Chapter 46

45. Meteor Collection

The time had come. Taeju needed to explain to Hui why DP had disappeared and organize the items obtained from the box. Taeju picked up the golden spoon and prepared to enter the garden, holding Taesang in his arms.

‘Oh, now that I think about it, this golden spoon can be used in both the real world and the garden.’

Items that could be used in both places were hard to come by. The guitar with a fragment of the sun embedded in it was also an item that could be used in both places, making it quite rare.

The golden spoon wasn’t completely ineffective. Although it failed as a game item, the instant lottery ticket he bought at the end won 100,000 won. Not knowing where to exchange the lottery ticket, he left it on his desk, but still felt good that it had won.

As soon as he entered the garden, Hui flew over as if she had been waiting.

“Taeju, are you okay?”

“Huh?”

“I was worried because you didn’t respond, Taeju.”

“Oh, sorry, Hui.”

It felt like he was pricking his conscience. Taeju turned his head to look at the distant sky. It was still twilight, and the sun was rising in the distance.

“Hui, I’m sorry. I opened the red box with DP yesterday.”

“Yeah, Taeju. Was it fun?”

“Huh? Yeah, it was fun.”

“Hehe, then that’s good.”

Hui, who always suggested collecting DP to decorate the empty spaces in the garden, smiled and said it was okay when Taeju said he had fun using DP.

‘Ah, conscience. I really shouldn’t open the box anymore.’

Taeju smiled back at Hui, who was smiling brightly, and made a promise. It was a promise he didn’t know how long he could keep.

Hui stopped Taeju, who was about to plant herbs and flowers in the garden plot. She suggested planting fruits or vegetables that could be harvested quickly in the plot and flowers and herbs in the greenhouse.

“Now that I think about it, I’ve hardly ever used the greenhouse.”

Taeju realized that he had collected wildflowers in front of the greenhouse many times but had never grown anything in it.

The greenhouse, with its wooden window frames, had a warm feel. With many wildflowers blooming around it, it looked like it was built in a flower field.

“It’s quite spacious inside. We could move a table in here and have tea.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hui likes strawberry tea.”

“Haha, got it.”

The greenhouse had empty flower pots and pot stands scattered around. The pots came in various colors and sizes, and it seemed they could be planted according to the size of the plants.

The greenhouse, which had been left unused until now, had a bright and comfortable atmosphere.

“Then, what herbs should we plant?”

“Hmm, Dream Grass? White Sage is also good.”

The Dream Grass Hui mentioned is an herb that makes you have good dreams while you sleep. It could be mixed with a few herbs and dried fruits to make tea. White Sage, on its own, has no other effects, but when used with strongly scented flowers, it helps to enhance and prolong their fragrance.

Both could be added to the herbal tea Taeju made. In particular, a small amount of White Sage could make the tea’s fragrance last longer.

“Dream Grass and White Sage are often used, so they should be fine. How about planting a Butterfly Candy Tree with them?”

“Butterfly Candy Tree? Great!”

Hui’s happy answer came, as she loved candy the most. Taeju had only seen the Butterfly Candy Tree in pictures. It was a tree that reached up to the chest, with colorful and ornate butterflies sitting on it. All the butterflies were made of candy.

Unlike the Moon Candy Tree, the seeds of the Butterfly Candy Tree were not hard to find, so fortunately, they could be bought from the store. Taeju also bought the recipe for a wooden table and chairs, as well as a seedling spade and a watering can for the greenhouse.

“Let’s plant the candy tree in this red pot.”

It took about an hour to plant the herb seeds and the candy tree seeds in the pots. Taeju lined up the colorful herb pots on the pot stand in the greenhouse. Seeing the herb pots on the pot stand under the well-lit window, he felt satisfied.

The sturdy wooden pot stand looked like a great place for Taesang to play. Taesang, who was already very active, had recently become even more energetic as he approached his first birthday. He was also becoming more mischievous and less obedient.

If Taesang found out about this place, he would definitely turn the greenhouse into a mess. Taeju thought he should be careful to keep Taesang from entering this place, which was full of ceramic pots.

