“I’ll take Nureongi for a walk. Ruri, do you want to come along?”
“Yes, Eomeoni.”
“Oh, then I’ll go too, Unni.”
“If you both go, Dad will be bored all alone.”
“Na-me, Dad sometimes needs his own time.”
“Huh?”
Wasn’t it better for Dad to be with us?
Feeling a huge sense of betrayal, I put Nureongi’s leash on.
“Woof!”
Nureongi, as if to vent his frustration from missing out on the chicken earlier, ran around the apartment complex, sniffing at everything in a frenzy.
After a roundabout, we sat by an artificial stream and enjoyed the night view.
“Ringshute.”
“Butterfly.”
“Drirhor.”
“Squirrel… No, Ruri. We don’t really talk about animals on a daily basis. Say something more commonly used in daily life.”
“Riberichul Immeru.”
Ruri and I filled the AI translator with words as they came to us.
“So when are we going to finish all this?”
“Surprisingly, knowing just 100 words helps you understand about 50% of daily conversations. 500 words gives you 60%, and 1000 gives you 75%.”
Honestly, finishing it by just looking at the dictionary would be much faster.
But I valued having conversations like this with Ruri.
For about 15 minutes, we put around 500 words into the translator.
After setting up additional grammar settings like past, present, and future tenses; subject-verb agreements; word order; plural forms; and honorifics, we activated the translator.
“Okay, let’s try an experiment. Hello, Ruri?”
“Hello, Eomeoni.”
“Bahaha! She called you Eomeoni! Is the translator broken?”
“Call me properly again, Ruri.”
“Hello, Unnininninni…”
“How’s your body? Do you have any pain?”
“I’m fine. Thanks to Eomeoni, I’m good.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Add Harinahe infinitely. Saetbyeol, do you want to talk to her?”
Taking the Frisbee from Saetbyeol, I let her take my spot.
Nureongi, this guy, has great stamina.
“Um, ahem. You’re a dragon, right? Did you really come from that meteor?”
“…”
“What? She’s not talking to me.”
“She’s just really shy. She’s even worse socially than I am.”
Then Ruri tugged at my sleeve and said.
“Eomeoni, I mean Unni.”
“?”
“Why do I smell Unni from that woman?”
Glaring at Saetbyeol, I narrowed my eyes.
“Ah, to simplify it, it’s complicated.”
In fact, even saying it in ten words would be complicated.
How could I explain the existence of Saetbyeol, which is hard for modern people to comprehend?
“She’s my precious little sister. I had to share my Akashic Records with her due to circumstances, but you can get to know that later.”
Since she didn’t even know the concept of virtual reality, I thought it was too early for this.
“Sorry, Saetbyeol. I’m a black dragon, as humans often say, and I’ve been assisting Eomeoni for ten years.”
“Not Eomeoni, Unni. This world can be difficult for Ruri to adapt to. So if you have questions, ask Saetbyeol. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, let’s go inside.”
“Unni, may I ask one question?”
“What?”
“What kind of person is the father you have made? Is it someone you need to be close with in the future?”
I smiled wryly at Ruri’s question.
All the human relationships we formed in our past lives were fake.
Pretending to be friends, pretending to be family, taking advantage of human emotions for all gains.
I extended the hand that was holding Nureongi’s leash and intertwined fingers with her.
“Just like our relationship, Dad is my precious family. So can you get along well with him?”
“Ah… Okay.”
“Now you have to walk Nureongi. He’s quite stubborn, so he’s a handful.”
“Leave it to me.”
I tossed the leash to her naturally.
I poked Saetbyeol’s side with my elbow as we walked side by side.
“You should start studying soon. You’re in your third year, right?”
Hwaam Where’s that dog barking? Oh, our Nureongi’s barking!
“Hwaam Hey, are you going to keep dodging the question? So are you going to study or not?”
“I will! I’ll do the minimum.”
“Did you say you applied to the theater and film department? They don’t exactly ignore grades either.”
“Oh, heaven! I’m in my third year! But that’s why Ruri calls Eomeoni, it all makes sense now.”
“Why?”
“Because of all the nagging. If I heard it for ten years, I think I’d lose my mind.”
Nod, Nod
Ruri was shaking her head up and down as she walked behind us.
“Ruri, did I nag a lot?”
“Ah, no.”
“Did I loosen up a bit because I relaxed?”
“I’m sorry! I won’t let such a thing happen again… Hup! I will!”
Ruri was stiff as she bit her teeth and stood up straight.
Why does she take this so seriously?
In a rush, I waved my hands and hurried over to her.
“Ah, no, it was just a joke! Ruri, I’m sorry! No, no, be more comfortable! Ruri, it was really just a joke! Saetbyeol is going to misunderstand!”
“Indeed, just like the Demon King!”
“I’m sorry, Eomeoni… Wahh! I was so happy to think we had become a real family… I misunderstood all on my own, I’m so sorry!”
Ruri shifted to a dive position like nobody else as if she was expertly doing it.
She crossed her legs and raised one foot, and now she was trying to lift both hands off the ground.
Stop the bombarding!
“How can I make you believe me? Huh? Please let’s not do this, what if people passing by sees us.”
