I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 98: Back to where he belong...

(W-what the hell is this woman doing...?)

This was not how he expected the morning to unfold... actually he doesn’t even know if it’s day or night.

Not even remotely.

He had gone to sleep in a lair after barely escaping a tons of tons of 8’0 white, black gorilla, and sleeping beside their king.

But this?

A mysterious red-haired mage woman crawling across the floor toward him like some kind of playful predator?

No.

This scenario had definitely not been in the morning schedule.

Hyuna finally stopped just inches away from him.

For a moment she remained crouched there, looking up at him with that same mischievous smile.

Then, in one smooth motion, she rose back to her feet until she was standing directly in front of him, close enough that Si Hon could clearly see the faint amusement dancing in her eyes.

She leaned forward.

Very close.

Close enough that Si Hon instinctively leaned back even further— only to remember there was a solid stone wall behind him.

He had nowhere to go.

MOMMY Hyuna lifted one finger slowly.

And gently pressed it against his lips.

"Hey, handsome," Mommy Hyuna said with a teasing grin.

She didn’t move away. Instead, her thumb casually lifted and pointed over her shoulder toward the bed behind her, where Sarah was currently experiencing what could only be described as a complete system crash.

"So," Hyuna continued lightly, "do you like my sweetheart over there?"

Si Hon’s eyes followed the direction of her thumb.

Across the room, Sarah had completely shut down.

Her entire face was red enough to rival the color of Hyuna’s dress, and she had buried half of it behind the curtain of her dark gray hair like someone trying to hide from a natural disaster.

Unfortunately for her, hiding didn’t stop the frantic hand signals she was making toward Si Hon.

Very aggressive hand signals.

Her fingers chopped through the air with desperate urgency.

J U S T. S T A Y. P U T.

Si Hon stared at her.

Then he slowly turned his head back toward Hyuna.

"ಠ⁠ᴥ⁠ಠ..."

A small pause passed.

Then he spoke in the calm, slightly dead voice of someone who had already survived too much nonsense for one lifetime.

"I’m... confused."

Hyuna’s grin widened.

Instead of backing away, she leaned in even closer until their faces were only a few inches apart.

Si Hon could practically feel her breath as she tilted her head slightly, studying him like a curious cat that had found a very interesting toy.

Her voice dropped into a playful whisper.

"Hey, handsome."

She waited a second.

Then added softly—

"Say something about me."

Above them, the floating chat windows detonated.

Messages burst across the air like fireworks going off in every direction.

「PEAK!!!! CONTENT!!!!!」

「GET AWAY FROM OUR BELOVED SI HON!!!!! ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ!!!」

「Woah... why is this turning into... wait... this is turning into p*** (￣□￣;)!!!」

A moment later, one message suddenly flashed much larger than the others, glowing brightly rainbow.

「Acardthatwasmaxxedoutwithcash has sent a Super Chat!

Si Hon!!! Don’t turn into a wild dog just because she’s beautiful!!!!」

Si Hon blinked slowly.

His eyes moved upward to the glowing message.

His brain processed it.

Then, very calmly, a quiet thought formed inside his head.

(...Why would I turn into a wild dog...)

The thought had barely finished forming when Hyuna leaned even closer.

Instinctively, Si Hon turned his head to the side and pressed himself harder against the stone wall behind him. Unfortunately for him, the wall had absolutely no intention of moving any further back.

Then—

"Fwooah."

Hyuna suddenly blew a soft breath against his neck.

Si Hon’s entire body shivered.

For half a second he froze there, eyes wide, brain completely... left...

And then—

"Pwahahaha!"

Hyuna abruptly stepped back, clutching her stomach as she burst into laughter.

"You’re so fun to tease!" she giggled, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "Seriously— your reactions are priceless."

Across from her, Si Hon stood there stiffly, sweating like someone who had just narrowly avoided a very confusing assassination attempt.

(What... what is wrong with this woman’s head...?)

Hyuna straightened up and casually walked back toward him again, her steps light and oddly graceful— almost like a cat lazily stalking something interesting.

Si Hon immediately frowned in suspicion.

Just as her hand lifted toward his face—

she suddenly changed direction at the last moment and grabbed his hand instead.

Then she shook it enthusiastically.

"Hyuna, by the way," she said brightly. "Sarah’s older sister. Well... technically."

She tilted her head slightly.

"For some reason she still calls me ’aunty’ though."

Si Hon blinked.

"Si Hon," he replied after a small pause.

That was all he managed to say before— Hyuna suddenly grabbed his arm and dragged him forward.

"!?"

A second later both of them plopped down onto the bed.

The mattress bounced slightly under the sudden impact.

"KWAAH?!"

Sarah practically jumped in place, her eyes wide in panic.

"What are you doing?!" she squeaked.

Hyuna waved a hand dismissively.

"Oops. Sorry."

Meanwhile, Si Hon sat there completely frozen.

(￣□￣;)

(What’s happening...)

Before he could even think about standing up, Hyuna suddenly grabbed the back of his head and gently pushed him sideways— until his head landed directly on her thigh.

Si Hon froze again.

His brain rebooted.

Above him, Hyuna casually adjusted her posture as if this arrangement was the most normal thing in the world.

"Alright," she said calmly. "Let’s stop goofing around and talk about something serious."

Si Hon gulped.

"Uh. Okay?"

Across from them, Sarah sat stiffly against the bed frame, watching this entire situation unfold with the expression of someone witnessing a natural disaster in slow motion.

Hyuna’s playful smile slowly faded as her expression turned more serious.

"Sarah probably mentioned this already," she began. "Our mission."

Sarah immediately flailed.

"W-WAIT!"

But Hyuna raised a hand, cutting her off without even looking.

"The mission," she continued, "is to blow up this entire lair."

Si Hon blinked.

Hyuna’s eyes darkened slightly as she spoke.

"All those Munches... those sick bastards... they’re the corruption of Skaldrim Peaks."

(Scal— what?) Si Hon thought.

Then her voice lowered.

"They drove our tribe out of our own home. Our people used to live here. Inside. In the mountains."

Sarah looked down quietly.

"We can’t fight them directly," Hyuna continued. "There are thousands of them. Even if we kill a few hundred, it won’t matter."

She exhaled slowly.

"So we destroy everything instead."

Her fingers lightly tapped against Si Hon’s shoulder as she spoke.

"We collapse the lair. Kill the entire nest. And maybe— just maybe... Skaldrim Peaks gets thirty percent safer."

Sarah finally couldn’t take it anymore.

"HYUNA!!!"

Hyuna paused.

Sarah stared at her with a completely dead expression.

"I haven’t told him any of this yet."

Silence.

"Also," Sarah added slowly, "remember? We just met yesterday."

Another pause.

"Or maybe a few hours ago."

The room went completely still.

Hyuna slowly lowered her gaze.

Her eyes met Si Hon’s.

Si Hon, who was still lying on her lap.

Hyuna: "ಠ_ಠ"

***

(Back~ to prison)

Back in the prison cell, Si Hon stretched his arms lazily.

"Woah... guys... I’m back here again," he muttered.

His white T-shirt stretched slightly as he leaned back against the cold wall.

"Man... earlier I couldn’t even say anything. I had literally just woken up."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"My brain was running at like... five percent."

A flood of chat windows exploded into existence in front of him.

「Because you ARE a deadpan dude!!!」

「Seriously though— how did you not even blush when she was teasing you??」

「FOR REAL!!! That was a beautiful lady crawling at you and you looked like you smelled something weird.」

"She’s weird..." Si Hon immediately responded.

Si Hon let out a quiet sigh and leaned back against the cold prison wall.

"Well... I guess you’re all wondering how I ended up back here again," he said.

As he spoke, his finger idly tapped against one of the floating chat windows hovering in front of him.

The glowing messages continued to drift across his vision like an endless stream of commentary. But every few seconds, his attention wandered away from them.

His gaze slowly drifted downward toward his own hand, settling on the strange ring wrapped around his finger.

The Goo Ring.

Han-Gyeol Mimi.

His thumb brushed lightly against its surface, rubbing it absentmindedly as if trying to confirm it... For a moment he said nothing, simply staring at it with a quiet, thoughtful expression before finally letting out another small breath.

"Anyway," he muttered, lifting his head again.

"So it started a few hours ago."

The moment those words left his mouth, the floating chat windows exploded with activity, messages stacking on top of each other as the viewers immediately leaned in with interest or... different reaction...

And just like that, the memory in Si Hon’s mind slowly began to rewind— pulling him back to the moment everything started going wrong.