Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: 드래곤을 유괴하다-59화
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: 23. A Night of Flowing Melody (1)
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Once a year.
Every year-end, Lair hosts its year-end event.
This year's event: the conquest of the S+ dungeon "Melissa's Ballroom." It matched the information Yoo Ji-tae had uncovered when the Yoo family dragons enrolled.
The Lair PR Department went all out, flooding the media with articles and scheduling back-to-back press conferences.
― Azure Dragon House Chief Professor...
A reporter's hand paused mid-sentence.
A refined face. The chief professor in a custom-tailored navy suit, perfectly fitted down to the length.
Wei Lian was fielding questions from the reporters with a smile.
"This year, Azure Dragon House's forces are said to be several times stronger than last year or the year before. What's the secret?"
"I have no secrets to speak of. I'm just doing my utmost not to disappoint the guardians who entrusted their cadets to me—to gift them promising careers."
"How many slots do you expect for Azure Dragon House? We anticipate grueling selection trials."
"I'll refrain from commenting on that. Everyone's working hard, and voicing confidence won't magically create more seats from the principal."
"Are you perhaps lacking in confidence?"
"Azure Dragon House has trained harder than ever before. Three training camps. Three successful solo clears of A-grade or higher dungeons. That's rare even for cadets. What do you think, reporter? Haven't we worked our tails off?"
Wei Lian's eyes crinkled in a smile, and the female reporter who met his gaze flushed red.
He often ranked in the top three in popularity polls for professors on female superhuman forums.
Such a Wei Lian flashed a brilliant smile.
"Confidence? Absolutely."
The reporter's fingers flew across her keyboard.
― Azure Dragon House Chief Professor Wei Lian exudes confidence for slots.
"......"
At that moment.
Behind the press conference hall.
A man peered anxiously at his smartwatch. He looked uneasy, his hands trembling involuntarily even at rest.
His trembling hands were peculiar. Fingers of uneven lengths—upon closer inspection, his left hand lacked a thumb and index finger.
He was Wei Lian's chief assistant, Kwak Pan-wi.
"...Are you alright, Assistant?"
His aide, Hashimoto, asked cautiously.
She was a Japanese woman in her early twenties.
"Y-yeah. Fine. I'm fine......"
Kwak muttered to himself like a self-hypnosis mantra.
Still no activity on the watch, he suddenly snapped in frustration.
"...Wh-when the hell are they gonna call?"
The finger scratching his head started from the middle one.
Those fingers had been severed by Wei Lian.
Invisibility had been shrouded in mourning until recently.
Thirty-eight affiliated demonkin had gone missing. Among them was someone Wei Lian had treated like an older brother.
There had been one survivor, but the middle-aged woman knew nothing about the culprit and had died just recently.
The clincher was the disappearance of Prototype X.
In Invisibility, they had branded their hypothetical enemy—who targeted them starting from the Prototype's vanishing—"X."
X.
An existence too vile to merely devour.
After the string of incidents, Wei Lian had been summoned to Invisibility's leadership and subjected to severe reprimand. Upon his return, unable to contain his rage, he had sliced off Kwak Pan-wi's fingers.
He stared at his empty thumb and index stubs.
"Fuck. Fuck. Goddamn motherfucker...... Did I put up with all this shit for crap like this......"
Kwak Pan-wi wiggled his severed hand with unstable eyes. It felt like the missing fingers were moving.
Pathetic for a demonkin. But inevitable, given his human roots.
"Assistant......"
His aide, Hashimoto, murmured with a gloomy expression.
"What happens to us now?"
"What do ya mean, what! What the hell!"
Kwak Pan-wi snarled.
"No issues. Nail this, and Professor Wei Lian ascends to the council seat. We'll snag some scraps at least."
"If X shows up again this time......"
"Don't worry about that. This time we've got three elders coming anyway......"
"Pardon?"
"...Nothing."
Realizing his slip, Kwak Pan-wi clamped his mouth shut.
Hashimoto drew closer, curiosity piqued.
"It's classified. Don't ask."
"......Can't you tell just me? You know I can keep a secret."
At Hashimoto's words, Kwak Pan-wi slowly turned his head.
He was anxious and scared. He needed someone to lean on—even a demonkin girl a decade his junior.
Years of sharing meals bred trust. Shared demonkin identity. Her light demonic corrosion stirred his human urge to share the unease.
Such factors loosened Kwak Pan-wi's lips.
"...Two Collapse-grade demonkin."
"Ah......"
Hashimoto let out a soft gasp.
Two Collapse-grade demonkin were coming?
Among demonkin worldwide, there were only twelve Collapse-grade. Monsters who could rival top world rankers.
But that was just the beginning. Her eyes widened at his next words.
"And one Calamity-grade demonkin is coming to this Melissa's Ballroom."
"......!"
A Calamity-grade demonkin.
One of that caliber was making a personal appearance?
"...Ah! It's here."
Just then, Kwak Pan-wi's watch buzzed. He hurried off to take the call.
Soon after, Wei Lian paused the conference and approached him. Their conversation drifted from the next room.
Left alone, the surprise vanished from Hashimoto's face like it had been washed away.
She slowly pressed a hand to her temple.
'As expected, not far from predictions. My lord.'
She closed her eyes and began transmitting memories somewhere.
'Indeed, larger scale than past loops. To maximize variable control, I'll gather more intel.'
That was when it happened. Slap! Kwak Pan-wi's head snapped to the side. "How much time did I give you, and you bring this now? Do better, Pan-wi." A voice thick with killing intent. Wei Lian headed back to the conference hall. Kwak Pan-wi, clutching his reddened cheek, returned to the waiting room.
"Assistant......"
Hashimoto approached him again, her face reformed into one of surprise.
"......"
Winter had two choices.
The calm, serene picture book went to Spring unni.
The exciting, bouncy one to Autumn unni.
So today, he offered the book to Autumn.
"Shall I read this one today?"
Nod, nod.
Autumn scooped up Winter and plopped him on her lap.
A small one holding an even smaller one.
"Alright, let's see...... Our dad is a fairy! Huh? I read this last time too."
"......"
"Read it again?"
Nod, nod.
"Once upon a time, long, long ago. Dolsooni and her dad lived."
A clear, bright tone. A voice with the power to touch hearts—the same that had echoed across the world in past loops. Autumn began reading the picture book.
Winter gradually fell into it.
Around then, Yoo Ji-tae was tying his tie over his dress shirt. The loosely draped tie knotted itself perfectly via the Custom Fit (S) skill. Donning a long trench coat completed his preparations to head out.
Late night, a bit earlier than usual.
But he had to go now.
Stepping out of the room, Autumn and Winter's gazes naturally fixed on him.
Autumn's eyes sparkled.
"Wow. What's that?"
"What."
"Your clothes! That suit looks amazing on you, ajusshi!"
Winter wore a faintly surprised expression too.
Eyes: Ooh.
"Yeah?"
"What is it? What's got you dressing so sharp? Whose wedding?"
Yoo Ji-tae pondered briefly before answering.
"Funeral."
"Ahh...!"
"Be back."
"Ah...... Okay. Take care!"
Autumn waved, and Winter followed half a beat later.
But there was an ambush.
The moment he opened the dorm door, Spring was there, watching him.
"What're you doing. It's cold out."
"......"
Her usual sullen expression.
"Go inside."
"......"
"Why."
"......"
Was it Winter's influence? Spring gave no reply.
Her gaze, distant as if peering into thoughts or afar, slowly came into focus.
"I'm coming with you, ajusshi."
"What?"
"...That's what you'd say, right, ajusshi?"
Spring mimicked Yoo Ji-tae in a subdued voice.
"Don't follow me, brat."
"......"
"No? This time you'll need me."
"......"
"Go home. While I'm asking nice."
Spring continued her one-woman show.
"No."
"......"
"Then, 'Yoo Bom.' ...Like that, all serious."
She mimicked Yoo Ji-tae's expression.