Woof woof! Woof!
I eventually had to forcefully help her stand up.
After massaging her stiff face with my fingers to loosen it.
“Is saying something bad going to break my face?”
“No, it’s not…! Let’s go eat some sweet ice cream. That should help you feel better.”
On the way, I bought a gum and three ice creams at an unmanned ice cream shop.
“The shop doesn’t have an owner. Wouldn’t that attract thieves?”
Ruri looked around curiously with a much calmer demeanor than before.
“It’s just a CCTV paradise. We’re being watched from everywhere.”
“Is there a watcher? Where are they?”
“Not like that, so hurry up and let’s go home.”
It seems I’ll need a lot of effort to help this medieval person adjust perfectly.
“Ugh! Cough! There’s a bomb in my mouth! I’m so sorry, Eomeoni! Please forgive me just this once!”
“Why did you have to choose one with popping candy of all things?!”
“Ahh hehehe! It’s funny! I’m laughing so hard, it feels like I’ll die!”
After a difficult walk, we all returned exhausted.
“Dad, I’m back… Oh, you’re sleeping.”
It seemed like Professor Cheon had a tough day too.
*
Even though I was tired, sleep wouldn’t come, so the children gathered in my room.
That night, we planned to watch a movie about training dragons.
But at this moment, no one was focused on the film.
“Ten years?”
“Yeah. I’m not a dragon, and I can’t grow up all at once like you after being born.”
“Hehe, imagining Unni as a baby… I bet she was super cute! Do you have any pictures?”
Ruri clasped her hands and giggled.
At her reaction, Saetbyeol scratched her head and looked at me.
“Hey, hey.”
“I don’t really have pictures. I probably wasn’t that cute. I was all skinny.”
“I’m a bit envious. I was worried you might forget me after having such great connections for ten years.”
“Never once.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve never forgotten you. On the contrary, I desperately looked for you.”
Besides God, your name was the only one I’ve been searching for.
“I was just stuck somewhere for a long time, bad luck.”
“Long? How long?”
“… About seven years.”
“Seven years? I must have heard that wrong?”
“Seven years.”
“Who dares…!”
Clap!
Saetbyeol clapped in mid-air.
Just to lighten the mood.
“Okay, Na-me unni probably doesn’t want to think about those memories either. I’ll let you know later.”
“Thanks.”
“I can’t believe it. How could Unni…?”
“Ruri, look at this. Your mother has fallen that far, kuheh.”
“?”
Paat!
Suddenly, the hologram playing the movie shifted to a different screen.
[Adella Ch.]
[Na-me’s Cuteness Compilation 5 (Watch Na-me Sneakily)]
[Chikachika Pokapoka Dubidubi Dabadaba~]
A scene of me brushing my teeth in the bathroom while singing was broadcasted.
“Hey! Why are you airing such things that affect my character! Turn it off!”
“Ruri! Pass the remote over here!”
“Ah!”
The remote soared in a parabola and landed in Ruri’s hands.
[Heart Heart Na-me Heart!]
I couldn’t bear to look back, so I blocked Ruri’s front.
“Ruri, give me that.”
“…”
Ruri peeked her head sideways.
“Ruri?”
“Hehe. Just a moment. I think the translator is broken.”
“What kind of break? Hurry up and give it to me. This is a command.”
“Yes, I’ll give it to you shortly! Uh, where’s the remote?”
“It’s in your hand!”
“Ruri, it’s fine to give that. I’ll show you separately.”
Forcing the remote out of her hand, I pressed the power button.
Beep!
“I said I didn’t like seeing cute videos of myself, didn’t I?”
“Unni, just a moment. There’s something I don’t understand.”
“What? You’re an accomplice with Cheon Saetbyeol too.”
“There’s no way that could be true, but has Unni weakened?”
Ruri asked me with a serious look, and for a moment, I got swept up in the mood.
“Since mana is scarce in this world, it’s natural that I’ve weakened compared to my past life. But I’m still a world champion. There’s no one as strong as me now or in the future.”
“Did you get threatened to act cute like that?”
“There’s no way.”
“If that’s the case, then you must be acting cute because you wanted to!”
“Huh?”
“Wow, that’s some logic!”
“Ever since the day you acted cute to Father, I’ve been convinced. You’ve become much brighter and cuter than your past life. Strong Unni is great, but I also like cute Unni.”
Did I just act cute because I liked it?
Of course not.
“That time I acted cute was forced because of a promise I made with the viewers.”
“Viewers? What’s that?”
Saetbyeol chimed in for the curious Ruri.
“So when you upload this video, people from around the world watch it, and from that, you can gain money and fame. Na-me unni has 150 million subscribers.”
“150 million? That’s the population of the Southern continent, isn’t it…? Oh, I get it now, Unni. I had misunderstood.”
“No, Ruri, whatever you think, that’s not it.”
“Unni, you were thinking of dominating the world with your cuteness, huh? I, Ruri, will join your great cause in this life as well!”
Hahaha!
Once again, Saetbyeol doubled up laughing, clutching her stomach.
“Is it fun?”
In Ruri’s mind, I was now a ruler who dominated the Southern continent with my cuteness.
