Nian. A six-star Defender operator and the first limited operator. What's a sis with that striking Latoudi skin doing in Dragon Gate?
No surprise, really. As one of Shei's fragments, she's bound to travel through Yeomguk too, always chasing after something new and fun.
Still—I didn't expect to run into her like this.
It was already strange enough to meet Ling here, but add Nian to the mix? I'd assumed the only place I'd see her in person, if she was even alive when I grew up, would be on Rhodes Island.
"Hey, kid. Not yelling anymore?"
"Well, I figured we were heading for a meal anyway, and it wouldn't hurt to have someone tagging along, right?"
"If I were some villain, what are you gonna do following me this easily?"
"Just feeling it? And nobody who likes spicy food is a bad person… probably."
"Huh? You really are a reckless kid, aren't you?"
"So then, what about you? Just grabbing some kid off the street to come eat with you, and you call that normal?"
"Because I'm an adult, duh."
"Seriously… what kind of nonsense logic is that?"
Even when I first saw Ling, and even with that Mountain Spirit riding around in her body, I'd felt it: gods aren't necessarily worthy of respect.
"Forcing your nonsense through—that's real power, newbie!"
"Ah, yes… I see your point…"
Nian was ridiculous in her own lane—more like a goddess than a person.
Lunch break—two hours. Plenty of time.
Following her into the hot pot joint, Nian was already ordering dishes like a regular.
"By the way, you got any money?"
"Huh? Of course I do. Did you think I just wandered in here without a plan?"
Hearing that sensible answer from a goddess who looked like she had no thoughts of her own—what a shock.
"Anyway, aren't I the real surprise here?"
"What's so mysterious? Snatching a random kid off the street to just go eat dinner together?"
Hmm. Honestly, that part is pretty weird…
At that, Nian's face froze in surprise for a moment before she burst into boisterous laughter. Yeah, this goddess was definitely insane.
"When I heard about you from sis I didn't know what to expect—but meeting you in person is way more fun than I thought! Damn right I came all the way to Dragon Gate, even if it was a hassle!"
If from sis…
"Ling told you about me?"
"Yeah. She talked you up a lot—didn't she?"
Me? Why? Did she have to go on and on? I knew she was friendly with me, and I knew she'd helped me more than once. But would she rave about me to the other siblings? Or did that eccentric goddess just overreact?
"What's with that look?"
"I'm expressing the awkward mix of surprise and confusion—about the state I'm in right now."
"What even is that? Sounds like something Sina would love to say."
"Anyway, why were you talking about me? I didn't think I was that special."
If you asked whether I was ordinary, I'd say no—but would someone who's seen so much more than me really find me special?
"I was the one curious enough to come find you myself. Lately I've been wondering why sis has been grinning all over the place."
"People usually laugh when they drink."
"We're gods, you damn kid. And don't cut me off when I'm talking."
Pressing her finger against my forehead, Nian continued.
"Turns out it's not just any laugh—you're always laid-back and quick to smile, sure, but she's been laughing more than usual lately. The last time she laughed this much was… maybe three hundred years ago? She was over the moon when she found a stash of good wine back then."
"Three… hundred years?"
Three hundred years. That's ancient by my standards—how does that sound from her perspective?
"When I asked what was so entertaining, she said she'd found an interesting kid in Danguk."
She'd found me, huh. True enough—I wasn't the first to seek her out.
"I thought, how interesting could a kid really be? But when sis asked so earnestly to know about you, her voice got so excited she said she was dying to learn more."
"So you deliberately came nearby to find me?"
"No? I heard you were in Dragon Gate, but meeting you here was pure coincidence."
"…So I was just unlucky enough to bump into you?"
"No, you lucky brat—you ran into me. You know, in Yeomguk, even dreaming of dragons is a sign of good fortune."
"So does that mean you're destined for good fortune every time you meet Ling?"
"…You sure know how to dig into the weirdest details, don't you?"
I mean, honestly—that's a question worth asking.
