Just then, on the TV screen, the doctor monster spread both arms and came lumbering toward Lea’s character.
Geuru, who had been about to hand her the light gun, noticed that Lea’s expression wasn’t good and gaped.
‘Is this game too scary for her?!’
Geuru rolled her large eyes and sent Gidan a look.
Gidan glanced at Lea, then signaled to Serhi.
“Should we turn it off? We can play something else.”
“Uh, yeah……”
Serhi was awkwardly nodding when—
Bang!
The light gun fired straight into the very center of the monster’s forehead.
The monster collapsed with a groan.
Lea, who had landed a perfect headshot, let out a long breath.
“Phew, that felt good.”
She smiled at the stunned Geuru, then drew her left leg up onto the sofa, shifted into a more comfortable position, and propped her chin on the armrest.
“Sorry. I kind of killed the mood just now, didn’t I?”
Geuru shook her head vigorously.
As if finding the sight adorable, Lea lightly toyed with Geuru’s braided hair before letting it go.
“I was in a place like this when I was little.”
Lea rolled her eyes upward, as if searching her memories.
“When I was very young, I was kidnapped, and when I woke up, I was in a room just like that. They were doing experiments on children.”
At the story that slipped out as though it were nothing, the three of them fell silent as if struck dumb.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but I heard later that they were experimenting with transferring my consciousness into clones made from my genes.”
Phoo. Letting out a breath, Lea shook her head.
“For a while, I don’t even know how many twins I had. Only one was left in the end, though……”
That last remaining child had been especially precious.
Though the feeling had been one-sided, Lea, steeped in loneliness, had regarded the child like family and had even given her a name.
“Actually, I came to Korea to look for her. I heard there was a child named Yulian registered in the student records at Justitia’s Korean branch, so I thought, just in case……”
Just as Geuru tilted her head at the strangely familiar name—
“Oh, my eyes changed back then. They’re just like yours, aren’t they, Geuru?”
Lea pointed at her own eyes and smiled. At the mention of Geuru’s name, Gidan and Serhi’s faces hardened.
“So? What are you trying to say?”
No sooner had Serhi asked than Lea unconsciously drew up her mana.
“I’m sorry, but I want to confirm something. Whether Hyeonak is a place that can be trusted.”
Gidan narrowed his brows and quickly pulled Geuru into his arms.
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then I’ll take Geuru with me.”
Mana began to evenly settle throughout Lea’s body. It was a sign that she was willing to use force if necessary.
A taut exchange of gazes passed between Lea, Gidan, and Serhi, who were seated side by side on the sofa.
Meanwhile, Geuru was unable to follow their conversation and had only question marks floating over her head.
“……”
“……”
“……”
After a brief silence, Gidan let out a hollow laugh.
After all, this was already the second time that question had come up.
When they had first learned that Geuru was S-rank, Serhi had asked whether she had been experimented on too. Gidan was just about to answer that it was a misunderstanding when—
Serhi spoke first.
“Yeah. This is a place you can trust.”
He removed his lenses and revealed his golden eyes.
“I’ll vouch for it. Nothing happened to Geuru. Her eyes are natural.”
Geuru, caught off guard, bobbed her head up and down.
Seeing Serhi’s golden eyes, Lea looked startled. She had realized that he was in the same position as her.
Gidan, likewise, stared with his mouth open in surprise.
He had never imagined that Serhi would say Hyeonak was a place that could be trusted.
After all, Serhi had always said like a habit that this place was a supreme idiot organization and that he had to graduate quickly and get out.
And now he was even taking out his lenses for Hyeonak? Was this really Serhi?
At Gidan’s moved gaze, Serhi twisted his mouth and, looking annoyed, fired the light gun several times.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
On the screen, several monsters fell with screeches.
“So shoot already. You want to lose again?”
At that, Lea, who had been staring wide-eyed, let out a laugh.
“What happened to you?”
“I’ll tell you if you win.”
“Good. I can do this one.”
The frozen atmosphere turned warm and lively in an instant.
Gidan declared that he couldn’t lose and stepped up with two light guns, while Serhi marked him exclusively, turning the game into a neck-and-neck match.
