CHAPTER 38

OPPA, I MISS YOU

✦ ✦ ✦

Was Minjun’s Dragon Tongue still incomplete?

Or was the virtual world Minos had constructed simply that strict about its execution?

Even though Minjun could clearly feel that something had changed, no notification announcing the completion of the trial had appeared yet.

Still, the endless sky had begun cracking, and the soldiers and wyverns were twisting grotesquely as though their forms could no longer hold together.

Unlike every previous attempt, this one had clearly brought him much closer to mastering Dragon Tongue.

‘It worked…!’

A clear notification had not appeared yet, but if he kept going like this, he would soon be able to manifest true Dragon Tongue.

Minjun screamed the command again and again.

[Shatter to pieces without leaving a trace!!!]

As the Dragon Tongue echoed through the realm, the sword Minos had embedded in the ground and Minjun’s own blade shattered at the exact same moment.

CRASH!

A deafening rupture exploded across the fractured sky.

The soldiers and wyverns, already unable to maintain their forms, dissolved back into dark crimson smoke and scattered in every direction. As if trying to cover the expanding cracks, the sky rapidly turned pitch black.

Still holding the broken Dragon Bone Sword, Minjun stared blankly upward.

He had undoubtedly been blessed with extraordinary luck in several ways, but even so, he had never imagined he would succeed in manifesting Dragon Tongue this quickly.

“More importantly, this thing broke.”

Minjun lowered his gaze from the split sky to the broken Dragon Bone Sword in his hands.

This was the weapon Sia had given him as a gift—the very sword that had started everything in this place. It had seemed sturdy enough to withstand almost any impact, yet now it was snapped cleanly in two.

‘I wonder if it can be repaired.’

What if Sia felt hurt when she discovered that her gift had broken in half?

With the tension finally leaving his body, all kinds of random thoughts began creeping into his mind.

Then, at last, a notification announcing his successful completion of the trial appeared before him. At the same time, an exit leading back to Earth formed within the darkness.

“Ugh…”

The Gate had been cleared, but the pain that had built up inside his body had not vanished. On top of that, he had exhausted far too much power.

His breathing grew ragged, and his consciousness felt increasingly hazy.

Dragging his exhausted body forward, Minjun trudged toward the exit with the broken sword clutched tightly in one hand.

‘I wonder what Minos thought when he saw me succeed with Dragon Tongue.’

Now that he thought about it, Minos could have at least congratulated him or politely pretended to be surprised.

As soon as Minjun stepped through the portal, the familiar scenery from before entering the Gate appeared around him. Only then did the reality of having cleared the raid truly sink in.

‘What about everyone else?’

If the Gate was cleared, the other hunters trapped inside should have been able to leave as well, but none of them were visible yet.

Just as Minjun began to worry that something had gone wrong, the Gate opened again, and the raid members emerged one after another.

“Minjun!”

The moment Taeseong spotted him, he called out in relief and rushed over. The other hunters quickly followed.

“Are you okay?”

“Were you hurt anywhere?”

“Thank God! What in the world happened?”

They had clearly been terrified that something terrible had happened to him after the floor gave way beneath him. The hunters gathered around him in small groups, checking on his condition and asking what had happened below.

Minjun, however, was in no state to answer their questions. He looked completely unharmed on the outside, but the accumulated pain made simply standing upright a battle.

Seeing how pale he was, Taeseong supported his weight and asked worriedly, “Are you feeling sick? Should we head straight to a hospital?”

A hospital was far away, and no ordinary doctor would understand the side effects of manifesting Dragon Tongue. Going to Rokan’s lair would be much safer. Rokan understood Minjun’s body and the dragon power within him far better than any human physician could.

Even speaking took tremendous effort, but Minjun forced out a quiet response.

“…I’m sorry. I need to leave first.”

With that, he activated his teleportation ring and transported directly to Rokan’s lair.

‘Ah…’

He wanted to call out for Rokan and ask for help, but the ancient dragon was nowhere in sight.

