chapter 130
“Waaahhh!”
As Guru slammed her head into the desk and let out muffled groans, Serhi and Gidan cast a glance her way.
“Uhm, Guru, what are you doing?”
“Fiwial piety…”
“Filial piety?”
Serhi tilted ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ his head, clearly not understanding, and Gidan burst out in a chuckle.
“What kind of filial piety makes you act like that?”
Guru puffed up her cheeks and muttered.
“People hate Hyeonak an’ teww wies an’ say mean fings, so Gwuu was scowdin’ da mean comments under da awticwes…”
“Huh.”
It was a good thing this was happening online—if spear_boy had been in front of her, she might’ve pulled out a fork in a fit of rage.
At that moment, Gidan snatched the phone from Guru’s tightly clenched hands with both of his.
“That’s enough. Confiscated.”
“Nooooonngg—”
“No use begging. If you use the internet too much, you’ll end up like Serhi.”
“What?!”
Serhi’s face twisted in offense.
“Gasp!”
Guru slapped both hands over her mouth in terror.
“Becoming wike Sewhi Oppaw?! Dat’s too scawy!”
“Got it? No more of that now.”
“Uh-huh!”
Nod nod.
“You two are seriously annoying.”
“Wow, you didn’t say you were pissed off. That’s progress, Serhi. At this rate, you might even beat Guru in dictation.”
“Agh—Gidan, I’m seriously gonna kill you.”
Serhi covered his face with both hands while Gidan laughed and laughed.
Meanwhile, Guru sulked as she picked up her pen again, her shoulders drooping.
At that moment—
Bzzz—bzzz—
Ding-ding~
Serhi and Gidan’s phones buzzed at the same time.
They both checked their phones and immediately stood up. Serhi patted Guru’s head, and Gidan rubbed her soft cheeks.
As the two of them poked and patted her together, Guru frowned.
After a brief healing moment, the two spoke in turn.
“We’ve got work. Time to head out. Be careful heading home with the Chief.”
“See you later, yellow Guru.”
“Uh-huh.”
Nod nod.
Just then, Seol Yeo-jin popped her head out from the side.
“Another raid? You guys really have it tough.”
Due to the potion shortage, low-ranking hunters had been avoiding raids, and high-rankers were now covering even more dungeons than usual.
Naturally, Hyeonak’s Team 1 was running nonstop, and Serhi and Gidan were caught in that whirlwind of activity.
“The times are what they are. We’ll be heading out first today.”
“Alright, be careful.”
Seol Yeo-jin said with concern.
With the lack of manpower, Team 1 had been split in two, and Gidan and Serhi operated as one of the teams.
They actually preferred it that way, but from an adult’s perspective, sending two underage kids together was still worrisome.
“It’s no big deal~ When Serhi shoots his sandy-sandy pew pew, everyone dies anyway~”
“You go die.”
Gidan snorted as he waved, and Serhi gave a polite bow.
Guru rested her chin in her hand, staring after the two of them.
Everyone’s so busy…
The sense of crisis felt very real now.
Even Jurim could not set his phone down while taking her to school.
Not only that—because of endless meetings and obligations, he was barely home or at the office.
Still, he always dragged himself in with a tired face just to make sure he could help with her commute.
“Potion cwisis…”
Guru muttered, recalling the headline of the article.
It was such a major issue lately that even she had a rough idea of what was going on.
A shortage of medicinal herbs had led to a potion crisis. Hyeonak had donated all their potions, and now everyone was moving frantically without rest.
Even if no one notices…
That part was frustrating. It made her chest ache. But what worried her more was the fact that Hyeonak’s people were constantly exposed to danger.
Should Gwuu seecwetwy wefiww da sywup?
Guru’s syrup did not use herbs, so even during this kind of crisis, she could produce as much as she wanted.
As much as she wanted…
“…?”
Hmm? Guru perked up.
Suddenly, a realization struck like lightning.
Guru could mass-produce potions!
To da Fiwial Factowy!
She clenched her fists with resolve.
