I'll Do Better Next Time
Everyone had one recommendation speech, but actually saying it required quite a bit of courage.
Especially since the speech was like that.
Yet, as Amelia spoke with embarrassment, her face turned as red as a boiled octopus.
‘Oh my.’
But there was no one else who could empathize with her embarrassment besides Rune.
The card draw was lucky, yet in the end Jed lost again.
Perdikion looked bitter, sensing defeat.
Heungmi, meanwhile, was sighing in admiration.
Rune alone observed the scene with a relaxed heart as everyone revived.
‘This is karma.’
While thinking that, Rune sent Amelia’s turtle to the battlefield where everyone except them had been wiped out.
He was holding his final card.
Honestly, it was a pretty underhanded trump card.
Rune smiled faintly and played it.
“That ends it.”
!
It was the card that directly attacked the player who held it.
The attack power was low, but for Amelia, who had already taken huge damage, it was a fatal blow.
“Ah…… I, I lost…….”
To Amelia, who looked regretful, Rune praised her.
“Well done? Even on your first try, you did great.”
It was not empty praise.
Rune gathered his card pack and thought.
‘I lost in the end, but I created a good event and used the pack decently.’
With sincere words from Rune, Amelia gave a small smile.
“Truly……?”
Heungmi, who was organizing the cards, laughed and gave a thumbs-up.
“Hehe. It was awesome. Amelia unnie, it was fun too, right?”
Amelia nodded slightly.
“U, uh.”
It had been fun.
She, who had always had to stay alone in the darkness.
For the first time, she had played a game with others.
Competing, winning, and losing.
It was truly enjoyable.
‘So…… I’m scared.’
It was terrifying.
What if she returned to the past where she was alone?
Unlike when she lived without knowing, the liveliness with someone else was gone.
The days of laughing and playing together.
Those joyful and happy hours with the people gathered here.
It was hard to imagine them disappearing.
‘I’m afraid I’ll be hated…… I’m anxious that she might leave…….’
While thinking that, Amelia looked at everyone one by one.
And when her gaze reached Rune.
She remembered the story Rune had told her in the deep sea.
[From the moment I met you, I already started changing. Right?]
That sentence lingered in her heart the most.
The water dragon girl always thought that whenever she felt anxious.
‘Yeah, I’m no longer the Amelia who was alone in the deep sea.’
She took a deep breath, calmed it, and slowly exhaled.
Determining to gather courage the more afraid she felt, she smiled with clear blue eyes.
“Next time…… I’ll do better.”
!
Rune let out a light exclamation.
He smiled faintly and continued.
“That’s something I’m looking forward to.”
Perdikion, who had been waiting for the card pack to turn, added.
“Of course. What’s there? Don’t turn the card pack.”
Even though this round was the last one, Perdikion acted as if he had won first place.
“Ehehe~ You’re right. Then, the cards are being turned!”
Quick-handed Jed turned the pack with excitement.
***
Revive
The hatchling, wearing the porcupine pajamas, raised its body from deep sleep.
“Kyuwoo.”
Rune, who had collapsed from drowsiness, slowly got up.
With a tired face, he rubbed his cheeks with his front paws.
He suddenly stared at his front paw blankly.
‘When did I return to my original form?’
At the same time as the thought, the memory of removing the golden bracelet during the tail-chasing game came to mind.
‘Everyone except Amelia participated.’
Looking around, the snack bags, blankets, and drink bottles were all scattered messily.
It was truly a night of chaos.
‘I didn’t realize I’d stay up all night learning the game for the first time.’
Those who had played the game before already knew the joy.
Even Amelia, who was playing for the first time, was so immersed in the later stages that she didn’t answer when called.
She experienced both winning by a landslide and playing extremely well, so the difficulty varied wildly.
Yet, the atmosphere of laughing and chatting with others continued, and they never found the right moment to pause.
‘It was fortunate that I took just one day off. If not, everyone would have suffered a lot in class.’
She wanted to clap for Christina’s decision to make it a temporary holiday.
‘Good thing I had something to do alone. It worked out.’
After thinking that, Rune stretched.
And opened his mouth.
“Haah!”
Due to the strange fatigue, Rune yawned.
And as he tried to stand up.
“?!”
Thud!
His tail got caught on something soft, making his body sway.
‘Kek.’
He almost let out a sound outside his mouth.
After barely steadying his center, Rune frowned.
‘What?’
Looking back, Heungmi was lying down, holding Rune’s tail with one hand.
“Eee…… Heungmi’s tail…… is it?”
“……”
Then she rubbed her lips as if savoring something.
From her actions and words, it was clear she was dreaming of tearing meat with her hands.
‘Even though I ate sky-shaped jelly and snacks yesterday.’
Rune’s head shook automatically.
She wanted it more because it was delicious, but this wasn’t it.
Rune carefully pulled his tail while she was holding it.
Crack!
Heungmi groaned, tightening her grip.
‘Kuk! Why is the strength so strong?’
Although she was a beastkin demon, since her original form was a rose, he felt an overwhelming power that wasn’t imaginable from a flower.
‘I guess the tails make the difference.’
After thinking for a moment, Rune was sure that was it.
If she had received the characteristics of a nine-tailed fox directly, it was only natural that her strength would increase even if she were a small girl.
‘I can’t use magic here either.’
If she did, since they were a species sensitive to mana flow, she might wake up quickly.
Rune pulled his body to try to free his tail.
“Kyuuk.”
‘Let go.’
While wrestling, Rune pulled his tail and rolled backward.
With his soles facing the sky, numbness was felt in his back and tail.
“Kyuhu.”
Anyway, the goal was achieved, so he got up and quietly walked out of the room.
After a certain distance, Rune stood in the hallway and surveyed his surroundings.
‘No one is here.’
Unlike the noisy atmosphere from all night, the hallway was quiet, with sunlight quietly coming in.
Feeling a strange comfort, Rune detected his surroundings.
The presence of the tooth fairy, which he had confirmed yesterday, was definitely felt.
“Kyu.”
‘Found it.’
Rune turned his head and stared at one spot on the ceiling, and the tooth fairy, whose color changed like a chameleon, appeared.
-Hooh. You found this body?
The expression was quite open.
Rune kept his expression unchanged and crossed his arms.
“Kyu kyu.”
[Yes.]
Looking at Rune nodding, the tooth fairy lightly descended from the ceiling like falling leaves.
-Does that mean you’re ready to trade the teeth?
[Trading.]
Rune’s gaze was quite cold.
Although the appearance was clearly a small hatchling, the atmosphere made his body stiffen as if facing a regular adult.
[Before that, shouldn’t you just say it? Tooth thief fairy.]
-No, you too? What kind of nonsense are you throwing at this old fairy so casually!
Seeing the tooth fairy about to explode in anger, Rune calmly moved his hands.
Srrk.
Darkness enveloped his body, blocking the tooth fairy’s mouth.
“Kyuho.”
[It’s good that Jed closed it.]
!
Slowly, darkness spread and created a small, pitch-black space.
A dark prison with no light.
Inside it, Rune let out a “kyu.” sound.
[It seems like an unconscious feeling, but…… I thought everyone just saw you as a playful fairy, but only that guy could tell something was wrong with you.]
Rune looked at the tooth fairy with a cold expression.
Crack!
The darkness bundle blocked the tooth fairy’s nose and mouth.
The eyes, starting to bulge with red veins, gradually looked at Rune with awe.
-Uwoh!
“Kyu.”
[Are you going to speak?]
The tooth fairy enthusiastically nodded.
After the darkness holding his face relaxed, the tooth fairy, who swallowed with a “Kuhak!”, suddenly started coughing.
And glared at the black mist swirling around with hatred.
-How did you know?
“Kyuwoo.”
[Answer first.]
The tooth fairy with wide-open eyes trembled.
The entire small space dyed with darkness sensed everything of the tooth fairy.
“Kyu.”
[If you want to be abandoned in this space, do as you wish.]
Having been an Imugi who handled yin-yang and five elements, he was skilled at creating a separated space, the ‘Jin’.
Sensing sincerity in Rune’s words, the tooth fairy trembled and hurriedly said.
-Ah, I understand! I only came to listen to the words of the great one.
[Great one?]
To Rune’s question, the tooth fairy mentioned an unexpected existence.
-I don’t know how I caught the interest of that great one, but…… the demon of lust and indulgence, Lepanon?
Rune’s expression became even colder upon hearing that.
[As expected.]
Looking at Rune nodding, the tooth fairy opened her mouth wide.
-Ah, you know?
It was a half-startled voice.
The tooth fairy, whose body shook as if trembling aspen, could no longer raise her loud voice like yesterday.
Enough to make her body look shrunken.
“Kyuwoo.”
[I’ve met him before. I didn’t think he would hire a fairy, though.]
Rune continued.
[What did you receive as payment?]
A tooth collector with strong acquisitive instinct, an odd fairy who collected valuable teeth from anyone, any species or class.
The tooth fairy, who was chewing her lips, tightened the dark mist around her body and let out a “Kkuk!” as if pressing a button and spewed out her words.
-Th, the fangs of the elf who became a demon! And I promised to give me some of the demon’s fangs…… hic!
Before she could finish speaking, the tooth fairy was swept by Rune’s killing intent and started coughing violently.
‘She must have been too excited.’
After Rune calmed himself, the tooth fairy, breathing roughly, looked at him with trembling eyes.
-How, how did you get such power.
Rune lightly tapped his head.
“There’s something in my head.”
-N, no…… Are you really a hatchling?
“Kyu kyu.”
[As you see.]
His expression was completely unchanged, but if he only positively acted, it would only increase distrust.
Of course, Rune didn’t care.
Srrk.
Black slime appeared in Rune’s hand.
Although it was just formed from energy, the tooth fairy, who imagined what would happen if stung, used all her strength to escape.
However, the tooth fairy’s power to cross spaces didn’t work at all.
As if all places for power were blocked.
Approaching the terrified tooth fairy, Rune said.
“Kyu kyu.”
[Come to think of it, I saw my master do something back then.]
Rune recalled that time and took out the black pearl from his pocket dimension.
Feeling a premonition of danger, the tooth fairy, wanting to stall for time, shouted.
-Wait! At least tell me this. How did you know I’m not just a fairy?
Rune tilted his head slightly.