I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER

Chapter 170: M-mimi...?

"Just answer me honestly for once," she said quietly. "Who are you actually?"

Si Hon opened his mouth immediately—

Then closed it again.

Because honestly?

How the hell was he supposed to explain this.

Behind them, the others watched nervously while black goo continued spreading slowly across the dragon corpse.

Rain hissed louder against the steaming scales.

Mimi hummed happily.

And Si Hon’s exhausted brain finally gave up pretending this situation was manageable.

So naturally—

He chose the worst possible answer.

"We’re people from another world," he said.

Silence.

Then he continued casually like he wasn’t detonating reality.

"We got dragged here by some weird portal thing. More like forcefully kidnapped actually. We would’ve died if we stayed there so... y’know. Bad timing. And we are prisoners."

The moment those words left his mouth—

Everything stopped.

Not physically.

But the atmosphere itself shifted strangely.

The rain slowed.

The air darkened.

Then—

A massive dark blue notification exploded across the sky.

Visible to everyone.

[First Penalty Triggered. Aigo... told you not to say things like that.]

The message stretched across the clouds themselves.

Cold.

Mocking.

Watching.

And for the first time since all of this started—

Everyone’s faces genuinely changed.

Even Jisoo froze.

"What?"

Then—

***

Somewhere

Far above.

Far beyond.

Inside a massive arena glowing beneath artificial sun— A bunny girl sat lazily atop a throne she had clearly built for herself out of floating black cubes and stolen dramatic energy.

One leg crossed over the other.

Cheek resting against her palm.

Above the arena floated four enormous projections showing different locations simultaneously.

Team 1.

Team 2.

Team 3.

Team 4.

And currently—

Her eyes remained fixed directly on Team 4’s screen.

Specifically—

Si Hon.

A slow smirk spread across her face.

"Not even one day," she muttered amusedly. "And the first penalty already triggered."

She flicked one finger lazily through the air.

The moment she did—

The entire arena erupted.

Thousands upon thousands of spectators screamed and cheered from the massive darkness surrounding the projections, their voices crashing together louder than thunder itself.

Some laughed.

Some booed.

Some shouted excitedly while throwing glowing objects into the air like this was some giant sports event instead of a catastrophe.

And above all of it—

The bunny girl smiled wider.

"Interesting."

***

(Back on them)

Or whatever counted it is anymore—

Jisoo stared at Si Hon like she was trying to decide whether to strangle him or interrogate him first.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Rain dripped from her hair slowly.

"You’re saying you people were actually thrown here by force?"

Behind them, thunder rumbled across the black clouds overhead.

And somewhere deep inside the dragon corpse— The black goo(Mimi) pulsed again first.

But then—

THUD.

Not loud at first. More like something shifting weight inside a confined space, deep and muffled beneath layers of black goo still wrapped around the dragon’s corpse. Everyone heard it at the same time. The conversations stopped. The rain kept falling. And every single person standing on that ruined field slowly turned toward the dragon body.

Everyone froze immediately.

The rain continued falling softly over the steaming body while the black goo wrapped around the dragon pulsed once... then again... like something underneath it had just moved.

Si Hon’s expression changed instantly.

"What."

Another thud followed.

THUD.

This time louder.

Then the goo pulsed once.

Then again.

Harder.

Something inside it was moving.

Si Hon’s eyes narrowed immediately. The absorption was still running— he could feel it, that steady pull of energy crawling up through his arm from the ring— but something about it felt wrong now. Off-rhythm. Like a machine that had started grinding against something it wasn’t designed to handle.

The black surface of the goo rippled outward in uneven waves, distorting strangely near the dragon’s midsection before.

The entire arm then shifted slightly beneath the black goo coating its scales.

Behind Si Hon, Mihu stumbled backward immediately.

"W-Wait wait wait NO, wasn’t it dead already?"

Han grabbed Suha’s sleeve hard.

"I don’t think dead things are supposed to do that."

"Yea," Suha whispered. "That looks illegal."

"Let’s not joke around right now Suha."

Then a bulge formed from the inside. Pressing outward slowly, straining against the black surface like something enormous was pushing with everything it had.

