Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Molting (1)
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I have no idea why elementary school vacation is so long.
When I was in elementary school, it felt super short.
"If this keeps up, I'm worried we'll forget how to even get to school."
"Daddy, we're not dummies. We're dragons."
"Yeah, you're the amazing dragons."
The magical phrase that explains every action.
'Because we're dragons.'
I have no clue what the difference is between dragons and humans.
Su-ryeon was curled up on the sofa, insisting as much.
"So, how much longer until school starts?"
"One month. I'm half tempted to become the principal myself. I'd make it summer vacation forever."
"That wouldn't be vacation—it'd be closing the school."
Was Su-ryeon secretly bummed that vacation was ending?
She pouted her lips like a duck.
'Still, we've had a ton of fun.'
Little by little—
Even Cho-ryeon seemed bored of staying home.
I called out to Cho-ryeon, who was rolling around with Mang-mung and De-gul-de-gul.
"Cho-ryeon!"
"Yes, Father?"
Cho-ryeon stopped rolling and looked at me.
"You're starting to hate vacation too, huh?"
At my question, Cho-ryeon thought for a moment, then shook her head vigorously.
"It's not that I hate it! But I miss my friends. I haven't seen them in so long!"
"Right? You wanna go to school?"
"It's not that I wanna go to school specifically!"
She just misses her friends.
Guess she doesn't love school itself.
I glanced at Mang-mung, sprawled belly-up next to Cho-ryeon.
"What about you, Mang-mung?"
"Mang?"
"You want Cho-ryeon and the kids to go back to school?"
"Maang…"
Mang-mung slyly averted her eyes, gauging the mood.
"..."
"Ma, ma-mang..."
Cho-ryeon stared at Mang-mung without a word.
Maybe that's why.
Mang-mung shook her head frantically and started vibrating.
"Mang-mang-! Mang-mang-!"
"Stick to your guns, Mang-mung!"
"Mang-mang-!! Mang-mang-!!"
Mang-mung shook her head no, denying it completely.
She doesn't have the stubbornness to hold her ground like that.
Though with a dragon glaring daggers right next to her, it'd be weirder if she did.
Anyway.
We were all gathered in the living room chatting with the kids.
"Ugh-!"
Bam-!
Suddenly, Hwa-ryeon kicked open her door and burst out.
No idea why.
But she was wearing a taekwondo dobok with a black belt tied around her waist as she entered the living room.
She struck a kicking pose and shouted confidently.
"Taekwondo Dojang Master! Black Belt Yi Hwa-ryeon! Behold my kick!"
Hyah-!
Hwa-ryeon let out a kiai and leaped into the air.
"One spin! Two spins! Three spins!"
She spun three times in midair.
Then, using the momentum, she unleashed a straight kick.
"720-Degree Dragon Kick!"
Whoosh-!
Her foot sliced through the air with a deadly whoosh.
Dojang Master Yi Hwa-ryeon grinned proudly after her taekwondo demonstration.
"How's that! This is the taekwondo I've mastered! Aren't I cool!"
She shrugged her shoulders smugly.
Even to me, that kick was impressive.
"Nice job. There was that incident, but looks like you learned taekwondo properly after all."
"Hmph, I didn't learn it! I figured it out on my own!"
The taekwondo dojang incident.
Those guys traveled between districts opening dojangs.
They'd run them briefly, gather a bunch of kids, then habitually kidnap them. That's what I heard.
'...And luckily, I crossed paths with one of them.'
Using my identity and the fact that my daughter was at that dojang.
I got to confront him in the interrogation room.
He hung his head and told me this.
'I just wanted to evolve my legs...'
'By using kids' futures? More importantly, how does that evolve your legs?'
'Humanity is stagnant... But if we follow His words... Humanity can break through stagnation and evolve anew... Become the new humans...!! And I could represent the nation in taekwondo again...'
Bam-!!
He said that, then suddenly started slamming his own head into the table.
Afterward, I tried talking to him, but he just kept repeating 'I'm sorry...'
'They said kidnapping groups have been popping up lately. Gotta be more careful from now on.'
Thinking that, I looked at Hwa-ryeon in her taekwondo dobok.
She was chatting with Su-ryeon.
"Sis Hwa-ryeon."
"Yeah?"
"Three spins is 1080 degrees, not 720. So why call it 720-Degree Dragon Kick?"
"...I dunno! More numbers sound cooler! Don't ask me!"
Hwa-ryeon brushed it off like, figure it out yourself.
