The Attendant in the Horror Game C34

Chapter 34

They had gathered nearly all the firewood they needed—enough to last about two weeks.

The air was cold, but after all the physical labor, Jade felt warm. He picked up the makeshift scarf—crafted by cutting up a discarded duvet cover, folding it together, and stitching the layers—and wrapped it around Ian’s neck.

It was hardly worthy of being called a scarf, but who cared? Even a shabby one was fine as long as it was warm.

“Here, Ian. Wear it.”

“I don’t nee—!”

Before Ian could finish insisting he didn’t need it, Jade wrapped the scarf around his face, muffling his protest. Ian glared at him with gemstone-like eyes, but such a glare had no effect whatsoever on Jade.

“Since we’re out here, it’d be great to find some food, right?”

Jade scratched his chin, looking at the empty space left in the sack. It would be perfect to pick up ingredients while they were already in the forest.

But Ian’s presence made things difficult—because to use his skill, he needed to open the system window and activate the skill button.

“Oh?! What’s that over there, a rabbit?!”

“What?”

Seizing the chance while Ian looked away, Jade pressed a skill button. He had intended to activate the mushroom-identifying skill, but in his panic he hit the root-vegetable skill instead.

Personal Skill Activated <<
Lv 1. “Root Vegetables, Come to Me!” Activated

As the skill activated, a glowing arrow visible only to Jade appeared.

Well, mushroom or root vegetable—it didn’t matter. Either was fine. Jade pointed in the direction of the arrow, pretending nothing was strange.

“Hmm, let’s try over there. It looks sunny—might be something edible.”

“…There?”

Ian questioned him. Understandably so. Jade had pointed to a completely shaded area with no sunlight whatsoever.

Worse, there weren’t even trees—just open barren ground. Animals would likely ignore such a place.

“It looks empty.”

“Ahaha, you never know. Precisely because no one comes here, something might be left behind.”

“……”

“It’s like… uh… the dark spot beneath a lamp.”

Striding confidently ahead, Jade walked toward the indicated area. Eventually, the arrow pointed downward.

Jade took out his hoe and gently dug through the snow and soil. Before long, something hard hit the end of the hoe.

“Huh? A pumpkin?!”

“Isn’t it just a rock…?”

Jade lifted the object and brushed off the dirt. Ian’s suspicion was understandable—it didn’t look like an ordinary pumpkin. It resembled a kabocha squash but had a gray surface like stone. And pumpkins weren’t root vegetables to begin with.

Item Acquired <<
“Aged Snowflower Pumpkin”
※ A somewhat aged and weary pumpkin. The inside is white. Edible.

Nothing about the name or description was normal. “Weary”? What an insult to pumpkins everywhere.

And if it was supposed to be an aged pumpkin, shouldn’t it at least be big? Instead it was smaller than a regular kabocha, yet denser and heavier. Like the shaded carrots, this too seemed to be a fantasy-world-exclusive crop.

Jade narrowed his eyes at the pumpkin. Regular pumpkins grew on vines, hanging like fruit. But these were buried underground—three of them clustered together. He dug them all out and tucked them carefully into the sack.

“Hmmm.”

But even after adding the pumpkins to the sack, the arrow did not disappear. Apparently the root vegetable the skill indicated wasn’t the pumpkin.

The pumpkins had been a lucky bonus. Two ingredient types in one trip—jackpot.

“Let’s dig around a bit more. I have a good feeling.”

“……”

Jade began searching the area thoroughly, but unlike before, nothing surfaced quickly. Anxiety pricked at him. It was fine to linger when alone, but with Ian here, he worried he’d catch cold.

Just then—

“This looks edible.”

Ian pointed at a patch of soil Jade had already dug through. Jade’s head whipped around immediately.

“Where?!”

Ian saw Jade’s eyes gleam unnervingly. When it came to household matters, Jade was scarily serious.

“Oh! We found it!”

Where Ian pointed, a thin, elongated crop peeked out of the earth. Its color matched the soil, so Jade had missed it earlier in his haste.

