I gently swirled the upside-down triangular glass, and the pudding inside swayed back and forth, resembling yellow wine.
Shaking the pudding in the glass as I looked outside, I could see the blue sky and the sun, with the silhouettes of people gathering below.
Since the height made the people look like real ants, it was clear at a glance that quite a number of them were approaching the Wooden Hotel.
Looking at that scene filled the Jelly with delight.
After all, it was proof that venturing outside hadn’t been in vain.
And the thought that these people weren’t staying here for free made me feel like I’d achieved something.
Me, Jin Lime… hmm… Founder? As the owner of the tree, I’ve succeeded.
I tilted the glass, feeling a bit tipsy. Perhaps it wasn’t just the mood, but today the pudding tasted sweeter.
Of course, the money these people spend doesn’t actually end up in my pocket, but my heart feels abundant.
I finished the remaining pudding by licking the jelly off the glass and left the room.
I was going to inspect—no, not inspect, survey—whether the Wooden Hotel was running smoothly, feeling like a president.
When things seem to be going well, that’s precisely when trouble arises.
For instance, the people who always cause trouble might be up to something again this time, as usual.
I heard through the grapevine that they’re trying to make excuses and are flailing around desperately.
Those people who are constantly scheming wouldn’t just sit there and watch our hotel thrive.
Thinking this way gave me a sense of mission.
How dare they try to interfere with my business?
Although I haven’t found them yet, if they really are here, I’ll give them a piece of my mind.
I emerged from the almost top-floor suite (?) and glanced around.
The first thing I noticed was the tree trunk moving busily.
This indicated that the eco-friendly (?) elevator was working.
According to Ki Hyang, it’s divided by zones or something.
Honestly, I listened but couldn’t understand what she said.
It all sounded like some kind of Singularity to me.
Like something an alien would say.
Anyway, it’s an elevator using the Jelly engine and the structure of the tree. I don’t know how it works. If I did, I’d probably be Ki Hyang, not Lime.
Han Seori handles adult affairs.
Ki Hyang deals with technical matters.
What about me, you ask?
I’m the one who picks the fruit… no, I’m moving around to protect the safety of the Wooden Hotel.
This is as important as what Han Seori and Ki Hyang do. I’m not kidding; I mean it.
It’s like setting up dominoes; it’s important, but so is making sure no one knocks them over.
How sad would it be if someone came, kicked the dominoes with their foot, and laughed about it?
Of course, I’d almost kill that person, but you’d still have to reset the dominoes.
Actually… it might not even be possible to reset them sometimes.
Anyway.
With renewed sense of mission, I took a step towards a small hole in the wall.
It was high enough that children couldn’t reach it, and too narrow for any adult to enter.
I heard this serves as the jelly’s passage.
I’ve only heard about it; I’ve never actually tried it myself, so I was somewhat excited.
Climbing up the wall carefully, I slipped in without hesitation.
Immediately, my vision started moving rapidly. If I were in human form, my bottom would surely have felt like it was on fire at such speed.
Considering the height of the tree, I guessed this speed was necessary to stay on schedule.
Still, although mounting the slide was fine…
How do you stop this thing?
I didn’t remember hearing about that, so a chill ran down the jelly’s spine. It felt like a long endless slide with no stopping mechanism.
It seemed to be accelerating subtly. Is this really okay?
What if I somehow end up like a pancake?
Bah, the jellies get around just fine on it, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?
…But what if they made it without considering I’d be using it?
No matter how worried I was,
Like the Earth spinning consistently, my body slid along the slide steadily, even if I wanted to stop.
I could probably stop if I wanted to, but something felt off, so I kept sliding helplessly.
It’s dangerous to have people stuck in the middle of a water slide, right? Just as I thought this, there was a “thud.”
A jelly appeared.
It looked as if it had boarded from a hole in another floor. The jelly, unaware of my sliding presence, looked puzzled and had a mini pudding in its stomach.
Mini pudding.
It was a trick to instill enthusiasm for work among the jellies.
I came up with this method because if I gave them a full pudding all at once, the amount they would consume would be unmanageable. It worked well.
Unless we could split Kim Cheon-soo into Kim/Chun/Soo, there was nothing to be done, but this method was actually quite effective.
It seemed like the jellies felt like they were getting pudding more often, which was… in a word, deceitful, but I thought it was cute, so it was fine.
During this time, jellies began to pile up in front of me.
Then, bright light appeared, and the jellies and I were launched into a space decorated like a waiting room.
I thought I might collide with the wall and be squished, but luckily nothing like that happened.
Upon standing upright in the waiting room, the jellies looked up at me with wide eyes, seemingly asking, “Why are you here, teacher?”
Ahem… it feels like I’m relaxing when some higher-up arrives.
