Chapter 36

Chapter 36: From Heaven to Hell, Rin Falls Ill
The two S-Rank excavators were astonishingly efficient.
In less than half a day, they had dug out a remarkably deep cave.
I absorbed the rubble they dug up into Acresia and carried it outside.
When my Mana started running low, I switched to shoveling it into a cart and hauling it out by hand.
“Damn it, I think I inhaled a year’s worth of dust today.”
Once the work was over, Adel came outside, dropped to the ground, and complained.
Santos, on the other hand, was feeling his own muscles.
He seemed to be checking how much his body had been pumped up from all the pickaxe work.
“Good work. Here, drink this.”
I took out two five-hundred-milliliter sports drinks from Acresia, and the two of them gulped them down greedily.
“Ahh! It’s been forever since I had a cold drink.”
“So refreshing……”
“Then sit there and rest while you drink.”
Leaving the two of them behind, I went into the newly dug cave alone.
The cave had to be around forty meters long.
‘If I hang three layers of curtains, that should at least keep some of the cold from escaping.’
I used a chisel and hammer to make holes in the ceiling and walls, fixed in anchors, and hung the curtains carefully.
One near the entrance.
One in the middle.
And one near the very deepest part.
I wasn’t planning to install doors, since the air still needed to circulate to some extent if the mushrooms were going to grow.
Once I reached the deepest section, I began carving ledges into both rock walls with a carving knife and hammer.
Then I sprinkled the substrate powder I had bought evenly across those ledges.
Substrate supplied the nutrients mushrooms needed to grow.
‘Next, the spores.’
For several days, I had been placing bunches of Glace Mushrooms upside down on wet black paper.
When they were left like that, the spores naturally fell and formed patterns on the paper.
Then I mixed the spore-patterned paper into sterilized water, making a spore solution.
Using a dropper, I carefully dripped that liquid little by little over the substrate on each ledge.
Normally, I should have gone through the mycelium and spawn stages first, but that would have taken too much time, so I skipped them.
‘Spores, please absorb the nutrients and grow well.’
I could only hope all of this wouldn’t turn out to be wasted effort.
Next, I set Ice Crystals at intervals between the ledges.
And in the very center, I hung the ice-attribute Highest-Grade Magic Stone from the ceiling.
‘Without cold resistance, this is brutal.’
Even though I had put on all my winter gear before starting, it meant very little against the combined cold of the Ice Crystals and the ice-attribute Magic Stone.
If I stayed any longer, I felt like I would get frostbite.
No, my fingers and toes were already numb.
I hurried back out and ate a Glace Mushroom raw.
Only then did warmth gradually return to my body.
“Hoo…… I almost froze to death.”
With that level of cold, even going in to check whether the mushrooms had grown wouldn’t be easy.
And unfortunately, mushrooms weren’t plants but fungi, so Rin couldn’t help.
Just in case, I had even bought a mushroom-growing substrate block and asked Rin to try, but it had been impossible after all.
So all I could do was hope the mushrooms would grow naturally.
In effect, this was the first time I was farming something without Rin’s help.
***
I drove into town to get my hair cut and handle some banking business.
While I was at it, I turned on a news radio station.
And then I heard the report.
-Breaking news. Word has arrived that S-Rank Hunter Sword Saint Hwang Myeong-u, who disappeared after participating in the third-floor raiding party, is alive. Bamboo Fragrance Guild has officially confirmed his survival by releasing what appears to be a handwritten letter personally written by Hwang Myeong-u himself.
The report continued.
Experts had examined the handwriting in the handwritten letter released by Bamboo Fragrance Guild and concluded that it was unquestionably written by the Sword Saint himself, ruling out the possibility of forgery.
‘Of course it was. He wrote it right in front of me.’
Then another piece of news followed.
-The Hunter Association and the Rift Management Bureau, which first received this news through Bamboo Fragrance Guild, have announced their intention to swiftly organize a rescue party in cooperation with multiple guilds and carry out an operation to retrieve Sword Saint Hwang Myeong-u and his companions as quickly as possible.
Everything seemed to be moving ahead with remarkable speed.
‘It won’t be long before Hunters start coming and going on the fourth floor of the Rift.’
It was a little disappointing.
That place had been a world shared only by Ria and me.
Still, this had always been bound to happen someday.
‘The three S-Rank Hunters will be happy when they hear this.’
I should hurry, finish my errands, and get back to tell them.
I got my hair cut, finished my banking, and stopped by a large supermarket for groceries.
Then, after taking care of everything, I parked in the village lot and started walking home along the narrow path.
