chapter_0393

Chapter 391: I’ll Give You a Present

Living in the park, I had met so many different people.

From those who encouraged us to those we’d had minor troubles with.

Though I couldn’t call them all friends, they were still people I’d formed connections with.

“Excuse me…”

“Yes?”

I walked around the park, sharing ramen with people I’d formed bonds with.

From the woman who taught Levinas about birthday parties to the one who showed me affection wasn’t a big deal.

They were all light but meaningful connections.

“This ramen is a gift.”

“Oh! You’re really giving it to me?”

“Yes.”

“Thanks. I’ll enjoy it.”

The people I’d connected with accepted the ramen I offered.

Some had rough first meetings with us.

“Th-thanks, here’s a gift for you too…”

The boy who had unfairly traded cards with Levinas in the past.

Kim Woo-sung gave me a six-star card.

It showed a golden dog with ears and tail similar to Gaeul’s.

“Thanks. The card is really pretty.”

“Y-yeah…”

After parting with Kim Woo-sung, I went looking for others I’d formed bonds with.

Luckily, I found Im Dahui, the girl who’d invited us to play at the pool playground, and the middle-aged woman who’d chased us away from there.

“Dahui, take one of these.”

“Wow, is it a gift?”

“Yeah. Next time let’s play together at the pool playground.”

“Great! That’ll be fun!”

After briefly greeting Dahui, I approached the middle-aged woman who’d chased us away.

I handed her ten packages of Fire Chicken ramen.

“Um, would you like to take these…?”

“M-me…?”

“Yes. I got lots from an event so I’m sharing with people around.”

“Ah… th-thank you…”

The woman hesitantly accepted the ramen I offered.

The gift seemed to help improve our relationship a bit.

“I’m sorry about before.”

“N-no. Thinking back, I was too harsh.”

We apologized to each other and shared awkward laughs.

It was an awkwardness that helped clear away lingering negative feelings.

“Gyeoul, let’s ride this next.”

“Okay.”

After giving away all the ramen I’d brought, I played with Dahui at the apartment playground for a while.

Just as I was about to go down the slide, Levinas and the children came running from far away.

They must have run from the park after hearing I was here.

“King! King!”

“Master!”

“Hey kids.”

I went down the slide and approached the children.

Levinas started bouncing in place excitedly.

“King, big news! There’s a tournament over there!”

“Tournament?”

“Yeah! An Animal King card tournament! They’re choosing the strongest Animal King!”

“Wow, should we go check it out?”

“Yeah!”

After saying goodbye to Dahui who had to go to academy, we ran to where the card tournament was being held.

It was the place where we’d seen the woman in bunny girl cosplay before.

“Levinas isn’t the strongest Animal King, but among children…”

“Um…”

We looked around the venue with Levinas.

Though there were a few children, most participants were adults.

“…Wasn’t this a children’s tournament?”

Levinas opened her horned rabbit eyes wide and looked around.

Then she approached a quite muscular man.

“I have a question!”

“Huh?”

“Animal King is for children only so why are there more adults?!”

At Levinas’s question, everyone around stopped moving.

People passing by, those in card battles.

Even the cosplayers at the event.

Some dramatically clutched their chests.

“Ugh!”

“Stop the violence…”

“W-what’s wrong…?”

Levinas looked around anxiously at everyone’s reactions.

The man she’d spoken to waved his hand with an awkward smile.

“Everyone’s just joking around.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. When Animal King first came out, we were all kids too. We kept enjoying it and before we knew it, we were adults.”

“Heuk! Levinas wants to keep doing what she likes when she grows up too!”

Levinas rummaged through her pocket.

She pulled out an Animal King card.

“Want to play Animal King with Levinas?!”

“Um… sure.”

Levinas and the man sat at a nearby table.

Our Levinas went first.

“Piyo piyo!”

“U-um…?”

“Piyo piyo!”

“…What’s piyo piyo?”

From the man battling Levinas to the people watching around them.

Everyone expressed confusion.

It was because our rules were a bit different.

“It’s guessing animal names.”

“Ah… whoever guesses more wins?”

“Yes.”

Levinas’s new rules.

I worried they might reject them, but surprisingly no one objected.

“Then… is it a chick?”

