Chapter 17: A New Spirit

Bae! Ppaa!

Usually, spirits are divided into lower, middle, and upper ranks. Above them is the Spirit King. Above the Spirit King is Byeol, the king who can wield all four elements.

Lower spirits don’t have a spirit form, but from middle spirits onward, they do.

The egg containing the spirit had absorbed many orbs even before hatching and was blessed by Byeol, the Spirit King.

Therefore, it had a spirit form from the moment it was born.

In other words, a middle-ranked spirit had been born.

[Contract with a middle-rank water spirit initiated!]

Using the spirit tamer’s special trait, a contract was formed with the newly born spirit.

[Please name it!]

Jinwoo, staring at the system message, shifted his gaze to the spirit.

(Endless Waiting): Two spirit forms.
(Anonymous 1): Both are cute though?

The spirit was shaped like a dolphin in the water, blowing water while making cheerful sounds.

Bae! Ppaa!

When it came out of the water, it looked like a small dog with white fur.

On land, it was a dog; underwater, it was a dolphin.

“So cute! So cute!”

Byeol, who received the most affection from me and the Seongjwas, smiled brightly as she looked at the spirit. Yes, it was definitely adorable.

Even in its dog form, the slightly shimmering white fur, small build, and bright eyes captured people’s attention.

And the dolphin form was obviously cute as well.

“What should we name it…?”

I rested my chin on my hand and started thinking seriously.

The Seongjwas chimed in one by one.

(Anonymous 1): Baekgu 7gu.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Dongdong-i?
(Spirit of Cheongha): Cheongha.
(Father of Crops): Please show much interest in the golden apple.
(Endless Waiting): … All these Seongjwas are strange.

I nodded in agreement with Ben’s chat.

“Byeol, what name do you like?”

“Hmm…”

She started thinking seriously like me, chin in hand. The spirit, now a dog after coming out of the pond, wagged its tail vigorously and started showing affection to us.

“Baekgu?”

Oh no…

(Anonymous 1): Haha, Byeol really knows! Everyone else reflect on yourselves, commoners.

Anonymous 1 began spamming the chat as if thoroughly enjoying himself.

(Anonymous 1): See, strong people just get each other? Commoners like you can’t possibly understand this naming sense. You listening, Jinwoo?

–Chat banned for 3 minutes.

Boldly, I silenced Anonymous 1’s chat and sided with Byeol. This wasn’t about Anonymous 1’s naming sense but Byeol’s.

“Baekgu, how about it?”

Bae! Ppaa!

The water spirit happily wagged its tail and smiled widely, showing its teeth as if it didn’t care what name it got.

(God of Rain and Sunlight): Feels so refreshing with that noisy one gone, kekeke.
(Endless Waiting): Agreed.
(Spirit of Cheongha): That Baekgu is really cute.
(Father of Crops): Not as much as the earth spirit, but water spirits also greatly help farming.
He’ll probably be able to speak fluently soon. Let’s start farming then!

Father of Crops seemed really proud of his work. Having farmed his whole life and even become a Seongjwa, it’d be understandable if he got tired of it, but seeing him act like that… well, that’s a good thing.

‘Of course, I have no plans to farm anytime soon.’

I held Baekgu in my arms.

“A middle-rank spirit will cause quite a stir, won’t it?”

(Anonymous 1): Finally escaped eternal waiting… With a middle-rank spirit, it’ll learn to speak soon. So don’t ban chat again… or else I might come to kill you.

“Let’s just be careful with each other, okay? Got it.”

(Anonymous 1): You don’t lose a battle, huh.

I left the hidden stage right away. Spirits can hide their spirit forms.

Since pets can’t enter abandoned dungeons, Baekgu, quick to catch on, made his spirit form transparent.

“Smart.”

I smiled at Baekgu, who was only visible to Byeol and me, and he wagged his tail in response.

After leaving the abandoned dungeon, I sent a message to Hunter Lee Su-yeon, who introduced this place. She replied in less than a minute and asked for a photo of Byeol.

Please, just one photo of Byeol! I want to see Byeol’s chubby cheeks 〒TT

“Byeol.”
“Mm?”
“Look here.”
“Ok!”

At my words, Byeol looked straight at the camera lens and smiled widely. Without anyone teaching her, she naturally made a peace sign with two fingers by her face.

… Honestly, she’s really cute!

(Anonymous 1): Crazy, just crazy.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): Wow…
(Father of Crops): Is it even allowed to be this cute?
(Spirit of Cheongha): The Spirit King really is different.
(Endless Waiting): Haha, reminds me so much of my cousin.

Almost entranced, I took several photos of Byeol and sent them to Su-yeon.

Since deciding to live as Byeol’s dad, I’ve wanted to brag about her to someone constantly. She really feels like my own daughter.

Wow… So cute. When you come to Seoul next time, please contact me! Let’s see Byeol again! Sure, thanks for introducing this place.

I smiled contentedly at Su-yeon’s message and ended the conversation.

