Chapter 4……
The baby monster never ate anything while awake. It just lay there all day, completely still.
As if it had no desire to live.
At first, it seemed a little startled upon realizing this wasn’t the world it used to live in,
but soon, as if none of that mattered, it stopped caring.
It only asked me how I managed to enter its nest.
I told it I came through the glowing rock behind the mountain.
That, apparently, was something impossible—space distortion, twisting, coincidences piling on coincidences.
A worthless human couldn’t enter its nest even if they wanted to.
Well.
Was that rock really glowing just by coincidence?
And is this baby monster glowing yellow just by coincidence too?
**
The baby monster watched me doing sit-ups.
It sat down with its two front paws neatly together, then asked in a dignified tone:
[ Human. Are you a soldier of this nation? You train all day. ]
“No. I’m just a good-for-nothing.”
[ Tsk! ]
The little monster scolded me.
[ Human, did I not tell you to speak respectfully to me? ]
It insisted it was God’s representative and that I should use the highest honorifics when addressing it.
Honestly, I didn’t feel even the slightest urge to do that.
It looked like a winged baby kitten, and its voice sounded like a child talking—there was zero dignity.
But it clearly had no idea.
It sat like a lion and spoke like an old man.
Which… actually made it cuter.
[ Did I not say I was not a being a lowly human could treat carelessly? ]
“Pffft.”
[ What are you laughing at. ]
“You’re cute.”
[ …If I were not afflicted by this vile disease, a lowly human like you would not even be able to raise your head in my presence. You would tremble in fear, barely able to breathe. ]
“Sure. I’m sure.”
[…]
When I got hit by its fear aura earlier, I guess that was this little monster’s normal passive effect.
Right now, it seems too sick for it to function properly.
Grrrrowl—
[…]
Its stomach rumbled.
I took out a nutrition potion and held it out.
“Eat. You need to eat to get better.”
The baby monster stared at the potion, swallowed once, then turned its head away.
[ It is useless even if I do. ]
“If it’s not age-related, a potion should heal it.”
[ It is not a potion-healable illness. Even the elixir that raises the dead again cannot cure this vicious disease. ]
“There has to be a way if we look hard enough…”
[ There are things in this world that cannot be done, human. I shall soon… die. ]
Its expression looked like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
“…”
I knew that feeling.
A situation where nothing works, no matter what you do.
A tomorrow with no hope.
The sense of sinking into a swamp.
In times like that…
You must never be the one to give up first.
The moment your heart breaks, everything is over.
“As someone who’s experienced a miracle—people who desperately want something, who keep moving no matter what, miracles come to them. You’re still young. Don’t give up, man.”
[ Hmph. ]
“…?”
[ You are more pure-hearted than you appear. I too had such a pure heart centuries ago. ]
“…How old are y— sir?”
[ I have not counted. Counting is something only lowly humans do. ]
“…”
The silence was awkward.
Rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle-rattle.
A tractor engine rattled outside.
“Oh? It’s the village chief!”
For the first time ever, the village chief’s visit made me genuinely happy. I ran outside.
**
“Village chief!”
“Gwang, you’re raising a kitten, huh?”
“Yes… but I thought it was a baby, turns out it’s actually an old cat.”
“That so? Baby or old, cat’s a cat.”
The chief pointed to the back of his tractor.
“You know Dae-jong up the hill with the cows? He milked a cow and had extra, so he brought some over. But if you leave it outside it’ll spoil, so put it in that inv— inv… that thing of yours.”
“…”
He must have gone to Dae-jong’s place and nagged him to hand over milk.
That’s how he brought pork and eggs last time too.
“What are you doing? Hurry and put it away!”
I put the milk in my inventory, hopped up into the driver’s seat, and hugged the chief tightly.
Ever since I came back alive, I’d wanted to do this.
“Whoa—what are you doing?”
I answered playfully.
“I just felt like giving you a hug, sir.”
“Silly kid. You’re grown and giving me goosebumps!”
But he was smiling.
“Anyway, I’m off. Eat well.”
Rattle-rattle-rattle-
“Yes, drive safe!”
The tractor rumbled away.
I bowed my head respectfully.
“Thank you.”
