“Keee…”

Kkamang’s dejected body gradually shrank.

It looked like Bom had canceled her magic after seeing Kwon Arin’s startled reaction.

“W-wow…”

I could hear Kwon Arin’s pounding heartbeat from where I stood.

After confirming that Kwon Arin was okay as she clutched her heart, I approached the dispirited Kkamang.

“Kkamang, don’t feel too down. She was just surprised because a small spider suddenly grew huge.”

“Dat’s wight!”

Gaeul stroked Kkamang’s back with her finger.

Kkamang perked up a little and stood tall again.

“We played a game where Gaeul grew huge last time, and when we first saw it, she was so big it was scary too.”

“Dat’s wight… uing?”

Gaeul’s eyes widened as she very slowly turned her head from Kkamang toward me.

Her expression with wide eyes but downturned eyebrows was amusing.

Before Gaeul could become dejected, I decided to continue my explanation.

“But even when her body grew as big as a mountain, Gaeul was still Gaeul. Once we realized that, we weren’t scared at all.”

“…!”

Did she like my continued explanation?

Gaeul finally flashed a bright smile.

“It’s natural to be startled when something familiar suddenly becomes much larger. That’s why we worked so hard to explain about the divine beasts.”

“Kik-ki!”

Perhaps reminded of people who had been frightened by some of the larger divine beasts?

Kkamang raised its front legs, as if understanding what I meant.

I was relieved to see Kkamang regaining its spirits.

“A-ahem… Sorry for saying such harsh words, Kkamang. Like Gyeoul said, I was just startled because you suddenly grew so big.”

“Kiki!”

Kkamang waved its front legs as if to say everything was fine.

Seemingly in a better mood, it began to dance, bouncing its body from side to side.

“Hmm, good thing Kkamang has such a nice personality.”

Kwon Arin slipped quietly to my side.

She seemed to have something she wanted to say but couldn’t because of the atmosphere.

“Ah, yes… I came because I wanted to ask you something, but then Kkamang grew big and startled me.”

“What did you want to ask?”

“I was wondering if I could go to a dungeon with the divine beasts too.”

Since Master had given his permission for dungeon trips, it would be fine as long as the divine beasts agreed.

“Master said he’ll give us permission certificates soon. We can talk about it again then.”

“Alright.”

Kwon Arin patted my head, then tapped Kkamang’s back.

As she gently pushed Kkamang with her finger, she asked me a question.

“By the way, Gyeoul, how do insects follow you? I understand animals following you, but I can’t figure out the connection with insects.”

“Insects?”

“Yeah. Kkamang, the bees, and even that butterfly divine beast over there—they all follow you.”

“That’s…”

I didn’t know why insects followed me either.

But there was one thing I did know.

And that was that Kkamang…

“Kkamang follows me because it’s a good insect!”

“Dat’s wight! Good inshect!”

Levinas and Gaeul puffed out their chests proudly, as if boasting about Kkamang.

It was an adorable sight, but I decided to correct their misconception.

“Kids, spiders aren’t actually insects.”

“Huh?”

“Uing?”

Levinas and Gaeul’s eyes widened, while Kwon Arin made an expression that suggested she’d made a mistake.

She seemed to have known spiders were animals but had forgotten momentarily.

“King, why isn’t a spider an insect…?”

“Spiders are animals. Arthropods.”

“…?”

Blinking rapidly, Levinas pulled out her smartphone.

Levinas, who usually believed everything I said without question, was showing disbelief this time.

“Sunny, is a spider an animal…?”

-Yes, a spider is an animal. It belongs to the animal kingdom.

“…”

Staring blankly at the smartphone, Levinas suddenly dropped to her knees.

A moment later, Gaeul followed suit, placing her hands on the ground and falling to her knees.

“W-what’s wrong…?”

Was it that shocking that Kkamang wasn’t an insect?

Confused, I sat down in front of the children.

“Levinas thought Kkamang was an insect…!”

“Gaeuri too…!”

Thump-thump-

The children pounded the ground in distress.

Levinas even made sobbing sounds, though she wasn’t actually crying.

“…Did good Bom and Dark King already know Kkamang wasn’t an insect?”

“I knew. Marin told me.”

“I knew too.”

At Bom and Saebyeok’s answers, Levinas lay face down on the grass.

I really couldn’t understand why Levinas was so shocked.

“Levinas, why are you so upset?”

“Animal King cards…!”

“Animal King cards?”

