Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: B-Rank Hero Promotion... Picnic (4)
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Dinosaurs went extinct after being hit by a meteor from the sky.
The dinosaurs passed down to modern times are all preserved in the form of restored fossils.
That's why no one can confirm what real dinosaurs looked like with their own eyes.
'But what's this now?'
One of those extinct dinosaurs was right in front of me.
A carnivorous dinosaur the size of a building, with vicious teeth.
A Tyrannosaurus with ridiculously short arms was glaring at me and Hwa-ryeon.
Hwa-ryeon pointed at it and shouted.
"Daddy! That's a dinosaur! A dinosaur! The king of kings, super awesome dinosaur!"
She was totally hyped up.
Hwa-ryeon tugged at my clothes and pointed at the T-Rex.
Was it because she'd met her favorite dinosaur?
Hwa-ryeon's red eyes were shining like rubies.
"King of kings T-Rex! Hey, T-Rex! Hi!"
Hwa-ryeon waved her hand excitedly.
The T-Rex tilted its head as it looked at Hwa-ryeon.
-Grrr?
"Hey, T-Rex! Play with me! Come here!"
-Grrr!
Boom-! Boom-!
The T-Rex stomped massive footprints into the asphalt and charged toward us.
But the momentum of it charging at us didn't seem harmless at all.
'That's not charging to play... That looks like it's charging to eat us...'
Roooaaar-!
The T-Rex opened its mouth wide and thrust its vicious teeth toward us.
"Hey, T-Rex! Let's play!"
"Hwa-ryeon! That's not trying to play with us! It's trying to eat us!"
I scooped up Hwa-ryeon, who still hadn't grasped the situation, and rolled to the side.
The T-Rex barely grazed my collar by a hair's breadth.
Hwa-ryeon tumbled across the ground and then yelled at me angrily.
"Daddy, what are you doing! The T-Rex was coming to play with me! Why'd you dodge!"
"Dodge? Does that look like it was coming to play to you?"
Grrr...
The T-Rex drooled profusely while glaring at us with murderous eyes.
Hwa-ryeon exchanged glances with the T-Rex and replied innocently.
"It looks cute to me! What's the problem, Daddy!"
"Ugh, Dinosaur Expert Hwa-ryeon. You've got rose-tinted glasses on tight."
No helping it.
I left Hwa-ryeon where she was and raised my fist toward the T-Rex.
"No matter how much Hwa-ryeon likes dinosaurs, you can't attack my daughter."
Grip-
I clenched my fist and charged at the T-Rex.
It saw me coming and quickly opened its mouth.
And then.
-Roooaaar!!
Whoosh-!
It started spewing a breath attack I hadn't expected at all.
'Crazy. Why is a dinosaur breathing fire?!"
How is that a dinosaur?
I dove under the breath attack to barely dodge it.
Then I leaped over its whip-like tail that came flying to tear me apart.
And then.
"Forget the meteor—eat my fist instead!"
I jumped high and drove a knuckle sandwich into the T-Rex's skull.
Boom-!
The T-Rex's head slammed into the asphalt road.
I stood triumphantly on top of the T-Rex and shouted.
"How's that? My fist feel like a meteor?"
Pretty cool, if I do say so myself.
Hwa-ryeon must think Daddy's awesome too, right?
But contrary to my expectations, Hwa-ryeon's reaction wasn't great.
"Daddy! Don't bully our T-Rex!"
"Our T-Rex...?"
"Get off from up there!"
Shrug-
I got off the T-Rex as Hwa-ryeon said.
Hwa-ryeon stroked the T-Rex's head embedded in the ground and said.
"Hey, T-Rex! Does it hurt a lot? Are you sad 'cause Daddy bullied you?"
-Kyeeeeng...
"Daddy! T-Rex says it hurts! Apologize quick!"
What.
Why does it feel like I'm being treated worse than the T-Rex.
What's so great about that reptile dinosaur.
I felt jealous of the T-Rex, but since Hwa-ryeon was fuming, I approached it.
"...Does it hurt?"
-Kyeeeeng...
The T-Rex let out a pitiful wail that didn't match its size.
Hwa-ryeon yelled at me.
"Apologize quick! Daddy!"
"...Yeah, sorry. I guess I hit too hard."
Pat pat-
I reluctantly apologized to the T-Rex.
At that, the T-Rex stopped its pitiful crying.
'It attacked first. What the hell is this?'
Ridiculous.
Hwa-ryeon, oblivious to my feelings, stroked the T-Rex's head.
Then she climbed onto the back of the prone T-Rex and patted it.
"Hey, T-Rex! Get up!"
-Roooaaar!
Thud-!
The T-Rex rose at Hwa-ryeon's command.
When the heck did she tame the T-Rex?
I couldn't make sense of the whole sequence, so I gave up thinking about it.
'As long as Hwa-ryeon riding her favorite dinosaur is happy, that's fine.'
When playing with kids, you have to match their eye level.
I climbed onto the T-Rex's back too and hugged Hwa-ryeon from behind for safety.
Hwa-ryeon patted the T-Rex's back and shouted.
"Hey, T-Rex! We're gonna rule the world! Let's gooo!"
-Roooaaar!
At Hwa-ryeon's command, the T-Rex started running through the jungle city center.
I had no idea where the destination was.
I couldn't tell where it was headed.
But.
"Wheee! Run! As expected, king of kings super T-Rex!"
Seeing Hwa-ryeon thrilled atop her favorite dinosaur.
It didn't matter where we were going.
'Hwa-ryeon looks really happy.'
Seeing the bright smile of the innocent child.
I forgot about the mission for a moment and enjoyed it with her.
***
The T-Rex ran through the city center with us on its back.
