DATE

The novel's setting is Earth in a parallel universe.

The vehicle was rougher than a Korean or German car, but it was enormous, and it rumbled with a deep growl. I had things I needed to say to Ju-ae as well, so she took the wheel while I rode shotgun. Jeong-mi sat in the second row with A-hee beside her, and A-reum and Na-hee took the third row.

Just enough room for all of them.

Even American cars were big, but the third row was no place for adults — I confirmed that much and found myself thinking we ought to buy a larger van. I'd already ordered an MB minibus, but for moving around with a number this awkward, a minibus felt like overkill.

"H-honey. Are we going to a zoo?"

"Hmm? I don't know. When I was a kid I went to the zoo in Daejeon once… Ju-ae, Jeong-mi, you two would know better. Just pick the best one."

I didn't have any particular thoughts. My only memory of a zoo was that it reeked of elephant dung — or was it rhinoceros dung? I simply couldn't think of anywhere else to take the kids.

Before we pulled out, Ju-ae glanced at me. A faintly hurt look flickered across her face, as if her mood had soured — or was that just my imagination? When I turned toward her in puzzlement, she quickly pretended nothing was wrong and looked back at the kids.

"Girls. Where do you want to go? Daddy says he'll take you wherever you want. Na-hee, you first?"

"Really!!! Liaoning Safari!!!"

"Hmm? That's too far. Let's go in the summer."

Liaoning Safari was the largest zoo in Northeast Asia, located on Liaoning Island. We were already planning to head up to the Northern Three Islands for hunting in the summer anyway. Na-hee looked disappointed, then nodded at the promise of a summer trip. At that, A-hee, sitting beside Jeong-mi, thrust her head forward and shouted.

"Ohsung World!!!"

"Hmm? Hold on…"

It was a theme park built by the Ohsung Group on the west coast — marine park, zoo, amusement park, the works. I ran a quick mental calculation of how long it would take.

"Honey. Let's just stay overnight."

"Hmm… alright. Then Jeong-mi, tell Emily we'll be staying the night. Yeah, let's do that."

The jjimjilbang can wait.

Honestly, even two full days wouldn't be enough to see everything there. It wasn't Disney World, but it was still pretty massive.

"Na-hee, A-reum — is Ohsung World okay with you?"

"Yeah!! I like it!! A-reum, you said you wanted to go too, right?"

"Yeah."

Seeing everyone break into smiles, I looked over at Ju-ae in the driver's seat. She nodded as well.

"Then Ohsung World it is. I've never been either."

Jeong-mi beamed and nodded, and Ju-ae nodded too. Jeong-mi turned to A-reum.

"A-reum, have you been to Ohsung World?"

"No. Daddy never played with us because of the academy… but I did go to Lotte Land on a field trip."

Same for Na-hee. Eun-hee's husband Seung-woo at least had an excuse — his academy basically required him to work three hundred sixty-five days a year to earn more — but Uncle Myeong-hak had neglected the kids because he was too busy chasing women.

"First time for you too, Na-hee?"

Still, Hyeon-ju did take her to the Grand Park with Eun-hee. Once, at least…

I snorted.

"There's a nice family spa near Ohsung World — should we stop by this evening? Wearing swimsuits is a little awkward, but they have private family baths that are reall— ah… Ohsung World will be packed since it's Saturday, so let's go next time."

Jeong-mi had started to suggest it, then hesitated and trailed off. When Ju-ae's face briefly clouded over, Jeong-mi seemed to realize her mistake and changed the subject.

The Crotch Tattoo and the piercing. Even if a talisman could erase the tattoo, the piercing was the problem.

Ah…

With my hand in my pocket, I pulled one white talisman from the pile stored in my Subspace and pressed it onto Ju-ae's hand where it gripped the gearshift. The talisman dissolved with a soft whisper. Ju-ae's mouth fell open in shock. I reached over and poked her navel, and she stared at Jeong-mi in even greater astonishment.

Shh.

Jeong-mi nodded.

"If Jeong-mi wants to go, we go. Let's go."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Yes…"

Jeong-mi, catching on that I'd done something, smiled again and nodded.

Saturday!! How had I overlooked that…

Getting there didn't take long — about two hours. The Uijeong Expressway got us ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to Kaesong in no time, and from there it was just a matter of following the coastline. The real problem started when we arrived at the Ohsung World parking lot.

It looked like every child in the country had shown up. The parking lot alone was swarming with people.

Way too many people…

The crowds were wearing us down, but the kids' excitement only climbed as Ohsung World came into view.