Using [Filial Piety Points] to obtain a massive mana core was nice, but if she chose the Filial Factory, she could help not only Hyeonak, but lots of other people too.
Which meant—
Gwuu becomes Santa.
Her coral-colored eyes sparkled.
[An achievement has been unlocked due to (Unknown Title)]
[Achievement:
– Children feel satisfaction when praised. When a child is praised by someone, [Filial Piety Points] are deposited into their piggy bank. The child can check the piggy bank anytime to spend [Filial Piety Points].
Guru smirked.
Even da system wecognizes Gwuu’s gwowf.
She stood from her seat and climbed onto the bicycle she had parked at the entrance.
“Wets go, Wudowph!”
Creak-creak, creeeak—
As she pedaled out of the office, Seol Yeo-jin followed behind her.
“Heading home, Guru?”
“Yesh!”
Creak-creak, creeeak—
Seol Yeo-jin smiled warmly and opened the office door for her.
With her eyebrows raised high, Guru threw up her hand.
“Gwuu’s goin’ ta become Santa!”
“Huh? Santa?”
“Buh-byeee!”
“Okay~ Bye-bye~”
Seol Yeo-jin waved her off.
***
[Clank-Clank Filial Factory Blueprint]
Guru spun the floating 3D blueprint in front of her eyes.
Whenever she imagined the structure in her head, the blueprint would shift its form accordingly.
The scale was about the size of a medium dollhouse.
Inside, a conveyor belt looped in a long oval track.
One area was for making syrup bottles, another for filling them with potion, and a third for packaging them.
Dividing it into those three zones, a wonderfully toy-like factory schematic was complete.
Glancing at the design displayed in her status window, Guru lined up three half-finished teddy bears about the size of her palm.
“Hmmph.”
Everyone knew Guru loved stuffed animals, and over time she had been gifted so many that her room was overflowing with plushies of every kind and size.
So there was no shortage of workers…
But in comparison—
With the Lego blocks she owned, she could barely piece together part of the Filial Factory’s framework.
She still lacked all the rollers needed to move the bottles, and the workbenches for the plushies to perform their tasks—so much was still missing.
While she was deep in thought, Mephi stood in the middle of the structure, spread his wings wide as if to show off the space, and spun in a circle.
“Bii!”
Guru pouted.
I dun haf enuff pawts…
Should she go buy some?
She was rich now, after all—she could buy anything she wanted.
Clouds of fantasy puffed up in her mind and formed an endless Lego aisle in her imagination.
A baby lamb wearing giant jewel rings on each finger strutted in and pompously pointed at the display from one end to the other.
The employee-lamb gasped in awe, with little hearts sparkling in its eyes.
Hmph. So cool. Dis is it.
Fwom hewe ta hewe—Gwuu want aww of it!
Just as Guru was about to start pestering the sitter auntie to take her shopping—
Ka-dok!
A message pinged at the perfect timing.
“Hmm?”
On Suhyeong
Your birthday is coming up soon.
Is there anything you’d like?
***
“Then please enjoy your shopping, Chairman On.”
The department store manager bowed deeply, and On Suhyeong gave him a short nod.
The message was clear: he wanted to spend time with his granddaughter, so the manager quickly offered his farewells and backed away.
Meanwhile, Guru was standing at a Lego display packed with boxes, trying with all her might to pull down a box of the Clank-Clank Factory—one that was bigger than her own body.
Seeing this, On Suhyeong stepped up from behind and easily lifted the box down.
A bright smile blossomed across Guru’s face.
“Is this one enough?”
“Yesh!”
“Grandpa will… ahem.”
On Suhyeong cleared his throat in embarrassment, awkwardly trying to cover it up.
Referring to himself as “Grandpa” had revealed too plainly how much he wanted to be just that, which made him feel exposed.
But recalling the photo Jurim had sent, he reaffirmed his resolve and spoke again with a firm, steely tone.
“Grandpa can buy you anything you want, Guru. Pick out more if you like. This is the first birthday we’re spending together, and there are so many things I want to do for you.”