TLTS~30

Chapter 30

Choi Deok-gyu answered the phone.

“Yeah, Chaeri. What’s up?”

– Namju. Have you found him?

This kid worries about all sorts of things.

Choi Deok-gyu chuckled.

Anyway, she has aspects that are unlike a child.

“This is adult business, kid.”

He had heard from Davis.

The fact that the true L-class Awakened was Chaeri.

But so what?

It didn’t matter to Choi Deok-gyu.

A child is a child. They don’t need to worry about adult matters.
Children just need to eat well, poop well, sleep well, and laugh well. That’s all.

If anything, what bothered Choi Deok-gyu the most was the fact that Svita was actually an alias for Davis.

Svita, Davis.

Isn’t that a bit too lazy for an alias?

Honestly, that bothered him the most.

– Please find Kang Se-hyeon quickly.

“Hmm?”

– The system protects kids, I mean, children.

‘Tower Entry’ might not have been an L-class privilege, but a Kids Mode feature.
This system is very friendly towards children.
It was possible it had given Kang Se-hyeon a ability similar to Tower Entry.

“What does that mean?”

– You can’t tell just from the entrance log management records.

Exceptional Awakened often become targets for other guilds and competitors.
Because it was a world where assassination had become too common.

Now that Choi Deok-gyu knew Chaeri’s secret,
Chaeri, feeling more at ease, freely showed off the wisdom of the one possessing her.

“We need to find and protect Kang Se-hyeon oppa. Kang Se-hyeon is Namju!”

Kang Se-hyeon and Chaeri were different.
Kang Se-hyeon didn’t have a protector like Davis.
He also didn’t know the future like Chaeri did.
He was just a ‘real child’ with exceptional talent for magic.
Because of Chaeri’s own possession, the future had changed.
He absolutely needed protection.

– Okay, I understand.

“It’s a secret mission.”

– Roger!

Chaeri ended the call and put a hand on her chest.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

She felt her heart pounding fiercely.
The words ‘secret mission’ and ‘roger’ had made Chaeri’s heart race.
With one phone call, she had effectively become the shadowy mastermind child moving the Seoul Sovereign.

‘Somehow, I feel like I revealed too much information.’

But it was a relief it was Choi Deok-gyu.
Because in this world view, he was one of the rare, truly righteous incarnations of justice.

***

Meanwhile, Choi Deok-gyu quickly went to Kang Se-hyeon’s house.

‘Even if I don’t worry about it, Davis is probably managing it anyw…’

…ay?

Kang Se-hyeon was home alone.
Judging by the state of the house, it hadn’t been managed at all.
It was so bad there were even cobwebs on the ceiling.
“■■■.”
While suffering from severe Mafetic sickness.

***

Chorok-i moved noisily.
[Cooldown ends in 10 minutes! Cooldown ends in 10 minutes!]

Chaeri sat on her bed with her legs stretched out.
It was about time for Davis to arrive.

Around then, Bang! Bang! Bang! Someone knocked violently on the door.
“Come out!”

– ♪♬♪

A level of harsh swearing difficult to describe in an all-ages rating followed.
Listening to the voice, it was Kim Jun-seok.

Lee Ji-seok asked through the intercom.
“Who is it?”
“Are you Lee Chaeri’s father?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Open the doo…”

The voice cut off. The screen turned off too.
“What the?”
“Sh-should we call the police?”
“Wait a moment. There’s no one there?”

Did they see something wrong?
Were they possessed by a ghost?

They opened the door and went out, but there was no one there.
Lee Ji-seok tilted his head.
“Do people still ding-dong-ditch these days?”

He returned to the living room and checked on Kim Ha-seon.
“Honey. You were scared, right? Are you okay?”
“What was that just now? It’s scary.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll contact the management office and the police for now.”
“I’m going to go to my room and rest a bit. Kkomul-i must have been scared too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go in and rest.”

Lee Ji-seok helped Kim Ha-seon to bed and laid her down.

***

Meanwhile, Chaeri sat on the edge of her bed, swinging her feet.
“It’s past the time Davis was supposed to come?”

They had agreed to meet at 8 o’clock.
It was already past 8.
Chorok-i buzzed and ran around.
[Cooldown ends in 8 minutes! Cooldown ends in 8 minutes!]
“Why isn’t he coming?”

Time passed.
[Cooldown ends in 1 minute! Cooldown ends in 1 minute!]

Chaeri began to worry a little.
Breaking the promised time by 9 minutes?
It wasn’t like Davis.
‘Could something have happened?’

Countless Awakened targeted the Legendary Seat, Svita.
Of course, she believed in the Continental-level hero, but regardless of that belief, she suddenly felt a sense of darkness falling before her eyes.
‘I’m worried!’

