Chick 204
by Cristae204
VROOOOOM—
The tricycle tore down the narrow path between rice paddies.
‘My legs feel so light!’
Thanks to the 200% strength buff option, Groo’s strength stat was now 2 (+4).
With her total strength up to 6, she could pedal longer and harder than ever before.
As she pushed the speed to its limit, Wooju, holding onto Groo’s waist from behind, could only gape in awe.
‘It’s so fast…?!’
For a tricycle, it was incredibly fast—it felt like they were going at least 30 km/h.
‘Is this really that two-billion-won Oonamazu tricycle I read about in the papers?’
Wooju remembered the article about Groo she had carefully clipped and scrapbooked.
To actually ride such a bike—her whole body thrummed with excitement.
The wind whipped the children’s hair and clothes about. Mephisto clung to Groo’s hair to keep from being blown away.
Put-put-put-put—
Just then, the village head, leisurely driving a tractor, raised his hand in admiration.
“That’s one fine bicycle, that is.”
“Hello!”
“H-hello!”
VROOOOM—
The tricycle sped past the tractor.
“Hehehe.”
But when the tricycle suddenly turned around and came speeding back, the village head was left scratching his head.
“…?”
“Grandpa!”
“Hey there. What’s the matter?”
“Where’s the convenience store?”
“There’s no convenience store here, kiddo. But over the paddy fields, there’s a shop—a shooop.”
“Shop! Do they sell eggs there?”
“Eggs? Of course. Just head that way.”
“Thank you!”
“Alright~”
Off they sped again toward the direction the village head had indicated.
Behind them, the production team piled into their van and hurried to give chase.
“Hello!”
“Hello, grandmother.”
The elderly shopkeeper looked from one child to the next, letting out a murmur of wonder.
“These days, children are so fair and pretty…”
As she marveled, she eyed Mephi perched on Groo’s head.
“That chick is nice and plump. Boil that one and you’d get two servings.”
“Chirp?!”
Mephi crossed his wings protectively over himself.
‘Two servings?!’
Shocked, Groo quickly scooped trembling Mephi into her bag.
If she didn’t want Mephisto to turn into a two-serving meal, she’d have to keep him hidden.
Nervous, Groo faced the shopkeeper, who was licking her lips with interest.
“Gr-grandma! We’d like some eggs, please!”
“You want to buy eggs?”
“Yes!”
Groo took out her quokka wallet.
As a little heiress, buying eggs was no problem for Groo—she’d even withdrawn 30,000 won in cash just in case!
The shopkeeper pulled out a tray of thirty eggs from the fridge.
“Three thousand won, kiddo.”
Groo fished out three crumpled thousand-won bills.
The shopkeeper took the money, patted Groo on the head, and handed over the eggs.
Groo staggered, struggling with the big tray, so Wooju quickly took it from her.
“Can you carry it?”
“Oh, yes!”
With her hands now free thanks to Wooju, Groo pulled a folding cart out of her bag.
“That’s one of those magic items, right? City kids just have everything these days.”
In truth, not even Seoul kids could own such things.
The price alone put them far out of reach for regular people.
Groo could only gather such gadgets because she could craft high-grade items herself in the S-rank crafting category.
But Wooju kept her lips sealed and didn’t bother correcting the shopkeeper’s misunderstanding; Groo just grinned.
“Hehe!”
While Groo unfolded the cart and attached it to her bike, Wooju carefully placed the eggs inside.
“Such a pretty kid has such a pretty bike, too.”
“…!”
Here it comes again.
Groo was about to start bragging that the bike was not only pretty but also had a 3-horsepower turbo booster and could even transform, but Wooju quickly stopped her.
“Let’s get back. The grown-ups will worry since we ran off without telling them.”
“Oh, okay.”
Just then—
Shiver!
Groo’s head whipped up.
It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her.
Groo scanned left and right, searching for the source of the sudden chill.
Wooju, too, rubbed her arms, shivering.
“Didn’t it just feel… really cold just now?”
“Yeah.”
Wooju took off her overshirt and put it on Groo.
“Maybe it’s getting colder because the sun’s going down.”
“Really?”
But the sun was still bright and high…
At that moment, the shopkeeper, also feeling the chill, rubbed her arms and muttered quietly.
“The dokkabi must be out again…”
“Dokka…?”
Groo blinked in confusion, and the shopkeeper quickly waved her off with a grave look.
“Better get home. Your family will worry.”
“Yes!”
“Goodbye, grandmother.”
“Goodbye!”
VROOOOM—
The children hopped on the tricycle again, racing back home.
As the crew climbed into the van to follow, one staff member whispered,
“Back there… Didn’t you feel it get really cold for a second?”
“That chill? I felt it too.”
“It wasn’t just getting late. For a moment, it just felt icy…”
“Yeah, me too. I got goosebumps all over for some reason.”
“So—does that mean what the village head said is true?”
A short silence fell among the staff.
They remembered the stories they’d heard during preliminary interviews, while scouting filming locations.
“Let’s not. I really hate ghost stories, you guys.”
“But everyone says shooting goes wild when ghosts show up on set.”
“…Still.”
“…Right, if we actually saw one, that would be too much.”
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
The staff hurriedly climbed into the van.
The location PD Hwang arranged for this show was a tiled-roof house a little apart from the village.
It had been his parents’ house once, and after their passing, the owner who took over kept it in good order. As promised, it was old but clean and peaceful.
Sprawling mountains looked as if painted across the landscape, while a kitchen garden brimmed with every sort of vegetable.
Chilies, lettuce, green onions, cucumbers, carrots, and more.
One enclosure even held chickens brought in for the shoot, so protein wouldn’t be lacking.
Since “Awkward Village-cation!” had a self-sufficiency slapstick concept, the place was ideal for filming.
Of course, challenges for the cast remained.
Kazuki and Lee Romi exchanged glances as they discovered how hard it was to light the hearth when the firewood was damp.
“I’ll go get some more wood!”
Romi started off energetically, but paused, glancing at Joorim who lay napping on the porch.
‘Wow, Guildmaster Nayeon told me he was just like this…’
Put nicely, he had no pretense. He was just as he’d seemed on TV—if anything, even more authentic in person.
In this modern age where reputation meant everything, that was almost refreshing.
Perhaps it was the easy confidence of a strong man…
Romi, impressed in spite of herself, rubbed her aching back after crouching too long.
No word yet from the kids out on their egg errand.
The one she most counted on was a layabout who did nothing but sleep, and now the only ones actually working were just Kazuki and herself.
‘Maybe I should have refused when I learned who the cast would be.’
But curiosity about On Joorim and Amakusa Kazuki—and the guaranteed buzz, with those two even just sitting there—had drawn her into this hell.
Swallowing her tears, Romi straightened up while gathering firewood from the shed.
“Romi, you’re like the family’s eldest daughter. Looks like you have to feed everyone.”
PD Hwang teased with a grin.
“You seem to be having lots of fun, PD.”
“Do I?”
“A ton.”
“Well, it’s most fun watching other people struggle~ Wish I could help, but I just can’t, you know~”
“You’re so mean. So mean.”
Romi smiled wryly and glanced off to the side.
The PD, writers, and crew all trailed after her.
She was used to having cameras and people hovering, but even so—
‘This is rubbing me the wrong way.’
She couldn’t put her finger on why, but a disturbing set of eyes seemed buried in the crowd.