Chapter 5
As I stepped outside, I was greeted not by the damp stench of mold, but by the refreshing moisture of the early morning dew.
Sss- haa-
The cool, crisp air, slightly tinged with moisture, felt great.
The morning air always had a way of lifting my spirits. If I couldn’t appreciate these small pleasures, I probably would have ended up as a corpse long ago.
Before heading to work, I turned around and glanced at the building I had just left.
“It wouldn’t be surprising if this thing collapsed any day now.”
The five-story villa was riddled with cracks, making it a ticking time bomb.
It was a nasty building that rented out to people living above ground, in semi-basements, and in full basements.
If the building collapsed, those in the semi-basement might survive by luck, but those in the basement would be buried alive.
'This place should never have been approved in the first place.'
If you ask why a building like this still stands without being demolished, the answer is simple:
The world’s gone crazy with the appearance of dimensional portals, so things like this have become minor issues.
On top of that, the area I live in has been stuck in a state of undeveloped limbo for the past 20 years.
'It was initially designated as a development zone, but those plans were scrapped when the dimensional portals appeared.'
As a result, property values plummeted, investors went bankrupt, and poor people flooded in, turning the area into a slum.
Officially, this place is called “Seoul-09,” but telling people you live in Seoul-09 earns you judgmental stares, so when asked, I often pretend I live in another zone.
I even used to say I was from Seoul-01, which used to be called Gangnam.
“Ugh, I need to get out of this hellhole.”
There are too many dangers around here.
I can’t keep living in a place like this, especially now that I’ve made some ridiculous promises and have people—well, dragons—to look after.
I tore my eyes away from the crumbling building and headed to work.
I was still worried about the little guys probably watching TV back in the apartment, but first things first—I had to earn some money to buy them food.
“Well then, let’s get to work.”
The day of a daily laborer begins.
***
In the empty studio apartment, devoid of humans, the only sound came from the TV, broadcasting the outside world.
“The frequency of dimensional portal appearances has increased recently, raising concerns about public safety.”
“The government shows no intention of addressing the issue of hero monopolies by corporations. Can we really let this slide?”
“One-third of South Korea’s territory has been lost to monsters. Citizens eager to return to their homelands are protesting at Gwanghwamun Plaza in Seoul.”
“…”
At first, the blue dragon had been interested in the outside world.
But the more it listened, the less curious it became. The news seemed repetitive and dull.
“Hisss-“
Bored.
The blue dragon turned its gaze away from the TV, drawn to something else on the floor.
“…”
It was a book with a man confidently holding a sword on the cover.
The title read, You Can Do It Too, a common self-help book.
The blue dragon frowned slightly and flipped through the pages with its short front claws.
“Hisss-“
So this is how human writing works.
The blue dragon studied the letters, getting a feel for the writing system. It eagerly flipped through the pages, occasionally wetting its claws to turn them more easily when they got stuck.
“Hisss-“
As it deciphered the human language, it found the process amusing.
Eventually, the dragon grasped the structure of the language and lost interest in the book’s content. It wasn’t particularly exciting, but it passed the time.
However…
“…”
Now what?
There wasn’t much in the studio to occupy its curiosity, and the TV droned on with the same tedious reports.
The little blue dragon pondered how to kill time as it looked around.
Behind it, the red and green dragons were sprawled out, fast asleep.
Though it could have woken them to chat, the blue dragon didn’t bother.
It preferred to sit quietly in front of the TV, watching the screen without much enthusiasm.
“Hisss-“
Better to watch TV alone than to try talking to the others.
But before long, the sleeping dragons began to stir.
The red dragon was the first to wake, slowly rising from the blanket.
“Hisss…”
The red dragon glanced around the room.
Its first instinct was to check for Ihajun, its primary source of concern, but he wasn’t there.
“Hisss-?”
Confused, the red dragon tilted its head and looked at the green dragon still lying next to it.
Maybe it knows where that annoying human went.
The red dragon pressed its small front paw into the green dragon’s belly.
Squish, squish.
“Hissss…”
“Hisss! Hisss!”
“Hissss…”
The green dragon grumbled, rolling over to avoid the red dragon’s relentless prodding.
But eventually, it gave in and groggily sat up.
“…Hisss?”
With a look that seemed to ask, Why did you wake me?, the red dragon flailed its arms, signaling the question: Where’s Ihajun?
The green dragon shrugged.
“Hisss?”
It didn’t know.
Frustrated, the red dragon turned to the blue dragon, who was still focused on the TV, and asked the same question.
This time, the blue dragon replied not with a hiss, but in the language of dragons.
-He went out. Said he was going to work.
The red dragon was startled by the voice that echoed in its mind.
“Hisss?!”
-Why are you so surprised? You inherited knowledge, didn’t you? It should be in your memory.
“Hisss?”
The red dragon rummaged through its mind, slowly recalling the knowledge of the dragon language.
Unlike the blue dragon, it took a bit longer.
-Oh, found it! I’d forgotten!
That aside, the red dragon, now remembering the pre-hatching knowledge, asked again.
Unknown to Ihajun, the dragons had been listening to everything that happened after he left the nest.
-That bad human who tried to break his promise left? Why?
-He said he was going to work.
-What’s work?
-I don’t know. But it seems to be some kind of role.