The speed of her swinging legs increased.

Around then, a voice was heard.
“Chaeri. I’m sorry I’m late.”
“Hmph.”

Chaeri decided to act sulky.
“A protector who doesn’t keep promises isn’t attract…”

…ive.

His serious level of handsomeness made one forgive fairly significant mistakes.
The saying that just seeing his face makes your anger disappear was true.

But that aside.
Chaeri approached the desk and pulled out a tissue.
“Adults are so careless. What are we going to do if you get ketchup all over you?”

There were splatters of red ketchup everywhere.

[Kids Safe Filter applying!]
[‘Br■tal ㅅ ᅟᅥ■■t■ng’ ▷▷▷ Converted to ‘Easy-to-clean ketchup’.]

With impressive hand movements, she wiped away the stains.
It really was ‘easy-to-clean ketchup’.
It was skill on par with Kim Myeong-ja’s healing hands.
“Davis. Did you see?”

Feeling a great sense of efficacy, Chaeri became proud.
Chorok-i shrieked *kyaek- kyaek-* and ran around.
[3 seconds elapsed! 3 seconds elapsed! 3 seconds elapsed!]
[Co.n.ti.ne.nt.al Pikachu deployment pending! Co.n.ti.ne.nt.al Pikachu deployment pending! Co.n.ti.ne.nt.al Pikachu deployment pending!]

Hearing the desperate cry, Chaeri immediately pulled out the Pyraion card.
“Lee Chaeri summons…”
“Wait a moment, Chaeri.”
“Yes?”
“Can you hold off on summoning for a bit?”
“Are you trying to monopolize Lee Chaeri?”
“Of course, that’s part of it too.”

Davis patted Chaeri’s head once, then opened the door and went out.
‘Hmm?’

Wouldn’t he get caught by her adoptive parents like that?
…That was an unnecessary worry.
Because Davis’s body gradually faded until he became completely transparent.
Even Level 10 Legendary-rank Awakened Chaeri’s eyes couldn’t see him.

[Conti…nental… level…]

Chorok-i’s voice became very small, then changed to a sputtering sound.
A sound so quiet you couldn’t hear it unless you strained your ears.
“Ugh.”

Chorok-i’s neck was broken.
A serious critical injury.
Davis’s measure was a bit excessive.
“Ch-Chorok-ah.”

She hugged Chorok-i.
Seeing her beloved doll in such a state made her upset.
“Lee Chaeri will scold Davis for you.”

By the way, what is Davis doing?

***

Davis came out to the living room and observed Lee Ji-seok.
After contacting the management office and the police, he seemed to have regained some composure, as he was watching the news.
‘Seems normal.’

It seemed he thought someone had played a prank.
There was nothing particularly different from usual.
‘What about Kim Ha-seon?’

Kim Ha-seon, suffering from morning sickness, was lying in bed watching her smartphone.
A pregnancy and childbirth vlog was playing on the screen.
Every now and then, she would talk to the baby in her belly.
“Our Kkomul-i, you were really surprised, huh?”

She rubbed her belly and spoke in a voice full of love.

Davis waited a little longer.
‘It’s about time they should be thinking of Chaeri.’

They might have been flustered.
But with this much time passed, one would expect them to check on Chaeri’s room at least once.
It seemed the two had forgotten about Chaeri.
And that was the truth.

When she was at home, Chaeri was a child whose presence or absence wasn’t very noticeable.
A child who did everything she needed to do on her own.
A child who didn’t throw tantrums or act bothersome.
From the adults’ perspective, she had become a ‘low-maintenance child’.
So they paid less attention to her.
It became normal.
‘Confirmation complete.’

Davis felt upset but didn’t show it and returned to Chaeri.
“Davis! What did you do to his neck!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Please take care of Chorok-i.”
“Really, I’m sorry. I’ll fix him so it doesn’t hurt.”

Davis took Chorok-i and *Snap!* broke his neck.
It was somewhat grotesque, but Chorok-i’s neck returned to normal.
Davis was a master of chiropractic adjustment.
“Chaeri. I think you can summon Pykachu now.”
“Yes.”

She took the Pyraion card from her inventory.
“Chaeri summons you, Pyraion.”

She summoned the card hero, Pyraion.
Pyraion’s face was pale with fright.
“Chaeri. You’re late!”
“I’m sorry.”

Pyraion was about to argue.
‘I put cute voices and movements into Chorok-i for you! And you call me 17 minutes and 27 seconds late?’
This was a serious disrespect towards a Continental-level hero.
As befitting a Continental-level hero, he decided to voice his complaint.
He would absolutely not forgive this easily!
“Hmph. You’re cute, so I have no choice but to forgive.”

She was just too cute to get angry at.