—Plop! Plop-plop!
As planned, Cho dropped the two into the large water tank I had once prepared for Hwayang. The tank's forr resident, a regular wae-wae-eo giant salamander, had already been released back into the lake.
And there was a reason for that.
There was only one of these large tanks available. And when given the choice between a normal giant salamander and an Electric Giant Salamander, the choice was obvious.
Sure, giant salamanders were rare in my old world— But here in the Sect Grounds, they were so common you could eat them if you wanted. I could always find another regular one.
But these—these were SSS-tier electric salamanders, even if not quite EX-rank.
The capture difficulty alone is in another league.
So, when Cho tossed the two Ho-ye into the now-empty tank, the Electro Giant Salamanders imdiately poked their heads out of the water and started screaming.
They’d just been kidnapped by a terrifying spirit beast, after all. Anyone would be terrified and confused. And on top of that, they were now surrounded by a bunch of unfamiliar, intimidating creatures.
—WAEAAAAH!
—WAEAAK!
I walked over with a smile, trying to calm them down.
“It’s okay, relax. No one’s going to hurt you.”
—WAEAAAAH!
—WAEK!
But they didn’t stop screaming.
Their cries were ear-splitting, and Sister Seol clutched her ears.
“Ugh! They’re insanely loud! My ears are about to fall off!”
“They’re just scared, that’s all. They’ll calm down once—”
—WAEAAAAK!
I tried a few more tis to speak gently, but every ti I opened my mouth, they scread even louder. Eventually, the spirit beasts in the room had had enough.
As if to say, “What kind of rookie makes this much noise instead of just greeting everyone properly?”
they slowly surrounded the tank.
—Zzzrrrp.
—Ksssht...
—Kkukkkuk!
—Pyooii!
Cho, Bini, Hyang, Yohwa and Seol sitting on her shoulder, Bing, Moong, Yeondu, Hongdan—and even little Hwayang, up on tiptoes, peeking into the tank with a frown.
All of them were staring at the newcors like they were totally unimpressed. The Ho-ye imdiately shrank back, trembling as they pressed into the corner of the tank.
—Wae...
—Wae, wae...
—Zzzrrrp.
Occasional cries still ca from them, but every ti they tried to squeak, Cho would emit a little hissing rasp, like a human going “Shhh.”
And just like that, the two entangled salamanders peeked their heads up out of the water, trembling as they stared nervously at everyone around them.
“Phew... finally quiet. Now... where’s the shaman grandmother?”
As things finally cald down, I looked around. She was still at the entrance of the cabin, watching the Ho-ye with a deeply worried expression—as if afraid they might’ve been hurt or traumatized.
“Don’t worry, Grandmother. Cho was careful. They’re not hurt. Co here. They’re waiting for a proper farewell.”
“O-Okay, So-ryong.”
I brought her forward to say goodbye.
She had devoted her whole life to these spirits of the lake—
She deserved the chance to see them off.
I had already promised that the Black-Clad Tribe would always be welco at the Tang Clan if they wished to visit Ho-ye. Still, this was farewell. She needed closure.
Standing before the tank, she didn’t speak at first—only stared deeply into the eyes of the salamanders.
Finally, her lips parted.
“I’m sorry... This was the only way. We can no longer protect you with our hands. Please, follow young master So-ryong and find happiness. Let the Poison Garden—the paradise for spirit beasts—be your new ho, your safe haven.”
Strangely enough, the two Ho-ye, who’d been terrified just monts ago, now looked much calr.
Maybe it was because they recognized her—they didn’t seem nearly as scared as they were before.
With teary eyes, the grandmother continued:
“And if the day cos—soday, if ti passes and spirit beasts and humans can live together in harmony again... then please, co back to the lake. Protect our Black-Clad Tribe once more.”
She slowly reached toward the tank.
“No—Grandmother! The lightning!”
Sister Seol panicked and shouted, but I held up my hand to stop her.
Because in that mont—I saw sothing I’d once seen in a docuntary.
