Huh…
I never imagined I’d be this popular with kids.
At first, it wasn’t that bad. Although quite a few kids surrounded me, there were even more jellies, so it wasn’t too overwhelming.
However…
When I started interacting with the kids in front, those who were coming next also wanted to play. Somehow, even the ones who had climbed up somewhere came back down and approached me.
If I weren’t a jelly, I might have melted already from the kids’ body heat.
Of course, the kids’ constant poking wouldn’t kill me, but I must admit, it was mentally exhausting.
At first, I enjoyed mingling with them, but everything has its limit. I bet I’ve dealt with more kids playing with jelly than I ever did as a human. Kids love to mess around—I knew that already. But I didn’t expect such enthusiasm.
As a child, I used to play with sand and throw mud, having a great time. But now, I’m somewhat distant from such things—I’m a jelly, and an anomaly, after all.
For some reason, the kids didn’t seem afraid of me at all.
Considering the nature of this country, it makes sense that they didn’t tell the children about cruel things. Perhaps curiosity overpowered their fear.
…Honestly, I don’t understand what children think.
Right now, I might be the right height for their gaze, but deep down, I’m that… original uncle.
It’s too late to retrieve the lost innocence of childhood.
Perhaps?
It’s not like playing with kids will turn me back into one.
If that were true, all the uncles and aunts in this world would have regressed into children by now.
Still, something feels odd.
Anyway!
I couldn’t keep playing with kids forever.
I’ve already been poked so much, probably leaving fingerprints all over me. That’s enough, right?
Leaving behind the children who looked at me with longing, I went back through the counter and re-entered the waiting room where the jellies were.
I wanted to return to the room where the puddings were earlier, but to get there, I’d need to walk or take the basket elevator, which would put me at risk of being stopped by the kids. So, I decided against it.
By the way, I didn’t expect so many visitors with their families today.
What kind of marketing strategy made this happen? I vaguely recall Yang Ha-na talking enthusiastically while I handled the singularity, but I didn’t catch what she said.
Well, since most people who came to see me before were adults, maybe it’s about time things changed.
Or not?
Ugh, I don’t know. How would I? I’ve never run a business before, and suddenly thrust into this wooden hotel manager role. What do I know?
So now, I’m going to focus on my main responsibility—checking if the jellies are doing their jobs properly.
After making up my mind, as I sat in the waiting room, a part of Golden Jelly approached and guided the jellies through the hole.
It’s a very systematic process: Electric Scent checks the visitors’ details and passes the information to Golden Jelly, who then announces the schedule to the jellies.
If either Golden Jelly or Electric Scent weren’t there, the system would collapse. It’s exactly what people often refer to as ‘jjangso’.
I could command my direct jellies to communicate with the rest through a jelly network(?), but there’s still a lot of fuzziness in communication between humans and jellies.
My direct jellies seem to understand verbal commands well, but the others… how to put it?
They seem to understand what I say, but they won’t act unless they feel like it—lazy vibe.
But that’s only in the case of humans. When I or my direct jellies give instructions, they follow them meticulously. Even without being rewarded with puddings, they’d likely still follow through.
Though I sometimes give small puddings just in case, not that it’s necessary.
Of course, I wouldn’t push them too harshly.
Heat-work pay isn’t right.
Kim Cheon-soo might be tired, but what can I do? It’s all for the benefit of humanity, so I believe he feels honored.
…Whatever, don’t worry about Kim Cheon-soo. Han Seori seems capable enough to take care of him.
Anyway, there’s nothing I can give him. If I tried to help make puddings, the jellies wouldn’t eat them anyway.
Besides, asking him to act cute is out of the question, though touching jelly softly might be acceptable.
Although I wouldn’t want any man (children being the exception) touching me, maybe Kim Cheon-soo is okay within limits?
Anyway.
As I watched the jellies being called to go work, I moved on.
I’d heard that, apart from guiding people, the jellies also perform other tasks, and I wanted to check that.
While walking through the adorable corridors after leaving the waiting room, I noticed a space that smelled strongly of jelly.
In human terms, this smell would be sweat.
To confirm I was in the right place, I saw jellies working intensely, much like the ones I’d seen before in the jelly power station.
