Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Part 47. HappyHappy Idol Worship (2)
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According to Morning Star,
The origins traced back to the HappyHappy comment brigade days.
"The doctor and nurse asked us to... You know, to cheer on the goddess. Heh heh..."
Back then, BM had suddenly shown up with dozens of network devices and asked them to run some comment operation.
But up until that point, the 30-man airborne special forces unit hadn't thought much about Gaeul.
They were just doing it because the nurse told them to.
"We didn't even know her face. Or her name. So everyone just kept repeating nice things on a whim..."
Yoo Ji-tae remembered what came after. A video had arrived on his device.
Bom had filmed Gaeul and sent it over.
'Huh? What's this? Why are you filming me?'
'It's a Q&A.'
Gaeul pressed her fists to her cheeks and pouted cutely, but her eyes went wide at the mention of Q&A.
'Want to introduce yourself? Tell us what kind of person Yoo Gaeul is.'
'Um, I'm...'
Bom asked about who Gaeul was, where she lived, her status, what foods she liked, and so on. Gaeul answered with a bright smile, completely unfiltered.
In the video BM played, her smiling, chattering voice freshened up the dingy underground labyrinth.
Without pretense. Without lies. As the airborne special forces watched her honest voice with warm smiles,
'What does Gaeul think of muscular superhumans?'
Bom tossed out that question and shoved some photos forward. Pictures of famous superhuman bodybuilders.
Towering at around 2.5 meters, with bodies exploding with muscle!
'Wow...! They're so cool!'
'Cool?'
'Yeah! It must be super hard to build a body like that, right? They seem insanely amazing...!'
'I see.'
'And my mom liked people with good bodies too!'
The airborne special forces watching BM's video seemed even more delighted.
"Hrm..."
"Ahem..."
"She knows her stuff..."
"Heh heh..."
Their biceps and trapeziuses twitched with every chuckle.
The sinister smiles knew no gender divide.
"Yoo Gaeul, was it...? What a nicely grown girl..."
"Precious and cute... Just like our daughter..."
"Indeed. Like my own daughter. I'd love to have a word with anyone who speaks ill of a girl like that..."
"Santos. Don't you have three sons?"
Santos smiled benevolently at the question.
"Last year, my eldest became a daughter."
"You mean...?"
"Acquired daughters exist too."
"Oh, Lord..."
"Wh-What fortune..."
In any case, after seeing Gaeul's video, the 30-man airborne special forces threw themselves into the positive comment campaign with even more zeal.
Before long, Gaeul's name and face started sticking to their lives like an 'inertia.'
There were two things that motivated people in the underground labyrinth.
One was an intense drive for self-improvement that dominated the subconscious—the reason the 30-man unit trained like maniacs.
The other was the inertia of life.
"Hmm... Nurse. Could you give us some photos of Miss Gaeul?"
"...What?"
"That cute face keeps flickering in my mind. Looking at it while training would give me strength."
BM was dumbfounded.
He had deliberately not shown them family photos, worried it might make them want to leave before their mental contamination was cured.
But photos of Gaeul seemed fine. So BM printed out a few from Bom's Q&A video and handed them to the unit members.
"These are them...!"
Morning Star flung open the gym door, and a wave of sweltering heat poured out. 'Graaaah!' 'Chwaaaah!' Even in broad daylight, the special forces were swinging iron like madmen.
Yoo Gaeul's photos were plastered everywhere in the gym, like idol photocards.
One locker was especially crammed full.
"Whose locker is that?"
"Mine, Doc...!"
Kuh huh huh... A drunken-sounding laugh.
A massive mestizo woman approached Yoo Ji-tae. The airborne special forces captain, Bell Varian.
According to Morning Star, Gaeul's stock had skyrocketed at some point due to an incident.
The Bell Varian 3-rep-max 20,000 incident.
"My previous records were bench press 4,826kg, deadlift 7,210kg, squat 7,452kg... For four whole years, I couldn't break through the magic wall of '3-rep-max 20,000,' always short by around 600kg..."
Bell Varian's massive fists trembled violently.
"The problem was obvious. My arms were weak... I'd trained for years to get stronger... Everything else improved somehow, but I couldn't bench 5,000... Being born a woman with weak arm strength was frustrating at times like that..."
Now even her forearms were shaking.
For some reason, Morning Star clenched his fists and trembled too. Madness flickered in his powerless gaze.
"But that day, I was saved... For some reason, the goddess Gaeul visited me in a dream... Fu huh huh... And she smiled at me...!"
"......"
"That's when I realized the perfect chance had come...! 1RM challenge weight: 5,400... A whopping 574kg over my usual...! One slip and I'd be crushed, bones shattering to death...! I was scared...! But I shouted the goddess's name...! Like this...!!"
Bell opened her mouth wide.
Yoo ― Gae ― ul ― !!
Her thunderous roar shook the gym.
The special forces members, lost in their iron pumping nearby, jolted in surprise, then hoisted their barbells and echoed back in unison.
""Yoo Gaeul!!""
""Yoo Gaeul!!""
