167 – Naughty Girl # 3

167 – Naughty Girl # 3

My daily routine as President Ha Namjin was rather unique.

To put it simply, it began each morning with a search for Ingingi.

Finding Ingingi wasn’t too difficult; one simply had to head towards the refrigerator.

━Inging ya ing.

Squirming, wriggling-.

“This critter’s quite something. Gobbling up kimchi like there’s no tomorrow.”

“Here, try some dried radish, too.”

The presidential residence had a massive refrigerator filled with groceries, managed by a small team of staff.

They were feeding Ingingi kimchi and salted seafood, much like those old aunties who’d thrust kimchi upon foreigners the moment they met them.

Of course, Ingingi wasn’t a picky eater, happily devouring anything offered. If left unchecked, the entire contents of the refrigerator would vanish into Ingingi’s belly.

That’s why the first thing I did each morning was find Ingingi.

“Ingingi, stop eating and come here. And Aunties, please stop feeding him so much.”

“Well, it’s just that it’s amazing to see such a strange creature enjoying kimchi so much….”

“I tell you, it’s remarkable. Its ancestors must have been Korean.”

I lifted Ingingi.

A heavy, squishy-.

In just these few days, my body had thickened quite a bit, and my weight had increased.

He’s probably the only one getting fat in this ruined world.

Anyway, I retrieved Ingging and came out of the official residence.

Inside one of the tents, a cabinet meeting was underway, something about how a certain nuclear power plant was dangerous, or how there were many spies from the neighboring country…

Frankly, they weren’t pleasant topics, so I didn’t really want to hear them.

So, instead of attending the cabinet meeting, I decided to participate in the fairy council.

What is the fairy council, you ask?

It was a mysterious and wondrous meeting, only open to fairies.

“This Baonoi asks that you look at the bottle caps I have collected…! This Baonoi has helped people with recycling and gathered so many bottle caps…! Truly, I am the prime nymph, the prime fairy…!”

Nymph Baonoi showed off the bottle caps she had collected in an old bag. Then, Inonoi held up a transparent glass fishbowl filled with bottle caps.

“This Inonoi massaged the shoulders of grandmothers and grandfathers, helped them find their way, and collected a whole bunch of bottle caps, too…! This Inonoi has collected more bottle caps…!”

Baonoi and Inonoi clamored about who had more bottle caps.

The reason they were competing over the amount of bottle caps was as follows.

“Indeed, it is right that this prime fairy, this Baonoi, should remain on this land…! Cowardly nymph Inonoi should go to the moon, just like when she abandoned Baonoi…!”

“This Inonoi, who survived alone in the Great Labyrinth, is the one most suitable for remaining on this land to cultivate flowers and crops…! Baonoi should go to the moon…!”

The nymphs seemed to think that now that people were heading to the moon, someone had to stay on Earth and cultivate the environment.

And each of them insisted that it should be them.

It was truly a never-ending fight.

“As expected, you can’t reason with a wild fairy…! In that case, let’s decide the prime nymph by skill…! Nymph-Secret-Technique: Madly Pummeling…!”

“This Inonoi can’t talk to the stubborn forest fairy either! Nymph-Secret-Technique: Madly Pummeling…!”

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-.

A situation even arose where they were frantically punching each other.

Of course, as always, their skills were evenly matched, so none of the punches were supposed to land—but.

For some reason, Inonoi seemed to be losing strength…

Eventually, Baonoi’s punches rained down on Inonoi.

Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-.

“Hiee-ek…!”

Inonoi let out a pitiful scream as she was pummeled by countless punches.

“Hiee-eee-ek…!!!”

It might seem like there was no problem being hit by punches that looked like cotton puffs.

The nymphs’ secret art, “Fierce Beatdown,” was a technique specializing in striking the inner self, rather than just the body, like my own “True Punch.”

Thus, even one blow could prove fatal.

Having been pummeled by such a technique, Inonoi could only collapse in a heap.

Was this, then, the end of the long, long battle between the nymphs, with Baonoi the victor?

“…!”

