March was over, and already a full week had passed since April began. Go Byeonggap felt like time was slipping through his fingers.

It felt like just yesterday he’d declared he’d cross the Fog in 2026—and now three months had flown by.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he lived twice the life of an ordinary man. By day, he cleared rifts to earn money; by night, he went to Asvillam to tend to it. Maybe that was why he felt time slipping away so helplessly fast.

He’d never really thought of himself as tired. Watching the bank balance climb day by day and Asvillam take shape—that alone was enough to summon strength he didn’t have.

Of course, not every day was a win. Today, to put it crudely, had been a bust. No, wait—someone had sniped the A- and B-rank rifts he’d been keeping tabs on. So he’d had no choice but to settle for a single C-rank.

‘C-rank doesn’t even qualify as a warm-up anymore.’

If he stretched the truth a little, it felt no different from a morning jog. A monster that could tear dozens of civilians to shreds without breaking a sweat? Before Go Byeonggap, it was no more dangerous than a cub.

‘Guess today just isn’t my day,’ he muttered under his breath as he set foot on Baltadren’s soil—then caught himself. Maybe today was his day after all.

A figure was gliding across the sky above Baltadren. The goblins stood frozen, staring up at the sight.

«What the hell is that?»

«Ah! Lord, when did you get here?»

«Isn’t that a harpy?»

Go Byeonggap frowned, his eyes fixed on the sky.

A creature—vaguely human, with bird wings grafted onto its arms—soared and dove like it was putting on an aerial stunt show.

No need to look twice. That was the harpy chick he’d taken in about two months ago.

Go Byeonggap let out an exasperated breath.

«What are you all gawking at? Why aren’t you catching it?»

«Lord, how do we catch that?»

«…….»

The goblin shot back with a troubled expression. Fair point. How were goblins supposed to snag a flying bird? They didn’t have guns or bows.

“Kreeee! Kreeee!”

The harpy chick wailed pitifully as it wheeled through the air.

‘How did it grow that much in a single day?’

The harpy’s body was now the size of a child around seven years old.

Something was off. Just the day before, when he’d last checked, it hadn’t been nearly that big. Its wings had still been underdeveloped.

He’d known from the start that its growth rate was abnormal. But still—to shoot up that fast overnight? It defied logic.

«Did someone feed it an elixir of Growth?»

«I, I don’t know…»

«How long has it been like that?»

«Uh… quite a while. I don’t keep track of time well.»

«Unbelievable.»

Go Byeonggap let out a short snort before continuing.

«It didn’t attack our kids, did it?»

If the answer came back ‘yes,’ he was ready to cut it down on the spot. Fortunately, Tiny shook his head.

«It didn’t attack. It just kept crying.»

«Hmm…»

«Everyone, let’s eat!»

«Time for dinner!»

Just then, a voice called out from behind, announcing the evening meal. Go Byeonggap clapped his hands and added his own two cents.

«Stop staring at the sky and go get some food first!»

«Are we just leaving it alone?»

«What are we supposed to do, not leave it alone? Stop worrying and go eat.»

«Ah, understood.»

«Lord, aren’t you eating?»

«Already ate, you little shits.»

The goblins trickled away one by one. Go Byeonggap kept his eyes on the harpy.

The creature swept across a wide radius, but never once strayed beyond the fortress walls.

‘Does she think of this place as her nest now?’

«Yanma! Come down!»

All at once he let out a sharp shriek. The harpy flinched, then looked down at him.

He waved his hands back and forth, desperate to get his meaning across.

«Yeah! I’m telling you to come down! Get over here!»

“Kreeeaww!”

«Guess a bird-brain’s a bird-brain… Huh?»

Right as he was about to give up on communication, the harpy began to lower its altitude. But its trajectory wasn’t aimed at him.

«Hey, hey, where are you going? Yanma!»

The harpy shot off toward the direction of the dining hall, where a crowd of goblins was currently gathered.

