Chapter 13: Healing life of the other world

There were a lot of responses that mentioned upcoming doom, but most of them were jokes. Viewers knew by watching the video that the gigantic wolf was getting along with Joonbum pretty well. It was easy to see that the wolf did not show hostility against Joonbum anymore, but viewers still filled the response area with speculations.

After reading through all the captured responses, Joonbum looked at the camera and grinned.

‘They’ll holler like crazy.’

He turned his back on the camera and picked up a chainsaw, grinning more than ever.

“This grin will get them good. Hehehe.”

Joonbum cackled, imagining all those ticked off viewers trying hard to curse at Joonbum at every opportunity. Maybe he should not taunt his viewers, but it was his way to let off steam.

“Yeah, I welcome all hostilities too. But, speaking of which, I did change a lot.”

Joonbum mumbled as he stretched and twisted his waist, preparing to do his daily work. With a yellow safety helmet, tanned skin, a dirty white beater, and a utility belt full of tools, right now, he sure looked like a true construction worker.

He tensed up as he slowly walked towards Galfus.

“Galfus!”

He threw a pig bone towards Galfus, which Galfus munched into powder as if it were candy.

“Let’s get that thing off today!”

While tightly chained up, Galfus let out a low growl. It seemed terrifying but it was not trying to be hostile.

‘It doesn’t seem to be angry. Maybe just uncomfortable? Or it might just be out of habit.’

It sounded similar overall, but Joonbum slowly recognized the differences between each growl. Galfus was not showing hostility even when its body was bound by the chain that was connected to the tree. It seemed more like it was expecting to be scrubbed.

“Hey, I’ll get that cast off first.”

Joonbum spoke to Galfus, knowing it wouldn’t understand. He took out an iron stake and a handsaw. Galfus seemed alerted by the unknown tool but still let Joonbum do his thing. Joonbum started working on the cast and it was cut into pieces as he carefully sawed across it, slowly revealing Galfus’ leg.

‘Ugh, awful!’

A terrible stench emanated as more of the leg was revealed. Joonbum was getting used to Galfus’ smell, but this was much worse.

“Wait! Wait!”

Joonbum shouted as Galfus started to react as its leg was starting to appear. Galfus stopped trying to move at that shout and calmed down, silently watching him.

Finally, the first cast was off.

“Oh wow, it smells so bad.”

Joonbum stepped back away from the stench. The leg as big as a human adult and was giving off an awful stench.

“Hey, it’s your leg!”

It was funny to see that even Galfus was startled by the smell, stopping the examination of its own leg.

The next one was easy. As Joonbum started hacking away at the cast of the front leg, Galfus looked away from the terrible stench emanating right up from its front leg.

“Whoa, it stinks so bad. You think so too?”

Galfus growled. In normal circumstances, an animal would lick its own wound at the first opportunity. But here it was, ignoring it as best as it could, avoiding the smell as much as possible.

“And done! Hah, it just stinks.”

Joonbum quickly stepped away and found his breath.

“What’s going on?”

Galfus was acting strangely. Even after everything was done, it did not move. It was still lying down, despite being freed, glancing at its leg and then at Joonbum, growling.

“Hey… don’t say that you want me to take care of the smell?”

Everything Galfus was doing was obviously indicating that.

“What! I can’t believe this!”

Galfus growled at Joonbum, seemingly annoyed by him doing nothing but talking instead of acting on it.

“Hah!”

Joonbum sighed loudly and examined the leg. Even without a cast, Galfus wasn’t moving it much.

‘The bone might have healed but it will take time for it to move about freely. I guess we can make it a bath day then.’

The wind blew away some of the smell, but the fur still stank terribly.

“Let’s see.”

Joonbum took out a cigarette, taking a break. He looked around and found what he needed.

“Should be enough.”

He climbed up to a water tank that he had set up inside the fortress, which took him roughly a full month and ten days to build.

‘It’s enough,’ he thought after checking the top.

The biggest concern about living here was the water. He only brought along drinking water at first, but his need for a water supply grew very quickly. In the end, he bought a big water tank that he set up on the tree and filled it by moving back and forth using the truck.

“I guess it’s bath time then!”

Joonbum shouted as he got down and prepared for Galfus’ bath. He went towards the boiler and turned it on.

“Okay, it’s working.”

He first checked to see if it was working fine and connected it to a water hose outside the fortress.

“It’s time to bath- what?”

Galfus was lying on its back, obviously asking for a belly rub, even before Joonbum finished his words.

“Wow, you gotta be kidding me. We’ve got something even better today.”

Joonbum spoke as he pressed a button installed on the pole.

A machine started moving, pulling up Galfus by the chain that was wrapped around it. Galfus tensed up at first but soon relaxed as if it was used to it.

‘Who would believe that he writhed so much that first time?’