Minjun had finally reached his absolute limit. His vision faded, and he collapsed where he stood.

✦ ✦ ✦

On the morning Minjun left to raid the dungeon known as the Garden of Dragon Swords, Sia teleported to Yangpyeong—where Minjun’s parents lived—right after finishing her phone call with him.

She had originally planned to visit her future in-laws together with Minjun.

‘But Oppa might collapse if we spend too much time together right now.’

Because of that, Sia had decided to visit Minjun’s parents on her own for now.

Normally, visiting one’s future in-laws alone without one’s boyfriend would be unusual. But Sia did not feel uncomfortable at all.

When she was young, she had lost her entire family in an accident. Afterwards, Minjun’s parents had taken her in, treating her like their own daughter and giving her endless warmth.

There was also another reason why today’s visit carried special meaning for her—a secret objective she had not told anyone about.

“Mother! Father! I’m here!” Sia called out in a bright, cheerful voice the moment she arrived.

Upon hearing her, both of Minjun’s parents hurried out to welcome her.

“Oh my, Sia! How long has it been? Have you been doing well?”

They greeted her as naturally as if no time had passed at all. Minjun had already explained to them that Sia—whom everyone had believed to be dead for a year—had miraculously returned alive.

Of course, they still did not know the full truth: that she had reincarnated as a dragon in another world and eventually fought her way back to Earth. Perhaps Minjun would explain everything if the day came when he fully became a dragon himself.

For now, Minjun’s parents had countless questions for Sia. Like almost everyone else, they were deeply curious about what had happened during her missing year.

However, before Sia’s arrival, the two of them had agreed not to bring up the accident at all. Almost every returnee who had ever been trapped inside a Gate spoke of horrific trauma. Neither parent wanted to carelessly trigger painful memories for her.

“Yes! Mother, Father, have you both been doing well too?”

“Of course we have.”

This reunion was especially meaningful for Sia because, from her perspective, it was her first time seeing them since reincarnating.

After greeting them, she handed over the gifts she had prepared.

“I bought these because they reminded me of you.”

“Oh my, you really didn’t need to bring anything. Sia, have you eaten breakfast yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“The food is almost ready, so sit tight for just a moment.”

“I was actually really hungry! Thank you!”

A short while later, the dining table was loaded with so much food it looked as though the legs might buckle under the weight. Sia could not hide her surprise.

“Wow, Mother! You made so much food!”

“I prepared a little bit of everything since our Sia was coming over. If it’s not enough, just let me know.”

The meal began in a warm, loving atmosphere. As the three of them ate, they talked affectionately about everything they had missed during the past year.

Since there was so much food and so much to catch up on, the meal lasted a long time.

As breakfast finally began to wind down, Sia brought up her true reason for coming.

“Mother, Father, do you still have the old family photo albums?”

“You mean the ones with the film photographs?”

“Yes!”

Sia pulled out a photo scanner she had bought the day before.

“This is a photo scanner. It converts physical film photos into digital files. If we scan them all, you’ll be able to look through them conveniently on your phone or computer whenever you want.”

“Oh my, they make things like this now? How fascinating!”

Both parents looked at the unfamiliar device with great interest.

“I can scan them all for you today. Is that okay?”

“Of course! Since we’re pulling them out anyway, we might as well look through them for the first time in ages.”

Minjun’s father brought out several thick photo albums from deep inside a wardrobe and sat down. Sia immediately hurried over and settled right next to him.

“Sia, Minjun never showed you these albums before, did he?”

“No! I’ve always wanted to see them at least once. This worked out perfectly!”

Offering to scan the photographs had merely been a clever excuse. Her real goal was to look through Minjun’s childhood pictures—and secretly save digital copies for herself.

That was why Sia had brought two USB drives today. One was to give to Minjun’s parents, and the other was to secretly build her own private collection of Minjun’s childhood memories.

“I wonder if Minjun will complain later when he finds out we showed you all his old pictures without asking,” his father chuckled.

“Father, if you and Mother keep it a secret, I won’t say a word either!” Sia replied with an adorable smile, placing her index finger against her lips.

