Everyone is Young Except for Me

I headed south of Diya to hunt the ice jaguars. It has been an hour since we came here.

“Lightning Dragon Power!”

There was lightning that brought fear. The roar of the ice jaguar tore at my ears as Gyeonso Dragon preemptively attacked. We worked tirelessly not to miss the fast-moving one.

"Where are you going?”

Through the power I received from Raitra, I followed the lightning while using Flying Weather Dance. I carried out the footsteps of Rising Sun and quickly kicked at the legs of the ice jaguar. The blue lightning paralyzed the ice jaguar and pierced its defenses. The sun entered through here and accumulated small but steady damage. I couldn’t help admiring the defense of the ice jaguar. “As expected, those over level 200 are strong.”

The level of the ice jaguar was above level 200. In fact, it was very fast but fortunately, Gyeonso Dragon and I had the lightning footwork. I thought that I would’ve greatly regretted it if I hadn’t brought him along. Damn, I needed to get the Thunderstorm Flying Kick Technique quickly. I couldn’t borrow this guy’s strength every time.

Then the claws of the ice jaguar rushed at me. I couldn’t respond because it was an attack from a blind spot.

“Kuock!”

Even with the super sensitivity stat, the difference in our stats was unavoidable. I didn’t have time to use the apostle skill, Keen Insight. However, I had her...

“Firefly Concerto!”

A type of light started to dominate the surrounding space. The shield was overlaid over me and protected me from the ice jaguar. Fortunately, I didn’t suffer any major damage and my health was restored. I gave a thumbs up to Kim Sujeong. “Naisu taming.”

I didn't know if I said it correctly. Drain had taught me how to say this. I looked back at him and saw Drain nodding as he attached an icicle to the material. It seemed I said the right thing.

...I had improved my English again.

“Leave the rear to me and attack. Wrap it up!”

Her words had become quite reliable and I couldn’t help smiling. Somehow, it seemed like she was now enjoying it. I jumped back and threw a lightning kick. A short time later, the ice jaguar collapsed.

[Experience has been acquired.]

[Your level has risen.]

[The Ice Jaguar’s Leather has been acquired.]

[The Ice Jaguar’s Meat has been acquired.]

[You have met the requirements of the Fight the Ice Jaguars quest.]

“We’ve already filled it up.”

“Huh? Already? Too fast.”

“I know.”

Our group was grumbling that it was too easy. Well, except for Drain in the distance.

“Oh, is it already over? Can you give me all the leather?”

We naturally handed over the leather to him. Drain burned with passion for fashion and was happy to touch new materials. We were happy to provide it to him in exchange for warm clothes. In fact, we wanted to give him some money but he insisted he wouldn’t take it. It was real craftsmanship. He was a little brother but he was a respectable guy. There was always something to learn from subordinates. Learning was to take what you learn and make it yours.

I said to the group, “Let’s go back.”

“Yes.”

“Sigh, Raitra is going to be noisy again.”

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ hates a silly fight.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ wants a more intense fight.]

In any case, he was a fighting fanatic. He came from a clan that revered battle and talked about fighting every day. Speaking of this, this guy Gyeonso Dragon. He said he hadn’t spoken to Raitra yet? “You still haven’t met with Raitra?”

“That’s right. I tried mediating the way you taught me but...”

“Hrmm.”

I touched my beard and asked the sky, “Raitra, why?"

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ says he can’t tell you now.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ says this person needs to realize it on his own.]

He was a tricky guy. I had learned it from Prometheus’ memories but talking with constellations was very important for the Star's Beloved. Dialogue was necessary for strengthening the power obtained from the constellation. Of course, it wasn’t easy to do so and every constellation had their own conditions. It was possible that I had succeeded in conversing with Prometheus because I met his conditions. However, this didn’t mean there was no way.

“Prometheus.”

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is asking why you are calling.]

“I’ll give you something delicious if you make Raitra open his mouth.” 

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is smiling.]

[The first apostle, ‘Prometheus,’ is laughing wickedly at ‘Raitra.’]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is hit in the back of the head by ‘Prometheus.’]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ has failed to fight back.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is hit on the forehead.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’...]

Kim Sujeong watched the messages with a blank expression and burst out laughing. Now she could see the messages of the constellations. I felt fortunate that she wasn’t being isolated.

