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What on Earth Are You Trying to Show Me?

“Are you kidding me? Is this kid really that strong?”

I couldn’t hide my shock as this little girl, with an unexplainable grip, pulled me closer with surprising strength.

It didn’t hurt, but the fact that my daughter had enough physical power to drag around an adult man made me wonder if the rumor about her being chosen by the gods had some truth to it.

They say divine possession can exhibit powers we can’t comprehend, right?

Though that might just be internet gossip…

She stopped right in front of the building’s main entrance.

For a moment, I thought it was an odd place to end up, given we just followed her in a confused daze.

“Stand here.”

“Uh, okay. Sure.”

With a peculiar bravado, she hurriedly stepped out through the main gate.

With the gate as the boundary, Yuri took a deep breath and stepped out.

Then suddenly,

“…Huh?”

A guttural groan escaped my father’s lips, as if his soul were slowly draining away.

Like wind escaping from a popped balloon, he collapsed and shrank before my eyes.

With each second that passed, more wrinkles of disbelief appeared on his face, a sight that would be hard to buy even with a lot of money.

Of course, this wasn’t a comedy sketch; it was reality itself. Not exactly a comfortable situation to just laugh off.

Because…

“Y-Yuri?”

Crossing the boundary of the gate, out came Yuri, but the cute little girl I knew had vanished.

Instead, standing awkwardly was a 180-centimeter tall guy, looking at me nervously.

At least his clothes matched his new size, though.

If his outfit hadn’t changed, that would’ve caused a problem of epic proportions.

No, isn’t the current situation itself a problem?

‘What is happening? What am I looking at right now?’

Hey, give my daughter back!

His black pupils were darting around wildly, and even his body seemed to spasm now and then.

I had never been this shaken, even when defending myself against my wife’s fiery attacks.

His expression, unable to accept this sudden change, was frozen in confusion, standing there without any further change.

Whether he realized it or not, Yuri, now a huge version of herself, was twisting and squirming with tears welling up in her eyes.

“Please, stop! Don’t do this to me!”

This was the adorable charm she would do when she wanted something as a child.

Why did I have to witness her charm manifesting through the form of this gigantic dude?

I wanted to let out a desperate scream, but all that came out was a silent echo deep within my heart.

I didn’t want to lose my temper in front of my daughter, but with the sight before me, it was clear this person couldn’t possibly be her!

I knew it was only the difference of one step, but having seen that whole transition—it dawned upon me that he, too, had figured out what was going on.

Yet, even if I understood it logically, there was a burning emotion inside me as a father that I couldn’t quell.

If every father in the world with a daughter could see my heart, they would surely empathize.

“This is why I can’t go outside. I’ve been possessed by a spirit, and look at this mess!”

Where in the world does such divine possession even exist!?

I wanted to shout it out loud, but I clamped my mouth shut, not wanting to show that side of myself in front of my daughter.

My body just trembled with barely restrained blood boiling within me.

“I’ll explain everything, sir.”

Timing couldn’t have been better as Saehee stepped in, pulling Yuri back inside the gate.

Seeing my daughter back in her original form shattered me internally.

“As you can see, if Yuri steps out of this house, she turns into this. I was very surprised the first time I saw it, too. Yuri says this place is lucky, so she pleaded to stay here for a while, and that’s how we ended up living together.”

With the surreal concept of real-time transformation, it didn’t matter how believable it was; it only needed to look good on the surface.

Since this thing had blown up, why not try to make the best of it?

“So… what about that camping video? We were outside for more than a day, and she looked just like our daughter then!”

“Apparently, that can happen sometimes. If you stay here for a while, it seems you can be outside for a day or two and revert back to your original body. Something about the spirit being suppressed by the energy in this area allowed her to return to normal for a bit, I guess. But it doesn’t last long.”

“Ugh…”

My father’s shaking form looked so pitiful that Yuri turned her head away from him in discomfort.

The sight of her dad standing there, utterly dazed, was even more tragic than when he first arrived.

It was a painful realization that what I had wished was just a bad dream turned out to be an unrelenting reality.

“So please, I ask you. Yuri said that if she stays for about a year, she can recover… right, sir?”

Saehee, who had been trying to persuade me, suddenly went quiet and lifted her head.

Had she sensed something?

Reaching me while I stood there in a stupor, she waved her hands.

Usually, someone would react when others got this close, but…

Despite the hand waving, my vacant eyes focused blankly ahead.

And then there were bubbles frothing up at the corners of my mouth.

Oh no…

‘Dad…’

Did he just faint?

As everyone stood there in shock, Dayoung, finally catching her breath, exclaimed in disbelief.

“Seriously, why does it have to be divine possession? It’s such an absurd twist!”

“Did you have a better excuse, sis? This is the best we could come up with.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better just to confess that she’s a hero? It’s a matter of dignity! It’s not like she’s possessed by a demon or anything.”

“We can’t just do that. Plus, if we mistakenly reveal that she’s a hero, the whole world would then know her secret, and that could be harder to handle.”

“That may be true, but… isn’t it already too late for that?”

“Why do you say that?”

Dayoung, pressing her temples, pointed toward the alley next to the gate.

“Because it’s been seen.”

