Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 172
Chapter Title: Mangmung's Runaway Pack (1)
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After conquering the S-Rank Dimensional Gate.
South Korea reclaimed the territory that had been taken by the dimensional gates.
They say it'll take quite some time to fully restore the Incheon area.
"Still, it's fortunate we eliminated the S-rank dimensional gate. It's the first one we've ever conquered in our country."
It was safe to say we'd gotten through one major hurdle.
As long as nothing else cropped up, the kids would have a good environment to grow up in.
Seoul could now be considered safe.
"Of course, safe from dimensional gates, that is. Humans are still the biggest problem."
Choryun's mindset was starting to make sense.
I sat on the sofa in the empty living room and let out a sigh.
"Haa, this is complicated. So complicated."
I had to take care of the kids, think about tonight's dinner menu, worry about the future.
There were too many things to think about.
My head was filled with thoughts of the children.
"...Maybe cleaning is the answer right now."
Alright.
I'll sort out my complicated head while cleaning.
I shot to my feet—!
"Mangmung!"
"Mang?"
"Help me clean."
"Maaang..."
Sulking—
Mangmung, who had been lying still on the dog cushion, got up with a sulky face.
"You were growing up like a wolf in the future. Why are you still so small?"
"Mang mang?"
It felt like he'd aged enough.
Mangmung was still maintaining small-dog size.
"Is it because you play with pint-sized Choryun? You're not going vegetarian like Choryun, are you, Mangmung?"
"Mang mang."
"You're not?"
"Mang!"
Mangmung shook his head firmly, insisting he absolutely wasn't.
Looks like he wasn't going vegetarian like Choryun.
'Maybe Mangmung is just a small breed to begin with.'
Sure, he was tiny like injeolmi right now.
But since he was growing by consuming dragon magic power, he'd probably grow big like the one I'd seen in the future.
"Anyway, Mangmung."
"Mang?"
"Let's clean together."
"Maaang..."
And so, I started cleaning the house with Mangmung.
"This Hwaryun kid, I told her not to eat snacks while dropping crumbs, and she did it again."
I vacuumed up the snack crumbs Hwaryun had spilled on the living room floor.
"Who turned these socks inside out and tossed them in? Hwaryun again, probably."
I put Hwaryun's clothes—which she always took off inside out—into the laundry basket.
If I said anything to Hwaryun about this, she'd probably reply like this.
'Why pick on me!'
She'd definitely say that and get mad right back.
But Suryun and Choryun never made a mess of the house.
The kids had surprisingly tidy personalities.
'The one I have to be extra careful cleaning is Suryun's stuff...'
There was this one time.
While cleaning, I moved Suryun's stuff to another spot and forgot about it.
When Suryun came back and saw her things in a different place, she got seriously pissed.
Maybe because she's a dragon, she had an unusual obsession with her belongings.
'...I'm not eating today. Dad can eat it all.'
Slam—!
Suryun stormed into her room and declared a hunger strike.
"How did I react back then... Oh, right."
When Suryun went into her room and locked the door.
I said this.
'Tonight's dinner is delicious. Don't eat it then. It'll only hurt you, Suryun.'
Suryun is pretty smart.
Her hunger strike was just a protest to get what she wanted.
To break that habit, I pushed back hard instead.
And about two hours later.
'...I'm hungry, Dad.'
Grrrrumble—
Suryun came out of her room and asked me for food.
Hard to believe that was already a year ago.
"Time flies when you're raising kids."
Memories like that surfaced as I cleaned the house.
"By the way, Mangmung."
"Mang?"
"You're cleaning well, right?"
"Mang!"
Mangmung lifted his chin, gesturing for me to follow.
I followed Mangmung to Suryun and Choryun's room.
"Mang!!"
"Oh, it's clean."
"Mang mang mang!!"
Shrug—
Mangmung barked proudly, showing off the room he'd cleaned spotless.
But my face quickly hardened like stone.
"Y-You changed the layout of the room...?"
"Mang mang!"
"The layout of Suryun's room...?"
"Mang?"
Did Mangmung not grasp the situation?
He tilted his head with a 'What?' face.
I picked Mangmung up to help him understand.
"Mangmung."
"Mang?"
"This is Suryun and Choryun's room."
"Mang mang?"
"But Suryun hates it most when someone touches her stuff."
"...Mang?"
"Mangmung, you're in big trouble."
...
Mangmung suddenly went quiet.
Had he finally figured it out?
I set Mangmung down on the floor.
But Mangmung froze in place, not moving a muscle, like a statue.
"Mangmung, snap out of it."
...
"We can just put it back now, right? You don't remember how it was?"
...
"This is bad. Suryun's gonna be furious. Where should I bury Mangmung? Maybe the hill behind our old house?"
I pondered Mangmung's gravesite for a moment.
Then.
"Ma, mang mang...!!!"
Mangmung bolted out of the room in a panic.
He dashed down the hallway straight to the front door.
"Ma mang... mang mang mang...!!"
Like 'Let me out of here!'
He started scratching furiously at the front door.
'Mangmung's so cute. I kinda want to tease him more.'
Watching Mangmung's desperate struggle for survival, I said regretfully.
"Mangmung, it's easier if you give up. I'll bury you in a nice spot at least."
"Ma, mang mang mang...!! Mang mang...!!"
