Chapter 377

It was ten in the morning. Karsiel was folding laundry fresh out of the dryer when she turned her head slightly. On the sofa, Yong-Yong was lying down, using a teddy bear as a pillow, completely engrossed in a cooking show called Today’s Recipe.

⌜When we think of summer, one dish comes to mind:

kongguksu

[1]. The cold soybean broth and the chewy noodles make such a refreshing pair; it’s said to be the best way to beat the heat. Today, we’ll take a look at an authentic recipe. First...⌟

⌜

Slurp

. This is honestly better than meat.⌟

⌜Right? There’s nothing quite like

kongguksu

in the summer.⌟

“Whoa...”

Yong-Yong jumped down from the sofa and scooted closer to the TV. The show finished after about ten minutes. He turned to look at Karsiel, eyes sparkling. On a normal day, she would’ve smiled and agreed to make

kongguksu

for lunch, then gone back to what she was doing. But today, she couldn’t even force a smile.

How could he be so carefree?

she thought.

In just a few days, something terrible might happen.

Karsiel bit her lip. “Lord Izaas... you don’t seem concerned at all, even though it’s almost time...”

There was no way Yong-Yong didn’t know what she meant by “almost time.” It was impossible not to. Every single person around him had been in an uproar lately. The Core was on edge, and figures like Hakase, Kiriel, Anne, and Laghaim were all on high alert, preparing for the final battle.

Or maybe... he’s pretending not to care...

Karsiel was certain of one thing: Yong-Yong was someone who loved Earth more than most. He would never simply sit by and watch if Earth were truly in danger. That wasn’t who he was. If anything, she knew the Lord Izaas would be riling people up, insisting they had to defend Earth at all costs.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like

kongguksu

?” Yong-Yong asked.

While she had been deep in thought, Yong-Yong had opened the fridge and was pulling out the ingredients from the recipe on TV.

Normally, she would’ve rushed over and stopped him, saying, “Lord Izaas, allow me.”

But she didn’t have the heart for that right now.

“I’m serious, Lord Izaas.”

“So am I. They said it tastes better than meat.”

“Lord Izaas!” Her voice trembled slightly as she called his name, almost like a quiet protest.

Her hands, still holding the laundry, had long since stopped moving. She wasn’t joking. Not one bit.

Yong-Yong looked at her silently, then quietly walked over and sat down beside her.

“Are you scared?” he asked. His usual grin was gone. He was completely serious.

Karsiel nodded slightly, wiping at the corners of her eyes.

Then Yong-Yong let out a small snort and asked, “More than my

kimchi jjigae

?”

“What...?”

“Would you rather fight the King of the Dimensions or eat Yong-Yong’s

kimchi jjigae

?”

“

Pfft

!”

“Oh? If you laugh while crying, you’re gonna grow hair out of your butt!” Yong-Yong cackled.

After wiping the rest of her tears, Karsiel snapped back into her usual tone. “That’s not funny, Lord Izaas.”

Still, the tension in the air had eased a bit. She felt like a little part of her old self had returned.

“Hold on a sec,” Yong-Yong said, and disappeared into the bedroom, then returned with three notebooks in his front legs.

They were his daily Nest Management Logs, something he wrote in every day. Karsiel wondered why he suddenly brought them out, but said nothing. He flipped through the pages and showed her the entries.

“I’ve been writing this every day, ever since we came here and I started learning Korean. It’s gotten pretty long, huh?”

“Yes, it has...”

Two years and six months. Every daily routine was written down without missing a single day. The handwriting was clumsy, the spelling often wrong, but the more recent entries had become much neater.

“We’ve spent quite a lot of time together, haven’t we?” Yong-Yong remarked.

Those two and a half years could be described as both short and long. For beings like Karsiel and Yong-Yong, who had lived for thousands of years, it wasn’t even a single percent of their lives. But every single moment here had been precious. Not one memory felt insignificant.

“Yes. Truly...” Karsiel agreed.

“When I look back, we’ve been through so much,” Yong-Yong said.

Karsiel picked up one of the notebooks and began to read aloud. As she read, each memory came back to life more vividly than the last. A soft smile began to form on her once-expressionless face.

They had left their old nest and moved to a new one.

Following Young Master and Lord Izaas, she had come to this unfamiliar place with unfamiliar sights, unfamiliar people, and unfamiliar customs. Still, they learned. They reunited with old connections and made many new ones, too.

“And at the center of it all was always our master,” Yong-Yong said.

Through every major or minor event, Do-Jun had always been there. Quiet, steady, and unshakably calm. That presence had given everyone a sense of peace.

“Nothing’s changed. He’s here. And I’m here too. Everyone’s here. So there’s no reason to be afraid.” Yong-Yong gave her hand a couple of pats with his front paw, smiling gently.

Karsiel slowly closed her eyes. It was strange. Just a moment ago, her heart had been pounding so loud she could barely breathe, but now it was settling. As the final battle drew nearer, her fear had felt suffocating. But now, it melted away like snow in spring.

She opened her eyes again, this time slowly. “Lord Izaas.”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Yong-Yong nodded. “Okay, then let’s make some

konggu

—”

At that moment, a loud knock came at the front door, followed by, “Karsiel! Karsiel, are you in there?”

“Huh? That’s Ryzagal’s voice.”

“Sorry, but could I borrow some duct tape?”

Tilting his head, Yong-Yong waddled over to the door.

“Hup!” He jumped up with a grunt, unlocked it, and pulled it open.

“There you are! Karsiel, and... Lord Izaas, you’re here too...”

“Yup. What’s the duct tape for?” Yong-Yong asked.

Ryzagal gulped.

“You know what? Perfect timing. Stay for

kongguksu

.”

***

After finishing the

kongguksu

, Karsiel said she would be heading over to Anne’s nest and left the apartment.

As for Ryzagal, who’d mentioned he needed duct tape, he announced he’d return to the thirteenth floor right after eating. Maybe it was the troubled look on his face that bothered Yong-Yong, but he went to a stationery store and bought out every roll of duct tape he could find, emptying his allowance. Despite Ryzagal’s horrified protests, he accompanied him back to the thirteenth floor.

When Karsiel arrived at Ann’s nest, she found Laghaim having tea with Anne. The three of them shared a fondness for tea and, with their conversations clicking surprisingly well, would occasionally host private tea parties like this. When Karsiel explained how Yong-Yong had encouraged her when she was overwhelmed with anxiety, Laghaim looked surprised and took a sip of her tea.

“Hm. So Izaas told you that, huh?” Laghaim said, somewhat surprised.

“Lord Izaas is truly kind, Siel,” Anne added. She found it perfectly natural and began praising Yong-Yong.

Karsiel gave a small, bashful smile.

“I guess he was telling you not to be afraid...” Crunching into a handmade cookie, Laghaim mulled it over.

If Izaas said that, it likely meant he had that much trust in Do-Jun. Still, there was a difference between trusting Do-Jun and not being afraid of the final battle. Anne felt the same.

“Tusitala once said that if the King of the Dimensions awakens, powerful monsters will pour out. I don’t know if it’s true, but one thing’s certain: if we can’t stop them, both the Core and Earth are doomed. And we don’t even know how many there will be or how strong.”

Anne nodded grimly in agreement.

“And then... there’s Solomon. He could certainly be a variable.”

There were already rumors circulating that Solomon had returned. It was unclear whether they were credible, but a few of the seventy-two demons had reportedly made statements to that effect.

“And sure, the demons say they’re on our side now. But if, by some chance, Master ends up being overwhelmed by the King of the Dimensions... who knows how the situation might change?” Laghaim voiced her concerns.

“I... I believe,” said Karsiel.

“Believe what? That the demons are on our side?”

Karsiel shook her head. It wasn’t the demons’ promise that she believed.

“We have Master. And we have so many comrades by our side. Even if Solomon and the demons really do join the enemy, I’m sure we’ll still win.”

Laghaim could see it in her eyes—absolute faith, not a shred of doubt.

“This might end up being harder than the Great War,” said Anne, recalling the long and brutal conflict against Solomon and the demons.

Though it had eventually ended with Izaas’ intervention, it had left scars that Anne would rather not remember.

Karsiel, who had no memory of that time, let out a quiet breath.

“But as you said, Karsiel, we’ve got more allies now than we did back then. Even without Master, practically everyone in the Core is on our side,” Anne said with a smile.

War was frightening, and it made them all anxious. But with trustworthy allies, they could endure any hardship.

“There’s one thing that keeps bothering me, though...” Laghaim muttered. “Why hasn’t Master said anything to us?”

This was a fight that would decide the fate of the world. Normally, someone would gather all available forces, lay out a strategy, and assign roles. But Do-Jun hadn’t issued a single command about the upcoming battle.

“That, I’m not sure about either...” Karsiel replied.

She recalled Do-Jun at home. As Laghaim had said, he hadn’t said a word about the final battle. But it wasn’t like he seemed nervous or restless, either. He was simply himself. He would come home after work, shower, eat dinner, listen to how their day went, read them a story, and if not that, he’d quietly read the newspaper.

“Well, I’m sure he has a plan,” said Laghaim, finishing the rest of her tea. “In the meantime, let’s work on a strategy of our own. Izaas went to the thirteenth floor, right?”

“Yeah. Ryzagal said he needed duct tape, so Master used his own allowance to buy some and followed after him.”

“Wow... Izaas must really care about his dragons.”

Karsiel grinned and nodded enthusiastically. “Yup!”

***

Karsiel, Anne, and Laghaim blinked as they arrived on the thirteenth floor of the Core.

“Get over here, you little punks! You did what? You tripped?!” Yong-Yong was chasing Ryzagal and Biseon around, hurling rolls of duct tape with wild fury.

“P-please! Forgive us, Lord Izaas! We won’t do such an insolent thing ever again!”

“It was an accident, I sweaaaar!”

A roll of duct tape flew from Yong-Yong’s hand, slammed into the cliffside, and brought part of the wall crumbling down.

“You broke my horn, and you’re trying to fix it with duct taaaape?!” Yong-Yong yelled.

“Should we just go back and drink more tea...?” At Laghaim’s suggestion, Karsiel and Anne both nodded in agreement.

1. Noodles in soupy bean broth! It’s a popular traditional summer dish that’s eaten cold. Throw some salt in that broth, and it’s just... magnificent. ☜