Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Dragon's Memories
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“It's all healed. Your body should be fine now.”
I'd only pinky-sworn a promise, and that was it.
The body that had been on the verge of death just moments ago was back to normal.
No, it even felt healthier than before.
I was stunned, but I sat up anyway and faced the dragon.
“Hmm.”
From head to toe, it had this overall pure white impression.
If you ignored the unrealistic looks, it didn't seem like a dragon at all—more like a handsome, beautiful person.
“You look just like a real human on the outside.”
“Because this is my real human form. Of course I do.”
It was saying something so obvious.
Well, if it was going to have horns and a tail, it wouldn't have transformed into a human shape.
As if it had read my mind, it smirked and turned its back to me.
“Follow me, human. There are things I need to tell you before you go.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Ha.”
Maybe my casual tone rubbed it the wrong way, because the dragon let out a hollow laugh.
“…You're the first human to talk to me like that even after seeing my true form. Not bad, though.”
Not bad that I was talking casually to it.
‘Others called it a rude bastard. Guess dragons have weird standards.’
Since it could read my thoughts, it was probably hearing that too.
I trailed behind the dragon, inwardly speculating like that while carefully surveying the dragon's nest.
'Hmm.'
I couldn't help but have some questions.
“But hey, when you think dragon's nest, you imagine piles of shiny treasures, right? There's way more useless junk than I expected. Why do you even keep stuff like this?”
The dragon stopped in its tracks and turned to look at me.
“Useless? Human, what do you even consider ‘useful’?”
“Well… something you can use… or something that could make money…? Dragons don't use combs or sleep hugging dolls, do they?”
“Not wrong. But.”
The dragon turned to me with serious eyes.
“That's just a human standard. Unlike what you think, dragons don't collect things as tools. We collect them as memories.”
“Memories?”
“Yeah, memories. Every pile of stuff in this nest is tied to a memory.”
Amusements.
“Dragons enjoy short amusements mimicking human lives. When the amusement ends, we bring back the most memorable item from that life to the nest. For example…”
The dragon picked up the genderless doll it had told me to set down earlier.
“This doll is the first one I ever made, in some dimension other than Earth. It's so old I don't remember when. I gave it to my daughter. Terrible quality, but she looked like an angel sleeping with it as a kid.”
Lost in the memory, the dragon smiled fondly.
Just for a brief moment.
“But in the end, I had to end that amusement. I faked dying from an illness. With a body that doesn't age, I'd get found out if I stuck around too long. Had to leave. This is what I brought back then.”
“…”
“I don't even remember my daughter's name anymore. But through this doll, I can recall what kind of amusement I had. That's how dragons live.”
Plop.
With a wistful expression, the dragon tossed the doll into the pile of soft furnishings.
To be honest, I couldn't think well of it.
“You ultimately deceived your daughter. You didn't die, but pretended to.”
“By human standards, sure, you could call it deception. But a dragon living eternal life was just doing its best to enjoy the amusement.”
Sneaking into human lives.
Playing at imitating their existences.
“Dragons have to enjoy those amusements. We can't endure our boring, endless lives otherwise. That's just how we were born.”
The dragon said this with a self-deprecating smile.
I could vaguely understand why it wanted to end its life.
It was too far from my own experience to fully grasp, though.
“You're right, human. You'll never understand me. And no matter how many human lives I live, I'll never understand you.”
Humans and dragons could never understand each other.
I knew exactly what it was trying to tell me.
But.
“Could you stop calling me ‘human’? It’s getting annoying. I'm Lee Ha-jun, not just some human.”
“I know your name, of course, human.”
“Then call me Lee Ha-jun—”
“I know it, but we don't need that kind of relationship.”
Whoosh.
The dragon turned its back like it was saying no more talk, like it didn't want to hear it.
And resumed walking.
“…”
A bunch of harsh words flashed through my mind.
But I filtered them and thought of something nicer.
It annoys people without malice. Something like that.
It had saved my life, after all.
‘No, does it really lack malice?’
Anyway.
In the ensuing silence after our little spat.
As I followed the dragon, it spoke first.
“Still, you're more human-like than the first ones who came. Calling me your lifesaver and all.”
“You did save my life. So yeah, lifesaver.”
But.
“Others came before me?”
“About three. Though it's more accurate to say I was waiting for someone. I was the one who leaked the info about the dragon's nest online.”
“…”
So it had deliberately spread word of its own nest to lure people in.
'Tsk.'
That felt kinda shitty.
Not great to feel played by someone else.
“…Wait, what happened to those three?”
“Wiped their memories and sent them packing.”
“Why? You could've just had one of them raise the eggs.”
“No. Those humans couldn't raise dragons.”
So I could?
What was the criteria?
Good person? Bad person?
‘Does that mean I'm a good person?’
I wasn't all that good.
My conscience stung a bit.
No money, mountains of debt, no proper job.
And—
“Doesn't matter what you think of yourself. What matters is I gave you a chance, and you took it.”
The dragon seemed to know what I was about to think and cut me off with a hurried explanation.
In the end, to fulfill the promise, it stood with me before the massive eggs.
I asked the dragon sincerely.
“…If that's how it is, fine. Then one last question.”
“Ask.”
Probably to ease my conscience.
“A super simple one. Can you really entrust the egg to me on just a pinky promise?”
The dragon answered immediately after my question.
“Yeah.”
No hesitation, not even a second.
I didn't feel trust in me from it.
More like it trusted itself in trusting me.
The dragon placed a hand on the massive egg and said.
“Alright, let's get started. You can sit on that sofa and rest.”
“What?”
