chapter_0653

653 – The Violent Mirror of Magic

653 – The Violent Mirror of Magic

“Wow, wow.”

“What is all this?”

As we entered the container, we paused for a moment, dazzled by the sparkling lights as if hit by a flashbang.

The adults were surprised, while the children were excitedly shaking their shoulders.

Flash-!

The colorful lights made the children’s skin glow in various hues.

Gaeul seemed fascinated by the changing colors of her skin in real-time, looking down at her palm.

“Straw… berry… cherry…”

Every time the lights turned red, Gaeul named a red fruit.

It seemed like she was playing a game of associating fruits with colors.

‘Wow.’

Just how many red fruits does our Gaeul know?

I watched with anticipation, but after a few rounds of red light, Gaeul could no longer name any more red fruits.

She just wore a blank expression.

“Ugh…”

It was disappointing, but perhaps the three she mentioned were all the red fruits she knew.

Well, it’s hard for anyone to think of specific colored fruits in real-time.

I felt proud of Gaeul for coming up with three.

“Tomato… jadoo… andu…”

After a moment of daze, Gaeul began to name more red fruits.

Oh my.

Our Gaeul thought of more fruits.

In such a joyful moment, I hugged Gaeul tightly.

Gaeul, not understanding why, let out a giggle.

“Green… watermelon…”

I took Gaeul’s hand, who had started naming green fruits, and moved towards the other children.

The kids were dancing, holding hands with adults like Choi Jin-hyuk and Jeong Yuna, shaking and swaying.

“Hey kids, did you make a secret dance base here?”

“Yeah! But it’s not a secret! Everyone can join!”

“Wow, I see.”

Levinas changed the atmosphere and began to elegantly dance a social dance.

As he spun with Hanyeoreum, he seemed awkward, not knowing how to turn properly.

His posture looked like he was choking Hanyeoreum’s arm.

“Oh?”

“Oh dear, my mistake.”

It was a clumsy yet joyful dance party.

But it didn’t last long.

It was time for Saebyeok and Bom to get back to work.

“Hey kids, I need to start organizing the materials.”

“Me too.”

“Then the dancing ends here!”

As the lights and music turned off, the usual container office was revealed.

Perhaps they enjoyed the short time thoroughly, as satisfaction bloomed on the children’s faces.

“I had fun too, so I’m off to the dungeon.”

“Is Levinas going too?!”

“Gaeul too.”

“Yeah. Let’s go together.”

Happy from playing and proud from working.

Today had been fulfilling from the morning.

**

After returning from the dungeon and finishing the settlement, we came back to the guild container.

In front of the container, Bomi, Haneul, and Saebyeok were puffing out their chests.

“You have to lean your upper body back as far as possible like this, and you must not fall over; you have to hold on well.”

“Like this…?”

It looked like the kids were practicing the ‘ahem’ pose they often did.

Could they really be practicing the ‘ahem’ seriously?

Levinas seemed to have the same thought as me and ran towards the kids.

“What are you doing?! Practicing ‘ahem’?!”

“Oh, right. This is totally the ‘ahem’ pose.”

“Huh?”

Levinas tilted his head.

If it’s the complete ‘ahem’ pose, then it means it’s not the real ‘ahem.’

Just as I was pondering, Saebyeok and Bom grabbed both ends of the jump rope and stretched it tight.

“Are you going to do it?”

“Yes…!”

Bom leaned her upper body back and walked toward the jump rope.

The rope came up to her neck, but thanks to her leaning back, she managed to pass through.

‘Ah.’

I wondered what they were doing, but it turned out to be limbo.

Levinas seemed to like the new game, his eyes sparkling.

“This is totally Levinas’s game!”

“Right, Levinas is an expert at ‘ahem.'”

“Yeah! Right!”

Levinas dashed to the front of the rope.

Then he gestured to lower the height.

“Levinas, how low should we go…?”

“To here!”

Levinas pointed between his chest and solar plexus.

As Haneul and Saebyeok lowered the height accordingly, Levinas confidently puffed out his chest.

“‘Ahem!'”

It was a perfect and impressive ‘ahem’ pose, a prime example.

Levinas walked forward while in the ‘ahem’ position and easily passed through the rope.

“Wow, Levinas is amazing.”

“He succeeded even at such a low height!”

At the children’s praise, Levinas ceremoniously did another ‘ahem.’

Gaeul, who was clapping, showed a fierce expression typical of a challenger.

“Gaeul too!”

“Do you want to try, Gaeul?”

“No!”

