Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 97

 

The weighing of choices ended quickly.

Upon reflection, Jung Yaong realized he had no reason to worry about Ji Yeonwoo.

That thought made him feel pathetic for even coming this far and hesitating.

What am I even afraid of right now?

“Yaong. Aren’t you coming in? Well, maybe not, huh? Since you’re a cat.”

Ji Yeonwoo chuckled, recalling the real Jung Yaong before they’d met here.

The cub who hated baths more than death itself. One of his fondest memories was when he and Jeong Mandeok had tried to wrestle Jung Yaong into a bath, only for the cub to leap out of a fourth-floor window to escape.

In the end, while searching for Jung Yaong, Ji Yeonwoo and Jeong Mandeok had tumbled onto the dirt ground and ended up getting scolded—then dragged to the bathhouse themselves.

“At least we got to meet the uncle with the dragon tattoo on his back. That was nice.”

He remembered a kind-hearted man with an incredibly cool dragon tattoo sprawled across his broad back. In his innocence, Ji Yeonwoo had once asked:

“Mister! Does that come off if you scratch it with your nails?”

“Heh heh heh. Wanna try?”

The kind man let him scrub with a washcloth, and Ji Yeonwoo scrubbed eagerly.

Looking back, he’d been used, but it left him with a fond memory of getting banana milk as a reward.

After that, they’d become friends with the uncle, and Jung Yaong had returned home a few days later.

But the Jung Yaong here seemed a little different.

Myaaooong.

Splash. Splash.

One step, then another—before long, the cub was paddling skillfully through the water, making his way to Ji Yeonwoo’s side.

Ji Yeonwoo’s expression froze like he’d just seen a flying whale.

“Jung Yaong… you’re a water-loving cat…?”

Myaa?

Of course, Jung Yaong couldn’t understand him. Instead, the cub sprawled on the water’s surface like a sea otter, staring blankly at the sky.

If that expression looked as comfortable as someone returning home, was it just his imagination?

The night sky reflected in Jung Yaong’s eyes.

It was as if the Milky Way had been embedded in the gem-like pupils, shimmering brilliantly.

Jung Yaong silently gazed at the sky for a while before suddenly flipping over and heading deeper in.

A complete reversal from his earlier insistence on leaving quickly.

Ji Yeonwoo, still in the water, followed.

But he couldn’t go far before he had to get out.

“Ow, hot hot hot!”

The water was getting increasingly scalding—if he stayed any longer, he’d be boiled alive.

After retreating and putting his *Combat Tanghulu* back on, he chased after Jung Yaong.

The cub was at the very end of the ravine.

The ravine narrowed into a zigzag shape.

The hot spring bubbled up from a pool at the entrance, while the surrounding ravine was densely overgrown with grass and blooming with colorful fruits.

A literal flower field!

Thick, humid steam carried the floral scent straight to Ji Yeonwoo’s nose.

Ahh…

“Wow… I had no idea a place like this existed.”

Suddenly, Kim Kkokko and the five Ari came to mind.

“It’d be nice if they were here too.”

Soaking in warm water, splashing around, roasting sweet potatoes wrapped in root octopus tentacles… Just imagining it made him break into a fatherly smile.

And then—

Grrroooowl.

His stomach growled.

“Oh… right.”

He’d been running like a madman since waking up—of course he was hungry.

And Ji Yeonwoo had never been one to resist eating in situations like this.

But…

‘What can I even eat here?’

Right now, he was like a duck egg stranded on the Nakdong River—no snow cave, no food.

“I’m starving…!”

Myaong.

Jung Yaong called out to him.

When Ji Yeonwoo looked, the cub was already moving toward something.

Myaooong…!

His tail curled into a question mark—Follow me.

Ji Yeonwoo trailed after the sound of Jung Yaong’s meows.

As the thick mist cleared slightly, a cave entrance about five meters wide came into view.

“Whoa. I couldn’t even see this because of the fog?”

Myaaooong.

Ji Yeonwoo kept following Jung Yaong.

The cub strode in without hesitation, as if entering his own home, then turned back—clearly anticipating Ji Yeonwoo’s shocked expression.

And—

“Whoaa…!”

Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes widened in amazement.

A smug smile curled at Jung Yaong’s mouth.

Like an artist proudly unveiling his masterpiece.

Though the cave had grown darker the further they went, that was no longer the case.

The walls had begun emitting a bioluminescent glow.

What was producing the light? Fireflies?

No. The things illuminating the entire cave were none other than—

“Mushrooms?”

Upon closer inspection, their name came to him.

*[Fracture Luminescent Cluster Mushroom]*

“Whoa… are those edible?”

Myaooong?

He took that as a yes.

Ji Yeonwoo rushed over and picked some luminescent cluster mushrooms.

He didn’t get greedy—just enough to eat.

Myaaaa!

With his backpack now stuffed with mushrooms, Ji Yeonwoo grinned.