"Anyway, I was curious enough to find you myself. And well… you're fun to be around."
"I can't really pinpoint what, though."
"Your manner of speech and your appearance—there's something adult about you, then something childlike. But funniest of all is…the fact you carry something interesting inside you?"
"…Ugh? Wh-what?"
An overwhelming pressure bore down on me, like my head was magnetically glued to the table.
I can't even lift my head…!
What on Terra is this pressure? Even raising my head feels like courting death. In this cramped shop it's as if the entire city's gravity is bearing down on me.
"After seeing sis for the first time in ages, you'd rather hide than even come out and greet her? With that build of yours~"
That wasn't aimed at me—it was aimed at the Mountain Spirit inside me.
Get out! You're going to kill me!
This thing has no intention of leaving. Or maybe it is a problem if it does—could be blood streaming from my nose or mouth again like last time.
"Sir, here's your hot pot… um, the child you're with doesn't look well. Are you both all right?"
"Hm? Ah, don't worry about it. Something about a game yesterday… yeah? Guess she was up all night and's just tired."
Ridiculous. How can someone serve food so nonchalantly under that kind of presence? Could she be some martial master?
No, that's not it. They just can't sense it.
That chilling presence, like Mount Tai crushing me beneath its weight, was something only I could feel. It meant Nian was absurdly modulating her strength—while chatting as if nothing was happening.
"Now then~ time to get up, right?"
"…Behemoths are all such pains in the ass."
"Oh ho. Is that what you say to sis when you haven't seen her in ages?"
"Sis is a real pain."
That was my voice, but it wasn't me speaking. Nian had used raw power to drag the Mountain Spirit out by force.
I'm in so much fucking pain… goddamn it…
Luckily I didn't throw up blood this time, but there was a separate sensation like someone was hammering me from the inside.
"Heh—still a young vessel, yet you're holding up pretty well, huh?"
"They used to call you a psychopath for stuff like this, right?"
"…How did you end up stuck in that body anyway?"
"Shut up. I don't want to hear it from you lot."
"You know our situation too—we weren't in any position to help."
"…Yeah, I know that well."
"Someone who knows you said, what's up with that attitude of yours? It's nothing more or less than a temper tantrum."
"Right. It's a tantrum. My mother got reduced to nothing more than a human plaything, then turned into a seed, and now I'm forced to parasitically cling to this kid—busy trying not to break the vessel, busy fighting monsters. I've every reason to throw a fit."
The longer this baffling conversation and the words cast into the air dragged on, the pain only intensified. It no longer felt like a hammer blow but an entire anvil crashing down on me.
"…You haven't changed at all. Back then or now."
"And you—still love spicy food, and you're just as slickly annoying as ever."
"Ugh, tch. Back when you were a kid at least you were fun to tease. Enough. Change now."
"Just your damn taste—cough!kuhff…ugh…"
"Don't vomit. You'd waste the hot pot I just ordered."
Fuck, what a motley crew of crazies. That Mountain Spirit spat out a string of curses the moment it reappeared before falling silent, and Nian left me in agony only to tell me not to throw up.
"…What the hell… was that… conversation…"
The seed my mother, the Box Elder, once carried, that Mountain Spirit born from it, and Shei—what on earth ties them all together?
"Kid. Have you ever heard of the [Golden Edict]?"
"Golden Edict…??"
Wasn't there an operator… Logos, maybe? She used an Art tied to the Golden Edict. Well, she died before even becoming Director, so I don't know the details.
"It literally imposes a constraint on language. You've got a similar effect on you right now. Looks like that kid inside you is working hard to break it, but it's still too early."
Damn it—they drop all this bait but make me wait for the explanation. If this were a webcomic, I'd be clicking for paid episodes in a frenzy.
"Let's eat. If it gets cold it'll taste like shit, right?"
"…I haven't known you long, but I'm starting to get annoyed."
"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it? I'm actually starting to like you quite a bit."
Don't say stuff that creepy, you damn dragon.