-What’s a role?
-…This is why the knowledge says Red Dragons are dim-witted.
“Hisss-“
In the human world, it was called a blue dragon.
In the dragon world, it was known as a Blue Dragon, and it sighed deeply.
At first, the red dragon pouted and grumbled, speaking with a sulky tone.
-I don’t like that bad human. He’s not our dad, and he tried to break his promise.
The blue dragon nodded slightly, agreeing halfway.
-Yeah, he’s not our dad. As for the promise, I think it’s understandable.
Then, the green dragon, or rather, the green dragon, gently chimed in, also agreeing halfway.
-That’s right! Promises can be broken sometimes. I don’t know what money is, but Dad was in pain because he didn’t have it. I think that’s why he thought about it. And he is our dad! You can’t just say he’s not!
-Hmph, I’ll never accept it. How could that bad human be my dad?
Naturally, the red dragon protested, angry.
Though they were family, they couldn’t come to a consensus.
-I was born first, so I’m right.
-You were only born a bit earlier. I’m the one who’s right.
-Dad could’ve just been having a hard time. You’re all too harsh.
The debate quickly devolved into a childish squabble, with them biting each other’s tails and pulling at one another.
At that point, they all recalled a piece of knowledge inherited through their dragon instincts:
“It is extremely rare for dragons to persuade other dragons; it only happens once or twice in a long dragon's life.”
They finally understood what that meant.
Realizing it was pointless to argue about this topic, they exchanged glances and silently agreed to drop it.
The red dragon, trying to change the subject, spoke up.
-I’m hungry. Let’s eat something.
The blue dragon stretched out its stubby arm and pointed to the table.
-The man said he left something called chocolate bars on the table. They should be there.
-Really?
The red dragon hopped up onto the table and grinned.
-Haha! Eat up, you fools!
With a flick of its head, the red dragon knocked the chocolate bars off the table, sending them tumbling to the floor.
Clatter.
The green dragon rushed over, grabbed one in its mouth, and started chewing.
-Is this how you eat it?
Crunch.
-Hmm?
Spit!
-Everyone, be careful! You can’t eat the weird stuff on the outside!
New knowledge acquired.
The dragons learned that they couldn’t eat the packaging.
They held the chocolate bars steady with their front paws and munched on the sweet chocolate while staring at the humans on the TV screen.
“Hisss-”
“Hisss-”
“Hissss-”
They all thought it would be incredibly inconvenient to live in the human world with their dragon bodies.
***
As a day laborer, my job is pretty simple.
You don’t need any education, just a functioning body.
“Move those things quickly! We’ve got a backlog!”
“Got it, got it.”
It’s basically just loading and unloading the loot that comes out of dimensional portals.
Nothing fancy. But unlike regular loading jobs, this one has a bit of a perk.
“They need help in the portal. Anyone want to go?”
“Me. I’ll go.”
Every now and then, you get the chance to enter a dimensional portal as a civilian.
It seems like a terrible idea to enter a portal and go through hell, but for me, there’s a big advantage:
I get to watch heroes fight monsters up close.
“There it is.”
I watched from a distance as a hero effortlessly decapitated a werewolf.
The hero leaped high into the air and slashed the werewolf’s neck in one clean stroke, killing the creature that had once sent me running for my life.
It didn’t feel great.
“Damn it.”
Still, it’s not bad to observe how heroes fight.
The experience could come in handy someday—maybe I’ll become a hero myself.
Then, I wouldn’t have to run away from monsters. I’d make money and have power.
“…Tch, I’m probably dreaming too big. Back to work.”
I clicked my tongue and threw the loot outside.
I kept at the heavy labor, all while thinking about what names I should give the dragons.
Time passed, sweat poured down my body, my muscles ached, and just as my body started to beg for a break, I heard the announcement:
“The portal is closing! Thank you for your hard work today!”
Thank goodness.
Any longer, and I would’ve collapsed.
“Now that I’ve got my pay, let’s buy some meat.”
On the way back, I stopped by a butcher shop in the Seoul-03 district.
I couldn’t buy from the one near my home because they sold weird synthetic meat mixed with who knows what.
“One kilogram of pork shoulder, please.”
Samgyeopsal was too expensive. Maybe I’ll buy it for them after I make more money. With the pork in hand, I quickly headed home. It was 6 p.m. by now, and I was sure the little ones were getting hungry.
“Why am I worrying about whether they’re hungry? I’m not even their dad.”
Truth be told, I was hungry, and that’s why I was rushing home. It definitely wasn’t because I was worried about them. Thinking those thoughts, I unlocked the gate and stepped inside.
Screech.
“Hey, you guys didn’t get into any trouble, right?”
The dragons were all sitting in front of the TV, watching it intently. Only the green dragon turned its head to greet me.
“Knew you were my daughter.”
As I patted her head, I looked around and saw that nothing much had changed.
“Smart little dragons. No trouble, huh? Good.”
They had even eaten the chocolate bars. There were a few wrappers lying around, but other than that, they seemed to have behaved. I held up the bag of meat.
“Alright, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
Usually, after coming home from work, I’d just lie down and stare at the ceiling. Now, here I was doing all this.
‘Time to grill some meat.’
I couldn’t help but smile. It was a strange but pleasant feeling.