Troublemaker Baby (1)
Troublemaker Baby (1)
[Huabei-Dongbei Border: Necromancer Group Terrorist Attack Occurs]
[Emergency Grade 4 Evacuation Order Issued for Nearby Areas 'Gray Zone Risk Theory Resurfaces']
[Concerns over Chain Outbreaks of Dungeons... Association Declares 'Swift Suppression']
Former Chinese territory.
It was once the land of a nation that vanished into history, now a backwater region with only a handful of Association branch offices in place.
Even so, people live there.
It may not boast a population in the billions like in the past, but indigenous people who couldn't relocate their homes for practical reasons still remained.
Also, since its underdevelopment meant an abundance of dungeons and monsters, a small number of heroes and hunters stopped by to use it as a hunting ground.
And then a terrorist attack occurred in such a region.
A group of necromancers with twisted minds had risen en masse, reportedly carrying out a large-scale massacre.
Even office workers casually browsing the internet widened their eyes at the breaking news that topped the page.
The world was suddenly thrown into an uproar by the abrupt news.
[The Nightmare of a Ruined Nation Reemerges. Observation Team Confirms Reanimation of Entity 'Twin-headed Poison Dragon']
[Association 'Raises Evacuation Order' Nearby Area Evacuation Order Grade 4→Grade 2, Other Border Regions Declared Grade 3]
[Swift State of Emergency Declared, Association 'Plans Rapid Suppression in Coordination with Surrounding Forces']
Correction.
The world was turned upside down.
Economic indicators, which had already been on a relentless downward spiral due to the string of vicious incidents over the past months, instantly took a vertical nosedive.
For organizations pushing initiatives like the China Gray Zone redevelopment project, their bottom lines hit rock bottom.
After the Great Cataclysm, during the height of the Chaos Period, many nations collapsed.
Numerous high-rank monsters contributed to toppling those nations.
The Twin-headed Poison Dragon, however, was not a monster that appeared during the end of the Chaos Period.
It emerged just as the Chaos Period was gradually winding down thanks to the consecutive rise of heroes, at a time when the word 'peace' was cautiously making itself heard.
The Twin-headed Poison Dragon, surging up in China—a region that historically worshipped dragons—brutally silenced those who had dared to hastily cry out for peace.
From one head, waves of extreme poison that killed indiscriminately, whether living or non-living.
From the other, a mist of disease that spread beyond a thousand li.
With its massive body, it senselessly crushed cities, the liquid and smoke of death pouring from its twin heads.
Many who survived still suffer from the trauma even now.
Did only China suffer damage?
It was a vicious monster whose disease attacks not only rendered mainland China beyond recovery, but also caused horrific damage to neighboring regions.
Had its power weakened because it became undead? That fact did little to reassure those still haunted by the aftereffects of poison and disease to this very day.
This wasn't just a matter that would become a simple topic of conversation—it was a matter that would cause a considerable number of people to foam at the mouth and faint.
Reports continued.
[Breaking News) Observation Team Confirms Annihilation of Entity 'Twin-headed Poison Dragon']
[80% of Rampaging Undead Confirmed Annihilated, Subjugation of Remaining Monsters and Undead Underway]
[Merely Over 1 Hour Since Outbreak...]
The world shook once more.
The undead Twin-headed Poison Dragon had been subjugated roughly an hour after its emergence.
The massive undead forces that had been rampaging across various parts of China—about 70% of them were blown away in a single strike. The reason? Under investigation... But the news was far from despairing.
Those who had fainted from shock opened their eyes wide, fixing their gazes on the media.
[Entity 'Twin-headed Poison Dragon' Subjugation Credit Attributed to Lee Ha-yul]
And then, at the three syllables that appeared, their eyes widened impossibly further.
Lee Ha-yul. A name that occasionally popped up whenever you turned on the news in this world.
A hot-topic figure who had caused a sensation when he enrolled at Siyoram, and whose name boomed so loudly during the Sipnaha Incident that buildings might have crumbled.
And now this very figure had supposedly slain the resurrected Twin-headed Poison Dragon in one fell swoop.
Hopeful news that suppressed the shocking and horrifying reports...
[Breaking News) Special Admission Cadet Lee Ha-yul Missing...]
[Association Subordinate Search Party 'Amhaeng' Immediately Dispatched]
The Association was turned upside down.
A figure placed even above the upper echelons—the Association Council's 'Absolute Priority VIP'—had gotten into a brawl with a high-rank monster and was now missing.
[Calamity Flame Family Dispatches Ceasefire Unit to Huabei-Dongbei Border]
The Calamity Flame Family was also turned upside down. In some ways, even more severely than the Association.
The founder's Beacon Fire Sword that Lee Ha-yul had not merely drawn but stained completely.