[The firefly star, ‘Camille,’ is looking at the two people with pathetic eyes.]

* * *

After a brief pause, Raitra finally opened his mouth. However, we were shocked when we learned the truth. Kim Sujeong wondered in a surprised voice, “He has to go to the threshold of death to have a conversation? Isn’t that extreme? Why is this the condition for a conversation?”

She expressed my exact thoughts. It was a trickier condition than I thought. Additionally...

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is sighing.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ says he can’t tell you why.]

...This guy. Perhaps he didn’t tell Gyeonso Dragon because he was worried. If it was told to the single-minded man who only knew training, Gyeonso Dragon would definitely try it. This guy would definitely do it over and over again, losing his level, and weakening.

“Gyeonso Dragon.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to give it a try.”

As Gyeonso Dragon stretched and rotated his wrists, Raitra went into a rage.

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ is strongly discouraging it.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ says an artificial situation is impossible.]

[The fist star, ‘Raitra,’ says conversation is only possible after extreme battles.]

Extreme battles...

This was truly a condition suitable for Raitra. Then it couldn’t be helped. I was going to have to help. “Don’t try it now. I’ll find a way later.”

“...I’ll try.”

This brat should understand what I was saying, right? It was a bit uncomfortable but I decided to stop here.

We continued to walk toward Diya. A snowstorm flew toward us like white sand but we were fine thanks to Solar. It was a very handy existence.

Approximately 30 minutes passed...

Just then, something shone in my eyes. What was this...?

My vision that was enhanced thanks to Super Sensitivity spotted something. In the distance, a small object was buried in the snow and twitching. I leaped forward and decided to check it out because no one else seemed to see it. Behind me, Kim Sujeong followed with a bewildered expression. It was the same for Gyeonso Dragon and Drain.

“Father, where are you going all of a sudden?”

“There is something here,” I replied.

“Huh? There is nothing… uh, really? What is that?"

As we got closer, Kim Sujeong seemed to have discovered it. I ran toward it without stopping. The group followed and we soon arrived at the twitching object. The yellow legs buried in the snow were moving backwards.

Kim Sujeong opened her mouth, “Oh, it is cuter than I thought? What is it?”

She lifted the buried legs and a small penguin with a pink torso appeared. He looked cuter than I thought and I subconsciously smiled.

“Kyak~ It is a little penguin! So cute ♡!”

Everyone smiled the moment she spoke. The adorable cuteness was like a moving cotton candy. However, I was inwardly surprised. An emperor penguin chick? In fact, not all monsters were violent and ferocious. Just as there were predators and herbivores among animals, there were some gentle and pure creatures among the monsters.

The emperor penguin in front of me was one of them. The baby penguin landed on the ground and started to act cute toward us.

“Peng peng~♡”

“Kyah, so cute! How are you~♡”

Kim Sujeong melted at the baby penguin’s affection and sat down, making eye contact with the penguin. Even so, we had to be careful. The emperor penguins had a habit of being helpless when they saw something shining. In particular, the most serious time was when it hadn’t yet reached adolescence.

“Be careful...”

“Oh my!”

It was only a matter of time before the baby penguin stole the shiny necklace around her neck. Damn, I was too late. It was a tremendous hand technique. He would probably run away to his mother now. We wouldn’t be able to find this necklace anymore. If we tried to take it away, he would cry and call for his mother. Then we would have to fight the nearby mother penguin. In fact, it was inevitable for us to give up even if we wanted to find it.

Dammit, I was reluctant because it was an endangered species and the emperor penguins were also the only traders of that ‘guy’ here in the North Pole. If we killed the emperor penguin in order to take back our things, that ‘guy’ would chase us until we died. Maybe he would freeze us to the bone and kill us. If possible, I didn’t want to meet him. It was because that guy had a dirtier personality than anyone else here.

I sighed and told her, “Sujeong, you’ll have to give up on the necklace...”

Huh? All of a sudden, I felt something touching me from below. Something was hugging me but it didn’t feel bad. It was like a cloud of cotton candy... eh?

“Hey, why aren’t you leaving?”

The baby penguin was staring at me with big eyes. The little pink penguin opened his mouth affectionately, “Mama~♡”

It was the time when my gender changed.