black rabbit, please forgive Cuengi now. Cuengi has probably reflected a lot. Isn’t that right, Cuengi?”

nSejun made the black rabbit and Cuengi reconcile.

nKreong! Kreong!

nCuengi nodded vigorously at Sejun’s words.

nSqueak.

nThe black rabbit forgave Cuengi, saying ‘only this time’.

nKreong!

nExcited that the black rabbit had forgiven him, Cuengi ran around carrying the black rabbit on his back, acting as a horse.

nThen,

nSnap.

n“What?”

nDuring this, Theo returned to Sejun’s knee. Theo, who had run away because he couldn’t reveal the secret, couldn’t stay away from Sejun’s lap for too long. So, in the end, he returned to Sejun’s even after running away.

n“Theo, how dare you keep a secret from me?!”

nPlop.

nSejun pulled Theo’s cheeks as punishment for the runaway cat.

n“Presi… Park, sor… , meow! Fl… gave to… me, meow!”

nFinally, Theo confessed, but his pronunciation was all muddled.

n“Hehehe.”

nSejun enjoyed touching Theo’s soft chubby cheeks, which felt like sweet rice cake the more he touched. He had long forgotten about Theo’s response.

nThanks to this, Flamie’s secret was kept safe.

n***

nMorning of the 269th day of being stranded.

nIt’s been six days since the Harvest Festival began.

n“Is there going to be a competition today?”

nSejun said while drinking his morning coffee.

nJudging from the pattern so far, there were carrot harvesting competitions on the 2nd day of the Harvest Festival and carrot eating competitions on the 4th day.

n“After harvesting and eating, maybe the next one will be something like carrot cooking or carrot carving?”

nAs Sejun was thinking about the next competition,

nSqueak! Squeak!

nKreong! Kreong!

nThe reconciled black rabbit and Cuengi came looking for Sejun, singing together.

nThud.

nThud!

nSuddenly, the black rabbit and Cuengi bowed their heads, performing a formal bow to Sejun.

nAnd then,

nSqueak!

nKreong!

nThey put their palms together, it was a polite yet assertive gesture towards Sejun.

n“Do you want food?”

nSqueak!

nThe black rabbit shook his head, and

nKreong! Kreong!

nCuengi, who was nodding, saw the black rabbit and quickly shook his head.

n“Then what is it?”

nSqueak?

nUncle, don’t you know about New Year’s gift money is?

nThe black rabbit quietly asked, after climbing onto Sejun’s shoulder. It was a thoughtful question, considering Sejun might not know about New Year’s gift money.

n“Ah, is that it? Of course, I know. Here.”

nSejun gave the New Year’s gift money to Black Rabbit and Cuengi. On the sixth day of the Harvest Festival, it was a tradition for the rabbits to bow and receive New Year’s gift money.

nSqueak!

nKreong!

nBlack Rabbit and Cuengi were happy holding the New Year’s gift money they received from Sejun.

n“I want it too, meow!”

nTheo quickly bowed to Sejun. He thought it was a pretty good deal to just bow and receive money.

n“Okay. Since you’re the oldest brother, I’ll give you a bit more.”

nSejun gave him twice the amount he gave to the black rabbit and Cuengi.

n“Thank you, meow! Give me again, meow!”

nTheo thought he could receive New Year’s gift money every time he bowed, like a vending machine that dispenses whenever you press it.

nHowever,

n“Are you willing to have the money you’ve already received taken away?”

n“No, meow.”

nAt Sejun’s words, Theo quietly put his New Year’s gift money in his bag and took out a Churu.

n“Open it, meow!”

n“Sure.”

nWhoosh.

nWhile Sejun was feeding Churu to Theo,

nSqueak!

nSqueal!

nSqueap!

nThe rabbits lined up in front of Sejun, bowed, and received New Year’s gift money.

n“Right, Stay healthy.”

nBefore he knew it, Sejun was giving blessings as well.

nAnd,

nSwish. Swish.

