Chapter 409

Chapter 409

Chapter 73: Reward Leave (6)

The reason I initially came to know about this article was due to such connections.

While I was having dinner in the dining room attached to my hotel suite, my smartphone kept ringing.

Among those who had contacted me in that way, Jordan was also included.

He was currently working as a public official in the Biharin government.

There was a high possibility that Rashar also knew about this news.

Even though I gritted my teeth, I called Rashar first.

“Hello……. “

“The things they’re blabbering about in that article are all nonsense.”

I wanted to clarify this sudden and damned scandal.

I wondered why I, who had done nothing wrong, needed to clarify it.

But I couldn’t stay silent and let it slide, so I ended up speaking somewhat hastily.

I had hinted that the system would devote itself to the physical realm while explaining future plans to Rashar.

However, seeing such an article couldn’t just pass by without any reaction.

‘If he remained unaffected, that would be shocking to me in another way.’

I continued to explain with an anxious expression, doing my best to clarify.

“It’s absolutely not true. This isn’t even human, to begin with!”

Thankfully, Rashar didn’t fall into any unnecessary misunderstandings.

『Ah… I somewhat guessed it. I thought the person in the photo with you might be him.』

Of course, seeing the article content made him a little upset.

But thanks to my immediate call, he was okay now.

I sighed in relief and ended the call.

Then, I turned my head abruptly to the side.

Sitting there was the Damned System, shoving mouthfuls of pasta that we ordered through room service.

While someone like me had a perfectly fine girlfriend and got caught in a scandal because of him—

Meanwhile, the guy who caused it all was completely carefree.

I glared at the Damned System trying to stab another piece of food with his fork while his mouth was already full, and muttered.

“Hey, reduce your size.”

The system looked up, startled by the abrupt statement while almost putting food into its mouth, blinking its eyes.

But it was only for a moment; soon, the sitting height of the system shrank significantly.

Witnessing such an unrealistic scene, the twins who were having their meal on the opposite side froze in place.

“Is it okay like this……?”

Regardless, the system quickly accommodated my request.

The appearance completely changed, mumbling with food stuffed in his mouth.

From that of a young adult in their 20s to a teenager in their mid-teens.

Seeing the new appearance, I added another comment.

“Smaller.”

In response, the system’s appearance shrunk to that of a young child around ten years old.

Standing at my waist height with tiny hands and feet.

With that appearance, there would be no way they could link me with it.

I felt it was sufficient, just when I wanted to nod at that decision.

“…… Wouldn’t it be better if you just changed to a boy? Strolling around with a girl at this point would make people call you a pedophile.”

Jinwoo, who had regained his senses from his shock earlier, advised.

It wasn’t something to be taken lightly and dismissed.

If it’s the kind of media that thrives on sensational headlines to drive clicks, they definitely would do it.

Conclusively, I decided to heed Jinwoo’s advice.

“Change.”

My stern gaze fixed on him once again, led the system to change its appearance yet again.

Though a bit handsome, wherever you looked, he was clearly a young boy.

Just then, as I sighed, wondering why I should be tangled in such a mess—

“Bzzzzt—!”

A call came from the information desk.

And the contents of that call were—

『Excuse us, mister Kang. You have a visitor…….』

『I want to see K too! I’m going to play! I’m going to ride the Ferris wheel!』

Everything made sense with the booming voice over the phone.

It was a voice too familiar for me to pretend not to recognize.

Alongside the voice, there were ominous crashing sounds I couldn’t identify.

There were voices of what seemed to be police officers as well.

Taking a deep breath, I answered that I would come down.

At that, the hotel’s staff spoke with a markedly brighter tone.

『Thank you. Truly, thank you.』

Who knows how harrowing it must have been for them to immediately thank me for saying I’d come down.

Shaking my head as I left my room.

Moving just before Beltra, who had come all the way to the hotel, could cause trouble.

And when I got off the elevator and reached the lobby, beltra dashed towards me.

Like catching a baseball, I caught the little guy, and then a shadow loomed over my feet.

“Traitor.”

The first words Breche said while looking at me with patches of fur missing here and there were that.

It was quite a miserable sight, leaving me at a loss for words.

“I can’t Die alone.”

Contrarily, Breche spoke as if resolved, leaving puzzling words with a profound implication.

Immediately, he handed over a certain bundle of cloth he was holding to me.

Then, without looking back, he fled.

Just as I abandoned him at the airport and fled.

The small bundle, which seemed to be waiting to be handed to me, squirmed in my arms.

“Whaaaa!”

A child young enough to have just begun to toddle, Horfe’s youngest son, veleno.

‘Honestly, I could have steeled my heart and left him.’

But recalling Horfe’s death, I hesitated.

Moreover, it was left by Breche.

It was tantamount to a declaration of not giving up on bringing the children to me, even if they were sent back home.

‘If they keep coming like this, no matter how I try to avoid it.’

Attempts to push them away were meaningless.

I should’ve held off at the airport.

Showing Beltra the bitter taste of life only made me taste bitterness instead.

‘Causality…….’

It was the moment when the old saying that whatever you do will come back to you sunk deep into my heart.

However, since I had brought this upon myself, there was no one I could complain to.

In the end, I had to apologize for the commotion caused in the lobby while holding Beltra on my head and cradling Veleno in my arms, compensating for the damaged facilities.

* * *

There is a saying called the hell of childcare.

I realized over the past few days that saying was not merely a metaphor.

“Woooo!”

Taking care of a baby who couldn’t even speak was extremely tiring.

As he could do nothing by himself, I had to do everything for him.

And did it get easier when the child grew to be able to walk and talk?

