~Chapter 11~
Mokyu
Lee Seojin’s gaze landed on a single fire rabbit being ganged up on by the others.
All the fire rabbits had brown fur—except the one being beaten. That one had white fur.
Perhaps because of that difference, the other fire rabbits had surrounded it, ramming it with their heads or kicking it with their hind legs.
“Waaaah! Waaah!”
The white-furred rabbit couldn’t even fight back. It just curled up on the ground and cried.
Above its head floated a name: “Mutant Fire Rabbit.”
No Minwoo, who had followed Seojin’s line of sight, asked, “First time seeing one?”
“Yes.”
“They’re mutants. They appear sometimes. As you can see, they usually get beaten to death by the others. And after a while, the Field resets.”
“Do mutants have any special traits?”
“Nope. Other Hunters have tried rescuing or hunting them before. Turns out, it makes no difference. Save it, it runs away. Kill it, it drops the same loot as any other fire rabbit. So now we just treat it like a rock on the ground.”
Just then, the mutant rabbit collapsed flat on the ground, trembling as if it were about to die.
Only then did the other fire rabbits lose interest and hop away.
“Anyway, I’ll take those raw eggs now. How many do you have?”
Minwoo opened his inventory and asked, but suddenly Seojin dashed toward the mutant rabbit.
“Wait—where are you going?!”
Minwoo was startled and instinctively ran after him.
Seojin stopped in front of the limp rabbit.
He pressed his ear against its tiny chest. A faint heartbeat remained.
And a gurgling sound, too.
Now that he looked closely, the mutant rabbit was visibly malnourished compared to the others.
‘Wait… it didn’t pass out from being hit. It collapsed from hunger?’
Driven by that thought, Seojin cracked open a raw egg and let it drip into the rabbit’s mouth.
The moment it tasted the egg, the rabbit instinctively began swallowing it.
Watching this, Minwoo shouted in disbelief, “Are you seriously feeding it? That’s a waste!”
Seojin didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure why he was doing this either.
This thing was a monster—the enemy of mankind.
But watching it get bullied just for being different reminded him of… himself.
Ever since Seojin had developed disabilities in his hands and feet, people had treated him differently.
Just because this one had different fur, it was being beaten without mercy.
He couldn’t ignore that.
The rabbit, after gulping down the egg, staggered to its feet.
Then it started licking the eggshell.
“Want more?”
Seojin cracked another egg. The rabbit eagerly lapped it up.
It stared at Seojin as if begging for more.
Eventually, after eating five raw eggs in a row, it rubbed its belly in contentment.
Minwoo, watching this scene, muttered, “What kind of monster eats food from a human?”
And at that moment, a message appeared in Seojin’s vision:
[Achievement Unlocked!]
[You are the first to satisfy a Mutant Fire Rabbit’s hunger.]
[The rabbit is pleased.]
[As a reward, the rabbit will become your Pet.]
[The Pet will follow its Master in the Field, and return to Inventory outside it.]
“…Huh?”
Seojin knew what a Pet was.
He wasn’t a hardcore gamer, but he’d played enough to understand the concept.
In games, a Pet was an animal companion that followed the player around.
In short: he had tamed the mutant fire rabbit.
‘A Pet…’
There were Awakened ones who had a “Tamer” skill to tame monsters.
But Seojin had no such skill.
And yet—
[Please name your Pet: Mutant Fire Rabbit]
‘Name?’
Seojin looked down at the rabbit sitting by his feet.
Sure, it was a monster—but visually, it was extremely cute.
All rabbits were cute, but this one’s white fur, pink ears, and tiny nose made it even more so.
As he pondered what name to give it—
“Mokyu~!”
The rabbit happily rubbed its head against his leg.
Normal fire rabbits made a “Mook-mook” sound.
This one let out a unique “Mokyu.”
That could have been why it was bullied too.
“…Mokyu?”
Seojin echoed the noise.
Immediately, a prompt popped up:
[Would you like to name your Pet ‘Mokyu’?]
He smiled. “Yes.”
