Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: 73. Power and Belief (1)
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“Gaeul these days?”
“Yeah.”
Bom thought for a moment before speaking in a worried tone.
It was the evening when Gaeul had pressed her palm against his blade. Yoo Ji-tae had called Bom out to the terrace and asked her various questions. Whenever it came to dragons, Bom was always the one who gave him the answers.
“Hmm... She seemed a bit off.”
“How so?”
“I don't know the details exactly...”
Bom shook her head.
“Heard anything specific?”
“No.”
“Didn't you say she was learning healing magic from you?”
“Yeah, she was.”
“Did you teach her well?”
“Yes. Probably... Gaeul's really good at mimicking, so it wasn't hard for her.”
“Hmm.”
“Why? Did something happen? I thought it was weird too. Gaeul suddenly told me she didn't want to learn healing magic from me anymore.”
“When?”
“About three days ago.”
Three days ago—that was the day the training chimera died to Gaeul's magic.
After hanging up on the professor, Yoo Ji-tae had requested photos from the scene. The footage from the lab's CCTV arrived, and the medical chimera's “death” was pretty gruesome.
Yoo Ji-tae thought for a moment, then brought it up with Bom. It was something he couldn't tell Yeoreum or Winter.
“Ah...”
Startled, Bom covered her mouth.
“......”
“The situation's like this. To be honest, I don't know exactly how Gaeul felt about it.”
Bom let out a deep sigh.
“Gaeul's learning healing magic because she wants to heal those she's protecting, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then can't you imagine how she felt during the training?”
Yoo Ji-tae tried putting himself in her shoes.
He learns healing magic to treat Gaeul. Then, practicing on another kid, that kid dies.
...No idea.
Yoo Ji-tae wouldn't have felt a thing.
“Gaeul, who's so immersed, might feel like she killed Pip with her own hands.”
But as Bom continued, the situation felt more serious.
Bom's words sped up a bit.
“Ajusshi.”
“Yeah.”
“This seems like a really dangerous situation.”
“What?”
“Gaeul hasn't really grasped many of the things she's wanted up until now.”
“......”
“Even after leaving the game, she just played around. She hasn't really explored her sense of self. You could count them on one hand. It's all suppressed.”
Come to think of it, yeah.
She wanted to be a celebrity, but he stopped her.
She wanted to go out in public, but he blocked it.
Countless opportunities. But he never let her take them.
Because they could lead to her exploding.
So the regressor only allowed things that wouldn't make the kid burst. Extremely limited stuff.
“......”
As he mulled it over—
Bom stared straight into his eyes and took a step closer. Then, in a very cautious voice,
“There is one way.”
“Tell me.”
“But...”
Bom bit her lip as she spoke.
“This method.”
“Yeah.”
“I hope you don't think badly of me after hearing it. It's not coming from a bad place...”
“Let's hear it.”
Bom hesitated again before opening her mouth like a sigh.
“Make Gaeul dependent on you.”
It was a statement that made him doubt his ears.
“Anyway, Ajusshi, you have to keep Gaeul from getting human attention, right?”
“......”
“So the answer's simple. Someone showers her with that much attention and love. So when Gaeul's having a hard time, she leans on it and craves it.”
“Who could do that?”
Bom didn't answer.
She just looked into his eyes.
“......”
Make Gaeul dependent on him.
No. More precisely,
Make her thirst for his attention and love.
“Bom...”
What Bom was suggesting was the worst-case scenario.
And a method fittingly extreme.
It wasn't wrong, but for someone who remembered the 4th round, it wasn't welcome.
“Do you even know what you're saying?”
“I do.”
“Even if she becomes dependent, like you say. Isn't that just hiding and delaying her fundamental desires?”
“Does the game feel eternal to you?”
“No. It'll end someday. But that's not it. Someone who leans loses the ability to stand on their own.”
“Aren't you treating Gaeul like a bomb? The Gold clan—”
“Stop. I get what you're saying. But no, that won't work.”
“Okay...”
“Sorry.”
“No. I'm sorry. It's a relief in a way.”
“For what?”
“I didn't want to say this either...”
What would it look like if Gaeul depended on Yoo Ji-tae? Nothing specific came to mind, but it wouldn't be pretty or good.
