I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Michael lifted the bumblebee by the scruff of its neck.
“Time to head home now.”
The bumblebee flailed its limbs, struggling to escape, but couldn’t break free from Michael’s grip.
“See you next time, Isabel!”
“Understood.”
Isabel walked the bumblebee and Michael to the door to see them off, then trudged back inside.
She sat on the bed, looking somewhat dejected.
Seeing her like this, Luluka couldn’t help but break into a beaming smile.
‘Ah, my heart aches.’
Isabel, with her expression full of longing, was still utterly adorable.
Luluka asked.
“Are you really that sad the bumblebee is leaving?”
“Yes.”
“But he said he’d be back soon.”
“What if my brother teases him again?”
Isabel’s face filled with worry.
Luluka gazed at Isabel with eyes full of affection and asked.
“Why do you like the bumblebee so much?”
“The bumblebee’s fur is so soft. Its body is warm—it’s like hugging a furnace.”
“But it’s summer.”
“Warmth is always nice. I have poor circulation in my extremities….”
“Pardon?”
“No! It’s nothing.”
My body in my previous life had been a total mess, and poor circulation was one of those problems.
My hands and feet were so cold they felt like ice, and it was unbearable.
That’s why I loved holding something warm in my hands, and the bumblebee’s body was perfect for that.
“When I tuck my hands into its fluffy fur, it’s incredibly, incredibly warm.”
“It’s quite remarkable. He’s so fierce with the Prince, yet so gentle with the Princess.”
In truth, Kim Beolggwol wasn’t particularly affectionate toward Luluka either.
Isabel was the only one toward whom Kim Beolggwol showed obvious affection.
“He’s just shy with strangers, but he’s a good friend.”
Isabel sprawled out on the bed.
The ceiling looked like an A4 sheet of paper.
How should I modify and calculate the magical formulas?
I thought hard about how to read the bumblebee’s heart more accurately.
“Come to think of it, the bumblebee seemed to dislike the heat quite a bit.”
And so I came up with an idea.
“I should learn magic with a cold nature. The bumblebee would like that, wouldn’t he?”
Thinking of Kim Beolggwol lifted my spirits.
Tomorrow I’ll play hide-and-seek with the bumblebee. With pleasant thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, Kim Beolggwol viciously scratched Michael’s cheek.
Twisting his body violently, he wriggled free from Michael’s grip.
“You ungrateful little beast!”
Kim Beolggwol moved with lightning speed.
He escaped from Michael’s arms and bolted away.
“I’m going to scratch you too. You just wait right there.”
Michael tried to snatch Kim Beolggwol, but the ratel was faster.
Nimbly evading Michael, Kim Beolggwol dashed toward the window and opened it.
Michael scoffed.
“Hah, this is the eighth floor—you’re really going to jump? Wait, wait, wait? Hey, hey! Don’t actually do it!”
Michael rushed frantically toward the window.
His strength was so great that he lost his balance.
Like a catapult launching its payload, he tumbled out the window.
“Huh? Am I… flying?”
He spread his arms wide like a bird unfurling its wings.
He flapped his arms.
“Can I actually fly?”
It was hopeless.
Crash!
Michael plummeted from the eighth floor.
Unluckily, he landed headfirst.
It hurt a bit more than usual, but he suffered no actual injuries.
“Huh?”
Kim Beolggwol had vanished without a trace.
“Wow, so this guy can teleport too.”
It was inexplicable, but Michael didn’t take it too seriously.
He remained as carefree as ever.
“Next time, I won’t let him escape.”
Meanwhile, Kim Beolggwol’s body disappeared on its own, then reappeared before a vast cavern.
Rustle… rustle…
Kim Beolggwol moved into the cavern as if the place were familiar.
A voice echoed from within the cave.
“Arun, it’s time for you to return to your true form now.”
Radiant, multicolored mana began seeping from Kim Beolggwol’s body.
* * *
Feeling a slight dizziness, Kim Beolggwol shook his head vigorously from side to side.
His sense of self as a ratel gradually faded away.
A gentle voice reached his ears.
“Are you awake?”
“…Ah, Mother?”
Kim Beolggwol had come up with his name.
His true name was Arun.
“You must have learned something valuable today.”
“I’m home.”
Arun examined his own body.
Once a ratel, he now possessed the form of a human.
“I can’t remember anything that happened.”
“That’s perfectly normal.”
Deep within the cavern.
Arun’s Mother revealed herself.
She was a woman with jet-black hair and eyes as dark as obsidian.
“Arun. What is your name?”
“You just told me. It’s Arun.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
She laughed softly.
“You must continually awaken your sense of self as a dragon, or you’ll forget who you are. Say your name again.”
“Arun.”
Arun was merely a hundred years old—still an extraordinarily young dragon.
“May I examine what happened to you, dear?”
