But learning about mana was hard to decline.

Mana was the only lifeline that could change my life.

I reluctantly agreed to receive her teachings.

But first, there was one more thing I was really curious about.

“Excuse me, but what exactly is a beast-kin?”

“…You don’t know what a beast-kin is?”

“Yes. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a beast-kin.”

Was my answer strange?

Both girls blinked simultaneously.

“How have you lived your life not knowing what a beast-kin is?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve mostly lived in the mountains…”

I had never seen a beast-kin in my eight years of living.

Perhaps beast-kin were more common in this world than I realized.

“There’s no need to apologize. It’s fine as long as you know now.”

Ahem

The shark girl cleared her throat and drew a circle with the tip of her staff.

Then, she uttered something shocking.

“Our beast-kin kind came through a gate. We are beings from another dimension.”

“A gate? Isn’t that the portal monsters come through?”

The reason why monsters continuously appeared at the beginner’s hunting ground.

It was because they came through the gate.

But the fact that beast-kin arrived through the gate was shocking, leaving me agape.

It raised the possibility that I could return to my original world by using the gate.

“Can I enter the gate too?”

“It’s possible, but you’ll need to improve your skills first.”

“Right. It’s a dungeon inhabited by monsters after all…”

“Yes, be careful. If you don’t clear the dungeon, you’ll be trapped in that world forever.”

Trapped forever.

That phrase made me realize something.

The beast-kin were trapped in a dungeon called Earth.

And maybe, I was trapped in a similar situation.

✧✧✧✧✧

I could go home.

Just that small hope made my tail wag from side to side.

It made finishing the tedious task of cleaning the house feel effortless.

‘I can return to my original world by clearing the dungeon, right?’

I had caught a glimmer of hope to return home.

Feeling happy for the first time in a while, I sat outside the tent with a tape and a metal necklace string, intending to make a necklace with the goblin’s mana stone I had obtained in the beginner’s hunting ground.

Zzzzt-

I tore the tape long, roughly attaching the mana stone and the necklace string together.

It looked shoddy, but I didn’t mind as it was for my satisfaction.

“Gyeoul, what are you doing?”

“I’m making a necklace. It’s the first mana stone I ever got, so I want to keep it as a souvenir.”

“Hmm… Can I see it for a moment?”

The girl extended her hand towards me.

Assuming she wouldn’t steal something as trivial as a goblin’s mana stone, I handed it to her without suspicion.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll attach it more beautifully.”

Tap Tap-

As the girl tapped the mana stone, intense heat emanated from its tip.

Part of the mana stone melted from the heat.

‘Wow.’

The melted part of the mana stone adhered to the metal necklace as if they were one.

“How did you do that?”

“I used the energy within the mana stone. You’ll be able to do it too, Gyeoul.”

Saying so, the girl gently blew on the still-hot mana stone.

It was then that the shark girl emerged from the tent, holding a bucket with minnows.

“What are these creatures? They’re screaming for help.”

“Ah! My minnows!”

I had been so busy that I had completely forgotten about them.

I rushed toward the shark girl in a panic.

“Did you bring these to raise?”

“Yes. I plan to raise them in the pond and then catch them to eat.”

“Ah… You really are wild.”

‘Wild,’ she said.

Is that something beast-kin appreciate?

Although I had many questions, I decided to release the minnows into the pond first.

“Can I go release the minnows?”

“Yes. The items are ready. All we need now is to transport the fish.”

“Okay!”

A fishing spot with various fish in the pond.

Just imagining it made my tail wag uncontrollably.

Feeling elated, I carried the bucket towards the pond.

“Oh my, what kind of beast-kin is that child?”

“Who knows…?”

I felt the stares of people strolling near the pond.

It was a bit frightening, but this place was now my front yard.

As someone who had paid the residence fee, I decided to act confidently.

‘I’m the manager of this pond, after all.’

Slosh, slosh, slosh-

As I released the minnows from the bucket into the pond, dozens of them dispersed throughout.

In a short time, they would multiply into hundreds, even thousands.

Lost in this pleasant thought, I turned around and locked eyes with a woman sitting and resting on a chair.

She was frozen mid-bite into her sandwich, and I, too, became petrified in front of her.

She was the mean woman who had laughed at me being chased by a horned rabbit.

“Ah.”

I instinctively stepped backward upon seeing the woman.

Forgetting completely that there was a pond right behind me.