CHAPTER 4

The Absolute Ruler of the House (4)

The moment our eyes met, I felt my entire body freeze.

Fear wrapped around me, making my legs go stiff.

Up close, the creature's massive frame and the killing intent in its eyes were unmistakably those of a predator.

Gulp.

The sound of me swallowing echoed loudly.

The next moment, the Kellikán lunged at me, jaws wide open.

Crunch!

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

Only after the invisible wall blocked its teeth did I realize it had been trying to devour me.

"Haaah!"

The creature, unable to pass through the transparent barrier, slid downward. But it quickly flapped its wings and rose again.

Then, clinging to the wall, it bared its fangs at me once more.

Gnash!

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

…

As I stood there, watching its gaping maw and razor-sharp teeth from up close, an uneasy thought crept into my mind.

'It's not going to break through… right?'

The fear that its savage fangs might pierce the invisible wall and reach my neck made me snap back to reality.

'I have to do something!'

I had to act before the worst happened.

I ran straight to the kitchen, grabbing a kitchen knife, and stood before the Kellikán.

But it ignored me completely, too focused on gnawing at the invisible wall.

While gauging the knife's length and the distance between us, I reached a conclusion.

'This knife is too short.'

A regular kitchen knife's blade was only about 20 centimeters long.

Considering that I was also blocked by the transparent wall, my reach was barely a handspan.

To land a hit, I had to target the areas pressed right up against the invisible wall. The only part that fit that description was its gaping mouth.

A tough-looking beak and rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Shoving a kitchen knife into that wouldn't be very effective.

'I need to turn this into a spear and stab its neck.'

Luckily, I had just the right materials.

I took a rolling pin I had bought from Daiso, secured the knife to the end, and wrapped it tightly with tape.

With that, I had a makeshift weapon.

After ensuring the knife was firmly attached, I grinned.

'This should do the trick.'

Gnash!

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

The creature was still oblivious, fixated on biting the invisible wall.

'Now!'

Thrust!

I drove the spear forward with all my strength, embedding it halfway into the creature's neck.

Kiiieeek!!

It recoiled in shock, and as it jerked back, the spear tore the wound open even further.

Splat!

Blood gushed out of its neck, splattering against the invisible wall and trickling down in thick streams.

'Got it!'

But then—

Kiiieeek—!!

Despite the blood pouring from its neck, the creature was still moving.

Thud! Thud!

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

It rammed its head against the transparent wall in a fit of rage, looking every bit like a wounded beast.

The ferocity in its attack made it clear—it was willing to die if it meant taking me down with it.

"Hah, one more time!"

I steadied myself and thrust the spear again.

But—

Whoosh!

"Ah!"

This time, the creature was watching me. The moment I struck, it snapped its beak around the spear's shaft and yanked it.

Snap!

The plastic rolling pin from Daiso shattered in its beak, and with that, my makeshift spear was gone.

"This is bad…"

Kiiieeeeeh—!

I did have a small fruit knife, but it wasn't as sharp as the kitchen knife.

It probably wouldn't do much damage.

'And now that it's watching me, my attacks won't land so easily.'

The only bit of hope was that even as it raged, blood continued to pour from its wound.

It might take time, but if I just waited, it could bleed out.

[Unauthorized entity attempting entry.]

The transparent wall completely blocked the creature's intrusion, so it was no longer that scary.

All I had to do was wait calmly.

As time passed and the transparent wall became smeared with the creature's blood, it was visibly growing exhausted.

Eventually, it stopped moving entirely. It no longer attacked the transparent wall and simply stared at me in silence.

It looked as if it was thinking about something.

As I locked eyes with it, a troubling hypothesis crossed my mind.

'Wait a second.'

It seemed to have realized that breaking through the transparent wall was impossible.

If that were the case, what if it simply gave up?

What if, instead of dying from excessive blood loss, it just flew away?

'Loot calculation only activates when the corpse is nearby.'

The reason I came to this hypothesis was simple.

While hunting goblins, I hadn't always succeeded perfectly.

Some of them were hit by dumbbells on their bodies or other areas, and among them, there were definitely some on the verge of death.

'But if their group took them away, the loot calculation didn't activate.'

They must have died.

There was no way that goblin, who was struck in the chest rather than the head, was still alive.

'That means if this creature moves a certain distance away, the loot calculation won't activate.'

That was unacceptable.

How much money was on the line? I couldn't just let it go.

Especially not when I had already trapped my prey.

'Is there a way to finish it off?'

I frantically scanned the house.

Then, my eyes landed on a bottle of cooking oil.

'That's it!'

If I used that, I could finish the creature off.

"Open shop! Purchase 10 sets of canola oil!"

[Are you sure you want to purchase?]

[Yes / No]

"Yes!"

Bzzzt—

In an instant, twenty 900ml bottles of canola oil appeared in a neat row on the living room floor.

"Open storage! Store only the oil, discard the plastic containers!"

Bzzzt—

After safely storing all the oil, I kept moving without pause.

I wrapped the broken end of my spear shaft with kitchen towels and secured them with tape.

Then, I rushed to the kitchen and turned on the gas stove.

"Summon cooking oil!"

I placed a large pot on the stove and poured in all the cooking oil.

