Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: Happy Birthday to You (4)
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Past memories surfaced.
It was my tenth birthday.
The day my family all died due to the dimensional gate, leaving me to wander the streets alone.
'It's my birthday, but no cake...'
On a normal day, I would have been with my family, sticking candles into a cake and making a wish.
But the rapidly changing world had made such peaceful days impossible to enjoy anymore.
'Maybe some chocolate pie...'
I was hungry too, and wanting to celebrate my birthday even alone, I wandered the streets looking for food that resembled a cake.
The result was, predictably, nothing.
There was no way cake would just be lying around on the streets.
So, I slipped into a small convenience store and stole a single chocolate pie.
'You little shit! Stealing precious food!'
I got beaten nearly to death.
But it didn't matter.
I'd obtained a cake to reminisce about the good days from the past.
With my face swollen beyond recognition, I picked up a cigarette butt discarded by a passerby.
It still had an ember, perfect for serving as a candle.
'I've got cake and a candle... perfect...! It's my birthday...!'
My face was a mess.
But in that dark alley, I giggled to myself.
I closed my eyes, blew out the candle flame, clasped my hands together, and made a wish.
'…'
I don't remember what I wished for back then.
The one thing I do recall is that I desperately wanted something.
It was the first birthday I spent alone as a child.
***
An unfamiliar ceiling.
In a hazy state of mind, I rummaged through my memories.
'I met the Dragon Slayer... came home and got a birthday cake... then passed out after that...?'
Looking around, the place where I lay was a hospital.
My body ached all over, so someone must have brought me here.
"Wait, how much time has passed?"
It couldn't have been too long, could it?
To gauge the passage of time, I reached for my hair.
And I couldn't help but be shocked.
"...M-my hair's so long!!"
A thick handful of hair.
How much time had passed?
Anxious, I frantically ruffled my long hair.
"Uwaaaah!! How much time has gone by!!"
"Maaang... maaang..."
"Huh?"
Right by my ear came Mangmung's plaintive meow.
I turned my head to find the source.
Lying next to my head was Mangmung, who had just woken up, gazing at me with sleepy eyes.
"Oh, it wasn't my hair—it was Mangmung's fur."
"Maaang..."
"I thought years had passed."
Phew, what a relief.
I stroked the fluffy Mangmung and let out a sigh of relief.
In response to my touch, Mangmung licked my face all over.
"Mang- mang-"
"Hey, you. You're getting me all slobbery."
As I played with Mangmung,
perhaps sensing my presence,
"U-um..."
Hwaryeon, who had been sleeping beside the bed, stirred and sat up.
Looking closely, all my daughters were sprawled out haphazardly beside the bed, asleep.
Among them, Hwaryeon was the first to fully wake.
"Hwaryeon."
"U-um... D-Dad...?"
"Good morning."
Seeing my alert face,
"D-Dad's awake! You idiot dad! Who the hell did you lose to! Coming back all hurt!"
"Sorry for worrying y—"
"Kwaaaang! Dad's an idiot!"
Hwaryeon immediately launched a body slam at me.
Gentler than usual, more like nestling in.
"Ow, that still hurts!"
"You said you were invincible! You said you wouldn't die! You're a total idiot!"
She must have been really worried while I lay here.
I stroked the head of Hwaryeon, who had buried her face in my chest to hide her expression.
"You're an idiot dad!"
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry for making you worry for no reason."
"Weak human! Coming back injured! If you're gonna lose fights and come home like this, don't go out anymore!"
Hwaryeon vented her frustrations, pouring words out at me.
She must have held back a lot seeing me like this.
As I listened to Hwaryeon and stroked her head,
"...Dad? You're awake?"
"Yeah, Suryeon. Good morning."
"...It's not morning."
Suryeon, who had been leaning against the wall asleep, opened her eyes.
With hollow, sleep-deprived eyes, she stood by my side.
She seemed about to say something, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly,
then glanced at Hwaryeon beside her.
"...Just get better quick. Idiot dad."
She said curtly and perched on the edge of the bed.
She had words for me but too many watching eyes hurt her pride, it seemed.
Still, I had a good idea what Suryeon wanted to say.
"Suryeon."
"...What."
"Thanks. Happy birthday."
"...Birthday's already over. I already made my wish. It already came true."
So prickly.
I chuckled at Suryeon's cat-like response.
At the bustling noise, Choryeon—who had cried so much yesterday her eyes were puffy—lifted her head.
Seeing me alert, she widened her eyes and said,
"F-Father...?"
"Good morning to you too, Choryeon."
"I-Is this a dream...? Father really came to...?"
Just woken up, she seemed out of touch with reality.
I smiled at Choryeon and said,
"I'm really awake, Choryeon."
At that, tears streamed from her eyes.
"F-Fatherrr!!"
Sobbing, she rushed to me and hugged tight.
'Hng!'
It pressed on my wounds and hurt,
but I endured as best I could, indulging her.
I'd made my young daughters experience their father unconscious, forcing them to nurse him.
'This pain's nothing compared to what my daughters went through.'
As a father, this was nothing to brush off.
"By the way, how long have I been in the hospital?"
"Three days!"
"..."
I'd been out longer than I thought.
***
Apparently, I'd been unconscious for a full three days.
My bones were broken, organs damaged—major surgery had been risky.
Even dragon regeneration failed, leaving deep scars on my body.
'Dragon Slayer. That guy's beyond what I can handle.'
Even the Yellow Dragon couldn't finish the fight, barely chasing him off—he was seriously skilled.
If he came hunting my daughters, I couldn't stop him.
"Another reason to get stronger."
