Chapter 6
The moment Dubu, who had been lying in front of the gate, saw me, he jumped up and barked loudly.
How in the world did he find his way here?
I pushed that question aside. Looking at Dubu again, he was just as cute as ever.
“No, no. Don’t get so happy.”
Hmph. Our relationship is already over.
You’re the one who abandoned me.
I deliberately ignored Dubu and walked into the house.
Of course, I left the front gate wide open.
“I didn’t leave it open on purpose. Come in if you want. If not, don’t.”
But unlike my words, I stood in the yard, secretly glancing toward the gate.
Dubu stretched one paw past the gate, then quickly pulled it back, hesitating.
He really was an expert at playing with people’s feelings.
But I wasn’t going to let him have his way.
I quickly went to the vegetable garden and picked a few cucumbers.
“Hehe. Let’s see if you can resist these.”
I crouched down a few steps away and waved the cucumbers.
Trying to lure a dog with cucumbers instead of dog food or treats?
Anyone watching would think I was crazy.
But I was confident.
“I didn’t have many human friends in that world, but I had plenty of animal friends.”
Divine power was no different from concentrated natural energy.
It was a kind of life force.
Animals instinctively knew that eating it made their bodies stronger.
Whenever a spiritual herb filled with massive natural energy appeared, both humans and animals rushed toward it without hesitation.
“Dubu, want a bite?”
The moment I held out the cucumber, Dubu’s tail started wagging like crazy.
His caution disappeared without a trace.
He dashed through the gate.
He came charging toward me as if he was going to bite not only the cucumber but my fingers as well.
Thankfully, my fingers survived.
Meanwhile, I quietly ordered the Children of the Earth to close the gate.
Dubu devoured the cucumber in an instant, then looked up at me with sparkling eyes, clearly asking for more.
“Was it that delicious? Want another one?”
Smiling, I handed him several more cucumbers.
His tail flapped happily as he crunched through them.
“Haha, you little guy.”
Crunch.
Crunch, crunch.
“You really like them.”
Munch, munch.
“…You’re eating way too much.”
After eating more than half the cucumbers, Dubu’s belly had become completely round.
He looked so stuffed that it wouldn’t have been strange if he started rolling instead of walking.
Satisfied, he even flopped onto his side.
“Haha. Was it really that good?”
I gently rubbed his plump belly.
He let out a contented purring sound.
“Just how many cucumbers fit inside this tiny stomach? And all that divine power too…”
Suddenly, something felt strange.
The divine power inside crops normally disappeared the moment it was absorbed as nutrients.
But inside Dubu’s body—
the divine power was gathering in one place and accumulating, as if it had a will of its own.
“No… why is this happening?”
It was hard to believe what I was seeing.
Divine power was something only those chosen by a god could possess.
My sister and my nieces had eaten cucumbers filled with divine power too, but none of it accumulated inside them.
Until now, I had never seen a living creature separate divine power from food and store it inside its body the way Dubu was doing.
“…What exactly are you?”
It was completely exhausted.
It had run nonstop over a great distance.
It searched for a new place to settle and even asked acquaintances for help.
But everyone was in the same situation.
There was nowhere left where the child could be raised.
Its worries only grew deeper.
Even so, it hurried back to the child.
It couldn’t afford to show its exhaustion.
“…?”
When it arrived at the small cave,
it could no longer sense the child’s presence.
In an instant, its face turned pale.
It rushed into the cave,
then came back outside and frantically searched the surroundings.
The child was gone.
Its entire world had disappeared.
After desperately following every trace, it finally discovered a single clue.
Then it began running down the mountain.
Its four-legged body gradually became two-legged.
Its fur turned into long flowing hair.
Its hands and feet became slender.
Its body grew much weaker,
but instinct told it that this form was the best choice for now.
Panting heavily,
it raced down the mountain path.
Toward where the child had gone.
Toward where the child’s scent lingered.
Toward the village where humans lived.
“Choco! Paw!”
Jia held out her hand in front of Dubu, pleading with him.
That’s not a hand. It’s a paw.
“Uncle! Strawberry’s tail is wagging so much! Does it hurt?”
Jiwoo looked worried that wagging so hard might be painful.
No, he’s wagging it because he’s happy.
More importantly…
“It’s not Choco or Strawberry. His name is Dubu.”
I had no words for my nieces’ naming sense.
Why were all the names food?
Then my sister joined in.
“I think Peanut is even cuter.”
Must run in the family.
It’s not Choco, Strawberry, or Peanut.
His name is Dubu.
“Dubu.”
“By the way, where did this puppy come from?”
“I don’t know either. When I came back from the village hall, he was lying in front of the gate.”
“Oh, really?”
