Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: 90. Black Flower (1)
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It was winter break.
A few days had passed since they had gathered to live together again.
The relationship between Yoo Ji-tae and the kids had shifted a little. But the everyday scenes of them together weren't much different from before.
This year, too, snow fell relentlessly on the floating island of Hate Ling. Hate Ling floated high in the stratosphere, above most clouds. Sometimes, blizzards raged on the ground below, but no snow would fall in the Lair.
So, when needed, the mages of Hate Ling would artificially create and scatter snow. All to mimic conditions similar to those on the surface.
"Hey! Who's the snow duty officer today? Who the hell dumped all this snow?!"
"Ah…."
"Are you insane? Why'd you go overboard like this?"
"I'm sorry! I got careless and…!"
Being human work, mishaps like this happened occasionally.
And so, that day, a blizzard hit the Lair.
"Whoa…."
Yoo Gaeul stepped out onto the terrace, cradling the hatchling chick in her arms.
"So much snow… tons of it."
When the pure white blanketed the colorful world, even if just for a moment, everything visible outside the window filled with nothing but pristine whiteness.
Gaeul and Winter stared blankly outside.
What was snow to little kids?
"Hmm! It'll all be a filthy mess in a few days…!"
"…Dirty."
"Let's just stay inside today, Winter…."
"…Yeah."
In truth, it wasn't anything special.
Gaeul had seen this scene a full three times now, after all.
So that day, the kids gathered in the living room to play board games.
The kids traveled the world on the game board, buying land and building structures.
The kids yanked out intact roof beams from model towers and precariously stacked them on top of buildings.
The kids each claimed a 'role.' Then, lying about their own while probing others', they attacked and extorted money.
Board games were mostly competitive, so scapegoats naturally emerged as play progressed.
And in room 301, the scapegoat was….
"Assassin attacks Ajusshi!"
"……."
"Kyaa! I took one of Ajusshi's lives!"
"Oh yeah? Then I'll be the pirate captain and rob Yoo Ji-tae. Hand over 2 coins."
"……."
"Yup~ You're trash now. Teehee!"
"…Me too. Captain Hook."
"What're you."
"…Give me money."
"Hey, that's my entire fortune."
"…Still, give it."
In an instant, Yoo Ji-tae lost all his lives except one and all his money, his expression clouding over.
Finally, it was Bom's turn. Yeoreum smirked and eyed Bom. Let's see if blood runs thicker than water. That was her intent.
Bom, who had been impassive or subtly smiling throughout the game, met Yoo Ji-tae's eyes and smiled a bit brighter. Her eyes curved. Her red lips tilted upward.
Bom covered her mouth diagonally with her hand, visible only to him.
But her voice carried to everyone.
"It was fun while it lasted."
Hey.
Laughter erupted again.
Meanwhile, as Bom finished speaking, she pursed her lips tiny and blew a kiss—mwah♥—visible only to Yoo Ji-tae, thanks to her hand.
Unable to withstand the concentrated fire, Yoo Ji-tae was eliminated. Amid the kids' peals of laughter, the one who had dropped out even earlier welcomed him.
"Welcome. This way for the deceased."
"Why so natural? You the usher or what?"
"Punching bag."
Yoo Ji-tae sat beside the Guardian.
The two whom the kids targeted first could only watch over them.
Still, they had their tasks. The Guardian kept catching the chick as it sneakily delivered coins to Gaeul and dragging it back.
Squeak squeak squeak!
When the chick protested, he grabbed its beak and hugged it with arms and legs.
Pfft! Pfft!
Trapped in full-body armor, the chick felt like it was locked in solitary.
Thus, on this rare day when everyone gathered after so long to have fun….
A peculiar package arrived.
[To. Yoo Gaeul]
The leaves you wanted. Took days of back-and-forth since stock was out, finally got it. Pissed me off, so sending just one. Not buying twice, too annoying.
[From. TB]
Leaves?
Yoo Ji-tae called Gaeul, saying a package from Tier Blazenk had arrived.
But Gaeul's reaction was unusual.
"Gasp! It's here?!"
Soon, Gaeul tore into the box with a rip. Yoo Ji-tae hadn't seen her this thrilled by a gift since chocolate macarons.
What's this about?
Soon, Gaeul pulled out a small flower from the box.
A black flower, not particularly pretty.
Resembling a rose, with layers of leaves stacked upon each other.
Ah, he knew what that was.
It was Wyvernip, a special plant.
Wyverns were among the trickiest monsters in dungeons. Fast, spewing magic, flying everywhere. Plus, they had no useful byproducts, making them a headache for raid teams.
This flower was their kryptonite.
Wyverns that caught its scent lost their fight and turned docile. Raid teams would crush it into perfume and spray themselves. Wyverns diving to attack humans would mellow from the good smell and hold back.
Though sometimes they'd follow like puppies, he'd heard.
Of course, wyverns being ultra-rare meant low demand. They only grew in specific climates, unavailable on Earth, supplied in tiny amounts from outside rifts.
Low demand. Low supply.
In other words, popular only among enthusiasts….
That was when it happened.
Gaeul set the potted flower on the living room floor and stared at it blankly, like a gleaming jewel. Then she cautiously leaned in to sniff.
And clenched her fists, biting her lower lip.
"Mmmph…."
Then Gaeul flopped to the floor like sticky rice cake, giggling hee hee hee.
Curious.
