There’s a saying not to lose something precious due to familiarity.
The child with whom I spent the most time throughout my past life.
Luri was pressed so close to me that I could feel the heartbeat on my skin.
Had I ever embraced her properly like this before?
I could assert that I hadn’t.
“I-I’m sorry for being rude…”
Just like right now, she always stood at a distance, overly polite and keeping her distance from me.
Despite the ten years we spent together… it seemed the gulf of emotion ran deep.
“Eomeoni, is it really you? Why do you look like this?”
“…”
“Don’t cry…”
“Phew, are you not doubting me anymore?”
“How could I possibly doubt you after seeing an aura as warm as spring and sacred as starlight?”
I silently draped a long padded coat over her.
As I was buttoning it up from the top, Luri suddenly murmured.
“Does this mean you’re in heaven…?”
“You felt how terribly cold it is outside too, right?”
“After all, we must be in hell now… Sniff, but it’s bearable! Now that I’ve come, you-”
“Luri, I don’t think that’s what you want to say. If you don’t want to forgive me, you don’t have to. It’s all my fault from start to finish.”
Even though I said that, I knew she would have something in her heart.
A strange atmosphere lingered.
‘It’s awkward after all.’
I thought about stepping outside to see if there was a clothing store nearby.
Even if I covered her with a coat, I couldn’t just let Luri run around naked.
“Even if you dislike me, let’s stick together until we adapt to this world. It’s just a different dimension, not the hell you think it is.”
As soon as I said that, Luri opened her mouth with a stern expression.
“I still don’t understand your thoughts, Eomeoni. Why do you always act like this?”
“It’s just as I said before. I want you to forgive me for abandoning you, and I hope you’ll stay by my side.”
“No…!”
Did I say something wrong?
Luri’s expression soured even more.
“I’ve never doubted or resented you, Eomeoni! So why do you keep assuming that I must dislike you?!”
Luri’s face, pouring out intense emotions, filled with sparkling tears.
[I hate Eomeoni.]
[I’m sorry for shouting.]
The timid words were delivered.
‘I must have known nothing about Luri.’
I still didn’t understand why she showed me blind loyalty even after her death.
*
In a children’s clothing store in Shangyang City.
It had a relatively decent appearance compared to other collapsed buildings.
We squeezed through a broken window.
I placed a few bills on the counter and made a phone call.
“Hello? Yes, Dad. It’s over. Can you bring me to the address I sent you about 30 minutes from now? Yeah. Hehe, thanks!”
Meanwhile, Luri was happily trying on various clothes like a young child.
“That looks cute.”
She pointed at a gray turtleneck knit.
“I’ll go with this one. By the way, the fabric in this world is really soft.”
“Don’t just wear the top! Please cover your bottom too!”
“If Eomeoni chooses it…”
“Stop it with that too! Hurry up and just put something on.”
“Yes. I’ll do as instructed.”
She picked a bright red training outfit.
Even for someone like me, who doesn’t understand fashion, it looked wildly unnatural.
‘That’s not what’s important right now.’
While waiting for Professor Cheon to pick us up, I deliberately sat beside Luri.
I took her hand as she tried to pull away from me again.
“Just sit here. It’s none of your concern. I’m just a little kid here.”
“Yes.”
“Did you memorize all the cautions I mentioned earlier? Don’t say a word until you learn the language.”
“When making judgments on your own, seek the help of artificial intelligence. Don’t overreact to everything and observe Eomeoni’s actions first.”
“Okay. Good memory.”
“Of course. The skills I honed while assisting Eomeoni are not going to waste.”
Luri shrugged her shoulders.
Time was dragging on.
Should I bring up my past life?
If I don’t do it now, I might never get the chance.
“Back then, you had already been tainted by the erosion of greed. It’ll be hard for anyone else but me to subdue you in that world.”
I simply narrated it, like recounting past events.
Luri’s lips trembled as she spoke.
“You accomplished a great task, Eomeoni.”
“Thanks to you.”
“And how did you live afterward?”
“Just somewhat leisurely, not living long. I do like sweet things, you know.”
“Eomeoni’s specialty—creating cunning lies from just the truth.”
“Hmm?”
Luri’s emotionless gaze began to flicker with sadness and anger once more.
‘What I felt earlier wasn’t an illusion.’
Luri grasped my shoulder and leaned in close.
“Eomeoni, why on earth did you give your life to that vile emperor? He snatched all your accomplishments! Everything we painstakingly built together!”
“!”
At that moment, confusion overwhelmed my mind.
Wasn’t Luri dead back then?
No, I definitely confirmed that the erosion of greed had disappeared.
And above all, where was her anger directed, having nowhere to go?
“Did you… kill someone?”
No-no-
Luri shook her head while wiping her tears.
As I held her in my arms, she sobbed, revealing the truth.
The strange phenomenon of her consciousness waking up, being captured by a spirit through polymorph magic.
How, after waking up 20 years later, the great erosion and the war between humans and demons vanished into history.
She informed me that the Second Human-Demon War didn’t end until five years after I died.
Even though the conflict between humans and demons was never truly resolved, the Demon King’s army had retreated after the continent was restored.
It wasn’t the best or second-best result, but it also wasn’t the worst or least favorable outcome.
It was just something that would have likely occurred had my constructed history flowed naturally.
“You really had to suffer for another year without me. How lonely you must have felt. All I can say is that I’m sorry for causing you hardship…”
“Yes… sniff.”
“And now you should forget about your past life. Just take a good memory or two with you.”
“Um, you see… sob. I’m so happy to be born in the same world as you, Eomeoni. I feel like you’ve become warmer than before.”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
Had I changed that much from the past?
I still thought my peculiar personality hadn’t changed at all.
But if there was one thing I must surely point out…
“Don’t call me Eomeoni. I’m only ten years old.”
“…!”
“What’s so shocking about that? If you think about it, you were just born today. If not for Dragonia Nascentia, you would have been a newborn.”
[!!!]
Luri stared blankly out the window for a while.
Every now and then, her goofy smile made me quite uneasy.
*
If there’s anything more difficult than a math problem in the modern world, it is undoubtedly solving identity issues.
However, the difficulty varies by country; while Korea might be akin to the Riemann Hypothesis, China would be more like an Olympiad level.
In other words, if you follow the given answer sheet, everything flows without much trouble.
“We’re not in a position to be leisurely talking about past lives right now. You should suggest how I should explain you to Dad.”
[Did Eomeoni have a father?]
“Of course I did. He’s technically a stepfather though.”
[Ah. I thought so.]
Luri nodded, acknowledging this.
“I told you to stop calling me Eomeoni! If you make that a habit, it’ll cause big issues later. Anyway, the plot I’ve thought through was just picked up from the ruins in the midst of the earthquake…”
Her appearance was surprisingly intact.
She was quite thin, to the point her ribs were showing; would that be enough?
[I completely understand what you’re saying.]
Luri tossed her padded coat to the side and started rolling around in the snow.
If a passerby saw, they might think it was a case of child abuse.
She picked up a sharp stone and scratched the back of her hand until she was about to scratch her face, but I stopped her.
“Hey, stop! Are you crazy?”
“Eomeoni, my blood… it’s red.”
Blood dripped from the dark wound on Luri’s hand.
I quickly infused some aura to stop the bleeding.
“That’s normal. A human and dragon can’t maintain their overlapping forms here.”
“Does that mean I’m a human?”
“For now. So be careful, please. I beg you.”
“Yes hehehe…”
Has she become too shabby?
I used my long grooming experience from the academy to arrange Luri’s hair neatly.
“Tada, a ribbon hairstyle.”
Ding ding!
The phone from Professor Cheon rang at that moment.
I swallowed hard and picked up the trembling phone.
“He stated he’s near the main road. Let’s hurry and go.”
Luri had already begun her expression act.
Like an abandoned puppy, no one dared approach her.
‘You’re doing really well.’
As we exited the alley, a black jeep came into view.
“Here, Dad!”
The passenger window rolled down, and Saetbyeol waved her hand.
“Whatsuppyo man, Na-me Unni still short even with cooking! Who’s next to you?”
“Stop with the nonsense and open the door. I’m freezing to death.”
