The Familiar Figure
“Wait a second, wait a second.”
Adopt a daughter?
What on earth is White Ghost saying right now?
If what I heard is correct, she wants to adopt me as her daughter?
“Daughter…?”
“Yeah. Do you like being called that?”
“No, the issue right now isn’t the title.”
While I was asleep, did she figure something out?
Is White Ghost really trying to tease me like this?
I decided to ask her first why she called me daughter.
“Why ‘Mom’ all of a sudden…? What are you thinking?”
“You look just like me.”
“You look extremely similar?”
The reason is unknown, but she really does resemble me a lot.
-Swish.
Not only her human appearance, but her ears and tail too.
Although my body is a hybrid chimera made by mixing various monsters since my motive is an otherworldly trait, my outer appearance looked 120% related by blood.
At that moment, a classic movie came to mind where humans pretending to be human hide in human society by shedding their outer skin, revealing an alien inside, and the mysterious being trying to take over human society.
Looking at it separately, isn’t that my story?
Since the soul that flowed in from outside is pretending to be a person here.
“Tiss?”
“Yes?”
I almost drifted off while thinking about something else.
“Tiss, you can use my technique.”
“Yes, I can?”
“Yeah. That’s why you’re my daughter.”
Why?
Why did it conclude like that?
Maybe White Ghost’s brain, which had been resting for days, restarted, and she couldn’t catch any hints in her conversation.
“Wait a minute, then am I a disciple?”
“No.”
White Ghost shook her head vigorously, firmly rejecting my suggestion.
“It overlaps with Baba Yaga. I like daughters.”
“Overlaps…?”
“Yeah.”
Probably because I know Baba Yaga’s usual habit of trying to turn the favorite student into a disciple under the name of disciple.
“You don’t want me to be your daughter?”
She tilted her head slightly.
White Ghost turned her head a bit to the side and asked me with moist eyes.
Ahh!
The slightly uneasy look on White Ghost’s face was a fatal heart attack that would require immediate revival if Shan saw it.
Don’t do this. White Ghost, you weren’t like this character.
I remembered her as a cool, perfect kuudere girl from a classic novel with a different meaning from Lionel, but this fluffy atmosphere is what?
The gap between the game’s image and reality is too huge.
Hoo.
Anyway, I need to change the subject of the conversation.
If we keep talking about daughter, my head will overload.
“Cheon Geomhwa.”
Upon calling her name, White Ghost’s ears perked up.
“I’m just a new student who barely entered the academy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t ordering a new student like me to fight against an A+ rank hunter too difficult a test? You almost died for real. If I’m your daughter, you should cherish me, right?”
Cheon Geomhwa is a tier character that can join an allied party surpassing even the S-rank demon wall depending on the story branch.
One arm missing?
From Cheon Geomhwa’s perspective, who mainly fights with the ability to freely handle steel, it’s not a big demerit.
As someone who knows about this world in advance, I grew desperately over the past two years and barely won, so the difficulty was unbelievably high.
It’s the exact pattern of the protagonist Siwoo and Sia who can’t be cleared in the tutorial at the time of admission in the game.
Defeat event only happens if the protagonist survives, so if I kill them like this, what kind of game is this, not Soul or Roguelike.
Since it’s reality, it’s different, but what I want to say is that the difficulty for a skill test was too high.
If it was serious enough that I couldn’t wake up for over a week in the intensive care unit, it was serious.
With a small grumble, White Ghost’s tail twitched slightly.
“Daughter, Mom is sorry.”
Eh…?
I thought I might have misheard, but no.
Sheepish.
White Ghost’s drooping ears and tail clearly showed what she had just said.
White Ghost, who would normally say “then die” and stab with a knife instead of explaining if she didn’t like it, apologized to a person who isn’t even from the Hero Party.
It’s impossible with half-hearted empathy.
This guy might really be thinking of adopting me as a daughter.
“Could you tell me why you tested me? Maybe I can understand if I hear the circumstances.”
“Reason…?”
“Yes, the reason. If I hear the situation, I might be able to understand even if not.”
There’s nothing better to get closer than conversation and empathy.
I don’t know the principle of suddenly wanting to adopt a daughter, but it’s clear she has affection for me.
This is an opportunity.
If I can dig into White Ghost’s heart and take root, I can inherit not just a piece of skill but everything she has.
Whether daughter or disciple, the title doesn’t matter. I’ll narrow the distance with White Ghost this time.
