Chapter…04

    The Hidden Overpowered Child Is Looking for Dad – Episode 4

After walking for another fifteen minutes, Tia stopped between two large trees and thought.

‘This is bad!’

She had set off toward the capital, but no matter how much she walked, she couldn’t see anything resembling a city.

‘Waaah… back in Jongno, you could reach a huge city just by walking a little.’

It seemed the capital in this world was much farther away than she expected.

“What should I do…?”

Birds chirped above her head as they flew by.

‘If only I had wings, I could just fly there…’

Wait—wings?

“……”

Her eyes lit up.

Tia slowly turned toward Blackie.

He was leaning against a tree about five steps away, arms crossed.

“Blackie, um…”

“I can’t carry you.”

“Oh… I see…”

Tia’s face instantly fell.

She had hoped she could ride on his back.

Now that she looked at him, his wings did seem a bit small for a legendary Puppetmon.

But Tia didn’t give up.

“Blackie, then maybe—”

“I can’t teleport either.”

“Wha—really?”

That was shocking.

Wasn’t he a legendary Puppetmon?

He was the one who brought her all the way here from Korea.

Seeing her troubled expression, Blackie added,

“I’ve already pushed my power to the limit. Do you think bringing you here was easy?”

Tia shut her mouth.

Now that she looked closely, his face did seem pale.

“I had to tamper with dimensions to save your dad, and on top of that, you fell asleep, so I had to prepare a place for you to rest—”

He stopped mid-sentence, muttering to himself, “…Why am I even explaining all this?”

Then he looked at her again.

“Anyway. I can’t do anything right now.”

Tia pressed her lips together.

She suddenly felt sorry.

Blackie was her benefactor.

He saved her dad and brought her here.

‘I shouldn’t keep bothering him without being grateful.’

She didn’t want to become a burden—just like she sometimes had been to her dad.

Tia hesitated, then walked up to him.

“Blackie… do you want a shoulder massage?”

He made a strange face.

“What?”

“I learned it in kindergarten! I got first place in the quail class!”

“No thanks.”

She reached out, but he quickly stepped back.

Still looking uncomfortable, he added,

“Even if I had energy left, I couldn’t use high-level magic anyway.”

“Huh?”

“High-level magic—especially spatial magic—leaves traces. It’s easy to track.”

At the word track, Tia froze.

Whenever that word appeared in the news, her dad’s expression would darken.

She actually knew why.

‘If you get tracked… you get exiled.’

Exile meant being chased away.

She didn’t know why her dad would be exiled—but she knew it could separate them.

Tia shook her head hard.

No tracking. No exile.

Not after coming all this way.

Not after returning to the place where her dad was alive.

She quickly looked up.

“Blackie!”

She was about to tell him not to use magic—

“Blackie?”

But he was gone.

Tia ran over.

Between the leaves, she spotted a small black stone lying alone.

Her eyes widened.

She quickly picked it up and opened the kindergarten backpack she had brought.

“Blackie…”

He must have fallen asleep after using too much power.

Like Puppetmon returning to its ball to rest.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of things here.’

With a determined face, she placed the stone in her bag’s inner pocket and zipped it shut.

She double-checked carefully, then slung the bag over her shoulders.

“Even if it’s hard, I have to go!”

She remembered what the grandma in room 107 used to say—

Even if you fail, you have to try.

Tia bravely took a step forward.

Without any idea what awaited her.

“Ugh… this tastes awful.”

Basto muttered as he chewed on a wild carrot.

He knew he couldn’t afford to be picky—but after eating the same thing for three days, he was getting sick of it.

Leaning against a tree, he scanned his surroundings.

It had been two hours since he set his traps, but nothing had been caught.

“…Damn monsters.”

This forest had once been full of rabbits, deer, and other animals.

Now it was empty—thanks to monsters.

“Mercenaries, the imperial army… doesn’t matter how many they kill…”

Destroy one magic stone, and monsters pour out of another.

Destroy that one, and yet another appears.

It never ended.

“Tch.”

Spitting out the carrot, Basto stood up.

His joints cracked as he stretched.

He stroked his thick beard, then pulled a map from inside his armor.

[Briowood Forest]

This was a mid-sized forest about five days south of the capital.

Three red dots were marked clearly across it.

Basto took out charcoal and crossed out one of them.

That was where he had destroyed a small magic stone last night.

‘I almost died yesterday.’

He let out a hollow laugh.

Even a small magic stone could suddenly spawn flying monsters.

Sometimes, he grew sick of risking his life like this.

But…

“…Whatever.”

He shook off the thought and secured his armor.

What mattered was that he survived.

Wandering alone as a mercenary.

Killing monsters and bathing in their blood.

All of it would end someday.

“I should dismantle the traps and head back to the capital.”

Just as he was about to move—

Ping.

A faint but familiar sound rang out.

The tensioned rope had snapped loose.

Something had been caught.

Grabbing his war hammer, Basto ran toward the trap.

‘Thought all the animals were gone.’

A rabbit?

A weasel?

A deer would be ideal—but even a rat would do.

Rat meat wasn’t great, but edible.

Then—

“Hic.”

His ears caught another sound.

It came from the trap.

He slowed down.

‘That sounded like… a person?’

“Hic!”

Basto frowned.

He was right.

It was hiccuping.

Lowering his stance, he moved quietly through the trees.

Anyone in this forest was likely a mercenary or knight.

But something felt off.

If it were a person, they’d be screaming or calling for help.

Or they’d have already cut themselves free.

But this—

Just hiccuping?

He had never seen that before.

At last, he reached the trap and peered through the bushes.

The net he had set hung from a high branch.

He tried to see what was inside—

Then froze.

“…Hic.”

Inside the net—

Bright green eyes met his.

Someone was trembling, looking straight at him.

A small child.

Terrified.