One of those rare, beautiful monts between a lifelong wildlife researcher and their subjects—
A chimpanzee, a lion, a gorilla—those monts when the animals truly accepted the human as one of their own.
The mont when observer and observed beca part of the sa world.
This... was that mont.
They’d been captured by Cho, yes—But when the grandmother finished speaking, the trembling in the two Ho-ye faded.
One of them slowly swam forward. It lifted its head, looked her in the eyes—and gently licked her outstretched hand.
As if to say, I understand. Don’t worry. I’ll co back soday.
The grandmother lowered her head, tears falling to the floor.
“Th-Thank you... sniff...”
It was like watching a live nature docuntary. Touching, beautiful, unforgettable.
***
We spent one more day calming the Ho-ye. Then, the following morning, as our ship left the harbor—
Across the way, from a military ship setting sail, ca the sound of shouting soldiers.
“Any creature that harms a human must be caught and killed! Understood!?”
“YES, SIR!”
Archers lined both decks. The commander stood sternly at the bow. They looked fully prepared to kill sothing on the spot.
I leaned against the cabin window and pointed outside, speaking to the two Ho-ye.
“See that? That’s why we had no choice but to take you away. You understand now, right?”
—Wae!
—WAE!
Whether they actually understood or not, I couldn’t tell—but they gave so kind of reply.
Given that they seed to understand at least so of the other creatures, I figured they could follow my words to a certain extent.
But they still showed no fear of . No real reaction, just blank stares.
What I needed... was contact. So skinship.
But with these guys? That wasn’t going to be easy.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
I sighed, watching them float around, and turned to go see Hwa-eun. If I was going to raise them, I needed to talk to her.
Knock knock.
Not the cabin where I stayed with the spirit beasts—but the rearmost room of the ship, right next to Sister Seol’s.
I knocked gently.
“Hwa-eun? Are you in there?”
A kind voice answered imdiately from inside.
“Yes, So-ryong. What’s the matter?”
“I wanted to talk to you. Just the two of us. May I co in?”
There was a brief pause inside. So frantic rustling.
Then ca her slightly flustered voice—
“P-Please co in.”
When I opened the door and stepped inside, I was greeted by a faint floral scent—it must’ve been because it was Hwa-eun’s room.
She was standing in front of the bed to welco . Her lips were unusually red... looked like she was wearing the lipstick I’d made for her.
Red really does suit her. Like a rose, I thought, when her voice brought back.
“W-What’s going on?”
Her cheeks were slightly flushed, her ears tinged pink. I glanced at the window, wondering if the room was hot, but no—it was open.
No way I could stand around and talk awkwardly, so I stepped closer and said,
“Shall we sit and talk?”
“W-What? Oh—yes, please, sit here!”
As I sat on the edge of the bed, she sat beside almost instantly. And as she fanned herself lightly at the nape of her neck, clearly warm, I got to the point.
“The reason I ca to see you is... well, there’s sothing we need to discuss in private.”
“P-Private?”
The word made her visibly tense up for a mont, then she lowered her head as if steeling herself for sothing.
“P-Please go on, So-ryong. I’m ready to listen.”
And she certainly looked like she was—so I nodded and continued.
“It’s about the Ho-ye we brought in.”
Hwa-eun tilted her head slightly, looking confused.
“The Ho-ye?”
“Yes, the Ho-ye.”
“You ca to talk about them?”
“Yes.”
“...Sigh.”
She looked down at the floor and let out a long breath. Maybe it was just , but I swear I caught a slight cold edge in her voice when she said,
“Alright... go on.”
“So, the Ho-ye... they emit lightning qi, right?”
“They do.”
“Well, other kids—like Cho or Bini—have poisons that can be countered with antidotes, and they don’t randomly shoot toxins at people, so they’re relatively safe to raise. But with Ho-ye, we’ll need to be much more careful. And that’s why there’s sothing I have to learn.”
“Learn?”
