Chapter 157. Jafan’s Perspective
Kang Geon’s hideout inside the Ancient Labyrinth.
A monster resembling a vending machine glanced around with a vacant expression.
Created under the influence of Earth.
Tamed by Kang Geon as soon as it was born, and like a few other monsters, it called Kang Geon “Dad” and followed him loyally.
That monster was Jafan.
“Jafaaaan…”
Kang Geon was talking with his assistants.
Other monsters were resting in their own ways.
“Hmm hmm. Today’s liquid tastes even fresher and better.”
Mumbling softly to itself, Jafan quietly observed everyone, waiting patiently.
It eagerly hoped someone would ask for a drink.
Because providing liquids was Jafan’s purpose and mission.
‘Is no one thirsty today…?’
Jafan looked despondently at Kang Geon… no, at Dad.
Should I go over and offer him a cola?
Jafan briefly considered it but quickly dismissed the thought.
Dad seemed busy, deep in conversation with the assistants.
From his serious expression, it was clear they were talking about something important.
Though Jafan might usually act thoughtlessly, it was quick to read the room.
‘It’s rude to disturb him when he’s busy. I’ll talk to Dad later.’
Jafan took its eyes off Dad.
Just as it was about to check again for any thirsty monsters.
［Doomba!］
Hop!
The Hedgehog Summoner landed lightly in front of Jafan.
［Hello! I’ve come for a drink!］
［Jafaan! Welcome!］
A bright smile spread across Jafan’s face.
It was always a joyful moment when someone came to ask for its drink.
［What kind of drink would you like?!］
［I haven’t decided yet! Don’t rush me!］
［Okay! I wasn’t rushing, but I won’t rush you! Take your time!］
“Hmmm. What should I drink today? Doom, Doomba.”
The Hedgehog Summoner rubbed its chin in thought and then summoned two Undead Spirits from the Abyss.
It began to shake its hips and dance in front of Jafan.
［What should I drink!］
［Doomba!］
［Doom, Doomba!］
［So hard to choose!］
［Tough choice, Doomba!］
［Tough choice, Doom Doomba!］
［Jafaan…］
The Hedgehog stopped dancing.
The spirits halted in place as well.
Having finished its deliberation, the Hedgehog raised one arm high.
［Doomba! I’ve decided!］
［You’ve decided? What’ll it be?!］
［Give me a drink that can help me evolve!］
［Umm…? There’s no such drink…］
［Then make one! Hurry up and make one!］
［Jafaan…］
Jafan scratched its side with a finger.
Just as Jafan was troubled by the unreasonable request.
Thud.
Something heavy dropped onto the Hedgehog’s head.
［Doomba?!］
［Don’t make ridiculous demands. You’re troubling Jafan.］
Squeeze, squeeze.
Bastet Daong pressed down on the Hedgehog’s head with her front paws and added a warning not to bother Jafan.
［It’s not good to cause trouble. Friends should get along.］
［Doomba? I wasn’t causing trouble!］
［Forcing impossible requests is the same as causing trouble.］
［Doo, Do-do-doom Doomba?!］
The Hedgehog’s eyes widened, and its mouth hung open.
It slowly turned its head toward Jafan, creaking like a rusty machine.
After making eye contact with Jafan for a moment, the Hedgehog quickly lowered its head, acknowledging its mistake.
［I’m sorry! I apologize if I upset you!］
［Jafaan… it’s okay, I wasn’t upset.］
Bastet watched this with satisfaction and then approached Jafan after passing the Hedgehog.
［I want some milk. Give me five bottles.］
［Jafaan! Got it, I’ll give it to you right away!］
Rumble—
Five plastic bottles filled with milk rolled out from the bottom of Jafan.
［Thanks. I’ll enjoy this.］
Bastet took the milk bottles, found a spot nearby, and poured all the milk onto the ground.
As she lowered her head to drink.
［Kyuuu…］
Melody Fox cautiously approached.
Backing toward them, she stuck out her rear, avoiding direct eye contact.
Bastet instantly understood Melody’s intention.
Her wagging tail made it clear—she wanted to drink the milk too.
［Daong? Melody, you want some too?］
［Kyuu.］
［Then go ahead, drink with me.］
［Kyuaa!］
Lick, lick.
And so, the two shared the milk happily, licking it off the ground.
While they were doing that.
The Hedgehog, staring intently at Jafan’s display shelves, spoke up.
