The Jelly Alien Will Save You! Chapter 2

* * *

 

Pyok, pyok, pyok….

 

I walked along the broken sidewalk, crying and sniffling.

 

Pyok, pyok, pyok, pyok….

 

But no matter how much I walked, I couldn’t go far with these short legs, and there was nowhere in sight to ask for help.

 

Pyok, pyok, pyok, pyok, pyok….

 

I looked back, and the Yongsan Station building was still just a stone’s throw away.

 

Why did it turn out like this?

 

Tears welled up in my eyes, which were as glossy as black glazed beans. Pouting, I recalled the final memories of my past life. 

 

The smell of disinfectant in the hospital. A white ceiling. The constant beeping of the monitor in the hospital room.

 

…Did I just die like that?

 

Before becoming this kind of jelly alien, I was a patient.

 

Diagnosed with a rare disease, I was told I wouldn’t live past the age of ten, and I spent most of my life in the hospital.

 

It was a life of always just waiting for the day I’d die.

 

No, was it a life that made me wait for the day I would die? 

 

After my one and only older brother died, caught in a Dungeon Break, and even my parents passed away.

 

My relatives had been counting down the days until my death, eyeing my inheritance.

 

“They said she wouldn’t live past ten, so how many more years is she going to live? She sure has a long lifeline.”

 

Pyok, pyok… Pyok…. 

 

My steps came to a sudden halt as I remembered the cold-hearted voices of my relatives. My chest ached.

 

Lowering my gaze, I saw my stubby feet.

 

When I wiggled them as if moving my toes, the soft, squishy tips repeatedly rose and fell. Just like a lump of jelly made from clumped strawberry pudding. 

 

That sight made me feel endlessly sorrowful.

 

‘I don’t even have toes anymore…’

 

As I quietly stared at my feet protruding roundly forward, tears welled up again.

 

An alien without even toes.

 

Did I really die? If I really died, what about the things left to me?

 

My relatives will surely throw a festival with my inheritance.

 

Is that all? They’ll be doing all the things I never dared to do while living my entire life in a hospital.

 

“…”

 

Thinking like that, I jutted out my lip.

 

Suddenly, I felt more angry than sorrowful.

 

In my mind, I saw the faces of my relatives smiling and waving a banner that read, <We’re so glad you died!>. 

 

I wiped away my tears with my jelly hands.

 

My fists trembled violently.

 

I was too furious to just sit still like this.

 

At that moment, my previously sluggish brain started spinning rapidly.

 

Even though I’m currently just an alien without toes.

 

Even though it feels like tears are going to well up again.

 

‘Still, let’s think about this rationally.’ 

 

I looked around the empty plaza.

 

It wasn’t that I couldn’t feel any presence at all. But no one came close to me.

 

‘Could it be because of the contamination?’

 

I checked my body all over. Is my contamination level okay?

 

First, I think I need to go somewhere safe…. 

 

Urgh…. 

 

I am an alien.

 

But I’m not an ordinary alien.

 

I am an alien from a game I used to love playing.

 

If so, couldn’t I use the game knowledge I have?

 

It was then.

 

[Update Complete!]

[Would you like to receive the ‘Beginner Settler Emergency Support Kit’?]

[Survival Tip: A beginner settler must check the map anytime, anywhere!]

 

I stared at the blinking window before my eyes in surprise.

 

“…!”

 

Emergency Support Kit!

 

It was the item box given to beginners when starting the game.

 

My heart pounded at the thought that there was a way to break through this situation.

 

At the same time, I got my first goal.

 

To open the map and find a safe place.

 

I stretched both hands up high.

 

‘Alright, I’ll take it!’

 

Then, a round cluster of light appeared before my eyes, fluttered down onto my two hands, and vanished with a pop.

 

A few items were resting on my palms.

 

[Beginner Settler Emergency Support Kit]

 

-Survival Handbook: Have a question? Need something? Everything is recorded here.

-Mobile Safe Zone Ship: Guarantees the user’s safety when boarded. Coziness is a bonus!

-Settlement Support Funds: Cosmic Coin +5

 

There it is, the Mobile Safe Zone Ship! 

 

In Earth terms, an unidentified flying object!

 

It’s a ‘UFO’!

 

Every single item is a precious asset, but I can’t resist a spaceship.

 

In a contaminated zone where you don’t know what will appear and when, safety is the best and absolute priority.

 

I checked the spaceship first.

 

The spaceship was crumpled up and tied with a ribbon, but as I untied the ribbon, it gradually increased in size.

 

‘This isn’t any different either.’

 

I looked at the fully formed spaceship.

 

It was a common cardboard box.

 

The kind of box used for sending parcels.

 

I hesitated a bit, but for the sake of safety, I went inside the box and sat down.

 

Pyok, pyok, pyok.

 

“…”

 

I looked like a puppy a grandmother had put out at the market, but while boarded in here, nothing could attack me.

 

Besides—

 

 

‘It’s cozy.’

 

They said coziness was a bonus, and it really is cozy, isn’t it?

 

I gave my spaceship three and a half stars.

 

It meant I was slightly more satisfied than average.

 

Rustle—

 

Just then, something came rolling over next to the box.

 

“Hmm?”

 

It was a small monster that looked like a lump of black mold. Its body, the size of a palm, was entirely covered in teeth that clattered continuously.

 

“Hieek!”

 

I instinctively pressed my body against the box wall.

 

The monster tried to pounce on me. But it seemed it couldn’t get over the box, so it only clattered its teeth.

 

I shrank my shoulders at the chattering teeth, then felt a little relieved seeing the monster bounce off the box with a thump, thump.

 

It can’t get in! 

 

Thank goodness…

 

Phew. I wiped the cold sweat that had broken out on my forehead. Meeting a monster in real life for the first time, I was so scared I almost bit my tongue.

 

Clack! Clack! Clack!

 

Ah, this is no time for this.

 

I have to take care of that thing.

 

Even while trembling, I firmly steeled my resolve.

 

Normally, only Awakened individuals would be able to fight monsters, but—

 

‘If it’s a game system, I can do it too.’

 

Afraid of getting bitten by those clattering teeth, I poked out just a tiny bit of my finger and spoke softly.

 

“Survival Handbook!”

 

Then, the glowing handbook floated up, and its pages flipped rapidly with a brrrring.

 

Personal info, map, quests, authorities; the handbook was divided into various tabs.

 

Among them, I selected the Authority tab.

 

<Authorities>

– Purification (Lv.1)

 

Huh. Is Purification the only thing I can use right now?!

 

And at level 1, no less. 

 

I was a bit flustered. It was as if all the abilities I could use had been reset.

 

But since there was no other way for now, I held back my tears and shouted “Purification.”

 

“Purification!”

 

Then, with the feeling of energy draining out of my body, the monster’s body flickered with rainbow colors.

 

Clack!… Clack…!

 

The monster gnashed its teeth a few times before soon scattering into dust of light.

 

Shortly after, with a ching sound, the reward came in.

 

[Rewards]

 

Random Seed (F): An F-rank crop grows randomly.

Cosmic Coin +1

 

Opening my inventory, I saw 6 coins already accumulated.

 

“Oh.”

 

Could I buy something at the Cosmic Market with this? It was while I was distracted.

 

Ding!

 

[Quest]

Open the map and find a safe settlement!

 

“Ah.”

 

This is no time for this. Right now, I need to move for the sake of survival first. If I die, everything will be in vain.

 

I hurriedly opened the map.

 

‘What’s this?’

 

A bright red arrow was pinned above the Yongsan Station building.

 

‘It looks like some kind of restaurant logo.’