The goo stretched. Pulled thin. And then— a single massive claw(talon) punched clean through the surface, ripping a hole open from the inside with a sound like tearing metal, black liquid spraying outward across the wet grass in every direction.

Then—

RIP.

The dragon’s head jerked violently upward again.

And then it roared.

Not weak.

Not dying.

LOUD.

A horrifying sound exploded across the ruined school grounds hard enough to shake the rain itself, the roar vibrating through everyone’s chest while broken windows shattered somewhere nearby from the pressure alone.

Si Hon’s pupils shrank instantly.

"No way."

Beside him, Jisoo looked equally shocked.

Just genuinely caught off guard.

"What the hell"

Then an arm followed.

The dragon’s massive clawed arm forced itself through the gap it had made, scales grinding against the torn edges of the goo as it dragged itself partially free.

Steam hissed violently where rain touched the exposed scales. The hole widened. The goo strained and snapped apart at the edges. And then the dragon’s head pulled through— jaws splitting open, black blood mixing with rainwater across its face, golden eye swinging immediately toward the nearest targets.

Si Hon immediately turned toward Mimi.

Or rather—

Toward the trembling projection floating beside him.

She was curled slightly inward, both arms wrapped around herself, white hair falling across her face while her tiny body quivered from her shoulders all the way down.

She was shaking badly.

Tiny hands clutching Spoony tightly against her chest while her whole body flickered unstably like a weak static.

The ring around Si Hon’s finger pulsed wildly in sync with her.

And then she looked up at him.

Si Hon’s chest went cold immediately.

"Mimi—"

She looked up at him slowly.

「D-Dad...」 her voice came out small. Broken at the edges in a way he had never heard from her before. 「h-help...」

Another violent pulse ripped through the ring.

Mimi flinched hard immediately afterward.

Tears started forming in her eyes.

「It hurts...」

Si Hon’s chest dropped instantly.

The words hit him somewhere he didn’t have a name for.

"Mim—" Before he could respond— before anyone could respond.

The dragon’s arm swung upward.

Fully free now, scales slicked with black goo and rainwater, the limb pulled back above the ruined field with the particular slowness of something that knew exactly where it was about to land. No hesitation. No confusion. Just a massive clawed arm rising high above Si Hon and Jisoo while rain scattered sideways off the scales from the sheer speed of the motion.

Jisoo’s grip on his wrist snapped tighter.

Everything happened at once.

Mihu screamed somewhere behind them.

Han pulled Suha down instinctively.

Seong’s threads exploded outward.

Aeloria raised ice barriers.

While— Si Hon’s eyes stayed on Mimi for one half second longer— her shaking shoulders, her wet eyes, the way she was still trying to hold Spoony even though her hands could barely grip— and something behind his ribs twisted so hard it almost felt physical.

And Mimi—

Mimi screamed.

Then the arm came down.

「DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—

***

AAAAAAAAAD!!!」

Then—

Si Hon’s eyes snapped open.

Sound came back first.

Chalk against a board.

A teacher’s voice somewhere ahead.

A pencil rolled off someone’s desk nearby.

A student yawned.

Somebody in the back laughed loudly over a meme.

And Si Hon just sat there breathing unevenly while cold sweat dripped slowly down the side of his face.

And then— light. Fluorescent. Ordinary. The completely, normal light of a classroom ceiling on a regular school day, framed by four familiar walls and thirty confused students and absolutely no dragon anywhere in sight.

Si Hon sat at his desk.

Completely still.

Rain no longer on his skin. Mud no longer on his shoes. The steel rod— gone. The rooftop— gone. Every bruise, every impact, every exhausted muscle that had been screaming at him for the past however long— still there, still aching faintly, but the chaos itself had simply ceased to exist around him.

He stared at the front of the classroom for a long moment.

Then slowly looked down at his hand.

The ring sat quietly on his finger.

Dark. Still. Not shaking anymore.

And above it— no projection. No white hair. No Spoony. No sleepy daughter blinking up at him.

Just silence where Mimi had been.

Si Hon’s jaw tightened slightly.

He didn’t move for another second.

Then— very quietly, so that nobody around him heard—

"Mimi."

Nothing answered.