He cleared away the dirt and lifted it. But he couldn’t identify what it was. Ian also tilted his head in confusion.

Item Acquired <<
“Earthworm Lotus Root”
※ Long and slender. Edible.

The system window helpfully explained. Jade grimaced.

Why couldn’t the naming system be a little kinder? Instead of making every ingredient sound unappetizing?

Still—name aside, what mattered was that it was edible.

Unlike normal lotus root, this one resembled burdock—thin and long.

To show Ian, Jade snapped it in half. The inside had the familiar dotted holes of lotus root.

“It seems to be lotus root. Quite a useful ingredient.”

“I’ve never seen it before…”

Ian examined it curiously. Jade realized something—ingredients found in this forest all looked bizarre, but many were reminiscent of Korean ingredients.

Maybe because the game was made by a Korean developer? Potatoes, carrots, pumpkins—those were common enough, but lotus root? Few countries used it.

And lotus root, of course, came from lotus flowers. Jade noticed a shriveled flower near the soil.

So sloppy…

They had crafted the characters so carefully, yet left the worldbuilding around the crops bare-bones.

“Let’s head back. The sack’s full now.”

“……”

Once Jade packed the lotus root, his spirits lifted. He reached a hand toward Ian, but Ian didn’t take it.

With tree roots hidden under snow, hand-holding would have kept him steady—but Ian stuffed both hands into his pockets. Thankfully, he didn’t trip. Ian never stumbled like ordinary children. He was always composed. Maybe that was noble upbringing.

“In a few days, it’ll be full spring.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever been down to the village?”

“No.”

They walked side by side, exchanging occasional short lines. Cutting firewood and gathering ingredients had taken longer than expected. The sky wasn’t dark yet, but the sunlight filtering through the branches was fading.

Crunch, crunch.

Their footsteps pressed into the snow in a steady rhythm. Jade slowed to match Ian’s shorter stride.

“Ian?”

Suddenly, Ian stopped walking. Maybe he was tired? Jade turned, ready to offer to carry him.

But something was wrong. Hard to describe—but the air felt different. The wind was cold as always, but another kind of chill raced down his spine.

Ian suddenly stepped close to Jade—so close their arms nearly touched. Ian never liked physical contact and always maintained distance, so this was alarming.

“W-what’s wrong?”

“Be quiet.”

Ian whispered, scanning the surroundings. Jade followed suit. The forest looked subtly different from when they entered.

“Ian, over there…”

“I see it.”

Between the trees, something pale flickered.

Eyes. White eyes.

There was someone—or something—other than them in the forest.

A crawling, prickling gaze fixed on them. A vague shape lurked, but not clearly visible.

“Grrrrrr…”

A low sound rumbled from the direction of the gaze. It wasn’t the wind—no breeze stirred the branches. Jade tightened his grip on the axe, the sack swaying heavily on his back.

“Huff… huff…”

A bestial breath rasped nearby. Harsh, low, threatening.

Jade’s eyes darted to the opposite side. Another shape. Sunlight filtered weakly through the clustered branches, revealing a blurred form.

“What is that…?”

At first he thought it was fog. A pale, wavering figure like a haze. It drifted out from between shadows, as if swimming through the air.

A beast, head lowered, baring its teeth.

A wolf. Or something shaped like one.

Its form matched a wolf’s silhouette, but its body was semi-transparent—parts overlapping with tree shadows completely vanished from sight. Only where sunlight hit did its form become visible. The outline was faint, but unmistakably lupine.

White eyes gleamed with a chilling light. They were staring directly at Jade and Ian.

Spring. Yes—this was the start of spring. Elrovan Forest brimmed with monsters, and spring awakened all life. Sprouts, fruits… and monsters too.

Warning <<
‘Shadow Wolf’ Detected

A warning window appeared. The borders flashed red. Jade scanned frantically—the wolves had formed a ring around them.

System messages began flashing repeatedly in urgent red text.