“Of course.”
Arun’s Mother placed her hand upon his head and read through his memories.
Arun had acquired a new name.
‘Kim Beolggwol? What a delightfully amusing name.’
Having read through all the memories from his time as a ratel, Arun’s Mother smiled warmly.
“You’re having wonderful experiences.”
“What kind of experiences am I having?”
“You’ll come to understand that yourself when you grow older.”
Arun trudged forward.
After a few steps, a space far more magnificent than Michael’s chamber appeared.
Though it was undoubtedly deep within a cavern, this place was far more immaculate than the Imperial Palace itself.
It was the Dragon’s Nest.
Dragons lived in ways remarkably similar to humans.
They typically spent their time in human form.
This was because maintaining a ‘human form’ consumed the least mana and was therefore the most efficient.
Arun settled onto a plush sofa.
“But Mother, why must I do such tedious things?”
“So that you might become a good adult.”
“If I don’t do these things, will I become a bad adult?”
“That’s quite possible.”
She smiled warmly.
“Long ago, there was a black dragon who called himself the Black Flame Dragon of Final Extinction, Destruction, and Transparency.”
“That’s quite a mouthful, isn’t it?”
“Doesn’t it sound impressive?”
Arun shook his head vigorously.
“I’m not a child.”
“Hm?”
“Only fifty-year-old brats would find such a ridiculous name impressive.”
“…Oh, I see?”
“But what exactly is a Black Flame Dragon?”
I knew what a black dragon was, but I’d never heard of a Black Flame Dragon before.
“He simply called himself that.”
“That’s very strange.”
“Anyway, the Black Flame Dragon of Final Extinction, Destruction, and Transparency was terribly, terribly bored.”
Dragons are born as predators from the moment of their birth.
Without any effort, they reigned supreme over all things, naturally chanting magical incantations and performing miracles through dragon speech.
“He didn’t know how to ease that tedium.”
Before long, the hundred-year-old baby dragon Arun became absorbed in his mother’s story.
“And then?”
“He went around displaying his power.”
The Black Flame Dragon of Final Extinction and Destruction and Transparency.
Kadelina said he brought the world to the brink of annihilation.
“But one day, the Black Flame Dragon stopped destroying.”
“Why?”
“A cute human appeared. He promised to make him happy by giving him a ring.”
“How could a human make a dragon happy?”
“Exactly. It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? Anyway, the Black Flame Dragon seemed to find that human quite adorable. You might say there was something endearing about his futility.”
“I see.”
“And so, gradually his boredom diminished and he stopped the slaughter. So it was cuteness that prevented the apocalypse.”
She laughed lightly.
“Cuteness is the most terrifying thing of all.”
“Mm, I understand.”
Arun nodded.
Finding her son so adorable, she gently stroked his head and continued.
“In any case, from that incident onward, dragons began to realize they weren’t perfect. And they learned what dangers arise when an imperfect being possesses power close to perfection. So laws were established requiring young dragons like you to engage in various activities and experiences during their youth.”
Transforming into other animals and living as them became essential for young dragons.
They had to understand and empathize with the thoughts of other races.
However, for the sake of “complete experience,” all sense of self as a dragon had to be erased.
Just as Kim Beolggwol lived as a true ratel, not as a dragon’s transformation.
“But I don’t remember any of those experiences.”
“Those experiences are embedded deep within your soul. If I made you remember everything now, your sense of self as a dragon could be shaken. That’s why we seal the memories of your transformed selves.”
“Ah, I see.”
Arun tilted his head in confusion.
“But Mother.”
“Hmm?”
“What is Kim Beolggwol?”
Her body stiffened in surprise.
“Where did you hear such a thing?”
“I’m not sure. I just… remember it.”
That was something he shouldn’t remember at all.
She didn’t voice that thought.
Now that he had awakened to his identity as a dragon, it was certainly strange that he retained memories of Kim Beolggwol’s experiences.
It seemed there was some connection to the girl who had given Arun the name ‘Kim Beolggwol’.
“Don’t you know either, Mother?”
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. If you remember anything else later, do tell me.”
The black dragon. Kadelina smiled gently.
Her black eyes had narrowed to reptilian slits.
“But son, don’t you think that name is rather dreadful?”
“The Final… Black Flame Dragon, or whatever?”
“Yes. The Black Flame Dragon of Final Termination, Destruction, and Oblivion.”
“It’s absolutely terrible.”
“Then what about Dark Dragon instead of Black Flame Dragon?”
“Even worse.”
“I, I see.”
“Why? Do you perhaps know of a black dragon?”
“I, I couldn’t possibly! How would I know of such a young whelp?”
* * *
At that same moment.
Goosebumps prickled across Isabel’s skin.
It was because Lancer, her swordmaster instructor(?), had brought up the tale of the black dragon from legend.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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