I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 402: How Do I Look?

There were many things you could do with 20,000 won in our world - so many it was hard to count them all. At least hundreds of thousands of possibilities, maybe more. Among all these endless options, I'd chosen to throw money into thin air.

"I'm an idiot. I'm a moron."

Thump thump-

I banged my forehead against the floor from where I lay. I felt too pathetic to bear.

"No sad! No sad!"

"Shuin food no sad!"

Both Gaeuls stomped their feet beside me before sitting down. They slipped their tails between my head and the floor.

Puff puff-

Thanks to them, hitting my head felt soft. As I buried my face in their tails, Levinas poked my back.

"I threw 20,000 won into thin air..."

"Twenty thousand...!"

Levinas opened her horned rabbit eyes wide and started counting on her fingers. She folded all ten fingers, unfolded them, then folded and unfolded them again repeatedly.

Did she need time? While I waited patiently, Saebyeok stroked my head.

"Cheer up. Here, take these."

Saebyeok took dried anchovies from her pocket. She put not one but two in my mouth.

"Thanks. The anchovies are really tasty."

"Yeah. They're premium quality."

Munch munch-

Between Saebyeok's dried anchovies and the two Gaeuls' tails, having the children with me made me feel much better.

I pushed myself up off the floor. Levinas flashed a bright smile.

"King! Levinas just needs to collect a hundred or so empty bottles!"

"A hundred or so?"

"Yeah! I'll sell mushrooms and vegetables too and quickly get you 20,000 won! Just wait a bit!"

So that's what Levinas had been counting on her fingers. It made me so happy seeing the children try to help.

"No, I'll earn back the 20,000 won myself."

"Hmm... then should we each try to earn 10,000?"

"Ten thousand..."

As I was making plans with Levinas to earn back the money, Han Yeoreum, who'd been quietly watching us, came over and tapped my shoulder.

"Gyeoul, it hasn't even been a day since we bought the stocks?"

"Hmm..."

"Stocks are meant to be viewed long-term. Should we wait a bit longer?"

"Okay... but seeing the money disappear hurts so much..."

"Still, let's try to be patient. Building patience is also... oh?"

Han Yeoreum pointed at the smartphone in my hand. In that short time, the stocks had recovered somewhat - regaining 5,000 won.

"Oh! Five thousand won!"

I held out the phone to show Han Yeoreum. She smiled with her eyes and patted my head.

"See? This is why we wait for recovery. Shall we wait a bit longer?"

"Hmm..."

I could minimize losses by selling now. Maybe I should just sell?

'...No.'

Let's be patient and wait.

Nodding, I put away the stock app.

"Okay. I'll wait longer. Let's forget about this and play hide and seek."

"Hehe. Should we?"

I deliberately pushed thoughts of stocks from my mind. If I waited patiently, they would probably go up later.

I desperately hoped they would.

**

The next morning, it was time for the other world's Gaeul to leave. We were saying goodbye to her in the park.

"Gaeul, you have to come again, okay?"

"Heuk...!"

The backpack on the other Gaeul's back was stuffed full with gifts. Her legs trembled under the weight.

"Gaeul puppy, these are Levinas's favorite snacks - take them to share with your family."

"Snacks?!"

"Yeah!"

Levinas gave chocolate, Gaeul gave stones she'd picked up, and Saebyeok gave fish caught from the pond. I gave a photo of all of us together.

"Shuin bye-bye. Horned rabbit bye-bye. Pretty Shuin bye-bye. Gaeuri bye-bye. Bye-bye bye-bye!"

The other world's Gaeul waved to us. We waved back as she smiled brightly and went around the other side of the container.

"Gaeul?"

Why did she go that way? I belatedly followed after her, but she was nowhere to be seen. She must have crossed through a portal somewhere hidden.

"Hehe."

So Gaeul was gone. Though it was sad, she'd come to deliver news. We'd play properly next time she came over. Maybe we could even go visit them.

"I'm going to the dungeon now. There's something I want to test."

"Oh! Will you go with Levinas?"

"No, I'll be back quickly so wait at home."

