Retire 265

by Cristae

265 Tati (4)

“Does your species have the concept of family?”

<Huh?>

“How do I even explain this… Do you give birth to offspring? Or are you born from eggs? …I guess I shouldn’t think in human terms. Maybe you just sprout from the ground.”

<Heejae?>

“No, no. Tati, is there someone who gave birth to you?”

<Me… um?>

A whole storm passed as I tried to explain the concept of “giving birth.”

Fortunately, Tati understood without much difficulty.

<*#$^$ There is. There is. Is there?>

“I have one too.”

So many words were needed just to explain a single term.

It was a task that required patience. But it didn’t feel pointless, or like a waste of time.

At first, I found it odd, but now I understood why.

Because, at least in this dungeon, I could just be myself.

I didn’t have to wear a mask. I didn’t have to think about all the complicated things. Among humans, I could never simply be human, but here, before a creature called a monster, I could remain human.

How absurd that was.

I looked at Tati. Those large golden eyes blinked slowly, and when our gazes met, Tati broke into a bashful smile.

The hair was replaced by branches, leaves, and flowers—a form so alien, yet it didn’t feel grotesque. On the contrary… it was beautiful. Yes, beautiful.

Not a human kind of beauty.

Not the beauty of a monster, but the beauty of a landscape painting. Like a delicate drawing of flowers. Or a painting of a tree glittering under the summer sun.

Maybe that’s why some people end up enchanted by them.

If you think about it, even that damned research institute…

<Heejae.>

A clear voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

Maybe it was the fairy’s girlish appearance, the birdlike quality of its speech, or the awkward pronunciation when it spoke Korean, but I kept treating Tati as I would one of my younger siblings at the lab. Still, it felt a little unfair to compare Tati to those kids, who sometimes led actual riots at the lab. Besides, the sense of youth came only from Tati’s appearance and voice; the more we talked, the more I realized how intelligent Tati truly was.

Surprised?

No. Afraid.

Tati was learning a language whose pronunciation was nearly impossible to imitate, and doing so at a terrifying speed. Look at this: the concept of birth, the idea of family, relationships centered around me, how those relationships change titles.

Even with my clumsy explanations, Tati understood right away.

Yes. I mustn’t forget. Even if Tati is smiling so innocently now, the same Tati attacked me the moment I was swept into the dungeon by the gate. When it seemed a quick victory wasn’t possible, Tati filled the dungeon with mud without hesitation.

If Tati hadn’t pulled me out partway, I would have died.

…If Tati hadn’t been curious about humans and other races, I’d be dead for sure.

<Heejae?>

I molded a lump of Tati’s mud. I couldn’t make anything as delicate as the kids at the lab did. They could make all sorts of strange things out of clay. Still, as I stuck on more mud, it started to look vaguely human.

<This, human?>

“Yeah. If I say this is me.”

<Heejae? Ummm. Got it!>

Tati watched me closely, then started shaping mud as well. A mud doll similar to mine took shape—head, two arms, two legs.

Tati reached out. A branch from a nearby tree dropped down. Tati snapped it off and stuck a thin twig into the head of its mud doll, like a toothpick.

I asked, just to be sure.

“…Is this Tati?”

<Yup!>

Tati’s leafy hair swayed happily.

<))))))))>

I listened to that clear laughter and went back to shaping mud.

Next to my mud doll, I made a smaller one, about half its size.

“This is my sibling.”

<Sibling…>

“A family member born after me.”

<Family, after… #*#!$@>

See? Tati really is quick to understand.

Tati started making tiny dolls too, following my lead. Unlike Tati, who had a twig in its head, the little ones each had a small leaf.

I pointed at the small doll beside mine.

“This is Irok. Irok.”

<I… um?>

“Irok. My sibling’s name.”

<Sibling… I… Iro. Iro, keu? geu?>

“Ah. Is that pronunciation hard? You managed all the others so well.”

I burst out laughing at Tati’s struggle with the unfamiliar sounds. Tati shot me a look, but didn’t seem truly upset.

I looked up at the sky. What time was it outside? Once you enter a dungeon, you lose all sense of time.

A dungeon with no sun. Always bright, always dark. The stars were so thick overhead it looked like they’d pour down, but it felt more hollow than beautiful.

I looked at the little dolls.

“It probably won’t happen, but…”

In the end, our DNA is the same. Of course, since they were made from mine, it’s only natural. Who knows if those drugs really affect awakening or mana, but even if not, one day they’ll awaken, just like I did.

If everything goes according to plan… maybe I can bring them here. Maybe I’ll be able to introduce Tati, and tell them that in this world, there are creatures full of curiosity and laughter, not just monsters that eat humans.

Anything can happen in this world.

“But just in case.”

<Huh?>

“If you… ever meet my sibling.”

Anything can happen in a dungeon.