“Yeah…! Even though Kkamang is an animal, Levinas didn’t give it an animal card…! Only gave Seol a cat card…!”

Ah.

She had given cards of the same species to beast-kin and animal friends, but she hadn’t given one to Kkamang because she thought it was an insect.

It made sense that kind-hearted Levinas would feel sorry about this.

“But I don’t think there’s a spider card anyway.”

“There’s no spider card?”

“No. Animal King has never featured spiders.”

“…Does Animal King think spiders are insects too?!”

“Well… but insects are also animals…”

“…?”

At my response, Levinas stared blankly before suddenly jumping to her feet.

Then, as if making a resolution, she clenched her fist tightly.

“I need to write a letter asking Animal King to include insects too!”

“That’s a really good idea.”

I clapped lightly and turned to look at Gaeul.

Gaeul, who had been lying face down on the ground, had somehow returned to her normal self.

“Why were you lying face down, Gaeul?”

“Heuk…”

“You were just copying Levinas, weren’t you?”

“Nyeng.”

Gaeul flashed a bright smile.

It was about lunchtime, so I thought we should head home.

As I looked toward the guild building, I spotted Encia and Argo standing a short distance away.

“Encia, Argo?”

“Spiders are animals…?”

Next to Encia, who stood with her mouth agape, Argo laughed heartily.

With a hand on his hip, Argo let out a surprising statement between chuckles.

“Spiders have always been animals! Insects are animals too!”

Did Argo actually have a wide range of knowledge?

As I approached the two, I could see it.

The look of shock in Encia’s eyes as she stared at Argo.

She seemed quite stunned, but it probably wasn’t because of the spider revelation.

**

On our way to the guild building to go home, I noticed a sign posted at the guild entrance.

It announced a drama filming at the guild building during the early morning hours.

“Drama! Drama is something that comes on TV!”

Levinas’s eyes lit up as she looked at the sign.

To Levinas, television was a box where only extraordinary people appeared.

“King, can you ask if Levinas can be on television too?!”

“Hmm… it might be difficult since the filming is at dawn when we’re asleep.”

“R-really…?”

Disappointed that the filming was during sleeping hours, Levinas’s ears drooped.

Saebyeok patted her shoulder reassuringly.

“There will be other opportunities later.”

“Yeah. We’ll all be on television together another time.”

Levinas walked toward the elevator without lingering regrets.

Watching her, Bom tilted her head curiously.

“Another time? Have we been on television before?”

“Yes. Briefly.”

“Wow! Show me that!”

“We should have a recording at home. Let’s watch it together.”

I returned home with the children and watched TV while eating lunch.

We replayed the scene where we had appeared more than ten times, then watched animations to help with digestion.

“King, help Levinas write a letter to Animal King.”

“Okay.”

After writing a letter asking Animal King to include insects, and doing various other things, night quickly came.

Since the adults said they’d be late, I decided to put the children to bed first.

**

I woke up in the dark dawn before sunrise.

Perhaps because we had gone to bed early, I had woken up far too early.

“Mmnya.”

“Zuiing…”

I headed to the living room, listening to the children’s gentle breathing.

I was thinking of watching TV until sunrise when I remembered the drama filming scheduled for dawn.

They had said they’d be filming a drama at dawn.

I wondered if they were filming right now.

Curious, I threw on a light coat and opened the front door.

I’d just go watch from a distance so as not to disturb them.

Though I didn’t know much about actors, I felt excited at the possibility of seeing famous ones.

Ding-

I took the elevator down to the first-floor lobby.

I expected it to be crowded, but there was only the night shift worker in the lobby.

That’s strange.

Where were they filming?

Perking up my ears, I could hear the busy movements of people from the direction of the park.

“Alright, we’re about to start shooting.”

“Yes.”

I hid behind a distant tree to watch the filming.

I could tell why they were filming at dawn by looking at the costumes of the performers.

‘It’s a horror genre.’

A woman in ghost makeup stood between the filming areas.

Her realistic makeup made my tail stand on end.

‘Amazing.’

Professional cameras and microphones in motion.

And actors fully immersed in their roles.

As I was engrossed in watching the set, I heard:

“Haah, it’s such a hassle to go outside the park just to smoke.”

“I know. If someone saw us like this, they’d faint.”

I turned around at the sound of the conversation nearby.

A man and woman covered in fake blood were approaching me.

“…!”

Ghost makeup specifically designed to frighten people.

It was only natural that I screamed when I saw them.

“NYAAAAAAAAAA!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep