My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon - Chapter 10

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 10: Oppa, Are You Okay?

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“Ugh.”

Frowning, I clutched my chest.

The pain was not limited to my chest. My whole body tingled as if I had been electrocuted.

The agony was so intense, unlike anything I had felt before, that I feared I might die like this.

‘That can’t happen.’

With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone to call for help, but the pain made it difficult even to press a button.

Just as it felt like I was being swallowed by darkness,

all the pain suddenly vanished as if it had never been there.

“...What was that?”

It had hurt enough to kill me, yet my entire body was strangely fine.

Dazed, I clenched and unclenched my hands and feet, then moved my body around.

But nothing was wrong.

“This is really strange.”

Should I go to the hospital or not?

Thinking I would definitely go if it happened even once more, I returned home, where Sia was sleeping soundly, and tried to sleep again.

* * *

The next day.

The first thing I saw upon waking was, as expected, beautiful Sia.

She was lying beside me, smiling softly as she looked at me.

Not like the mature noona I had seen last night, but the Sia I remembered.

“Did you sleep well, oppa?”

I had wondered if last night’s roleplaying would continue into today, but Sia called me oppa as faithfully as usual.

“Yeah, I slept well. Did my Sia sleep well too?”

“Very well.”

We started the morning with a light hug.

“I’m going to peel some apples. You’ll have some too, right?”

“Yeah.”

After getting out of bed, Sia prepared breakfast as usual, peeling fruit.

It was an ordinary scene, no different from usual.

Yet something about it felt slightly unfamiliar.

Maybe it was because I kept thinking about the side of Sia she had shown me last night.

As I sat there absentmindedly, Sia, who had been peeling an apple, put down the knife and turned toward me.

“Oppa, what are you thinking about?”

“What happened last night.”

At that, Sia’s face slowly turned red.

“Th-that, oppa. I mean, yesterday...”

“Sia noona.”

When I teasingly called her noona like I had last night, Sia’s face reddened like a tomato.

Apparently embarrassed, she covered her face with both hands.

“Eee...”

“Last night, you were ready to devour me like a real noona. But today, you’re so shy.”

“Ugh. Why did I do that?”

“For someone saying that, you looked very happy last night.”

She had been the one to suggest it in the first place.

It seemed the embarrassment had only hit her afterward.

“I liked it, anyway. Let’s try a different role next time too.”

Not wanting Sia to feel any more embarrassed, I naturally changed the subject.

“Is there anything you want to do today?”

Sia munched on her apple and thought with a happy expression before quickly giving me an answer.

“A training-ground date!”

Not just a date, but a training-ground date?

Back when we attended Hunter Academy, we had done that often.

But now that Sia was a dragon so powerful she had no need for training, I did not think there was any reason for us to date at a training ground.

Still, if she wanted to do that,

“Are you trying to relive the old days?”

That was probably why.

“That too. But more than that, I genuinely want to help you train, oppa. I told you yesterday, didn’t I? I could see that you have the potential to become a ranker soon.”

Sia eagerly said she wanted to draw out my potential even a little sooner.

Of course, I wanted to see my potential bloom as quickly as possible too...

But that was that. At least for a week, I wanted to stick to Sia like glue and date her like an ordinary couple.

I had only just gotten my Sia back.

Wouldn’t it be okay to spend about a week like this?

“Let’s only train until three. After that, we can go on a normal date instead of a training-ground date. How does that sound?”

As if she had read my mind, Sia made an additional suggestion.

“Then let’s do that.”

“Okay!”

After finishing breakfast, we headed to the training ground.

It was one we had visited often during our Academy days.

I had thought we would never come here again.

“Being here brings back old memories.”

“Me too.”

Maybe because it was near the Academy campus, familiar signs caught my eye.

It really felt like we had traveled back in time a few years.

Once we arrived, we unpacked right away and began training in earnest.

Though, to be precise, it was my training, not ours.

I held the Dragon Bone Sword Sia had given me yesterday, while Sia pulled over a chair and sat directly behind me.

“Teacher, what should I do?”

I teasingly called Sia teacher.

“Teacher? Pfft.”

“You are teaching me, so you are my teacher.”

Perhaps unfamiliar with the title, Sia squirmed.

“I’m getting goosebumps, oppa.”

“Should I call you noona instead?”

“Eee...”

Sia neither agreed nor disagreed.

But the teasing did not last long.

Sia soon entered teacher mode and began overseeing my training.

“Let’s see. For the monster... a Wood Golem should be good.”

“That’s a B-rank monster.”

I thought she would choose one of the C-rank monsters, but Sia selected a B-rank Wood Golem for me to face.