<Heejae’s sibling?>

Of course, Tati’s dungeon might be cleared before that even happens.

Or my plan might fail and everything could end.

Still, with hope that everything would work out, I said to Tati,

“Be good friends with them.”

<Friends… friend?>

“Yes. Friend.”

My brother’s cheeky remark about not having any friends still stings in my chest.

“Be their friend, too.”

<Friend!!!>

Tati pulled out a porcelain doll from somewhere and suddenly started putting on a puppet show.

“……”

Honestly, it felt like watching a child play house.

It wasn’t the smoothest explanation, but it wasn’t so complicated as to be hard to understand, either.

Tati struggled to form elegant sentences, but the words that came out hit the core. Don’t be fooled by the naive appearance. This is the same Tati who first just tried to drive us out, then submerged the entire gate in mud.

…If Tati recognized my sister’s—my brother’s—sword, why bother driving us out of the dungeon?

I looked at the fairy, grinning as if it knew nothing. When our eyes met, it smiled even wider.

<Heejae’s sibling!>

“……”

Maybe Tati thought if it drove us out, we’d come back again? If the gate was buried in mud, it would be easier to… catch us alive, and then it could talk to us more easily?

Even if not for conversation…

Hmm.

I had my suspicions, but no way to confirm them. Should I ask? There’s no guarantee I’d get an answer, but there’s no harm in trying. If Tati answers, good; if not, oh well. That’s all there is to it.

If only Hong Seokyoung weren’t here.

I glanced at Hong Seokyoung.

Even if I didn’t say anything, I felt sure he’d already guessed. But there was no reason to say it out loud. It would only put him more on edge. As it was, he looked ready to cut Tati down at the slightest provocation.

Still, where to start…

I understood how Tati met my brother, and how they became close.

So… what next? Was there a reason my brother had to give Tati that business card?

<Ah… right, this.>

After chattering excitedly with the porcelain doll, Tati blinked.

<This… said to tell you.>

The sentences were getting longer.

It was like Tati was remembering a language it hadn’t used in a while.

“If someone comes?”

Tati’s eyes rolled.

“……”

<……>

There was still Kim Chaemin’s magic between us. I didn’t trust Tati enough to drop it yet.

<There……>

Tati mouthed the words. Even that was so humanlike. Did my brother teach Tati? Or was it learned from all the humans who’d come into this dungeon?

If it learned from humans… At some point, Tati had put down the porcelain doll and was fiddling with the business card. It was obvious Tati wanted something. It kept glancing at us, opening and closing its mouth.

“Tati.”

It was Hong Seokyoung who spoke up.

Surprisingly, he used Tati’s name. I’d introduced it rather casually, but I hadn’t expected him to be the first to use it.

Tati’s eyes grew wide.

“That business card is one my friend used to have.”

Hong Seokyoung pulled out a card identical to the one Tati was holding. The very card Kim Yuhwa had kept until the end.

“Does this prove we have the same friend?”

<……^*)&&&$^($&>

Tati broke into a broad smile. It had smiled without reserve before, but this was different.

<Friend!>

“Yes. Friend.”

Hong Seokyoung smiled back at Tati.

…Was this really okay?

“So where are we supposed to go?”

<I… don’t really know.>

“You don’t know?”

“It’s fine. Just tell us.”

<!%## is there… Ga, wondo? Gang, won.>

With just a business card, the fairy’s mouth opened so easily.

“…Gangwon-do, huh.”

Hong Seokyoung exchanged glances with me. As we listened to Tati’s halting explanation…

“The Mud Dungeon.”

“It’s the Mud Dungeon.”

“Oh, that place? I said I wanted to go back there. Let’s go again.”

I asked Tati again.

“Nowhere else? We’ve already been there.”

<Huh? You’ve been?>

“Did my brother only mention that place?”

<Um…>

Tati blinked.

<Um, um, there?>

“There? Where?”

<Myeo, myeong… dong? The place with cows.>

Ah.

Really. Please.

Why does that damned dungeon, closed for so long, keep coming up?

I saw Hong Seokyoung’s lips twitch with the same emotion I felt.

“We’ve… already been there, too.”

<Ohhh? Really? Then, um, um…>

Tati was visibly flustered.

Fidgeting, the fairy ran its fingers over the thorns on its head, then looked up with a determined face.

<Jinae!!!>

“……”

<Pa… pa… song.>

“Songpa?”

“……”

<……>

Not much help.

I wasn’t sure if Tati picked up on the awkward mood among the humans, but it spoke up urgently.

<Then, then, Busan!>

So flustered, the pronunciation came out surprisingly clear.

<Bu, Busan!>

“Busan?”

<……Port, gu.>

Port?

Suddenly, I realized. The previous places—Gangwon-do, Myeongdong, Songpa—were dungeons.

<Warehouse.>

But this… this wasn’t a dungeon.