To protect my children.
Dads have to get stronger.
Lying in bed, I reaffirmed my goal—
"...Dad, here to nurse you. I'll wash you."
"Suddenly?"
"Dragon water cannon."
Pshoooo—
Suryeon fired a water blast at my face.
Then, with a blank expression as if nothing happened, she wiped my face with a towel.
"..."
"Hm, all clean now."
Anyway.
This was how I received nursing from my daughter for a bit.
The most terrifying was mealtime.
"Dad, I'll feed you!"
"No, I'll feed him."
"I'll feed you, Father!"
They all thrust spoons of porridge at me.
Three spoons full of porridge.
Hwaryeon even popped some of my porridge into her own mouth now and then.
'What a palace maid.'
Maybe because they fought over whose spoon I should eat from.
"Eat my porridge, Dad! Don't eat it and you'll die by me!"
"...Eat mine, quick."
"I blew on it to cool it, Father! Eat mine!"
"...Kids, no fighting. Can't we just take turns?"
After mealtime nursing, my face was always smeared with porridge.
Was it just me, or did their nursing make me more uncomfortable?
As I received my daughters' nursing,
"Dad! I got candy!"
"From who?"
"Nurse auntie gave it! Said to call her big sis if she gave me candy!"
"And?"
"Auntie's an auntie! Decided to call her auntie!"
Hwaryeon bragging shamelessly.
During their nursing time, the kids had become the hospital's idols.
So popular, everyone knew our family.
'...There were cute nurses too. Didn't get their numbers.'
A bit regrettable.
And around discharge, an unexpected visitor came.
A colleague of Yellow Dragon Yunari, whom I'd met once before.
Having finished Yunari's funeral, they came to me with gloomy faces and asked,
"Yunari... that kid was bad at her job... but she was a good girl... Who'd have thought she'd go like that so suddenly..."
"I only yelled about her being trash, and she left before I could praise her... I should've said nice things more..."
"She was so young... At the end, what was Yunari like...?"
They were genuinely grieving Yunari's death.
Pretty attached, it seemed.
It felt like lying, which didn't sit well,
but for their future, I had to fib.
"She did her duty to the end. From what I saw, no issues at all. Perfect."
"What's perfect if only at the end... you trash..."
Yunari's teammates left the hospital in low spirits.
Looked like it'd take time to recover from that grief.
'Dragon's whim...'
The Yellow Dragon lived,
but seeing people mourn so sincerely,
it left my head in a whirl.
***
All the crime organizations in 09 District had been wiped out.
Most criminals jailed or expelled from Seoul; even the anthill that tormented Suryeon was being demolished.
Kids who couldn't even go to the playground now roamed the streets, and the slums started buzzing with life.
'At least that's something.'
Still dangerous folks around,
but unlike before, brutal crimes decreased, and low-rank heroes began patrolling.
Thus, 09 District's infamy as uninhabitable naturally faded.
These were the changes two years after wiping out the crime orgs.
Before leaving 09 District, I called Gu Bong-gu.
"Gu Bong-gu, sent the money. Check it."
From the receiver, Gu Bong-gu chuckled.
-Finally paid it all off, Lee Ha-jun. Never thought you'd actually do it.
"I said I would. Why not trust people?"
-You trust that version of you from back then?
"Nah, trusting that guy makes you a sucker."
Lending money to back-then me
was like throwing it in the dirt.
"But I paid it all somehow. That's what counts."
-Took too damn long, but fine. So, leaving today?
"Yeah, heading to 04 District. Heard the school district's decent there."
-No better place to raise kids right. Do well. Don't get hurt pointlessly.
Maybe because it was the end,
Gu Bong-gu unusually gave me warm words.
It stirred something hard to explain, but I replied calmly.
"Yeah, you too. Run the kindergarten well, keep grandma's place nice. Used it clean. Thanks till now."
-...Need money, call.
Beep—
Gu Bong-gu hung up after that.
'Call if I need money. No need anymore.'
Back then, bad credit—no loans.
Now?
Hero's a solid job.
Funds for moving to 04 District? All loaned.
'Back to debt life.'
Still.
With my family, not alone, I'll pay it off quick.
Did it once.
No failing twice.
Thinking so, I got into the rental car borrowed with Bisil's help.
"Kids. Time to go."
"Okay!"
"On the way."
"Yes, Father!"
"Mangmang-!"
The kids stared at the nest till the end.
Even in the car, eyes glued to our nest.
Born and raised here, leaving stirred odd feelings.
Hand on the wheel, I asked the kids in the rearview.
"Leaving home that sad?"
"Of course! That's my house! Why leave it behind!"
"Don't like giving my house to others."
"Me too, Father!"
Dragons value territory that much?
Even moving to a better place, reactions weren't great.
To the wistful kids, I said,
"Birds move nests till fledged. Settle in better spots by situation. You'll like the new house once there."
Bit old-school, but an apartment.
Prime redevelopment goldmine old-school apartment.
I floored it toward the dragons' new nest.
Hwaryeon and the kids opened windows, waving at the receding nest.
"Thanks! Grandma! Great nest! We'll visit!"
"Bye-bye."
"Farewell, Grandma. And neighbors! We'll be fine! You too!"
"Mangmang-!!"
Kids clutched treasures:
Dinosaur doll.
A-pad.
Mangmung and flowerpot—off to new nest.
Past the gun shop, stationery overrun with kids.
Toward 04 District, with new elementary academy for jammin dragons.
Our family headed to a happy future.
'...Dragon Slayer.'
Hiding the unhealing wound's sting.
To a safer nest.