CH 95

The sun is hot and the air is humid. Even though I took out thin clothes right away and put them on, the effect is insignificant. I was sweating profusely just by going out for a while and bringing the Golden Triangular Rhinoceros.

It would have been nice if the the air conditioner had been installed in advance, but now I only could taste the regret.

However, how could I have guessed that the building would suddenly transport over a cliff on the beach in midsummer weather like this?

[Item: Ice Cream Coffee (★★★★☆)

Status: Good (Time Remaining: 01:00:00)

Effect: Your body will become very cold.]

What caught my eye at that moment was the effect of ice cream coffee. With the sweet taste, cold energy flowed into my body. It was cool as if it’s the blessed by Willis Carrier (the inventor of modern air conditioner). The heat has cooled down and I’m feeling a bit refreshed.

I murmured, emptying the rest of the coffee.

“This is probably what they called leisure in the midst of business…”

“That Korean-Chinese phrase is accurate, waeoong.”

While tackling, Mieum also drank the ice cream coffee. I thought it must be hotter for her because she was a fur beast.

I did get some milk though. About where on earth is this place or how can we get back, nothing has been resolved.

Still, the fact that the coffee is delicious is comforting.

“….? What is it?”

At that moment, Ash raised his head as if he had sensed something.

Strange. I barely cooled down, but I felt the heat again. Furthermore, the heat grew stronger and stronger, as if a fire had been set nearby.

I got surprised when I turned my head along with Ash’s gaze.

It wasn’t just my feeling.

There was a real fire in front of the store.

“Fire….! Where’s the fire extinguisher? We have to bring the fire extinguisher!”

As I rushed to put out the fire, I was startled.

When I looked closely, the fireball had the shape of a child. It looked like a fire spirit.

And the fire spirit, who was trudging towards this side, began to shed tears.

It sounds strange that a fire sheds tears, but that was the only way I could express it. The tears that flowed from the spirit’s eyes turned into water vapor and disappeared.

“Huhuhu….”

It really sounds like, ‘There’s something wrong with me, so ask me quickly‘.

The mournful weeping continued for a long time. The spirit glanced at this side and then started crying again. It seemed that the spirit in front of the store would not move.

After a moment of contemplation, I approached the fire spirit. I’m worried because the spirit is crying a lot, and it was hard to ignore those eyes that say ‘come and talk to me quickly‘.

It will be difficult when the spirit who’s tired of crying comes into the store. Tables and chairs are all made of wood.

“Hey, why are you crying?”

The fire spirit raised his head, scattering water vapor.

“Cold fire, gnome, bad.”

“Cold fire?”

“They, I, cooled down. Pepe, swimming, impossible. Pepe, home, impossible.”

“Where is your home?”

“Sea, Pepe, Master.”

“Oh, I see….”

I have no idea…….

Perhaps it was because there was no inquiry into the language system, it was difficult to understand the words of the fellow who just laid out words.

This is what I finally figured out after repeating the question and answer for a long time while sweating in the hot heat.

His name is Pepe. He is a fire elemental spirit, and he serves the master of ‘Eternal Living Flame‘. One day, however, the Master’s family, a piece of flame, ran away from home. It is said that Pepe went on a trip to find the piece that ran away from home under the order of his Master.

“Piece, run away, bad.”

“Kkyuuuu…..”

“Huh, Lime-ah, what’s wrong?”

“Kkyuu….”

Slowly, Lime hid behind me. The slime seemed to be avoiding Pepe.

Lime, don’t tell me you…….

For now, I calmed down Lime, who was clinging to me, and kept listening to the story.

He said that after looking for a runaway piece for a long time, he finally found a piece of flame. He swallowed the piece to take it right away. However, it was actually a piece of cold flame that was different from what Pepe was looking for. The action cooled his body and made him unable to swim in the sea.

“Master, wait, sea.”

He cried because he had to return to his master’s side, but he couldn’t cross the sea.

After much deliberation, I spoke in a cautious tone so as not to hurt this spirit.

“Peppe, look, it’s supposed to be … fire goes out when it touches water.”

But Pepe shook his head firmly.

“Possible, swim, ring.”

“….Ring?”

“Cthugha-nim, ring, fire. Pepe, swim, possible.”

“Are you talking about this?”

He nodded.

What Pepe was pointing to was a ring with a red stone in my hand. Cthuga’s ring. It is an item that I use to roast coffee after buying it from Grandma Kim Deokyi.

“Eternal, flame, fire.”

Is that okay? Pepe’s body is also fire, and this ring is also used to light fire, so it’s okay, right?

I used the power of the ring towards Pepe in doubt.

Hyuur. Pepe’s body caught the fire, and I felt an incomparable heat.\

“Pepe, warmth, joy.”

However, it was only for a short time that the intense flames enveloped his body. Pepe’s body cooled again.

“Pepe, cold, sadness.”

Pepe burst into tears. While I was thinking about how to soothe this spirit that is scattering water vapor….

Tiling! Tiling! A notification window popped up with a cheerful sound that didn’t fit the atmosphere. It was a quest.

[Main Quest: Saving Pepe the Fire Spirit

You have met Pepe, a pitiful spirit who has lost his way.

Let’s warm Pepe’s body and send him home.

Since ancient times, alcohol has been used to warm the body. Coffee with alcohol will work.

When you achieve it, the Eternal Living Flame will honor you.

Item Required: Irish Coffee

Deliver Irish Coffee to Pepe: 0/1

Reward: Starlight of Fomalhaut, Corresponding Dungeon Map]

There were two things worth noting in this random quest.