For Bom, who wanted to monopolize him, it'd be a situation to avoid.
That showed how much Bom treasured Gaeul, but in this case, he couldn't heed her advice.
Dependence wasn't the answer.
To hide her rotting core. In the 4th round, the Gold Dragon depended on drugs.
And the result? A bathtub stained with bloody water.
Covering it up with dependence doesn't solve the root. It just lets the rot deepen.
Still, he couldn't blame Bom.
A bit detached from daily life, unfamiliar thoughts and emotions bubbled up.
Without the 4th round experience. What would I have done?
Wouldn't I have gone even further than Bom's suggestion?
It wasn't a big deal. Even now, accustomed to routine. Somewhere in his head, the broken machine parts hadn't been replaced.
Useless hypothetical. He shook off the thought.
“So what are you going to do?”
Bom asked cautiously.
Yoo Ji-tae rummaged briefly in his pocket subspace. Bom's pocket watch. Yeoreum's socks. Gaeul's wish ticket. Winter's music box, etc., brushed his fingers.
“One thing. I learned something recently. Seems Gaeul's got one thing she's good at.”
“Huh?”
“What do you think, Bom? Does Gaeul seem talented?”
The subject was omitted in his words.
But Bom understood and nodded.
“Ah, yeah. But would Gaeul want that?”
“Just evaluate. How good? Compared to a hatchling.”
“Hmm... Honestly, I didn't realize until I taught her.”
It hadn't shown because she rarely manipulated mana. But this time, she learned. Gaeul's mana amount and output, even compared to a hatchling...
Bom thought briefly and smiled awkwardly.
“...It's insane.”
Gaeul was skipping classes and holed up in her room.
So the next afternoon, he knocked on her door and called out to the kid blankly hugging the chick.
“Wanna go to a café?”
Gaeul nodded listlessly.
She tried to bring the chick, so he said just the two of them. Gaeul nodded again and set Pip down.
Gaeul was in pajamas, neck stretched out revealing down to her collarbone. Not a look for showing off. “How about changing clothes?” At his words, she nodded and closed the door.
Then came out changed.
At that moment, she looked like a puppet with cut strings.
Choco-Choco Double Choco Overload Frappuccino.
This shocking menu: blend chocolate milk with chocolate and ice. Top with chocolate whipped cream, chocolate chunks, chocolate syrup, decorated with chocolate cookies.
—But dude, you really lack sense. If you're here to persuade a problem child like me..., you should've at least brought something sweet.
Even as she was ending her own life, she craved sweets.
This wasn't metaphorical.
Sucking the drink eagerly, munching chocolate crisply, Gaeul seemed much better.
Some life returned to her deathly pale face.
“How's the taste?”
“Curious?”
“Yeah.”
“Super delish-urgle...!”
Gaeul beamed, deeply moved.
Suddenly, he recalled a conversation with Winter.
“...You-urgle.”
Out of nowhere. Gaeul tilted her head.
“...Hmm. Super delish-urgle, you-urgle.”
“Huh? Ah... Side-urgle!”
“Frog-urgle.”
“Mm, all-urgle...?”
“Pub-urgle.”
“Mm, mm, uh uh.... Gurgle-gurgle?”
“What's that?”
“Right? Yeoreum unni's fart smell...?”
Then she giggled. It was kinda funny, so Yoo Ji-tae smiled faintly too.
Sipping his Americano, he peered at the kid. Nibbling her one cookie like a squirrel, saving it; when eyes met, Gaeul eyed him warily.
“Why?”
“Why.”
“You look like a mountain bandit.”
“......”
“Ugh. Mm. Staring like that? Didn't think you'd pull that, Ajusshi.”
“What?”
“I can't live like this. Could just ask for it...!”
Gaeul offered the half-eaten cookie.
“Here.”
Voice cheerful, but hesitant, reluctant to part.
He didn't need the cookie, but feeling amused, he took it.
Gaeul stared holes into it. As it neared his mouth slyly, her mouth opened slyly too.
What would Bom do? Probably lick it and dangle it in front of her.
But he couldn't go that far, so he reached out and popped it into Gaeul's open mouth.
“Mmph...!”
Her startled face brightened as she chewed.
Realizing the time was right.
He spoke.
