The Girl Ran Toward the Starting Point

The girl ran toward the starting point.

I frowned as I checked the punishment timer floating in the air. After sitting still and letting quite a bit of time drift by, a worry suddenly occurred to me.

"By the way, is that going to be okay?"

[What is?]

"My appearance changed all of a sudden, remember? If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I go back like this, what happens to things like my ID? And judging by what you said earlier, I'm supposed to be dodging the gazes of some kings or whatever..."

[You're worrying over nothing. It's extremely common for an Awakened one's body to change according to their skills. Dragon bloodlines, too, are quite common.]

I tilted my head at the Heavenly Dragon King's words. As far as I had been able to confirm, there were hardly any Awakened who were presumed to have acquired dragon-related skills. The most famous was an Awakened from China named Bai Wu.

[So you have no need to worry. As long as you do as I command, that is.]

"..."

I shut my mouth without answering. If my heart had its way, I had more than a few things I wanted to argue about, but the restriction placed on me made it impossible to open my mouth. I was even censoring my own thoughts as much as I could, so that said it all.

If it had merely been something that inflicted pain and left it at that, I would have thrown a fit without holding back. But now that I'd calmed down and thought it over, the restriction's effect went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beyond simply handing down agony.

My intelligence gets a little... off...

How should I put it. For a short while, it would be accurate to say my intelligence dropped. Otherwise, would I ever have obeyed that meekly? Still, since it got better with time, it didn't seem to be a permanent condition.

[You seem to have a great many worries. It's fine. The Executor will not lay a hand on you.]

The remaining punishment time grew shorter and shorter. Every now and then, the Heavenly Dragon King would strike up a conversation with me — usually by reading my thoughts and answering them however it pleased him.

And in doing so, I was able to discover one strange thing.

Ooooooh...

[Must you keep doing that 'ooooh' thing? You are loud.]

That was it — it didn't seem like he could read everything I thought. It might have just been my imagination, but at least in the present moment, he wasn't reacting to thoughts that took place somewhere deep and conscious.

I could tell even now. I went on muttering like an idiot to string my thoughts together, yet the Heavenly Dragon King had only responded to the first part.

"So, how did you end up like that anyway?"

I kept my words and my thoughts separate. It was a bit tricky, but not impossible.

[I fell into a vile trap.]

"I see..."

What a dumbass.

You okay...?

[Had it not been for that trap, the one who fell into this place would not have been me, but another of the Seven Kings.]

"You must have been quite the remarkable figure."

[Ahem...]

I was in the middle of chatting with the Heavenly Dragon King when the remaining punishment time reached its end. With a brief flash of light, I was transported somewhere.

Pwaaht—!

The place I arrived at was the staging ground where I'd received my equipment before entering the Abyss.

"Hm... Lee Semin?"

A voice I remembered. Following the sound with my eyes, I found the Executor wearing a thoroughly annoyed expression. Dressed exactly as he had been when we parted, he looked me over and nodded.

"Awakened a new skill, did you? You're in far better shape than before."

"Uh, yes..."

"Confirmed. No issues on the system side. Did you bring the recording device?"

"Ah, that's..."

Rummaging through the makeshift backpack I'd made by bundling up my ruined clothes, I pulled out the machine and handed it over. The Executor checked it and gave a nod.

"You've fulfilled your obligations faithfully. Follow the stairs up and you'll return to the surface. The only thing left is the matter of your changed body... If you wait two or three days, a new ID card will be issued."

"Uh..."

"Is there a problem?"

"Do — do I really need a new ID issued?"

"It's not mandatory. However, any disadvantages that result from not having one will be entirely yours to bear..."

"On second thought, getting one issued sounds like the better idea."

Saying that there was still paperwork left over from before we parted, the Executor held out a pen and a single thin sheet of paper. Examining the contents crammed densely onto it, I found page after page of warning: should I divulge anything I had seen or heard inside the Abyss to the outside world, I would be subject to every manner of restriction and severe penalties.

"Do I absolutely have to sign this?"

"Don't sign it, and you don't leave."

I had no choice but to sign.

Before heading up to the surface, I got back the belongings that had been confiscated — which amounted to my wallet and my phone, and nothing more.

