Chapter 10

Usher gave one last mocking smirk with those cold eyes and walked away.

And honestly? It wasn’t even funny.

‘What’s the difference between him and some third-rate villain who yells “You’ll regret this!” before running away?’

Anyway, what remained was a lingering cloud of dust… the rubble of the collapsed wall…

…And a giant hole.

I scratched my cheek as I looked around at the mess.

‘Hmm… this might be a bit of a problem?’

What am I supposed to tell Ciara?

* * *

Fortunately, Usher’s little interruption was chalked up as just an overly… passionate appeal between Guardian candidates.

It was handled without any issues.

Mostly because the investigator believed my testimony completely.

Of course, I gave a statement that heavily favored Derek.

Well, it was the truth anyway.

‘Still, I didn’t think they’d actually buy it.’

Apparently, the fact that I cleared the Labyrinth, the same one Khan passed through, had drawn more attention than I expected.

And I had cleared it with record-breaking speed, no less.

‘Too much attention is dangerous.’

There’s a single truth that runs through this entire game.

‘Whether it’s too much attention or too little, either way, you’re screwed.’

If you get too little, even if you reveal your identity, you end up with no supporters, get buried by public opinion, and your political clout tanks.

If you get too much, you attract psychos: fanatics, spies, and worse.

‘For a happy ending, balance is everything…’

I stared blankly ahead.

Right in front of me was a pitifully hunched back, crouched on the ground like a crumpled paper bag.

‘Why’s this guy digging a hole in the floor like that after protecting me just fine?’

Since our previous room was half-destroyed by Daddy’s one-hit KO, we had to move to a new one.

Looking at him now, you’d never believe he was the same guy who blew up a wall with a single strike. All shy and curled up.

I stomped over toward him.

Whip!

Daddy immediately turned his body to hide his face.

Plod plod plod!

Whip!

Plod plod plod!

Whiiip…

“Oh, come on!”

Ugh, this man.

“I said I’m fine! Not hurt at all! Totally fine, okay?!”

That’s right.

This guy got totally shocked when I had a coughing fit because of the dust.

Was that really such a big deal?

‘Like, how would I know I’m that sensitive to dust?’

After I inhaled all that junk, I couldn’t stop coughing until I fell asleep.

Daddy stayed by my side all night.

Sure, he’s my Guardian, so it makes sense he stayed…

But still. It felt… different.

I’d never had anyone sit with me while I was sick before.

“Would you tell her to stop playing games for once?!”

“If you’ve got a problem, deal with it yourself. I don’t care anymore. I’m busy.”

“Oh, so you’re the only one who’s busy now?!”

Since I was little, I grew up with parents who were constantly busy and constantly at odds.

We weren’t poor, but there was a lot of violence at home.

Even when I was sick, I survived on the medicine left behind by the housekeeper.

Once, when I couldn’t handle it anymore, I called the ER myself and got there alone.

Even then, my parents didn’t show up.

“I said I’m fine…”

Anyway, I got better by the next day.

But clearly, my Guardian had taken some serious mental damage from the whole thing.

Honestly, that doctor wasn’t much help either.

“There are signs of mild asthma. Babies are more fragile than you think. Even small shocks can be fatal.”

“…!!”

I’ll never forget Daddy’s face, like he’d just been told the sun rises in the west.

He looked at me like, Can a baby die just from coughing?! That can’t actually happen… can it?

I was speechless.

Seriously, no, I’m not gonna die.

Wouldn’t most people just be like, Okay, I’ll be more careful next time?

But no. My Guardian went straight into self-blame mode.

To a very extreme degree.

[Status Effect: Low Self-Esteem]

It had to be that.

‘In the game too, this debuff made it way easier to get hit with other CC effects.’

I huffed and smacked Daddy’s forearm.

“Get up! I told you, I’m fine now!”

“…”

“If you don’t turn around right now, I’ll go look for Usher!”

“That’s too dangerous!”

Finally, Derek turned his head and I was left speechless by his face.

His eyes were slightly red.

He wasn’t crying, but he looked like someone who had just come back from crying.

On top of that, his exhausted face clearly showed he hadn’t slept at all.

With his naturally dramatic features, the whole look came off… almost decadently tragic.

‘Slap a cigar in his mouth and you’ve got yourself a noir film lead…’

The twitchy, anxious behavior really didn’t match the face though.

‘With a delicate mental state like that, how’s he supposed to survive this brutal world…’

Especially when this world is only going to get worse.

I’ve already mentally prepared myself for serious injury down the line.

‘Well, I’ve got Divine Power anyway. Eventually, I’ll be able to heal myself.’

The protagonist’s abilities include healing, after all.

‘And look at the size of this guy…’

I shook my head.

“Going back to Usher? Seriously, think again. That man is not sane.”

Well said, Daddy.

“And it was you, Daddy, who saved me from that crazy guy. Now look, I’m completely fine.”

“…That was yesterday.”

“Ugh, yesterday is yesterday.”

I didn’t know dust was that dangerous, okay? I didn’t even know this body had asthma.

“Think about it. Getting kidnapped and forcibly switched Guardians or coughing for a few minutes. Which one’s worse?”

He gave me a gentle look.

“…Still, if you’d gone with Usher, you probably wouldn’t have coughed.”

Excuse me?

“Huh?! And the kidnapping?!”

“I would’ve stopped that no matter what. That man’s still dangerous.”

Daddy looked serious, concerned.

“Good. That’s the spirit. But surely there’s a better answer than that?”

I get that this status effect is messing with his ability to think rationally…

But he’s clearly not stupid. I saw how he talked to Usher. This guy’s no fool.

Daddy hesitated for a moment, then replied quietly.

“…I realize now that the way I protected you was wrong. I’ll do better next time.”

I broke into a big smile.

“That’s the right answer.”

[“Daddy” is a little bit happier. Let’s cheer him up even more!]

[Ultimate Charm Attack: Boop your Cheek!]

Nope. Not doing it.

As I made a face, the mission sign sneakily changed its wording.

[Mission! Boop your Cheek!]

Ugh, still no. I don’t even need to use Purification right now.

[We recommend purifying your Guardian “Daddy” now. If you wish to skip, your next mission will be: ‘Ki—’]

I immediately cut it off.

“Daddy!”

We’re still in the stage of keeping things formal between Guardian and ward, right? Right??

Don’t test me, stupid sign.

[Mission! Boop your Cheek!]

[If you succeed, a favorable event may trigger!]

…Fine.

I clenched my eyes shut and gave his cheek a little poke.

“This is for you. Cheer up.”

“…”

Wait, why isn’t he saying anything?

[Hidden Skill “Purification” activated!]

A soft, holy light spread out between us.

The purification effect on Daddy lasted only a moment.

When I looked up, his gloomy eyes were staring straight into mine.

He looked… moved.

‘Wait, hold on. Why does he look even sadder now?’

He lowered his head and murmured with a small, defeated voice.

“I really don’t deserve a child like her…”

Hey. Signboard. Get out here.

Your dumb cuteness mission just made him more depressed.

You scam artist.

Then, the shameless signboard tossed out another mission.

[Maybe the problem is the emotional distance!]

[Let’s get closer to “Daddy”!]

[Go on a walk!]

A walk again?!

GS Team Corner

Hi, dear readers!
We’ve somehow made it to Chapter 10 — clap clap clap! (Or cry a little. Or both.)

Hello! This is your friendly neighborhood Gourmet Scans translator and editor speaking. We just need to rant a bit. </3
What have we gotten ourselves into?!

The editing workload keeps growing, and we’re working so hard just to match the quality of the original raw. Should we give up now?

…But our perfectionist editor refuses to let anything slip, so she keeps torturing herself for the sake of quality! The struggle is real.

Anyway, take a look at what we’ve managed to pull off so far:

Original Raw | GS Translation Result

What lies ahead? Let us pray for the poor soul… of our staff!