Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Future Me (2)
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The future me was dead.
But Suryeon didn't bury me in the ground.
Instead, she chose to preserve me in a frozen state.
"Why on earth did you make that choice, Suryeon?"
I had no idea.
Did she think there was a chance I could come back to life?
I looked around the room for clues about Suryeon's misguided decision.
"There's a family photo on the wall, and the desk is a bit messy."
A cluttered desk that hadn't been tidied up.
I decided to check the small notebook on that desk.
"Is this a diary?"
Reading a daughter's diary behind her back pricked at my conscience a little.
But I decided to read it to learn how Suryeon had been living up until now.
-Today, Dad died. Or maybe it was yesterday.
"It's the same line from that book I gave her long ago."
It must have left quite an impression.
It looked like Suryeon started writing in this diary after the day I died.
-After Dad died, Sister Hwayeon went insane. Probably from the guilt of not protecting him. To be honest, I hate Sister Hwayeon too. She bears some responsibility.
-One day, Yi Choryeon disappeared. When I checked, she'd gone back to 09 District and turned into a black tree. She looks like a tree growing off Earth's nutrients. Humanity's extinction is confirmed. It doesn't feel half bad.
-Mangmung decided to stay by Yi Choryeon's side. Guess I'll have to feed it. What a hassle.
Suryeon started writing in the diary after the day I died.
The pages were full of dried droplets, probably from the tears she'd shed while writing.
"..."
I silently kept turning the pages.
-To avenge Dad, I killed several humans. Dad said I shouldn't attack humans. But I had to get revenge. Until every rotten human was dead. Especially the 'Dragon Slayer'—I'll kill him no matter what it takes.
Suryeon's entries about her revenge continued.
She drove the organization called 'Imugi'—the ones who led me to my death—to ruin.
She holed up in her room, diligently researching magic.
She plotted plans to kill the Dragon Slayer.
And like that, ten years passed.
-Finally, I killed Dad's enemy, the Dragon Slayer.
In the end, Suryeon succeeded in her revenge by killing the Dragon Slayer.
-But I'm not happy. Killing the Dragon Slayer won't bring Dad back. Dad no longer exists in this world. It's a world that's meaningless to live in.
After that.
Suryeon tried to create a legendary potion called the 'Elixir' to bring me back to life.
They say it can even revive the dead.
In the process, she conducted human experiments on various people.
But even after another ninety years passed, she couldn't revive the dead.
"This is the end."
Thud-!
I closed the diary with a heavy heart.
One thing I could tell was that Suryeon had been terribly lonely after I disappeared.
She'd started keeping a diary, something she'd always found annoying and avoided—probably because she had no one to talk to.
Just the tear stains on the pages showed how lonely she'd been.
'Or maybe she wanted the me who came back to life to read this diary.'
In any case.
I'd come to painfully realize just how tough a time the future Suryeon had endured.
And I'd figured out exactly who killed me.
"Dragon Slayer."
It was that guy after all.
I'd thought I'd grown strong enough not to lose to him.
But the Dragon Slayer must be ridiculously powerful.
"...Time to head back to the iron chains now?"
I'd gotten some useful info.
Now it was time to return to the chains.
I didn't want Suryeon catching me.
If she did, she'd bind me even tighter.
"I need to get back before the sports day starts... Wonder if I can make it in time..."
More than that.
"Could I really leave Suryeon, who's waited for me a hundred years...?"
The more I learned about the future Suryeon.
The more complicated my feelings got.
Of course, that didn't mean I was going to marry her or anything.
***
The future.
The dragon sisters and fifteen heroes had all fallen through the dimensional rift.
Splat-!
"Ow! My butt!"
Hwayeon had butt-planted for no good reason.
Choryeon and Mangmung approached her and asked.
"Sis, you okay?"
"Mangmang-?"
"Ugh... No, I'm not! My butt hurts!"
Hwayeon stood up, rubbing her sore butt.
Once she was on her feet, Hwayeon turned her head to check her surroundings.
"Ow, that hurts. But where are we now?"
"It's Earth, but... it feels like a different dimension..."
Just as Choryeon said, their current location was indeed Earth.
However, unlike Earth, the mana density felt off.
"Looks like this is...!"
"Time. The time is different."
Suryeon stepped forward confidently and continued her explanation.
"This is Earth. But judging by the corrosion on the buildings, quite a bit of time has passed."
"You're right! It's the exact same place we were before!"
"Hmph, of course. Everything I say is correct. Heh heh heh... Can't be helped..."
Good grief-
Suryeon shook her head, marveling at her own intellect as if there were no helping it.
"But be careful. There might be dangerous monsters around here. If the Blue Dragon on my right arm turns into the Black Flame Dragon, everyone run."
