The Jelly Alien Will Save You! Chapter 18

* * *

 

I explained everything clearly regarding the vending machine and Cosmic Coins. 

 

Of course, I purposefully left out the part about trying to buy the human skin. 

 

‘What if he thinks I’m a threat to humanity?’

 

That’s how it is in sci-fi movies, isn’t it? Aliens wearing human skin are always trying to invade Earth—or were planning to, or attempted to.

 

So, there was no need to give him any reason to suspect me of being an ‘alien seeking world domination.’

 

I told him everything else, though.

 

Because I wanted Cha Haeeon to know just how useful I am.

 

Shouldn’t he know about my brilliant plan to earn coins from the vending machine and use them to unlock new items to make a living?

 

As a Hunter, he would know more about the Cosmic System that made all this possible. Hunters were also beings created under the influence of something called a “System.”

 

Perhaps that’s why Cha Haeeon….

 

“Your skill is creating vending machines?”

 

He seemed to accept my power as a skill. Honestly, other than the name, it wasn’t much different.

 

“Mm-hmm.”

 

I stuffed my mouth full of rice from the well-warmed instant rice bowl.

 

Nom!

 

The breakfast Cha Haeeon made today was instant rice with rose cream meatballs.

 

It was a shame there wasn’t any kimchi to go with such heavy food.

 

Munch, munch. Gulp.

 

“I’m selling water at the vending machine right now, and it’s selling really well.”

 

I said, acting smug.

 

It wasn’t just selling well; it was almost sold out.

 

To think I’d see this much profit from mere bottled water. Is this how Kim Seondal felt when he sold the river water? 

 

“And it’s not just water; I’ll be upgrading the menu soon, too.”

 

“You can do all sorts of things.”

 

He muttered as if it were ridiculous, but the look of interest didn’t vanish from his face.

 

That was to be expected. It wouldn’t be easy to be indifferent to survival goods in this ruined world!

 

Hehehe! Feeling like my usefulness had been acknowledged, I chuckled through my nose and said.

 

“An-y-way! I can run the vending machine, but right now I only have bottled water, so it doesn’t help our diet much. That’s why I think we’ll need to farm for a while.”

 

“Farming? You mean you’re going to grow those tomatoes that were making that crunching sound?”

 

“They were delicious, weren’t they?”

 

“You’re the only one who ate them.” 

 

“They were delicious.”

 

When I giggled, Cha Haeeon gave a faint, bewildered laugh as well. (For the record, because those tomatoes started making that crunching sound again, Cha Haeeon had ripped them out by the roots.)

 

Just then, the table shook. My brother had smacked it with his tentacles.

 

“What’s wrong, Oppa? Are you hungry? Do you want more rice?”

 

The flapjack octopus didn’t even glance at me; instead, he glared at Cha Haeeon and climbed up onto my lap. 

 

“….”

 

“….”

 

A staredown between Cha Haeeon and my brother continued for a moment.

 

“…?”

 

I watched, bewildered, before continuing what I was saying.

 

“Regardless, that’s why I have to go boss hunting.” 

 

“Boss hunting? I thought you were farming.”

 

Well, about that.

 

I waved my spoon back and forth.

 

“I need seeds to farm, right? But to get them, I have to catch monsters. Collecting seeds one by one like that is inefficient.”

 

To go out and hunt for seeds one by one just to grow a single crop? Just imagining it made me feel like I was aging.

 

However, Cha Haeeon, who was once called the strongest in humanity, stared at me blankly as if he didn’t understand why that was a problem.

 

I frowned deeply and tapped the table with my spoon. 

 

“I’m small and weak, so even catching one monster is hard.”

 

“I suppose so.”

 

Hmph! When I threw a jelly punch, Cha Haeeon blocked the attack half-heartedly with his palm and asked.

 

“So what are you going to do?”

 

“Well, you see…”

 

Hehehe. I gave a villainous laugh and stroked my soft chin.

 

* * *

 

In this busy, busy modern society, people can’t afford to pour too much energy into even brief moments of entertainment.

 

Because of this, anyone playing a game eventually thinks to themselves:

 

‘How great would it be if someone hunted in my place!’

 

That is why game companies created a feature where the character automatically hunts just by leaving the game on.

 

That is ‘Auto-Hunting.’

 

It was the same for <Squishy Squishy! Planetmon!>.

 

If you summon a special Planetmon called an ‘Auto-Doll,’ it hunts for you instead.

 

In other words, as long as I have an Auto-Doll, it will take care of catching monsters on its own, and all I have to do is sit there and perform purification!

 

The problem is ‘how to tame an Auto-Doll’….

 

I opened my survival handbook and unfolded the map.

 

Flip—

 

After realizing that what looked like restaurant tags were actually boss markers, I searched the surrounding bosses thoroughly.

 

And I discovered an important fact: the bosses from the original game exist in this contaminated zone too!

 

The realization that the game had truly become reality made my heart race.

 

I fixed my eyes on a familiar icon.

 

‘I just have to go this way.’

 

When I clicked on the familiar teddy bear face shape, a flag was planted. And a path appeared showing how to get there from my current location.

 

Alien technology really is impressive. It almost makes being an alien worth it. 

 

“Alright, Cha Haeeon, I’ll go farm lots of delicious things! Keep an eye on the house!”

 

In front of the blue gate.

 

Having finished my breakfast, I held my brother in one hand and my phone in the other, waving goodbye.

 

Cha Haeeon, who stood in front of the gate watching me, stared at me intently.

 

“….”

 

He seemed to have a lot to say.

 

What? What is it?

 

Cha Haeeon twitched his eyebrows as if something were displeasing, then opened his mouth.

 

“Why this time….”

 

“Huh?”

 

“…Nothing.”

 

As he said that, he muttered small things like “No, why…” or “Alone….”

 

“If you have something to say, just say it.”

 

In the end, frustrated, I urged him first.

 

“….”

 

Cha Haeeon opened his mouth a few times, then sighed and added.

 

“In the contaminated zone, unexpected things happen often due to space distortions and contaminated mutants. They’re usually called ‘Anomalies’….”

 

“Anomalies?”

 

“Yeah. Just think of it as dungeons like U-Park existing everywhere.”

 

“What?! Then what do I do?”

 

“That’s why I’m asking why you’re alone—!”

 

Cha Haeeon, who was about to snap, bit his lip and whipped his head away.

 

I put a big question mark over my head and said.

 

“But wouldn’t short distances be okay? Nothing happened when I went to U-Park with you.”

 

“…….”

 

After a brief silence at my words, Cha Haeeon said gruffly.

 

“In the contaminated zone, the stronger you are, the more you’re bound by rules. So as long as you follow the rules, they won’t just attack you randomly.” 

 

“Oho—”

 

As I nodded enthusiastically, Cha Haeeon tightly tied the hemp rope around my waist. My spaceship was attached to that waist rope. 

 

The spaceship, which has a feature that prevents attacks when inside, was essential when heading into the contaminated zone.

 

Smack!

 

Just then, my brother smacked Cha Haeeon’s hand as he was tying my waist strap with his tentacle.

 

“Whoa, whoa. Oppa, stop it.”

 

It seems my brother really dislikes Cha Haeeon.

 

Well, I’m sure as we live together, my brother will realize that Cha Haeeon isn’t such a bad guy.

 

I patted my brother’s bald head and set off.

 

Pyok, pyok, pyok. 

 

Drag, drag….

 

The spaceship dragged behind me.