“It won’t be as difficult as you think.”

It would be different in a real battle, but this was simulation training. Sia said we should be bold, and I agreed.

‘I’m excited.’

At first, I thought it was a little strange, but it also brought back memories of the old days.

And I was excited to see just how much power I could bring out.

What kind of talent did I have that had allowed me to draw out the Dragon Bone Sword’s power?

How far could it go?

Before beginning, I lightly swung the sword around.

As expected, I still did not understand.

“Even if it’s a simulation, you know this, right, oppa? Don’t think of it as training. Go all out.”

“Of course.”

I felt like I used to say that to Sia often during our training-ground dates.

I never expected those words to be returned to me today.

“Think of every Wood Golem that comes out as some girl trying to get your number, oppa. Take them down in one slash. Chop! Chop! You know what I mean, right?”

“Of course.”

Her tone was playful, but looking at Sia’s eyes, it did not seem like she was entirely joking.

‘Well.’

If I were in Sia’s position, that incident would bother me too.

I did not know whether I should laugh or not.

Anyway.

With that energetic shout, the simulation training began.

As soon as it started, training Wood Golems began appearing along the opposite wall.

‘What is the best way to handle them?’

The Wood Golems I had to face today had considerable defense, but their movement speed and attack power were unimpressive for B-rank monsters.

That meant agility and stamina would be the deciding factors.

Thinking back on yesterday’s battle, my agility did not seem like a major problem.

My stamina was probably the issue.

Still.

‘I just have to push through with sheer grit.’

There had been a saying like that before.

What mattered was an unbreakable spirit.

Keeping that thought close, I gripped my sword tightly and charged into the middle of the enemy formation.

The slowly approaching Wood Golems gradually picked up speed, but I did not care.

At this moment, boldness was the most important thing.

I spotted the Golem farthest from the others, ran straight toward it, and swung my sword.

Whoosh!

It might not have shown on the outside, but I could clearly feel it.

“Got it.”

Seeing it stagger, the blow seemed to have landed properly.

But I could not be satisfied with this.

I rolled forward to avoid the Golem’s slow attack.

At the same time, I swung sideways and cut into the Golem’s leg.

Slice!

It was not my imagination. Holding this sword definitely felt different.

‘But Sia said this was not simply because of the sword’s power.’

I had to keep thinking about why as I swung it.

Especially because this was training.

A massive Golem arm swung at me, but I ducked beneath it, then leaped with all my strength and drove my sword into another Golem.

‘The reason I can move like this.’

The Dragon Bone Sword.

If it was made from dragon bones, it naturally contained a dragon’s power.

Dragons.

Right. First, I should focus on what dragons were.

How could I draw out the power of dragons, the beings that reigned supreme over all others?

‘Sia said dragons are beings that reign and rule.’

Reigning and ruling.

Those keywords felt like they were almost within reach, but not quite.

Reigning and ruling did not suit a mere D-rank Hunter like me.

But if I wanted to draw out even a little of the dragon power contained in this sword, should I not become someone worthy of that status first?

According to Sia, those who had drawn out the Dragon Bone Sword’s power to its limits had usually become rulers.

They rose from humble origins to reign as kings, or united continents as kings of small nations and ruled over them.

Then perhaps I needed to swing this sword with the ambition of becoming a ruler too.

I still did not know why I had been able to draw out this sword’s power in the first place, but I felt like I vaguely understood what mindset I needed to wield it with.

I could not take the position of a challenger.

I had to swing it as if I had been above them from the beginning.

Not as though I had come to learn a lesson, but as though I had come to teach one.

I struck the Golem as if I were hitting a training dummy.

Craaaack!

With a heavier impact than before, one Golem collapsed in a single blow.

After confirming that it had fallen, I looked to Sia for her reaction.

“Nice, oppa!”

Sia’s face was filled with surprise and delight.

“That’s one number-grabbing girl down.”

I playfully pointed at the Golem that was staggering from my blow.

Because of her nature as a dragon, Sia could not simply forget yesterday’s unpleasant memory. Still, I hoped it would at least soften some of her bad feelings.

“Though they cannot even come close to my Sia.”

“Right, right.”

I deliberately added a cheesy line, and Sia nodded, apparently pleased.

Sia was happy, and I was starting to get the hang of it.

Now all that remained was to press forward.

I forgot what kind of sword I held and what enemy stood before me.

The number of Wood Golems kept increasing, but I continued swinging my sword without concern.

A confidence and thrill unlike anything I had felt before swept through my body.

Was this what people called a state of total absorption?

Little by little, my mind began to grow hazy.

‘...No.’

At first, I mistook it for that, but something was different.