Seeing the wooden branches moving nonstop and some contraptions moving loudly, I deduced that this was the area controlling the elevators.
Apparently, there are several of these spaces on each floor.
Pity overwhelmed me, so I quickly left.
…Do you guys get more pudding than the others…?
I sincerely hope so.
With the peace of the jellies in my thoughts, I continued walking when I heard the sound of water flowing.
Turning my gaze towards the sound, I saw something resembling blood vessels with some liquid and something else flowing through them.
…That must be the sewer system connected to the bathroom, right?
I heard it’s tied to the outside facilities and used as fertilizer.
Though I wondered if human waste could really be used as fertilizer, if it helps the trees, I suppose that’s fine…
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s all I need to know.
Still, since I didn’t smell anything unpleasant in the countryside, I barely noticed it. That’s probably due to the amazing qualities of Electric Scent and the wood.
They probably wouldn’t understand me, so I decided not to either.
The fact remains—they work for me.
The boss shouldn’t worry about the trivial details of subordinates, but I should still try to care for them somehow… what do they like?
Golden Jelly always comes to hug me, so hugs would probably be fine for her. But what about Electric Scent…?
Oh right, jellies at the jelly power station receive supplies. Good, good, I’m sufficiently caring for them.
Thinking about it now, isn’t Kim Cheon-soo quite important?
After all, everything eventually leads back to the puddings made by Kim Cheon-soo…
Maybe he’s more important than I thought.
That said, I could probably manage without him if I really wanted to…
But I’m not a bad employer!
Lost in newfound admiration for Kim Cheon-soo, I moved on again.
I stumbled upon another space filled with crowded jellies.
But this one felt more tense and solemn than anywhere else.
What could be happening here?
Of course, it was the entrance connecting our house to the underground part of the tree.
Even though humans probably can’t reach this place, the solemnity of the jellies staying here remains because…
This is where puddings that supply the entire tree come in.
The jellies knew their significance, as they transferred the incoming puddings with utmost seriousness, strictness, and dignity.
Or, upon closer inspection, they were trying so hard not to eat them that it looked painful.
It was impressive.
Especially when I thought of young Jung-sik hiding in the fridge, it became clear how extraordinary the jellies here were.
Only veteran jellies with experience in isolation chambers were assigned here, but still, their competence shone through.
Feeling a surge of gratitude, I approached the row where puddings were being transferred and stretched out my jelly.
The target of my extension was a pudding being carried.
This startled the jelly carrying it. Flailing its head and making sad faces, it looked quite upset.
This was the first time I saw an always-smiling jelly with a distressed expression—it was somewhat shocking.
If it had blocked me with a hostile expression, I would have ignored it and “quality-checked” the pudding—though maybe “plundered” is a better word—but instead of that reaction, it acted like this, which was…
Regardless, just one piece.
If anyone asks, tell them it was Chairman—no, me!
Having enclosed a pudding into myself, I took my final steps toward the channel leading home.
As I passed through the dark passage and entered the bright area, the sensation was like encountering a laboratory randomly in the final stage of a horror game.
Living in a wooden hotel where jellies manually operate everything, seeing a white, electricity-powered space was quite a surreal experience.
It was adventurous and fun.
The path of civilization led me to the pudding packaging factory.
There, I saw jellies presumably dividing and loading puddings made by Kim Cheon-soo into carts.
Actually, the division and packaging were done by machines while the jellies were responsible for stacking and pulling carts.
It looked like a playful game with a cute charm.
Looking at these jellies, all so strict and solemn, I wondered what puddings meant to them.
While I blankly watched them pull carts away, a familiar voice reached my ears.
“What are you doing here?”
It was none other than Kim Cheon-soo, the master of pudding, standing with an extremely large tub.
…Is that tub full of pudding?
It would probably be fun to swim in there.
“This is not for you. Don’t you know that well enough…?”
Why’s he getting upset? All I did was look.
Silently nodding, I saw him finally relax, connect the tub to the machine, and begin feeding it into the system.
Does making so much pudding make it easier?
Anyway, now that I’ve encountered this pudding god, it’s time for some proper worship.
“…What’s wrong with you all of a sudden? Did you eat something bad?”
All I ate was your pudding.
With that, my inspection concluded.
A peaceful day.
I hope every day can be as serene as today.
