One Day, a Villain Fell into My Wardrobe – Chapter 144

144

“Ah, I’m saved!”

Isquis was the first to put down his empty bowl on the table. As soon as Yeon Ji-ho and Set arrived through the wardrobe and unpacked the galbi-tang on the table, Isquis, who had been eating with his nose practically in the bowl, emptied one serving faster than anyone else.

Shango followed, putting down his galbi-tang bowl without a drop of soup left. Still unsatisfied, he rummaged through the galbi-tang bone pieces he had just stripped, looking for any remaining meat.

Unlike the other two, Apophis, who had shown some restraint in his eating speed, finished his meal with a small amount of soup left. Immediately, Shango and Isquis, who had been sniffing nearby, rushed in simultaneously.

“Appo, can I eat this?”

“…”

“Ah! Shango, you bear! Take your hands off!”

Before Apophis could give permission, Shango dumped an extra bowl of white rice into the remaining soup. Soon after, two spoons dug into the bowl and started frantically scooping.

Ji-ho, who had been watching the three’s war-like meal from a step back, quietly opened the lid of the electric rice cooker beside him. The rice cooker, which had been packed tightly with 10 servings of rice, was now completely empty without a single grain left.

“They really eat well…”

“They must have been… very hungry.”

Set, seeming embarrassed that these were his subordinates, tried to make an excuse with a sheepish face. Ji-ho laughed helplessly and said,

“But they’ve already eaten all the ramen and everything else, haven’t they?”

What awaited Ji-ho when he returned home was an empty pantry, or rather, an empty refrigerator. The ramen and frozen foods he had told them about were already gone. When he asked Apophis, it seemed they had eaten everything the previous night while Ji-ho and Set were away.

Soon after, even the little galbi-tang soup Apophis had left was emptied along with the warm rice grains. However, Isquis with a spoon in his mouth and Shango staring intently at the empty bowl still seemed unsatisfied.

Ji-ho wanted to cook for them, but there were really no ingredients left. To buy ingredients, they would have to go out to the distant supermarket…

“It’s… snowing more.”

It was truly a once-in-decades snowstorm. Isquis, who was watching outside, occasionally worried if the house wouldn’t collapse with this much snow.

Although this house and pension, designed by Ji-ho’s father himself, could easily withstand such a snowstorm, having nothing to eat for dinner tonight was a big problem. The snow removal vehicles that should have arrived in this area by now seemed to be delayed due to backed-up work.

“This is trouble.”

There were almost no ingredients left, and it would be difficult for Ji-ho, the only driver and heavily pregnant, to drive through the snow. Ji-ho’s face grew increasingly serious as they seemed almost isolated.

“What’s the matter, Ji-ho?”

“Ah… We’re out of ingredients. We need to buy something, but…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go after the snow stops? It’s dangerous to go out now.”

“I don’t think the snow will stop anytime soon.”

Ji-ho turned on the television in the living room with a worried face. Immediately, news flowed that the weather bureau had issued a heavy snow advisory.

-Since last night, over 20cm of heavy snow has fallen in the central region, including Seoul. More snow is forecasted to fall until tomorrow morning.

As expected, Ji-ho sighed at the news that it would snow until tomorrow morning. After pondering, Ji-ho spoke to Set, who had been quietly watching the news with him.

“…Should I drive and go?”

“No.”

Set shook his head immediately. Ji-ho, now over 8 months pregnant with a visibly protruding belly, was too risky to drive. Set, who already knew this from the internet and Seon-rok, rejected his proposal, saying he’d rather go hungry.

Ji-ho then looked at the other three with worried eyes. They must be very hungry.

As Ji-ho’s expression darkened, Set, unable to bear it anymore, spoke softly.

“Then, the four of us will go.”

“Where?”

“To find something to eat.”

“By car?!”

“No, on foot.”

Ji-ho opened his mouth slightly. Even the nearest supermarket would take at least 2 hours to walk to, as the local shops would be closed. It would be a four-hour round trip. Just as Ji-ho was about to say he’d rather try opening a gate himself…

“Ji-ho, please don’t say you’ll open a gate. You’ve already used your power today.”

This was something Ji-ho and Set had agreed upon before – to open gates only once a day at most. It was a rule set because they didn’t know the cost of using that power. Set had even said to avoid using it if possible.