Eyes like he could devour someone... sort of, but not very intimidating.
"......"
"Then timid Yoo Bom gets left behind. And regrets it."
"What're you doing."
"Simulating what's about to happen."
Spring smiled faintly.
"No."
His reflexive response.
She was trying to tag along again. Like when she followed him to Wei Lian during Gaeul's audition. Or hunting Prototype X.
And that was the regressor's final boundary—he didn't want the dragons to see it.
"......"
But this time, she didn't throw a fit.
"I want to ask."
"What."
"Why I can't come along."
Early evening. Even in the darkened world, her olive eyes glowed softly.
This probably wouldn't be the end of it.
If he kept dodging, she'd keep pestering. So Yoo Ji-tae decided to be just a little honest.
"From here on, someone's dying by my hand."
Not a hypothesis—a certainty.
"Remember what I said? I'm not a good guy. When I kill someone who deserves it, I make it hurt. The process will be cruel. The result, filthy. That's why I don't want you or the others seeing it."
Looking deeper, it was less for the dragons' sake and more for his own. Let them hold only happy memories. Then the curse of regression binding him would loosen.
"Got it? Now go inside."
His words snapped like breaking twigs.
But Spring didn't shy away.
"Ajusshi."
Lowering her head, she clasped her hands together.
"Remember when I asked if you knew what it's like living as a Green Clan dragon?"
The night they went after Prototype X.
He recalled Spring asking it like exhaling breath.
'...Ajusshi, do you know what it's like living as a Green Clan dragon?'
Still, he didn't know.
"We live seeing providence. We can trace echoes of the past. Peek fragments of the future. When we foresee happy events, we get happy along with them. Thinking, oh, that's coming up. But......"
"......"
"The world has just a bit more sorrow than joy. Every being lives a touch unhappy. So I witness many deaths. Many relationships' ends. Yesterday, I saw a providence where a disabled son kills the mother who'd cared for him twenty years. So tragic. But that's the world's way. I was depressed all day."
"......"
"I've never once wanted to see things like that......"
Her soft, steady voice lingered in his ears with a strange resonance.
Spring slowly raised her head.
"That's what living as a Green Dragon feels like. What a tiresome clan."
"......"
"So the things ajusshi doesn't want to show... I've already glimpsed bits of them."
Yoo Ji-tae closed his eyes.
And recalled something.
"You. How much do you know."
"You're going to some cult gathering."
"More."
"With a fake identity."
"More."
"To find a man."
"More."
"A total scumbag."
"More."
Hesitating, Spring spoke carefully.
"...You'll need me."
He let out a sigh.
Come to think of it, during the Prototype X incident, she'd said the same.
If he'd brought Spring then. Could he have handled it without the hassle?
Should he bring her this time?
For the first time in this loop, the regressor distrusted his own judgment.
"You. If you hinder even a little, I'm sending you straight home."
"Yes."
Not quite permission. Spring's expression brightened slightly.
"Then, let's go."
"Ah, wait a sec...!"
"Why."
"Dress code has to match."
Spring turned away.
She entered her dragon sub-space, Heavenly Principle (S). Minutes passed. Then she poked just her head out.
"...Can I come out?"
"What're you doing."
"......Mental preparation. Embarrassed."
"What for."
"Um...... If it doesn't suit, just pretend you didn't see."
He nodded.
Soon. Spring stepped out from the sub-space. In a red off-shoulder evening dress.
The corridor sensors lit up upon detecting her. In the early evening gloom, her white arms and snowy shoulders gleamed. Perhaps she'd positioned herself there on purpose.
She asked timidly.
"Does it suit me?"
"......"
"Hehe, truth is, I lacked confidence, so I was borrowing some lighting boost......"
In truth, the regressor had no standard for "suiting." A Green Dragon would look good in anything.
But he'd learned something dealing with Gaeul.
The magic phrase the chick always loved.
"Pretty."
Spring's face lit up in slight surprise.
The next instant, she covered it with both hands.
"I don't know......"
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