Even the Council of Elders, who had been smiling as they envisioned an even more prosperous future for the family through complex discussions on how to handle him...
And Mrs. Choi, who had been relieved at the good news that her daughter had at least stamped the paperwork, collapsed upon hearing her son-in-law was missing.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who had been struggling through her heir duties, rolled her eyes back and fainted.
[Changhae Family Deploys Troops Within Frontlines. 'Proclaims Rescue of the Hero']
The Changhae Family was also turned upside down.
Already on high alert as neighbors to the area where the Twin-headed Poison Dragon had appeared, the Changhae Family—even its heir—took the lead in the search for Lee Ha-yul.
[Taesan Family "A Grave Threat to the Continuation of Humanity" Dispatches Troops to Suppress the Situation]
The Taesan Family was also in a state of emergency. They had no direct ties to Lee Ha-yul, but their precious heir and subordinate combat units had become caught up in the matter.
Because of one troublemaker who had run out of the Cradle, for reasons each their own... various factions gathered on Chinese soil.
* * *
The driving principles of Authorities are all different.
The Observation Authority barely consumes any mana.
If you alter the application method, it can consume mana, but when operated in its standard form, it mainly consumes Heart Power rather than mana.
The Space Authority guzzles mana.
Mere acts like opening a subspace barely register.
However, the process of erecting spatial walls, tearing them, and then linking them together not only devours a tremendous amount of mana, but also drains chunks of Heart Power.
Regardless, manifesting an Authority consumes Heart Power.
'Can't see...'
In other words, if Heart Power is lacking, Authority cannot be manifested.
Because of that, the world was dyed pitch black.
Even so, when I opened my eyes, a hazy fog greeted me; when I closed them, only a bleak blackness showed.
There was a technique prepared for times like this.
It was Echolocation, a method of perceiving the surroundings through sharply honed senses.
It was a method I had used in the Tower of Growth, but even that wasn't working properly now.
It felt as if the world had grown significantly larger... or perhaps I had become much smaller.
I suddenly wiggled my fingers. They seemed thinner and more slender than before.
The clothes I had been wearing were larger too. Since they had been steeped in poisonous mire and turned into a hideous wreck, I tossed them aside and slowly crawled away.
What was covering me now was the Sky Wing Feather.
For some reason, the fabric still attached to my back like wings was wrapping around my body as if to protect me.
Those wings were immensely large. They seemed long enough to wrap around me several times over.
'...Did I shrink? I can't tell...'
I couldn't tell if my current sensations were real.
'Ugh...'
My body was in pain.
It throbbed as if I'd been beaten all day long, and stung as if I'd been cut by a blade.
Other descriptions came to mind as well, but ultimately, my body hurt too much.
It hurt in many different ways.
First of all... my body was hot.
It felt as if I had swallowed fire and was holding it in my stomach.
The blood circulating through my veins felt like boiling oil, and the small amount of mana circulating through my torn circuits felt like flames.
My body felt like it would burn away and disappear at any moment.
And yet...
'It's cold...'
Contradictorily, my body was cold.
With a sense of crisis as if the tips of my fingers and toes were frozen solid and about to shatter, I curled my body up into a ball.
As I did so, my body would heat up as if melting.
And as I writhed in pain, I would become so deathly cold again as if turning into a solid block of ice.
Occasionally, I also felt as if my whole body was stiffening, turning back into a lump of dirt.
And somewhere around then, I realized what kind of symptom this was.
'Th-, Three Ends...'
Three Ends. The technique that forcibly combines Calamity Flame, Azure Sea, and Taesan and detonates them. This must be the side effect.
'...Hk...'
Perhaps because of that, my emotions kept vacillating wildly.
Probably under the influence of the Calamity Flame, my emotions were heightened.
I hated the whole world. My wretched state, crawling on the ground like a rag in some unknown place, was so miserable it brought me to tears.
I was lonely. The prospect of dying a lonesome, solitary death, and the fact that even if I survived, I never knew when I would suddenly die—it terrified me.
And then... probably under the influence of the Azure Sea, my emotions subsided.
Everyone's a stranger anyway, so there's no point in hating them. Since the pain makes me feel like I'm going to die soon anyway, it doesn't really matter. Once I'm dead, these connections will disappear. Wouldn't it be more comfortable to just die instead of suffering like this...?
My body was a wreck, and my mind, no less damaged, repeatedly melted and froze, becoming a complete mess.
My consciousness cut off and then reconnected.
.
.
.
I don't know how many days passed.
Fortunately, I didn't die.
I was so hungry my stomach was sticking to my spine, but I hadn't starved to death yet.
Even in my previous world, I was used to going this hungry, and now as a superhuman, I'd probably last much longer.
As for water... I licked at the damp ground where some moisture still seemed to linger.
