Chapter 58: Something Seems Wrong

I looked up at the big TV on the street and let out a dry laugh.

There, the footage of me melting the corpse dragon with my breath was playing.

Ah, of course, the corpse dragon had been censored with a mosaic filter.

Anyone with a brain wouldn’t show that horrific thing in its original form.

And as I watched it, I couldn’t help but wonder why that clip was suddenly popping up everywhere like an advertisement.

“Uh, Si-ah? What is this?”

“Looks like the governor’s really going all in.”

“All in on what, exactly?”

“What do you think? Making a hero. And using that hero for major publicity.”

“A hero? Are you talking about me right now?”

“Then who else would it be, if not you?”

In both Korea and the U.S.…

There seemed to be people who were eager to put me up on a pedestal as some kind of hero.

I couldn’t say I didn’t understand.

If you ignored my inner thoughts, what I did was definitely heroic on the surface.

Whether in Korea or in the U.S., the biggest reason I stepped into mutant-related matters was just one thing.

To help fix the shattered perception of mutants.

That’s why I chose to come to the U.S. in the first place.

Another reason was, of course, the global influence that the United States holds.

If I put them in my debt, it could come in handy in the future in various ways.

…Of course, once I got here and saw the horrors they committed, I definitely lost my temper.

Anyway, I never really thought of myself as a heroic person.

How could I call myself a hero when I’ve got such dark motives underneath?

I was someone who once admired heroes, so I knew better than anyone that what I was doing now didn’t quite fit the definition.

In the end, the real reason I got involved like this was very personal.

But a hero is someone who moves for a greater cause.

Someone who uses their great power responsibly, to make the world better.

…And I’m just not that.

So every time people treat me like this.

I can’t help but feel a little cringed out.

“So, those people over there are doing all this because of me?”

“…That seems to be the case, yeah?”

Yeah. Just like the people standing in front of me now, holding up signs.

–Waaaaah!

No, seriously—how did it even end up like this?

I was just out on the street with Si-ah, and while we were walking around, we happened to stop in front of a TV someone had set up.

We were just watching a video that I happened to be in.

But then, all of a sudden, a crowd gathered like a storm, and people started cheering when they saw me.

…Now that I think about it, my current appearance showed up in the later part of that video.

Quite a few people even started asking for autographs.

If this were Korea, I probably wouldn’t have been this flustered.

But since it’s happening in the U.S., it felt like a serious case of cognitive dissonance.

I mean, I’d understand being treated like a celebrity in Korea, but why are people in the U.S. acting like this?

They kept calling me a hero, hero, it was overwhelming.

“Uh, um… what’s going on with these people?”

“Well, I mean, it makes sense. We’re in California, after all.”

At Si-ah’s comment, I sighed.

Right.

If I think about it, to them, I would look like a hero.

I’m a mutant, but I didn’t side with other mutants.

I flew across the world to protect people.

And this place—this is California. San Diego, to be exact.

Just days ago, the city was on the brink of destruction, about to be crushed by a terrifying army of the dead.

Honestly, if it weren’t for me, the whole city might have been wiped off the map.

So… it’s not that strange that they’re acting like this.

The only problem is…

I have zero immunity to this kind of attention, so it’s really embarrassing.

If I were in Korea, I probably would’ve just signed a few autographs.

I am a public official there, after all.

But this is the U.S., right?

And in a situation like this…

There’s only one option.

Run.

I quickly grabbed the back of Si-ah’s neck and leapt into the air.

Then I flew up into the sky.

–Wow!

–Amazing!

–Thank you! You saved my life!

I could still hear their voices from below.

Yeah…

I won’t lie.

It felt good.

If things had gone differently, every single one of them might’ve ended up in that corpse army.

But still.

Just because I feel proud doesn’t mean I’m not embarrassed.

“You’re surprisingly shy, unnie. Didn’t you used to sign autographs without a fuss in Korea?”

“I was embarrassed back then too. But I’m a public servant in Korea, remember? I even said in a press conference that I’d work to improve how mutants are perceived. I couldn’t just act all rude.”

“Ah, true… But you’re not a public servant in the U.S.”

“Exactly. So there’s no reason to play along. They’re just people from a faraway country, and I’m going to go back to Korea anyway. More than anything, I can just act like I’m not used to foreigners.”

“For someone who’s ‘not used to foreigners,’ you sure understood everything last time.
Even when the governor was talking, you seemed to follow everything.”

“Uh… yeah. That’s true.”