Joonbum frowned. Soon, Galfus was hanging up in the air about three feet high. Joonbum brought this machine so that Galfus wouldn’t lie on the same side for over a month, following the advice from his viewers.

He then checked the water temperature and started spraying Galfus. The water washed the dirt off of Galfus and dripped down to the ground. It seemed to be slightly bothered at first but soon began to enjoy it, growling in pleasure.

“You like it? You like it? Here’s the BATH. BATH.”

Joonbum repeated the word multiple times as he sprayed dog shampoo all over it. He then started brushing all over it using a rake, which Galfus enjoyed. As he moved the rake to its neck, Galfus raised its head up, asking for a scrub.

“You should be a dog, not a wolf. An intelligent one though.”

Joonbum mumbled as he scrubbed Galfus with the rake where ever it wanted. He was sure he could see Galfus’ eyes beaming with happiness.

“It’s the leg now!”

Galfus growled when the rake moved to its injured leg but relaxed as the rake moved carefully. The bubbles here were yellow instead of white. It was due to the dirt that accumulated over months of confinement in the cast.

As Joonbum raked a bit roughly, Galfus let out a moan-like growl that seemed like it was enjoying the pleasure arising from cleaning out the stench.

‘This should feel much better than scrubbing with that big scratcher.’

Joonbum worked on it for a while, taking off all dirt and then sprayed warm water to wash it off.

“You sized down.”

Galfus seemed much smaller with its fur soaked with water.

“It’s rehabilitation time now.”

Joonbum moved Galfus to a portable outside pool that he had prepared. When the chain came down to a point where its paws met the ground, he stopped. It was low enough to allow Galfus to stand up on its own if it wanted to. Joonbum sprayed warm water at the previously wounded leg.

Galfus did not move its leg at first but slowly started to test it. Joonbum watched for a bit and stepped back to where he had prepared a parasol and sat down.

“Break time for me.”

Galfus kept on moving as Joonbum took out a cigarette and beer. Time passed quickly and the kiddy pool overflowed with water as Galfus dipped its legs in.

“Kid-size wasn’t even close!”

It was too big for the pool, so he had no other way but to just spray directly at the leg.

“He’s smart. Really smart.”

Joonbum spoke as he opened up his second beer. Galfus was already standing on all fours and let the running water flow down one of its wounded legs. It even switched between its wounded legs, showing its intelligence.

[Turd! You just realized that?]

[He’s just so dumb. I guess he knew it physically, but took time to comprehend.]

[You were Galfus’ servant from the beginning. Don’t pretend you just found that out!]

[Are you calling Galfus a pig? You pig!]

[Hey, I went back to the first video and it did gain some weight.]

[I knew it when he kept feeding him like a pig. He fed him three times a day like a human!]

[It’s not time to rant at a servant! You just ruined a wild wolf!]

[I think he’s just showing off.]

[What? What an evil son of a…]

[He drinks beer well.]

[He’s a pig. Didn’t you know?]

[I want some of that too! Come to think of it, he always drinks alcohol.]

[He says it’s not. It’s Sprite. Sprite with bubbles.]

[You think he will get banned if we file complaints?]

[HEY! Our Goddess Youngah wants to see you! Answer you pig!]

[Get out of here, loser. Who do you think you are asking here? He’s on a different level.]

[Right! Even Minjung Choi wanted to do a joint broadcast the other day. Who cares about Youngah Lee?]

[Didn’t she made fun of our pig on her video last time?]

[GET OUT OF HERE!]

The new video had loads of responses and over ten thousand were posted in a day. His popularity was at its peak.

‘…and the messages too.’

[CEO of Dongsang Media…]

[CEO of Junjin Media…]

He couldn’t read all the messages as it just kept piling up more and more. Most were compliments about the video, how it looked so natural and they wanted to purchase that skill behind it.

‘Pass.’

It wasn’t computer graphics, as these companies had assumed. There was no way he would open up this secret to the public, or sign any contracts.

[Rice cake commercial sponsor offer…]

[Udon commercial sponsor offer…]

‘Rice cake? Udon? Naw…’

He didn’t want to be rude, but it was not even remotely related to his content.

‘I was not the one to choose before, but now I can.’

If it was before he started all this, he would have signed a contract without looking back twice. But it was not like that anymore. He had more choices that he could make that would suit his taste.

‘I shouldn’t add any commercials that can annoy viewers.’

[Hey, this is Jinpok. Is it so hard to meet up? You’ve got some nerve.]

[Have you become so arrogant with all your popularity? Ignoring me like that?]

[Answer me, damn it!]

[You think you can continue streaming after belittling me like this?]

[This is my final warning. I’ll give you two days. If you don’t contact me by then, I’ll start the restriction.]

[Hah! You have some balls. Joonbum, I’ll be watching you.]

Joonbum scowled at the text.

‘Jinpok!’