My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon - Chapter 40

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 40: Oppa, I Heard Everything.

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‘How long was I asleep?’

Yawning widely, I turned on the phone beside my pillow and checked the time.

It was already past eleven.

I had gone to bed around ten last night, which meant I had slept for a full thirteen hours.

Yet I was still exhausted. The side effects of forcing myself to use Dragon Speech seemed far worse than I had expected.

I checked my phone again.

As expected, there were many missed calls and messages.

I had been unconscious for three days, so it was only natural.

Yesterday, I had neither the energy to contact anyone nor a charged phone to receive calls with.

Normally, I would start the day with a sweet call with Sia, but...

Before I could focus on talking to Sia without worry, I thought it would be better to handle other business first.

So I called Taeseong, the leader of the Dragon Sword Garden raid party.

The call connected the instant I pressed the button.

[Minjun! Why haven't you answered your phone?]

We had only met that day, but I had acted strangely before vanishing without a word.

Of course he would have been worried.

He sounded angry, but I could sense Taeseong's relief beneath it.

I apologized and explained why I had been unable to contact him.

Of course, I could not tell him about Rokan, so I mixed truth and lies as needed.

I told him that I had decided receiving treatment from a Healer I knew would be more effective than going to a hospital, and that I had been unconscious the entire time and could not contact anyone.

Once I finished explaining, Taeseong seemed to understand.

[...I see. Are you feeling better now?]

“Yes. I think I'll be fine after resting for a few more days.”

[That's a relief.]

It wasn't my fault, but I still felt bad about it.

More importantly, how was everyone else?

Things had been so chaotic right after I came out of the Gate that I had not properly checked on them.

“Are you and the others all right, Taeseong?”

[We're fine...]

When I asked about the raid party, Taeseong said that most of them had only suffered exhaustion or minor injuries.

Considering what had happened in the Gate, the damage was small. I breathed a sigh of relief to myself.

That was enough checking in.

There were a few things I wanted to ask Taeseong, so I got straight to the point.

“By the way, Taeseong. What happened while I was gone?”

[...Hell broke loose.]

Apparently remembering it still made him shudder. Taeseong swallowed before explaining what had happened.

After a sudden accident separated me and the other raid members into different spaces, ghost-type monsters suddenly began pouring in from the other side.

They resembled the Sword’s Lingering Will we had seen outside the tomb, but like the other monsters inside, they gave off a gloomy light. There were also a great number of them.

The raid party had been at an absolute disadvantage in both strength and compatibility, and they had realized that it was only a matter of time before everyone was wiped out.

[But just when we were gritting our teeth and trying to hold on, the exit suddenly opened. I don't know why it opened, but did that really matter? What mattered was that we could get out alive.]

After that, they escaped the Gate as if by miracle, and the whole story ended with them meeting me, who had exited the Gate before them.

But as I listened to the full account, I noticed something strange.

“Then the clearing condition was never discovered?”

[No. It's still a mystery. A Dungeon Gate being cleared without us knowing its clearing condition isn't something that makes sense.]

“Right.”

Though I was puzzled by the incomprehensible situation, part of me felt relieved.

It seemed that no one else had learned about Dragon Speech because of it.

But then...

[Do you happen to know what the clearing condition was, Minjun?]

“What?”

As if he had read my mind, Taeseong asked the exact question I had feared.

[I was wondering whether the clearing condition had something to do with you.]

...Considering that I had been at the center of most of the strange phenomena at the time, anyone would have suspected me.

If this had been an in-person conversation, he might have seen the answer on my face.

“I don't... really know either. I actually thought everyone else knew the clearing condition, and I was the only one who didn't.”

In times like this, even if I knew, I had to say I did not.

There was nothing to gain from letting others know about Dragon Speech.

Sia might not mind, but Rokan probably would not want its existence known to the world.

[Then could you tell me what happened to you during that one hour?]

Wait.

One hour?

Even by the most conservative estimate, I had been trapped in that place for over half a day.

That was being generous. It would not have been strange if even more time had passed.