Just like Si-ah said, ever since I became a dragon, I could speak any language fluently after hearing it just once.

Seriously, what’s the deal with a dragon’s intelligence?

English used to be the subject I struggled with the most… but now I can speak it like a native.

“Then why didn’t you step in back there?”

“Because you were the one who needed to take the lead in that situation. I wanted to give you more support.”

“Oh.”

“Thanks to that, you were able to negotiate for better terms, right?”

At my words, Si-ah nodded.

“That’s… definitely true.”

“I should hurry up and go back to Korea or something. This is all getting kind of inconvenient.”

Si-ah smiled softly at my complaint.

“You’re basically a global star now, you know.”

“Star, my foot. I’m just a government worker.”

“You might be the only one who still thinks that.”

“I’d rather just be a public servant. This whole ‘hero’ thing… All it does is raise expectations, and then I’m the one who has to deal with it later.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

I looked at Si-ah quietly as she answered.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking—you’re probably going to have a rough time too.”

“I’ve already braced myself. Ever since I planted the World Tree.”

She looked at me with a firm, determined gaze.

It was… kind of cool.

So I squished her cheeks.

“Aughhh… do you really like my cheeks that much?”

“Yeah. They’re soft and squishy, so it feels good every time I touch them.”

“I kinda wish that, since I mutated anyway, I’d at least gotten the tall, gorgeous adult elf body type like in the media…”

“No way. This is the best. Didn’t you say last time that you liked how you looked now?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but everyone who sees me wants to squish my cheeks at least once. It’s getting annoying. At this rate, I might have to issue an official ‘no cheek-touching’ order.”

The way she spoke with a slight pout was just too cute.

It felt strange to think that she was only one year younger than me.

It really does seem like people tend to act in ways that match their appearance.

Si-ah probably doesn’t even realize how cute she looks.

If she did, she’d understand everything right away.

And then, the next day.

I could clearly feel that something had gone wrong.

“Wait, sorry—what did you just say?”

“I-I was just as surprised…”

“What the heck, Deputy Director, is this real?”

The reason Si-ah, the Deputy Director, and I were all so shocked was simple.

The message the Deputy Director had received… was from the White House.

“Wait, what? Why the White House, all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know either. Apparently, someone from the governor’s office got contacted by the White House yesterday. Specifically, there was a request for both you, Director, and Miss Si-ah to attend if at all possible.”

Suddenly, the scale of things had blown up.

The White House?

That meant… the U.S. President was calling for us?

“They asked for Si-ah too, maybe it’s about the Paradise Project?”

“That’s probably the most likely reason… But beyond that, it also seems like they’re placing significant weight on your presence, Director.”

Honestly…there’s no way they wouldn’t be interested.

That undead army led by liches and Dullahans nearly plunged the U.S. into chaos,
and I was the one who wiped them out.

Ever since I unlocked Dragon Speech, I had a growing certainty.

I might actually be the strongest mutant on Earth.

Even I felt that way, so what must everyone else be thinking?

Of course they’d be wary.

Of course they’d want to figure out what I was thinking.

This all kind of felt like…

I’d become the protagonist of one of those web novels with a dragon MC.

The kind who toys with the world and occasionally wrecks the place for fun.

If you think about it, isn’t that basically my story?

Ever since I mutated, everything had been going weirdly smoothly.

Not that I’m saying that’s a bad thing.

But still.

The White House, huh.

I never thought I’d actually end up going there.

Honestly, it didn’t feel real.

An invitation to the White House?

Me?

Has the world really turned upside down?

It feels like anything can happen at this point.

“…Unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“This isn’t a dream, right?”

“Yeah, it’s real.”

“It just doesn’t feel real at all…”

“Same. Maybe… we’re global stars now?”

When I threw back the line Si-ah had said earlier, she immediately cringed.

“Global stars, seriously? We’re just… people who happen to represent mutants. That’s what they really mean when they say that.”

“You said it earlier.”

“That was a joke!”

“Yeah, me too.”

The Deputy Director, watching us go back and forth, just gave a dry chuckle.

“Well, if we think it through, I can more or less understand why the White House is inviting us… Still, it does feel completely unreal. Never imagined I’d be heading to the White House so suddenly.”

“Of course, technically we’re being invited alongside the Governor of California, but let’s be honest, everyone knows the main people they want to see are you, Director, and Miss Si-ah.”

“…Exactly.”

Si-ah and I both let out a sigh at the same time.

Worried we might say something stupid at the White House.