［I’ll just take some water!］
［Jafaan! I’ll get you water!］
Rumble—
A bottle of water dropped from the bottom of Jafan.
The Hedgehog grabbed the water bottle from the dispenser.
［Thanks for the drink!］
It gave its thanks as it scurried off with the water bottle balanced on its head.
Soon after.
The next customer arrived.
This time, it was Azeras who came to Jafan.
［Jafaan! Welcome, beautiful Azeras!］
“Yeah.”
Azeras held a large knitted coat in her hands.
It was something she had made herself, a new hobby she had taken up.
Azeras showed the coat to Jafan.
“I made this for you, a custom outfit.”
［Jafaan? You made it for me?! Thank you!!］
“No need to thank me. You provide us with water all the time, so I made this as a way to repay you.”
Saying this.
Azeras carefully dressed Jafan in the coat.
［Thank you! I’ll cherish it!］
“I said you don’t need to thank me. Now give me a can of beer… no, make that two cans for Artpega too.”
［Okay!］
Azeras left with two cans of beer.
Next to visit Jafan was the Warden of Hell, Nightmare.
［Byoing.］
Nightmare had come for a brief visit during its break by using a warp device.
It was the first time the creature had met Jafan.
［Jafaan! A new friend! Nice to meet you!］
［Byoing!］
［Do you want something to drink?］
［Byoing!］
［Take a look at what’s displayed in my body and let me know what you want!］
［Byoing, byoing!］
Nightmare floated in midair.
With its tail, it pointed at a can of coffee on Jafan’s display.
［You want coffee! Got it!］
Rumble—
Ten cans of coffee rolled out from Jafan’s dispenser.
Nightmare extended its tail to gently wrap around the cans of coffee.
［Byoing!］
With a bright smile, it left after giving Jafan a little kiss on its surface as a thank you.
More monsters continued to visit Jafan.
［Shii!］
［Give me some cola! Shii!］
The Dog Spiders, who had come to visit the hideout.
［Jafan. Can you give me six more cans of beer?］
Artpega Unibicorn, who had been drinking with Azeras, came to refill his beer.
［Give me a lot of corn silk tea!］
From the portal that emerged on the warp device.
The Deep Guardian peeked its head through and made its request.
［Jafaan! Open wide!］
［Noodles!］
Next.
Snake Head, who had moved to the desert village, also visited.
［Jafaaaan! Snake Head is back! Long time no see!］
［Ororoo! Give me some cola!］
［Okay! You want McCol, right?］
［Oro! Of course, it has to be McCol! That other cola tastes awful!］
Rumble—
McCol rolled out from the dispenser.
［Jafaan! Drink up!］
［Hsssss. Thanks.］
Following Snake Head, who grabbed the McCol.
An SS-ranked cat, representing the cats who had migrated to the desert village from the Solorb world, appeared.
［Nice to meet you, nya.］
［Nice to meet you! What would you like to drink?］
［I don’t need anything to drink. I just came to see your face, nya.］
［Jafaan? My face? Why?］
［I’m your fan, nya. I like you the most, nya. I’ve always been cheering for you while watching on screen, nya.］
［I don’t know what kind of cheering you’re doing, but thanks anyway!］
［Nya nya. But Jafan, why haven’t you moved to the desert village, nya? Your ability to supply endless water would be perfect for our village, nya.］
［I can’t leave! I’m staying by Dad’s side!］
［Hmm. Then how about occasionally stopping by our village to help us with water supply, nya?］
［That’s not possible either! Dad said the village has to produce its own water! We shouldn’t rely on outside help unless it’s absolutely necessary. If outside help disappears, the village
might not function properly!］
［Nyaa… So, you can’t even come help occasionally? The Cat Crabs have been working hard, so I was planning to give them a group vacation to the Solorb world…］
This cat cared deeply about the welfare of the village residents.
Especially the Cat Crabs, who worked the hardest, and she had been planning a group vacation for them.
The option of sending them off in smaller groups wasn’t even considered.
To encourage unity among the species, she had decided to send them all at once.
For reference.
Solorb wasn’t too fond of the Cat Crabs.
They didn’t see them as real cats, just a species in cat disguise.
Initially, they weren’t even thrilled about the idea of the Cat Crabs visiting their world.
However.
After relentless persuasion from the SS-ranked cat, Solorb begrudgingly accepted the vacation proposal.
