Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Why were they all so large?

Were all mutated animals in this world gigantic? The black pig had been, the Oltura too, and now even the ducks.

Kim Haru calculated that if ducks of this size were kept in the pond on his farm, just two of them would be enough to cover the entire water surface. The lotus flowers currently growing there would be pushed down to the bottom of the pond.

He began to wonder if his idea of raising ducks was a good one after all.

Go Okrim, on the other hand, was marveling at the massive size of the ducks. "Hey, hyung, if we raised one duck this big, it'd last us ages!"

Kim Haru: "…"

True, with ducks this size, he wouldn't need to raise many—just one would be enough to eat for quite a while.

But no, no. Kim Haru still couldn't bring himself to imagine having such a huge duck in his pond.

Whatever Kim Haru's thoughts, the team had encountered this flock of ducks, and naturally, they had to make a move.

"Mr. Kim, you all stay hidden here," Do Seungjin, filled with excitement, positioned Kim Haru and the others safely out of the way. He waved off help from the other researchers and charged in alone.

Kim Haru watched as, in the blink of an eye, Do Seungjin had reached one of the ducks, leaped onto its long neck, and threw a water-type elemental chain around it.

The duck started to struggle wildly.

The other ducks didn't run away either. One by one, they stretched their necks toward Do Seungjin, trying to peck him. Their wide bills struck the ground, each peck leaving a sizeable crater; a direct hit would easily be fatal.

Kim Haru felt his heart race as he watched.

"Does Director Do need any help?" he asked the researchers around him.

The researchers all shook their heads. "The director loves fighting mutated animals. When he gets into it, he doesn't notice his teammates at all. If we go in, we'd just be in his way."

"Don't worry, Mr. Kim. With just a few ducks, the director can handle them."

Sure enough, despite the ducks' massive size, Do Seungjin managed to stay in their blind spot. No matter how wildly they attacked, he held on tight. Before long, the duck bounded by the water chain went limp.

In that moment, Do Seungjin's water chain had tightly locked the duck in place, leaving it no chance to escape.

Seeing they couldn't rescue their companion, and with the clear difference in strength between the two sides, the other ducks fled in disarray.

Do Seungjin flung the captured duck toward the shore, calling out to Kim Haru and the others, "Quickly, follow me—they're heading back to their nest!"

The researchers immediately followed, and Kim Haru and Go Okrim weren't far behind. The duck trapped in the water chain on the shore had no chance of escaping unless Do Seungjin came back to release it.

Just as Do Seungjin expected, the ducks splashed their way upstream and soon began moving onto the shore.

At this point, Do Seungjin no longer charged forward noisily. Instead, he slowed his pace, moving stealthily.

Kim Haru, who wasn't in the best shape, was already out of breath from the chase. Now at the back of the group, he finally let out a sigh of relief as he saw Do Seungjin slow down. Stay tuned for updates on My Virtual Library Empire

Finally catching his breath, Kim Haru took the opportunity to glance at the system map.

Duck egg!

On the map, just five steps to the side from his current location, a duck egg was marked as available for collection.

Kim Haru looked around but didn't see the large egg he was expecting.

However, the system map wouldn't lie, so he decided to head in that direction.

After all, it was only five steps—not far at all.

Without mentioning it to Do Seungjin, Kim Haru started moving toward the spot marked on the map.

This area, too, was covered in dried, yellowed vegetation, though it was somewhat different from the patches they had passed earlier. The dry plants here looked softer and somewhat familiar.

Kim Haru pulled a stalk from the ground and examined it.

Wasn't this dried thatch grass?

He looked ahead and saw an entire field of dried thatch identical to what he held, stretching as far as he could see.

Surveying the terrain nearby, he noted it was close to the river, with broad, flat ground along the bank. If this weren't a post-apocalyptic world, this place would be ideal for growing rice or wheat.

No wonder there was thatch grass here.

And thatch, he knew, was excellent for making nests for chickens or ducks.

Kim Haru rummaged through the thatch and, sure enough, found a duck egg.

To his surprise, the egg was normal-sized—nothing like the gigantic egg he had expected from these mutated, oversized ducks.

It seemed these ducks must have grown to such an enormous size only after they were hatched.

Without hesitation, Kim Haru stored the egg in his system backpack. He didn't overlook the surrounding thatch either.

Meanwhile, Do Seungjin, who was sneaking closer to the ducks' nest, finally noticed that Kim Haru had wandered off from the group!@@novelbin@@

The others rushed over. "Mr. Kim, what are you doing over here? Please be careful!"

Kim Haru pulled out the duck egg. "I found an egg here. I think there might be more nearby. This area seems suitable for ducks to lay eggs, so let's search around."

The group couldn't help but be impressed. Mr. Kim was truly remarkable—he had already found a duck egg so quickly.

Do Seungjin felt a little sheepish. He had planned to follow the ducks until he saw them lay their eggs, even if that took a while. In his previous experience with this kind of task, tracking animals to their nests could take a day, if not three to five days.

The other researchers admired Kim Haru's luck as well.