Chick 188
by Cristae188
That night.
After Jurim soothed Gruu to sleep, and he drifted off in peace—
Mephisto sat at the edge of the bed, wings drooping.
Lately, Mephisto had been profoundly out of sorts.
From the moment of his birth, Mephisto, like any other living being, had continued to grow and develop.
He had put on weight, found joy in learning, and even felt disappointment and jealousy.
“Piiit…”
Yes. That dull, heavy ache in his chest, that darkness sinking inside, was definitely disappointment.
Ever since Gruu passed the preschool exams and his days grew busy, spending less time with Mephisto and more with Wooju, these feelings would wash over him whenever he felt neglected.
Just then, a child tumbled out from under the bed and looked up at Mephisto.
Bailach had been secretly watching a zombie movie on his tablet, careful not to be caught by Jurim.
“You’re a pitiful wretch,” he said.
“Piiit!”
Mephisto, angry, spat at him; Bailach caught the spit with a gravity skill and flung it back.
Mephisto turned his head just in time, and the spit missed.
Plop!
Mephisto’s spit landed on Gruu’s sleeping head.
“……!”
“……!”
Both sprang up, hastily wiping Gruu’s head with their wings and palms.
“Mmmm…”
Fortunately, Gruu remained asleep, mouth open, oblivious.
Whew. Bailach let out a sigh of relief and signaled Mephisto to follow him outside.
Sitting across from each other in the living room, the two were silent for some time.
It was Bailach, who’d been pointedly eyeing Mephisto’s sullen demeanor these days, who finally broke the silence.
“A pet desperate for its master’s love. Pathetic.”
“Piiit!”
Plop!
This time, before he could even use his skills, a spit landed on his nose.
This insolent bird…! Bailach maintained a forced composure as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
“As long as your master’s skills are still bottom tier, he’ll keep mingling with that delectable child.”
“Piiiu?”
“‘Bottom tier’ means the stats are extremely low. It’s a new slang term among this planet’s youth.”
Bailach, trying to act hip like someone pretending to be “one of the kids,” puffed himself up, while Mephisto twitched his beak, frowning.
Since the superconductor incident, Bailach had been diligently studying the language.
Though, through his tablet, he’d only picked up as many bizarre words as Serhi ever had.
“If you want to be loved again, there’s only one way: you have to raise your master’s experience so his skills rise above ‘bottom tier.’”
He had no real intention of helping Mephisto, but the reason he was bothering to share his advice was different.
Only when the master’s level increased could Bailach remain in human form for longer periods.
Skill duration depended on proficiency and level.
To remain stably as a hamster—or, preferably, as a human—Gruu’s level had to rise.
Bailach didn’t particularly care whether his vessel was a hamster or a child, but…
‘It’s a bit inconvenient living as a hamster on this planet.’
As a hamster, he could hardly press the buttons on the tablet.
He had to watch zombie movies at 1.5x or 2x speed, then slow them to 1x for mukbang segments.
Mephisto looked at him with half-lidded eyes, as if to say he saw right through his schemes.
“You degenerate. It will benefit you, too. If that wretched potato-growing succeeds, you’ll have his attention again, you know.”
“Piii…”
Mephisto cast his gaze downward, small head whirring in thought.
It wasn’t wrong.
Whatever the motives, the advice itself was sound.
To level up, one needed experience.
Experience = monsters = dungeons.
In the end, what Gruu needed was a dungeon!
Most hunters gained power and grew in dungeons.
But Gruu was “bottom tier.”
“Piiiii…”
Mephisto stroked his chin with his wing.
Just as a mother bird would drop food into her chick’s beak, he needed to find a place where Gruu could level up easily.
Most of all, it had to be a dungeon where Gruu could gain lots of experience, but without danger.
In that case, there was only one way!
“Pip-pip!”
Just make a dungeon!
Though he had lost his memories upon hatching, Mephisto instinctively knew he could do it.
[Connecting……]
[System Operator ‘Mephisto’ Access Confirmed.]
