Chapter 61 — Oppa... Are You Okay?
Chapter 61 — Oppa... Are You Okay?
Translation: GodTL
Her Outburst—a tsunami of uncontrollable magic—finally ceased.
When the Outburst she believed wouldn't stop until time itself ran out came to an abrupt halt, her eyes immediately widened in shock.
'How...?'
How could Min-jun, using Dragon Words he hadn't even fully mastered yet, stop this Outburst?
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.
'What about Oppa? What happened to him?'
Sia frantically scanned her surroundings to check on Min-jun.
However, the thick mist lingering from the uncontrolled magic that had just surged moments ago obscured her vision.
Moreover, the aftermath of the Outburst left her unable to cast even the simplest spells.
There was no other choice.
Until the mist cleared, she had no option but to call out for Min-jun at the top of her lungs while searching for him.
"O...ppa..."
But her voice, already drained of strength, barely carried.
'I have to... say something.'
Without even hearing Min-jun's response, Sia collapsed right there, losing consciousness.
Shortly after Sia blacked out—
As the mist slowly dissipated, Min-jun spotted Sia lying motionless on the ground.
Cough! "S-Sia—!"
His desperate urge to rush to her side and check if she was alright burned fiercely—but just before the Outburst, Sia had clearly told him:
Don't worry about me. Get out of here first and tell Rokan about my condition.
Leaving an unconscious Sia behind weighed heavily on his heart, but if she had insisted so strongly, there must have been a reason.
Swallowing his tears, Min-jun limped forward, mustering every ounce of strength to sprint toward the portal.
With every step, pain shot through his body like electricity, and he coughed up blood intermittently—but he ran with everything he had.
The moment he barely managed to escape the dungeon, he immediately contacted Rokan.
As soon as the connection went through, before even hearing Rokan's voice, Min-jun shouted with all his might.
"Sia—she had an Outburst—!"
[I'm coming, I'm coming right now!]
Fortunately, the instant the word "Outburst" left Min-jun's lips, Rokan teleported to his location in a single breath.
"Shasha—Shasha—!"
It was the first time.
The ever-kind and composed Rokan now appeared visibly shaken, his voice frantic with urgency.
"Training... grounds..."
Even uttering a single word was agonizing for Min-jun. Pointing weakly toward the dungeon entrance, he barely managed to say those three syllables. Recognizing the severity of Min-jun's condition, Rokan swiftly retrieved an Elixir from his Subspace and poured it into Min-jun's mouth.
This should at least serve as emergency treatment.
Just in case, Rokan left behind several bottles of Elixir and a spirit—Undine—by Min-jun's side.
"Hold on just a little longer, Min-jun. I'm so sorry."
Despite having taken all necessary measures, guilt still gnawed at him for leaving a wounded person behind. Rokan kept repeating apologies even as he stepped into the dungeon.
But of course, what had truly shattered Rokan's composure wasn't just concern for Min-jun—it was the state of his granddaughter, Sia.
'Shasha must be enduring it right now.'
From the moment he heard about Sia's Outburst, Rokan struggled to maintain his calm.
Having witnessed her first Outburst firsthand, he knew all too well:
An Outburst didn't necessarily put her life in danger.
If anything, the real threat was to those near Sia when it happened.
Not to Sia herself.
But though her life wasn't at risk, he also knew the agony she endured—pain so unbearable it made death seem preferable once an Outburst began.
And so, with a heart full of anguish, Rokan rushed toward her.
The thought of his precious granddaughter writhing in torment, screaming in pain, was unbearable.
'Our Shasha...'
Of all places, it had to happen in a sealed space—where no other Dragon could help her. And worse, she had been alone with Min-jun when it struck.
How terrified and anxious she must have been.
He needed to arrive as quickly as possible to lessen even a fraction of the pain Sia would endure.
"Shasha!"
With a desperate cry, Rokan immediately searched for Sia.
However—though it was only natural to assume, upon hearing the news from Min-jun, that Sia would be writhing in agony, unable to control her magic—
The dungeon's interior was eerily silent, save for the rustling of leaves.
A chilling shudder ran down Rokan's spine.
If anything, the silence was an even more ominous sign.
There was no way her Outburst would have stopped for no reason.
Once it began, it would last an entire day.
So if nothing was happening now...
Perhaps something grave had befallen Sia.
Like her life hanging by the thinnest of threads.
"No, no..."
Again, Rokan took a deep breath and shook his head.
If that were the case, he would have sensed it.
He quickly cast a detection spell and soon found his granddaughter collapsed on the opposite side of the dungeon.
Though faint, her body was unmistakably twitching.
"Gran...pa..."
Her voice was so weak an ordinary human wouldn't have heard it, but it was enough for Rokan.
"Shasha!"
The moment he heard her, Rokan sprinted toward his granddaughter, not even noticing his shoes slipping off, and swept her into his arms.
Her recovery was the top priority.
Using Dragon Words, Rokan replenished her energy while simultaneously retrieving pain-relief potions from his Subspace and feeding them to her.
Fortunately, they weren't entirely ineffective—Sia coughed, seeming to regain some strength compared to before.
"Hack—cough, cough."
"Shasha, are you alright? Can you move?"
"No..."
Her voice was still drained of energy, but it was a small mercy.
At least this much was within the normal range.
After suffering an Outburst, these kinds of aftereffects were typical.
There was still much he didn't understand, and thus much he wanted to ask, but Rokan decided to leave that for later.
Recovery came first.
Carrying Sia on his back, Rokan hurriedly exited the dungeon.
And as soon as he stepped out, he came face-to-face with Min-jun, panting heavily right at the dungeon's entrance.
The moment Min-jun spotted Rokan, his eyes immediately searched for Sia—and found her slumped over the elder Dragon's back.
At first, seeing her motionless, he feared she might be dead.
But when he noticed the faintest twitch in her body, Min-jun let out a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Rokan's gaze flickered between Min-jun, still catching his breath, and Sia on his back.
The best course would be to take both of them to his Lair for treatment, but—
The problem was that Sia's energy was fundamentally incompatible with Min-jun's.
As if sensing Rokan's dilemma, Min-jun smiled and spoke first.
"I'll be fine. Take care of Sia first."
Since this was an Outburst that occurred once every few decades, Sia's condition was undoubtedly far more severe.
So Min-jun waved his hand dismissively, insisting he could hold out a little longer with an Elixir while waiting here.
At that, Sia, still slumped over Rokan's back, weakly turned her head toward Min-jun.
"Oppa..."
Guilt, remorse, gratitude, sorrow—
Her tear-filled eyes carried all these emotions as she called out to him.
From her perspective, Min-jun looked just as much in need of help.
And wasn't every one of his injuries caused by her Outburst?
"Don't worry. Thanks to the Elixir, I'm not as bad as I look. So go get treated first."
"But..."
"Shasha, don't fret. I've left Undine with Min-jun, and the worst has passed—he'll be fine. For now, I'll send Min-jun home first."
After teleporting Min-jun back to his apartment, Rokan returned to his Lair with Sia.
Afterward.
Rokan carefully laid Sia down and examined her condition in detail.
'This is strange.'
For someone who had just experienced an Outburst, her condition was oddly stable.
By this point, she should have been in such a terrible state that she could barely breathe—yet that wasn't the case.
Of course, her condition wasn't objectively good, but considering it was right after an Outburst, it was the most stable he had ever seen her.
But what Rokan found strange wasn't just that.
'How was Min-jun able to forcibly stop Sia's Outburst?'
He had witnessed her Outbursts countless times before, but something like this had never happened.
Whenever Sia had an Outburst, the most other Dragons could do was prevent the uncontrolled magic she unleashed from escaping beyond her Lair.
From the time Sia was a hatchling, how many Dragons—including Rokan himself—had tried to fully suppress her Outbursts?
Dragon Words, high-tier magic, even specialized artifacts designed to block her Outbursts—there was no method left untried, yet they had all failed.
So how... how had Min-jun managed to completely halt an Outburst that should have lasted nearly 24 hours in less than an hour?
"This is making my head spin."
How could a human accomplish something even Dragons couldn't?
Rokan suspected this had something to do with Min-jun's own hidden secrets—things even Min-jun himself might not be aware of.
"What's... wrong?"
"Nothing. For now, don't push yourself and get some proper rest."
Rokan gently pressed Sia back down as she tried to sit up and pulled the blanket over her.
But for Sia, her unease made it difficult to fall asleep.
"Is... Oppa going to be okay?"
"Don't worry. I'm monitoring his condition through Undine right now, and fortunately, he's stable."
Yet, his reassurance didn't seem to ease her mind—her expression remained clouded with worry.
'Well, of course.'
Rokan completely understood how she felt.
"Once you fall asleep, I plan to go check on Min-jun myself."
"Are you really sure he's okay?"
"You saw him earlier, didn't you? He was injured, but with proper rest and care, he'll recover fully in a few days. If you're still worried, I can even call him for a video chat."
He thought that seeing Min-jun conscious and well would reassure her, but for some reason, Sia shook her head vigorously.
He had expected her to beg to see him, so her unexpected reaction surprised him even more.
"If I see Oppa... I think I'll start crying."
It was because of her guilt.
A few hours ago, though her mind had been fading during the Outburst,
the moment her uncontrolled magic struck Min-jun had seared itself into her memory as a deep trauma.
Min-jun's agonized scream, his desperate gaze—willing to save her even if it meant risking his own life.
She wished she could forget the sheer intensity of his expression, his voice.
But as a Dragon who could not receive the Blessing of Forgetting, she had no choice but to relive that moment, vividly and endlessly, no matter how much she didn't want to.
Tears welled up in Sia's eyes.
"...I understand."
After holding her hand for a long while and ensuring she was stable, Rokan quietly left for Min-jun's home once she had fallen asleep.
And after Rokan left...
Sia woke up again, the lingering pain not yet fully faded, and sat up to take the painkillers left by her bedside.
Normally, she would have scrolled through photos of Min-jun on her phone before drifting back to sleep.
But now, the more she thought of him, the heavier her chest felt.
"When we meet again... how am I supposed to face him?"
She was so sorry. And so, so grateful.
She knew she needed to sleep, but exhaustion didn't bring rest—only the relentless replay of Min-jun's face from earlier that day.
Tonight, she might just have a terrible nightmare.