Ch. 51 The Fairy, Nyongmom
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 51 – The Fairy, Nyongmom
Inside the old barn where Gladie lived, a girl lay on a crudely made bed.
Gladie looked at her and muttered.
“Are you sure this is really Nyongmom?”
“I’m sure. In this game, nicknames aren’t duplicated, right? And there aren’t many people who would use a nickname like that. Besides, he recognized me.”
“It seems you have some history with Nyongmom.”
“A little.”
As I answered Gladie’s question, I fell into thought.
It was natural for Gladie to be skeptical.
The man with purple skin had suddenly transformed and appeared before us.
Since he hadn’t woken up yet, we couldn’t hear the details, but it was clear that Nyongmom had gone through something so significant that it changed his body.
At that moment, Isolin, who had been staring at Nyongmom like Gladie, spoke.
“Definitely. There aren’t many people who would use a weird nickname like Nyongmom… But still, what kind of name is that…? It feels like he’s using a mom joke in his nickname.”
(tl:if you didn’t notice, it’s sound similar with your mom)
Isolin frowned, more dissatisfied with the nickname Nyongmom had chosen than with the person himself.
She reached out without hesitation and poked Nyongmom’s cheek.
Her small finger dug mercilessly into the soft flesh.
Gladie, watching this, tilted her head and said.
“Mom joke? Did you really not know?”
What did she mean? Isolin and I tilted our heads in confusion. Gladie nodded as if she understood and continued.
“Nyongmom isn’t some weird insult. It’s the name of a sauce used in Vietnamese cooking.”
“Are you serious…?”
Isolin asked in response to Gladie’s answer. Her skeptical frown showed she didn’t believe Gladie at all.
Gladie nodded confidently.
“Of course. They say it’s a very delicious sauce.”
“Have you tried it?”
“Huh? No, I haven’t, but…”
Isolin still couldn’t shake her doubts, glaring at Nyongmom, the tiny girl.
“Well, fine. But isn’t it weird? Nyongmom… Why would he choose that as his nickname? As a Korean, he must know how it sounds… And he even dressed his character so strangely. I don’t think this person is normal. He must have some weird ideology.”
Gladie shook her head at Isolin’s words.
“Isolin, prejudice isn’t good. Maybe Nyongmom just really likes Vietnamese food?”
“That’s…”
Isolin fell silent. She seemed somewhat convinced by Gladie’s explanation, but she still didn’t stop glaring at Nyongmom.
It seemed Isolin had been severely harassed by someone similar to Nyongmom in a past game.
I patted Isolin’s head and said.
“Don’t worry, Isolin. Nyongmom isn’t a bad person.”
“Hmm…”
Nyongmom woke up about 30 minutes later. Sitting on the bed, he stared blankly into space, and his first words were a polite greeting.
“Ah, hello…”
As if hiding his appearance from others was a habit, Nyongmom tightly wrapped himself in a thin blanket. I looked at him sympathetically and replied.
“Hello, Chan-sung.”
“Ah, so it really is Sister Supreme. I guess what I saw earlier wasn’t a dream. Thank you for helping me.”
He bowed his head in gratitude. The small girl then turned to get off the bed.
Thud—
“Ugh…”
And then she fell.
I looked at her and asked.
“Do you often fall like that?”
“Ah, no… Today feels a bit strange. My legs…”
It seemed Nyongmom wasn’t fully aware that his body had changed. I took out a small hand mirror from my inventory and handed it to him.
“Would you like to look in the mirror?”
“Ah, I…”
Nyongmom’s face twisted in horror for just a moment. He stared blankly at his hands, then took the mirror I offered.
“Wh-what is this…?”
“What exactly happened?”
Nyongmom didn’t answer my question. He just stared blankly at the mirror for a while.
Occasionally, he opened his mouth or reached out to touch his face with his other hand.
Everyone in the room was curious about Nyongmom’s situation. Isolin, Gladie, and I sat quietly, waiting for him to speak.
Nyongmom’s actions continued. He checked the mirror, then his hands. His tiny palms opened and closed, repeating the motion.
Then he jumped up and down in place. His smooth gray hair shimmered under the lantern light.
“Oh my…”
If sadness and joy could appear simultaneously, would it look like that expression? Nyongmom’s face was bizarre.
Not crying, not laughing. His lips twisted subtly as he slowly began to speak.
Nyongmom started explaining what had happened, as if tracing back vague memories.
The appearance of the Return Guild and their recruitment offer. The strange atmosphere within the guild and its internal split. And the exploration of a dungeon called the “Spiral Labyrinth.”
I wanted to ask about the strange atmosphere he felt in the guild, but the topic had shifted to Nyongmom’s transformed body.
I nodded and focused on his story.
“The Spiral Labyrinth was a fascinating place. It’s like common sense doesn’t apply there.”
“How difficult was it?”
“Quite challenging. There were some casualties…”
“So what happened?”
“We eventually cleared it… But judging by how hazy my memories are after that, it seems something went wrong during the process.”
“Did your body shrink after that?”
“I remember maintaining my original… purple-skinned body until the very end of the dungeon. After that, my memories are blank, and now I’m like this, so I guess that’s what happened.”
“Any other changes besides your appearance? Did you get any special items or skills?”
“Hmm…”
Nyongmom stared into space at my question. It seemed he was checking his system information.
“My race changed. From human to fairy… And there’s a race-specific passive skill, so it looks like I’ve been reincarnated into a different race.”
“Race reincarnation…?”
“Yes, I got a passive skill called ‘Trace of Reincarnation.’ It says I can’t use ‘Fairy Wings’ due to unstable reincarnation…”
Silence fell after his words. Nyongmom was too busy examining his transformed body.
He poked the soles of his feet with his small hands, marveled at his shortened legs, and stretched them out repeatedly.
Meanwhile, I took Isolin and Gladie to a spot a little further away. Then I asked them quietly, so Nyongmom wouldn’t hear.
“So, what do you think? About Nyongmom joining our party?”
“He does meet the conditions…”
“Right? And it seems he’s not part of any guild now.”
“But I doubt he’ll accept our offer.”
Gladie answered my question. She glanced back at the small girl squirming on the bed.
Unlike Gladie, Isolin still seemed unhappy. She shook her head and replied.
“I don’t like it. How do we know if he’s a good person? And that guy, he doesn’t even sleep and just goes out hunting. Look at his level. Do you think we can keep up?”
“That’s…”
Isolin was right. I looked at Nyongmom with regretful eyes.
The current Nyongmom met all the conditions I wanted in a permanent party member.
That’s why I didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
Then, a good idea came to me. If we couldn’t yet determine whether Nyongmom was a good or bad person, we could get closer to him and figure it out.
After all, Nyongmom couldn’t even control his body properly right now. If we kindly approached him and helped him, we might see sides of him we wouldn’t normally see.
I shared this idea with Isolin.
“What do you think?”
“Hmm…”
Isn’t it a great idea? Isolin rejected Nyongmom’s inclusion because she couldn’t trust him.
If, during our time together, Nyongmom could earn Isolin’s trust, or at least prove he wasn’t bad, Isolin wouldn’t refuse his inclusion.
“Well, if it’s just to check…”
Of course, this wasn’t my only goal. Nyongmom was, as far as I knew, the highest-level player.
As someone who fought on the frontlines in the Return Guild, he must have a lot of information about top-tier players.
My real goal was to obtain that information.
[Lie.]
It’s not a lie.
[Denial.]
I slapped my right hand.
(tl: cute ;3 )
Vrslop_translator
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