[Pet’s name set to ‘Mokyu.’]
[Mokyu will loyally obey Seojin.]
[Mokyu can grow stronger with development.]
[No more mutant fire rabbits will spawn in the Field.]
He wished the message would explain how to help Mokyu grow, but that was all it said.
“Mokyu,” he called softly.
“Mokyu!” the rabbit responded, bouncing happily and rubbing against his leg.
Minwoo’s jaw dropped.
“Wait… did you just tame it?”
“Looks like it.”
“How?!”
“I fed it, and… this happened?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. So you tamed a monster without a Tamer skill? Is there another one I can try with? No? Just this one?”
Then he heard Seojin’s calm voice:
“No. It said no more will appear.”
“WHAT?!”
Minwoo slumped in defeat.
Anyone else saying that might’ve sounded suspicious—but Seojin had a face that practically screamed honesty.
“Well, you’ve got a Pet now. Might as well use it.”
“How?”
“They breathe fire, don’t they? You cook, right? You need fire!”
True—but he couldn’t think of anything to cook right away.
If wood were usable, he’d skewer meat—but it was toxic here.
And there were no pans to place over fire, either.
Then Seojin noticed a flat, wide stone.
“If we could heat that up… I could cook on it.”
Just as he said that, Mokyu ran up to the stone.
“Mokyuuu!”
It spat a red fireball—not a flaming burst, but a glowing orb—that sank into the rock.
“Mokyu! Mokyu!”
The rabbit jumped excitedly.
When Seojin and Minwoo approached, the stone was hot.
“…Is it…?”
Seojin cracked an egg onto the stone.
SIZZLE—!
“…!”
It immediately began frying.
“Wow!!” Minwoo gasped.
Using the dagger he’d bartered for yesterday, Seojin carefully plated the fried egg onto a stone tray made by Serina.
Then, he sprinkled salt with his seasoning skill.
‘Did it just raise the object’s internal temperature instantly?’
It seemed impossible—but this wasn’t the real world. It was the Field.
Seojin gently stroked Mokyu’s head.
“You’re amazing.”
Mokyu jumped onto his shoulder and nuzzled his face affectionately.
He had only helped because he felt sorry for it…
Who would’ve guessed it’d become such a great companion?
From beside him, Minwoo was drooling.
“Arte-nim! Sell me that fried egg. It’s 5,000 won, right?”
“Ah, sorry. Here it’s 10,000.”
“What?! Double?!”
“I have a partner now. Costs went up. That tray was custom-made.”
“…Fine. I get it. I’ll take 10 fried eggs.”
Seojin cooked them all, seasoned them, and handed them over.
In return, Minwoo gave him a Queen Steel Ant Fang.
“Hey, let’s keep in touch?”
“Sorry. I can’t.”
He only exchanged contacts with Serina for loot transfer.
He didn’t want his real identity discovered, even by accident.
Minwoo seemed disappointed, but didn’t push.
‘Another 100,000 won earned.’
He’d have to share it with Serina, but still.
Seojin patted Mokyu’s butt on his shoulder. “It’s thanks to you. Good job.”
“Mokyuuu~!”
Then someone else approached.
“I saw you making fried eggs. Can I buy one too?”
“Of course.”
Another person chimed in.
“Me too!”
“And me!”
“How did you tame a fire rabbit?”
“Can I pet him?”
“Wait, you don’t even have a Tamer skill? That’s huge news!”
“You’re cooking with monster eggs and taming monsters—who are you?”
People started crowding around again.
Too many orders. Too many questions.
Seojin couldn’t focus—he needed focus while cooking—so he simply smiled and kept frying eggs.
“Delicious!”
“This is revolutionary!”
Everyone was thrilled.
And seeing people enjoy his food made Seojin feel deeply fulfilled.
In the real world, people were loving his egg rice.
In the Field, they loved his fried eggs.
It made his whole day better.
When he finally ran out of eggs and was about to pack up—
A man with model-like looks walked up, holding a dead fire rabbit.
“Hey. Can you cook this too?”
