Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: 드래곤을 유괴하다-91화
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Episode 30. For the Dragon (3)
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“I was trying to hold back at an appropriate level too.”
Yeoreum grumbled.
“I told you there was no need to help. I have that much sense.”
Yoo Ji-tae didn't respond much.
“You think I'm just some kid who only causes trouble?”
Yeoreum added a few more excuses.
“I have my own thoughts too.”
It wasn't like a Red Dragon at all.
“Got it? Even if you hadn't butted in, it would've been fine. Got it?”
“…….”
“...Why aren't you saying anything? Or what, you don't actually think I was acting childish, do you?”
“…….”
“Hey, why no answer! If you're ignoring me 'cause you think I'm a kid, I'm seriously gonna get mad!”
“Got it.”
Her rising voice deflated at the curt reply.
Yeoreum bowed her head.
“You could've just answered like that... from the start......”
Then she mumbled as if she had candy in her mouth.
“...I'll let it slide. This time.”
“Hey.”
“Yeah.”
“Wanna kiss?”
Yoo Ji-tae didn't reply.
“Boring... I wasn't gonna kiss you anyway.”
A whoosh of smoke scattered.
In a shadowy alley during vacation where no one passed, an empty parking lot. There, a red-haired girl leaned against the building's outer wall, squatting with her arms around her knees, leisurely exhaling smoke. With nowhere proper to sit, the man crouched down right beside her.
Yeoreum took a deep drag from her cigarette and exhaled. The smoke scattered.
“Hey. Somehow, being here makes me feel weird.”
“Why.”
“You know what kind of clan Red Dragons are. This cookie-cutter life? Honestly, I hate it.”
She puffed out smoke.
“Who's boxing you in.”
“Why? You're doing it too. And dragons aren't gods. When I was little, I was trapped in this super narrow place.”
She reached up and fiddled with her cap.
Was it a story from her mother's nest?
“Outside, I could hear everyone chattering and stuff moving around. I wanted to go out, chatter, move too, but something blocked me on all sides. Couldn't even speak. Sticky crap clinging to my body, couldn't move.”
No. It seemed like something even earlier than that.
“If I get out of here, I'll live free. I remember thinking that. But when I actually got out...”
“Disappointing?”
“It was fucking awesome. Living my way is the best.”
Excited, she kicked her feet around and puffed out smoke vigorously.
“So when you caught me, I thought about bolting a ton. If I hadn't gotten that sword as a gift, I'd have run off right away.”
“…….”
She probably would have. Rewinding past rounds, that's exactly what she always did.
That's why, in the early 7th round, Yoo Ji-tae found it a bit surprising that Bom had managed to hold onto Yeoreum. Until then, no matter what he tried, he couldn't keep her without forcing it.
“Not adjusting well?”
“Nah? It's fine. Sucked balls at first. Now it looks like pretty suckage.”
“Hmm, so big and beautiful...” She mumbled something, then let out a deep sigh.
“Anyway, lately it's been kinda confusing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Like, is this right? Does it even make sense for me to live like this here? But trying it out, it's not bad. Enduring, adapting—it's doable after a while. So what does that make me? Then it's like, hey, snap out of it—you're a Red Dragon, you dumb bitch, act like yourself. Ahh, like myself—sex sex~~. And then more doubts pop up.”
Chattering on leisurely, Yeoreum took a deep drag from her cigarette.
“What's 'like me' anyway?”
She muttered that, then turned to look at Yoo Ji-tae.
Her gaze floated vaguely, not truly focusing on him even as she looked.
Yeoreum spoke as if in a stream of consciousness.
“Hey.”
“Yeah.”
“If you hate kissing, wanna punch me once?”
With that, she carefully lifted the still-burning cigarette.
“Or, can I burn your face with this?”
“Why.”
“Well, it's not like it'll wear out. Not handsome anyway. Already looks like a serial killer—what's one cig burn gonna change?”
He silently met her eyes.
“That tell you what's 'like you'?”
“Yeah... Our whole clan is like that. Hit. Fight. Gamble. Drugs. Sex. Steal other people's shit. Drunken rants. That's our fun.”
Yeoreum chuckled.
“Never mind. Just talk.”
He simply listened to her troubles.
She might have been angling for advice, but the regressor offered none.
What is "like me"?
In the end, it's something you define yourself.
The regressor had no intention of interfering as this young Red Dragon figured out her own definition. If she adapted moderately to the human world—and as long as it didn't lead to a derailed ending—he'd let it be.
Still, for all her cheeky attitude, it was clear she was in a deeply unstable state.
This wasn't the game they'd signed up for. It started with a dimensional warp. Dropped into an unfamiliar world, then some guy kidnaps them and locks them up.
Her surroundings had changed on a whim, so now it was her turn to change to fit.
Yeoreum would have to find her own answers.
All the regressor needed to do was watch to make sure she didn't stray—and not forget to stay invested.
“Hey. For our clan, I'm pretty tame, you know. Not like some people sucking drugs and drowning in sex every day. Not obsessed with money games or gambling. No interest in some backwater lord who torments people or rules like a tyrant.”
This was her defining the Red clan.
“Just good at fighting. Love that shit. So when I lost to that Javier whatever, I was so pissed I wanted to die.”
And this was what remained for her amid it all.
“This is all I've got left. If I give even this up, I'll really lose track of who the hell I am.”
It was her final safeguard against forgetting her identity as a Red Dragon.