As Haneul and Saebyeok held the jump rope, Gaeul gestured for them to lower it more.

Lowering and lowering until the rope reached Gaeul’s hip level.

“Gaeul, isn’t this too low?”

“No!”

Gaeul shook her head, showing confidence.

Could our Gaeul really do this?

It was a moment filled with anticipation.

“‘Ahem.'”

Gaeul leaned her upper body back.

As she held the rope low, she leaned back significantly, and soon her body lost balance and fell backward.

Thud-

With a small sound, Gaeul collapsed onto the grass.

She failed.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, Gaeul began to crawl under the rope while lying down.

With her giggling, I realized Gaeul didn’t understand the rules of the game.

If you fall, it’s a failure, but it was also our fault for not explaining the rules.

This time, it was right to consider it a victory for Gaeul.

“Gaeul did it.”

“Wow!”

Gaeul’s tail wagged rapidly.

I decided to subtly inform Gaeul of the rules.

“Gaeul, can you pass without your back touching the ground?”

“No.”

Gaeul shook her head firmly.

“Ah.”

So that’s not allowed.

Well, no one could do it at this height anyway.

Nodding in understanding, I noticed Saebyeok, who was holding the rope, looking back at me.

“I can do it.”

“Even at this low height?”

“Yeah.”

Saebyeok confidently handed me the jump rope.

Though her expression was almost blank, I knew she was confident.

I hurriedly took the jump rope and watched Saebyeok.

Saebyeok’s upper body slowly leaned back.

Just when I thought she might fall, something amazing happened.

Saebyeok managed to hold herself up with her tail as she leaned back.

“No way.”

Of course.

Saebyeok’s tail strength was extraordinary.

Since her back didn’t touch the ground, it couldn’t be considered a rule violation.

“Wow!”

Though she supported herself with her tail, it was still an impressive feat.

The kids and I watched with our mouths agape.

“Saebyeok is amazing.”

Just how strong is Saebyeok’s tail?

It seems stronger than my arm…

Can she break rocks with her tail too?

Nah, that’s probably not possible.

…Right?

I shook off the unnecessary thoughts and decided to enjoy the game.

**

After finishing the game with the kids, we entered the guild building.

The moment we stepped into the first-floor lobby of the guild, I felt something was off.

The usually bustling first-floor lobby was particularly crowded today.

Especially, a large group of people had gathered in one spot.

“Haha, I hit you!”

“No, I should hit you!”

Adults, children, and adventurers alike.

A multitude of people gathered in one place.

Curiosity piqued, we moved towards the crowd and discovered a full-length mirror at the center.

‘What is this?’

An unusual Mana emanated from the mirror.

People passing through the first-floor lobby seemed to glance at the mirror, indicating it was no ordinary mirror.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s in the mirror?!”

We pushed through the crowd and stood in front of the mirror.

In the mirror, it simply reflected me and the kids.

“What is this?”

Just a normal mirror?

As I stood there puzzled, the reflection of us in the mirror began to move on its own.

Grin-

With a somewhat frightening expression, the Gaeul in the mirror started attacking the reflection of us.

Whack-!

She punched my face and gave Levinas a playful slap on the head.

Haneul pushed her away, while Bom and Saebyeok kicked at her.

“Huh?!”

Seeing the violent Gaeul in the mirror, the real Gaeul’s eyes widened.

She looked quite shocked.

“No! No!”

Gaeul rushed towards the mirror, trying to protest, but unfortunately, it was impossible to touch the world inside the mirror.

As a result, the real Gaeul screamed, while the Gaeul in the mirror just laughed wickedly.

“No! I’m not Gaeul!”

Gaeul desperately argued that it wasn’t her doing.

We didn’t really think it was Gaeul’s fault, but we were still quite startled.

“This is a magical violent mirror!”

“A magical violent mirror?”

“Yeah! It’s a mirror that shows violent appearances…!”

“Oh…”

So that’s why people were enjoying looking at the mirror.

It must have been brought out for fun at the guild.

Did they get it from the dungeon?

With a sense of mystery, I continued to gaze into the mirror.

In the mirror, the Gaeul who had knocked everyone down raised her middle finger at us.

She did it with both hands.

“Huh?”

Fortunately, the oblivious Gaeul just looked confused.

“Why are you doing that?”

As Gaeul tried to raise her middle finger at us, I hurriedly took her hand.

It seemed like a rather dangerous mirror for a child.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!

Gaeul of the double poke…!

───

Thank you, Mincho Masher, for the 100 coin donation!