Episode 86

If Rurin weren’t by my side, I might have lost the will to live, cursing my fate and becoming a wreck.

Transition to a fantasy world.

Fate in that world could only be described as harsh. I didn’t have great power from the start, and over the years, I faced near-death experiences constantly.

The only thing I was grateful for in that world was meeting an innocent dragon.

For the next two days, I couldn’t pull myself together and rolled around in the hotel room. It wasn’t until two days later that I could finally get out of bed.

I can’t stay like this.

Most importantly, I have Rurin. Whether my feelings for her are familial, romantic, affectionate, or even frustrating, I have this dragon.

I must live on.

Moreover, I no longer have any reason to cling to this land. I spent 15 years in that other world. Without the reason being my parents, that world is naturally more familiar to me.

I have a restaurant to run, neighbors, and most importantly, Rurin is from that world.

Yes, let’s go back.

Let’s bury all the sorrow from my parents’ affairs in this land and fully transition to the other world.

With those thoughts, I opened my eyes. Rurin was leaning against me, poking my cheek playfully.

“Stop poking, it hurts.”

“Huh?”

Rurin reacted and suddenly stood up.

“Why?”

“It’s the usual you! Have you finally come to your senses!”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Rurin’s eyes sparkled as I nodded.

“Oooo!”

She raised her arms and stopped poking me, then lunged at me. I stopped her.

“Cease the charge! Let’s stop for now.”

I picked her up, put her down on the floor, and got out of bed completely. Then I told her an important fact.

“Let’s go back to our world, Rurin.”

“Oh, that’s good! Finally! I do prefer that world.”

“Really? Then do you want to go back alone?”

She jumped up and down. So, when I casually said something I didn’t mean, Rurin squinted at me and glared.

“What does that mean? You’ve been down for days and lost your brain?”

“No, my brain is fine.”

“If you are here, I will be here too. That’s an unchanging truth regardless of the changes in the universe. How can you not know that?”

“Was it such an absolute truth? Haha.”

Yes, this is Rurin. Rather, it makes my heart feel warm. I want to hug her suddenly, but I hold back. How much longer until Rurin’s birthday?

Everything will be postponed until then.

Everything.

“Yes, of course, I need to go back too. There’s no home for me here anymore. My home is the restaurant on the hill. It’s also where your lair is.”

“Your brain has finally come back. Thank goodness.”

Rurin crossed her arms and nodded vigorously.

“This is a place where you’re just sad. I don’t want to stay here anymore!”

Her next words were a bit touching. This dragon has been stirring my heart a lot lately. I looked at Rurin quietly. Then Rurin looked at me.

Our gazes met continuously. I shook my head.

“Yes, let’s go back.”

Barely returning to the main point, I cast the summoning spell.

Because the summoning magic was strengthened by the increase in mana from the dragon orb, a black hole was created. We just need to cross over using the same method again.

That thought hadn’t changed.

But there was a problem: I couldn’t use the summoning magic.

“Rurin, something’s wrong. I’m low on mana. It hasn’t recovered yet.”

“What do you mean, El?”

Rurin shook her head and moved her mana. Her actions indicated that there was nothing wrong.

“My mana is fine.”

Rurin disappeared in an instant. Then she reappeared just as quickly. She seemed to have used teleportation.

“Huh? El, I feel a bit strange too. My mana isn’t recovering quickly. What’s going on?”

“You too?”

“Come to think of it, this world lacks mana in the atmosphere. Yes! That’s it. This world itself lacks mana. Normally, we’d draw in mana to recover quickly, but we can’t do that here. Hmm, summoning magic is a large spell, so it would take time for enough mana to recover. A world without mana is indeed strange.”

“Oh, really? I see. There’s hardly any mana.”

Since coming here, I hadn’t paid any attention to mana due to my desire to find my parents, and after learning of their passing, I couldn’t focus on mana because of the shock.

Only now, trying to use mana, do I realize there’s none to draw in.

A land with almost no mana.

If mana were abundant, there would be no reason for the absence of wizards. For now, we had to wait until our mana recovered.

Even in that world, summoning magic consumed a lot of mana. Before my mana capacity greatly increased, summoning magic could only be used once a day.

The ability to absorb and store mana, and the ability to use it, all determine one’s class. My mana recovery rate had become extremely fast.

As long as there’s even a little mana, recovery is possible. It will just take a few days. That means we’ll have to stay here for a few days.

Rurin is sleeping peacefully in the hotel. She isn’t particularly disturbed by the fact that we can’t go back for a while.

She rolls around here just like she does on the restaurant table, purring in her sleep.

It feels like a dream that she stayed awake and comforted me while I was down.

Such drastic behavior changes.

Of course, I have some issues too.

Not working at the restaurant has made me relax and sleep too. I’m worried I might not be able to adjust when we go back.

It might be a bit tough for a few days.

But the thought of going back hasn’t changed.

My life is now in that world, not Korea.

Running the restaurant, communicating with people, that’s how I live. It’s been days since I last felt that fulfillment.

With those thoughts, I woke Rurin. The sun was already high in the sky.

Since we can’t go back for a few days, it wouldn’t be bad to enjoy our time while waiting.