“So I don't wanna learn from you anymore. You're human in the end, right?”
“…….”
“So, enough already. Quit following me.”
With that, Yeoreum roughly stubbed out her cigarette.
“Yeah. Figured you'd say that.”
He'd known what she was thinking all along.
But teaching her to fight was a separate matter.
Either way, she had a clear goal.
To make it through this game happily, she'd need to learn martial arts somehow to get stronger.
“That's why I said let's start together. You can't learn it from any human anyway.”
Yeoreum frowned as Yoo Ji-tae's silent mouth finally opened.
“What?”
“You lost. To Professor Ha Yoon's kids.”
“I didn't lose.”
“Then you won?”
“No? I just... just...”
Recalling something, her face scrunched up like she might cry.
Then she exploded.
“No! More importantly, did you hear me through your ass? I clearly said I can't learn martial arts from a human!”
“…….”
“Or what, you got some secret origin story—are you a dragon or something?”
“No.”
Annoyed, she shot to her feet.
“But what are you gonna teach me? No way! As long as you're human, you can't teach me! Fuck, I explain my whole deal and...!”
Her breathing grew ragged. She seemed genuinely furious. Maybe she felt ignored.
But the regressor hadn't spoken without a plan.
It was about time to show her.
“You think I'd claim I could teach you without knowing your situation?”
Yoo Ji-tae closed his eyes.
He shut them and recalled the invocation for his blessing.
Then, his heart—which always mimicked a human pulse—began to beat more fiercely.
Thump.
For an instant, a ripple of mana spread through the still air of the parking lot.
Thump.
Yeoreum's furrowed brow began to slowly relax.
Thump.
Different from a human heartbeat, this alien pulse carried its own unique rhythm.
Thump.
Yeoreum's eyes gradually widened in sync.
Thump—.
“...How'd you do that? That's...”
Shocked, Yeoreum trailed off.
“You've seen it. Let's head back. It's late.”
“What was it? How?!”
“Just take it as proof I've got what it takes to teach you.”
“No, what the hell was that just now?!”
As he stood, Yeoreum hurriedly blocked his path.
Excitement and shock filled her eyes.
Just now, Yoo Ji-tae's heartbeat had rung out with the same sound, rhythm, and texture as a Red Dragon's 'Dragon Heart'.
“Tell me! Were you a dragon?!”
Yoo Ji-tae shook his head. He was human.
There was a long story behind it, but nothing he cared to share with her.
“It's late. We'll start tomorrow.”
Red Dragon clans, upon reaching polimorph age at birth, learn a single comprehensive combat art from their parents.
Long ago.
Before dragons invented magic.
In a primordial forest—an enormous woodland—where they fought massive monsters several times their size to survive, a certain tribe's combat art.
“...Where'd you pick that up? You're not even a dragon.”
Subspace free training room.
On the subspace meadow with its even carpet of grass, Yeoreum eyed Yoo Ji-tae suspiciously.
“For real?”
“...Yeah. And at the end of your first game, you take the test with it. The clan's old fogeys all sit around watching. You fight someone using that combat art and win—only then do they acknowledge you had a good run.”
For a dragon, gaining clan recognition is hugely important.
Mastering the combat art to a high level is the goal of the game.
And for her, it's the last shred of identity as a Red Dragon she can't let go.
“So, how'd it go for you?”
“...No.”
“What went wrong.”
“...Right from the start.”
Maybe embarrassed by going into details, Yeoreum let out a deep sigh.
“The start—you mean the heartbeat, right?”
“…….”
She nodded slowly.
“My Dragon Heart doesn't beat right yet. Forcing it with power is one thing, but...”
As expected.
Probably around year one of her confinement.
A Red Dragon passing the first hurdle of the Kal-Gulakwa Standing Combat Style.
Meaning, normally it'd take at least another half year.
“Didn't learn it from your parents?”
“...Everyone's rhythm is different. Has to match yours or the Dragon Heart won't resonate. Mom and Dad's are different from mine. It's easy if you know the trick, but I still haven't found mine.”
I see.
Yoo Ji-tae recalled the 5th round.
A Red Dragon locked in an underground labyrinth, still training alone. She was always dissatisfied, sometimes lewd or violent, but never slacked on combat art practice.
So everything he'd teach her from here on was what he'd learned by observing that 5th round Red Dragon.
“Hold my hand.”
Yeoreum awkwardly extended her hand as he held his out. Suspicion still lingered in her eyes.
“Close your eyes.”
“What for?”
“Close them. Share my consciousness and senses, then just follow what I do.”
“...Ugh, can't we skip it for now? You seem kinda shady.”
She hesitated to take his hand, so he reached out first and grabbed her small one.
It wasn't a little girl's hand—rough, callused.
“...Pointless, you know? Even if you mimic a Dragon Heart beat, rhythms are unique per person.”
She kept chattering, so Yoo Ji-tae irritably snapped.
“Shut up and close your eyes.”
“Aye aye♥”
She tried to gloss over her grumbling with reflexive aegyo, but the uneasy look stayed. “No...” she muttered.
Not fully buying it, still shooting suspicious glances, Yeoreum closed her eyes like she had no choice.
“I doubt it'll work that easy...”
She whined right up to the end.
About 10 hours later. As the subspace sky turned orange.
Thump—.
“Crazy...”
At last, Yeoreum's Dragon Heart resonated and began to beat.
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