Her expression imdiately shifted into curiosity—Hwa-eun had an intense thirst for knowledge. The mont I said I needed to learn sothing, she perked up.
“What do you need to learn?”
“Well, when lightning qi hits a person, it can cause paralysis, like what happened with the fish. But if it hits a person’s heart directly, it can stop completely. They could literally just drop dead on the spot.”
“Is that true? But last ti you were fine?”
“Last ti, I was lucky—or maybe the lightning passed through Cho first and lost so strength. But Ho-ye can emit lightning directly into people, so it’s dangerous.”
“Then... should we make a suit out of Yohwa’s silk to protect ourselves?”
She was quick to suggest a practical solution, as always. But that wasn’t going to work.
Yohwa’s silk—like all spider silk—was ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) an excellent conductor for static electricity. In fact, so spiders evolved specifically to manipulate static charge to catch prey. Wearing her silk would make things worse, not better.
Unless we had access to rubber trees and could coat things with latex, we were out of luck—
But those trees were native to the Amazon in Brazil.
In this world? Who knew.
“It won’t help. Spider silk conducts electricity really well.”
“Then what should we do? You said you need to learn sothing—so I assu you have an idea?”
“Yes. What we need to learn is how to restart a stopped heart. In other words... resuscitation.”
“Resuscitation!? You an bringing the dead back to life!?”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. To her, it probably sounded like so legendary miracle technique, but really, it wasn’t that grand.
I was talking about CPR and mouth-to-mouth. There’s data saying over 95% of people electrocuted can survive if they receive proper CPR and artificial respiration.
So, if we were going to raise Ho-ye safely, we had to learn it.
Especially Hwa-eun.
I an, I might get shocked and drop dead at any mont—If anyone had to bring back, it would be her.
That’s why I’d co here in secret.
“Yes. If soone’s heart stops from drowning or electrical shock, you can revive them— As long as you do it within three and three-quarters minutes.”
The golden window for restarting the heart is four minutes. Within one minute, the survival rate is over 90%. Three and three-quarters minutes was plenty.
Hwa-eun asked cautiously.
“You... you’re going to teach sothing like that?”
“Of course. You have to learn it.”
Obviously. Or I’ll die.
At my answer, she grabbed my hand tightly and said,
“Thank you, So-ryong. For trusting so much.”
She was slightly misunderstanding the situation, but hey—with that kind of motivation, teaching her would be easier.
So, I decided to just jump in and start.
“Well then, they say seeing is better than hearing. Let’s do a live demonstration.”
“Right now?”
“Yes. It doesn’t take long.”
“O-Okay. So what should I do?”
“Lie down first. Pretend you’re the one who passed out. I’ll show you what the technique looks like. This is sothing you learn with your body.”
“Alright!”
At first, I was calm—thinking I was only doing this to save my own life.
But once Hwa-eun lay down on the bed—
That’s when I realized I might’ve made a mistake.
To demonstrate this, I had to put my lips on hers. I had to press down between her breasts.
My brain froze.
“What’s wrong?”
Hwa-eun tilted her head at my sudden paralysis.
I stamred.
“A-Ah... I may have miscalculated.”
Hwa-eun looked a little hurt.
“Oh... Right. I suppose sothing this important might be too much for soone like who hasn’t even completed formal training yet...”
“No, no—it’s not that—”
“It’s okay, So-ryong. It’s a big deal, saving a life. I understand if you hesitate.”
She sat up, visibly disappointed, and closed her eyes tight.
“To save a life... you said I have to breathe into soone’s mouth... and press between their chest, right?”
“Y-Yes...”
She blinked, then her face turned bright red.
“I-I suppose then... as your fiancée, I’m the only one who can learn this.”
I’d only planned to run through a few motions, maybe explain the concept. But of course—it was Hwa-eun.
When it ca to learning, she couldn’t be stopped. And as the Tang Clan’s motto went: Train like it’s real.
Which ant... we were going to have to practice the full thing.
Again and again.
Until she was completely familiar with... that sweet, mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
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