n(Ga, Na, Da, Ra…)1

nBehind Sejun, the Golden Bat was diligently practicing writing Korean on the floor. It was almost time to go back to Earth.

n(Noodles, Coffee, Cola…)

nHe then reviewed the characters that Sejun emphasized to always bring when he sees them.

nAfter a while, he felt it.

n‘I’ll definitely bring something that Sejun likes this time!’

nThe Golden Bat captured the back of Sejun in his eyes and disappeared.

n***

nFlap. Flap.

n(What should I choose?)

nThe Golden Bat hurriedly looked around and found letters he could read.

nThen,

n00 Noodles, 00 Coffee.

nFamiliar characters appeared.

n(Ah! That’s it!)

nThe Golden Bat quickly grabbed the items and disappeared.

nA little later,

n“Damn it! Who is it?! Who ate the ramen? It was here just before I went to the bathroom…”

nThe man who came into the break room to eat ramen grumbled while looking at the snack display rack.

n“There’s no way someone ate the ramen and disappeared within a few minutes…”

nPlus, there were signs that a packet of coffee had been taken too.

n“No matter how small the happiness is, this is not it!”

nThe owner who was trying to eat in the store because he was too lazy to go out was furious about the disappearance of the last ramen.

n***

n“Here. This is your New Year’s gift money. Live happily.”

nAs Sejun was giving out the New Year’s gift money to the rabbits who were bowing to him,

nFlap. Flap.

nThe black dragon statue approached.

nAnd,

n-Hmm. Park Sejun! Why aren’t you bowing to me?

nKaiser was upset with Sejun, who didn’t come to bow to him.

n“Ah! I was going to find you after receiving bows from the rabbits. Sorry for making you wait.”

nHe didn’t even think about going to see Kaiser, but he couldn’t tell the truth if he didn’t want to die.

n-I didn’t wait… Hmmm. I, being generous, will let it slide this time. Hurry and bow to me.

n“Yes. Mr. Kaiser, may you live a long2 and healthy life.”

nSejun politely bowed.

n-What?! Park Sejun! Are you telling me to die?!

n“Huh?!”

n-I’m already over 10,000 years old now, so if I’m to live long2, it means I should die now!

nHe hadn’t considered the long lifespan of a dragon.

n“No, that’s not what I meant!”

nSejun hurriedly explained his words.

n“In our culture, living up to 100 years is considered a very long life. Wishing someone to live long and healthy means to live a very, very long time.”

n-Hahaha. I see. I didn’t consider the frailty of humans. Here’s your New Year’s gift money!

nSpit.

nA black shiny object spat out by the black dragon statue fell into Sejun’s hand.

n-I’ve given you something special of mine. Consider it an honor.

n“Thank you!” .

nHe didn’t know what it was, but he expressed his thanks anyway.

nFlap. Flap.

nAs Kaiser returned to the fountain and Sejun checked the item Kaiser had given,

nGreat Black Dragon Kaiser’s Scale

n→ The great black dragon, Kaiser Pritani, has put a spell on his own scale.

n→ When attached to a desired area, it settles as a tattoo on the skin.

n→ When the owner’s life is in danger, the Dragon Tribe skill – Dragon Skin activates automatically to save the owner’s life and is then destroyed.

n→ Usage Restrictions: Park Sejun, acknowledged by Kaiser Pritani

n→ Creator: Kaiser Pritani

n→ Grade: Unmeasurable

n“Wow.”

nIt was an extraordinary item.

n“So I just put it here like this?”

nWhen Sejun placed Kaiser’s scale on his left arm,

nSwoosh.

nThe scale seeped into Sejun’s skin, and a black dragon tattoo covering up to his left shoulder settled in place.

n“But will I ever need to use this?”

nHe already had the .

nSejun thought he would never have to use Kaiser’s scale, but the time to use the scale came sooner than he thought.

nSejun didn’t know that he would soon be facing a life-threatening situation, and he continued to receive the bow from the remaining rabbits and gave them their New Year’s gift money.

n“Did everyone get theirs?”