She kept looking at Dubu with curiosity.
“But… is it really okay for us to keep him?”
I had expected Jia and Jiwoo to love Dubu.
Still, if my sister objected, there was nothing I could do.
She was the head of this household.
Seeing the concern on my face, she set down her chopsticks and answered casually.
“I don’t mind having a pet. Peanut is cute, and the kids like him this much.”
“It’s Dubu, not Peanut.”
“I’ve always wanted to raise a dog, but we never had the chance. Neither of us did.”
“Well… that’s true.”
My sister and I had loved animals since we were children.
But we couldn’t keep any at the orphanage.
Even after leaving, we lived in a tiny one-room apartment.
There simply wasn’t any way.
Even after settling in Cheongun Village, we’d been too busy to think about it.
“More than anything, it’s better than leaving Jia and Jiwoo alone all the time.”
I was here too.
But I would be getting busier from now on, so I’d naturally spend less time with the kids.
If they had at least one little friend to stay by their side,
maybe they wouldn’t feel so lonely.
“The kids already love him this much. How could I possibly say no? You planned this on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Ahem. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She was exactly right.
If I could just let the kids meet Dubu,
that was basically half the battle.
Avoiding my sister’s sharp gaze, I secretly watched her instead.
My sister isn’t storing divine power either.
Even after eating the thinly sliced cucumbers,
the divine power inside them was simply absorbed and spread through her body as nutrients before disappearing.
But that little guy…
I looked over at Dubu, who was playing with Jia and Jiwoo.
The light of divine power, invisible to everyone else, was perfectly clear to my eyes.
No…
Could that really still be divine power?
The color of the divine power has changed.
It was as if the divine power inside him was being transformed for another purpose.
Normally, divine power had no color.
It was simply pure white light.
But the divine power inside Dubu had become a soft green.
Like the fresh color of spring grass.
I could almost smell the refreshing scent of nature.
…Could it be that he isn’t actually a dog?
That thought crossed my mind.
“So why are you suddenly fixing the greenhouse?”
My sister’s question snapped me back to reality.
“It looks terrible. And I want to help with the farming.”
“What? You?”
“Yeah. This year’s harvest is basically ruined anyway. I thought maybe we should consider growing different crops.”
This year’s harvest had been completely destroyed by the typhoon.
Which meant it was already time to think about what to plant next year.
There was nothing wrong with continuing to grow cherry tomatoes,
but it wouldn’t hurt to consider other crops too.
How much divine power should I put into crops for people to actually benefit?
Would it improve the taste? Their health? Or something else entirely?
How much divine power should each crop contain?
What kind of soil should I use?
How should I grow them for the best results?
My divine power wasn’t unlimited.
At some point, I might even need other people’s help.
I had to consider every possibility and find the best method.
“You can just find a different job instead.”
My sister let out a small sigh.
But I didn’t answer.
She had always hoped I’d find a respectable job instead of becoming a farmer.
A respectable job…
Personally, I thought helping my sister while living with my nieces was already more than respectable.
In any case, she knew she couldn’t change my mind.
Maybe because of everything that had happened recently,
she didn’t continue arguing.
“Anyway, starting tomorrow…”
Bark! Bark!
“I’ll help clear out the greenhouse…”
Bark! Bark! Bark!
“I’ll hel—”
Whine…
“…What’s wrong with Dubu?”
Dubu, who had been happily playing, suddenly struggled to escape from Jia’s arms.
“Maybe he wants to go outside?”
“Maybe.”
Since he’d been a stray, staying indoors might have felt suffocating.
The moment he wriggled free, he ran straight to the living room window.
Then he scratched at the glass frantically with his tiny paws.
“Well, I guess it’s fine if he runs around in the yard.”
“Yay! Uncle! I want to run with Choco too!”
“I want to play tag with Strawberry!”
“Alright, alright. Let’s all play tag with Dubu.”
This was one of the best things about having a house with a yard.
I picked up Dubu and walked outside with the kids.
The moment I gently set him down,
he dashed toward the vegetable garden as if his life depended on it.
Little guy, there’s nothing left there for you to eat.
I leisurely followed behind Jia and Jiwoo as they chased after him.
Then—
“U-Uncle!”
“Waaah! U-Uncle!”
The two children burst into tears and ran back toward me.
Did something happen to Dubu?
Jiwoo clung tightly to my leg, trembling.
Jia pointed beyond the wall with a shaking finger.
“A ghost! O-Over there… a ghost!”
“A ghost?”
Confused, I turned my head.
“Our baby… give… our baby… back.”
A woman with long black hair hanging loosely around her face stared at me with hollow eyes as she muttered those words.
…Since when were there ghosts around here?