**
Suck-suck-suck.
The baby monster suckled from the bottle.
When awake, it refused to eat anything. But once asleep, it drank unconsciously.
Like its body instinctively wanted to live.
Suck-suck-suck.
Cute.
“…Don’t give up, old man-monster. Acting like a baby when you’re hundreds of years old.”
Suck-suck-suck.
That night—
For the first time since leaving Hunter Academy, I prayed before sleeping.
“Sorry it’s been so long. Please heal that baby monster. I’ll live really righteously if you do.”
It took me 16 years to awaken.
Who knows how long it will take for this kid’s illness to be cured.
All I can do is…
Do what I can right now.
“Please. Save that poor kid.”
**
I fed the monster milk.
Prayed every night.
Trained.
Helped the village chief.
And a month passed like that.
**
The baby monster sat in the chicken coop, staring holes into me.
“Why are you staring? You’ll poke a hole in my face.”
[ Human. Why do you pray for me? What do you and I have to do with each other? ]
“I told you I’d help cure you. That’s the only thing I can do right now, so I’m doing it.”
[ I am God’s agent. Did you think I hadn’t asked God to heal me? ]
“How many times?”
[ Tens of millions of times… ]
Tens of millions…?
“Hey! That’s why! If tens of millions didn’t work, you should’ve tried tens of millions and one! Then tens of millions and two! Tens of millions and three! You didn’t know?”
[ …Is that so? ]
“Yeah. Just don’t quit. Your illness will get cured.”
[ …Will it? ]
“…Of course, maybe it won’t.”
[ …I knew it. Huh? What? ]
“I said maybe! But are you going to do nothing? You probably don’t remember, but when I came to your place, I thought you were gonna eat me.”
[ ? ]
“Because of your fear aura, I couldn’t move, and you stuck your face near my heart— I thought I was dead! But even then I screamed and resisted!”
Because I wanted to punch you.
[ …Did you. ]
“Yeah. So don’t give up. If you give up, you lose. Do what you can. Even if you die tomorrow, you’re alive right now. Why act like you’re already dead?”
[ …You’re right. I’m alive. ]
What’s with him today?
**
Suck-suck-suck.
“Why are you eating?”
[ Strange question. I eat to live. ]
“…Do you now.”
Suck-suck-suck.
[ Indeed. ]
Its eyes…
had changed.
The dead look was gone.
There was a will to live now.
“Want more milk? I’ve got plenty in my inventory.”
[ I shall finish this first. Overeating is unhealthy. ]
I smiled without thinking.
And then—an unfamiliar voice echoed in my head.
[ The legendary ancient race. The Divine Dragon, Luth, trusts you. ]
“…Huh? Who’s talking?”
[ Luth has become your companion. ]
“…?”
[ Heal Luth’s illness. ]
“…What in the world…?”
**
‘Did I hallucinate?’
Hunters hear a voice only during awakening.
A.k.a. Awakening System Notification.
But I’ve never met or heard of a hunter who heard a voice after awakening.
But I heard one. Just now.
Suck-suck-suck.
“Luth?”
Freeze.
Rattle-roll-roll—
The bottle dropped to the floor.
The baby monster stared at me wide-eyed.
[ …How do you know my true name, human? How does a human know the name God bestowed upon me…? ]
So its name really was Luth?
“…Are you a Divine Dragon? A legendary ancient race?”
[ Correct! How did you know? Can you tell I am a divine dragon? ]
It really was a divine dragon…
Which means… I didn’t hallucinate.
“But… you said you were God’s agent? Was that a lie?”
[ It was no lie. We divine dragons were created as God’s representatives. ]
Ah.
So that’s why they’re called divine dragons.
[ You still have not answered my question. How did you know my true name? I have never told you. ]
“Well… I just heard a voice. It said you became my companion and told me to heal your illness.”
[ …Companion? ]
**
After that, the voice spoke again.
Very clearly.
[ To heal Luth’s illness, please wash Luth thoroughly. ]
So I took Luth to the bathroom and scrubbed him thoroughly.
Luth didn’t like being washed, but when I said it was part of healing,
he stayed still.
Dirty water poured off.
Luth blushed.