nAs Sejun looked around to see if there were any rabbits who hadn’t received their New Year’s gift money,

nFlap. Flap.

nThe golden bat flew in quickly.

n(Sejun! I think I’ve finally found what you wanted!)

nThe golden bat came flying, tightly clutching the items in its two feet.

n“Huh?! Is that?!!!”

nSejun was shocked at the amazing item that the golden bat brought.

n“Is that instant ramen? Mixim coffee?”

nThis time the golden bat really brought the right items.

n“First, add 550 mL of water.”

nSince there was only one packet of ramen, so failure was not an option. Sejun boiled the ramen according to the instructions on the package.

nTo measure the correct amount of water, Sejun used the water bottle he had brought during the Vanishing to match the volume of water, and started boiling it.

n“Hehehe. Good job. Good job.”

nSejun held the golden bat, the top contributor of the day, in his arms and kept stroking its head while boiling the ramen water.

nPurr, purr.

nThe golden bat happily purred in Sejun’s arms. But there was someone who didn’t like it.

n“I don’t like this, meow!”

nTheo glared at the golden bat. Bringing necessary items to Sejun was Theo’s role, and it was unacceptable for the youngest one to meddle with the responsibilities of the eldest.

n‘How should I scold it?’

nAs Theo was licking his front paws and thinking about how to scold the golden bat,

n“Now is the time!”

nSejun put the noodles, soup, and flakes in the boiling water.

nAnd

n“1, 2…269, 270!”

nHe boiled it for exactly 4 minutes and 30 seconds as stated in the instructions, then removed the pot from the heat and moved the ramen to a bowl.

n“Oh, the smell.”

nHe was moved just by smelling it.

n“Hoo! Hoo! ”

nSejun lifted a chopstick of ramen and blew into the steamy noodles.

n‘It must be cooled down by now, right? Eh, Whatever.’

nWhen the noodles seemed cool enough, Sejun tried them first.

nSlurp.

n“Umm!”

nThe taste of ramen he hadn’t had in almost nine months made a smile appear involuntarily on Sejun’s mouth.

nSlurp. Slurp.

nThis time, Sejun took several sips of the ramen broth with a spoon.

n“Wow!”

nNo other words were necessary. It was simply moving.

nAs he was eating ramen,

nSqueak!

nKreong!

nThe black rabbit and Cuengi came towards Sejun. Just one bite!

n“Uh…”

nSejun’s eyes wavered greatly at the words ‘just one bite.’

n“Here.”

nSejun first gave a strand of noodles and five spoons of soup to the black rabbit. That was enough for the black rabbit.

nAnd then,

n“Here. Cuengi.”

nSejun pretended to give some to Cuengi, but suddenly he put his face in the bowl and started to slurp up the ramen. He couldn’t let this be taken away.

nHowever

nKreong!

nAs Cuengi quickly approached and started sucking from Sejun’s bowl, the pressure caused the ramen noodles to be sucked into Cuengi’s mouth like a vacuum cleaner.

nSlurp.

nThe last strand of noodle connected to Sejun’s mouth was sucked into Cuengi’s mouth and with that, the ramen disappeared completely.

n“My… my ramen…”

nAs Sejun was feeling despondent,

n(Excuse me… big brother, I brought this for you.) .

nThe golden bat cautiously handed Theo a bag with a cat picture on it. It was Churu.

nAt that moment,

nThe third competition of the Harvest Festival, the Carrot Wine Drinking Competition, will begin shortly.

nParticipants who wish to participate in the competition, please gather in front of the Red Ribbon’s Giant Carrot Altar.

nThe last competition of the Harvest Festival began.

n*****

nTL Notes:

n1) The characters here are the Korean equivalents of ABCD in order. (?, ?, ?, ?…)

n2) May you live long and healthy : – The blessing here, when translated into English, is a bit different. However, in Korean, it’s like living for ten thousand years without sickness and weakness. So, Kaiser misunderstood, hence his anger.

nUpdated from .𝘤𝘰

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