Episode 40
"Become My Daughter!"
‘What? Guang Yu’s daughter, me?’
“Oh my, what is this? I thought you were single because you look so young, but you’re a dad?”
“Yes, isn’t my daughter pretty?”
“Did you get married young? Is it because she takes after her dad? She’s so pretty.”
“…Th, thank you.”
‘The conversation between the shopkeeper and Guang Yu flowed by so quickly that I missed my chance to deny it.’
I had no choice but to thank the shopkeeper, who was praising me.
“She’s still young, but she’s so polite! I’m in a good mood! Noodles are on the house!”
“Great! My daughter is hungry, so please prepare it quickly.”
“You’re so devoted to your daughter! Alright, I’ll prepare it quickly. Have a seat anywhere!”
‘Why is an unmarried man so naturally calling me his daughter like this?’
Especially to me, since we're not even related!
I glared at Guang Yu as if protesting, but he didn’t even bat an eye, maintaining his smiling face and pointing to an empty seat.
“Sit here.”
‘Yeah, what's the point? He's not going to listen to me anyway...he's a snake.’
Half-resigned, I followed Guang Yu and sat down on a simple wooden chair.
“When I offered to eat together, I honestly thought you would refuse. I thought you hated me. Or do you just really like dumplings?”
“I don't hate you. And yeah, I like dumplings, but not that much.”
‘He was a bit scary when he was a snake, but…’
Now that I know his true form, he doesn’t feel that scary anymore.
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Guang Yu seemed genuinely relieved, as if he really thought I hated him.
“I've been wondering for a while now, how can you see Pipi? I thought only I could see Pipi.”
Before the food came out, I asked Guang Yu what I was curious about.
“Ah, is that so? Yeah, I noticed he was transparent. I can see him because we're both spirit creatures.”
‘Pipi was a spirit creature?’
I knew the black snake was a spirit creature, but I didn’t know Pipi was one too…
I just thought he was a transparent messenger bird.
“Spirit creatures can recognize each other?”
“Yeah, we have a totally different aura from regular people or even martial artists.”
“I see.”
Guang Yu even set a pair of chopsticks in front of me while he was talking.
‘He's nicer than he acts.’
‘By the way, when would be a good time to bring up the main point? He seems to not dislike me since he’s even buying me dumplings, which is a relief.’
“Here, you must be hungry, enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you, shopkeeper.”
While I was pondering, the woman brought us dumplings and noodles.
‘Looks delicious.’
My mouth started watering as soon as I saw the food.
“Come on, eat before it gets cold. The noodles here are also delicious.”
Guang Yu put some dumplings on my plate.
‘I want to eat too… but my head is so complicated that I can’t eat in peace.’
If I eat feeling like this, I won't even enjoy it, and I'll probably get indigestion.
Worrying was only delaying the meal.
‘Might as well get it over with!’
Let's just do it and deal with the consequences later!
“Guang Yu, I have a favor to ask you.”
“A favor? What is it?”
Guang Yu, who was eating dumplings, looked at me with very interested eyes.
“I want you to teach me your martial arts!”
“…So you want me to be your master?”
“That’s right. I need a skilled master who can help me reach my full potential!”
“Hmm... me, a master? I wasn't planning on taking any disciples.”
As expected, Guang Yu didn’t seem to have much interest in taking on disciples.
‘Am I going to be rejected like this?’
I felt a bit disappointed, but I decided not to be discouraged.
‘Well, he's not the only strong master in the world. If he says no, I'll just eat a bunch of dumplings and go.’
It's no big deal.
I was already planning on drowning my sorrows in dumplings and noodles.
“Okay.”
“Yeah, if you don't want to, that's fine... Wait, what? Okay?”
‘I thought he'd say no for sure! He's agreeing just like that?’
Surprised, I looked at Guang Yu with an unbelievable face.
“Yeah, I’ll become your martial arts master.”
I was worried he might change his mind in a short moment, but Guang Yu reaffirmed his answer.
“Guang Yu, thank you so much! I'll work really hard and make you proud!”
I was so grateful, I swore I'd be his best student.
Guang Yu watched me with amusement, then gave me a knowing smile.
“However, there’s a condition.”
“…A condition?”
‘I knew he was accepting me too easily!’
What kind of condition will he set?
Usually, masters make you spar with them to test your skills before taking you on...
Can I even handle Guang Yu in my current state?
If I spar with Guang Yu, I'll probably get knocked out before I even learn anything!
But it's too late to back out now!
“What’s the condition?”
“Call me ‘Dad’. Just once.”
Guang Yu held up one finger and gave me a mischievous look.
“What??”
‘He’s not asking for money, just to call him ‘Dad’? It'd make more sense if he said he was testing me first!’
Is this really all it takes?
Of course, it's weird to call some random snake 'Dad' when I already have a real dad...
But since I really need a master, it's a great deal.
“Just once. Can you do that?”
‘Is it just me, or does Guang Yu want this more than I do?’
Guang Yu even stopped eating his dumplings and begged me to call him 'Dad,' hands clasped together.
‘Maybe I can get even more out of this?’
“I'm a loyal daughter, so I don't call anyone 'Dad' except my real dad. But if you promise to teach me the Void Step no matter what, I'll consider it.”
“I’m good at the Void Step.”
‘Did I go too easy on him?’
Seeing Guang Yu answer without hesitation, I felt a bit regretful and quickly added a condition.
“And another thing! Promise you'll make me the best.”
“The best... You mean, even better than the Heavenly Demon?”
‘Is that how it comes out?’
I forgot.
‘I remember from the original story, the old Heavenly Demon was the strongest until my dad took over, so my dad's the best right now.’
“Yeah! That’s right.”
I answered resolutely.
‘In the story, my dad goes berserk and gets killed by that Namgung jerk, so I need to be stronger than Dad to beat him.’
My goal is to protect Dad.
‘So I want to be strong enough to win, no matter what!’
At my words, Guang Yu seemed to fall into thought and remained silent for a while.
‘Was asking to be the best too much? You can't really reach that level just from someone teaching you.’
So anyone who promises that is a liar.
I was about to take it back when Guang Yu spoke up.
“Well, you've got potential, so I think it's possible. I promise I'll do my best to make you the best.”
“Great!”
“So, now that we've agreed, are you going to call me 'Dad'?”
As soon as we finished, Guang Yu looked at me with this totally innocent face, like he hadn't just been all serious.
‘Is he really the same person, no, the same snake?’
“Yeah, I’ll call you.”
“Yes! Okay, just a second, let me catch my breath! Huff...”
Guang Yu took a deep breath as if he was nervous.
‘What's the big deal? Why is a spirit creature getting so worked up about this?’
“I’m ready now!”
Guang Yu leaned in with this super serious look on his face.
‘I thought it'd be easy, but now that I'm actually doing it, it's harder than I thought.’
Ugh, why am I stalling? Let's just get this over with so I can eat!
My stomach growled, looking at the cooling dumplings and noodles, and I made up my mind.
“Dad!”
'Sorry, Dad! I only have one real Heavenly Demon Dad!'
As I called Guang Yu 'Dad,' I felt bad for my real Heavenly Demon Dad and sent him a silent apology.
‘But why is Guang Yu so quiet?’
“……”
Even though I did what he wanted, Guang Yu just froze like a statue.
“You’re alive, right?”
I poked Guang Yu's shoulder, and he turned to me with this super serious face.
“You…”
‘He's my master now, so I hope he's not mad that I poked him.’
I was about to apologize, but then Guang Yu held out his hand and yelled,
"Be my daughter!”
