Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: Let's Watch Bad Things Together
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Recently, Suryeon had been completely obsessed with one thing.
She held it while eating, while resting, and even when going to the bathroom.
'I wonder if I bought it too hastily.'
A Pad.
The A Pad I bought with such resolve.
Suryeon was utterly immersed in it, lost in a trance.
To get her attention, I sat down next to her on the sofa and spoke up.
"Suryeon-ah. What are you doing?"
She glanced over.
Suryeon shot me a quick glare before focusing back on the screen and replying.
"Watching videos."
"What kind of videos?"
"An anime."
"You're watching anime already, Suryeon-ah...?"
"Can't I watch it?"
"No, it's not that, but..."
Suryeon watching anime already.
It didn't seem like a particularly good situation.
'Suryeon has chuunibyou, so she probably shouldn't be watching anime.'
Something felt off.
To check what anime Suryeon was watching, I leaned my head toward the pad.
She furrowed her brow and said.
"What are you doing, Dad? You're bothering me."
"I need to know what anime my daughter is watching too!"
Let me see.
Just what anime could it be.
I focused on the A Pad's screen to figure it out.
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong, Dad?"
"Suryeon-ah, this isn't rated for all ages."
I vaguely remembered seeing it once before.
It was an anime about a massive dragon devouring humans, with humans fighting back against it.
It looked splattered with blood at a glance, and clearly not good for a child's emotional well-being.
'How is she even watching this? Wait, looking closer—it's an illegal site.'
She'd already figured out how to access illegal sites.
I looked at Suryeon with worried eyes.
"Hmm... this isn't right..."
Suryeon replied haughtily, as if she had nothing to fear.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"This seems a bit too mature for someone as young as you, Suryeon-ah."
"I'm not young!"
Snap!
Suryeon shouted back with all her might.
"And age restrictions are just arbitrary human rules anyway. This one delves into such profound themes. For something made by humans, it's surprisingly entertaining anime."
"It just looks like dragons and humans fighting."
"No way! This is about wars between nations and deep human introspection within them—"
Blah blah blah.
Suryeon went on explaining to me just how amazing this anime was.
It was the first time I'd seen her talk so much.
'She's explaining it to me like it's the greatest thing ever... but I don't really get it...'
Hmm.
No helping it.
I couldn't let her keep watching something age-inappropriate and emotionally harmful.
I took the A Pad from Suryeon's hand.
"That's mine, Dad. Give it back quick."
"If I hand it over now, you'll just watch that again. I need to set up the parental controls, so wait."
"Give it back."
Lunge!
Suryeon charged at my hand to snatch the A Pad away.
I quickly stood up and put some distance between us, but Suryeon kept jumping desperately, stretching her hand toward the pad.
"Give it here. Santa gave it to me as a present. It's mine."
"Just a moment. Almost done with the settings."
Suryeon couldn't reach it, but she kept jumping anyway.
Her eyes even looked a little misty.
'...Am I being too harsh?'
Still, there was no choice.
From my perspective as a parent, it was too much for Suryeon to watch alone.
Once I'd finished all the settings, I handed the A Pad back to Suryeon, who was standing on her tiptoes.
"Here, take it. Yi Suryeon."
"..."
"Don't watch stuff like that. Play a game instead. Got it?"
"..."
Suryeon fiddled with the A Pad silently.
And then, perhaps confirming she couldn't access the illegal site anymore.
"..."
She shot me a resentful glare without a word.
"Dad, I hate you."
She held back her tears, bit her lip hard, dashed to the bed, and wrapped herself up tight in the blanket like a burrito.
Haryeon, who had been pummeling the sandbag, came over and asked.
"What happened, Dad? Why's Suryeon acting like that? She looks like she's crying."
"..."
Had I gone too far?
Seeing Suryeon like that for no good reason was making my resolve waver.
I sat on the sofa for a moment to collect my thoughts.
"I can't just let her keep watching that... So this is what it means to be a parent..."
Haryeon, happily playing by herself with the sandbag.
Choryeon, rolling around contentedly with Mangmung.
But Suryeon loved swimming in the vast ocean of knowledge that was the internet.
That ocean had tropical fish and plenty of seaweed, sure.
But it also had fathomless deep seas filled with abyssal creatures.
"Yi Suryeon. Raising you is as finicky as your personality."
***
After giving it plenty of thought.
I approached the blanket lump to console Suryeon.
To rouse the blanket-sealed Suryeon, I poked at it with my finger.
"Suryeon-ah."
"..."
"Still pretty mad?"
Thump!
The blanket bundle thrashed once at my question.
Looks like I'd messed up again.
"Okay, Suryeon-ah. Still really angry?"