Sealing away bad memories and wandering the streets of this land as if nothing happened could become good memories.

Splash!

I put the half-asleep Rurin into the running water and washed her.

“Uuuu…”

Rurin couldn’t wake up properly. It’s the same as usual. It doesn’t matter. The conclusion is she just needs to be washed.

“Huh? It’s warm now. Then I’ll sleep.”

She mumbled nonsense and leaned into the bathtub. Hot water wasn’t going to work.

No more mercy.

Splash!

Cold water poured down soon.

Then I left the bathtub and returned to the room.

Five seconds. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds. One second. Soon a scream echoed from the bathtub.

“It’s cold! El! If I catch a cold, it will be hard on you!”

Rurin, making nonsensical threats, came out with a towel over her head. I handed her her clothes directly.

Rurin looks good even in modern clothes. Actually, what wouldn’t suit her face?

Even if she wore Eskimo clothing, it would suit her.

“Cold water is good for the skin. I did it on purpose. Look, your skin is firm.”

“My skin is always firm!”

Rurin, confidently making claims that are obviously true, huffed.

Since it was true, I said nothing and left with the hotel key. Naturally, Rurin followed.

“Let’s go eat. I’m getting tired of hotel food.”

“Food? That’s good. I’m hungry…”

Actually, once I got my bearings, I craved something. It was Jajangmyeon.

The last time I ate jajangmyeon was 15 years ago. I was full of the thought of eating it before going back. Jajangmyeon is classified as Chinese food, but if you think about it, it’s practically Korean food.

Moreover, it’s meaningful because it was a food I ate throughout my childhood.

Come to think of it, I had never recreated jajangmyeon at the restaurant. The thought made me want it even more.

Nostalgia for the jajangmyeon I used to eat with friends during school days stimulated me.

Without any particular consideration, I just entered a nearby Chinese restaurant. It was a delivery-focused restaurant on the second floor. Delivery restaurants usually have very small dining areas.

About three tables. Yes, this is exactly how I remember Chinese restaurants from my memories. It felt exciting somehow. With that feeling, I opened the restaurant door and immediately placed my order.

“Two jajangmyeon and one Tangsuyuk (sweet and sour meat), please.”

“Yes! Thank you.”

The lady took the order and went inside, and soon the delivery guy came in with a metal container and spoke to the man in the kitchen.

“Boss, they said the building’s water pipe burst?”

“What? The water pipe?”

“So they turned off all the water. The manager is coming up soon to explain the situation.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? Are they trying to ruin our business?”

The man, presumed to be the owner, came out of the kitchen and rushed outside. The lady who took our order frowned deeply and approached us.

“Excuse me, but we can’t serve you right now. What should we do?”

“Oh, it’s okay. It can’t be helped. We’ll come back next time.”

“What is this, El? I’m hungry!”

“They said the water isn’t working.”

“Water? If there’s no water, just make some! Like we do at the restaurant!”

Rurin confidently stood up and gestured toward the kitchen.

It was an action I should have stopped. Soon, an enormous amount of water flooded the restaurant. It was like a flood, or a house with a broken pipe.

“Hey, you idiot!”

“Why… You said there was no water. At our restaurant, we make water like this, so what’s the problem?”

When I got angry, Rurin looked a bit crestfallen but whispered as if wondering why I was angry over an obvious fact.

“Don’t use magic here. It’s a waste of mana. Don’t use it. Got it?”

“What’s going on? Where did all this water come from suddenly? Are you kidding me?”

The lady, realizing it might be due to the burst pipe, saw the water flooding the floor and rushed outside. She seemed ready to fight the manager.

Out of guilt, I left money for the cleanup and exited the restaurant. It was a day that started off badly.

“Hehe, good. I didn’t like it anyway.”

“What? You said you were hungry. What didn’t you like? Did you use magic on purpose…?”

Rurin didn’t answer and ran behind me. She was definitely the culprit.

Most likely, it was because she didn’t like the attitude of the man or the lady. Sigh.

But the more this happened, the more I wanted jajangmyeon. I changed my mind.

It was a mistake to go to a small delivery restaurant when we weren’t ordering delivery. This time, I took Rurin to a Chinese restaurant in a busy area that specialized in traditional course meals.

The large hall was filled with tables. There were also rooms with tables. Everywhere, there were red pillars and decorations reminiscent of China.

I went into a room with Rurin and sat down. Rurin, finding the table design fascinating, spun the lazy Susan round and round.

The round table, which you can spin and use, spun wildly. It was dizzying.

“El, this is convenient! Do you put a lot of dishes here and spin them to eat? Oh, make one of these at the restaurant!”

Rurin, even before the food arrived, figured out the table’s advantages and started laughing. It’s scary. No one can match Rurin’s analysis when it comes to food.

“Make one and eat other customers’ food too?”

“Ururunrunrunrunrun!”

“Don’t suddenly speak in Lurun’s language!”

I pulled Rurin’s cheek as she started speaking in the monster’s language, then waited for the jajangmyeon. Soon, the jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk arrived. As a result of ignoring the course meal and ordering just jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk.