Chapter 29: The Guardian of Jirisan

When I ran out into the yard after hearing Sunduk’s cries, the place was swarming with monsters.

It seemed that while Han-jun had been tearing up the mountain looking for me, he had stirred them all up and driven them down into the village.

From creatures as small as Sunduk to ones twice the size of a human—dozens of monsters roamed the quiet mountain village, searching for food.

There had been thudding sounds everywhere, yet I hadn’t noticed a thing.

Just how focused had I been not to realize things had turned into this mess outside…

Among them, one monster with a round body and long, centipede-like legs had grabbed Sunduk and was trying to flee.

It ran swiftly on six legs and was just about to swallow her whole.

It had wrapped her tightly in sticky web-like fluid, immobilizing her, and was about to shove her into its scissor-shaped mouth.

“Sunduk!!”

Fortunately, Han-jun rushed ahead of me and cleanly severed the monster’s head just as it tried to swallow her.

The greedily gaping head rolled across the ground after being sliced off.

I hurried over and caught Sunduk as she fell free from the creature’s legs, making sure she wasn’t hurt.

“Whine… whine….”

She whimpered in shock, her white fur covered in the monster’s sticky slime.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re safe now.”

I quickly brought her to the faucet outside the house and washed off the slime clinging to her fur.

While I was doing that, Han-jun was breaking into a sweat dealing with the monsters flooding the village.

With so many large and small creatures, it was a dangerous situation—there was no telling from where or what kind of attack might come next.

Winged monsters swooped down at terrifying speeds, and just watching made my heart drop.

Han-jun lifted pebbles scattered nearby and fired them like bullets at the flying monsters.

Those that charged forward relying only on their massive size were sliced clean in half with a swing of his arm.

Thanks to years of training, his reflexes were far beyond ordinary.

“Jun, behind you! Behind!!”

The moment I warned him about a monster attacking from behind, he struck without even turning to look.

It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head.

While Han-jun fought off the monsters one against a hundred, one of them targeted me—the idiot just standing there holding Sunduk.

“Uoor?”

A drooling, rock-like monster grabbed my leg and lifted me upside down.

I was hoisted high, staring directly into its face as it tilted its head at me.

Its tiny pinhole eyes suggested poor vision, so it brought me right up to its face, examining me carefully.

As if checking whether I was edible.

The stench was horrible.

Smelling like rotten mud, the creature decided I was food and opened its foul mouth, drool dripping.

I screamed again.

“Jun!! Me!! It’s me this time!!”

I’m going to die!

“Ahhh!! Sunduk!!”

Grandpa, who had just come outside and witnessed the scene, started running toward us with his cane.

Grandpa, Sunduk’s in danger—but so am I!

“Grandpa, it’s dangerous! Stay back!!”

“You damned monster!!”

He ignored me completely and struck the rock-like monster’s thigh with his cane.

Why call it dog-like?

Sunduk’s done nothing wrong!

“Uoor?”

The monster looked down, as if the hit had merely tickled.

When it reached out to grab Grandpa too, I jabbed my finger straight into its knotted little eye.

Respect your elders, you bastard!

“Uoor!!”

Its body was as hard as stone, but the small eye turned out to be a weakness.

My finger sank in with a sickening squelch.

Inside felt like soft pudding—something wriggled, like maggots.

It was revolting.

The monster shook its head violently and flung me away.

I clutched Sunduk tight and shut my eyes as I flew in an arc—

Just before crashing into the neighbor’s roof, I suddenly stopped midair.

“Huh?”

I was floating.

Opening my eyes, I saw Han-jun below, arm raised.

He had caught me with his power.

My body slowly descended, landing neatly in his arms in a princess carry.

“The position is a bit….”

Thanks for saving me, but this is embarrassing.

“I told you to stay inside.”

Han-jun ground his teeth angrily.

He looked exhausted from fighting so many monsters.

His clothes were splattered with red, yellow, and blue monster fluids.

His breath came out hot and heavy.

Using so much power must strain his body.

Even so, he immediately checked me over for injuries.

I snapped back to my senses and shook his shoulder.