"Whoa, you're scratching the door. It's not opening anyway, so give up—"
At that moment.
"Mang mang...!!!"
Click—!
Mangmung turned the front door handle.
"Hey, Mangmung! Where are you going!"
"Ma, mang mang...!!"
In an instant, he flung the door open and escaped into the distance.
I mumbled as I watched Mangmung's receding figure.
"Did I scare you too much? Suryun wouldn't get that mad... No, this isn't the time."
I had to catch Mangmung before he went too far.
I chased after the fleeing Mangmung, shouting.
"Mangmung! It was a joke! Suryun won't get that mad!"
But.
Mangmung was faster than I thought?
Even as I ran hard, Mangmung's shape kept getting farther away.
"Haa, why is this little thing so fast...? Mangmung—!!"
That was the moment Mangmung's great runaway chaos began.
***
The house without Mangmung.
I knelt in the living room, and the kids glared down at me.
The reason was clear.
"Dad teased Mangmung, so Mangmung got scared and ran away?"
"...Yeah."
"Hmph, Dad's a total idiot dummy!! We should've eaten Mangmung before he ran! What are you even doing, Dad!"
Hwaryun called me an idiot dummy.
I had nothing to say about that.
"But if I have to defend myself, I didn't think Mangmung would take it so seriously—"
"Dad, quiet."
"...Okay."
Suryun cut off my excuse in advance.
Suryun looked down at me with cold eyes and spoke.
"I don't like it. Dad thinks I'm some kid who'd throw a fit over her room layout being changed? I don't like Mangmung for falling for that prank either."
...
Her anger points seemed off somehow.
"Actually, it's for the best. Changing my room layout didn't bother me at all. But Mangmung must think of me that way normally. I'll use him for experiments as punishment for treason."
"...Suryun?"
"A chimera would suit Mangmung best. Choryun, you're close to Mangmung, so I'll make you two into one body."
Suryun said that to Choryun, who was standing quietly.
But unlike usual, Choryun showed no reaction.
...
She just stood there with a smiling face.
Suryun looked a bit flustered by that.
"W-What's that? Why are you smiling?"
Smirk—
Choryun replied with a smile.
But in a chilling tone, unlike her usual self.
"In times like this, you have to smile more. That way, we can find scared runaway Mangmung, right? And..."
She slowly turned her head to look at us.
Her face was smiling, but her heart was colder than anyone else's there.
"Mangmung getting scared wasn't just Dad's fault. If anything, I think Dad's fault is the smallest."
"Then it's our fault?!"
"Hmm, that's not right."
The two dragons immediately objected to Choryun's words.
But Choryun smiled back and countered.
"In my opinion, it seems like Mangmung got scared because of the two big sisters who always bullied him. The roots were already rotten, and Dad just pulled them out."
Choryun said that and turned her gaze to Hwaryun.
"Hwaryun sis. You always called Mangmung emergency rations whenever you saw him, right?"
"Yeah, but it was a joke!"
"Even if it was a joke, Mangmung might not have seen it that way. You share the blame too, Hwaryun sis."
And Choryun turned her gaze to the next target, Suryun.
"And Suryun sis."
"What."
"You always said you'd turn Mangmung into a chimera? You kept trying to use him as a test subject. Mangmung must've been stressed by that. Neither of you considered his feelings."
Zing—
Unlike usual, Choryun pressed Hwaryun and Suryun.
The two dragons couldn't say a word in response to Choryun.
Because even though it was joking, it was true.
"The ones who made Mangmung run away are you two sisters. So..."
Smirk—
Choryun smiled to the end and said.
"Go find Mangmung right now, Hwaryun sis. Suryun sis. If you refuse... I'll tell Dad all the secrets you've been hiding from him."
"N-No, not that!"
"...No."
At those words, Hwaryun and Suryun's faces went pale.
What kind of weakness did Choryun have on them to get that reaction?
I couldn't understand it at all.
"I'm going to find Mangmung right now!"
"...It's a hassle, but I'll go."
And so, Hwaryun and Suryun immediately headed out the front door to search for Mangmung.
I watched the situation unfold and thought to myself.
'They say the nice kid's anger is the scariest. It's true.'
Old sayings are never wrong.
With that thought, I headed out the front door with Choryun.
"Mangmung's probably nearby. We can find him quick, Choryun."
"We have to find my friend Mangmung, Dad... Mangmung is my precious friend..."
"Yeah, Dad'll definitely find him!"
I couldn't just wait for Hwaryun and Suryun to find him.
We had to go out and search for runaway Mangmung too.
"Mangmung—!"
"Where are you, Mangmung—!!"
Before the night got any later.
***
"Mang mang."
Shabby alleyway.
Mangmung wandered the streets, fuming.
He was determined not to go back home.
"Mang mang mang!"
Huff huff—
While venting his pent-up anger and walking the streets.
Mangmung's eyes caught a dark alley between buildings.
And there, Mangmung encountered them for the first time.
"Mang?"
Scruffy dogs whose fur wasn't groomed properly, who looked like they hadn't bathed in ages.
"Grrrrr—!"
Stray dogs.
He'd come face-to-face with a pack of runaway dog strays for the first time.
"Mang mang!"
Mangmung was simply happy to meet fellow comrades.