‘No matter how young, that’s still a B-rank monster. If it starts raising hell in there—!’

A chill running down his spine, he bolted after her immediately.

By the time he reached the dining hall, a commotion was already brewing inside.

Go Byeonggap even drew his sword as he rushed through the entrance.

«Is everyone all ri—!»

Schllrp! Schllrp! Schllrp!

The tension drained out of Go Byeonggap in a single, deflating sigh.

There was no bloodbath, no gore-streaked carnage. But something was drenched alright.

The harpy had claimed an entire table for herself, scooping up food—no, dousing herself in it.

The ruckus died down quickly. In front of food, the harpy was as docile as a lamb. A few scraps of meat fed from his hand, and she stopped crying altogether.

He called over the goblin who’d been watching the harpy and asked for the full story. It was astonishing.

Apparently, the harpy had looked exactly the same as yesterday, right up until this morning.

Then, all of a sudden, she had let out a throat-splitting cry and started to metamorphose. Within just three or four hours, she had leapfrogged years of growth.

For the record, not a single drop of the elixir of Growth had been fed to her.

Schllrp! Schllrp! Gulp!

The harpy, having wolfed down a chunk of meat in the blink of an eye, looked up at him with pitiful, pleading eyes.

“Hng….”

“Ah, jeez.”

Go Byeonggap tossed her another piece of meat. The harpy instantly craned her neck, snatched it midair, chewed, and swallowed.

Resting his chin on his hand, Go Byeonggap stared at the harpy. There was no trace left of the newborn human child she had been.

‘She’s the spitting image of her mother.’

She was entirely a monster in appearance now.

Starting as human, passing through a half-human, half-monster phase, she had become a full monster.

How was he supposed to make sense of this? Go Byeonggap’s heart grew tangled with complicated feelings.

“Hng…….”

“Eat up, all of it.”

Whether she sensed his tangled thoughts or not, the harpy made her hunger plain.

When Go Byeonggap thrust the whole basket of meat toward her, she buried her face in it and ate, nose-deep. Even back in her formula-feeding days, she’d empty several tubs a day. Not an ordinary appetite, by any measure.

«My Lord, what in the world is this grotesque creature?»

Merilin, standing behind Go Byeonggap, asked with a face of barely concealed disgust. Now that he thought about it, this was her first time seeing a harpy.

Merilin had spent the whole day holed up in some dim corner, cross-legged, meditating.

She’d said her body was a wreck from the long hibernation—something like that. Anyway, she was in the middle of recovering her old power, so he’d left her alone.

Go Byeonggap shrugged and answered as if it were nothing.

«This is what you call a monster.»

«Mon…ster? Ah, you mean the creatures living in that place you mentioned—the rift?»

«That’s right, you eat this stuff too. I’ve seen them bring it in a few times.»

«Ah… I’ve just never seen a live one before…»

«Hic!»

Then a hiccup came from an unexpected direction. It was the harpy, who’d been tearing into meat nonstop.

She froze, eyes going round as saucers as she jerked back, clutching the basket of meat like a treasure chest.

«Am I… food?»

The harpy spoke. Every goblin who’d been watching her eat, including Go Byeonggap, flinched in surprise.

«What the—you can talk?»

Her mother could talk, so it wasn’t strange that her chick could too. The only problem was that no one had ever taught her.

The harpy’s eyes darted nervously, like she might take flight any second.

Go Byeonggap quickly said in a soothing tone.

«Hey hey, you’re not food. We’re not eating you.»

«…Really?»

«Yeah, it’s not like there’s anything to eat on you anyway.»

«Aha!»

He flicked his fingers as if to say, “Go on, finish what you were eating,” and only then did the harpy relax.

«It’s as grotesque as a Grugle. A form that’s neither human nor beast.»

«Is that so? Merilin, did you have nothing like that in your time?»

«ess?»

Merilin’s face scrunched up in a grimace — a reaction that seemed to say, ‘Why on earth would you ask that?’

