Chapter 40 : IF-108 ‘Nessho’ Part 6

“Ancestor…” 

“Uhh, did I do well…?”

Listening to the thoughts of Kwangcheol.

I nodded in response.

I didn’t expect everyone to look up at once, but I guess it’s because they’re wearing black vests.

They act well.

‘But did the black-vested people understand the thought?’

Suddenly, it feels strange.

As a test, I sent a thought to the black-vested person in front of me asking for a glass of water.

“Gyah-oo.”

“…?”

Nothing happened.

At a glance, it’s more like they didn’t hear it at all rather than ignored it.

‘Then how did the kids down there know to look up?’ 

I don’t understand.

Well, whatever they did. 

Unlike the others who didn’t understand at all, the fact that they somehow understood and looked up is what matters.

I’ll praise them.

Hmm.

I thought it might take a while, but since everyone looked up at once, it ended up being quicker than expected.

In the end, you all lost. 

My so-called descendants.

I looked at the circle spinning beside me.

“Help!” 

“Help!”

“I can’t move, I can’t get out…! What do I do?! Waaaah..!!”

It was a complete mess.

To be playing so well in such a narrow space with just the two of them. 

It’s amazing.

To help my foolish descendants, I left the foolish Kang Hana’s embrace.

I wanted to lie down again as soon as I got up, but it was bearable, so I stretched out.

‘Kang Hana, who was glancing at me, looked like a child who had lost their beloved blanket, but well, what could she do?’

She was asleep. 

‘What could Kang Hana do besides thrashing about in loneliness and having nightmares?’

Her hand, searching for something to hold onto, curled inward and then approached the circle.

‘What’s inside?’

I stuck my head in and looked inside.

It was a strange sight, like the various layouts of the building here intertwining and being reflected in strange ways.

‘Though it could be beautiful like a glass craft, what should I say…’

‘Is it because the building itself is so complicated?’

It’s not so much pretty as it is chaotic.

‘If my lake had reflected in this structure, it would’ve looked fantastical.’

‘My lake…’

Suddenly, I felt bad, so I grabbed the edge of the circle.

Then I ripped it apart.

“What?”

“What?”

“Ancestor??”

“Ughhh??”

“No, no!”

“The passage is collapsing!”

The inside of the circle quickly became unstable and flimsy.

Unlike the chubby snake that was happy and comforted by me, maybe because it was behind, the third descendant, who hadn’t seen me, was running around confused.

Well, if it starts changing like that, I guess I would have a hard time staying still too.

And in fact, I couldn’t stay still. 

So, I kicked the ground.

 -!!!

By tearing the edge, the space that had been shifting erratically immediately became stable.

Then, from the air.

“Ancestor!”

“Waaaah!”

A little creature…

No, little creatures appeared.

It wasn’t that long ago… but, no matter when I see them, they’re ugly but seem to have an irresistible charm, the chubby snake. 

I lifted it into my arms and gently stroked it.

“Ancestor.” 

“Good.”

“Yeah, yeah. The smooth feel is nice too.”

 While stroking the chubby snake that was smiling with a “peee~” sound.

“…Emergency! Emergency! Alert status!!”

“Where did they appear from..?!”

“It’s IF-108. They said the B-10 section is still unrecaptured, and it looks like a containment failure happened in the meantime.”

The black-vested people moved in perfect unison to surround us.

“Huh.”

“Clink, clank.”

“Well, I can understand.”

“If they were pointing weapons at me, reasonable suspicion would start, but their attention was clearly directed at the third descendant.”

“It makes sense to be on alert because we appeared suddenly.”

“Actually, there’s no need to be so scared just because I’m their ancestor.”

“But… I understand.”

Humans are fragile, so they could overreact, even when seeing a self-proclaimed descendant who doesn’t look threatening.

However, their reactions were strange.

I looked at the third descendant, who was making a “whoosh” sound.

‘Humans usually rely on their sight, right?’

At a glance, the third descendant looked small and cute, so why were they so on edge?

While wondering about the black-vested people’s reactions, I followed their gaze, and that’s when I understood.

This descendant…

‘Why are they wearing such… cumbersome shells?’

At first glance, I hadn’t noticed it, but now that I was including that, the appearance of my descendant really looked unattractive.

This is why humans think it’s strange.

“No, no!” 

“There are so many two-legged beasts! Ancestor, get away! I’ll take care of these bad guys!”

I poked the descendant, who was threatening humans while making a “kyao” sound, an oddly cute expression on their face.

The descendant turned their gaze toward me with a deflated look and blinked.

“Ugh, Ancestor? 

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?”

I wonder if they’re really asking because they don’t know.