Amid the now noisy group, Geuru held her light gun and trembled.
‘……Yulian?’
Thinking of the white Maltese, Geuru broke out in a cold sweat.
Yulian, who had been wearing Justitia’s uniform……
Perhaps the person Lea was looking for was…… Geuru’s Maltese.
*
Yulian yawned in the garden, basking in the warm sunlight.
He had just been thinking that he hated being tied up, but he hated meeting Lea even more.
Then the ugly hamster suddenly shoved a Filial Piety Cookie into Yulian’s yawning mouth.
“Gack?!”
What is this?! Yulian made a huge fuss and spat the cookie out of his mouth.
“Ptoo! Ptoo!”
But he couldn’t help that a little had gone down his throat.
Yulian growled and barked at Beilak, but the ugly hamster only looked at the crushed Filial Piety Cookie as if it were a waste.
“Grrrr—” (You tiny, ugly little—)
But then, just as Yulian crouched low and growled as though he might pounce on Beilak at any moment, a haze began to rise faintly from his back.
“Grrrrr…… Kyiiing?” (Huh?? My mana increased?)
Tilt?
The moment Yulian realized that something had changed in him—
Fssssss!
His mana drained away in an instant, and he returned to his usual adorable Maltese form.
“Yap yap!” (What is this! What is it!)
Yulian hopped around, wary of the hamster, then shoved his nose into the crushed Filial Piety Cookie and sniffed.
[Filial Piety Cookie of Rage (S+)]
‘S+?!’
After checking the information window, Yulian’s mouth fell open.
What these Ratatouille-like bastards had brought was an S+ amplifier?
In that instant, his body trembled with ecstasy.
With this…… Gnosis’s plan might be able to enter a new phase.
Could I become the master of the 99th floor instead of Dominic?
The thought made him impatient.
“Yap! Yap yap!” (Hey, where did you get this!)
He had to obtain more samples and return.
“Mew?” (What?)
Of course, first they had to be able to understand each other.
“Yap yap!” (Give me more!)
“Meww?”
Beilak craned his neck with a look that said he had no idea what Yulian was saying.
At the mocking gesture, Yulian began to tremble with rage.
Then Beilak said to Luxifer beside him,
“Mew. Mew-mew.” (I think it worked. That guy’s starting to get angry again.)
Seeing the once-docile fellow trembling, barking yap yap! and regaining his energy, Beilak smiled in satisfaction, thinking that his instincts as a Maltese were finally beginning to reappear.
If they kept feeding him Filial Piety Cookies like this, he would be able to live as a Maltese forever.
In Beilak’s mind, a banner reading [Congratulations! Lifelong Mount Secured!] fluttered grandly.
Yulian, on the other hand, was calculating how to extort the S+ amplifier from the Ratatouille bastards.
He didn’t know why they had given this to him, but if he stayed here, he might get another chance to eat it.
Then he would tear them apart with his teeth, kill them, and leave with only the cookies.
Having engraved the plan in his mind, Yulian snorted.
*
Lea apologized again and again, saying she was sorry for misunderstanding all this time, and left after saying that next time, she would treat them to a meal.
So the strange things Lea had said before the exchange battle had all stemmed from that misunderstanding.
It was a relief that the misunderstanding had been cleared up.
Because nothing bad had ever happened to Geuru. The director of the orphanage had been a good person too……
Thinking that, Geuru returned home and crouched in front of Yulian with a troubled expression.
The strange misunderstanding had been cleared up, but there was still something unresolved.
If the person Lea was looking for was this Yulian……
Geuru’s shoulders trembled.
“You wanna go back soon, right? Sorry. Geuru’ll do her best.”
At that, Yulian shook his head rapidly from side to side. As if to say he didn’t want to go back.
‘Eh?’
Geuru’s eyes widened in surprise.
Regardless, Yulian curled up on the cushion with Beilak and Luxifer riding on his back.
‘What’s going on? Did they get close already and now he doesn’t want to leave them?’
Or else……
Even when we first met, he ran away as soon as Lea appeared, didn’t he?
Does he actually not want to meet Lea?
With a bewildered expression, Geuru tilted her head.