Yet, Baonoi, who had unleashed the Fierce Beatdown upon Inonoi, wore a look of utter shock. In some ways, Baonoi appeared even more bewildered than the one who’d been struck.

But that was only for a moment.

“Why, oh why, did that foolish Inonoi loosen her grip…?! That’s why she ends up getting beat down like that…! A frail Inonoi like her has no place remaining on this star…!”

Baonoi presented all the bottle caps she had diligently collected to Inonoi.

“Take these and return to the moon…! For Baonoi, who will remain on this earth, bottle caps are no longer of any use…”

Whoosh-!

Baonoi dashed off somewhere.

I looked at Inonoi, sprawled on the ground.

“Frustration, it is…!”

Inonoi seemed immensely frustrated by this defeat.

But that was only for a moment.

Inonoi began to sob softly.

“Baonoi is a lonely nymph who cannot bear solitude… if she stays on this Earth, she will surely be saddened by the loneliness, it is! It would be better if this Inonoi remains, it is….”

Indeed, Inonoi seemed to wish to stay on this planet for Baonoi’s sake.

In truth, Baonoi likely intended to stay for a similar reason.

Having watched them for several days, it was clear these two, though they bickered like sworn enemies, were, in fact, the dearest and most caring of friends.

Yoo Yeoreum, who had been observing the scene, asked,

“Then why can’t they just stay together? There’s no need for close friends to be separated. If they’re together, surely the hardships will be halved.”

“This Inonoi does not wish for Baonoi to endure any more agonizing experiences, it is…! Staying together is not possible, it is…! This Inonoi wants Baonoi to go to the moon, without fail, it is…!”

There was truly no room for compromise.

In the end, Yoo Yeoreum also ceased trying to persuade the nymphs.

Then, she approached me and cautiously inquired,

“Is it true that some people have to stay on Earth? Rumor has it that they’ll primarily keep Awakened ones who received resources. Hanamjin, there’s even talk that you’ll be staying behind too.”

I was vaguely aware that such rumors were circulating.

Where in the world does such rumor even originate?

“No, I’m going to the moon, you see? There’s a way for everyone to leave Earth behind. But I can’t tell anyone about the method. If the information leaks, who knows what kind of interference there’ll be.”

Gu Sejun and Dang Dalgi.

As long as those two dissidents were still operating on this soil, he couldn’t carelessly divulge information.

Of course, Yoo Yeoreum pouted.

“You can’t even tell *me*?”

“That’s right.”

“Even if I beg and plead? I’ll give you a kiss if you tell me.”

“No way.”

Perhaps she sensed the man’s unwavering resolve?

Yoo Yeoreum didn’t ask further, only smacked her lips.

“Keongkeong-ah, let’s head out, shall we?”

Yoo Yeoreum stretched out her hand.

The sightless chipmunk, twitching its nose this way and that, sniffing the air, soon scurried—zooruru—onto Yoo Yeoreum’s palm.

So, *that* fellow’s name was Keongkeong as well, it seemed.

Bangdaengyi’s spider was named Keongkeong.

The chipmunk was named Keongkeong.

This is all so confusing.

# # #

I returned home after a long absence.

The yard, neglected for so long, was now littered with the dried-up, withered sprouts that had barely managed to emerge, killed off by pollution.

Baonoi, who had followed me, lamented.

“The sprouts we worked so hard to grow have all perished… We, Baonoi and Inonoi, cultivated them with such hope of blooming flowers…”

Baonoi began to dig into the soil once more.

At that moment, something flew towards Baonoi.

*Pshoo-*! *Phat-*!

“That was a near miss.”

It was a crossbow arrow, or perhaps what one might call a bolt.

If I hadn’t caught it with my hand, Baonoi would have been seriously injured.

Who could have shot something like this?

I lifted my gaze. Someone was standing on the roof of my house.

“Hanamjin, hand over the nymph if you don’t want to get hurt.”

*Was it* a human after Baonoi?

Likely a member of the terrorist group “Genesis Scripture,” it seemed.

“Who *might* you be? This is trespassing.”