*

Tonight, I plan to catch meteors. Hui also wishes for it, and Taeju feels guilty, so he wants to be nice to Hui today. Of course, before that, he needs to give Zephir a bit of driving safety training.

“Zephir, when you drive the hot air balloon…, Zephir, can you listen for a moment? Sigh.”

Zephir, who seemed smart and perceptive, made a beeping sound and flew away as soon as it looked like Taeju was about to nag. He glanced at Taeju once and flew into Hui’s house, disappearing inside.

“Yeah, you must have something to talk about with Hui…”

Taeju, unable to hide his embarrassment, looked around. Fortunately, no one was there. He headed to the shed, hiding his blushing face. With the increased use of fertilizer, he needed to collect slime essence more often. He needed to move quickly before nightfall. Finding a reason to be busy, Taeju grabbed a bucket and entered the slime cave.

‘As always, this place is the most peaceful.’

The slimes were still bouncing around, making a “plop plop” sound. Watching the colorful slimes jump always lifted his mood. Although he was afraid of the Slime King reappearing and couldn’t combine them, it was still fun to watch.

While Taeju was playing in the slime cave, Hui and Zephir were planning the meteor collection for tonight. Last time, they didn’t catch many because they were chasing the moving cluster of stars.

This time, they planned to set up in the direction the star cluster would move. Of course, Zephir would be in charge of driving the hot air balloon.

“Yeah, let’s catch a lot of meteors.”

“Heehee.”

“Hehe, thanks, Zephir. For protecting Taeju.”

Thanks to Zephir’s shield skill, Taesang and Dandan could fly safely. However, they didn’t plan to take the two this time since they couldn’t catch meteors and would stay to guard the garden.

Night fell, and a crescent moon hung in the sky. From the observations made over time, the star cluster moved more on nights with a crescent moon than on nights with a full moon.

Taeju, Hui, and Zephir prepared to board the hot air balloon. This time, they brought collection tools from the start. Hui had a magic net gun, and Taeju had a collection net.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go.”

Zephir was in charge of driving. Actually, it seemed Zephir had no intention of letting anyone else drive the hot air balloon. Before boarding, Taeju checked to make sure Zephir hadn’t drunk any red tea wine, as he wanted to avoid drunk driving, even in a hot air balloon. Fortunately, Zephir seemed to be a sensible unicorn.

‘No, a sensible unicorn wouldn’t kick its owner. Rude Zephir!’

Taeju, who asked if Zephir had been drinking, got kicked in the back.

Flying through the night sky was enjoyable. Moreover, they didn’t go too fast this time, so Taeju could enjoy the sky scenery. He felt more at ease because he trusted the protective shield Zephir had cast.

“Hui, Zephir, let’s go a bit higher.”

“Higher?”

“Yeah, let’s go to the height where the star cluster will pass under the hot air balloon.”

Taeju planned to scoop up the star cluster from below with his collection net. It seemed better to scoop from above rather than moving alongside the cluster.

“Okay, Zephir.”

“Neigh.”

The star cluster appeared without much waiting. The sight of countless stars cutting through the dark sky was beautiful. He could understand why Hui wanted to catch meteors so much, seeing the twinkling stars.

Zephir moved the hot air balloon to the front of the star cluster’s movement direction and slightly raised the altitude so that Taeju’s collection net could reach the star cluster.

“Good job, Zephir. Hui, get ready to catch them.”

“Okay.”

Taeju gripped the collection net tightly with both hands and focused on the star cluster. The speed of the star cluster was faster than he expected, so he had to lower the net quickly. After a few practice scoops before the star cluster arrived, Taeju got back into position as the cluster approached.

Whoosh.

“Got it.”

Taeju’s collection net caught three meteors. Although he hadn’t expected much fun from meteor collection, catching three at once gave him a sense of satisfaction he hadn’t felt from fishing.

Whoosh.

Rustle.

Hui also worked hard, launching the magic net from her gun. The net was full of meteors. As soon as she retrieved the net, she reloaded and fired again. The meteors Hui caught quickly piled up in the gondola.