At times like this, the fact that my sense of taste was ruined comforted me just a tiny bit.
Meanwhile, my Heart Power was slowly recovering, and the side effects of Three Ends were gradually fading.
If I wait a few more days like this, it feels like I'll be able to shake off the side effects and even manifest my Authorities.
- Vrrrm!
Then it happened.
My senses tingled. Without even needing to expend Heart Power or mana, a spatial resonance rattled against my skin.
'...What? What's going on with space here...'
I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
A sense of crisis suddenly surged up.
My condition is this miserable. If something like a monster were to discover me...
A chill swept over my entire body. A dizzying fear of death welled up.
Whatever the case, staying still like this might result in something terrible happening.
I moved my arms and legs. Strength wasn't cooperating well.
Standing up was out of the question; even crawling was difficult.
'Ugh...'
Wriggling my body, I slowly crawled along the ground like an insect.
As I was slowly moving away from the place where the spatial presence had resonated...
"I finally found...?! ...What?"
My body flinched and stiffened at the familiar presence.
The quality of the mana and that voice I'd missed...
It was Professor Liana's presence.
'An illusion?'
The first thing I did was doubt my senses. Was this inside a dream? Was I dreaming a dream of losing consciousness and being rescued?
Such assumptions came to mind.
I desperately wished it wasn't an illusion. That thought was too cruel and sad.
"──, ───."
As if to deny that thought, the presence I assumed was Professor Liana hurriedly approached.
Following that, a warm energy, accompanied by an incantation, settled over my body.
It was healing magic.
With that, I perceived reality.
I didn't know how she had found me, but this was undoubtedly Professor Liana.
The tension drained from my body in an instant.
"Ah, aah! Wait! Just in case, you mustn't lose consciousness! Cadet Lee Ha-yul!"
As I went limp and drooped, Professor Liana made a fuss and gently lifted me into her arms.
Her tender hands supported my body...?
'What the.'
The sense of incongruity swelled. A sensation that could not possibly be dismissed as an illusion was transmitted to me.
The hands that slipped under my armpits to lift me and supported my bottom and back... were too big.
They were almost like the hands of a giant. Compared to them, my own body felt very small.
I was held snugly in her embrace. The sensation was completely different from before. I sank in deeper.
"What on earth... um, baby? You are Cadet Lee Ha-yul... right?"
Professor Liana asked with a puzzled look.
'......'
At that question, my memories and the sense of incongruity suddenly clicked together like puzzle pieces.
What I had dismissed as sensory chaos... my surroundings feeling gigantic and myself feeling smaller.
Professor Liana's touch feeling like that of a giant, and my body being held much more snugly in her embrace than before.
'...Did I shrink?'
My body had shrunk. Or would it be more accurate to say I had gotten younger?
The moment I reached that conclusion, which I had been trying so hard to deny, my mind froze solid.
"Uh-oh... what is this... no, first, some nutritional supplements."
Whether I had frozen or not, Professor Liana examined my left arm... and the Proof of Protection which had shrunk to fit my younger frame, pulling a long face. Then she took something out and carefully placed it in my mouth.
The object, which seemed to be a bottle, gently tilted, letting a lukewarm liquid into my mouth in tiny trickles.
My fatigue-soaked body began to loosen up little by little. It seemed to be a stamina recovery potion.
I obediently gulped down what was fed to me.
Something felt strange. Soon, the potion that had been placed in my mouth was gone. A sudden sense of regret swept over me.
'...?'
All of a sudden, I became conscious of the sensation rubbing against my face repeatedly.
[Softness]
[Soft]
[Warmth]
It's soft. It's so huge and squishy my head sinks deeply into it. A gentle warmth keeps radiating out.
Instinctively, I buried my face deep into it. A happy sensation kindly embraced my entire face.
"It's okay. It must have been tough holding on alone, right? Don't worry. Because I'm here now, everything is okay now..."
As if approving my actions, a gentle stroking followed. The touch that descended while caressing my head and back filled me with happiness.
Where I was burying my face was a woman's chest. An important body part that should never be casually touched.
But it was incredibly soft and cozy...
'......'
My hands moved on their own.
"You held on so well. Now let's get out of—"
- Squeeze...
"—Hyah...?!"
A blissful sensation filled his hand.
* * *
[Player Correction System: Affection]
Lee Ha-yul → Liana Bellus
●●●●●●●○○○(66▶71/100)
｢Fondness｣ ｢Gratitude｣ ｢Kind Adult｣ ｢Squishy｣ ｢Warmth｣
...
[Player Correction System: Measurement]
...
▶Mental State
｢Loneliness｣
｢Craving Warmth｣
｢Craving Affection｣
｢Mental Weakening｣
｢Emotional Heightening｣
｢Emotional Plunge｣
｢Emotional Moderation｣