It adjusted speed or direction when Hwa-ryeon patted its back.
After taking my knuckle sandwich, it obeyed our commands perfectly.
While dashing around the city like that.
The T-Rex stopped and craned its neck back to look at us.
"Hey, T-Rex! Time to get off?"
"Probably."
The T-Rex seemed to be telling us to get off now.
Hwa-ryeon and I carefully dismounted.
Then the T-Rex moved forward first, as if leading the way.
"Let's follow."
"Okay!"
Hwa-ryeon and I trailed after the T-Rex.
We passed through the underbrush following it and arrived at a place.
There, floating in the air, we spotted the core of the dimensional gate emitting powerful magic power.
The T-Rex pointed at the core with its short arms and roared.
-Roooaaar!
"It brought us to this core?"
-Roof! Roof!
The T-Rex nodded as if to say yes.
Hwa-ryeon patted its leg in praise.
"Good job! T-Rex! Super praise!"
-Roof!
They'd gotten close quick.
I approached the dimensional gate core with Hwa-ryeon.
I grabbed the core with my hand and showed it to her.
"You've never seen one properly, right? This is the dimensional gate core."
"It's pretty too! Daddy, can we take it home?"
"If we take this home, our house'll turn into a jungle."
"I hate veggie side dishes!"
Even if it's pretty, she didn't want the house turning into a jungle.
I usually smash these cores daily on the job, so I figured it was good to let Hwa-ryeon experience it.
"Hwa-ryeon. Wanna try smashing it?"
She nodded vigorously.
"Me! I'll do it! Give it to me!"
I handed the core to Hwa-ryeon, who was raising her hand eagerly.
Hwa-ryeon examined the core, shook it, licked it, then gripped it tight with her small hands.
And then.
"Hya!"
Crash-!
She smashed the core we'd been searching for.
Hwa-ryeon raised her shoulders high after destroying it.
"Hmph, piece of cake! How was that, Daddy? Am I strong?"
"Yeah, good job. That's my girl."
"Heh heh."
Hwa-ryeon grinned as I stroked her head.
She seemed in an especially good mood today.
With the core destroyed, the area eroded by the dimensional gate began to disintegrate.
The vines wrapping the buildings dissolved back into mana in the air, and the dense trees started crumbling into powder.
Even the T-Rex that guided us was fading away.
"Daddy, T-Rex's body looks weird! T-T-Rex is dying!"
Hwa-ryeon grabbed my clothes in surprise at the sight.
I calmly explained to the panicking Hwa-ryeon.
"It's not dying. It's just returning to its original dimension."
Eroded dimensions revert to their original state the moment the core collapses.
So Hwa-ryeon's friend T-Rex was just going back home.
Hwa-ryeon bit her lip slightly and waved, sad to see her new friend go.
"Bye, T-Rex! It was fun playing! See you next time!"
-Roooaaar!
Did the T-Rex understand it was farewell?
It waved its short arms vigorously to say goodbye.
Then it vanished like a white mirage, bidding us farewell.
I placed my hand on Hwa-ryeon's lowered head and said gently.
"We might meet again if there's a chance."
"..."
"So don't cry."
"I-I'm not crying!"
Smack-
Hwa-ryeon swatted away my hand on her head.
Then she hid her face and walked ahead.
"Let's go home now, Daddy!"
"Yeah, let's go home."
Hwa-ryeon had a brief meeting with a friend and now a parting.
She was a little sad, but she held back her tears and moved forward.
'Not stopping no matter what could be seen as a strength.'
Even so, aside from the B-rank hero promotion.
It felt like a good picnic since Hwa-ryeon made happy memories.
***
Once everything in Bupyeong was sorted.
Lee Ha-jun and Hwa-ryeon returned home.
"Why is the house like this! What have you been doing without cleaning!"
"...We were just about to. You came back too fast, Daddy."
"Y-Yeah! We were gonna do it!"
"Meow-!"
Of course, when we got home.
The state of the house was a disaster.
Snack crumbs and bags littered the floor, the sink was piled with dishes, and Mang-mung's fur was everywhere.
If we'd been a bit later, bugs would've infested it—the hygiene was that bad.
'Just a short time without Daddy and this happens.'
Better than before.
But Lee Ha-jun was reminded anew of how big his absence was for the kids.
And the next day.
"This should do. I'll buy this."
We'd snuck in secretly this time.
But since Hwa-ryeon had helped with so much, he decided to get her a gift.
Lee Ha-jun handed Hwa-ryeon a toy box.
"What's this, Daddy?"
"You'll see when you open it."
Rip rip rip-!
Impatient Hwa-ryeon tore open the gift box and checked the contents.
"This is!"
Whoosh-
Hwa-ryeon pulled out the toy from the box and shouted with a big smile.
"It's my friend T-Rex! The king of kings super dinosaur is back!"
Her friend had left.
But so she could always remember her departed friend.
Lee Ha-jun gifted Hwa-ryeon a T-Rex plush.
Overjoyed, Hwa-ryeon couldn't contain herself and bounced around the house.
"Yahoo! My friend is back!"
"Handle it carefully. It's stuffed with cotton, so be gentle."
"Hehe, thanks, Daddy!"
Smack-
Hwa-ryeon, in high spirits, kissed Lee Ha-jun's cheek and ran off.
Was she embarrassed?
Her face was flushed red.
"..."
"..."
Su-ryeon and Cho-ryeon narrowed their eyes and muttered.
"Kekeke, this world really can't be trusted. Better to smash it..."
"...Maybe I shouldn't have helped. Helping others might not be so great after all."
The two dragons sulked a bit.
Perhaps because he was happy from his daughter's kiss.
Unfortunately, Lee Ha-jun missed the sight of the two dragons sulking.