"Wow!!!"

We'd timed it for opening, but the lines were staggering. So this was what it meant to be crushed by a throng.

"Daddy."

"Hmm?"

Na-hee, who'd been holding my hand, called out to me, and I scooped her up.

"Thank you. Mwah."

"Sure…"

Na-hee had changed so much. If this was just from Hyeon-ju hitting her, it felt far too genuine. And I'd heard she was aware her parents had divorced — yet she was brighter than ever. Brighter than before, even.

"Daddy. In the summer, you'll come to the water park here with us too, right?"

If it were summer, we could have enjoyed the marine park and the water park as well — but it was still winter. I'd wanted to go at least once myself, so I nodded.

"Yeah, kid. Wherever Na-hee, A-reum, and A-hee want to go, we'll go. Even if it's not me, you've got plenty of moms — you can go anywhere you want. Got it?"

"Yeah. Daddy. No — Oppa. I love you. Really."

She clung to me tightly. I stroked Na-hee's back — Hyeon-ju's daughter — still not understanding how she'd changed so completely. But it was a positive change, so I just smiled and kept petting her.

Myeong-hak was never a good father. And he even played favorites a little because Na-hee was a girl.

Daughters were so much better — I couldn't understand it. What good was a son? Daughters were the best.

I was certain Chaehyang hadn't been released, so I wasn't worried on that front. After Na-hee's shocking turnaround, I resolved to raise A-reum, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A-hee, and the rest as my daughters without prejudice, and followed Hyeon-ju forward.

"Honey. What tickets should I get?"

"We're staying through tomorrow, so get the weekend free passes. For Jeong-mi and Ju-ae too… it's not like we need to pinch pennies. How much would we even save here? If there's something we want to see later and we can't, we'll just regret it."

"Yes. Three adults, three children."

Ju-ae and I stepped aside with Na-hee and A-hee in our arms, and soon Jeong-mi came back with bracelet-like bands and fastened one onto each of us.

So that's how it works here. Just show these?

A whole different world. Character mascots were already greeting us at the entrance, and the kids couldn't stop gasping in delight.

The park split into five massive zones, and long lines snaked from the ticket booths toward the trams that ran to each one.

"Jeong-mi. I think the kids need name tags or something. Address, name, phone number. Looks like they sell them over there, so I'll go grab—"

"Hold A-reum for me. I'll go get them."

Jeong-mi and Ju-ae both seemed excited to be here after so long. They kept looking around with the exact same expressions as the kids.

"Ju-ae, you've been here before, right?"

"It's so complicated here… it's been over ten years. If I wanted an amusement park, I'd rather go abroad…"

"Ah… abroad."

Different scale entirely.

Disneyland in America was famous enough that I'd wanted to visit at least once. Well… it didn't seem like I'd ever get the chance.

Jini's voice confirmed what I'd been thinking. Knowing that, coming to Ohsung World today because of Na-hee didn't feel so bad after all.

"Na-hee, A-reum. Tell me anywhere you want to go. I'll take you even if it's overseas. O… Daddy will pull you out of school if he has to. America, Europe, Japan — anywhere."

Using the kids as an excuse to go abroad didn't sound half bad. Overseas travel was about to become a luxury on the level of space tourism, after all.

"Really? Daddy's the best."

"Daddy… really? Promise!"

A-reum held out her pinky, but I was holding two kids and couldn't do anything about it. Ju-ae stepped in, linked pinkies with her, and sealed the promise.

The kids we'll have won't even get to enjoy things like this… But they'll still be better off than the ones born after that.

As the crisis drew nearer, I was starting to understand — desperately — why Jini kept telling me to have children soon.

Jeong-mi came back loaded with purchases and carefully hung name tags around the kids' necks, tucking them inside their dresses. A quick glance showed our home address, phone number, and names written on them. Then, shamelessly, she'd bought headbands for everyone — and insisted on putting a lion-ear headband on me too.

"Do I really have to wear this?"

"Yes, you do. Look how happy the kids are — just put up with it for one day. Honey. You can do that, right?"

Jeong-mi seemed to like the idea too and nodded along, and the kids nodded even harder. I snorted a laugh, took the kids' hands firmly, and headed for the tram to the zoo.

A bus-shaped vehicle with wide windows of reinforced glass — the kids climbed into the safari car flushed with excitement at the thought of seeing animals up close.

Totally different from a regular zoo…

Normally you just looked at animals through cages. This time, even from inside a vehicle, we'd be seeing them up close — and even I was getting a little thrill out of it.