But there was no way all of that had happened in just one hour.

‘That makes no sense.’

I would have to talk to Rokan about this later.

[...Minjun?]

I had become so lost in thought that I forgot to answer.

“Ah, sorry.”

I had to lie to Taeseong again, just as I had before.

But what could I say that he would believe?

After quickly thinking it through, I finally spoke.

“To be honest... when I came to, I was already outside the Gate. Something definitely seems to have happened, but I can't remember it clearly. I don't know what happened, but when I woke up outside, I was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.”

Even as I said it, I did not think it would work.

If I were Taeseong, I would have wondered what nonsense I was hearing.

My memory suddenly cutting off like that sounded like some criminal making excuses.

[Well, I suppose that could have happened.]

But unexpectedly, Taeseong accepted it without further complaint.

Maybe he meant to let it go for now, whether I had truly lost my memories or was trying to hide something.

Or perhaps, because so many things beyond common sense had happened in that Gate, he simply thought it was possible.

Either way, I silently sighed in relief.

[Anyway, I'll contact you again soon. If you remember anything before then, please make sure to contact us.]

“Okay.”

I had taken care of the urgent matter, so now it was time to call Sia.

I called her using the phone Rokan had prepared separately.

There was only one reason I used Rokan's phone instead of mine.

It was connected to the screen in this room.

Not long after the ringtone began, Sia's face appeared on the monitor.

[Good morning, oppa! How are you today? Are you feeling better?]

Perhaps because I had called late, Sia was not wearing her usual pajamas. Instead, she was dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants.

That hoodie looked like something I had given her a long time ago.

It seemed more comfortable than I had expected, since she used it often.

“Yeah. Thanks to you. I think I'll be fine after a little more rest.”

[Get better soon, oppa. Aww. I already want to see you. I think I'll get tired of waiting.]

Seeing me bedridden must have upset her, because Sia complained adorably.

Normally, even if it was only once a week, we could still meet in person.

But Rokan had forbidden us from seeing each other this week, saying we needed to be careful just in case.

Naturally, both of us missed each other even more.

“What were you doing, Sia?”

It did not look like she was dressed to go out.

[Oh, I was making something.]

“What?”

Sia put a finger to her lips and gave me an adorable wink.

For some reason, I felt like she was making a gift for me.

Otherwise, knowing Sia, she would not call it a secret.

So I decided not to ask any more about it.

[I was making abalone porridge for you, oppa!]

Sia disappeared from the screen for a moment, then returned carrying a sealed container filled with porridge.

[I'll send it to you now!]

“Thanks. I'll enjoy it.”

The moment I finished speaking, the container that had been in Sia's hands appeared right in front of me.

Magic really was convenient.

She could send something from Jeju to Taebaek, where Rokan's lair was, in less than a second.

I put a folding table on the bed and began eating the porridge Sia had made. Sia said she was about to have lunch too, then brought out her own food.

As expected, Sia was having tteokbokki for lunch.

We looked at each other through the monitor and chatted quietly as we ate.

We talked about ordinary things, then about what I had already told Rokan, meaning what had happened inside the Dragon Sword Garden.

But while discussing what had happened there, something suddenly came to mind.

“Sia, this just occurred to me. Was there ever an Emperor named Minos in your world?”

[Hmm, I'm not sure. Wait a moment.]

Sia tilted her head at my question.

[I don't know much about the continent's history from three thousand years ago, but if we narrow it down to the last three thousand years or so, there were a few. But that Minos probably wasn't the person you're talking about.]

After searching through her memories, Sia said that Minos probably was not the person I meant.

Maybe Minos had lived in a different dimension from Sia, or perhaps he had lived in an unimaginably distant past.

I had hoped to find some clue about the Gate's secrets, so it was disappointing.

“Then were there any Emperors throughout history who used Dragon Speech?”

[There were a few. Why? Are you curious?]

“Yeah. I thought it might help to know.”

As with Minos, their stories might help me handle the power of a dragon in the future.