After the first wave of the star cluster passed, Taeju and Hui collected the meteors and put them in the cargo hold. The cargo hold was enchanted, so it could hold more meteors than its size suggested, with no issues. It seemed the expensive materials for the hot air balloon were worth it.

“Hui, Zephir, let’s catch one more time and then go down.”

“Okay.”

Hui seemed a bit reluctant but didn’t argue with Taeju, noticing that he was getting cold.

Unlike the garden, which maintained a constant temperature, the sky was cold. The path of the star cluster was even colder.

Although Taeju didn’t say anything, his hands were red from the cold, his nose was red, and he was shivering a bit.

Seeing this, Hui flew over Taeju’s head and sprinkled sparkling powder.

“Haha, thanks, Hui. Let’s dress warmly next time.”

“Okay.”

After catching one more wave of the star cluster, they descended to the garden. Taeju rubbed his frozen hands to warm them up and detached the cargo hold from the gondola.

When he brought the cargo hold into the cabin’s living room, Taesang and Dandan approached as if they had been waiting. Both were curious about the contents of the cargo hold.

Taeju moved the table in front of the sofa to one side and flipped the cargo hold over. The meteors, which sparkled, fell onto the living room floor.

“Wow, Taeju, did you see? We caught this much.”

“Haha, we really caught a lot.”

They had caught enough to form a small mountain in the living room, just from two waves of the star cluster. If they had used the magic net cannon as Hui wished, they would have caught even more. Of course, they had no intention of selling them.

“This will take a while to open.”

“Hehe, I’ll help, Hui.”

Taeju sat on the carpet and started opening the meteors. The meteors opened easily when twisted with both hands. Twisting a meteor the size of a handball revealed a round space inside, filled with various snacks.

‘Jelly, candy, caramel, chocolate, and peanuts too.’

He thought he should buy some glass jars to store the snacks. The number of meteors was quite large, so the amount of snacks inside was also substantial.

While Taeju was thinking about how many jars to buy, Hui was already eating a large jelly. The way the powder spread as she ate suggested she really enjoyed it.

Taeju laughed at the sight but was startled by a “crunch” sound. Taesang had started gnawing on a meteor shell. He was holding the shell with his front paws and gnawing on it excitedly.

“Whoa, Taesang. Don’t eat it.”

“It’s okay, Taeju. The meteor shells are edible.”

“Really? Even this hard one?”

According to Hui, the meteor shells were rich in nutrients. She mentioned that the ground where meteors fell became fertile and suggested burying the empty meteors in the garden.

“Since Taesang likes it, let’s leave a few and bury the rest in the garden.”

Taeju stored the snacks in glass jars, categorized by type, and carefully placed them in the cabin’s kitchen cabinets. Hui, seeing the cabinets filled with snack jars, flew around the kitchen happily. Taeju watched her with a smile.

Taeju felt sleepy. He had done a lot of work in the garden from morning to night. He planted seeds in the greenhouse, cultivated crops in the garden plot, collected fertilizer materials, and harvested fruits. He also caught meteors in the cold sky. He decided to rest for the night and bury the meteor shells in the garden tomorrow.

“Hui, I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay, Taeju, good night.”

As Taeju opened the cabin bedroom door and stepped inside, he paused and glanced back. Hui and the others were still focused on the meteors. Seeing this, he quietly closed the door and entered the bedroom.

‘I forgot about this. There’s so much stuff.’

The bedroom was a mess with items from the box Taeju had opened. Dolls were rolling around on the floor, and cash was in a box on the bed. An umbrella, apron, and fur pajamas were casually draped over a chair.

The largest item was a dollhouse that looked like a medieval castle, taking up half of the bedroom floor. It came with a king, knights, soldiers, and horses.

Although Taeju wasn’t interested in doll play, he couldn’t help but admire the detailed decorations and composition. The chandeliers in the hall where the king sat and the armor models were all excellent.

The problem was that the bedroom had become so cramped that there was no place to step.

‘It’s cramped. I’ll just put the stuff on the bed and sleep.’

There were too many items, leaving no space to sleep. He thought he should clean up the cabin before burying the meteor shells tomorrow.