Chapter 584

The girl Aurora from the Nine Dragon Village rushed to the playground after receiving a message from NaeMe.

On top of the geodesic dome, NaeMe could be seen, drawing the attention of the children all around her.

She sat gracefully on the slender structure without fear of falling.

NaeMe was in the center of the playground, manipulating a hologram with a face that seemed indifferent to the world.

Every now and then, she startled the little ones sliding down the slide while hanging upside down from the monkey bars.

“Boo.”

“Gyaaaah! Wheee!”

“Don’t cry, just have some candy.”

“Uh?”

To the child who was teary-eyed, she stuffed a piece of candy in their mouth and calmly ascended back to the dome.

Once a child had fallen for one of her pranks, the other kids watched from the corner, laughing at the same fate befalling the next one.

For some reason, she seemed much more playful than before.

“NaeMe unnie!”

Thinking this, Aurora called out NaeMe’s name loudly.

Did she know her voice without even having to turn her head?

NaeMe turned in mid-air, doing a half-twist before landing lightly on the ground.

“You came quickly.”

“Yeah! I ran over wearing my slippers!”

“I called you because I wanted to see you. Do you want to come up here? It’s a place only the king of the playground can occupy.”

From below, it didn’t seem that high, so Lara nodded her head right away.

The girls each took a spot beside one another, sitting side by side.

“Uh, it’s a bit scary…!”

“Have you looked around the playground? Isn’t it pretty?”

“Ah, yes! It’s really big and beautiful!”

“Are you doing well in school?”

“I won a gold medal in the UN English speaking contest last time. I have the certificate in my bag, wow!”

“Be careful not to fall.”

“Hehe, isn’t it cool?”

Aurora felt a sense of satisfaction only when she was able to show her actual certificate.

“Cool. Great job.”

NaeMe’s gentle touch caressed Lara’s head.

She brushed back the hair and attentively examined her forehead, arms, and legs as she asked.

“It seems like you don’t have atopic dermatitis anymore. Is there anywhere your skin itches?”

“Ugh, your hand is ticklish! Ever since we moved, I’ve been okay.”

“How’s your mom? Has she come home?”

“Hm?”

Though she smiled weakly and pretended not to know, the clever Lara already knew the truth.

After the divorce, her mother had taken custody.

Her mother used Lara and her grandmother as sacrifices for the Nine Dragon Village.

Following NaeMe’s advice, Lara moved to a nearby villa with the government’s small support funds.

Her furious mother had crossed the point of no return, starting a new family while abandoning Lara.

The two gradually began to forget each other.

To forget the wounds that gnawed at her heart,

“I want to be NaeMe unnie’s secretary when I grow up.”

Lara boldly declared her ambition.

NaeMe had always been an object of admiration.

From the moment she was rescued from the playground, she had exuded a presence as grand as a mountain.

“Well then, you need to study hard.”

However, NaeMe wouldn’t easily give up her spot beside her.

With her own abilities, she could only secure a spot next to the local playground.

How many competitors would she have to surpass?

‘Should I become president? But NaeMe unnie is greater than a president. Then what should I do…’

With the limited knowledge of a third grader, there were constraints.

The world felt way too vast for Lara to comprehend, yet it seemed too small for NaeMe.

“Yes, I’ll study really hard!”

Still, knowing she had surpassed NaeMe in height and physique, Lara responded cheerfully.

“But what were you doing here?”

“I’m remembering.”

“Remembering? Were you memorizing something? Studying?”

“It’s something similar. You don’t have to know.”

“Chit, I want to know too…!”

Aurora puffed up her cheeks like a hamster.

Even when she reached NaeMe’s level, it seemed there was no end to learning.

Feeling this way, Lara resolved to become even more passionate about her studies.

* * *

WareSoft instructed to adapt the Hibirisu episode into the World of Woroa universe.

The staff visited the legendary Japanese scenario writer who led the revival of Woroa in the past, bringing cash bribes and bowing deeply.

“Are they trying to buy me with money?” said the writer, questioning the absurdity.

But they countered with, “It’s not yen, it’s dollars.”

Thus concluded a splendid syllogism stating, “It was far too much money to dismiss him.”

[Looking back, I kind of like this original universe. Not only is mana severely saturated, but a world where dark magic exists as sorcery… Even if it’s for the sake of eradicating Tolkien’s traces, I guess I’ll touch it up once.]

The grandfather author hated elves.

So much so that even in Woroa, people with long ears were portrayed as tortured experimental subjects, not real elves.

In any case, I decided to leave all the detailed storylines to him.

From now on, my role would be to record and pass on the overarching universe and macro events.

Though I had memorized ‘The Chronicles of Kaizen (1668 pages)’ and ‘The History of Kaizen Emperors – Iro-Gen (1034 pages),’ it wasn’t enough.

To know what kind of lives the seven erosions lived, I needed their memories.

‘Ah, excluding Shardenfroide.’

Because I am Shardenfroide, and Shardenfroide is me.

Without Hibirisu, none of them were easy to deal with…

For now, I guess I’ll try to sweet-talk the gentle Erisiton.