“Oppa, you’re finally back.”
A voice I knew all too well reached my ears.
I turned to look at its owner.
The moment I saw her, a filthy feeling crawled up my skin as if insects were moving over me.
“What are you doing here?”
My brow furrowed, and my tone turned cold on its own.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. That’s harsh.”
The woman acting as though nothing had ever happened—
was none other than my ex-girlfriend, Yu Seon-yeong, who had had an affair with the executive chef.
“How dare you show your face in front of me? And how did you even get this address?”
“What, I can’t come see your face? Your address was written on the résumé you submitted when you applied to Pungjeong.”
It had been ages since I left that job. They were still keeping my résumé?
When I first applied to Pungjeong, I hadn’t yet rented a room in Seoul, so I had put down my country house address instead.
“I don’t want my mood ruined any further, so leave.”
I tried to walk past Yu Seon-yeong and head to the house.
As I did, she grabbed my wrist.
I shook her hand off hard, and Yu Seon-yeong looked genuinely startled.
“Isn’t this too cruel……?”
Yu Seon-yeong made a tearful face.
“Fine, I’m a terrible bitch. But what did you ever do right by me? I was the only one clinging to you and trying to win your affection. Did you ever once give me your heart? If anything, you treated me worse than you treated Ji-young.”
Ji-young had been the youngest kitchen hand back at Pungjeong.
She might have been a little clumsy at work, but she was kind at heart.
She made mistakes often enough that I scolded her now and then, but there was never any real conflict between us.
Yu Seon-yeong, on the other hand, had a rotten personality on top of everything else, and she and I never matched in any way, so all we ever did was clash.
“There’s no point talking about any of that now, and I don’t want to hear it either, so go back.”
I was about to turn away again when Yu Seon-yeong said,
“I left Pungjeong.”
Huh?
That was a little interesting.
“Why?”
“Pungjeong is going to close soon. The chef’s wife said they’re giving up on keeping it open because the losses have become too big.”
So Pungjeong really was heading toward closure in the end.
No matter how many Michelin stars you had, it was incredibly hard to make a fine dining restaurant turn a profit.
You needed reservations packed solid with no gaps just to barely avoid running at a loss.
Back when I held the reins in the kitchen, we had months’ worth of reservations lined up in advance.
Then Yu Seon-yeong launched into the most absurd nonsense imaginable.
“Let’s start over.”
“What……?”
“I’ve really reflected a lot. I regret everything. I cried so much too. I’ll do better from now on. Oppa, okay?”
“……”
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even respond.
Yu Seon-yeong continued.
“And Oppa, I heard you’ve been just doing nothing for the last two years, right? Jeong-seok told me. If that’s the case, you probably don’t have any money either, so let’s open a restaurant together. I’ll take out the loans.”
Jeong-seok had been the kitchen assistant who was barely one rung above Ji-young, practically another youngest staff member.
A headache surged through me, and I pressed a hand to my forehead.
I hadn’t realized Yu Seon-yeong was this insane.
Or had she once been normal and simply broken down along the way?
At this point I wasn’t even angry anymore.
“I’m not interested, so go back. And I already have a girlfriend.”
What I really wanted in that moment was simple.
‘Ah, I want to see Ria.’
That was the only thought in my head.
I didn’t want to keep dragging out this mentally exhausting conversation any longer.
So I turned and headed for the house.
Behind me, I heard her shouting about how could I do this, and even, “I’ll get revenge!”
‘Why would you be the one taking revenge?’
If anything, it should be me.
After fooling around with the executive chef, it seemed she had truly lost her mind.
Whatever the case, she was no longer someone who had anything to do with me.
Someone I no longer cared about.
I went inside the country house, locked the gate behind me,
and then entered the Rift.
The moment I stepped in, Rin spotted me and came running.
“Seon-u!”
Ah, this really was healing.
“Awoong!”
Bell, the snow-white Fenrir cub, wagged his tail adorably.
And then there was the gentle tone and fresh smile of my lover, Ria.
“You’re back, Seon-u? Did you finish everything? Your haircut looks nice.”
The filth that had clung to my mood just moments earlier was washed away completely.
I stroked Bell’s head once, lifted the running Rin onto my shoulder, and with my free arm gave Ria a light hug.
Then I told the three S-Rank Hunters the news I had heard on the radio.
All three of them cheered.
Then, almost at once, they started looking both relieved and a little regretful.
The one who looked the most disappointed, unexpectedly enough, was Adel Eriksson.
“Well…… this place isn’t all that bad either. The food’s great, for one thing.”
