Part 2. Spring (3)
After returning from their outing, Bom began bustling about in the kitchen. Before long, a salty aroma spread through Yu Ji-tae's officetel.
Watching her like that made him feel oddly unsettled.
It was because the last expression he'd seen on her face in the previous loop still lingered in his mind.
"Hm-hm~."
Bom hummed cheerfully, seemingly in a good mood.
If things were like this at their very first meeting, would that count as normal? He asked himself.
It seemed fine. No one in a foul mood would be humming. Still, when he'd brought her here under the pretense of kidnapping her, Bom's expression had been stiff.
Something good must have happened to her. He couldn't quite put his finger on what.
Even so, Bom cooking suited her rather well.
Across their six encounters so far, she'd had a profession about four times. Twice she'd been a painter, once a sculptor, and once a novelist. The remaining two times, she hadn't been able to do anything at all because he'd imprisoned her.
In any case, it meant she was the type who took an interest in "creating" things.
Suddenly, he grew curious.
In this life, with its completely different environment, what might she become?
It seemed like it would be fun to watch.
That aside—it should be about time.
Setting aside his thoughts of Bom, he began searching news articles from a faraway foreign land.
Africa.
One incident after another was erupting on the continent across the sea.
– Large-scale armed clashes break out in South Africa.
– Airstrike by the mana-based terrorist group "Barkata," resulting in approximately 1,400 civilian casualties.
– Statement released by the South African Union (SAN): "Africa will not compromise with violence."
– Barkata releases execution footage after kidnapping and killing 14 SAN employees; World Hunter Association condemns them as "a scourge upon humanity."
– Looming war clouds over South Africa, with fears of further terrorist attacks…
Africa was in the midst of war. Not the kind fought with guns and blades like in the past, but a war of superhumans.
This long war would continue until the end of the world descended upon Earth, producing countless casualties.
To be honest, he didn't care much. Who lived or died meant little to him.
But if among those caught up in it there was the "Red Dragon," that changed things slightly.
The point of regression was one year after the dragons had gone out to play their games.
The battle-loving Red Dragon had joined the war there day and night for fun. Then, by sheer bad luck, she was attacked by a world-ranker-class superhuman and was gravely injured.
That was one of the factors that hastened the apocalypse.
So it would be better to move soon and find her before she got carried away and hurt.
He calculated the timeline. There were only a few days left.
I'll need to act soon.
"Uncle."
At that moment, Bom waved from the kitchen. It looked like the food was ready.
On the plate was a dish that resembled fried rice. Judging by its brownish hue, she must have used soy sauce or something similar.
Holding a spoon, he scooped up a bite and put it into his mouth.
"Well?" she asked.
He chewed for a moment, then paused. Without a word, he took another spoonful.
"You're eating well," she said.
A quiet meal followed.
Only after finishing the very last bite did Yu Ji-tae finally set down his spoon. The bowl was spotless. Flowers seemed to bloom on Bom's face.
This dish really was…
"Was it good?"
It wasn't good.
He'd eaten it all the way to the end in hopes there might be some redeeming quality somewhere, but there wasn't.
Still, since Yu Ji-tae didn't answer, Bom seemed to take it as a positive response.
"Wow. Thank you, Uncle. Actually, this is the dish I'm best at."
"…What's it called?"
"Hmm, I haven't named it yet."
That figured.
There was no way a dish this salty and bitter could exist in the world with a proper name.
He stared blankly at the empty bowl, then lifted his head.
"I'll make it for you again next time."
***
And so began the strange cohabitation between the regressor and the dragon.
Bom adapted to the house surprisingly quickly. She cooked, did the dishes. She watched TV, read books, and lived as if it were her own home. One day, she even brought back a small flowerpot from somewhere.
There was no sense of life emanating from the pot at all.
"What's this?" he asked.
"The place is so dull and gloomy. I thought it needed something like this," Bom replied.
As she said, Yu Ji-tae's home was just like him—entirely monochrome. Dull-colored wallpaper and furniture. A strictly organized bookshelf. Floors without a speck of dust. It was the kind of space that would feel artificial to anyone who stayed still in it for too long.
"Want to see?" she said.
Bom placed her hand on the soil in the pot and closed her eyes briefly. When she carefully lifted her hand again, a tiny sprout had emerged.
A sight befitting a dragon of nature.
In any case, the two spent several days together, maintaining each other's distance and personal space.
Yu Ji-tae was originally a man of few words, and Bom was quiet by nature as well, so even when they shared the same space, they didn't talk much.
"I've returned. My lord."
Meanwhile, his clone went back and forth to work, sharing the day's events with Yu Ji-tae.
The clone and Yu Ji-tae shared their memories. Yu Ji-tae closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and nodded.
"Sounds like everyone's having a hard time because of some guy named Jo Ho-sik or whatever."
There were the vivid, everyday emotions felt by ordinary people.
The anxiety of possibly failing to catch a wanted criminal. The joy of finding even a small clue. The exhaustion of the youngest member, and the team leader comforting him.
These still-unfamiliar emotions of daily life were steadily accumulating in Yu Ji-tae's mind.
"Would it be appropriate for me to step in and assist with the investigation?" the clone asked.
"No. Leave it for now. If they still can't find him by the deadline, then help them," Yu Ji-tae replied.
"Understood."
Yu Ji-tae briefly reviewed the clone's memories, then recalled a situation similar to this one.
People living ordinary lives here would say something like this:
"…Good work."
It was something the team leader had said to the youngest member after returning from an undercover operation.
Praising someone.
It was a phrase he hadn't used in a very long time.
"Loyalty to my lord."
Then, as the clone bowed his head, he asked cautiously,
"May I ask you one thing?"
Though the clone was Yu Ji-tae's, it didn't know everything about him.
"What is it?"
"What meaning does such an ordinary life hold?"
"What do you mean?"
"Among those who have wielded me, none desired ordinary life. They all wished to use me in places of greater significance—killing those who must be killed, or sending me to places where influence needed to be displayed."
Here, the "me" referred less to Yu Ji-tae's clone and more to the skill itself: Shadow of the Archduke (SS).
A transcendent skill that possessed a personality of its own.
"And?"
"Yet my lord wishes to experience ordinary life. With my limited capacity, I find it difficult to understand."
At the clone's words, Yu Ji-tae fell silent. He gazed out the window, as if thinking, at some distant point beyond.
"…If that was an impertinent question, I apologize."
"It's fine. You may go."
"Yes."
Even after sending the clone away, Yu Ji-tae continued staring out the window for a long time.
Why must I seek ordinary life?
He recalled the final loop.
That day, thunder raged like madness, and rain poured down in torrents. When he looked at the sky, I saw a massive crack—about 200 kilometers in diameter—had opened along a certain boundary.
The Green Dragon, caked in muddy water, had collapsed onto the bare ground and looked up at Yu Ji-tae.
'Is this the ending you wanted?'
It was a chilling voice.
He didn't answer.
The "sixth loop" had been the most intense among the hundred years he had repeated.
In his quest to grow stronger, Yu Ji-tae had opened a rift and gone to the demon realm, where he fought wars for decades.
And whenever he returned to Earth, he sought out every organization and individual who had posed a threat to dragons in his previous life and slaughtered them all.
An unending chain of battles. All of that suffering had been solely to break this damned cycle of regression.
And yet…
'Is this the future you prepared? Is this what you wanted for this child?'
The Green Dragon glared at Yu Ji-tae through tears, her eyes filled with hatred. She placed her hand on the forehead of a girl resting her head on her lap. The girl's skin was cold.
He'd thought that if he just hid her well enough, it would be fine.
One dragon had taken her own life.
And the memories of the deceased dragon were transmitted across dimensions to her family.
All his efforts were reduced to nothing in an instant.
Faced with that ending, Yu Ji-tae could do nothing.
He stood there, frozen like a statue.
'You don't know why this child took her own life, do you?'
'...'
'Of course you don't. You never will. Because you've never once thought of us as living beings.'
'...'
'So now I'll tell you. I'll tell you what "play" truly means to us.'
Words he had never once heard throughout all his repeated lives began to pour from the Green Dragon's mouth.
'We dragons live for thousands of years. And we do not forget. Over the long span of time, we experience everything an existence can, but by the time we reach adulthood after a thousand years, there is nothing new left. We lose stimulation and gradually lose our emotions.'
'Even so, we go on living. Unable to feel anything. Living thousands of years without emotion. Because we are arbiters of causality—that is our life. A terribly boring life, wouldn't you say? But did you know? Even for us, there is exactly one thing that brings joy.'
'It's the experiences we had while playing. When we were still children. When everything in the world was unfamiliar and new—or frightening. When learning one small thing was fun. When we could empathize with someone's sadness. When we could grow angry at injustice. When we could feel genuine happiness at the success of our efforts. Those memories. Unlike humans, we can never forget them. Because we have no oblivion.'
'Adult dragons relive the memories and emotions of their childhood exactly as they were. Constantly. And they cherish them forever, until the moment they die. That is what play means to us—especially the very first play, like this one.'
'And you destroyed all of that.'
The Green Dragon cried endlessly, yet never looked away from the regressor.
Yu Ji-tae exhaled a cold breath. Countless emotions began to swirl out of control within him.
For the first time in a very long while, he wanted to make excuses.
But he couldn't.
So he didn't.
'I will never forget today. Ever.'
After speaking, the Green Dragon buried her head against the chest of her fallen kin and began to weep.
Though he was a regressor who had repeated life countless times, in that moment, something deep within his chest stirred for the first time in a long while. It became a single drop of poison, spreading through his veins. Overwhelmed by emotions that felt like they might crush him if he stayed there, the regressor turned and walked away aimlessly.
He didn't stop for a long time.
"Uncle."
That was when a voice pulled him from his thoughts.
It was Bom.
"Are you sleeping?"
Yu Ji-tae slowly opened his eyes.
Standing there was the very Green Dragon who had just moments ago been hurling curses at him in his memories—now smiling brightly at him.
"Sorry if I woke you," she said.
"I wasn't sleeping. What is it?"
"This. It looked fun so I bought it, but I don't really know how to solve it. Can you help me?"
She held out a cube, its colors scrambled at random.
"Where did you get something like this?"
"There's a place called Rare, so I went there. Oh, right—Uncle, you work around there too, don't you?"
"That's right."
"I was hanging out there and bought it. They said it was a souvenir."
As she said, the cube had Rare's logo printed at its center.
I don't know how to solve this either.
Yu Ji-tae was about to say that, but stopped.
In the memories the clone had brought back, there was something a senior had said to a junior who'd been given an impossibly difficult task.
Half doubtful, Yu Ji-tae decided to try repeating those words.
"…Let's think about it together."
"Really?"
"Why?"
"I wasn't expecting that answer."
And so Yu Ji-tae spent a long time with Bom, thinking together as they worked on the cube.
Finally, after several hours—
Click!
The cube was solved.
"Done."
Bom looked back and forth between the cube and Yu Ji-tae, her eyes wide and round.
In the hundred years he had known the Green Dragon, Yu Ji-tae had never once seen that expression.
"You that happy?" he asked.
Bom's eyes curved like a bow.
"I am."