“Haha, of course!”

Minjun’s mother opened the first thick album, and Sia leaned in close to look.

“This one was taken before Minjun was even a week old.”

The very first photograph showed newborn Minjun crying with his face scrunched up, completely unclothed.

“…I suppose he’d be embarrassed if he were sitting here with us right now,” his mother laughed.

“Hehe. That’s why I came alone today! I had a feeling he’d try to stop me if he were here.”

“So did you bring that scanner device just so you could see Minjun’s baby pictures?” Minjun’s father asked, pointing at the machine.

Sia grinned playfully and nodded. “Yup! You caught me!”

“Oh, goodness!”

Minjun’s parents assumed she was just making a playful joke and laughed it off. They had no idea that she was being 100% serious.

“Still, Oppa was so cute even as a newborn, wasn’t he?”

Her comment made both parents look a bit awkward.

“W-Well… Minjun is handsome now, but to be completely honest, he wasn’t very cute as a baby.”

“Now that you mention it, we were actually worried when he was first born,” his mother added. “He looked like a little ugly potato! We worried about how he’d turn out when he grew up.”

Fortunately, as time went on, his facial features sharpened and his appearance improved dramatically.

“You know how people say babies who aren’t very cute at birth often grow up to be especially handsome? That was definitely the case for Minjun.”

“He still looks cute to me,” Sia murmured softly. “Cute enough that I want to bite him.”

They continued turning the pages, temporarily forgetting all about scanning the photos. Minjun’s mother got lost in memory, explaining when and where each picture had been taken.

Sia was thrilled to discover a side of Minjun’s childhood she had never known. Even better, she was secretly securing digital copies of every single picture on her personal USB drive. To her, these photos were priceless treasures.

As they turned the pages, the photos moved from Minjun’s infancy into his early childhood.

There was a picture of Minjun awkwardly making a V-sign while wearing a bright yellow kindergarten hat and matching uniform. There was another of him smiling brightly during a family trip.

And then, there was a photograph from his days as a child model—taken alongside Go Yuna, who had worked with him back then.

The instant Sia saw that photo, the bright smile on her face stiffened slightly.

Unaware of the change in Sia’s expression, Minjun’s mother excitedly explained, “Minjun worked as a child model when he was little. Isn’t he adorable? The girl next to him is Yuna. She used to model with him back then.”

Sia already knew exactly who Go Yuna was. She had even met her in person recently.

Despite already knowing her, Sia forced herself to act naturally, as if seeing her for the first time.

As they flipped through the album, photos of Minjun and Yuna appeared repeatedly. The problem was that in almost nine out of ten photos, Yuna was hugging Minjun, pretending to kiss his cheek, or clinging to him affectionately.

Someone else might have dismissed it as harmless childhood behavior, but Sia could not look at those pictures fondly.

“Oppa and this girl must have been really close,” Sia said, keeping her voice light.

“They were! When they were little, Yuna followed Minjun around everywhere like she was glued to him.”

“Our Oppa must have been popular even as a child.”

Sia forced down the dark emotion rising in her chest and kept her face calm.

“Oh, absolutely! And I’m not just saying this because he’s my son. Even when he was little, girls were always following him around.”

Sia had already suspected it, but hearing it directly from his parents confirmed her fears.

‘So that woman really did like Oppa ever since they were children.’

No wonder Sia had felt such an unpleasant vibe from her during their first meeting. Go Yuna’s feelings for Minjun had clearly carried over into the present day.

Sia did not know when or how Yuna would make her move, but her instincts warned her that the woman would try to flirt with Minjun sooner or later.

If that was the case, Sia could not simply sit back and do nothing. She needed to start preparing countermeasures immediately.

After spending a long time looking through the albums, Sia finally scanned the photographs one by one, saving the files onto both USB drives.

She subtly slipped her private USB drive into her spatial storage and handed the other one to Minjun’s mother.

“Here you go! You can view these on a laptop or save them directly to your phone. If you ever need help with them, just ask me anytime!”

“Thank you so much, my dear daughter-in-law.”

“Hehe!”

Sia and Minjun were not married yet, but his parents already treated it as a settled fact. Hearing them call her their daughter-in-law brought a genuine smile back to Sia’s face.

Even after finishing the scanning, Sia stayed a bit longer, chatting with Minjun’s parents and helping around the house as naturally as if it were her own home.

However, as time passed, the hour when Minjun was supposed to finish his Gate raid drew near.

According to Minjun, the clear condition for his dungeon today was simply to survive inside for three hours. That meant the completion time was fixed from the start.

The promised time had arrived. Minjun had promised to call her as soon as he cleared the Gate, so his call should be coming any minute now.

“Mother, Father, I should start heading out now!”

“All right, dear. Come visit us again soon! And if you ever need side dishes, just let us know.”

“Yes, Mother! I’ll head off now. Next time, I’ll come back with Oppa!”

Still cheerful, Sia left the house and teleported straight back to her lair.

The moment she arrived, she did not even bother changing her clothes. She sat on her bed, clutching her phone tightly, eagerly awaiting Minjun’s call.

However, thirty minutes passed beyond the expected time, and her phone remained silent.

‘…Why isn’t he calling?’

Normally, she would have assumed the raid was simply taking longer than expected. Gates were full of variables, so clear times could easily change.

But today, Minjun had entered a dungeon with a fixed condition: survive for three hours.

“Nothing bad happened to him… right?”

‘No. That’s impossible.’

Maybe his phone battery had died and he was charging it. Or perhaps he had lost or damaged his phone during a fight. Sia tried to calm herself by coming up with logical explanations.

Even so, an uneasy feeling nagged at her chest.

‘…He should have contacted me by now, no matter what.’

Even if all those things had happened, Minjun still possessed the teleportation ring Rokan had given him. He could have easily teleported to Rokan’s lair and contacted her from there.

The fact that she had heard nothing meant something had definitely gone wrong.

Sia desperately tried to deny the thought, but only one terrifying possibility remained.

“No… It can’t be…”

With a pale, dazed expression, she immediately cast mana-tracking magic to locate the Gate Minjun had entered.

The instant she pinpointed the coordinates, she teleported directly to the site—only to find the Gate still fully active.

“…!”

With trembling hands, Sia reached out toward the Gate to check its information stream.

[Rank: EX]

[Clear Condition: Reach the lowest floor of Minos’s Tomb and manifest Dragon Tongue (0/1)]

“I-It was supposed to be a D-rank Gate…”

A Gate changing ranks mid-raid was rare, but a jump straight to EX-rank was virtually unheard of.

Worse yet, why was the clear condition to manifest Dragon Tongue?

That meant Minjun could not escape until he successfully mastered Dragon Tongue.

The instant Sia realized what that meant, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Ah… Aaaah…”

Faced with a reality she desperately wanted to deny, she covered her face with both hands and burst into tears.

Even with Minjun’s extraordinary talent—talent that had earned her grandfather’s highest praise—there was no way he could manifest complete Dragon Tongue so quickly.

And that meant one terrifying truth: even if Minjun eventually managed to perform a miracle and clear the Gate, it might take years before he could ever come back out.

Unable to stand, Sia sobbed hysterically as she contacted Rokan.

The moment he received her panicked message, Rokan teleported straight to her location.

“Shasha! What happened?”

“Grandpa… hic… Oppa… he’s… hic…”

Sia explained the situation through her tears, clinging desperately to the hope that her grandfather, an ancient dragon, would have a way to save him.

But even Rokan slowly shook his head, a heavy, somber expression on his face.

“…I’m sorry, Shasha.”

No matter how ancient or powerful Rokan was, and no matter how skilled Sia was with spatial magic, some laws could not be broken. Even dragons did not fully understand the true nature of Gates.

When that final thread of hope snapped, the overwhelming shock proved too much for Sia.

Her vision went dark, and she collapsed unconscious into the dirt.