It makes me feel a little embarrassed.
I patted the jellies on the shoulder and threw myself into another hole. Repeating this several times, I eventually reached the hole where I assumed Ki Hyang and Gold Jelly would be.
The jellies waiting there stared at me with the same puzzled look as before.
Why do you keep looking at me like that, kids?
At first, I felt fine, but the continued stares made me feel strange.
It’s like the way people look at an unemployed family member, isn’t it?
Mom, why is my older brother always at home?
That kind of look?
No, I’m not unemployed, okay? I’ve been doing work you couldn’t do, so stop looking at me like that!
Don’t! Stop looking at me like that…!
Crawling into the last hole while leaving the mischievous jellies behind, I found Ki Hyang looking somewhat displeased and Gold Jelly rushing to hug me.
“Why are you here?”
Ki Hyang actually sounded curious.
And Gold Jelly eventually hugged me tightly, as if pleading for a hug while saying, “I work so hard; can’t you hug me?”
Being hugged closely with an apron between us made her ample silhouette feel all too clear.
It was practically seamless, like she was hugging a single body, especially since without the apron, the boundary would feel nonexistent.
Feeling slightly embarrassed while being hugged, I heard people’s voices.
“Wait… she’s different from the others! It’s Lime!”
“Huh!”
The children’s voices came first.
That was a strange sensation.
Because when I went outside, I usually only met adults.
And obviously, who would leave children where dangerous things could appear?
Still, the children recognized me and had faces that wanted to touch… no, wanting to touch makes me uncomfortable.
Me?! Don’t look at me like that!
Leaving those naughty jellies behind and wriggling into the last hole, I found Ki Hyang looking somewhat dissatisfied and Gold Jelly eager to cuddle.
“Why are you here?”
Ki Hyang actually voiced her curiosity.
Gold Jelly, without hesitation, hugged me.
As if she wanted a hug for working so hard, her firm grip felt somewhat aggressive.
Closely hugging through the apron made her plump silhouette all too obvious.
The feeling was almost like sharing a single body, as without the apron, the boundary would blur further.
People’s voices reached me as I felt somewhat awkward being embraced.
“Hey, she’s different from the others… It’s Lime!”
“Huh!”
Children’s clear voices were the first to reach my ears.
It was such a strange feeling.
Because usually, when I ventured outside, I only met adults.
That made sense. No adult would leave their children in a place where dangerous things might occur.
Still, the children recognized me and wanted to touch—not that the latter part was entirely okay—but it left me unsettled.
“Can we touch her once?”
“It’s really curious…”
“Wow, she must be so soft!”
You really wanted to touch, didn’t you?
But, you know… I’m not some squishy toy for sensory play, okay kids?
Still…
Looking into the children’s bright, eager eyes, saying “no” was so difficult.
I would’ve easily swatted away any adult’s overeager fingers, no problem.
But children—they’re exempt.
Eventually, I abandoned my grand idea of patrolling the hotel and played with the children who’d come to the counter.
Watching the children laugh brightly made me feel that the future of this country was bright.
It was almost as if my personal jellies and the little jellies came to mind—maybe it was just me?
Hold on just a moment, kids… You’re squirming too much! Stop it!
As Lime entertained and shared this peculiar moment with the children,
somewhere unknown…
A man carefully entered a building that, for some reason, felt a bit creepy upon observation.
The man entered the building cautiously and after spitting out saliva nervously, started a conversation with a woman who seemed rather friendly, then followed her guidance to a small room.
With his sleeve rolled up, the man waited, his face tense, as an apparition with a mask entered and spoke in a low voice.
“Are you here to donate blood?”
“…Yes.”
“Excellent. You’ve already rolled up your sleeve.”
The apparition smiled in satisfaction, withdrawing something from their sleeve before pressing it into the man’s arm.
Something sharp pierced his skin, and the sound of it made me flinch, but then the man’s blood started to flow into something.
“Ah…”
It was a horrifying scene, his blood draining out, yet the man himself looked oddly dreamy, shaking his body as if under someone’s spell.
When the man’s face began to lose some color,
the apparition watching silently reached out and pulled something from the man’s arm.
Whatever it was that clung to his arm seemed unwilling to let go, but it obediently fell at the apparition’s touch.
“Then, enjoy the rest of your time.”
Without another word, the apparition left the room, leaving behind the man who was grinning foolishly and drooling.
The room was filled with eerie laughter.
Not long after the apparition left, similar sounds could be heard from neighboring rooms.
In another room, an apparition who was feeding something blood looked at the human who had seemingly lost consciousness, smiling stupidly and drooling as they muttered softly.
“Isn’t it better to just go extinct?”
This thought lingering,
The apparition carefully caressed something cradled in their arms and continued on their way.
