WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ My Girlfriend Returned as a Dragon ◈

Chapter 55: If Oppa Ever Became Famous….

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To escape the barrage of calls from reporters and guild representatives, and to talk about what was happening, I immediately video-called Sia.

As always, Sia answered as soon as I called.

[“Oppa! Oh, wait a second. Did something happen?”]

She greeted me happily, then saw my face on the screen and asked in a worried voice.

The exhaustion from answering calls all day must have been written all over my face.

[“Did you... lose the ring? Is that why you called?”]

Huh.

Come to think of it, the ring Sia gave me was not on my finger.

For a moment, I felt a chill at the thought that I might have lost it. Fortunately, after thinking back, I remembered that was not the case.

“No. I took it off for a moment while I was showering earlier, but I just remembered that I left it in the bathroom.”

I had nearly had ten years shaved off my life.

If I had really lost it, I had no idea how I would deal with the aftermath.

[“Whew, that's a relief. The ring isn't uncomfortable to wear, is it?”]

“Yeah. It fits perfectly. It's comfortable, too.”

Moments like this made me afraid of myself.

I could lie so smoothly without a single change in expression.

I was grateful that Sia had personally made it for me, and I knew wearing the ring helped me to some extent.

But that was separate from the indescribable unease I felt whenever I wore it.

I had gotten used to it enough that it was manageable now, but whenever I remembered that this ring and the necklace I was wearing were made from Sia's bones, goosebumps rose all over my body.

I casually went to the bathroom, put the ring back on, and showed it to Sia.

[“Even if you lose the ring, I can make another one. I just thought maybe you were worried about it.”]

Sia let out a relieved sigh.

[“Then, oppa, did something else happen?”]

I briefly summarized everything that had happened today.

“At first, it was interesting, but it gradually became tiring.”

[“It's still good news! It means people recognize and acknowledge what you've accomplished.”]

“Maybe I would have felt that way before, but I don't really care now. It doesn't matter if other people acknowledge me. What's important is being acknowledged by you.”

Whether I went from D-rank to B-rank in a month and a half or somehow reached SSS-rank, my only goal was to fully wield a dragon's power.

That was what I meant, but Sia seemed to take it differently. The moment she heard it, her face turned red, and she bashfully squirmed.

[“Oppa, honestly.”]

Sometimes, when Sia reacted like that, I felt embarrassed for no reason too.

After clearing my throat, I continued.

“So I'm getting tired of answering calls, but I can't just ignore them or turn my phone off. I don't know how they even got my number. I figured talking to our Sia would be better than taking calls from people like that.”

[“Mm-hm! Don't worry. I'll make that exhaustion disappear right away. Hmm, what should we talk about?”]

As we kept talking for a long time, we also discussed our date plans for this week.

After the long call ended.

“Then, I'll see you then.”

[“Okay! And oppa, if you're keeping your phone on because of me, it's okay to turn it off. If you need to call me, you have your laptop too.”]

“You're right. It's not like I have to contact you through my phone.”

Why had I not thought of that sooner?

I could use voice chat or whatever else. There were plenty of ways.

“Then, Sia, I'll probably keep my phone off today, so don't worry too much. Okay?”

[“Okay! It'll be dinner soon, so enjoy your meal.”]

“You too.”

After ending the call, I tossed my phone onto the bed, feeling refreshed.

Chatting with Sia for so long had swept away my exhaustion.

Since I had already told Sia I would turn off my phone, I was about to switch it off.

Then another call came in.

“Again...?”

Before I turned it off, I would answer this one. Just this one.

* * *

After ending her call with Minjun, Sia fell deep into thought.

It was undoubtedly good news that someone she loved was being recognized by so many people.

The calls from others had clearly worn him out, but even so, while they talked on the phone, Minjun had called it a pleasant kind of exhaustion.

Still, there was one thing that worried her.

‘What if oppa ends up appearing on TV?’

From the way Minjun had spoken earlier, he did not seem to have any intention of appearing on a program or agreeing to an interview.

But that was only her impression.

Who knew? Minjun might change his mind and appear on a famous program someday.

Someone else might think there was no reason to worry just because her boyfriend appeared on TV. They might think she should simply find it interesting and move on.

But Sia felt differently.

‘If oppa gets on TV and becomes famous, there'll definitely be one or two bitches who fall for him and start trying to seduce him.’

If Minjun appeared on a program, it would naturally cover his astonishing growth rate and achievements.

But Sia was certain that viewers would pay attention not only to Minjun's accomplishments, but also to his warm, handsome looks that rivaled those of celebrities.

A man who was not even a celebrity, yet had looks capable of stealing women's hearts. It would become a huge topic.

And considering the potential he had shown as a Hunter, he would draw even more attention.

He was capable and handsome. How could television stations possibly leave Minjun alone?

Then he would naturally receive opportunities to appear on other programs. If he became a celebrity, other women would naturally become interested in him. He might become close to pretty, famous female celebrities while working with them on shows...