Wyvernip worked only on wyverns, yet it hooked a dragon too?
"Wow, the smell is so good."
Gaeul snapped out of it and picked up the Wyvernip to head into the living room.
"Unni unni! Winter!"
But Gaeul melting like this wasn't pleasing to Yoo Ji-tae. Bad memories.
So he called her.
"Yes?"
"That. Let me see."
"Sure."
Gaeul obediently handed the Wyvernip to Yoo Ji-tae.
For wyverns, it acted like a sedative. But that was wyverns.
If it caused any anesthesia or awakening effect on dragons, even slightly, he'd toss it immediately.
Yoo Ji-tae sniffed. To his human nose, nothing special. But using the Red Dragon's heartbeat, his body briefly turned draconic.
Thump— Heart glowing red.
Eyes closed, he inhaled the Wyvernip scent.
Some fluffy clouds seemed to drift in his emotions. No real pleasure. Mild effect. No direct neural addiction. Just slightly activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
Like eating sweets when hungry. Or wanting a nap on a full stomach in warm weather.
"Why why? Is it bad?"
"No. Seems fine. But where'd this come from suddenly?"
"It was in Ling-ling's necklace pouch, smelled so good, so I asked for one!"
"Oh?"
"But he should've sent more. Just one flower… guy's all height, no substance…!"
Once, Bom had messaged about Gaeul's pouting lips: (－3－).
Just like now.
Harmless to the body. No addiction. Just a fun toy. Yoo Ji-tae approved, and Gaeul shared with the kids.
"What's that?"
"Unni unni, smell this…!"
"What. It's all black. Get it away."
"No, this is total bliss…!"
"Ah, I said get it away?"
Boop! Gaeul lunged, Yeoreum's fingers poking her nostrils as she retreated. Meanwhile, the flower brushed Yeoreum's nose.
Yeoreum's scrunched face relaxed.
"Oh…."
"Right? Awesome, huh?"
"What is it?"
Yeoreum sniffed calmly, expression easing.
"Awesome, right? Super relaxing?"
"Hm. Not bad."
As Yeoreum blinked quietly, Gaeul beamed. Next was Bom unni.
"Hm? What's this…. Mmm…."
As expected, Bom sniffed, relaxed, and melted. Gaeul sniffed beside her. Side by side, they looked like sticky rice cake and sweetened rice dough.
'Ah, sex….' Soon, red bean rice cake joined between the sticky rice and sweetened ones.
But Winter, among the unnis, waved it off disinterestedly. Then approached Yoo Ji-tae, asking why they were like that.
Some wyverns rarely weren't affected; Winter seemed that type.
Anyway, Wyvernip was a live flower.
Unable to endure the unfamiliar environment, it wilted that evening.
Unique growth conditions meant it couldn't be cultivated, and not from Ascalifa or Earth, so Bom couldn't revive it.
As they regretted the wilted flower, Gaeul asked.
"Ajusshi. Could you maybe buy just one more?"
It had been ages since Gaeul asked for something, so Yoo Ji-tae agreed.
Constant flowers weren't welcome, but once more was fine.
So the next day around lunchtime.
Yoo Ji-tae headed to the world's sole Wyvernip retailer.
Mid-eastern U.S. Once part of Virginia, now independent post-New Era as the autonomous city-state of 'Kentucky.' There lay the world's largest 'exotic monster byproduct shop.'
The regressor met an unexpected person there.
The monster byproduct market bustled from morning.
Yoo Ji-tae checked his pocket watch.
No, that's Hate Ling time.
So he checked his watch.
Current time: 9 a.m.
Goods from the conquest of the Otherworld 'Lamdiaran' arrived at 11.
Two hours early, yet a decent line already formed at the shop. Unrecognized by others, these collectors found joy in their hunts. Plenty probably after Wyvernip.
Waiting in line in his coat.
One oddity caught his eye.
"……."
A woman stood two spots beside him.
Black coat. Black high heels. Purple earrings above a black hat. Even her hair pitch-black. Eyes matching the earrings: violet.
Yoo Ji-tae frowned upon seeing her face.
Unhuman ideal beauty graced her features.
High-end disguise mask hid it.
Spotting her was natural for him.
He held a blessing detecting all presences within 1.5km radius in real-time.
And she wasn't on that radar.
She'd erased her presence entirely. Masterfully.
Strange.
"……."
As he eyed her, unease rising—
Bang—!
Noise exploded.
"Gasp! What?!"
Grrrrowl!
Monster ferocity roared. Far off, a massive white beast burst from its cage. Wolf-like. Shoulder height 2.4m. Body length 5.5m.
The elephant-sized giant wolf swatted the zookeeper blocking it with a forepaw, then charged. Toppling stalls. Biting or shoving people aside.
Instant chaos.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Ru-run!!"
"Superhuman! Where the fuck's the superhuman!!"
"Kyaaah!"
Panicked screams filled the air.
The crowd scattered like startled ants. Yet the black-haired woman stood motionless, gazing vaguely at the ground.
Sensing something, the wolf charged her.
Next instant.
Her eyes and the wolf's met mid-air.
Its huge body froze. As if facing a cliff, it recoiled in shock, then pivoted and fled.
Terror-stricken escape.
The monster was swiftly subdued by arriving superhumans.
But that was beyond Yoo Ji-tae's concern.
He scrutinized the black-haired woman more closely. Her hazy gaze slowly turned.
"……."
Violet eyes met his.