“It’s fine, Ji-ho. I was thinking these guys were getting fatter anyway, so we’ll go for some exercise!”

Apophis said boldly. In fact, the claim that they were all getting fatter was a complete lie. Even when they were just hanging around the house, they weren’t really just hanging around – they were habitually training their bodies every day. Far from getting fat, they were becoming more muscular from eating and sleeping well.

Once the plan was decided, the four quickly prepared to walk through the snow. Finally, Ji-ho distributed hand warmers to everyone and said,

“Call if anything happens, okay?”

“Alright.”

“Don’t worry, Ji-ho!”

Isquis was already excited at the thought of going outside. Soon, the four finished their preparations and went out.

The four silhouettes, faintly visible through the large window, soon became covered in snow and disappeared from view. Ji-ho, watching with worried eyes, started waiting for the four while keeping an eye on the news he had left on earlier.

How much time had passed like that?

-Ding…

A notification sounded on the quiet phone. Startled, Ji-ho quickly picked up the phone. He thought Set might have called him.

However, the notification on the phone was something else.

Ji-ho tilted his head as he checked the notification on the phone screen. New release notification? The first thing that came to mind was, of course, the web novels he used to read often.

While notifications for physical books didn’t come often, serialized novels would send notifications for new chapters on each release day. But recently, reality had been so busy that there was no time to read ongoing web novels.

Just as he was about to tap the notification, thinking he might as well read a novel while waiting for them since he had nothing else to do, there was a sound. Bang bang bang, someone was roughly knocking on the front door.

Surprised, Ji-ho’s shoulders jerked. It had been only about 30 minutes since the four had left – too short a time for those who had gone to the supermarket to return.

At that moment, Ji-ho was reminded of Hadad, and unpleasant memories flashed through his mind. With a worried face, Ji-ho approached the front door and, instead of opening it immediately, quietly listened to focus on the sounds outside.

-…telling you.

-…good to be back, right?

The briefly heard voice was clearly Apophis’s. Ji-ho, feeling half glad and half puzzled, slowly opened the front door.

And the first thing he saw was…

“A… wild boar?”

“Ji-ho, this Apophis has caught it!”

“You just delivered the final blow! I caught it, Ji-ho!”

“…Here’s the axe mark.”

A wild boar as big as a house. Ji-ho now understood why people in the old days used the expression “as big as a house” to describe animals.

The thing Shango was carrying on his shoulder was indeed a wild boar as big as a house. Those who Ji-ho thought would naturally go to the supermarket to get ingredients had gone to the top of the mountain instead of down the mountain. Ji-ho had no idea such a wild boar lived in the mountain behind his house.

“Haha… ha.”

“This is also ‘pork’, so can we eat samgyeopsal today?!”

“No, I want bossam! I’m the only one who didn’t get to eat bossam last time! I want to eat bossam!”

“…Jeyuk-bokkeum…”

Everyone was so excited at the thought of eating pork that they didn’t know what to do with themselves. They didn’t seem to care that what they had caught wasn’t a pig, but a ‘wild boar’.

And Set, who had led them, said to Ji-ho, who was looking at the wild boar with a dumbfounded face, with a strangely proud expression:

“Ji-ho, wait. We’ll do the cooking today too.”

“Oh, that’s good too! It would be perfect to roast it whole, Your Excellency!”

“That sounds great! It reminds me of the battle in the Legion Mountains!”

“…!”

The four excitedly carried the wild boar and rushed out again towards the back of the pension. It was where a vinyl tent for barbecue was set up. They didn’t seem to care whether heavy snow was falling on their heads or not.

Standing alone and watching them, Ji-ho laughed dryly, shook his head, and went into the kitchen. He wasn’t sure if it was okay to eat wild boar, but he had already given up trying to stop them as they seemed so excited.

While Ji-ho quietly prepared sauces and seasonings, the others outside the window expertly butchered the wild boar and skinned it. Meanwhile, the news that had been playing changed to carol music. The end-of-year atmosphere was in full swing.

It was at that moment. Ji-ho’s phone, which he had left on the living room sofa, lit up again with the screen turning on. This time it was a different notification.

New Release Notification: has been published.

FIN.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus