Editor: Tide, Rektsatan,
[Park Jung-ah]
“Ah, I don’t know!”
I shouted as my eyes opened suddenly, fixing themselves on the ceiling. I had woken up with a start, sweat drenching my back. The members who were working beside me looked at me in surprise. I raised my hand, signalling that everything was fine, and laid back on my chair.
I had been suffering for days already. The Korean rankers to the district committee and foreign rankers were all asking what the h.e.l.l had happened on the duel stage. But it wasn’t only them; I, too, couldn’t help but feel perplexed about how to explain the incident.
Some unheard-of alien broke into the Earth’s server and took part in the duel stage, advancing to the top round and putting all the challengers he met in trouble. His target was Hochi. When the foreigner met and confronted Hochi, the foreigner had been showing a confident att.i.tude. That was until he disappeared.
That was the extent of the information we knew. Any more details were unknown, but people kept asking me for information. Every time I had to repeat the same thing like a parrot. “I don’t know.”
While wallowing in self-pity, I received several messages. Tired of answering back one by one, I decided to ignore it by pushing it roughly into the corner of my vision.
What should I do?
Figuring out the extent of Hochi’s powers was a more pressing issue than dealing with the dead. I hadn’t even thought of checking how much power he had in the first place. But other people thought I was aware, which wasn’t the case. Now, I had to bear the consequences of that incident.
In need of advice, I left the conference room and went into another room. I softly asked, fidgeting with the ring, “What should I do?”
[I don’t know.] Ho-Jae answered in a clear voice.
I questioned again, feeling refreshed. “Will you die?”
[Oh, why would I die? Do you maybe want to kill me?]
Of course, I couldn’t kill him, but I had grown used to having such t.i.t-for-tat conversations. We were over thirty now, yet we still talked like children.
[You know what, don’t answer that. I can’t bear to hear. I don’t even want to know.]
“Tch.”
[Hey, that doesn’t mean you can click your tongue.]
Ho-jae was of no help. As always, it was up to me to deal with the accident. He didn’t get involved, nor did he want to.
“Hmm, I wasn’t expecting much from you anyway.”
I was asking just in case.
“Oppa, how strong are you now?”
[What did you say?]
“How strong are you? Of course, it’s hard for me to comprehend, but explain it to me.”
[No, the way you just addressed me.]
“What? Oppa?”
[Yes.]
What was the big deal? What else was I supposed to call him? When we fought, I called him a b*tch, but I couldn’t call him that now.
[I think this is the first time you’ve called me that]
That could be possible. However, the last time we met was ten years ago. How many times had I changed what I called Ho-jae? I thought back for a moment.
“No, I’ve said it before.”
[When? Ah. Well. I remember. I’m sure that’s…]
He must have recollected it too, but he trailed off. It was a bit embarra.s.sing to say when that incident had happened.
[Whatever, say it again. Again.]
“What? Oppa?”
[Yes.]
I don’t know what was wrong with Ho-jae, acting like a child even though he’s already grown older.
I felt embarra.s.sed. Slightly breathless, I said what Ho-jae wanted me to. “…Oppa.”
[Again.]
“Oppa.” Without realizing it, I had lowered my head and mumbled it again. I was the only one in this room anyway.
[Again.]
“Ah, really?! Do you want to hear me call you Oppa that much?”
[No, it’s just fun when you get shy.]
(Note from Imagine: I love these bits of Ho-Jae and Jung-Ah’s Chemistry)
At that moment, I had the impulse to take off the ring and hurl it as far away as I could.
I should calm down.
[Hoo. Haah. Hoo. Haah. Take a deep breath and calm down.]
My anger, which was about to die down, resurfaced, but somehow I managed to regain my composure. It was a bad habit to get this angry. It would be a good idea to fix it.
As calmly as possible, I asked again what I had asked earlier. Fortunately, Ho-jae also answered thoughtfully, not teasing anymore.
[About my power?]
“Yes.”
[Well- well, how should I explain it so that you understand?]
“How about your level?”
[Oh, yeah. There’s that level measure. It’s easy to understand using that, even though it can’t be called a standard method of measuring.]
Ho-jae had always insisted that their level had nothing to do with strength. However, all the other challengers used the level as a criterion for strength.
“So what’s your level?”
I wanted to speed up this conversation because I was worried that Ho-jae’s lengthy lecture on levels would start at any moment.
[500.]
“500?”
That was an unimaginably high number. Of course, it was a high value, but that was not the reason I was surprised.
“Not level 501?”
[Yes. 500.]
Back after I had heard about level from Ho-jae, I had noticed that his level always increased by 50 levels every time we met. He soon reached level 101, level 151, level 201, and so on. But 500?
[Max level.]
* * * * * *
[Lee Hochi]
“Well, what am I supposed to say?”
“What?”
What should I say to Yong-yong, who was looking at me with sparkling eyes? I didn’t know.
“Nothing. Well done.”
Yong-yong said he would make his own money to buy what he wanted in the market. At that critical moment, I had to partic.i.p.ate in the tournament and had gone away. I had been curious and anxious about how Yong-yong would make money, but he was doing better than I thought.
I thought Yong-yong would sell the things he made or make money with his magic skills. I was worried it could be dangerous for him, but Yong-yong was making money in a healthier way than I thought. He was looking at people’s fortune.
Their business was going very well. It was a shop inside a small, cosy tent with just a wooden desk, but there was a long line outside the tent.
The name made it seem like a pharaoh, who had laid inside a pyramid for millennia, had reincarnated, and was dabbling in fortune-telling. It was a surprise that Yong-yong could remember that name because I completely forgot it in a few seconds.
“By the way, when did you learn fortune-telling?” As far as I remembered, Ho-jae had never taught me anything like that.
Did he teach him when I wasn’t there?
“There was a store that did fortune-telling. I think Yong-yong got the idea from that store,” Baek Sung-woong said.
Baek Sung-woog said Yong-yong had been very interested in the shop and asked the fortune teller how to do this and that. It was a business secret, but the owner gave his secret away to our cute Yong-yong. Yong-yong was doing business based on what he had learned at that time.
“Thank you. Where is that store? I should go and say h.e.l.lo.”
“Ah… that store is gone,” Baek Sung-woong said.
“What? Why?”
“Their original location was next to this tent.”
When I heard what Baek Sung-woong said, I came out of the tent, and as he said, there was an empty shop next to the tent. I glanced at the people standing in a long line out of the tent again.
I see.
Yong-yong probably drew in all the customers from the neighbouring store.
Of course, Yong-yong must not have had any ill will; he was still too innocent after all. I felt sorry for the fortune-teller who had lost his business. Shop-owners at the tournament may not be very life-threatening, but the fortune-teller’s feelings wouldn’t be pleasant either. I should ask Park Jung-ah about his whereabouts later.
I went back into the tent. Inside the tent, Yong-yong sat on the floor with a small table in front of him. Behind Yong-yong was a thin sheet of cloth, and Baek Sung-woong’s role was to make an adult figure behind the fabric.
Of course, there was a lot of stale air inside the tent, but this was also a part of Yong-yong’s fortune-telling shop. No, this was also a part of Benedictus Lericia Piacan Laucones Naupolion Niss Tiamart Ca.r.s.earin Balakas Shanso Gardandes Necesario III fortune-telling shop’s charm.
There happened to be a couple who came to look at their fortunes. Yong-yong shook his arm in the air, looking at them, and threw the dice. The number that appeared on the dice was three.
“How’s our compatibility?”
“It’s the best,” Yong-yong gave a thumbs up and said.
No, it was common sense that it was not the best result if you got a three instead of one or six. Also, shouldn’t this couple at least look at the dice after Yong-tong threw it? And Yong-yong could have asked for their names or date of birth, but he just rolled the dice.
Questions arose in my head, but the couple liked it. Rather than rejoicing over the fact that their fortune was good, they looked at Yong-yong, who looked extra cute today.
Even if he stayed still, he was a cute dragon, but the way he seriously rolled the dice and stated the fortune doubled his cuteness. Also, people seemed to keep coming to see the cute hatchling, as he told good fortunes.
I was watching Yong-yong, who was always looking at people’s fortunes when a message came from Park Jung-ah.
[Park Jung-ah, 90th floor: I found your friend Lee Seok-hyeon. As expected, he couldn’t get out of the stage. He’s younger than I thought. Send him a message.]
I could finally get in touch with Seok-hyeon; one of the reasons why I had entered the tournament. I wondered what had happened that he couldn’t reply. Happily, I sent him a message.
* * * * * *
[Baek Sung-woong]
Much to my relief, the store was booming with business all day. I had been worried a lot.
Ever since I saw Yong-yong explode and kill a bear, I wondered if this cute kid might hurt people because he couldn’t control his strength. I vowed to watch and take care of him more carefully, and fortunately, neither Yong-yong nor Lee Hochi hated me for interfering. Instead, I felt thankful to them, who had instead been grateful to me for taking good care of them.
It had only been a few days, but we went around together all day long, so we became very close. In the process, I learned more about them.
When Park Jung-ah told me I would be in charge of the two people, I felt annoyed, wondering why I had been forced to do this. But now I thought that I was lucky to have met them and get to know them.
I watched Yong-yong regularly presenting fortunes to the guests. In a way, he seemed to be role-playing as an adult and being cute at the same time, which reminded me of my child on Earth.
At that moment, a new guest came in. Unlike other guests, who came with their lovers or friends, he or she was alone. There were often such guests. Most of the customers wanted to see Yong-yong for fun, but some seriously asked about their fate. There were always groups who wanted to risk their lives on silly, hopeless whims and came to visit Yong-yong.
“Can I achieve my goal? Can I do well?” the guest asked.
It was a vague question, but the guest seemed to want to know the answer.
Yong-yong was still very young, but not a fool. He noticed that the guest didn’t just want words of comfort and thought for a moment before answering. Yong-Yong asked the questioner what he was curious about first, rather than telling their fortune.
“Who do you want to kill?”
End
(T/N: That Oppa segment truly killed me. Lmao.)