The item the other world's Gaeul brought had merged with my bow. I needed to know what changes it had caused, so I decided to quickly visit a Level 1 dungeon and earn some money too.

"Okay! Got it!"

"Be safe."

After saying goodbye to the children, I headed toward the goblin dungeon. At the entrance, I met Mr. Kim Min-jun, the dungeon management civil servant.

"Gyeoul, it's been a while. Level 1 dungeon today?"

"Yes. I want to test a weapon."

"Alright, be careful."

"Okay."

After briefly greeting Mr. Kim, I walked toward the dungeon. As I slowly pushed my foot into the portal, something felt wrong.

'What's this?'

Something was strange. The sensation was so alien I turned around.

"Gyeoul?"

"The portal..."

Mr. Kim and several adventurers were staring at me with shocked eyes. Why were they looking at me like that?

As time seemed to slow, I looked around and realized - there was another portal rippling on the opposite side.

"Oh."

Come to think of it, the goblin dungeon was over there. What was this portal on my side?

No, more importantly, I'd already put my foot in.

"Ah!"

I closed my eyes as I felt the portal pulling me in. It seemed I'd accidentally entered a different dungeon that had appeared near the goblin dungeon.

**

Evelyn Carter was MS's chief researcher. Her job was studying beings, objects, or places with special abilities.

"Is it time?"

"Yes, it's coming soon."

"Haah..."

She sighed looking at the portal placed in the isolation chamber. The portal that tore through space and rippled was her assigned MS.

She had no idea how this portal existed or how to erase it. The only thing she knew was when it would spit out beings from another world.

[MS-132]

Known as the monster-spitting portal.

'I hope it spits out something weak this time.'

Hopefully not another toothed worm like last time. It had burrowed hundreds of meters underground through the research facility floor that even bunker busters couldn't penetrate.

Thirty staff members had died trying to recapture it.

'Please.'

Evelyn clasped her hands as if praying. At the same time, the portal began rippling violently - the signal it was about to spit out an otherworldly monster.

"...This time always makes me tense."

"Indeed."

"I hope it's something weak, though that feels wrong too."

"Why? Isn't a weak MS good? Easier to contain."

"Imagine an ant appearing in a facility that can withstand nuclear explosions."

"Ah..."

That would be quite irritating - like being mocked by the MS.

Perhaps something containable at a moderate level would be best.

Evelyn crossed her arms and watched the portal intently.

[MS-132]

The biggest headache among MS specimens. Rated [I], the highest grade, for being indestructible and unpredictable in what monsters it might spit out.

If it ever brought something beyond MS's ability to handle...

Whoosh-!

The portal rippled and began spitting out an otherworldly being. What emerged was a white child.

"A child?"

This was the first time a person had come through. As Evelyn hesitated in surprise, she realized the child was different from normal people.

Animal ears on their head and a tail on their back.

Seeing the child's innocent eyes, the MS staff momentarily dropped their guard. The strike team lowered their guns, and researchers including Evelyn widened their eyes.

After expecting a monster, seeing a child brought relief.

Evelyn, who had been gaping at the child, frantically waved her hands.

"It, it could be a mental-type monster. Everyone stay alert."

"Ah, yes."

The MS staff tensed up again and watched their monitors. On screen, the beast-girl was looking around blankly.

"The appearance is quite..."

"...If you want to survive long in MS, don't judge by appearances. You know about the white cat incident?"

"...Understood."

Evelyn quickly assessed the girl's condition. She wore clothes and shoes, suggesting some intelligence.

In her hands were... a bow and arrows. Primitive weapons. Perhaps from a medieval-level civilization?

But her clothing was modern standard? Though quite worn.

Maybe stolen from humans.

Evelyn gathered various information from the child's attire. Her conclusion was that the child seemed quite harmless.

"Evelyn, how does it look?"

"...Hard to say."

"Should we send someone in?"

"...Let's do that."

Evelyn gestured to the strike team to send someone into the containment chamber.

Even then, the girl - Gyeoul - was still looking around with a completely blank expression.