And after hearing continued praise about the Cat Crabs’ appearance from the SS-ranked cat, Solorb, who had been silently observing them, eventually thought, ‘Hmm, the more I look, the cuter they seem.’
Anyway.
Upon learning that the cat was planning a vacation for the Cat Crabs, Jafan decided to accept the suggestion.
［Oh. If it’s for something like that, then it’s a special case, so I can help! You can call me when you need me! I’ll talk to Dad about it!］
［Thanks, nya. As expected, our Jafan has a kind heart, nya.］
The cat expressed gratitude by licking Jafan.
Then, with a light hop, she landed softly on top of Jafan’s head and began grooming the top while continuing to talk.
［As a token of thanks, I’ll tell you something useful, nya.］
［Huh? Something useful?］
［Jafan, you’re still young, so it seems you’re not fully utilizing your abilities, nya. You’ve only been producing liquids you could already create or ones you’ve tasted before… but from what I see, I think your ability goes beyond that, nya.］
［Jafaan?］
［I believe you can combine… no, synthesize liquids, nya. Try it right now. If you manage a precise synthesis, you’ll realize your true potential, nya. As you refine your ability, you might go beyond just producing existing liquids and actually create entirely new ones, nya. Well, technically, it’s called creation, but you’d be extracting and synthesizing ingredients from existing liquids to create new ones, nya.］
［I don’t understand! But I’ll give it a try anyway!］
With the cat’s help, Jafan began experimenting with its abilities.
***
A long time passed.
Finally, Jafan succeeded in creating a new liquid.
［Jafaan! I did it! It’s thanks to you, thank you!!!］
［Congratulations, nya. Now, drink more types of liquid. The more you do, the wider the range of synthesis you’ll achieve, and the more creations you’ll be able to make, nya.］
After saying that.
The cat, having completed its role, returned to the desert village.
And then.
“Nyanyang. I’m thirsty. I need something cold to ravage my throat, nya.”
Merino Ula approached Jafan at a brisk pace.
［Oh? Merino! You came at just the right time!］
“Nyanyang?”
［I’ve made a new liquid that will make you feel good! Try it!］
“A feel-good liquid, nya?”
Jafan dispensed a plastic bottle from its dispenser.
The bottle was filled with a purple liquid.
Merino picked it up with curious eyes.
After inspecting it for a moment, she soon put the bottle to her lips and chugged it all down in one go.
After emptying the bottle.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gave a short, firm review.
“Tasty, nya. Thanks for the drink, nya.”
［Do you feel good now?］
“I’m always feeling good, nya.”
［Jafaan…?］
By the way, Merino had a unique constitution that allowed her to eat anything.
She possessed a mysterious ability that automatically filtered out any harmful substances from what she consumed.
As Jafan looked at Merino in puzzlement.
“Huh? A new drink? So, you created a liquid you couldn’t originally produce and hadn’t tasted before?”
Hearing their conversation, Kang Geon approached.
Jafan quickly turned away from Merino and dispensed another bottle of purple liquid, speaking as he did.
［Jafaan! I synthesized a new liquid!］
“So, that was possible? Our Jafan is amazing.”
［Jafaan! I’m amazing! The cat is amazing! And Dad is amazing too!］
Kang Geon picked up the bottle and drank it without hesitation.
But suddenly, his face twisted.
“……”
［Jafaan! How is it? Do you feel good, Dad?］
Kang Geon spat out the liquid.
“…This is a drug.”
［Jafaan?］
Although it wasn’t harmful to his body, it wasn’t something he should drink.
“Jafan. Let’s not make this liquid anymore.”
［Why? I made it to have a feel-good effect, is there something wrong? Is it a bad drink…?］
“It’s not harmful to us, but it’s not exactly good either. If the assistants from Earth drank it, it could be a big problem.”
［Jafaan… I made something weird… I’m sorry…］
“No need to apologize. It’s not harmful to us anyway.”
Kang Geon didn’t scold Jafan at all.
Instead, he praised it once more for creating a new liquid.
“Take this failure as a lesson, and next time, make a proper liquid. So don’t lose confidence, okay?”
［…Okay! Next time, I’ll make an amazing drink!］
Cheered up by Kang Geon’s comfort, Jafan regained its energy.
It then vowed to put all its effort into creating a beneficial and innovative drink next time, never to fail again.