Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: 55. Socks and Hat (1)
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“Uwaa, it’s shedding! Shedding!”
“Hey, Yoo Gaeul.”
“Unni! Our Winter’s gonna shed! Uwaaa…!”
“Who doesn’t know that? Shut up already. The kid’s ears are super sensitive right now!”
“Hep…!”
Gaeul clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. At that, Winter opened her eyes, her little face still scrunched up. Then she looked at Yeoreum.
“…Yeoreum unni.”
“Huh?”
“…Shh.”
It was a prank. Winter giggled softly. Yeoreum’s face boiled with irritation, while Gaeul laughed silently, on the verge of suffocating.
“You okay, Winter?”
Bom gently stroked Winter’s head.
“…Yeah.”
Winter nodded obediently. But seeing her forehead slick with cold sweat, it didn’t seem okay at all.
A hatchling becomes a full “dragon” upon reaching adulthood.
Bom had said that starting from the third or fourth shedding around age 100, it wouldn’t hurt or make them sensitive anymore.
But Winter was just turning two. For a hatchling this young, shedding was an extremely delicate process.
“You girls stay back from Winter for now.”
Yoo Ji-tae physically nudged the kids away. “Oh shoot!” Gaeul suddenly remembered something and hurriedly widened the distance.
They were from different clans, after all.
A sensitive hatchling during shedding could be adversely affected by mana from other clans.
Which meant shedding in the “Lair,” saturated with all sorts of mana influences at high altitude, wasn’t ideal.
Once the shedding truly began, Yoo Ji-tae would have to take Winter far away. An environment like the Blue Dragon’s nest would be perfect—say, the iceberg region near Greenland.
That’s why when Winter first said her chest felt “itchy,” he’d already sent an avatar ahead to prepare a spot there.
“Winter. It’s absolutely nothing scary! Okay? Got it?”
Bom, Yeoreum, and Gaeul, a step away, started chattering about Winter’s condition.
“…Yeah.”
“Your body might hurt a bit and your heart might feel hot, but don’t be scared! It’s all for growing! It’s not dangerous!”
“Don’t freak out. It doesn’t hurt that much.”
“What are you talking about? It does hurt! Unni must’ve never felt pain, but I cried my eyes out and nearly died…”
“Hey.”
“Ah, whoops…”
Yeoreum side-eyed her, and Gaeul, chirping like a chick, clamped her own mouth shut.
Winter seemed unfazed despite hearing it all.
“Yoo Winter. You’ve got it good, kid. A guardian taking care of everything. Setting up the environment. Watching over you. Worrying about you. That makes it doable, right?”
Yeoreum grumbled, arms crossed.
“Back in my day, when I was shedding, shivering naked, some older clan bitch who hatched before me would show up and eye me like, ‘Looks tasty right now,’ drooling and all.”
“Ehh? For real? That’s too much!”
“Yeah. She was the only one getting all the love anyway, so no adults cared if she croaked. Body hurt, sure, but the vibe? Fuuuck, it was the worst. But look at me now?”
Yeoreum tapped her cheek with a finger, cupped her breasts with both hands, then planted them on her hips.
“Grew up pretty damn fine, didn’t I? If a bitch like me made it, it’ll be a cakewalk for a baby with a tough guy like yours. Shedding’s no biggie. Everyone does it. Just do it.”
Yeoreum unleashed what might’ve been encouragement or an insult.
Winter pondered it briefly, deemed it an insult, and snorted.
“Ugh~. You with zero pretty bones in your body.”
“…Hmph.”
Gaeul apparently didn’t like Yeoreum’s brand of comfort.
“No, unni…! You can’t just say it like that…!”
“What?”
“You gotta tell her realistically so she won’t panic when it hits! Winter. Listen up. Shedding has stages! First, your polymorph undoes itself automatically. Then your heart slows down bit by bit. Skin shells form and peel off—uwah, that part hurts like crazy?!”
Gaeul’s eyes started rolling back.
“Then the real agony! Once skin’s exposed, even air feels like needles stabbing! Heart’s shedding too, like needles poking inside your chest…?! Feels like getting gutted, heuk…! You think you’ll die, but endure and…”
Thwack!
Gaeul, smacked on the back of her head, whipped around to glare at Yeoreum.
“Cut the crap, you idiot.”
She’d immersed herself so much in the explanation she was on the verge of tears.
“What?! Why?! Gotta be honest so she can brace herself!”
“How’s that honest? You’re just scaring her!”
“No I’m not!?”
The two bickered. Winter shook her head pitifully.
Meanwhile, Bom crouched to meet Winter’s eyes.
“Our Winter.”
Her blue eyes turned to Bom.
Times playing in the human world.
Here, Winter woke to Bom in the mornings and slept beside her at night.
“My baby.”
To a dragon’s eyes, kid to kid, Bom said it playfully. Winter smiled naturally.
“So our Winter’s not a baby anymore?”
“…Huh?”
“You’ll be a little more grown-up.”
“…Grown-up? …Me?”
Imagining something at Bom’s words, Winter’s eyes widened in wonder. ‘More like ten years old? If you don’t wanna grow up, you could stay a baby!’ Yeoreum and Gaeul chimed in.
“Then you can do whatever you want freely. Stuff you couldn’t do as a little kid, you can try bit by bit.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah. So hang in there just a bit. Let’s get through it. Okay?”
“…Okay.”
“When it’s all done, unni’ll give you a present.”
“…Present?”
