Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: My Nest
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3. My Nest
6 months.
That's how long it took for me to return home.
"Finally made it back."
I checked the traces of time on the rusty iron door, looking like a total bum.
Papers were stuck to the streetlamp like moths.
"I swore I'd rip up all the bills when I got back..."
I found the Dragon's Nest.
But coming back empty-handed was no different.
My money hadn't increased at all.
That's why I couldn't tear off those bills plastered all over the iron door.
"If I'd at least brought back some antiques, I could've peeled them all off. No, is it too late to even think that now?"
Regrets were pointless; it was already too late.
I sighed without touching the bills and reached into my pocket for the key.
That's when it happened.
Tadadak—
"Lee Ha-jun—!!"
Someone was sprinting toward me from the dark end of the hallway, yelling my name.
The owner of a fierce face with a scar on his cheek.
A face very familiar to me.
'Shit, I'm screwed...!'
A familiar pattern.
Every time I tried to open the door, that thug bastard would show up.
'The one thing I wanted to avoid... and I run into him today of all days...'
Damn it.
I frantically rummaged in my pocket for the key.
If that guy caught me, my body knew all too well what came next.
"Here, the key! Got it!"
"Lee Ha-jun!! You son of a bitch!!"
"Argh, this is insane. Why won't it go in?"
Maybe because it had been so long since I was home.
Dust in the keyhole, or something—the key wouldn't fit right.
The longer I fumbled, the closer he got.
"Haa, too late now."
No helping it.
I'd have to go straight at him.
I raised my hand casually to greet the uncle charging toward me.
"Long time no see, uncle. How've you been?"
Unlike my friendly attitude, the uncle's was stone-cold.
"How've I been? Still talking down to me like that, you rude little shit. You borrow money, vanish for six months, and that's the first thing you say?"
"Ahem, yeah, you're right."
I tried to play it cool.
But the cold sweat pouring from my body wouldn't stop.
Fear etched into my very bones.
My body knew what was coming next.
The loan shark uncle scanned me up and down with a scowl.
"What the hell happened to you? Looking like a bum, as expected. Where the hell have you been for six months? Don't tell me you blew my money gambling and ran?"
"...No gambling. And I wasn't running away. Just had some business out of town."
"A guy with no family has 'business' that keeps him away for six months?"
"Already got no family to make it lonely, and now you're suspicious too? I haven't run in ten years. You can't trust me, uncle?"
"...Can't trust a guy who's gone ten years without paying back a dime."
Yeah, not getting off easy.
Loan shark Gu Bong-gu.
Bachelor in his forties.
Fierce face, burly build.
'And bald.'
Always in a black suit, preying on weaklings like me with interest as his staple.
Even after all this time, his healthy complexion pissed me off.
Ever since I was thirteen, orphaned and rock bottom, borrowing from him and failing to pay it back—a sticky bad connection that dragged on.
"Hey, Lee Ha-jun."
Gu Bong-gu tapped my cheek.
"You went dark, fine. You got the money?"
"..."
"You're not gonna pull that 'no money' crap after ghosting for six months, right? 5,000 left on principal, 2,000 in interest. I told you to pay it back 100 at a time, nice and slow. Why don't you listen, you punk?"
"..."
That's why I said I couldn't come back until I found the Dragon's Nest.
Even after finding it, nothing changed.
'Damn it.'
Getting beat after six months would hurt extra.
I lay on the floor and assumed the so-called 'pillbug' position I'd mastered over ten years of beatings from him.
No money, so I'd pay with my body.
"I got no money. Just hit me."
"Haa... you fucking punk..."
After that.
Gu Bong-gu beat me up.
Like always.
Now a habit.
Mostly with his feet.
Thud— Thud—
"If you—! Borrow—! Money—! Pay it—! Back—! You bastard—!! Why—! Make me—! Tired—! And not—! Pay up—!!"
"..."
"Lending money—! To a kid—! With nothing—! No parents—! Was my—! Mistake—! Fuck—!"
Maybe because I looked like a bum.
For six months underwater, the beating wasn't that long.
But the shitty feeling of getting pummeled never changed, no matter the time.
"You stamped—!! The seal—!! And borrowed—!! So pay—!! Up—!! You bastard—!!"
"..."
"Haa, I'll be back next month too. Have the money ready proper. Or you'll get it worse. Got it?!"
"Cough... Yeah..."
Gu Bong-gu tossed something in front of me.
Then shoved his hands in his pockets and vanished from sight.
"Haa... what a bum..."
My whole body throbbed with pain.
But the worst hurt.
Was my pinky finger, which hadn't even been hit.
***
"Sssp... hurts like hell... Why's he still got so much strength at his age...?"
How long do I have to keep seeing that tiresome face?
'First, I gotta pay back the money.'
Haa—
I sighed and stuck pain relief patches on my injuries.
Not bought with my money—ones Gu Bong-gu tossed.
"Gives you the sickness and the medicine... Why bother giving the sickness at all...? No brains, like his head...? Argh, hurts..."
I finished patching up and dragged my sore body to pull stuff from my backpack.
Traces of my ordeal dropped onto the dusty floor.