Thump!
“Wow!”
In the back seat, Nureongi had blatantly taken up space.
I got in the car first and then lifted Luri in afterwards.
“Na-me ya, you didn’t… bring her from the city, did you?”
Professor Cheon asked with concern.
“She had been trapped under a pile of rubble. She seems to be okay, but I think we should stop by the hospital first.”
“Sure, let’s go quickly. Are you okay, kid? You don’t seem Chinese at first glance.”
“Let’s check the identity at the police station right after the hospital visit. It’s suspicious that this girl doesn’t understand Chinese at all and we can’t just throw her in a refugee camp.”
“Have you no idea where you’re from?”
“No. She can’t communicate well…”
“Oh, how pitiful. Just wait a little longer.”
Professor Cheon clicked his tongue and accelerated.
Saetbyeol kept glancing back, checking Luri’s condition.
Blink blink!
She gestured in a circle with her hands, questioning me.
‘Where’s the meteor?’
I pointed to Luri with my eyes.
Saetbyeol blanked and sealed her mouth.
“Oh, sh*t…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no, it just looked like the wound on her hand hurts.”
“You did great, Na-me. How did you find her in a place like that? Anyway, it’s such a relief. You did something quite significant.”
Tap tap!
This time Luri made a pained expression, watching me for cues.
[Am I being abandoned…?]
‘Not at all. Just hang in there.’
It felt like sitting on a bed of thorns.
Even though we found a hospital quite far from Shangyang, the emergency room was completely full.
Too many earthquake victims.
Professor Cheon got out of the car to check Luri’s injury.
“It’s a pretty bad scrape. While it seems to be healing well, I worry about the chance of infection. She probably hasn’t had a tetanus shot either.”
“What do you think, Dad? Is it serious?”
“Hmm… It’s not serious enough to head to the hospital. You should keep using the Dream Capsule. Remember, we needed to check the friend’s identity?”
“Yes, but the location feels uneasy…”
Next up was the police station.
Although it wasn’t as crowded as the hospital, it was still quite busy here.
Since the police chief recognized me and the citizens made way for us, I managed to get registered early.
“It seems like an international missing child case. Do you have a biochip?”
“Um, doesn’t seem like it.”
“Then, we have no means to find her.”
“Is that really the end of it?”
“Yes. If you wish, I can register her as missing in several countries.”
Even when Professor Cheon pressed them, the police officer remained unmoved.
It was inevitable since there are over a million stateless people in China.
The police drew pictures and asked if Luri had family.
Shake shake!
“No parents, huh… Then it could possibly be human trafficking.”
Once forgotten, kidnapping and trafficking frequently happen here.
The insufficient administrative system struggled to cover its vast population.
With no fruitful results, we returned to our accommodation.
[Going up.]
“Eeeek!”
Luri was startled by the automatic door, and then shocked again by the elevator.
“What’s the departure schedule for tomorrow?”
Professor Cheon, having removed his scarf, scratched his head awkwardly.
Luri skillfully took his coat and hung it on a coat rack.
“Thanks!”
Nod!
“Did you reserve a private jet?”
“I did. It’s booked for noon tomorrow.”
“Wow!”
I scratched Nureongi’s fluffy head with my finger.
“Dad, then.”
“Is there no sharp solution…”
“We can just-”
“Huh?”
“Why don’t we just adopt her?”
Professor Cheon halted the coffee cup he had been about to take a sip from.
“A-adopt?”
“Yeah, adoption. Nureongi has become a part of our family too.”
“Adopting a human is on a completely different level than a dog, you know. Most importantly, the opinions of those involved matter as well.”
“I think she would be happy…”
I cast a finger heart towards Luri, and she responded with a cheerful smile.
Professor Cheon furrowed his brows and asked about the reason.
“Is there a reason you suddenly want to adopt, Na-me ya?”
“Well…”
I took a slight pause and pressed my two fingertips together.
“Na-me wants a little sibling.”
“Eh?”
“I’m Na-me unni…”
[Huh, Eomeoni…?]
Bang!
I hugged Nureongi and dashed into the room, locking the door behind me.
Even I thought this was a bit much.