“Heuk! You got it!”

Though it was a completely different way to play, people unexpectedly adapted well to Levinas’s rules.

Most watched Levinas’s matches with warm smiles.

“Reminds me of when I was young.”

“Yeah. I didn’t know the rules either, so I just made some up to play with my sibling.”

Ah.

Since they’d played since childhood.

Like our Levinas, maybe they each had experiences making up their own rules to play.

Perhaps people were playing along with Levinas’s rules to protect her childlike innocence.

I was grateful to see everyone working together to support Levinas, the next generation of Animal King player.

**

Through the portal.

Gyeoul’s hometown.

Yoon Da-in, who lived there, let out a deep sigh.

‘I miss the kids again.’

She looked around the house she’d moved into and sighed.

The house felt strange, bought without her abilities.

A huge house big enough for running around in.

Choi Jinhyuk, who’d introduced himself as the children’s guardian, had bought it.

‘Where does he keep getting these creative works from?’

He made money selling unreleased creative works – music, novels, manga and more.

Each piece was masterful enough to be called a classic.

Among them, Da-in’s favorite was a manga.

A fantasy manga with characters who looked exactly like the children she’d seen in the mountains.

She’d thought it would be a healing story based on the protagonist, but surprisingly it was an orthodox fantasy.

Despite having a young beast-kin girl as the protagonist, it was an incredibly popular work.

“Haah.”

Reading this manga just makes me miss the kids more.

I bought this detached house with high walls and a yard so the kids could rest comfortably.

When will they actually come?

“Haaah.”

As Da-in kept sighing endlessly.

Song Harin, who had finished exercising, approached while wiping her sweat.

She was a woman Choi Jinhyuk had brought one day asking if Da-in could look after her – she was several times stronger than normal people.

“Hey, Da-in.”

“Yes, sis.”

“I met Jinhyuk yesterday.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. He said he’ll bring the kids soon.”

The kids are coming.

Really?

Kyaah!

Da-in let out a scream.

Song Harin, whose hearing had become better than normal people due to gaining mana, couldn’t help being startled.

**

“Graaawr!”

“Grawr? A tiger?”

“No! It’s a cat!”

Ahem.

Levinas puffed out her chest.

The man showed a puzzled expression.

“Huh? Do cats go grawr?”

“Yeah! King goes grawr!”

“Ah… that’s true…”

The people around nodded at Levinas’s words.

Gyeoul could only roll her eyes.

‘I’m from the cat species, but not exactly a cat.’

…Probably.

As Gyeoul scratched her cheek, Choi Jinhyuk walked toward the children from far away.

“Oh!”

Gyeoul reflexively ran toward him.

She naturally jumped into his arms.

His body felt solid like a brick wall, different from Han Yeoreum and Jung Yu-na.

It gave a sense of security, like he could protect from anything.

“What brings you here?”

“Thought we might take a portal trip soon.”

“Portal… to my hometown…?”

“Yeah. I’ve prepared something, let’s go check it out.”

“Prepared…?”

What could he have prepared to suggest crossing the portal?

As Gyeoul wondered, Choi Jinhyuk was reviewing his plan.

He’d taken a world-famous orthodox manga and just changed the protagonist to our children.

It was for selling in that world, though he’d paid royalties to the original author for the children’s sake.

By buying out the domestic publisher entirely.

The result was a huge success.

In Gyeoul’s world, a fantasy manga featuring the children’s likenesses had started trending.

‘They shouldn’t think it’s strange even if we go out.’

Even seeing children with ears and tails, people would think it’s cosplay from the famous manga.

Of course, he knew cosplay itself wasn’t exactly normal.

They couldn’t walk around with ears and tails every day, but on special event days they could freely roam the streets.

This was Choi Jinhyuk’s gift to Gyeoul.

A gift for Gyeoul who couldn’t comfortably walk around her hometown despite returning, due to growing ears and tails.

Choi Jinhyuk hoped that even for just one day, Gyeoul could enjoy her hometown.

‘The problem is…’

The manga featuring the children had become too big of a hit.

If a child who looked exactly like the protagonist walked around…

“Hmm…”

Well, it’s just a manga.

There shouldn’t be any problems, right?

Though he felt slightly worried, he decided not to dwell on it.