Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: 18. Trip (3)
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“Wh-what!?”
The chick cried out in surprise.
“Winter can talk? No, wait—isn’t that obvious? I could talk from the moment I was born...”
Winter gave an awkward smile.
“Oh dear! Then why didn’t you say anything until now? Must’ve been dying to talk! Poor baby.”
Gaeul rubbed her cheek against Winter’s.
Winter beamed, clearly enjoying the soft sensation of their cheeks pressing together.
“Seeing you lot so noisy made me think I shouldn’t end up like that.”
“What are you talking about? I’m the quiet type!”
No one agreed.
“Oh, oh! I know! It’s because Ajusshi’s spicy stew was so delicious that Winter finally spoke up! The taste made the words burst out...”
“If it’s that good, you should die.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Haven’t you heard? When two people eat something amazing, one of them has to...”
Yoo Ji-tae looked at Winter.
The baby’s voice was far calmer than he’d expected.
He found the situation fascinating. Come to think of it, even in his previous loops, he’d rarely seen Winter speak.
This girl with the water-blue hair had always been quieter than Bom.
Even normally.
...And right up until her dying moments. She had been.
She never said she was in pain, no matter how much it hurt. She never voiced her desires.
Even if he’d known, he wouldn’t have granted her wishes back then. Looking back now, from this somewhat normal life, he realized he’d lived with his eyes and ears firmly shut.
But he’d been wrong, and things would be different now.
“...Thanks.”
‘Delicious’ was a compliment.
So, he had to express gratitude.
Through that logical reasoning, those words slipped from the regressor’s mouth.
“......”
Winter flinched, avoiding Yoo Ji-tae’s gaze, then hesitantly resumed scooping her food.
She ladled up a piece of white fish flesh and put it in her mouth. Then she sipped the broth. Her movements were slow and clumsy, but she ate diligently.
Recalling the daily life at the police station from his clone’s experiences.
The team leader’s young son had eaten heartily like that. Whenever he did, those around him would say things like, “Eat up and grow big and strong.”
Children were fragile. Exposed to countless dangers, every moment of raising them required caution.
He wouldn’t care about other kids. But Winter? She tugged at his heart a little.
In past loops, Winter had been more prone to minor illnesses than the other dragons.
What kind of ailments could a dragon have? He’d asked that once. The Green Dragon had replied with a face full of hostility: Ascalifa and Earth had ‘water’ that was too different. It was a dragon circumstance he couldn’t comprehend.
So the regressor silently prayed as he watched the blue-haired child. At least in this loop.
May you grow up healthy.
It was practically cauldron-sized pot.
Still, it seemed insufficient for the voracious dragons. Yeoreum peered into the empty pot and asked him.
“No plans to make more?”
He nodded.
“Alright then. Kids, let’s clean up what we ate.”
Bom had the children tidy up.
Yeoreum, already sprawled out, made a displeased face.
“Unni. Cleaning!”
“......”
After pondering briefly, Yeoreum flashed the sly smile unique to Red dragons.
Mana soon coalesced into a cubic magic circle. She vanished from the spot.
“Wh-what? Bom-unni! Yeoreum-unni ran away!”
“Huh?”
Ditched cleaning to escape?
Bom tilted her head at Yeoreum’s empty spot.
Then, sensing something, her expression soured.
“Should we go catch her?”
“Nah. It’s fine.”
“Why?”
A minute later, the mystery was solved.
Shuu―
From the spot where the three-dimensional cubic magic circle had appeared.
Clank―
Yeoreum emerged alongside the guardian.
“Miss. What brings you here...”
“You asking ’cause you don’t know?”
His eyes flickered in bewilderment.
Yeoreum pointed at the filthy forest floor.
Then she told the guardian.
“What do you think your job is?”
She chuckled slyly.
Click.
The guardian silently began cleaning without a word.
Scrape, scrape...
While they worked, Yoo Ji-tae stared off into the bushes beyond.
Winter, nestled in his arms, blankly gazed at his face before turning her eyes to where he looked.
What’s over there that he’s staring at?
Winter peered in that direction curiously for a long while.
