62. Druid
In childhood, have you ever heard the tale of squirrels hiding acorns in their nests?
The inhabitants of the squirrel tree make food storage warehouses in tree holes, stone walls, and underground burrows.
Hamsters do something similar.
They fill their mouths with sunflower seeds, transport them, and store them in their nests.
The commonality between these two species is that they belong to the rodent family, and their lifestyles and characteristics are quite similar.
Therefore, their nests are always filled with their treasures, nuts.
But why was that?
One who was quietly observing Muamua.
He suddenly realized that there were corners quite similar to squirrels and hamsters.
In fantasy novels and mythical stories, there always exists something called a dragon’s lair.
The existence of dragons implies the existence of their dwellings, making it a very common and universal theme.
It is the dragon’s nest, a safe haven where they can finally relax and fall asleep.
Here, what is commonly referred to as the dragon’s treasure is said to be buried in an endless amount of gold and precious gems beyond imagination.
And now.
Today, Muamua finally managed to acquire his own dragon’s lair.
“hahahahaha!”
Was he so delighted to have his own space?
This young dragon, without any furniture, rolled around on the bare floor.
Since mushrooms were such soft organisms, every time he patted the floor with his small feet, it bounced.
“I finally have my own lair! Mother, are you watching? Even this Muamua finally has a lair!”
After a while of joy and admiration, Muamua finally calmed down and lay on the floor.
“Oh no! Not at a time like this.”
The fellow who suddenly got up from his seat ran off somewhere.
What was he up to?
Han quietly watched his actions.
“Ah!”
Not long after, he returned with a sack of potatoes.
The fellow, with no apparent difficulty, carried the 100kg sack with his small body.
He cleared away the mat that was in the middle of his room.
Seeing that, Han couldn’t believe his eyes.
“What is that now?”
It was a secret space.
And quite a spacious one at that.
“Muamua, when did you dig a hole there?”
Whether Muamua was aware that Han was watching or not, he piled up potatoes in the secret space below and covered it with the mat.
He was hiding food.
“…Phew.”
That’s right.
Around that time, Han recalled.
Do you remember the squirrel or hamster nests you heard about when you were young?
They used to say they secretly hide food in their burrows.
Could this little one be part of that group?
After observing its behavior for a while, Han asked, “System, could the treasure mentioned in stories about dragons mainly storing it in their nests mean something like that?”
[……]
For a while, the system remained silent.
Perhaps it was at a loss as well.
[Originally, the treasure of dragons literally refers to gold and silver coins.]
“But why is Mwamwa acting like that?”
[Here on the planet Frey, even the mighty dragons who have completed their growth struggle to survive due to the harsh and cold environment. Therefore, the value here does not lie in things that do not aid in survival, but rather focuses on food. It seems that the nature of this young dragon has been somewhat distorted, so that precious treasure is directly equated with food.]
“……”
Is that so?
It seems that the dragons here are facing a realistic situation, explaining their behavior.
It made sense.
After that, Han quietly observed its actions.
“Uh. Uhh.”
Mwamwa, who had hidden food.
Occasionally, unable to resist the impulse, it would frequently check under the bedding.
Sometimes, it would move aside the bedding to make sure the potatoes were still there.
But unable to resist any longer, it would slyly take out a potato hidden in a corner and eat it.
And so it began.
Not content with just one, it took out two more to eat.
Two became three, and three became four in no time.
Before long, the stored potatoes were running out.
“……”
***
It was a quiet afternoon when everyone else was at work.
Han went out to a nearby park for the first time in a while.
There was a reason to go out and get some fresh air, even if it was a conscious effort.
It had been a while since Han had been cooped up at home.
On a nice, warm afternoon.
Sitting on a bench, Han absentmindedly gazed up.
On a tree branch.
There was a wasp nest up there.
It didn’t seem very big, perhaps still under construction, as the hive was not that large.
Several wasps buzzed around.
“……”
Han simply watched the scene in silence.
One, two, three, four.
They were all four of them.
Sitting blankly, gazing at them, a yawn suddenly escaped.
Feeling sluggish, he didn’t want to move at all.
“Oh, a bee.”
As he lowered his head at the sound, a young child was also looking up in the same direction.
The little one who was sucking on a lollipop spoke to him.
“Hyung, it’s a beehive.”
“Really. Looks like they’re building a house.”
“Is that a hornet? They say you can die if you get stung by it.”
“Yeah. It’s a hornet. They say sometimes even people die if they get stung.”
What was it about those words that he found appealing?
Suddenly, the mischievous little one grinned broadly.
“…?”
Curious, he lowered his head, only to have the little rascal suddenly shout out.
“Mom! Look, it’s a hornet! A hornet!”
