Chapter 134: Daydream
Tuss and Puss were sitting in front of me.
The one sticking close to my side was Puss.
The one with the enormous poison sac must be Tuss.
Something was strange.
There was more than one strange thing happening.
The most incomprehensible thing was that a human voice was coming out of my mouth.
The sensation of my body also felt off.
A feeling that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Moreover, the bed I was lying on wasn’t particularly large.
It was a size that made me worried whether half of my body could even fit.
However, my entire body fit comfortably inside.
My body had shrunk.
To the size of an average human.
…Right.
Currently, I had the flesh of a human, a human face, and a human voice.
“Huh? What’s wrong? Suddenly feeling shy?”
“No way, of course not.”
“Exactly. Who do you think I became like this for?”
Tuss and Puss both had human bodies.
And I too had a human body, not that of a lizard….
……
…What was it again?
What was I thinking just now?
“Seriously, is something bothering you?”
“…Did I bite too hard yesterday?”
Tuss and Puss were looking at me with worried faces.
I only had one thing to say.
“It’s just, I’m happy to see you.”
“Come on. We were clinging to each other all day yesterday.”
Right.
Tuss and Puss had always been by my side.
There was no reason to feel awkward now.
“Hehehe. Alright, alright. Before Big Sis comes, let’s quickly….”
“Big Sis?”
Big Sis.
Did Puss have someone she called Big Sis?
The answer to my question soon came.
Creak.
The wooden door naturally opened.
“Have you woken?”
A beautiful woman, dressed like a lady from a noble family, appeared.
Golden hair.
Red eyes.
And a neat outfit.
It was an all-too-familiar face.
“…Nephila?”
It was Nephila Jurassica.
With her appearance, Tuss and Puss, who had been sticking close to me, started to act cautious.
It seemed the one they called “Big Sis” was Nephila.
Well, Tuss and Puss had followed Nephila to some extent before, after all.
“Though I was restless all night, upon seeing my lord, my heart overflows with joy.”
…Nephila spoke in a mix of incomprehensible words.
Judging by the nuance, she seemed to be saying she was happy to see me.
“It’s been a while.”
“I have longed for you day and night. To know that my lord feels the same fills me with happiness. I can no longer hold back….”
Despite her pretty face and neat clothes, Nephila was drooling.
The word “appetite” floated into my mind—was it just my imagination?
“Hey, Big Sis! You can’t! We have our share… No, that’s not it. We have something else to do today, right?”
“That’s right. We’ve all been eagerly waiting for today, so it wouldn’t be fair if you went ahead.”
Thankfully, Tuss and Puss were protecting me.
But what did they mean by waiting for today?
“Patience bears fruit in the end…. My lord, please know that I am holding back a lot.”
Look at that drool dripping.
I could tell she was holding back a lot.
“…Alright.”
Something was strange.
The words wouldn’t come out smoothly.
It was like I hadn’t spoken for a long time.
“What… day… is today…?”
Speaking in broken words was the best I could manage.
Had I always had a speech impediment?
No, I didn’t remember having one.
Maybe my tongue was tied?
It seemed more like a fundamental problem.
As if I’d forgotten how to speak.
Fortunately, they seemed to understand me very well.
“My lord, have you forgotten?”
“No way, how could I? This has been planned for a long time.”
“That’s right. That’s why we had a taste yesterday. …It was just a taste, right, Big Sis?”
They checked for my reaction.
I put on a face as if I knew what they were talking about.
But those three sisters knew me all too well.
Of course.
Tuss and Puss had that kind of expression.
Nephila placed her hand on top of mine and began to speak.
“Didn’t you promise to meet those with whom you once shared a bond?”
I remembered.
How could I have forgotten this?
Yes, today was the day to meet those people.
Outing.
The place we headed to was a very familiar location.
It was some sort of lake, or maybe a pond.
No, it was more accurate to call it a swamp.
It was the place where I had first met Tuss and Puss.
A place to reminisce about old memories.
And there were some familiar faces there.
“Oh, Go Dae-hyeop!”
A brown-haired woman waved and greeted me.
It was Tang So-yeong.
But her expression looked a little odd.
Rather than greeting me out of joy, it felt more like she was waving out of relief, as if she had finally been saved.
The reason became clear shortly after.
“Is it proper to keep me waiting?”
Baek Yeon-yeong was waiting for me with a displeased face.
Because I had overslept, I was late for our meeting, and Tang So-yeong had been left alone with Baek Yeon-yeong.
Since Tang So-yeong found Baek Yeon-yeong intimidating, she must have felt like she was sitting on pins and needles.
We laid out a prepared picnic mat and happily chatted away.
We also played around in the water, which was much cleaner than before.
Nephila had even prepared a packed lunch.
Tang So-yeong complained that there was only meat, and for that, she was punished by Tuss and Puss.
Baek Yeon-yeong, saying she had received a donation from someone anonymous, took out the honey of Okbong.
We shared the food everyone had brought, and conversations about our past memories bloomed.
It was a happy moment.
Time seemed to fly by.
“I remember that. We fished here, didn’t we?”
Puss opened up the conversation.
Her face was slightly flushed.
“…Actually, I’m ready.”
“Big Sis!”
Puss and Tuss bickered.
Fishing, yes.
I remembered the time when I first met them.
We had caught piranhas with spider webs….
Spider webs?
Piranhas?
What was that memory just now?
Forget it.
It wasn’t important.
I cast my fishing line into the lake.
Uncomfortably, everyone’s gaze was focused on me.
Since no fish were biting for a while, I naturally started to feel bored.
“Heeya. This is bringing back memories.”
Perhaps noticing how I felt, Baek Yeon-yeong spoke to me.