«Of course not. I’ve never even heard of such monsters existing.»

Go Byeonggap found that surprising. Truth be told, he’d suspected the monsters originated from this very world.

Perhaps the natives of this realm had, for some reason, been displaced through a rift…

The evidence was solid. For one thing, didn’t they speak this world’s language? And yet Merilin regarded monsters as alien — a truly ironic twist.

«The more I look, the stranger it gets.»

«Right? Want to hear something even more absurd? When that thing was a full infant, it wore a human form.»

«A human form?»

«Yeah, but as it grew, it turned into that.»

«Th-then is that thing a human?»

«What? No, what are you talking about. How could that be a human…»

Go Byeonggap, who had answered reflexively, faltered mid-sentence.

He snapped his head toward the harpy. The creature had its beak buried in a basket, too busy gobbling meat to care.

Byeonggap turned around this time. Behind him stood Kiriyan the albino goblin and Turka the giant goblin.

Words Dorma had told him long ago surfaced in his memory.

“After Asvillam collapsed, the goblins were scattered far and wide. As they adapted to different environments, mutants appeared — Albino, Giant, Beast.”

“Mut…ants…?”

What if the harpy before him had originally been human?

What if it had been human, then mutated into this form?

The thought sent a chill of unease and disgust crawling across his skin.

«My Lord? My Lord!»

«Huh? Oh, yeah.»

«Are you all right? You look pale.»

It was Doran’s voice that snapped Go Byeonggap out of it.

«…It’s nothing. Just had something on my mind all of a sudden.»

«My Lord, what do you intend to do with that child?»

Dorma asked in a deliberately worried tone. Byeonggap paused for a few seconds, then abruptly reached out.

The harpy sitting across from him flinched instinctively. But it didn’t dodge completely, meekly offering the crown of its head.

Byeonggap gently stroked the harpy’s head as he spoke.

«Well, if we feed it well, don’t you think it’ll tame up?»

«So you do mean to raise it. But I wonder if there’s any proper use for it…»

«Why wouldn’t there be a use?»

«Huh?»

Byeonggap smiled contentedly, still stroking the harpy’s head.

«A carrier pigeon this good is top-grade, hands down.»

* * *

Brrrr! Brrrr!

“What’s this?”

Sunday. He was lounging at home, enjoying a rare lazy day, when his phone buzzed. A call.

Not that he was proud of it, but Byeonggap’s phone didn’t ring much. At best, it’d be from his mom or the hospital. Back in the day, debt collectors used to call a lot, but…

Still lying on the couch, Byeonggap moved only his hand to grab the phone. He checked the caller ID — and what do you know.

-Jeong Seongyeong.

“What’s this Noona calling for?”

Jeong Seongyeong. The woman he’d crossed paths with during the North Bukjin expedition. After the expedition ended, he’d met up with the squad a few times for meals.

But after about a month, contact dropped off surprisingly fast. Then again, that’s how fleeting connections usually went.

Byeonggap answered with a slight grimace.

“Hello.”

“Hey! Why haven’t you called even once?”

“Ya!” she barked before he could even get a word in. Go Byeonggap held the phone away from his ear for a moment, then brought it back.

“I’m not great at keeping in touch. Been busy lately, too.”

“Tch. Well, at least you picked up, so I know you’re not dead. …What’ve you been up to?”

“What d’you think? Grinding for cash. So what’s the occasion? You actually called.”

“Nothing big. Just—what are you doing today? Got any plans?”

What’s this? A date request?

The thought crossed his mind. And honestly, if a woman like Jeong Seongyeong asked him out, there was no real reason to say no.

Byeonggap cleared his throat before answering.

“No, I’m just taking it easy today. Lazing around at home right now.”

“No way! For real? Perfect!”

Her voice crackled with excitement through the speaker. Byeonggap’s own heart was starting to lift when she continued.

“Hey, Byeonggap! Come run a dungeon with me, just once! I’ll hook you up with a fat allowance!”