Eventually, a stranger emerged from the bushes.
Taller than the nearly 190cm Yoo Ji-tae by a head. Shoulders and bulk so massive it was hard to tell if he was human or an ogre.
Behind the man trailed a long-haired woman.
The man from the bushes spotted them and approached on foot.
Winter tensed, clutching Yoo Ji-tae’s clothes tightly.
The stranger had approached without warning, evading even the dragons’ senses.
Winter glanced back at Yoo Ji-tae. He showed no tension whatsoever.
So Winter decided to relax.
“Hello, sir!”
The giant bowed his head lightly.
His polite speech carried a raw, unpolished feel.
Yoo Ji-tae knew this man.
Official world ranking 9th.
And the third strongest in Korea.
Myeong Yong-ha.
In past loops, they’d fought together and against each other. Their connection wasn’t deep, but in world-scale wars, they’d inevitably crossed paths.
Every move scrutinized by foreign media, a national strategic weapon requiring government approval for action.
Encountering such a ‘ranker’ here was unexpected, even for him.
“Hello.”
“Yes. Sir, family picnic?”
Yoo Ji-tae glanced at the people following behind Myeong Yong-ha. A five-year-old boy, Winter’s age. His mother held his hand, her belly swollen with pregnancy.
“We’re on a trip. And you?”
“Ah. We come here periodically for picnics. Didn’t expect anyone outside our ‘friends’ to know this place.”
‘Our friends.’ The organization of world rankers.
He laughed heartily, “Uhaha!”
Yoo Ji-tae recalled the man uprooting a giant tree and smashing it into a chimera’s head.
Anyway, Yoo Ji-tae had no particular business with him.
If it’s a picnic, enjoy it separately and go. He wondered why this giant had sought him out specifically.
He was the ‘Druid of Regeneration.’ An extremely rare ‘nature-affinity superhuman.’ Nature-affinity here meant those wielding elements like fire, water, lightning.
Media often described him as handling nature like a dragon.
As he thought, one thing came to mind.
“By any chance, did you pick mushrooms nearby?”
“Abaddon mushrooms.”
Myeong Yong-ha’s eyes twitched at his words.
“Oh no! Sir, you didn’t know those had an owner? Didn’t the perfect condition strike you as odd?”
“Thought I got lucky.”
“Sigh, I see. Well, I might’ve thought the same... Did you eat them all? There were about five clusters.”
“Ate every bit. Sorry.”
Myeong Yong-ha covered his massive face with his huge hand.
“Oh man... No, it’s my fault for not labeling them.”
His words said one thing, but his bitterness was obvious.
He glanced sideways slyly.
Yoo Ji-tae knew why Myeong Yong-ha sought the mushrooms. Abaddon mushrooms, grown with life energy from the Lake of Life, were excellent for health tonics.
Myeong Yong-ha’s wife was a non-superhuman civilian. Pregnant now, and from memory, her health wasn’t great.
“Have a good picnic!”
Myeong Yong-ha bowed and turned away.
In truth, Yoo Ji-tae felt no remorse.
His apology was mere mimicry of normalcy. Mushrooms or a sickly pregnant woman stirred no emotion in him.
But having resolved to live normally, he knew appropriate behavior in such situations.
He delved into his inner subspace. Gray hands reached out.
At the start of this seventh loop, to escape financial woes, he’d hunted a few monsters. All S-rank or higher dungeon bosses.
Among the byproducts were some truly rare items.
Millennium Ginseng.
Grown for a thousand years on a giant turtle’s head. A dimensional import, incomparable to Abaddon mushrooms as a tonic ingredient.
Worth a fortune to those who knew its value. But useless to dragons, so he’d stored it.
Returning to reality, Yoo Ji-tae held the black root.
By then, Myeong Yong-ha had approached his feet and was beaming at Winter.
“Whoaaa~! Is this your daughter, sir? What a pretty baby!”
...Not his daughter.
No need for lengthy explanations, so Yoo Ji-tae nodded vaguely.
Winter looked up at him in shock. Me, your daughter? Her eyes seemed to say.
“Hi, baby! What’s your name?”
“......”