"..."
Yup.
Kids who are sulking always get mad if you point out they're sulking.
But when you acknowledge they're angry, they go quiet.
Seeing that, I recalled the thoughts I'd just been mulling over.
'It's right to block age-inappropriate videos. But doing it so forcefully would upset Suryeon too.'
Which is why.
I'd come up with a great solution.
Namely.
"Suryeon-ah, I'll lift the block on the A Pad."
...!
Suryeon reacted right away.
I decided to keep going.
"But on one condition. You only watch stuff that's not age-appropriate when I'm with you. Sound good?"
"..."
Rustle.
At those words, Suryeon poked her face out from the blanket bundle.
Her eyes were red and puffy, so she'd clearly been crying inside.
Suryeon looked up at me with teary eyes and said.
"Really? You'll give it back?"
"Yeah. I realized I might've overdone it."
I'm a newbie dad, after all—I make these mistakes sometimes.
With the condition that we'd watch together, I managed to release Suryeon from her blanket seal.
And so, I finally sat on the sofa with Suryeon, who'd burst out of the blanket, and we watched the anime together.
"Dad, hold the pad for me. It's heavy."
"Okay, okay."
I held the pad while Suryeon sat demurely on my lap, watching the video.
From that day on, whenever Suryeon wanted to watch something, she'd bring the pad over and ask me.
"Dad, did you see that scene just now? The directing was genius—the protagonist gets eaten by the dragon, but then realizes he's half-human, half-dragon—"
"Suryeon-ah, okay, enough explaining already..."
She'd dump a torrent of insane TMI on me every time.
But still, it was a relief to see Suryeon, who used to just fiddle with the pad all blank-faced by herself, full of energy now.
Watching together was more fun than watching alone anyway.
"Dad, watch the next episode with me too."
"Got it. I'll watch with you."
"Yeah, thanks, Dad."
A faint smile mixed into Suryeon's otherwise expressionless face.
***
Dragons.
Their existence wasn't properly known to the world.
But they hid among humans, mimicking them for amusement.
And there were plenty of humans who fanatically worshipped dragons.
"The problem is that the Hero Association's chairman—the most important guy—is one of them."
Smack!
I slapped my forehead like I was cracking an egg.
What the chairman said was utterly ridiculous.
"Could you please send a photo of the dragon you follow? I just ordered a frame for my home. I'd love to display it."
"He's crazy, alright—completely off his rocker."
Sigh.
How did a lunatic like the chairman end up in such a critical position?
He must separate work from personal life meticulously, since the association still runs smoothly.
I let out a sigh and spoke sharply to the chairman.
"Thanks for the info you sent last time. But no photos."
"Then allow me to send a photo of my revered Yellow Dragon—"
"I hate that F-grade masochist dragon photo!"
"Hey now, watch your mouth. It's merely her taste."
Taste, my ass.
That dragon is straight-up insane.
I even hoped my daughter wouldn't grow up like her.
"So, Chairman. Why'd you contact me? Skip the dragon talk. Get to the point."
"Dragon talk *is* the point for me. But if that's how you feel, pity."
Tsk.
The chairman clicked his tongue regretfully before getting to the main topic.
"The association holds your potential in high regard right now. Not just me, who knows your true identity. The other staff and heroes all praise your door-opening abilities too."
"Your intro's too long. So?"
"Talk of your promotion is starting to come up."
Hero rank promotion.
Better benefits, more pay per incident cleared.
Greater popularity means endorsement deals, and a higher chance of pretty girls DMing you.
'Ah, time to relaunch my love life.'
For some reason, my lower half was stirring.
I responded to the chairman with gusto.
"Of course I want to promote! So, what's the test?"
"It's simple: close a single Dimensional Gate."
"A Dimensional Gate? Piece of cake for me."
"It might prove difficult."
Swipe.
As he said that, the chairman showed me his pad screen.
It displayed an overview of this particular Dimensional Gate.
I read it over slowly and understood why he'd said that.
"This is..."
"It's the A-rank Dimensional Gate in Incheon that's been impossible to close for years. The surrounding area is already ruined from the gate's erosion. If you close it alongside the other heroes, we'll promote you to B-rank Hero."
B-rank Hero.
The moment I heard that, I nodded immediately.
There was no reason for me to refuse.
"Hah, count me in—no question."
If I succeed in this test, I can pay off half my remaining debt and move somewhere nice after the kindergarten graduation.
It was a bit risky, but something I had to do.
'I've got dragon powers. What could go wrong?'
With those thoughts, I agreed to the chairman's test.
Completely unaware of what would happen during this mission.
"Dad! Where are we?"
"Ah."