Logging into the system, Mephisto began materializing a dimensional space.
Its form: a low-grade slime.
Its experience yield: S-rank.
Its setting: a toy factory.
And all of it, for Gruu alone!
The next day.
It was after the kindergarten ballet class had ended and the children were changing in the locker room.
Gruu was pulling off her tights and putting them into her bag when once again…
‘I feel it.’
Steadily—
That burning stare.
Gruu glanced toward the source of the gaze—of course. It was Gu Heeyeon.
Heeyeon, holding her tutu skirt, was stretched on tiptoe, craning her neck around her locker door to peek inside.
She wanted to see inside Gruu’s locker?
Was there anything so interesting in there?
Inside were four-frame photos with Gidan, Serhi, and Wooju, and stickers from the Tinyping series.
Only then did realization dawn. Gruu nodded to herself.
Yes, it’s only natural for children to be curious about those things.
‘Tinyping really is the best.’
There were all sorts of Tinyping stickers at home, so she’d bring some to share.
Thinking so, Gruu poked her head out past the door.
As soon as their eyes met, Heeyeon froze in place.
“Heeyeon-ah!”
“Y-yeah?”
Gruu smiled knowingly, and Heeyeon’s face turned bright red as she bolted out of the room.
“Oh.”
She ran away!
Why?!
Gruu had meant to tell her she’d bring Tinyping stickers tomorrow.
Watching Gruu’s dejected face, a few friends chimed in.
“Heeyeon doesn’t like Gruu, does she?”
“She always acts that way around Gruu. It’s weird.”
“Huum…”
Gruu pouted.
She wanted to be friends with Heeyeon, but maybe, just as the others said, Heeyeon really did dislike her.
Feeling down, Gruu closed her locker and left the changing room.
“Byebye!”
“Bye bye!”
“See you, Gruu!”
The children all scattered.
Gruu headed for the vegetable garden—to meet Wooju and tend their potato plants.
Crossing the quiet schoolyard—
“Hm?”
It was as if a tiny earthquake struck, the trees’ trunks trembling gently.
‘What’s that?’
At the quake’s source, an oval entrance shimmered and took form.
That was…
‘A gate?!’
But it was clearly different from a normal gate.
Among dungeons, some appeared without warning, only to vanish suddenly. People called such places “one-time dungeons” or “instance dungeons.”
Some even referred to them as “hidden dungeons,” because the odds of finding rare items inside were high.
Gruu touched the gate and read the dungeon’s info, and was struck with surprise.
[Kids’ Dungeon (S)]
Domain of the Frost Bloodline. Only children age 7 or under may enter. Guardians, please wait outside briefly.
An S-rank Kids’ Dungeon?!
Gruu’s mouth fell open in shock.
A mere kids’ dungeon dared to be S-rank. S-rank dungeons were classified as major dungeons!
Immediately, a slot machine whirled through her mind.
‘S-rank major dungeon! S-rank experience! S-rank rewards!’
An endless parade of ‘S’ floated before her eyes.
That wasn’t all. The dungeon was busily enticing kindergarteners with flashy speech bubbles.
‘So fun!’
‘A paradise for preschoolers!’
‘You, the chosen one! Defeat the Naughty Slime!’
Ordinarily, she would be thrilled at the opportunity, but…
‘Can I really go into a dungeon without permission again? Should I ask first?’
But Dad would definitely say no. Besides, it said guardians had to wait outside.
Gulp!
Her hand tightened reflexively on the trowel.
Just then, Mephisto flitted over and perched on the trowel, clenching both wings like tiny fists.
“Piit—!”
Mephisto insisted bravely, as if to say he could manage even by himself.
“Mephiing…”
“Pip-pip!”
“Humph! Got it!”
Gruu sent a message to Wooju, saying she wouldn’t make it to the garden, then grabbed her fork.
“Can’t be helped.”
If the world needed Great Gruu, what choice did she have?
Gruu gripped the fork in both hands and stepped through the gate.