Absolutely not.

He caused unimaginable mishaps in places I couldn’t even see!

Actually, having them in the baby stage with a limited range of movement was better.

“Abububu.”

When crawling, he wouldn’t go beyond my grasp, allowing me to prevent accidents beforehand.

On the contrary, what about a child who had a wide range of mobility, could talk and walk, and was incredibly curious?

‘It’s hell…….’

When I had to take care of Beltra 24/7, I couldn’t help but understand.

The reason Breche said he couldn’t Die alone.

Why the saying “the hell of childcare” came into being!

‘Tired.’

Even with a player’s physique, it was tiring like this.

How ordinary parents managed to raise a child was beyond me.

‘It wasn’t like this with the twins.’

At least today, beltra’s interest was caught by the outside world, which was a relief.

We had come to Disneyland in LA.

Though I had to supervise and manage to prevent Beltra from breaking things—

I didn’t have to handle all of Beltra’s overflowing energy.

Thus, I was sitting relatively relaxed, holding only Veleno.

Just a moment ago, the twins and the Damned System, along with Beltra, returned after riding one of the attractions.

“Was it fun?”

“Totally!”

“You should have joined us.”

I shook my head.

Initially, I tried joining a few times to enjoy myself.

But it wasn’t particularly enjoyable or thrilling.

Perhaps because the experiences of running across buildings, flying in the air lingered within me.

So I voluntarily appointed myself as the child’s governess, taking a rest.

I might reconsider if I had left only Beltra and the twins; however—

Wasn’t the Damned System in between the three of them?

It meant there was no risk of an accident or danger befalling the twins due to Beltra’s mistake.

Therefore, rather than riding an attraction I didn’t enjoy, I wanted to rest.

“Oh brother! Look at this!”

Just then, Yeonwoo approached, smiling, and showed her smartphone.

Kim Yul had sent a DM.

– Yul Yul: Are you happy……?

– Yul Yul: If you are happy, I don’t care what happens to me…….

With a chuckle-inducing message, a photo was attached.

Yang Taeho, Lily, and other attribute mana holders were chained in cuffs.

‘So today’s magic circle installation is with others.’

It might be a photograph using camera filters rather than real chains—

But it expressed meaning sufficiently by implying, “Is it nice that you guys are having fun?”

Sadly for those toiling, I couldn’t involve myself in matters related to mana anymore.

Now that the body that could use mana disappeared, how could I intervene?

Excluding myself from the magic circle installation work was only natural, as I could no longer use mana.

“Isn’t this guy so adorable? I should tease him more. Let’s take a picture.”

Yeonwoo sparkled her eyes, intending to tease Kim Yul further.

“That’s a good idea.”

It’s not that I opted out of helping because I didn’t want to; I simply couldn’t due to the situation.

Next to Yeonwoo, smiling, I snapped a photo for her.

The moment I laughed briefly, suddenly around me became clamorous.

“I am Superman!”

Hearing an unfamiliar voice resounding, I soon found the root cause of the commotion.

In just a brief lapse, beltra had climbed onto an attraction’s rail, playing superhero.

‘That kid doesn’t belong here…….’

Glancing at Beltra, proclaiming Superman at Disneyland, I let out a deep sigh.

I immediately rushed to retrieve Beltra and bring him down.

“I’m sorry. You too, apologize for what you did wrong.”

“I’m so sorry……?”

Forcing Beltra’s head to bow in apology, the staff replied with a pitiful look on their faces.

“P-Please be careful, yes, be careful. There’s a risk of safety accidents, so p-please pay attention…….”

A line was drawn that if the incidents kept repeating, they would have no choice but to call the police.

I felt sincerely sorry for the staff.

These were not ordinary humans but individuals who could destroy the amusement park from within at any moment…….

Most employees seemed to be either openly or secretly tense while we were around.

Seeing that, made me resolute about properly controlling the kid.

When I resolved the situation and brought Beltra back, a distinctly unwelcoming gaze was felt from beside me.

Turning my sight, there was a kid barely larger than my knee glaring fiery eyes at Beltra.

It was unmistakably the Damned System who was smaller than it used to be days ago when reaching my waist.

‘I personally have no exact answer to that.’

For now, it was a guess assuming it had something to do with Beltra.

Of course, it didn’t seem like something positive.

Truthfully, the Damned System wasn’t favorable towards Beltra or Veleno.

“That’s extremely rude!”

Merely looking at the visible behavior was enough to know.

“Get down from Kang Hyunwoo’s head right now!”

Once Beltra habitually climbed up my head after apologizing to the staff, the Damned System glared with eyes wide open, casting scolding words.

The difference in attitude from dealing with the twins couldn’t go unnoticed.

Damned System constantly found something off in Beltra’s actions and had to add a comment on it.

Naturally, beltra didn’t listen.

‘Looking at it, it doesn’t seem the Damned System is genuinely reprimanding him.’

If the Damned System had been truly angry, there was no way Beltra could remain so at ease.

Considering it wields enormous status, being the primordial god of this dimension.

‘Perhaps it’s venting its frustration?’

As I was ruminating over the Damned System’s behavior—

“I told you to get down!”

Damned System added another remark, pointing a finger at Beltra sitting on my head.

Yet Beltra paid no heed and was about to indulge in another mischief.

Reactively, I grasped the nape of Beltra’s neck, fixing my gaze sternly, raising my voice.

Damned System.

New Elements and Characters:

조르단 = Jordan (he)

라샤르 = Rashar (he)

벨타 = Beltra (he)

호르페 = Horfe (he)

벨레노 = Veleno (he)

브레체 = Breche (he)