I sent a thought.

I sent the thought to hurry up and take it off, because they look so bad like that, and they should take it off right away.

***

For a few seconds, the descendant blinked their big eyes as if they didn’t understand.

Then they shook their head vigorously. 

“No! 

“No matter how much you’re my ancestor, this is a no!”

When the descendant’s big shell shook along with their head shaking, the black-vested humans all flinched.

Ah, so they’re like this, huh.

I sent a firm thought.

“Everyone is watching, what are you doing?” 

“Stop throwing a tantrum and take it off quickly.”

If it were the chubby snake, by this point, it would have obediently complied.

But…

“No!” 

I said absolutely not! 

“There are so many two-legged beasts, what are you talking about…!”

Audaciously, the descendant retorted.

And they did it while glaring with wide eyes!

I stopped petting the chubby snake and shrugged.

Well, then it can’t be helped.

I approached the descendant, who was eyeing me suspiciously, and petted their head.

“Huh?” 

“If it were mom and dad, they’d keep going on and on…” 

“Aren’t you going to scold me?”

“That’s right, no scolding.”

The human I cherished most always said that the gods were the ones who act.

The descendant, now smiling in relief, looked at their shabby shell, and I reached out my hand.

I grabbed a handful and ripped it apart.

“…Ugh?”

The descendant froze, seemingly unable to comprehend the situation.

Even as their calmness quickly turned into flailing and struggling rebellion, I didn’t care.

“No! 

“No!”

Ripping.

‘Who walks around like this?’

‘Anyway, humans are like that. Kids these days.’

Since the black-vested humans were watching, I finished it quickly.

“Please, Ancestor! 

“Don’t do that!” 

“Ancestor, Ancestor!”

“Ancestor!!”

The fins that were desperately pressing against my body soon drooped.

I carefully fixed the descendant’s messy appearance.

And after a while.

“Kyook…”

I straightened my back and took a few steps back to catch my breath.

I looked at the descendant’s overall appearance, admiring my work.

Well done.

Subjectively, my descendant now looked 100 times more neat and presentable than before.

Phew.

Now they look quite presentable.

For some reason, my descendant, looking very sulky and crying, was in an uproar, so I patted their back.

They wouldn’t be embarrassed showing this off anywhere.

So, I brought them forward to show the humans who had been surrounding me.

 …!…!

At that, the descendant flapped their fins and braced themselves, resisting.

Tsk. 

‘Why are they being so stubborn?’

It’s so different from the chubby snake.

Even though they closed their mouth and resisted, they were eventually led in front of the humans.

I set the descendant down, stretched out my hands, and proudly showed them off to the humans.

“Kyah!”

“Here, this is my descendant!”

“What do you think?” 

“Not scary anymore, right?”

They probably didn’t understand, but I boldly sent the thought.

The black-vested humans reacted strongly. 

“…Anti-entropy value decrease.” 

“Master has observed territory destruction.” 

“Was it IF-017?”

“So that’s the real form of IF-108?”

“Unexpectedly, it’s humanoid.” 

“Their arms are fins.” 

“They look like penguins.” 

“Seems similar to IF-017, but younger…”

Click, click.

I vaguely knew what those black objects were.

Kang Hana used them frequently.

I wasn’t sure what their purpose was, but I remember her always saying how cute they were when she clicked them while looking at me.

Now using that thing on my descendant…

Yeah.

It’s no wonder they all liked it once I removed that unworthy shell.

‘Why did they even wear something like that?’

“Next time, wear this.”

I chuckled happily and petted my descendant’s head.

Thud.

The descendant swatted my hand away, but…

“Waaahhh…!!”

“Ancestor, I hate you!”

“What’s this?”

I honestly don’t know why they’re upset, but I tried to comfort them.

But they didn’t calm down…

I gave up and just pet the chubby snake.

“Ancestor.” 

“Again.” 

“Trouble… not.” 

“Love. Good.”

The chubby snake, who had been scared at first, eventually sighed and relaxed, accepting my touch.

Yeah.

This is how descendants should be.

***

After crying for a while, the third descendant finally stopped and looked at me.

“Oh, are they done crying now?”

However, after seeing me pet the chubby snake, the third descendant began crying again.

“Waaahhh, what are you doing!! 

“Ancestor, I hate you!”

“What am I doing?”

“I tilted my head.”

“I don’t know why they’re crying, but I tried to comfort them, and since they didn’t calm down, I gave up.”

So, I just went back to petting the chubby snake… 

‘Why are they crying even more now?’

I fixed their appearance.

‘Isn’t that enough?’

The chubby snake was fine with just being petted.

I guess this descendant is the kind that’s a bit exhausting…