I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 73: Mimi Will Protect 아빠 and give an Idea!

Behind the cage, Si Hon remained frozen long after it left his immediate sight.

His hands were still over his mouth. His chest heaved silently.

(It let me go.)

The realization didn’t bring relief.

It made his stomach drop.

(It LET me go.)

That probably made it worse.

He dragged in a shallow breath through his nose.

Why?

(Why didn’t it kill me?)

Its teeth were right there. Its claws was close enough to tear through him like a paper.

(Because I’m not the target?)

(Or because it knows I’m weak?)

(No. That didn’t make sense. Predators don’t spare weakness. They crushed it.)

His throat tightened.

(Then what?)

(Is it bored?)

(Am I an entertainment?)

The thought made something cold slide down his spine.

(Or... does it want something else?)

His pulse thudded painfully in his ears.

(Or— Because it wants to watch?)

His eyes flicked up, wide and unblinking.

Is it watching?

Not hunting?

Not hesitating?

It is watching.

Like he was already caught... and this was just the part where it decided how long to let him realize it.

His thoughts spiraled, messy and sharp.

(What if it comes back? What if it’s still watching? What if this whole thing was just to see how scared I’d get? Am I shaking? I’m shaking...? Stop. I should STOP.)

His heartbeat refused to quiet.

Then—

Han-Gyeol Mimi pulsed violently against his finger.

A small black window blinked open in front of his face, flickering nervously.

「(⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠) 아빠... scared...」

The tiny text trembled slightly.

A small round chubby face appeared beside it, cheeks puffed, eyes glossy with determined worry.

「(ง •̀_•́)ง Mimi here!!! Mimi protect 아빠!!!」

A tiny chubby stick-figure popped up beneath the words, holding what looked like an oversized glowing spoon like it was a sword.

Absurd.

Adorable.

Completely out of place in this suffocating darkness.

Si Hon swallowed hard.

"I’m not scared..." he mouthed weakly.

But his body betrayed him.

He was terrified.

And somewhere deeper inside the cave— A low sound rolled through the stone.

Not loud.

Not close.

But there.

A chuckle.

Deep.

Contained.

Si Hon pressed his forehead briefly against the cold bars behind him.

(It knows I’m here.)

The thought settled heavy.

(It knows... and it’s not worried.)

He stayed like that a second too long, forehead pressed against the freezing bars, breath fogging faintly into the dark.

The cave felt tighter now. Smaller.

Like the walls had leaned in when he wasn’t looking.

And the worst part was the air.

It carried that damp, mineral scent— but beneath it lingered something else.

Faint. Sour. Metallic.

Familiar.

His stomach twisted.

It hadn’t gone far. It couldn’t have.

Water dripped somewhere deeper inside. Something scratched lightly against the stone. The echo of his own pulse filled the spaces between sounds.

His fingers curled slowly into fists, nails scraping against the rough stone floor.

If it truly meant to kill him, it would have done it already.

Quick. Easy. Efficient.

So this— this pause, this distance it left between them...

It was intentional.

A game needed space.

A hunter that toyed with its prey didn’t rush.

It circled.

It waited.

It let fear soften the bones first.

In that moment of so-called silence, it was not silent at all.

The cave breathed.

Water dripped in patient somewhere.

Something shifted deeper within the dark like some stone grinding against stone. And over all of it— loudest of all... was the frantic, humiliating beating of Si Hon’s heart trying to escape through his ribs.

An average person, in this situation, would run.

They would relocate.

Or they would scramble to a new hiding spot with whatever dignity they could salvage.

Shit...

Si Hon was not that average person.

Si Hon stayed exactly where he was. Sitting. Frozen, behind the cage. As if remaining still enough might convince the reality he did not exist.

Brilliant strategy. Truly revolutionary.

Then—

"Thud!"

Han-Gyeol Mimi pulsed violently against his finger like an overcaffeinated firefly.

The black window popped open beside his trembling hand.

「아빠... move! (ᗒᗩᗕ) Monster is busy!」

The tiny chubby avatar bounced urgently in the corner, spoon raised like a commander pointing at a battlefield map that absolutely did not go in their favor.

Si Hon stared at it.

Then, slowly— painfully slowly, he unfolded himself from the ground and stood.

He shuffled toward the edge of the rusted cage and peeked out.

There they were.

The three Munches.

Large. Distorted. Wrong in ways that made his brain itch.

They were clustered near the cave’s entrance... the deeper cave entrance, massive backs turned, attention focused on something out of sight. Their movements were heavy, deliberate. Distracted.

They were busy.

Which would have been comforting.

If they weren’t also looking every second directly in front of the only exit.

"...Shit," Si Hon whispered under his breath.

Busy.

But inconveniently busy.

He stared at them.

They did not move.