The first thing I checked after getting my phone back was my messenger. Even though I'd never told a soul I'd been hauled off by an Executor, everyone I knew already knew that I'd been taken in.

Tap-tap—

Tapping at the phone screen, which now felt larger than before, I carefully spoke up.

"Can you, by any chance, see this screen?"

[Is it something important?]

Just in case, I typed something out.

-Crazy Bitch-

But contrary to my fears, the Heavenly Dragon King didn't react. Thank goodness — the screen really was invisible to him. I let out a sigh of relief and pocketed the phone.

Right after coming up to the surface, I grabbed a taxi straight away and headed home. The cab driver must have been bothered by my outfit, because he tried to strike up conversation a few times, but I kept my mouth shut without so much as a short answer, and soon he fell silent too.

The moment I got home, I frantically scavenged whatever food I could find. I hadn't realized it at the time, but it was because I hadn't eaten a single thing the whole time I was in the Abyss. Of course, the Heavenly Dragon King's nagging followed me even here.

[How undignified. Don't gobble like some starving beast. The daughter of the Dragon King must carry herself with grace—]

"*Nom nom nom... chomp chomp...*"

Nothing annoyed me more than someone talking while I was eating. I boldly ignored the man and kept tapping at my phone screen.

For someone like me — short on education and narrow in my social circle — the ways of acquiring new knowledge were limited. All the more so when it came to Awakened-related information. Surely the industry seniors knew something, anything. Thinking that, I wrote up a post on the Awakened community.

Not long after posting, I refreshed the page and comments started coming in. But there weren't many. The Awakened community's post turnover was so fast that my thread got buried in an instant.

Still, back in the day I couldn't even get a scrap of attention, so it seemed that after verifying my Awakened status and getting a fixed nickname, people were actually bothering to reply.

I frowned as I read through the comments. Apparently even the industry seniors didn't know everything. Of course, the one I liked least of all was the comment Anonymous left.

If someone had acted that cocky in real life, I'd have beaten their face into paste.

"What the hell is that Anonymous bastard even commenting for..."

[Such a foul mouth.]

"... I'll handle it mysel... khhh... urk... ttuh... tteuttya..."

The headache arrived with my own curt reply. Pain that strikes out of nowhere, without so much as a warning sign, is enough to cut off all complicated thought.

The world bleeds white before my eyes, and strength drains from my whole body. Lying sprawled on the floor, limbs trembling, the rebellious spirit that had flared up alongside the pain gradually died down.

[I intended to just observe on your first day, but your conduct grows worse by the hour. As the daughter of the Dragon King, you must maintain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a dignity befitting that title.]

"Uu... ooo..."

[The place where a dragon dwells must always be kept clean. Clean up the spot where you ate, at once.]

Meal. Food, num-num... clean up.

Words crumbled and tangled together in my dulled head. Cleaning's such a pain. But if I don't follow orders, the pain comes. But if I'm the Dragon King's daughter, doesn't that make me a princess? Why does a princess have to clean?

[What are you dawdling for? Move, now.]

At the prodding voice in my head, I slid my arm out and swept the trash into a corner. Snack bags and empty plastic bottles slid under the pile of garbage that had gathered on one side.

Once it was done, it had been remarkably easy. I even felt a little proud, like I'd done a good deed.

"A-all done..."

[Haaah...]

Why the sigh? I'd finished the cleaning exactly as instructed, hadn't I? The moment I tried to subtly sit back down, a shout rang out inside my head.

[STAAAAND!!!]

"Hieeek!"

[You must become a proper human before you can become the Dragon King's daughter! Now that I look again, you are nothing but a beast!]

Human... dragon... wait, aren't dragons beasts too? If he's the Dragon King, he's the king of beasts, and a king of beasts is telling a person to become a person — isn't that a bit weird...?

But why does he keep scolding me? I did everything he told me to.

A wave of sudden grievance rose up, and my lips stuck out in a pout. I beat up everyone who ever picked on me, but I can't hit the Dragon King Mommy, because I can't see her.

I braced myself, clenching and unclenching my fists with a stubborn little huff.

[... She's gone mad. Did I set the restriction's intensity too high...]