“Wahaha! Oro ro ro! Peekaboo!”
A giant face doing peekaboo wasn’t cute. Winter scowled like she did at the guardian and hid behind Yoo Ji-tae’s leg.
Embarrassed, Myeong Yong-ha scratched his nape and stood. But his smile lingered—he clearly loved kids.
“Aww, she’s too cute. I’d love a daughter myself.”
Then, “But sons are great too,” followed by another wahaha.
Probably not happening. Every loop, he’d had two sons.
Then Yoo Ji-tae offered the millennium ginseng root.
“Take it.”
“Pardon? What’s this?”
“Substitute for the mushrooms. Good for your health.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. Really, no need.”
Yoo Ji-tae tossed it to him outright. In value, it equaled a Seoul skyscraper vanishing.
“Sir, I said it’s okay.”
Yoo Ji-tae didn’t reply. “Wahaha! So stubborn,” Myeong Yong-ha laughed heartily, accepting it. Part of his skin turned to tree bark, wrapping the root, then reverted.
Even as a ranker, he likely hadn’t grasped its value instantly. That’s how rare it was.
But as a druid, he’d realize soon enough.
Business done.
“Have a good time.”
Thus, Yoo Ji-tae shooed him away.
As evening fell and sunset painted the sky.
Yoo Ji-tae lounged on a sunbed by one edge of the Lake of Life, passing the time.
Winter slept soundly in his arms, her breathing soft and steady. Bom lay on the adjacent sunbed.
The surroundings were quiet, the child’s rhythmic breaths tickling his ears.
The Lake of Life wasn’t vast; with tents and sunbeds set up, Myeong Yong-ha’s family was visible across the way.
Their eyes met occasionally. They’d wave, and Yoo Ji-tae would nod curtly, while Bom waved back diligently.
“Who’s that? Seems like a really strong human.”
He didn’t say she’d fight as a soldier against demonkin in future wars.
“......”
Bom hummed, sensing something, and turned to Yoo Ji-tae.
“What? See something?”
“Yeah. Think we’ll be seeing him a lot.”
Different worlds, he’d thought they wouldn’t cross paths. But if the Green Dragon said so, then it was. He nodded vaguely.
As night fell and Yoo Ji-tae prepared to enter the tent.
Myeong Yong-ha approached and spoke.
“Sir. If you’re okay with it, want me to show you a stunning view?”
A beautiful view?
“Actually, a bit further from here is an amazing rift zone. You’ll be blown away. Uhaha!”
He had little interest, but kids would love a pretty sight.
Yoo Ji-tae brought out Yeoreum and Gaeul from the tent.
“Hm? Pretty view?”
“Such a hassle.”
They followed obediently.
Myeong Yong-ha’s eyes widened. Probably startled by the dragons’ faces.
“Ah! Anyway, let’s go!”
Not far away, space was vertically slit.
A massive vertical rift, around 200m tall.
No monster aura or traces, so dismissed as insignificant.
“Just wait a bit, it’ll start.”
Myeong Yong-ha wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist, held his son’s hand, and gazed beyond the rift.
Yoo Ji-tae gently woke Winter in his arms.
The sleepy baby’s blue eyes fluttered open cautiously. Recognizing the unfamiliar space, she looked around, then saw Yoo Ji-tae’s face and relaxed.
“Here we go! Everyone, look at the sky! It’s starting!”
As Myeong Yong-ha spoke, a single shooting star streaked from the heavens.
“Wow......!”
Gaeul gasped in genuine awe.
Bom and Winter’s eyes sparkled as they watched.
But that was just the beginning.
Two, three, five, ten, twenty. Shooting stars multiplied into hundreds, thousands, filling the subspatial sky. As if orbiting a central star, they traced perfect circles, embroidering the heavens.
Stars poured and spun across the sky.
Startled, Winter gripped Yoo Ji-tae’s collar with her tiny hands.
He looked at her face.
Shooting star light reflected in her eyes.
Overwhelmed by the cosmic scale. Her little mouth parted slightly.
Winter, held in his arms, etched this beautiful scene into her small mind.
A memory she’d never forget.