He did not move either.

The universe, in its infinite wisdom, provided no further instructions, to Si Hon of course.

Nevermind. Si Hon did not know what he was supposed to do.

Then—

Mimi appeared again.

「아빠...? Skill?」

The little face tilted.

Si Hon blinked.

(Skill? Wait. What does Mimi mean?)

He thought.

He thought very hard.

So hard, in fact, that veins practically pulsed at his temple.

His brain flipped through every memory like a malfunctioning slideshow.

Skills.

Skills.

Teleport?

Did he have teleport?

No.

He remembered the selection screen. The glowing options. The dramatic music. The life-changing moment.

And what did he choose?

Some bullshit... actually the other one was useful but the other wasn’t...

Somewhere, in Korea, Si Hon thought.

His older sister was probably tripping over her own feet while yelling at someone and calling it "training." He briefly wondered if she would have chosen something useful.

Probably not. She once tried to microwave a metal bowl because "it would heat faster."

(Wait, what the fuck am I thinking... Focus, Si Hon.)

Teleport.

He tried to think again.

He thought of every overpowered main character in every random Korean web novel he’d skimmed at 3 a.m. They all had teleport. Or shadow step. Or something edgy involving black mist and cool wind effects.

Bit him... he had a snack radar.

"...If I only picked the common teleport skill..." he muttered.

Something in his mind snagged.

Teleport.

Pause.

(Wait... status.)

The word formed clearly.

A blue window snapped open in front of him, glowing faintly, but not too much, against the cave walls.

And there it was.

His very unimpressive legacy.

────────────────────────

Name: Si Hon

Level: 20

EXP: 300 / 1050

Tendency: Careful Strategies

Job: Unemployed

Title:

Thief — tap for more...

A Clown — tap for more...

Free Stat Points:

Strength: 27 (3.2)

Agility: 19

Stamina: 38

Endurance: 33

Luck: 21

Intelligence: 19

Mana: 12

Skills (Active):

Quick Get-Up — Stand faster after falling (10 second cooldown)

All-Directional Movement

Passives:

One-Breath Focus — Perfect concentration for one second

Calm Mind — Slight panic reduction

Stamina Flicker — Gain energy equal to one deep breath

Perfect Snack Detection within 10 meters

Can Look Mysterious While Saying Nothing

Random Sparkle Appears During Cool Pose

Stabilize Body Heat — Reduces feeling of cold slightly

Can Pretend to Understand Instructions Convincingly

Intimidating Glare (very weak)

All-Directional Movement

────────────────────────

(Level 20, unemployed, two questionable titles, and an ass stats.)

His eyes dropped to the skills.

All-Directional Movement.

He stared at it.

(Fuck. Yes! I forgot this thing exists!!!) He shouted through his mind.

Then he blinked.

"...Wait."

It was listed twice.

On Active and Passive.

He leaned closer to the window as if proximity would explain it.

Why.

(Wait... why was it in both categories?)

(Does that mean it was special? It is special... but not that much.)

He tapped his chin.

(Would that mean... it’s a broken skill?)

He stared. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

(No way... does that mean I was about to accidentally launch myself into a wall at full speed? I would actually teleport if I use this but... wait what if... whenever I use this I’m always somewhere... flat... or... the one I’m aiming is near me.)

He considered asking for his systemy for more information.

He did not.

Confidence is sometimes indistinguishable from recklessness.

He dismissed the window with a shaky breath.

Slowly, carefully, he backed deeper into the shadows of the cage and scanned the ground around him.

No swords.

No legendary daggers humming or sparkling.

No glowing artifacts.

Just rocks.

Dust.

Old metal.

And—

(A stick...?)

Not even a good stick.

Crooked. Slightly damp. Questionable structural integrity.

Si Hon stared at it for a long moment.

"Well... That’s enough I guess."

He stepped forward like a man accepting his fate and picked it up.

The stick felt light, of course it is... it’s a stick.

Somewhere in the cave, one of the Munches shifted its weight. Stone scraped. A low rumble vibrated through the ground.

Si Hon tightened his grip on the stick.

Behind him, Mimi appeared and Mimi’s tiny avatar puffed up its cheeks and raised the glowing spoon higher inside the window.

「(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و o>」

In front of him, three monsters blocked the exit.

Above him, the cave ceiling loomed, heavy with tons of hanging remains, dead humans, skeletons swaying beside the bones of deer, mole-rats, dogs, and wolves, and more.

Inside him, panic and determination had entered into a very fragile alliance.

And the narrator— unbiased, merciless, would like to clarify: that this was not a heroic stance.

This was a 22 years old, Level 20 unemployed man with a snack detection, holding a damp stick, contemplating abusing a movement skill he did not fully understand against a three creatures large enough to use him as a toothpick.