So far, the main quest has only appeared in a large number of cases. Therefore, it was highly likely that this quest would not only help Pepe who came across by chance, but also have an answer to the current situation.

Second, a map given as a reward.

Starlight of Fomalhaut … is it an item? I don’t know what it is, so let’s skip it for now.

The important thing is the map. If I have a map, I can see what this place looks like. The exit may be marked, or I may get a hint of how to get out of this unidentified dungeon.

There is no time for hesitation. I checked the recipe and asked Pepe right away.

“Pepe, how old are you?”

“Age, question, boomer.”

“…….”

“Koreans, rank consciousness, bad.”

He was a very intelligent spirit…….

“It’s not that, it’s because it’s the information we need to help Pepe.”

“Pepe, early, 1200 years old.”

It’s a lot more than I expected, but … he’s not a minor, so that’s fine.

I asked Pepe to wait in front of the store for a moment, and then I returned to the store.

Whiskey was needed to make Irish Coffee, the condition of the quest. When I selected whiskey in the dimensional shop, a warning window popped up.

[Excessive drinking is bad for health and causes abnormalities.]

[Are you 19 years or older?

Yes ☜ / No ]

That’s pretty thorough…….

When I selected ‘yes‘, a small glass bottle of whiskey fell into his hands. When I opened the lid, a strong smell came out. The alcohol seemed quite strong.

I added sugar to the whiskey and heated it to the point where it wouldn’t boil. Then, espresso and hot water were added one after another.

Next, I needed whipped cream. The whipped cream was obtained by manipulating the buttons on the milking machine installed on the Golden Triangular Rhino.

When I filled this whipped cream to the end of the glass, it’s done.

[Item: Irish Coffee (★★★★☆)

Status: Good (Time Remaining: 01:00:00)

Effect: Your body will become very warm.]

A strong scent emanated from the glass. The harmonious aroma of sugar, coffee, and whiskey made my mind relaxed.

I immediately brought the glass to Pepe, who was waiting in front of the store.

“Pepe, drink this.”

“Smell, good, drink.”

Pepe took the glass. The glass began to melt as soon as Pepe touched it, but fortunately, he was able to drink it all before it completely melted.

And as the last drop of Irish coffee disappeared into his mouth, a powerful flame enveloped Pepe’s body.

“Pepe, hot, joy.”

My sweat dripped down. It was so hot that I had to step back to avoid getting burned.

We have succeeded!

[Congratulations! You have completed ‘Main Quest: Saving Pepe the Fire Spirit’.

Please collect the rewards.]

[You have acquired the Starlight of Fomalhaut. You can observe the stars of Fomalhaut star in the space.]

[You have obtained the Dungeon Map.]

“Pepe, thank you, repay.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to repay me.”

I did that just to complete the quest and get the map anyway.

“Savior, my home, invitation……!”

However, it seems that the alcohol in the Irish coffee was too strong. Drunken Pepe suddenly began to get excited.

“Invitation, banquet, excitement……!”

Every time Pepe moved, a burning flame spread out in all directions. At this rate, Pepe’s flames would burn our house.

“Oh, calm down, Pepe! Hold on. Calm down.…!”

“Invitation, decline, impossibe…..!”

The flames made scorched marks on the store’s brick walls. Just before the fire spreads to the trees in the yard.

It was Ash who calmed Pepe. He threw a violent glance at the blazing flame.

“Calm down. What rudeness is this to my master!”

“World, Twilight, Demon King….? Why, here, exist?”

“The spirit of fire, be courteous to my master.”

“Hey, Ash, if you say that about your employer, it might be misleading.”

I hope you don’t misunderstand. The only contract between Asj and I is an employment contract that complies with the Labor Standards Act.

Master, it sounds a little … wrong.

“Master, I don’t know, sorry.”

Fush, the flame died down.

Dramatic reconciliation between non-human beings … no, it seemed that the hierarchy has been sorted out.

Pepe, who became much calmer than before, hung his head sadly.

“Pepe, friend, none. Alone, home, lonely. Apology, reflection, goodbye.”

The tears that overflowed from Pepe’s eyes became steam and scattered. He bowed his politely. I hurriedly called Pepe, who was about to leave.

“No, Pepe, I will accept the invitation. Thank you.”

“Really, joy, excitement!”

I glanced at the map I just received as a quest reward.

A small island in the middle of the sea. A large star was drawn where Pepe’s house was. The ‘Event’ mark flickered.

I don’t know exactly what kind of event it is.

Pepe’s invitation could be a solution to this unanswered situation.

Translator’s Corner:

leisure in the midst of business: 망중한 [忙中閑] leisure in intervals of one’s business; a moment of relief (snatched) from pressure of business; a break in the pressure of one’s (official) work. The phrase is taken from Chinese characters, 忙 (busy), 心 (heart), 亡 (perish/die). It means something like … you are living your life without taking care of your heart because of your busy life. I don’t know much about Chinese though, so I can be wrong. Feel free to correct me~

AND YES, I GOT MY LAPTOP BACK but only after I replaced the motherboard and ram– life is indeed hard. It still has error sadly T__T I still can’t sleep or shutdown it without making forced shutdown … I will take it back to the service center (they really going to meet me three days in rows– they shouldn’t be complaining because I paid a lot for the service though) so let’s pray they can fix it in a day because there’s no way I spent another two weeks without my dear laptop again T__T

Ah, please welcome our Pepe!