But what if a woman who had appeared on a program with Minjun decided to try seducing him?

What if, in place of her, women who could meet Minjun without restrictions, and who were pretty, young, and capable, began subtly tempting him?

Most people would probably think her worries were ridiculous and excessive.

But this was a feeling that nobody could understand unless they were in her position.

It had not even been a month and a half since she returned to Earth, yet other women had already openly targeted Minjun twice.

She had heard before that women had asked Minjun for his number several times before her reincarnation.

And she had witnessed other women flirting with him in person many times as well.

But two incidents had already happened in such a short period. Of course she could not help feeling anxious.

Crunch, crunch.

Overcome with anxiety, she began chewing on her nails.

“That can't happen. It absolutely can't...”

No matter what happened, Minjun's face could not become known through television or even YouTube.

She wanted everyone in the world to recognize Minjun, yet at the same time, she wanted to be the only one who knew his charms. Those contradictory feelings stirred in her heart.

‘Why am I so anxious?’

After stopping herself from chewing her nails, Sia began smelling one of Minjun's old clothes that she had kept beside her.

Minjun's scent had faded considerably over time, but she could simply refresh it by spraying the perfume he usually wore.

“Whew.”

She calmed down a little, but then her thoughts began to drift elsewhere.

Come to think of it, wasn't Minjun exhausted because someone had leaked his contact information, causing all those calls to flood in?

‘Now that I think about it, that's really irritating.’

The attention Minjun was receiving was one thing.

But separately from that, who had carelessly spread that precious personal information around?

She wanted to see that person's face.

‘I should look into this too.’

She did not know how Minjun's personal information and number had been leaked, but if the number had been released without going through legal procedures...

Sia decided that whoever had done it would pay the appropriate price.

* * *

If I turned on my phone now, how many missed calls would be waiting for me?

I considered turning it on to check, but remembering the nonstop barrage of calls from earlier that day killed my motivation.

Maybe I should not turn it on until tomorrow at the earliest.

Still, turning off my phone did not mean I could do nothing, so I sat down in front of my laptop.

The first thing I did after turning it on was check the news.

Just as expected.

All sorts of articles about me had been posted across various portal sites.

<‘D-rank to B-rank,’ an achievement in one month. An unprecedented major rookie emerges in Korean Hunter history?>

<‘Villain or not?’ Experts: ‘High chance he deliberately concealed his strength’>

<‘Two ranks in a month and a half.’ Unprecedented growth speed draws attention overseas>

<A promising newcomer who appeared like a comet. Will China and Saudi Arabia open their wallets too?>

Though I had no intention of giving them anything, speculative articles were pouring out left and right.

Some even claimed it had to be fraud, baselessly raising suspicions that I had somehow deliberately manipulated my initial examination to measure my rank lower than it really was.

At least none of the articles contained information about my identity or clues that could reveal it.

If they had, I would have sued over the personal information leak.

Anyway, after checking the articles and before searching for Gates I could raid tomorrow or the day after, I checked my inbox for no particular reason.

Just as expected, I had received quite a few emails from guilds, broadcasters, and reporters.

I had deliberately not opened them and only checked the subjects, but after scanning through them, it seemed that a famous talk show on a major network had invited me too.

When was I supposed to reply to all of these?

And a major network show, huh...

I was a little tempted by the thought of meeting famous celebrities, but I decided to decline them all. It seemed like there would be more downsides than benefits.

After dealing with the emails, I began looking through available Gates again.

A B-rank Gate in the Seoul metropolitan area, where no guild held the raid rights, allowing unaffiliated Hunters like me to participate.

I needed to find Gates that met those conditions...

“There aren't many.”

I had expected the number of Gates I could join would be small, but there were far fewer than I thought.

The reasons were simple.

First, the lower a Gate's rank, the more common it was. The higher the rank, the fewer there were.

Second, guilds purchased the raid rights for most A-rank and B-rank Gates, so there were even fewer Gates that Hunters without guilds could join.

That was why, when I was a D-rank Hunter, I had no problem raiding Gates alone even without joining a guild.

Guilds did not often buy the raid rights for D-rank Gates, and there were so many of them.

But for B-rank dungeons and above, it was relatively difficult to participate in raids as a freelancer for those reasons.

‘Should I have just joined a guild?’

I had often heard that it was difficult for freelance Hunters to enter B-rank Gates.

But now that I was in that position myself, I wondered whether refusing to join a guild had been pointless stubbornness.

It was not like I had prejudice against guilds or trauma related to them.

Maybe it would be better to earn a little less, join fewer raids, and spend my extra time training or sparring.

Or should I ask Rokan for advice?

Rokan would probably know better than I did which choice was best.

Since I had thought of it, I headed straight to Rokan's lair.

But as soon as I arrived at the lair.

Rokan looked at me with surprise when he saw that I had just arrived.

“Interesting. As it happens, I was just about to contact you as well.”

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