“This isn’t the time—Grandpa!”

Holding Sunduk, I ran back the way I’d been thrown.

I’d gouged the monster’s eye, but Grandpa was still in danger.

If he got caught—

“Huh?”

He should’ve been on his way to the afterlife… but… what?

“Grandpa Gil-deok?”

“Sunduk! Don’t you dare touch Sunduk, you damned monster!”

Grandpa was beating the rock monster into a pulp.

This made no sense.

How could that old man overpower such a huge brute?

With brutal strength, he smashed it relentlessly.

His cane snapped from the force, so he tossed it aside and continued barehanded.

Each punch dented the monster’s body inward.

It was a savage sight.

The creature couldn’t even die quickly due to its tough hide and suffered miserably.

“Looking down on an old man who lives at the foot of Jirisan?! My body’s been trained by a lifetime of hiking!”

Grandpa’s muscles bulged enormously, ripping through his clothes.

A terrifying display of muscle writhed beneath the torn fabric.

Was hiking really this powerful?

“Jun, what is that?”

“Did Grandpa get powers too?”

After finishing the monster barehanded, Grandpa took Sunduk from me.

Strangely bulked up, he looked solid and secure, and Sunduk nestled comfortably in his arms, mouth open as if smiling.

Sunduk, you’ll be fine now.

With a Grandpa like this, what’s there to worry about?

After clearing out the monsters that had invaded the village, we returned home refreshed.

“Grandpa, what is this? Why is your body like that?”

“I dunno. Do you?”

“I asked you first. It’s your body!”

As I stared at his body—like a professional bodybuilder’s—I suddenly asked,

“Have you ever seen a faint whitish light that makes your head spin just looking at it?”

“Light? What light?”

“Just light! Have you ever seen something glowing even though there’s no lamp?”

“Hmmm….”

Grandpa scratched his chin, thinking.

Then he clapped his hands and his eyes lit up.

“Ah! There was something like that at my wife’s grave!”

“At Grandma’s grave?”

“Yeah. It was glowing, and I thought someone had messed with her grave. I went closer, and before I could check, I passed out cold. Didn’t even feed Sunduk that day. I was unconscious in the mountains all day. That was the day I met you boys, right?”

That day Sunduk’s bowl had been empty.

He had encountered the energy at his wife’s grave.

And in a moment of crisis, the dormant power exploded.

“Maybe Grandma wanted you to live long and healthy.”

“What nonsense is that?”

I told him what little I knew—that some who were exposed to that white light gained abilities like his.

Grandpa’s eyes reddened, and he started cursing loudly.

“Damn that woman! Doesn’t she miss me? I was planning to go soon anyway!”

He slammed the floor angrily, then gradually calmed down.

“She doted on Sunduk even on her deathbed. Still pulling this nonsense from the afterlife. Must be telling me not to come until Sunduk goes peacefully. Well, what can I do? I’ll live until this little rascal does.”

Sunduk trotted in and nestled between his legs.

Grandpa patted her backside, grumbling.

“If it weren’t for you boys, I’d be in trouble in the afterlife. If this one had died, I’d have no face to show my wife. She wasn’t easy to deal with.”

He resolved to cherish Sunduk as Grandma once did.

Though lonely at the foot of Jirisan, Grandpa would live out his days simply but steadfastly.

The next day, we set out again.

With Grandpa now as strong as a monster, there was no need to worry anymore.

Han-jun agreed—seeing Grandpa’s physique, there was no way he’d lose to any monster.

And after last night’s massacre, the mountain would be safe for a while.

“Grandpa, we’re leaving!”

“Stay a few more days….”

“Oh come on, you’ve made us run too many errands. Take care of Sunduk! Stay healthy!”

Han-jun bowed politely.

Grandpa looked regretful seeing our packed belongings, but he didn’t try to stop us.

Was Grandpa Gil-deok now the guardian of Jirisan?

With that white hair, maybe he should grow a beard too.

A muscular, white-haired old man clearing monsters at the foot of Jirisan—

It sounds straight out of a martial arts novel.

Imagining Grandpa as the boss of Jirisan, I secretly grinned to myself.