“Gaeul.”
“Yes?”
“Why'd you learn healing magic?”
Her gorging hand stopped. Gaeul avoided his eyes.
Bad timing? But water under the bridge.
“Um, to become a guardian...”
“Pip won't be with us much longer.”
“...Yeah.”
“Learning healing for a Pip like that?”
“No. I'm spending good time with Pip. Guardian... I want to be one again someday...”
“Why.”
“Dunno. Just feels like it. Feels like my fate...”
Fate.
The Gold clan's fate, living as national guardians.
About here. From the moment he realized her magic output, the words he'd been pondering.
“Isn't there a better way than healing after getting hurt?”
“Huh?”
“How about keeping what you protect from getting hurt?”
“Ah...”
“Protect them. As a guardian, keep them unharmed.”
At his words, life quickly drained from Gaeul's eyes.
“Yeah...”
The regressor's eyes twitched.
This reaction again?
“What's ‘yeah’?”
“You're right, Ajusshi. Protecting's better.”
“For real?”
“Yeah. Just, Bom unni's healing kept flashing in my mind. Guess I was thinking nonsense...”
He clicked his tongue inwardly.
Confirmed. Repeated failures had tanked her self-esteem.
Bom was right. Whatever she chose, he blocked it, so failure-familiar kid gave up her decisions.
A new phenomenon in the 7th round, absent before.
But the regressor didn't know how to boost a kid's low self-esteem. As he pondered next topic—
“Ajusshi...”
Gaeul asked cautiously.
Unexpected keyword. Between them.
“Yeah. What.”
“Ajusshi, you're our guardian. Mine, unnis', Winter's.”
“Right.”
“Um... So, what do you think a guardian needs?”
Gaeul wanted to be a guardian.
Yoo Ji-tae was Gaeul's guardian.
Now. Gaeul was asking what a guardian is, looking at him.
He didn't know well what a guardian was. First time being one truly. But thinking deeply, the nearly 2 years of the 7th round weren't wasted.
To him, what a guardian needs.
Simply,
“Power and conviction.”
“Power and... conviction?”
“To protect without injury, you need power. Much stronger than the threats.”
“Yeah.”
“To protect rightly, conviction. Guardians don't protect objects. Think, ponder endlessly—what's best for protecting and raising the kid.”
Gaeul listened blankly, then giggled.
“What. Doesn't suit you. Thought you lived without thinking.”
“Why?”
“Like, sage-like.”
“When?”
“When Yeoreum unni nags and you brush it off? Like, ahem. Ahem. This rascal~.”
“...I think too.”
“Kyaa, hehe.”
This laugh was bigger.
“So, you're super strong already, power's fine. Conviction? You got it?”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
“Secret.”
“Ehh? Then, for us, like, pondering now how best to protect us?”
“Yep.”
Even this moment, his thoughts continued.
Different from others. Their guardian-ward bond was especially deep.
Not just physical. Guiding her life for true happiness—that was his role.
And he'd just found the answer.
“Wow. What're you pondering? About me?”
💕 Gaeul poked her cheek with two fingers, beaming.
“Nothing much. Just, our Gaeul.”
“Mm!”
“I hope she learns combat magic.”
“Mm...?”
Unexpected words? Smile vanished from Gaeul's face.
“???,,”
Question marks in her eyes.
Magic divides into four main types.
1. Combat magic
2. Healing magic
3. Convenience magic
4. Research magic
Among them, ‘combat magic’ exists for battle, as named. Protect self, repel foes.
“Talking about a guardian's conviction might be too much now. You don't get guardian this, conviction that.”
“Ah, yeah...”
“But in a world full of armed folks. To protect something, need a bigger blade. Or can't protect.”
“......”
“But lo and behold. While others wield blades rampaging, you were born holding a gun.”
Gaeul nodded, mulling his words.
Not the defeated gaze this time. Life in her eyes.
“The healing issue? All because your talent's that exceptional. Magic output insane even for hatchling. Dismissed till now, but feeling it directly, I'm sure.”
“Ah......”
“Gaeul. Someday you protect again. To keep it unharmed. Shall we cultivate that power? What do you say.”
Stunned kid blanks out.
The regressor pulled out words he'd cherished.
“Wanna learn combat magic?”