“Do you remember how hard it was to teach you martial arts?”
I smiled faintly at her words.
I remembered the time when she had first taught me martial arts.
She had grabbed my arms and tail and mumbled incomprehensible things while trying to teach me martial arts.
…Tail?
“That’s right, Go Dae-hyeop. If it’s not too much trouble, may I collect a few drops of poison before we part?”
Poison?
Do humans normally produce poison?
Something felt off.
I felt an unknown sense of discomfort.
Splash!
Thud, thud!
A large fish had taken the bait.
Alright, let’s throw away all these stray thoughts and focus on the present.
I tightened my grip on the fishing rod.
Crack.
But the fish hooked onto the line must’ve been massive; I couldn’t pull it in.
Creak, creak!
Snap!
It seemed like the rod was going to break.
No, if I wasn’t careful, I might get pulled into the water by the fish.
“Is it too heavy for you?”
Right.
If Baek Yeon-yeong were here, she could….
I shook my head.
For some reason, I had a feeling I shouldn’t leave it to Baek Yeon-yeong.
I must overcome this on my own.
Crack, crack, crack!
Creak.
Thud!
In the end, the fishing rod snapped.
“It must be a truly strong creature.”
Boom!
Since the fishing rod broke, I could only fall back on my rear.
“So, I should….”
Baek Yeon-yeong couldn’t finish her sentence.
It seemed she had seen my face.
“Heeya, are you crying right now?”
“Huh? Go Dae-hyeop! What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
The Tang sisters ran toward me with worried expressions.
It wasn’t because I was sad about losing the fish.
It was because of the powerful being residing in this vast lake.
The entity that had taken the bait I cast.
In the moment the fishing rod snapped, I realized what that creature was.
A large crest.
Red skin.
Bizarre attire.
It was a being I was all too familiar with.
And at the same time, I realized that all of this was an illusion.
I wasn’t human—I was a lizard.
The moment I realized this, the surrounding landscape changed.
The lake I had seen disappeared without a trace.
It was a daydream, a false dream created to make me submit.
Damn it, it was such a happy dream.
Or perhaps, it was a glimpse of the future that might come if I accepted the creature’s power.
Realizing this on my own would have been impossible.
Even if I sensed something was wrong, I would naturally pursue the happier dream until it faded away.
It was truly a vicious illusion.
But the inner demon inside me was far crueler than the one this creature had prepared.
Right.
This was all an illusion.
I had to escape from here.
…But.
It was too sweet.
If I accepted the Imoogi Bird’s proposal, I could survive and face this future.
Let’s think about this objectively, without personal greed.
Even if I escaped from here, could I defeat the Imoogi Bird?
No.
It was impossible.
Should I live forever in this delusion?
Or should I accept the Imoogi Bird’s offer and become its subordinate?
Either way, I’m as good as dead.
I can’t oppose it.
No matter how much faith I muster, there’s no way I can defeat it.
If I’m going to die pointlessly, at least….
“You’re not acting like yourself.”
Baek Yeon-yeong spoke in a cold voice.
“Your body has grown larger, yet you’re weaker than a small lizard.”
I glared at her.
Baek Yeon-yeong would never understand my feelings.
She was strong.
She couldn’t comprehend the heart of the weak.
“That’s right. Go Dae-hyeop was never like this.”
….
“Who was it that saved me back then?”
“…My sister and I still talk about that time.”
….
Tang So-yeong, Tuss, and Puss had also moved past it.
The situation now was different from back then.
I couldn’t win.
No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t defeat that being.
There wasn’t even the slightest possibility.
I couldn’t stand against Gaetsalgoadal.
Even the Snake Queen could only endure, so what could I possibly do?
Thud.
“My lord.”
Nephila Jurassica tightly grasped my hand.
“Do you know why I fell for you, my lord?”
My first meeting with Nephila wasn’t a pleasant one.
To survive, I had to steal her food.
“A swarm of ants came for me. Even I couldn’t handle that army.”
Nephila misunderstood.
The ants swarming her nest were drawn there because I led them.
“Yes, I know. That tiny lizard that hovered around, eyeing my prey, was the one who drew the ants.”
She knew that, and yet, why?
“If you had laid that trap, you should have just run away. Why did you come back?”
Nephila smiled.
“When I was in danger, you threw yourself in front of me. It was a situation where you could have died. No, if I hadn’t had a core, that lizard surely would have died.”
Nephila’s small hand squeezed mine tightly.
“That’s what made me fall for you, my lord.”
I had lived a life of countless escapes.
“So, my lord, follow your heart.”
And I had sworn never to run away again.
What did it matter if I couldn’t win?
What did it matter if I was weak?
“Follow through with your resolve.”
I clenched my teeth.
An illusion.
Or perhaps a future of another possibility.
A future where I became human and those precious to me awaited.
Leaving them behind, I took a step forward.
Crack.
I naturally released Nephila’s hand, and my body returned to its true form.
Black scales.
Sharp claws.
A long tail.
Yes.
The human form didn’t suit me.
As I kept walking, a large black-and-red wall blocked my path.
If I crossed that wall, I could escape from here.
…And at the same time, if I stayed and didn’t cross that wall.
I could make the future I had just seen my own.
The future where I had transformed into a human.
……
It didn’t matter anymore.
‘Cut.’
Swoosh!
The massive wall blocking me split in two.
It was time to leave.
I wouldn’t look back.
Clenching my teeth.
Once more.
Crack, crack, crack!
I broke free from the illusion that had trapped me.
And then.
“I’ve been waiting.”
A woman with red eyes.
The one who had been overtaken by Taese.
I had met the master of the Snake Queen.