It hadn’t been the case from the beginning, but she loved kids just like me.

After chatting with Aurora for a while, the Maru passing through Erisiton’s Aura Heart stabilized considerably.

I barely managed to maintain Erisiton’s identity and extracted her memories as much as possible.

When her identity grew too strong, I hung upside down on a truss to increase blood flow to the brain.

The erosions proved to be more strange than I expected.

After finishing the recorded volume planned for today, I exited the dome.

Aurora was on the swings with a friend she didn’t know.

The only thing I had overlooked was that outside the playground was a space filled with teenagers and adults.

“Wahhhh! Noname!”

“Kyaaa! NaMe is so cute!”

“I love NaMe!”

It was best to escape as quickly as possible before the playground area became too crowded.

Yet, today wasn’t the day for that.

Was it my heart or Erisiton’s heart?

It didn’t matter to distinguish.

“Ah… I love you too!”

“Gyaaaaaaaah!”

I was already drawing a heart with my hands, and I felt like I wouldn’t regret this moment at all.

* * *

All safety protocols were written in fatigue.

If the scale was similar to the ‘Algerian Airlines Flight 8318 Bombing Incident,’ where 190 people died, vast volumes of safety regulations would be newly established, and blueprints would be entirely redrawn.

Thus, I rented a personal jet wrapped in mana barriers from NetJet and set off on a business trip to Europe.

“Saetbyeol, fetch me some water.”

“Kyaah! I can definitely get water!”

Saetbyeol, clearly expressing her dislike, trudged to open the refrigerator door.

Kids really are kind.

“Bring it if you want, or don’t!”

Whoosh—

A 500mL water bottle came flying at an incredible velocity.

Wham—

But isn’t that exactly what Aura is there for?

With one hand, I accurately caught it and twisted off the cap.

“Thanks. The water that our Saetbyeol brings is the best!”

“You have no hands and no feet. Why are you so eager to make me work? I can reach the fridge just by stretching my feet.”

“Just because you’re cute.”

“Hmph! Ask me one more time, and I’ll give you my special tickle course—”

“Saetbyeol, give me orange juice.”

“Kyaaa!”

With her claws raised, Saetbyeol pounced like a tiger.

As soon as her ten fingers touched my side, I felt a jolt, like electricity flowing through me.

What is this feeling…!

“Aah! Sorry! I’m sorry! Ahhh! Armpit, hehee! It tickles!”

“What’s wrong, unnie? Why are you so ticklish? You weren’t like this before. Heehee, this is great, tickle tickle!”

“Aah! No! Stop! No, please! Hah!”

“Kyaah! Biting is cheating! That’s unfair!”

Am I too sensitive from controlling the erosions?

Even now, my spine and neck were tingling.

Saetbyeol looked at the clear bite mark on her arm with a sulky face.

“What the heck is this? It’ll bruise my precious skin!”

“A little saliva will help. Want me to apply some?”

“No! I’ll bite you back!”

“That’s not fair. Hah!”

I swiftly dodged Saetbyeol’s grasp.

While Professor Cheon was seated, a game of parkour tag unfolded over the sofa.

Dad paused while drinking tea.

“Girls, let’s do this in moderation. You shouldn’t be jumping around in the airplane.”

“Saetbyeol keeps tickling me.”

“Then I’ll just take a quick nibble, and we’ll be done! Just one little nip!”

She says this while showing off her sharp canines.

If I get pierced by those, it’ll really damage the veins.

“Saetbyeol!!! Noname!!!”

“Yikes!”

“Yes?”

“Both of you sit down. Listen to Dad.”

At Dad’s loud voice, we couldn’t help but hang our heads in defeat.

Saetbyeol blinked her eyes and gave me a warning look.

“It’s your fault that Dad got mad. You better do something!”

Dad seemed to be holding back his anger without saying much.

I had been overlooking too much.

Professor Cheon was someone who likely had severe aviation trauma.

It was all the more difficult to bring up the topic since it related to his late fiancé.

I clenched my fist with the hand resting on my thigh.

My eyes began to well with tears unexpectedly.

“Uh?”

“Wow, NaMe unnie is crying…”

My heart raced, and my breathing quickened.

Was I scared? Me?

No, this was definitely not me.

“NaMe…?”

Right now, Professor Cheon was showing me a remorseful expression.

“No, no! It’s just that, it’s not me but Erisiton… No, how do I explain this…!”

“NaMe unnie, please don’t cry…”

“I’m sorry for yelling, NaMe. Did I scare you? I’m sorry; I was worried something might happen to you.”

“No, I understand, I understand. I wasn’t scared at all. I’m really sorry I couldn’t understand Dad’s feelings, and we acted foolishly—”

Even in this moment, my tear ducts seemed to be malfunctioning, continuously releasing droplets.

I felt humiliated, and my face turned red.

Dad’s misunderstanding deepened.

“Sigh… life.”

I gave up on clarifying and turned my head to the side.

Outside the round window lay vast freedom.

Ah, I want to jump out right now.

It was the sky.