“Ahh! It’s dangerous, Chul-su!”
A woman who seemed to be their mother screamed in panic.
Perhaps it was because their combined sounds created strong vibrations in the air.
Soon, the previously calm group of hornets started buzzing louder and moving more aggressively.
It seemed they were definitely influenced by the commotion.
The boy who had caused this commotion was already running far away.
Han, on the other hand, remained seated on the bench.
“Hey, student! It’s dangerous!”
A nearby man on an exercise machine warned him, but Han showed no change in attitude.
He simply continued to gaze at the beehive.
It had always been like that.
While others feared the beehive, in reality, Han had never been harmed by a bee.
Strangely, it felt like they avoided him.
Thus, while bees were a source of fear for others, to Han, they didn’t seem particularly threatening.
Just like butterflies or bees, they all felt the same to him.
Thud.
Finally, a bee landed on his face.
Han blinked.
From up close, the bee and he locked eyes.
“Oh. It landed.”
“Ahhh!”
“Student! Bee! A bee landed on you!”
Those watching nearby, overwhelmed with fear, screamed in terror.
The mischievous little boy was also taken aback this time.
“Hey, mister! It’s dangerous!”
It was something that made him wonder if it was really that surprising.
Han quietly flicked the boy away and sent him flying into the air.
“Goodbye. Don’t shoot at people.”
He casually returned home.
People looked at him with bewildered eyes.
The sun alone, shining, gives a feeling of becoming healthier.
A brief outing injected more vitality into Han than he had thought.
It seemed like he should step out whenever he had the chance.
Returning home, he found the elves still bustling around.
Moamoa was there too, helping by pulling potato stems.
It seemed like farming would continue for a while.
Han turned on YouTube.
A trending video with 700,000 views caught his attention.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
Curious, Han’s eyes widened as he looked at the thumbnail.
The place, he knew it well.
It was none other than the park Han had visited just a while ago.
[Shocking! Witnessed a modern version of a druid.]
[Views: 720,000. 11 days ago.]
…A druid.
From Noble mtl dot com
Could it be referring to an awakened being?
Seems like something happened in the park in my old neighborhood.
Curious, he clicked on it.
The video started playing.
[When you watch this video, all the animals around are solely focused on one man. Surprisingly, not a single animal is moving. About this frozen scene where-]
There was a man sitting on a bench in the video.
However, due to mosaic treatment, he couldn’t be distinguished properly.
For what reason.
Birds perched on wires, dogs out for a walk, pet cats around, all were looking at the man on the bench.
“Wow.”
Han admired the sight.
“He really seems like a druid-type awakened being.”
It was certainly a bizarre scene.
But were druids originally this popular with all animals?
Usually, druids were more like those followed by a few animals, giving off an unfriendly vibe.
“…Huh.”
After watching the video for a while, he suddenly noticed something strange.
The way this man is dressed, it seems oddly familiar.
It was an outfit that seemed like one seen somewhere before.
Soon, Han’s expression subtly changed as if he had witnessed something strange.
“No. It’s not just a familiar outfit, it’s mine, isn’t it?”
…Indeed.
The protagonist in the blurred image, was none other than Han himself.
The reason he couldn’t recognize himself in the video was due to the heavy blur.
He immediately began typing a comment.
[“Excuse me. It’s not okay to film and upload videos of others without-“]
He paused after typing up to that point.
Wait.
Was it actually stolen in the first place?
‘Although it’s heavily blurred. Seeing that the entire body was intentionally blurred, it seems like attention was paid.’
While the video was indeed recorded, it was a situation where it was ambiguous to pinpoint the tail end.
Since it was heavily obscured by the blur, even Han himself only realized it was him after almost finishing watching the video, was there really a need to say more?
Han’s gaze shifted down to the comment section.
[“Wow. Is this person really a druid awakening in the nature class?”]
[“Insane. Feels like all the animals in the world would follow him ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”]
At a glance, the comments were all about Han in the video.
[“Amazing. Is he riding bears when he goes to dungeons? ㅋㅋㅋ”]
[“Nope. Druids generally have abilities limited to one or two types of animals. They don’t just blindly follow any random animals.”]
[“What? So he’s not a druid then?”]
[“That’s unknown. It could be awakening as a high-grade druid. Or awakening to a different ability.”]
[“In the end, he was just blabbering without really knowing ㅋㅋㅋㅋ”]
A smile crept up on Han’s lips as he read the comments.
This was entertaining.
Yeah. Let’s just leave it be.
No one would believe it even if I claimed to be the protagonist of this video in the first place.
Han saved the video link.
He might need to come back later to check the comments and reactions.
After browsing through the comments for a while, Han soon got up from his seat.
He opened the door of the closed refrigerator.