“It’s because of the weight our names carry.”
If someone calls their own name, they must prove they can fully bear the weight of that name.
That’s why White Ghost gave me the trial of facing Cheon Geomhwa.
One day, the Hero disappeared.
White Ghost and other Hero Party members scattered when the central figure they were forming disappeared.
One became the director of the Management Bureau, another organized the Secret Society. Forces formed, and sides divided.
“I hid to not side with anyone.”
“I see.”
A heavy story came out.
“So Tiss is my daughter. That’s the reason I need to protect you.”
Ah.
Now I understand what White Ghost meant.
White Ghost, who hid and declared neutrality, needed reasons to justify herself not only for her affection towards me but for others.
Yeah, good. Daughter. She said daughter?
Whatever, I’ll play the daughter role.
Learning White Ghost’s proper Silent Killing Method, which is a tier route in the comprehensive ranking of game Neo Zion, is a route that always ranks in the top ten fingers.
Obviously number one if you exclude the assassination category.
If I can master Silent Killing Method along with my mimicry ability, I can cut off the necks of all future bothers beforehand.
So I have to say it. That word.
“Uh… uh.”
I need to say it now, I know, Mom.
But the word just won’t come out of my mouth.
I don’t know why it’s harder than putting on a sweet act to survive.
White Ghost tilted her head at my reaction.
“Uh, uh, now that I think about it, isn’t this an area where entry is prohibited except for patients?”
Yeah, I don’t have to say it now.
I turned the conversation topic while making excuses to myself.
Even Siwoo and Sia, who would protect me even if they died for strict security and hygiene rules, were outside, but how was White Ghost inside?
“I sneaked in.”
“Aha.”
White Ghost said it without guilt, drawing V with both hands on her expressionless face.
Then, after a while, the nurse who was patrolling found me and rushed in to check my condition.
Thanks to the intensive treatment for a week, the pain I felt when I woke up disappeared quickly as time passed, and when the doctor and nurse entered the ward, my body was almost perfectly recovered.
“Is there any chance I have to stay here until when?”
“With this much, you can be discharged.”
When the doctor entered the ward holding the chart, my body was perfectly recovered.
The discharge procedure proceeded quickly.
Originally, as a new student, I wouldn’t have been eligible to use such a treatment facility.
Plus, the one-week hospital bill and treatment costs, if mistaken, would require paying a huge sum because the academy’s medical insurance didn’t exist.
“Lump sum.”
Fortunately, thanks to White Ghost paying the treatment fee, I could pass it safely.
In this world, I can get the mom card effect.
I wanted to get out of this stuffy hospital room as fast as possible, even for a second.
[…]
Shan is still in silence.
What I’m most worried about right now is Shan in her current blackout state.
She seems to have no life-threatening issues, but since I can’t figure out why she’s unconscious, I’m going crazy with frustration.
Shan, who has been with me for over two years, suddenly not being felt, feels like a hole was drilled in my chest like Cheon Geomhwa.
There are many people around, but since I can’t do precise tests, I need to get out of here first and somehow get some alone time.
Although Cheon Geomhwa’s Iron Heart and Katie’s backup are important, right now Shan is my top priority.
“Halangguda.”
At the same time White Ghost’s words fell, a sudden fierce mana fluctuation was felt from outside the building. It was Baba Yaga’s mana pattern, now familiar.
“And… two more.”
At the same time, the presence of two more was felt.
Bang!
“Unnie!!!”
The door opened, and blonde handsome and beautiful girls came in.
Siwoo and Sia, who ran with Baba Yaga upon hearing that I had woken up.
“Eh…?”
“Tiss has two?”
Siwoo, who had been entering with teary eyes, froze at the sight of me standing with White Ghost.
“Doppleganger?”
White Ghost’s appearance without using Silent Killing Method was exactly like mine.
“Unnie… two?”
“Tiss, didn’t you undergo some weird experiment?”
While Sia was rolling her eyes.
Tap.
“Hey?”
White Ghost suddenly approached Siwoo and Sia, extending her small white hand to grab their hands.
Flutter.
White Ghost’s blue eyes, holding the two’s hands, gradually widened.
It was like the word “doubt” described it, as White Ghost’s blue eyes trembled.
“Hah hah.”
White Ghost slowly closed her eyes and opened them again, forcing herself to take a deep breath.
And with trembling lips, she barely uttered one word.
“…Hero?”
This was the most emotionally charged word from White Ghost so far.