Heh heh heh-
Suryeon, fully immersed in her role-playing.
Hwayeon and Choryeon just stared at her blankly.
"...Why's she acting like that?"
"...Beats me. Something's seriously wrong with her."
Sigh-
While they were sighing at the sight of Suryeon.
S-Rank Hero Kim Jung-hoon and A-Rank Hero Han Ji-su, having regained their senses, approached and spoke.
"You kids friends of Si-hu's?"
"Chairman K Group's daughter? You've grown so much."
The two approached with worried looks.
Suryeon and Choryeon especially eyed Han Ji-su warily and shouted.
"Human, stay away. I don't want to talk to you."
"Don't talk to us! Especially not our dad!"
"?"
Why were these kids acting like this?
Han Ji-su was just bewildered by their attitude.
She couldn't think of anything she'd done wrong.
"What did I do wrong...?"
"Not knowing what you did wrong is the problem, human."
"Exactly! Reflect on it!"
While Suryeon and Choryeon were talking with Han Ji-su.
Hwayeon chatted with Kim Si-hu's father, Kim Jung-hoon.
"Si-hu's friend Hwayeon. More importantly, why are you in such a dangerous place? Shouldn't you be at school by now?"
"Hmph, school can wait! The teachers will handle it! I just came to find Dad!"
Thump-!
Hwayeon pounded her chest with her fist, brimming with confidence.
At that display, Kim Jung-hoon's face turned pale.
"You don't even know how dangerous this place is. I can't even guarantee I can protect you all. Sigh, how did they let kids end up in a zone like this?"
Sigh-
Kim Jung-hoon let out a deep sigh at this hopeless situation.
"I promised your father we'd be back before the sports day started. Looks like I can't keep that promise."
Grip-
Kim Jung-hoon squeezed his eyes shut and addressed the kids.
"I'll protect you with my life. So hurry and get out of this dimension to somewhere safe. Understood?"
But the kids responded to his resolute declaration with...
"Huh?"
"Why should I?"
"We're going with our dad!?"
"..."
They brushed it off lightly.
Hwayeon stepped forward as representative and declared confidently.
"Why protect us in the first place! I can handle it myself!"
"Right, human. Don't get cocky."
"We're going to find our dad! So don't interfere—go on a date with that woman instead!"
"..."
The kids' harsh words, their heads not even fully bloodied yet.
Perhaps because he'd been raised in a good family and had never heard such things before.
Kim Jung-hoon felt dizzy.
"Sigh, is this what elementary kids are like these days...? This is tough..."
Kim Jung-hoon staggered, overcome by dizziness.
At the sight, the kids reveled in their own strength.
But at that moment.
Zzt-!
"...Something's coming."
Kim Jung-hoon instantly changed his expression, staring seriously at the sky.
And there, a Blue Dragon tinged with deep blue had already appeared.
"You finally noticed."
Yi Suryeon floated leisurely in the air.
At that moment, the young Suryeon spotted her future self and gasped.
"...That's."
And.
The future Suryeon, spotting the young Suryeon with bandages wrapped thickly around her right arm.
"Ughhh... Why is she like that...?"
Her face flushed bright red.
She desperately turned her head away from the young Suryeon's direction.
"No matter that it's my younger self... that's crossing the line... Why is that idiot like that... Ugh, I want to die..."
The shame that made her wish someone would just kill her.
Hwayeon and Choryeon cautiously addressed the future Suryeon.
"Yi Suryeon! That's you, isn't it?! What's with that!?"
"Suryeon sis! Who's that Suryeon sis?! She's super pretty and smart-looking, totally different from now!"
Suryeon answered the kids' questions with a blank expression.
"Hwayeon sis. How would I know? And Choryeon. What do you mean 'different from now'? You trying to diss me?"
Grrr-
Suryeon glared sharply at Choryeon, annoyed.
Of course, Choryeon averted her gaze and played dumb.
"...I had a time like that too."
The future Suryeon fell into brief reminiscence at the sight of her past self.
But only for a moment.
The future Suryeon shook off the nostalgic feelings, spread her palm, and said.
"I don't remember it, but it's something I went through. Nice to meet you. Past me, past Yi Hwayeon, Yi Choryeon."
And then.
"You all need to disappear for a bit—for me and Dad's marriage."
With those words, a massive laser fired from Suryeon's hand.
"Dragon Laser Beam."
It was a technique Suryeon often used.
"This one's unav-"
Boomcrack-!
No one there could react to the attack.
"Stay put for me and Dad. Past us."
The realm where she could freeze the entire area with one palm.
That was the existence known as a dragon outside its growth phase.