Su-ryeon just gave her a dumbfounded look.
"Anyway, Daddy!"
"What, Hwa-ryeon?"
"Why is black belt the strongest in taekwondo? I hate that! I like red belt best!"
Hwa-ryeon pointed at the black belt around her waist.
"Hmm, no idea. But isn't red belt right below black?"
"Yeah! Higher than green or blue! But I hate that black is the strongest!"
Hwa-ryeon seemed to have some weird pride in red.
Game Ranger has Red as the favorite too.
"Hmm, but in Game Ranger, isn't Black the strongest—"
"No talking back! Spinning Dragon Kick!"
Whoosh-!
Hwa-ryeon's little foot whizzed past my head.
"What the hell, Yi Hwa-ryeon!"
"Hmph, you crossed the line first, Daddy!"
Su-ryeon muttered softly at the sight.
"Isn't it 'no talking back'?"
"Same difference!"
They sound totally different.
But Hwa-ryeon insisted they were the same.
I worried that chaotic personality would stick around even when she grew up.
"Anyway, Daddy."
Su-ryeon sidled up next to me on the sofa.
She suddenly shoved her face into my body and started sniffing.
"Sniff sniff—"
"What're you doing, Su-ryeon?"
"Hmm, seems like it's about time."
"My smell?"
Time for a shower?
Just in case, I sniffed myself.
"I just showered, I'm all fresh."
"Not that, Daddy. Before molting, we give off a special scent."
"Molting?"
What the heck was Su-ryeon talking about?
No middle school syndrome, but she was spouting nonsense.
Hwa-ryeon and Cho-ryeon chimed in at Su-ryeon's words.
They sniffed me too.
"You stink! So this is that smell? It's my first time smelling it!"
"Yeah! It smells yummy somehow!"
"Mang-mang-!!"
What smell were they even talking about?
I couldn't make sense of the kids.
Maybe she noticed.
Su-ryeon patted my shoulder and explained.
"I'm talking about molting, Daddy."
"Molting?"
"Yeah. Do you know how dragons live forever?"
"If I did, I'd be researching as a dragon expert."
"Hmm, guess I need to explain a bit."
Su-ryeon pondered briefly, then started explaining simply.
"Dragons go through molting several times in their lives. Once in the growth phase, then after playtime ends, they fall into a deep sleep, and molt when they wake. Each time, the dragon's body gets stronger."
Dragon GPT Su-ryeon was back after a while.
She continued.
"And if they don't molt, dragons get weaker. Old skin threatens our health."
"So dragons need playtime to live forever?"
"No, just the deep sleep. Playtime's just a boredom killer for that sleep."
Anyway.
"That's how dragons live healthy eternal lives. And right now, Daddy, you're molting to accept dragon magic. Think of it as a growth phase."
"...So I'll live forever too?"
"No, not that. You're human, Daddy. You can't molt forever. Just once. To contain dragon magic in your body. That's the process."
If anything.
My small vessel was full of water.
So they're pouring it into a huge new one.
"I'll live longer than normal people, at least."
"Probably, Daddy."
"So when does this molting start?"
"Right now?"
Right now.
The moment she said it.
An unimaginable agony exploded in my heart.
"Ghak-!"
"Looks like it started."
Su-ryeon looked at me like it was no big deal.
I couldn't understand her reaction.
'Th-this hurts like hell? And this is normal?'
Felt like sudden heart failure, about to die.
I clutched my chest and dropped to my knees on the floor.
Hwa-ryeon crossed her arms, watching me.
"What're you doing, Daddy? You're weak! If you can't handle it, you die! So suck it up and tough it out!"
I'd heard snakes can die mid-molt.
Was this that?
Breathing got harder and harder.
Vision blurred, kids' voices fading.
"What're you doing, Daddy! Hang in there!!"
"It's normal to control dragon power. Beat it, Daddy. If not, your body'll burst from the magic."
"Father, you can do it! I'll watch over you!"
As expected.
Hard for a human body to control dragon magic.
Never dreamed it'd hurt this bad.
'D-dying...'
My consciousness faded.
I collapsed, strength gone.
'Still... gotta push through somehow...'
In my dimming awareness.
Su-ryeon's voice came last.
"From what I learned, it takes three weeks. So hang in there. If you die here..."
Chilling—
Su-ryeon said coldly.
"I won't forgive this world, so don't die."
"..."
Can't let that happen.
With that thought, amid the tearing pain.
I slowly—
Closed my eyes.
To shed my human body and become fully half-human, half-dragon.