Bom leaned in to whisper in Winter’s ear. Whatever she said made Winter glance at Yoo Ji-tae with a goofy grin.
What could it have been?
“Winter! Not scared, right!?”
“…Yeah.”
“Wow. I was so scared…”
“…It’s okay.”
“She’s tougher than you, monkey.”
“What? So unni wasn’t scared?”
“Of course not.”
Yeoreum swept back her hair.
“Well, hands and feet shook a little.”
Winter, by contrast, was remarkably composed. She raised both hands to show Yeoreum. Steady, no trembling.
“…Scaredy-cat.”
Winter burst into laughter. Yeoreum scowled, Gaeul giggled until she got the evil eye and turned away.
Bom hugged the child. Her cheek touched sweat-damp hair.
“Uh, anything you need? Just in case?”
“Pip!”
About then, the guardian—isolated in the warehouse for his even more alien aura than the dragons—peeked through the door crack.
Winter shook her head. Bom answered for her.
“Could you close the door?”
Kii… iii… i… eek….
The closing door sounded full of regret.
Afterward, Bom pulled Yoo Ji-tae aside to the terrace.
“Prepare a hat.”
“Why a hat?”
“Might need it after shedding.”
“Hm… Got it.”
“And a weapon. One that won’t affect mana and has low noise.”
“Why?”
“Weakened dragon mana smells different. Could attract beasts.”
“Because it’s not a dragon nest?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
That afternoon, Yoo Ji-tae bought a sky-blue cap from the shop. It’d suit Winter’s head perfectly.
He pondered cold weapons, settling on a single knife.
Thus, Room 301 prepared as one for the child’s approaching change.
“…Ugh.”
Day by day, Winter’s groans lengthened.
Her child’s body shedding rapidly for her true form. Her young heart growing larger.
Growth often brings pain. Winter’s did.
Past loop memories flashed—always dismissing his own ordeals lightly.
He wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel, asking awkwardly.
“Hurts a lot?”
She shook her head.
“Wanna go early? To the icy, watery place?”
Shook her head.
“If it hurts, we can go.”
Winter stared into his eyes long, then slowly shook her head.
“…Don’t wanna.”
“Why.”
To avoid harming her even slightly, the regressor sealed all powers, blessings, presence inward.
Allowing him to stay closest now.
But clever Winter knew.
“…You’ll be cold there, ajusshi.”
With powers hidden, Yoo Ji-tae was near-human unless attacked.
“You worrying about me now?”
“……”
“I don’t get cold.”
“…Yeah.”
Still, Winter stubbornly held out. They departed only three days later.
Dressed in vest and thick coat, he fitted comfy clothes on her feverish body.
For a moment, old thoughts surfaced.
The child who’d stopped her own heart, closing water-blue eyes.
When the underground labyrinth ceiling shattered, revealing sky.
5th loop ended.
Before 6th began.
Yoo Ji-tae repeated killing rulers in other dimensions, then suicide.
Dozens of loops wasted.
Finally, 6th: most dangerous demon world with a ruler.
—You stay here from now on.
Done delaying, he kidnapped all dragons, dumped them in the labyrinth.
—Someday you’ll be free.
—Until the future I prepare.
—You can’t leave here.
—No reckless moves.
Hatchlings trembled in fear.
—Don’t dare bargain with me.
—Act cocky, get beaten.
He was violent, domineering then.
Reflecting, his existence was disaster to others.
War? Didn’t care. No daily life to protect. He slaughtered demons indiscriminately. Sparking war, killing 30% humanity—he didn’t stop.
Unprecedented power and fear would change the world.
Break the regression curse.
Last moments of that mindset awaited. Hurry more. Stack power extremely.
That’s what he thought. Rarely visited the labyrinth.
—….
Checking hatchlings occasionally, changes stood out in Blue Dragon.
First met as egg, now three-year-old. Next, shed to adult.
Dragons grow as desired, so Blue desperately wanted adulthood.
Reason unknown—Blue clan silent—but likely “revelation.”
Because of that?
If Green demanded something, Blue wanted to accompany him.
No reason to allow it.
—…Let me out.
—…I’ll be useful.
He refused.
—…Think I like you?
—…But you can’t live like this.
Sobbing quietly, Blue blocked him till he left.
Already annoyed by Green’s endless requests.
Demon world eve, Blue—enlightened?—blocked fiercer, body-checking.
—Hey.
—Not hearing me?
Grabbed by throat, Blue slammed into wall, couldn’t match strength.
Staring into blue eyes, Yoo Ji-tae warned sincerely.
—Don’t piss me off.
—Before I kill you.
Blue didn’t cry after.
No resentment, sadness, fear. Dim eyes watched him leave the labyrinth.
Waited far away.
One day waiting.
Thinking something.
One month.
Bloodstains showed attempts.
One year, five, ten.
When false paradise happiness faded.
Long wait ended.
Blue stopped her heart, died. One year ago, 6th loop’s end.
“……”
Dark ice cave.
Lying Winter couldn’t endure pain, began crying. Composed facade gone. Tears streamed, eyes full of anxiety. Terrified of coming change.
“…Hug me, please.”
He hugged her. Felt her tiny body tremble.
For a moment, recent past memory flashed. Unbelievably, he regretted.
What sin did the child have? So anxious. Should’ve been kinder. Gentler words.
“…You’ll stay …here the whole time?”
“Yeah. Not going anywhere.”
Should’ve stayed together more.