At that, the Sword Saint said to him,
“You brat, first go back, let your family see your face, and put their hearts at ease. Then you can come back later.”
“I guess that’s true…… Well, I could always come back.”
I said to Adel,
“There’s still a long time before the rescue party gets here. And you still have to serve out the full month you promised as Ria’s subordinate before you leave.”
“I’m not going to run away, so stop worrying.”
***
Until recently, I had been in a good mood.
But now my mood was at rock bottom.
“Rin, are you okay……?”
“Rin……!”
Ria and I were beside ourselves.
Because Rin was sick.
“What’s wrong with Rin?”
“I don’t know…….”
She had started losing energy when it began to get dark.
And now she was in so much pain that she couldn’t even keep herself together.
Why?
What was the reason?
If she were human, I would have taken her to a hospital or at least bought medicine.
But what was I supposed to do when a Dryad got sick?
Had I given Rin something a Dryad shouldn’t eat?
Was that why she was ill?
All kinds of thoughts rushed through my head.
Ria and I were truly panicking.
Rani Santos came in for a moment and tried using a heal on her, but it had no effect at all.
All Ria and I could do was remain at her side and pray.
“Please, Rin.”
“Hang on, Rin.”
Please let her recover as if by miracle when morning comes.
But even when morning came, she didn’t get better.
One day. Two days. Three.
Now it was the early dawn of the fourth day.
For all that time, Ria and I had barely slept at all, staying at Rin’s side the whole time.
By now, the morning of the fourth day was beginning to break.
“Ria, go close your eyes for a little while. I’ll stay here with Rin.”
“No, you sleep first, Seon-u. I’m fine.”
“You first, Ria. You’ve cried so much you’re completely worn out.”
“……All right. Then I’ll rest my eyes for just a little while and come switch with you.”
So I sent Ria out to the living room so she could rest for a bit.
And I stayed with Rin, watching over her.
Rin was still groaning in pain, unable to recover her senses.
Watching her like that made it feel as though my heart were being torn apart.
And I was afraid.
Afraid I might lose Rin meaninglessly like this.
Rin was still very small, barely two and a half handspans tall.
So her hands were still tiny too.
I gently took one of those small hands in mine.
“Rin, please get better. Let it happen like a miracle.”
Then my head spun.
After four days without sleep, worrying and staying up day and night, I felt dizzy and even had a migraine.
Still seated in the chair beside the bed, I let my head rest briefly against the mattress.
Before long, my eyes slowly closed.
‘I still haven’t switched with Ria yet.’
How much time had passed?
-Seon-u.
I heard someone calling me.
I slowly opened my eyes.
‘Ah, I must have dozed off.’
Then I felt something moving in my hand.
‘What……?’
I remembered gently holding Rin’s hand before I fell asleep.
But the hand I was holding now wasn’t Rin’s tiny little hand.
It was still small, but compared to Rin’s hand, it was easily twice the size.
“Seon-u.”
Hearing my name again, I jolted and lifted my head.
And there, looking at me, was—
surely not…….
“Rin……?”
It was Rin.
But the Rin who had been barely more than two handspans tall had now grown to the size of a human three-year-old child.
For a moment I could only stare in shock.
Then the relief and joy of seeing that Rin was all right came rushing over me.
“So you’re better now, Rin……!”
I held Rin’s hand and rejoiced.
“Thank goodness, Rin. Thank goodness.”
Tears came like an idiot’s.
Because she had shown no sign of improving, I had truly thought I might lose her like this.
“Seon-u……!”
When Rin saw the tears in my eyes, she looked worried.
“It’s okay, Rin. I’m only crying because I’m happy.”
Just then, the bedroom door opened.
Ria, who had gone out only to rest her eyes for a short while, came in.
And then she saw Rin, who had grown larger than before.
“Rin……?”
“Ria.”
The moment Rin said Ria’s name, tears streamed down Ria’s face as well.
“Rin—!”
Ria hurried to the bed and pulled Rin into her arms.
“Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness.”
Rin only tilted her head.
She looked as though she had no idea why Ria and I were so relieved and overjoyed.
It seemed she didn’t even realize she had been sick.
Once Ria calmed down a little, I said,
“I think the reason Rin was sick was probably that Dryads go through growing pains.”
“That must have been it. Did you give Rin too much health juice and end up giving her more nutrients than she could handle?”
Could that have been it……?
In any case, I finally understood what it meant to feel like you had aged ten years from worry.
If I had known it was growing pains, I wouldn’t have been this terrified.
It was a time that made me realize, all over again, just how precious Rin was.
And the Rin who had grown larger than before had also become much stronger in her abilities.