“I am Jang Dojin, a concept hunter with the concept of ‘Accuracy.’ Once I set my sights on prey, I will catch it by any means necessary. This time, that nymph is my quarry.”

“Wh-what the nymph…! Why *ever* would a hunter be after that Baonoi…?”

“You should know better than anyone. We discovered and deciphered an ancient manuscript in the Great Labyrinth. And we learned about the nymphs’ ‘Secret Technique’ that was written there.”

The nymphs’ Secret Technique.

Nymphs knew how to use special skills like “Nymph Secret Technique, Beat Them Senseless.”

One could consider it a unique nymph skill.

“We read about a very long and massive war that occurred between the Forest Nymphs and the Field Nymphs. The war between the forest and the field, which lasted nearly a hundred years, had ended in a single day thanks to the nymphs’ Secret Technique, or so it goes?”

The Forest Nymphs and the Field Nymphs didn’t get along.

Perhaps like Baonoi and Inonoi.

Looks like nymphs had regional rivalries too.

A Secret Technique that ended a war like that in a single day.

It must have been a powerful skill indeed, one that could hold the force of war.

And these terrorists were after it.

“That Secret Technique is nothing more than a fairy tale that even this Baonoi heard in childhood, *ja*! I have no idea what it is…! So targeting this Baonoi is all for naught, *ja*…!”

“It can’t be helped, even if you say so. I am simply fulfilling my role. Perhaps the other one is too. If we capture you and take you away for research, something is bound to turn up, no?”

*Aish*.

Who knew terrorists from Genesis Scripture would suddenly start targeting the nymphs.

From the looks of it, Inonoi also had a hunter and tracker attached to *her*.

“Namjin *boi*…! Inonoi is in danger, *ja*…! Inonoi is such a foolish nymph that she can’t even evade this Baonoi’s attacks, so she might have been caught by a pursuer, *ja*…!”

I recalled the time Baonoi and Inonoi furiously exchanged punches, and Inonoi was eventually overpowered and beaten senseless.

Certainly, Inonoi wasn’t in good shape right now.

If a pursuer targeted Inonoi, things could get dangerous in several ways.

# # #

*Ppangdaengi* headed towards the reed field.

Because the wolf spider *Keongkeongyi* led *Ppangdaengi* to the reed field.

━Woof woof…!

Kkeong Kkeong-i, the wolf spider, abruptly pounced on something in the reed field.

“Hieeek…!”

The pounced-upon target let out a bizarre shriek.

Bbangdaengi hurried over, and saw a peculiar young girl pinned beneath Kkeong Kkeong-i, the wolf spider, squirming.

Bbangdaengi recognized the face.

“You’re Inonoi, right? Mibbang’s friend! Fairy Nymph!”

Why had Kkeong Kkeong-i found Inonoi?

He had definitely asked Kkeong Kkeong-i to track down Dangdalgi’s scent.

It was at that very moment.

Swish swish swish-.

As if struck by a sudden apocalypse, the autumn reed field began to turn purple and rot.

The symptoms of a *godok* poison, corrupting all things.

“Baek Yeoul, to meet in a place like this, our connection is truly tenacious. But sadly, the one I’m after this time isn’t you, but the fairy over there. I advise you to get lost while you still can!”

Dangdalgi, clad in a martial arts suit, appeared in the rotting reed field.

It seemed Dangdalgi was after the fairy, Inonoi.

Baek Yeoul decided that she couldn’t let Dangdalgi run rampant.

“Dangdalgi! Let’s end our ties for good today!”

“Are you sure you can? My suit contains all the martial arts and *gongfu* of four thousand years of Chinese history. Meaning your clumsy attacks won’t work.”

“Is that so!”

Lowering her upper body and placing both palms on the ground, Baek Yeoul assumed a stance like a four-legged beast.

Dangdalgi scoffed at the sight of Baek Yeoul.

“And what’s that supposed to be?”

“Can’t you tell? It’s the cutest, strongest, and prettiest *gongfu* there is! Baek Yeoul *Gongfu*!”