Sia told me about the lives of Emperors who had wielded a dragon's power.

They were clearly all different people, but the pattern of their lives was strangely similar.

After awakening a new power, they became incomparably stronger and left their names on the continent as its greatest warriors.

Just like Minos.

“Then was there anyone who wanted to go beyond wielding a dragon's power... and become a dragon outright?”

[Huh? Well, I don't think there was anyone like that. If there had been...]

Sia trailed off and looked conscious of me.

Her expression clearly said she was hiding something.

[No, it's nothing.]

“What do you think would have happened if there was someone like that?”

When I asked again, Sia rolled her eyes and thought deeply before answering.

[No, it's just... I don't think they would have lived out their natural lifespan. You're different from other people, oppa. You have natural talent, and Grandfather and I are helping you. But they wouldn't have had that, right? Since they didn't know what they were doing, they probably went in the wrong direction and only damaged their health.]

It sounded similar to what had happened to Minos with his mana reflux.

Conversely, that meant if Minos had trained with the help of other dragons... at the very least, his body would not have been damaged by mana reflux.

That probably meant that, at least in that respect, I was safe.

Still, I did not think Sia would have hesitated so much merely to say that.

Something about it left me uneasy, but I continued our conversation.

We talked about my future training plans, other matters concerning the Gate, and even our next date.

Of course, I deliberately did not mention the thing that would upset Sia, the broken Dragon Bone Sword.

I could think about that later, after hearing what Rokan had to say.

Anyway, as we kept chatting and were nearly done eating, I received a call from my mother.

“Sia, hold on a moment. I'll take my mother's call and come back.”

[Okay.]

After asking Sia to excuse me, I answered my mother's call.

“Hello.”

[Minjun, are you doing well?]

“Yes.”

[Sia came by the house a few days ago. Next time, come visit with Sia.]

Maybe she simply wanted to hear her son's voice after so long.

From what she was saying, it seemed she had not heard about what had happened in the dungeon.

There was nothing to gain from her knowing, and since I had only lost consciousness and my life had not been in danger, Sia probably had not felt the need to tell my parents.

After we talked briefly about Sia's visit a few days ago and other ordinary things, my mother brought up something else.

[By the way, Minjun, do you remember Yuna from when you were little? The girl who did child modeling with you. Go Yuna.]

“Yes. I remember... her.”

Why was she suddenly bringing up Yuna?

Since getting her contact information, I had not spoken to Yuna even once.

Neither of us even knew the other's number, so how could we have contacted each other?

[Yuna's mother called me for the first time in years. Yuna is working in Korea now, so she came to Korea for a while to see her. It was nice hearing her voice again after so long.]

As I listened, I began to get a bad feeling.

I tried to keep my voice as natural as possible.

“Ah, really? I thought she had settled down in America permanently.”

[Yuna's family is still there, but Yuna came back to Korea alone to start a business. Her mother said you met Yuna recently?]

“Yes.”

[Since this has happened, Yuna's mother suggested that Yuna, her mother, you, and I all have a meal together. What do you think?]

“Well...”

Before I had a chance to refuse, my mother continued.

[Yuna's mother really wants to see our Minjun. Do you remember how much she adored you? Now that we're talking about it, I'm curious about how Yuna has grown up too. So, Minjun, when are you free?]

I wanted to refuse because of Yuna and Sia, but I was in a difficult position.

If I agreed with my mother, Sia was certain to get jealous. If I refused, I would feel bad toward my mother for no reason.

I also remembered how kindly Yuna's mother had treated me when I was young, so I would feel bad toward her too.

Should I tell her I would think about it first?

Wait.

Had I muted the phone I was using to talk to Sia...?

‘...I didn't?’

I had meant to mute it because talking to someone else might bother Sia.

But I was not used to receiving a call on another phone in the middle of a call, so I had forgotten for a moment.

‘Still, she couldn't have heard what Mother said, right?’

I was not even using speakerphone, so there was no way she could have heard that much.

Or so I thought, until I looked at the screen.