With her dispirited comment, someone shuffled into view and stuttered.

“Uh… sis?”

“Huh?”

Following the fainted father of Yuri, there stood Eunha, glancing over here with a shaky gaze.

* * *

The fainted uncle was laid down in Yuri’s house.

It felt like a chaotic blur had just passed over, but reflecting on it, this situation was not entirely bad.

After all, the only witness present was Eunha, so it wouldn’t become a huge problem.

Even the fact that we’d been discovered was merely on a level where Yuri’s secret, which she didn’t want anyone to know, had been shared; ultimately, it shouldn’t cause much trouble.

Once he woke up and we explained things again, I hoped he might accept it, no matter how he justified it internally.

“I see, my father has arrived.”

Eunha said, gently touching the teacup, her expressions full of curiosity.

She seemed to find the situation of turning Yuri’s circumstances and the secret of her hero status into a divine possession story to be fresh and intriguing.

‘Well, I was surprised too.’

Never thought the idea of divine possession would come up here.

For a child who usually appeared calm and laid-back, swift decision-making and effective judgment were commendable.

Of course, not every reaction would be positive.

“Divine possession, huh? I can’t just let this slide. What if someone takes Yuri to some fortune teller?”

“I really don’t think he would do that. Let’s just observe for now.”

I doubt the worst-case scenario that Dayoung imagined would come to pass.

The look in Yuri’s father’s eyes truly reflected his pure heart.

Then again, saying it’s divine possession oddly gives this a certain reality.

Had this just been a straightforward TS issue, I would’ve had no clue how to explain it.

But this newfound frame of ‘divine possession’ brought a certain coherence to the nonsense.

Even if it’s an incredible fantasy, piling on another layer of fantasy makes it oddly fit.

For now, I should shift my focus from Yuri to other concerns.

“By the way, what’s Eunha doing here? Is something up?”

“I wanted to surprise you, but things got weird. Hehe.”

“Are you alright? What’s the matter?”

As I encouraged her with a warm smile, Eunha pulled out five crumpled tickets.

These were familiar pieces of paper, adorned with the logo of a league I recognized.

“Whoa, STK tickets? Wait…”

After taking a closer look, Dayoung’s eyes widened in shock.

I recalled previously participating in the opening match of the last season, where I had an unintentional debut as the ‘Opening Match Sister’.

Watching us for a moment, Eunha smiled, appearing relieved to explain.

“Yeah, STK is starting the new season with an opening match. I wanted all of you to come if you could, so I got these.”

“Huh? Usually, you take your family to these things, right?”

Eunha let out a wry smile at Jihye’s surprised reaction.

“Yeah, to be honest, my relationship with my family has been kind of tense since I started becoming a professional gamer… let’s say it’s a bit of a cold war. Even when I send tickets, they don’t come.”

Ah, so that’s why she’s pivoting toward us.

It must be tough to be a professional gamer without the support of family.

“Well, I’m free during that time. What about everyone else?”

“Yeah, I don’t have plans.”

“I-I’m good too!”

Yuri and Jihye should be fine as well.

“Sounds like a solid plan. This is a great gift. Thanks!”

Now that everyone had decided, Eunha sighed in relief and smiled brightly.

“Thanks, everyone. With all of you coming, I’ll have to carry the team!”

“Huh! You’ve been struggling lately with solo queue, so get your act together.”

“Whatever, I’ll hit a winning streak again!”

While we laughed together, I felt like I was missing something important.

Pondering over what it could be, an answer suddenly popped into my mind.

‘Ah, right.’

Where the hell was that guy?

Is he still in there while Yuri’s dad is resting?

* * *

Memories of my daughter from when she was younger flashed through my mind like frames from a movie.

As I reminisced about the joyful and happy moments from the past, a wave of happiness crept onto my lips.

But then, one of those frames showed my daughter transformed into that 180-centimeter tall dude.

That massive guy was grinning at me with a horrid smile and said:

—Dad!

“Ack!”

Drenched in sweat and gasping for air, I finally regained consciousness to a silent room around me.

What the heck? Did I pass out?

My body felt limp, and all I wanted to do was sleep some more.

But upon recalling the reality of my transformed daughter from the dream, I gritted my teeth.

No, I need to go back and ask Yuri what’s going on…

As I shook my head to clear my mind and stood up from my place, my gaze suddenly caught something odd.

“Whoops?”

An uncomfortable silence fell as our eyes awkwardly met a flying frog with wings, hovering in the air.

We seemed to have both stumbled onto a sight we shouldn’t have seen.

Where’s Yuri? What’s this monstrosity doing here?

“Oh, relax, buddy. This is the home of a hero.”

As soon as I opened my eyes, that hideous frog grinned with an abominable smile.

“…Kugh!”

I thought I’d escaped the terrifying reality of my daughter being transformed into a son, but the first thing that greeted me upon returning to this grim existence was a bizarre flying creature.

Feeling my blood pressure shoot up, I started foaming at the mouth before collapsing again.

“Whoops? Did I screw up?”

“Yes, you did.”

“?!”

The low, ominous voice from behind made me turn my head, only to feel a blunt force slamming into my skull, and I, too, blacked out.

 

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