"Honey. Are we only doing the zoo today?"

"Probably? It's almost noon already, and you said you wanted to hit the hot springs earlier."

We sat in the very back with Jeong-mi and talked. An announcement came on, and the vehicle started moving — four cars rolling together through a massive gate into the zoo grounds.

"—The first animals you'll see are the descendants of the last tiger captured on the Korean Peninsula, here in Tiger Land."

Tigers still occasionally crossed over from Manchuria, but those weren't recognized as Korean tigers. After the last one was caught on Seoraksan in '87, the consensus was that Korean tigers had gone extinct in the wild.

"—To your right, the Korean tigers; to your left, the Siberian tigers. As you can see, the Korean tigers have a slightly larger build."

I snorted. Their bloodlines had mixed by now — was there even a point in drawing that distinction? Still, the ones labeled Korean tigers did have more bulk.

One of them sat lazily on a rock, staring at the passing vehicles and swishing its tail. Even among the Korean tigers, it was on the large side.

"Wow. Honey. It's strange. Getting looked at by that one on the rock… it feels like we're the animals, and it's the one watching us…"

"I felt it too."

At that moment, the glass panels on the right side of the vehicle lowered slightly. An announcement invited anyone who wanted to feed the tigers chicken to use the tongs provided. The largest tiger sprang down from the rock. The rock had to be a good five meters high, but the creature landed as lightly as a cat.

"ROAAAR!!!"

Its gaze swept back and forth between Ju-ae and Jeong-mi — a look thick with some strange, intense curiosity.

"The tiger approaching Car One is the great-granddaughter of Hosuni, the last tiger captured in '87. Her name is Horani. Unusually for a female, she holds the top rank in this Tiger Land — quite the matriarch. Kids, shall we say hello? Horani~~!"

The keeper in the passenger seat kept talking into the mic without pause, glancing back at us, while continuously pressing something through the window gap — a sharp clicking sound.

"Horani!!!"

All eleven children in the car shouted. Horani seemed to smirk, then raised a front paw in something like a wave before setting it down again.

Is this thing a damn spirit beast?

Sure, you could train a dog to do a few tricks — but this tiger had clearly performed the gesture properly, then cracked a grin.

"Wow!!! Mommy. Horani waved at me."

Na-hee told Ju-ae, but that smile and greeting had clearly been aimed at Ju-ae. The gaze, the feeling of it.

Can it sense the tiger tail?

In Ju-ae's case, to remodel her body so that pain became pleasure, she'd been contracted as a slave despite being ranked Bitch/Dog. That was why she still had a tiger's tail.

Ah… sounds like the government tried something and it died.

Curious, I opened my Soul Eyes. She clearly had a soul roughly twice the size of the other tigers'. Our eyes met, and Horani tilted her head — then smirked.

Insane…

"Horani seems to be in a good mood! Did you all see that? She smiled twice — that's incredibly rare!!!"

That shocking encounter with Horani left me with so much to think about that for the rest of the tiger viewing, I just stared blankly at her alone. Her body was, with only slight exaggeration, about one and a half times the size of the other tigers. Some of the Bengal tigers on the left looked like cubs next to her. And the charisma, that strangely languid gaze — she radiated the aura of the king of beasts from every pore.

Is there a way to extract Horani in two years?

I felt the pills in my closed fist. Pretending to pull a chicken leg from the feed bin beside my seat, I stuffed the pills into it.

Sshk.

They went in smoothly. I gripped it with the tongs and extended it through the slightly open bars. The massive tiger called Horani sniffed, then approached.

"Grrrr…"

She let out a low growl, and every tiger that had crowded near my side backed off. Horani reared up on her hind legs and leaned against the bus.

Whoa… a tiger's face is this big?

I blankly fed the pill-stuffed chicken leg into Horani's mouth. She took it, then set her front paws back on the ground.

"Horani is, unusually for a female tiger, the longest tiger ever recorded among all currently known specimens. Excluding the tail, she measures 4.4 meters. And she's only four years old."

If I tamed a tiger like that and kept her at home, wouldn't she chew through most monsters without breaking a sweat? My heart was pounding. For the first time, I felt possessiveness toward something that wasn't my own household.

She clearly belonged to the Ohsung Group, and in Korea you couldn't keep a tiger like that as a private individual… but I wanted her so badly.

The Constellation will give me an answer… surely.

As I thought that, the vehicle moved on to the next animal zone. For the rest of the tour, no other animal registered in my vision at all. I just nodded and answered whenever the kids, Jeong-mi, or Ju-ae asked me something.