“Genetic inheritance. Unlike humans, dragons don't just pass on DNA. We pass on knowledge too. Just watch.”
Hoo—
The dragon took a deep breath in and out.
In that moment, white light leaked from its hand, enveloping the entire egg.
The light began filling the whole dragon's nest, brightly illuminating the once-dark space.
‘Dragons pass on knowledge like that, huh. Would've been cooler if I'd been into dragons.’
I'd been into the treasure, not dragons.
So I sat on the old antique sofa and quietly watched the scene.
No big emotions stirred.
But for some reason, I couldn't look away from the knowledge transfer.
‘…Beautiful.’
This mystical sight felt like something I'd remember until I died.
Not a guess—a certainty.
“Phew… It's done, human.”
Having finished the inheritance, the dragon walked over wearily and sat beside me.
Too drained to even lift its head.
Worried, I asked.
“Did you pass on all the knowledge?”
“No, I've lived over 20,000 years. Can't pass it all. Just the basics about dragons—what they are. Can't rob my kids of the fun of learning it themselves.”
“So they are your kids. Dad… no, mom… shit… what do I even call you?”
“You were gonna say, why not entrust the eggs to other parents?”
I nodded.
Visibly exhausted, the dragon slightly lifted its head to explain.
“No others. I'm both mom and dad. These eggs are my children, born after I gave up immortality. If I die, no other parents. Someone else has to protect them until adulthood. Once they're adults, dragons must leave to find their own nests.”
“…”
Bit awkward to say this to my lifesaver.
But it had zero sense of responsibility.
What about the dragons hatching from the eggs?
What about kids growing up without parents?
It looked drained enough that I held back the harsh words, but this irresponsible attitude was something I really despised—
“…Guess you hear it all anyway. Sorry.”
“Not wrong, human. By human standards, I seem irresponsible. Natural reaction. But.”
The dragon stared at me with clear eyes, reciting in a slightly agitated tone.
“Don't judge dragons by human standards. You'll never understand us.”
Humans are humans.
Dragons are dragons.
“You can't overcome the differences between species, no matter what. Don't bother trying to understand. Not you, a mere human.”
The dragon spoke stubbornly, fiercely.
But despite the words, its fierce eyes held sadness.
Like regret from experience.
I answered the dragon flatly.
“Yeah, I get it.”
“I'm warning you ahead… so you don't get hurt alone…”
Srrrrk—
The dragon exhaled roughly.
Then, as if its strength gave out, it started to topple forward.
I reached out to catch it.
But.
“What, what is this?”
No matter how much I stretched, I couldn't grab the collapsing dragon.
Its body was turning to white light, scattering into the air.
It was becoming transparent.
I hurriedly looked at it and asked.
“You're dying just like this, all of a sudden?”
It smiled amusedly at my flailing arms.
“Told you… I'm dying… You knew… why the sad face…? Because I saved you…? Your lifesaver…?”
“…”
“No need… I got something from you too… Not for nothing… the promise…?”
I said nothing.
No, I couldn't.
Whatever I said, it wouldn't understand my reply, and I wouldn't understand its.
Looking at me like that, it murmured weakly.
“My body will scatter as light… and be reborn somewhere… Dragons who end their continuity from boredom just cycle… So no need to be sad…”
Damn.
“Hard to understand… humans…”
With those final words, the dragon's entire body became white light and flowed into the drifting lights of the nest.
After long years of life, amid the objects holding its memories.
It ended its life itself.
No, it departed somewhere to start anew.
“…I just came for treasure.”
Human, animal, dragon.
Seeing death right in front of me stirred complex emotions in my heart.
“It's not the backpack weighing me down—it's my heart that's heavy now.”
I let out a heavy breath and looked at the scattered items around.
They looked useless on the surface, but they held memories of an unnamed dragon.
Valued as antiques, they'd fetch a good price if sold.
But I turned my eyes away without lingering.
“I'm not total trash—how could I take these and sell them? That'd make me less than human, more beast.”
Sigh.
Regret tugged a bit, honestly.
But I sighed and approached the three massive eggs.
The unnamed dragon's offspring.
Red, blue, green eggs.
“After seeing that end, keeping the promise is the human thing to do.”
But.
“…How am I supposed to carry these things my size?”
Should I try lifting one?
I decided to start with the red egg.
“One, two!”
Didn't even get to three.
I'd only tried to lift it a bit and realized.
No way I could with my strength.
Even if I did, I'd drop it and shatter it.
“What am I supposed to do with these?”
No answers.
I looked around for some method.
Right below the eggs, a small paper with writing lay fallen.
I read the words aloud.
“Press the paper to the egg and place your hand on it. It'll stay small until you get home…”
I did as the paper said, placing my hand on the egg.
Then, the massive dragon egg shrank to the size of a chicken egg.
“…One wrong bump and it'll break, probably?”
Couldn't let that happen.
I wrapped it in a towel and put it in my backpack.
Then headed to the dimensional gate I'd come through.
The werewolf that chased me before entering flashed in my mind.
But I figured the unnamed dragon had dealt with it, so I wasn't scared.
“…”
Before entering the gate.
I looked around the dragon's nest once more.
The nest had held the dragon just moments ago.
But now, only the nest remained as a memory.
The dragon had become part of those memories.
“…Farewell, dragon.”
The nest where the dragon had been until moments ago.
Now a nest of memories.
Now an empty nest with no one.
A nest where you couldn't even tell if a dragon had ever been there.
From that place, I picked up the dragon eggs.
‘…But what about my money? Didn't find any treasure.’
That part worried me a lot.