Crackle— Whoosh!

As the oil heated up, my nerves burned just as intensely.

Crackle! Crackle!

'Is it ready now?'

The wait felt excruciatingly long.

"Store it!"

Once the oil was heated to its limit, I stored it back into my inventory. Then, I soaked the kitchen towel-wrapped spear tip in oil and set it on fire.

Whoosh!

The gas flame transferred directly to the tip of the spear, and I sprinted toward the living room window.

The creature was still watching my every move.

It seemed especially wary of the flame.

Glaring at the top of its head, I shouted.

"Summon cooking oil!"

At that moment—

Bzzzt—

Eighteen liters of scalding hot cooking oil materialized right above the creature's head, drenching its entire body.

"KIEEEEEK?!"

The sudden oil attack left it stunned, its gaze shooting toward the sky in panic.

"Die!"

I thrust the blazing spear tip into its body.

"KIEEEEEEK!"

Startled by the ambush, the creature flailed its wings and fell away from the apartment wall.

It was flying away, but I couldn't help but smile.

'Got it.'

Cooking oil has a high ignition point, meaning it doesn't catch fire easily.

But once it does—since it's oil—it burns exceptionally well.

Because of this, I sometimes end up causing kitchen fires.

A burning spear was lodged in the body of the Kellican.

The small flames slowly, yet surely, began to spread to the cooking oil that had drenched its body.

Whoosh—

At first, the fire spread slowly, but before long, it completely engulfed the Kellican.

Fwoooosh!

As the flames intensified, the panicked Kellican flailed about.

Perhaps in an attempt to extinguish the fire, it frantically flapped its wings—but that only made the flames grow fiercer.

—Keeeeeeek!

With a shrill scream, it plummeted onto the apartment walkway.

Crash! Thud!

Its massive body smashed into a tree along the path, completely shattering it.

Maybe the tree acted as a cushion because the Kellican was still alive and moving.

—Kyaaaak!

It desperately rolled around, trying to put out the fire on its body, but all it managed to do was spread the flames to its surroundings.

Fwoosh!

Its struggles didn't last long.

[You have hunted Kellican (Lv. 27).]

[You have gained a large amount of experience.]

[Skill level has increased.]

[You have acquired a new skill.]

The system notification confirmed that the Kellican had drawn its last breath.

[Loot meeting the required conditions is nearby.]

[Processing loot distribution.]

As the distribution process began, the Kellican's burning corpse started to vanish bit by bit.

Unlike last time, when part of the remains had been left behind, this time, it disappeared completely before the next notification appeared.

[Loot distribution complete.]

[9,347,487 won has been deposited into the Absolute Ruler of the Household's wallet.]

Seeing the amount, I nearly fell over in shock.

"N-N-Nine million won?!"

I had expected a high payout since the Kellican was a high-level enemy and I had taken it down entirely on my own.

But I hadn't expected this much.

'That's almost ten million won!'

Adding that to the money I already had, I was now holding over ten million won in total.

The fact that I had earned this myself filled me with an incredible sense of satisfaction.

"Haha."

But the Kellican's gift wasn't over yet.

[Household domain expansion has begun.]

"Hm?"

Vrrrrrr—

A message I had never seen before appeared, and I could feel something changing.

'What's happening?'

It felt as though the entire house was trembling lightly.

Then, at the peak of that sensation—

"!!!"

My vision suddenly expanded.

Woooong!

At first, I saw myself sitting in the living room.

'That's… me?'

Then, my view rapidly widened. I could see the entire living room, the kitchen, the rooms in the back, and even the bathroom—every nook and cranny.

No, rather than "seeing," it felt more like I could sense it all.

The entire layout of the house, the flow of electricity in real-time, the arrangement of the furniture, even the fine dust on the floor—

I could perceive all of it.

As if I had become the house itself.

Vrrrrrr!

'Ugh!'

Then, a sharp pain shot through my entire body.

I felt like I was swelling up, about to burst.

And then—

'This—this is…!'

My body was actually expanding.

No—more precisely, the area I could perceive was expanding.

Beyond the front door, into the hallway, then surrounding the elevator, and even reaching the next-door apartment.

Before I knew it, I could clearly see what was happening inside my neighbor's home.

'People?'

There were people inside.

A young couple, seemingly in their late 30s, and two children.

'These people…?'

I didn't recognize the others, but I knew the husband's face.

He was someone I occasionally ran into at the convenience store or while taking out the trash.

'My next-door neighbors?'

Their conversation reached my ears as if I were right beside them.

"Honey, what should we do? I smell something burning—do you think something's wrong?"

"It's fine. We're on the 30th floor. Most monsters would never make it up here."

"But we heard all those loud thuds earlier… Are you sure it's okay?"

"Daddy, I'm scared…"

"Seyeon, shhh!"

"Hic…"

I could guess why they were so frightened.

It must have been the noise the Kellican made.

And then—

"Gasp!"

As soon as I sensed that my household domain had expanded to cover the entire 30th floor, I regained control of my body.

'That was…'

Just as I was trying to process what had happened, a new notification popped up before my eyes.

[A candidate who meets the requirements to be accepted as a citizen has been detected.]

[Would you like to grant them citizenship?]

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