(Anonymous 1): I don’t really like that big smile on Jinwoo’s face.
(God of Rain and Sunlight): You’re no different.
(Anonymous 1): I’m cute too, so it’s funny, but when Jinwoo smiles, it just pisses me off. He never smiled before, but now he’s nice only to Byeol, and we’re always left behind.
(Endless Waiting): This Anonymous guy is even jealous of Jinwoo.
(Anonymous 1): No, this isn’t jealousy. Hey, where do you live? Let’s fight once.

Reading the chat while holding Byeol made me laugh again. I banned Anonymous 1’s chat to calm him down, but he just couldn’t help but fight back.

I didn’t smile much before. So I want to laugh a lot for the rest of my life. I want to give Byeol lots of love. As you know, I grew up without parents, so I want to give Byeol the love I never got and show her the smiles I never saw.

(Anonymous 1): ……

(God of Rain and Sunlight): Anonymous just went to sob. This is 100%. If you deny it, I’m right.

*****

Anonymous 1 was crying on his star. Sitting on his great sword, tears fell down his cheeks. It had been a long time since pure tears had fallen onto the bloodstained great sword.

Picking a fight with Jinwoo via chat was just a common prank. You can tell a little about a person’s heart from their unconscious expressions. Jinwoo’s usual expression was very stern, shadow-like.

Anonymous 1’s joy was seeing Jinwoo smile or laugh while looking at Byeol, so he played his prank again.

Trying to make Jinwoo smile more.

But Jinwoo’s serious response caught him off guard. It was a joke, but Jinwoo spoke casually about his family history, making him feel sorry and heavy-hearted.

“Damn, who’s going to die? Then who will watch my stream?”

Anonymous 1 mumbled, sitting on the huge great sword. He posted a request for elixirs again on the Seongjwa community and checked his vault.

‘I’ll have to donate about 300 coins.’

He planned to gift 300 coins as an apology. Watching Jinwoo’s stream day and night, he even memorized how many coins Jinwoo had.

‘Jinwoo has about 1,200 coins now. I’ll make it 1,500 coins.’

As a Seongjwa, he had no real use for coins, so he’d just accumulated them. Apparently, this was the time to spend them. Even known as the continent’s biggest miser in his human life, he donated coins.

*****

[Seongjwa Anonymous 1 has donated 300 coins!]

Since I was already in Yangpyeong, I was strolling around with Byeol, planning to tour the area. After a simple meal in Yangpyeong, we went for a walk in Seohuri Forest, another course Su-yeon had recommended.

I bought coffee for myself and a strawberry smoothie for Byeol at a café and walked through the forest.

Pets were allowed here, so Baekgu could freely reveal his spirit form as we walked.

There was a small waterfall and a tunnel made of forest, and the wide view of birch trees was pleasant.

“Ma, tasty!”

Byeol was naturally absorbing the forest’s energy while drinking her strawberry smoothie, smiling broadly with all her facial muscles. We were walking comfortably through the forest when suddenly, a usually quiet Anonymous 1 sent a donation.

(Anonymous 1): Sorry if my earlier prank upset you.

Anonymous 1 was quick to apologize when needed. I nodded as if I liked that about him.

“I wasn’t upset at all. It’s fine.”

After spending some time with the Seongjwas, I could get a sense of their personalities. The sure thing was that Anonymous 1, contrary to his appearance, was somewhat tender. I’m sure he had suffered a lot alone.

Trying to lighten his mood, I spoke.

“I hear there are quite a few gates in Yangpyeong. Shall we visit one before dinner?”

Anonymous 1 was the Seongjwa who enjoyed hunting the most. He especially liked teaching, so he was probably already imagining giving me lessons and laughing about it.

(Endless Waiting): Sounds fun. Jinwoo, you’re a swordsman, right?
(Anonymous 1): Hehehe, if you want to learn from me, then let’s do it. Alright!

Simple as ever. I smiled contentedly, held Byeol’s hand, and walked out of the forest. We’d seen everything we wanted to see. We planned to look at the small waterfall nearby once more before leaving. Baekgu followed closely behind, barking happily as if showing how much he enjoyed it.

The waterfall was modest but stood out among the dense forest beautifully. The sound of the rushing water was pleasant, and just listening to it felt refreshing. Baekgu seemed to respond to the waterfall’s sound, wagging his tail harder and spraying water.

“Baekgu, be careful using your power around many people, okay?”

There’s no problem with spirit tamers walking around with spirits, but it’s an issue if spirits use their powers where many civilians are. After explaining this to Baekgu, we left the forest.

“Strawberry, again!”

Addicted to the taste of the smoothie, Byeol pointed to the café and shouted for another. I gave her one more smoothie with a look that said I could buy her a hundred more.

“Hehe, thanks!”

Her vocabulary was improving rapidly. I patted Byeol’s head and got into the car. After getting permission to go hunt gates with Byeol and Baekgu, we headed to a gate.

As soon as we arrived, a familiar face appeared.

“… Anyone want to hunt with me?”

A hunter with a goofy face, as if performing a penalty, was shouting in the middle of the gate. His gear looked expensive even at a glance, but his awkward face and shy gestures stood out between the equipment.

Curiosity sparked.
Like spellbound, I approached him with Byeol and Baekgu.