""Uwaaaaaah―!!""
Clang-!
Every mirror in the gym shattered.
The roar was so loud even Yoo Ji-tae grimaced.
"What the hell are you doing!"
A startled BM rushed over, flung open the gym door, and yelled.
"Shut it, you lunatics! Can't you be quiet?"
He scolded the patients and left.
The special forces looked a bit downcast.
Yoo Ji-tae knew a similar phenomenon. Ogres entered a 'Berserk' state upon a tribesman's death. Their vibe was no different.
"Ahem... The nurse is so strict. Anyway, that's how I, as a woman, achieved 3-rep-max 20,062...!"
"Ooh! It's always so moving...!"
"Our captain hit 3-rep-max 20,000...! Goddess...!"
"Damn it...! Goddess Yoo Gaeul, look upon this lowly lamb...!"
"GyaAAAAH...! I want 3-rep-max 7,000 too...!"
And so,
Miss Gaeul had evolved from Lady Gaeul to Goddess Gaeul.
It was absurd, but this was an underground labyrinth mental ward, after all.
Yoo Ji-tae wandered around, easily spotting traces of Gaeul everywhere. Newly built 'cafeteria,' 'laundry room,' and such. Portraits of Yoo Gaeul adorned every spot.
Some containers had nothing but her portrait hanging on the wall. Eerie atmosphere. Candles flickered.
What was this place? Morning Star smiled brightly at his question.
"Prayer room."
He was at a loss for words.
Tonight's dinner was Korean-style braised short ribs.
Store-bought.
The savory, salty soy sauce aroma wafted across the table.
The kids ate their rice, passing the meat bone-to-bone, picking it clean.
"Try some of this too, Winter."
"...What?"
"Potato. Tasty."
"......!"
"Whoa. Meat is so freakin' good. Frog. Side. You... gu... ri..."
"Bba..."
"Huh? Bba what?"
Chattering voices filled the air.
Watching the kids eat blankly, Yoo Ji-tae's gaze landed on Gaeul.
A sudden question arose.
How would a Gold Dragon spend her excursion in Ascalifa, not Earth?
-...The Gold clan can immerse themselves too deeply in emotions they feel.
He recalled Bom's words. 'Excessive immersion' was a trait of the entire Gold clan, not just Gaeul.
-They empathize so profoundly with emotions that come their way. Like becoming that person.
He'd never been to Ascalifa. Couldn't go. It was too distant a dimension.
But if 'humans' lived there too, someone would surely harbor malice toward a Gold Dragon. And if that was dangerous, the Gold clan wouldn't send hatchlings on excursions to the human world.
Conversely, they sent them out because even if malice existed, it wasn't dangerous...
"Pardon?"
After dinner,
He asked Bom privately.
"I'm not entirely sure, but Gold clan are guardian deities, right? They lay down the law in advance. 'Our daughter is going on an excursion. Take good care of her.'"
An adult dragon probably wouldn't say it so nicely. More like, 'Handle it yourself. Unless you want to die.'
"Then."
"Then, the royals send people to greet her. To protect the dragon. Ensure only good things happen. Helping from afar, that kind of thing."
Bom smiled slyly.
"Think about it. Our existence is a nuisance to humans."
Coming from a dragon, that was a first for him.
"But Ascalifa is a troubled world. Dragons suppress wars. Seal rifts from other dimensions. Keep nature cycling... You know, those roles."
I see.
At that point, Yoo Ji-tae gained a new perspective.
Perhaps,
The problem wasn't Gaeul, but the media?
In past regressions, even this one, he'd thought 'Gold Dragon' was the root of all issues.
Her fragile heart and deep immersion were lethal traits he couldn't fix. So he'd blocked every situation where she faced people.
But enjoying excursions in Ascalifa meant direct malice couldn't reach her.
If that assumption held,
What he needed to guard against wasn't the glass-mental flounder 'Yoo Gaeul,'
But the 'media' that easily delivered malice to her room.
Rankers had a running joke: 'The internet is scarier than S-rank monsters.'
They could sense an S-rank hiding its presence.
But not if a text from a neighbor spewed hate.
Mana was the manifestation of intent. Willpower turning into invisible force. But radio waves were transmitted by 'machines' without will.
Superhumans could vaguely sense waves without special gear or artifacts, but not the content.
That was why Yoo Ji-tae couldn't detect Winter's random video upload.
And why 7th-regression Yoo Ji-tae, strong enough to face the world, couldn't control media.
"......"
The regressor pondered silently.
If his hypothesis was right, two scenarios could benefit Gaeul.
1. Limited relationships with a specific group without malice.
2. No media environment.
As long as she was on Earth, 2 was impossible.
But 1...?
"......"
The 7th regression hadn't been in vain.
A mundane cause-and-effect, too detached from daily life to notice, now came into view.
It felt good. Like a clogged pipe suddenly clearing.
Yoo Ji-tae visited Gaeul's room.
"Gaeul."
"Yes?"
"Want to film a video letter?"
"Video letter? To who?"
To your fanatics.