The light in the area he’d picked from had dimmed by about three levels.

Mya… myaaooong…!

Jung Yaong sighed like he couldn’t be bothered to stop him and kept walking.

There were other types of mushrooms too.

Fracture shiitake, fracture enoki, fracture button mushrooms… even fluffy, bread-like mushrooms resembling deer rumps clung to the walls and ceiling.

Ji Yeonwoo only stopped after harvesting those too—he’d easily gathered around thirty mushrooms.

“Now all we have to do is roast these, right?”

Since there was no meat anyway, he considered settling down here.

Whoooosh.

Just then, a gust of wind blew from deeper inside the cave.

A sudden, pungent odor made Ji Yeonwoo’s face twist.

The instinctual stench of a predator.

Only now did he realize he’d gone way too far in.

“H-hey, Yaong-ah. Don’t you think we can just cook here? Do we really need to go further? Maybe we should even eat outside?”

But this time, Jung Yaong didn’t stop.

Instead, he walked even deeper inside.

Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t just abandon him now.

Gripping the Jawsbar tightly in both hands, he followed.

As they went further in, a massive chamber came into view.

Countless bioluminescent mushrooms of various colors illuminated the space, making it as bright as if lit by white floodlights.

The walls of the 50-pyeong-wide (≈165 m²) chamber were covered in deep marks.

Giant, sharp claw marks. Even larger, blunt claw marks. Signs of something massive crashing into the walls… Even someone as clueless as Ji Yeonwoo could tell what had happened here.

“Looks like there was a huge fight here not too long ago?”

He ran his fingers over the battle scars.

A layer of dust covered them—not thick, but enough to suggest a few weeks had passed.

“I wonder what kind of fight it was. Either way, the owner seems to be gone now.”

Myaooong.

Jung Yaong called out to him, deep in thought.

The cub had approached one of the walls, his tail forming a question mark again.

A narrow crevice—about as wide as the entrance to Ji Yeonwoo’s snow cave—was there.

Cool air wafted from inside.

“You want us to go in?”

Myaong!

He examined the entrance closely.

Like his snow cave, it started off narrow—just wide enough to crawl through.

What stood out were the deep, overlapping claw marks around it, as if something massive had desperately tried to force its way in before giving up.

Myaong!

Jung Yaong slipped inside, and Ji Yeonwoo followed.

After crawling through the winding tunnel, another massive chamber appeared.

If the previous one was the living room, this felt like a storage space.

And something was stored here.

Something frozen solid, lying dormant—

*[Rift Snowfield Wild Boar (B+)]*

“…Huh? There’s a wild boar in here?”

Well, it made sense. This was a storage area, so it wasn’t strange for a boar to be preserved here. Its organs had even been neatly removed, with only a thin layer of frost remaining.

Undoubtedly the work of this place’s owner.

But something was off.

The chamber had claw marks from something that had tried and failed to enter.

That meant the owner had to be small enough to fit through that crevice.

More importantly—how did Jung Yaong know about this place?

This was seriously bizarre.

Ji Yeonwoo’s expression suddenly turned grave.

“You… no matter how I think about it, you’re suspicious. You’re not just a regular kitten, are you?”

Nyaaa?

Jung Yaong tilted his head.

Not because he didn’t understand.

For just a moment, his pupils wavered—but then he decided to play dumb.

So what if he’d been caught?

If Ji Yeonwoo didn’t like it, he’d leave without hesitation.

No—in fact, this pseudo-monkey should be the one to leave.

With that in mind, Jung Yaong stared back shamelessly.

“You… you…!”

Ji Yeonwoo’s eyes grew moist.

To think this little guy could sniff out food even in a place like this, defying all logic?

And despite being a cat, he had the audacity to jump in and out of water like it was nothing!

Unable to hold back, Ji Yeonwoo scooped Jung Yaong into a crushing hug.

“You’re the kind of treasure you’d only meet after three lifetimes of good karma!”

NyaaaaAAAAAK!

Jung Yaong’s shrill scream echoed out of the tunnel and into the chamber beyond.

If that sound had reached the ravine’s entrance…

Piiiiik…!

Would that guy have heard it and fled?

—

*

Piik…!

Even if he was young, he wasn’t stupid.

He knew the tribe was struggling—just the dwindling food supply every day was proof enough.

It had been like this since the Moonless Night last month.

Like always, they’d hidden deep in their burrows to avoid the encroaching energy—but afterward, everything had changed.

Piiiiik…!

Their food sources had been stolen.

The adults had gone far to search for more, but many never returned.

As royalty, he couldn’t just sit still.

Golden Boy was the rising star who would establish the next rabbit dynasty!

For his kin, he’d do anything.

So he’d begged his father and set out to find food himself.

A delicious scent had led him to it quickly.

Luckily, it wasn’t from kin or allies.

He’d been about to attack—but then the opponent had handed him the food.

A voluntary offering? He felt proud.