Among them, I carefully took out the most important item—the Dragon Egg—and set it down.
"Green, red, blue... Like Pokémon."
Back when I was a kid.
I played a lot.
Mostly fire-type red and water-type blue were popular.
Grass-type green...
"Was trash. Only clueless newbies or perverts picked it."
Feels nostalgic now.
Though all my memories shattered when dimensional gates started appearing.
Anyway.
"What to do with these? Will they hatch if I just leave them, regardless of temperature?"
After setting them on the floor, the eggs returned to normal size.
Eggs as big as me filled the tiny studio apartment.
Already cramped, now impossible to move.
'Hmm...'
Enough to spark a little dissatisfaction in my mind.
The throbbing blue bruise under the patch seemed to whisper to me.
'Selling the Dragon Eggs means I wouldn't get beat up like this.'
Honestly.
'I made a promise, but the dragon's gone now...?'
No one left to keep the promise to.
So, maybe I don't have to keep it?
'Sell the Dragon Eggs, get money, avoid getting wrecked like earlier.'
Peel off all those bills on the door.
Pay back Gu Bong-gu's principal and interest.
'Is that all?'
Escape this bum-ass monthly rent with the leftover cash.
Not basement, but semi-basement.
Not semi-basement, but above ground.
Not above ground, but high-rise.
Selling Dragon Eggs never seen before would make me filthy rich.
'Just close my eyes once and sell.'
No reason not to.
Now's not the time to raise Dragon Eggs.
Escaping this bum life comes first.
"Sorry about the promise, dragon. That's how it is."
I opened my old phone to sell the egg right away, checking the sales broker site 'Dapang'.
Phone bill overdue, so I piggybacked the neighbor's Wi-Fi.
Tapped post creation immediately.
[Selling Dragon Egg.]
[Not a lie. Real deal. Can verify with photos. Found Dragon Egg in Dragon's Nest. Wanna sell. Starting at 10 billion?]
"Hmm..."
Just hit complete.
Then the broker verifies, auctions it off.
I become mega rich and escape this bum reality.
A bum from the shadows stepping into the light, self-made millionaire.
How beautiful a story.
"Others would see it as some epic tale..."
But I know.
It's all built on lies.
I'm not the type to chase a pretty facade.
Not that I hate pretty facades.
Click—
So, I canceled the post.
"They saved my life. Not keeping the promise too? That ain't human. Even living in the trash heap, I'm not that trashy."
I was paying back Gu Bong-gu steadily, just hit a wall and gambled my life a bit.
I'm really trying my best to live right.
'...Though I wavered for a sec.'
To cut off lingering regrets, I pressed the power button on my old phone.
Or tried to.
Before an ad caught my eye.
"Wait, this looks good. Even a normie wielding this sword gets hero-strong? If I had this..."
Heroes on TV, raking in nine-figure salaries.
Heroes sweeping global popularity.
Heroes slicing monsters easy.
Heroes closing dimensional gates.
Heroes no one can look down on.
'Escaping long years of scorn and hardship...'
Gulp—
I swallowed hard, pondering.
'Just sell the egg? Close eyes once?'
Does money turn everyone into slaves?
But without money, can't live human.
The patches on my battered body prove it.
"But the promise...! I made it...! Ah, no...! Screw the promise...! Living like a human comes first...! Worst case, save up later and buy eggs back...?!"
Sell. No, can't sell.
Sell? No, don't.
Sell! Yeah— no, don't sell.
A war of mes inside me.
Not fighting to die, but for a better life.
What a bum situation.
Wriggle—
Amid the inner turmoil, something wriggled in front of me.
I looked up at the Dragon Eggs.
Crack—
"Huh?"
Cracks started forming on the still egg.
Seeing it, I erased sales thoughts from my head.
As if I'd never considered it.
Panicking, I flailed near the cracking egg.
"W-what do I do?! Search online?! YouTube knows everything? Should I look it up?!"
As I panicked, the egg cracked more on its own.
Then I recalled what the dragon said before dying.
"Dragons can do anything themselves."
Just need a bit of protection till adulthood.
Dragons do everything on their own.
"...He's right. Me meddling would just make it worse."
Remembering that, I relaxed and sat on the floor.
Now just watching the Dragon Egg.
Crack— Crack—
The cracking egg started breaking apart.
Through the gaps, a glimpse of the dragon.
Reptilian.
Lizard-like especially.
Huge eggs birthed critters my size, crawling through shell splits.
'Come to think, textbook said hatchlings see first sight as parent?'
Imprinting or whatever.
These too, hatching, might see me as parent.
I pointed at the first red one to emerge.
"Hey."
"..."
"I'm your dad."
"Shaaaak—!!"
The red lizard bit my finger.
Crunch—
"Argh!!"
"Shaaaak—!!"
"Can't even recognize your dad?!"
"Shaaaak—!!"
"Filial impiety already?! Do you know what I went through to bring you here!!"
"Shaaaak—!!!"
Should've left the Dragon Eggs, picked antiques.
Want a refund.
"Argh, my finger...!"
Looks like getting chummy with dragons won't be easy.