I backed away as the snow leopard approached.

Despite the danger, the caretaker stood calmly.

“Um, excuse me…”

Snow leopards can harm humans, yet the caretaker seemed unfazed.

Did he have some secret confidence?

I stopped retreating and looked up at him.

“Oh my, were you scared?”

“Y-yes… The leopard…”

“Don’t worry too much. Snow leopards are quite gentle.”

A gentle leopard?

Most man-eating tigers were actually leopards.

I found that hard to swallow.

‘Keep it together.’

No matter what, I had to protect the children first.

I glanced at the kids who’d followed me into the snow leopard enclosure.

Levinas was terrified, but Saebyeok’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Gyeoul, snow leopards are really gentle animals.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. They’re predators but weirdly nice to humans.”

Saebyeok ran towards the snow leopard and carefully reached out.

The leopard stared at her hand before nuzzling its cheek and head against it.

The gesture was incredibly gentle.

“Oh.”

It really was gentle.

Maybe predators in this world were different from the ones I knew.

The idea of them liking humans was completely new to me.

“Gyeoul, come closer and see. You need to understand what they’re thinking, right?”

Saebyeok waved me over.

I hesitated before approaching the snow leopard.

“Grrrr.”

The predator’s gaze fell on me.

If it stood on its hind legs, it’d be much taller than me.

Even knowing it wasn’t dangerous, I trembled.

“H-hello there…”

I accidentally used polite speech.

My hands fidgeted, tugging at my clothes.

This really was okay, right?

As I worried, the snow leopard sauntered over.

Sniff sniff-

It circled me, sniffing, then licked the back of my hand.

The rough sensation was oddly pleasant.

“Ah.”

It really was gentle.

Relieved, I crouched down.

I wanted to make eye contact with the snow leopard.

And then.

Chomp-!

The snow leopard moved behind me and bit my nape.

“…!”

Did it bite me?

Is this how I get eaten?

My body wouldn’t move, probably from tension.

“Waaah!”

Levinas, who’d been hiding in fear, ran towards me without hesitation.

The caretaker also panicked and pulled out something like a stun baton.

However, the snow leopard moved faster.

With its teeth still gripping my nape, it began leaping up the cliff.

“Uwaah.”

If it kept running while holding me like this, my neck would tear.

I curled up in surprise, but oddly, I felt no pain at all.

Instead, it felt as comfortable as being held by family.

‘What’s going on?’

Had the snow leopard cast some spell?

This is surprisingly calming.

My body’s stillness might not be from tension, but from how relaxed I felt.

I looked down, my tail – the only part I could move – swishing gently.

Even then, the snow leopard was steadily climbing to the top of the rocky mountain.

“The king is being eaten!”

Levinas struggled to climb the rocky mountain.

She climbed diligently, one hand and foot at a time, like she was rock climbing.

Saebyeok just stared at me blankly.

She seemed to have noticed I wasn’t in danger.

“Levinas, I’m fine.”

“F-fine?! Your neck is in its mouth!”

“It’s not biting hard at all. I don’t think it wants to hurt me.”

“R-really…?”

While Levinas fretted, the snow leopard reached the summit.

It set me down and began licking my cheeks and ears.

“Ah…”

Through the grooming, I sensed the snow leopard’s loss.

I could fully understand why it was in such a poor state.

‘It lost its cub.’

Was it too weak to even play before it died?

The mother snow leopard was trying to fill the void left by her dead cub through me.

“Grrr.”

The mother snow leopard offered me her tail.

She wanted me to take it in my mouth.

“Mmm…”

It’d be best to do as she wants, right?

Losing a child must be devastating, even for animals.

I took the snow leopard’s tail in my mouth and toddled along behind her.

“Grrrr.”

We stopped at a cliff edge and I let go of her tail.

The snow leopard then leapt down the cliff.

She jumped down several meters, then turned back to look at me.

As if telling me to follow her example.

“Th-that’s too hard for me…”

Unable to jump, I just shuffled my feet at the edge.

The snow leopard climbed back up the cliff.

Lick-

She licked my cheek.

As if encouraging me to be brave.

Strangely, I felt my courage growing.

So I decided to try jumping.

In this world, I probably wouldn’t die from something like this.

—

—

Yeoreum arrived at the arena and looked around at the booths the children had set up.

It was an adorably charming booth, just like their kids.

‘There’s a typo here.’

Had Gyeoul not fully learned to write yet?

I should buy her a picture diary or something later.

As Yeoreum examined the booth, Yoo Sang-ah approached her.

Despite being drenched in sweat from the preparations, she had a bright smile on her face.

“Sang-ah, aren’t you tired?”

“I’m exhausted.”

“Oh… I thought you weren’t tired since you were smiling.”

You seem pretty energetic for someone who’s exhausted.

Noticing Yeoreum’s puzzled look, Sang-ah held out her smartphone.

“I saw something cute.”

“Something cute?”

On Sang-ah’s smartphone was Gyeoul.

It was a video of Gyeoul walking around with a snow leopard’s tail in her mouth.

“Oh my.”

Someone must have filmed it secretly.

People in our neighborhood usually don’t film without permission.

Maybe the rules didn’t apply since we were in a different area.

“Gyeoul said she was going to the nature park, looks like she made friends with a snow leopard.”

“Nature park?”

So that’s where she went.

Yeoreum continued watching the video.

Grrr-

The video ended with the snow leopard teaching Gyeoul how to leap.

Gyeoul hesitated, shuffling her feet, but eventually jumped.

Despite the height of several meters, Gyeoul succeeded on her first try.

Having gained confidence, she began hopping around various parts of the rocky cliff.

‘Impressive.’

Gyeoul, who’d been hesitant at first, quickly began mimicking the snow leopard’s movements.

She was even leaping more quickly and nimbly than the snow leopard that had been teaching her.

The snow leopard watching Gyeoul had a proud, parental smile on its face.

This was something all the viewers of the video were commenting on.

[Goodwithknives: Why does the snow leopard look so pleased lol]

[└ AggroMaster: It must think Gyeoul is a snow leopard cub lol]

[└ PleaseMoney: You do feel proud when your kid works hard.]

[LuluNana: Gyeoul’s leaping ability is amazing.]

[└ Bongsoon: In terms of agility alone, she’s at the level of a top-tier adventurer.]

The comments were a mix of people marveling at Gyeoul’s abilities and others just expressing their emotions freely.

[BeastkinLover: omg gyeoul with tail in mouth what is this baby snow leopard my heart’s gonna explode waaah]

[└ Squishy: Dude]

[└ RealReal: Dude]

This BeastkinLover person is consistent.

Still, they do look after Gyeoul in their own way, knowingly or not.

Yeoreum watched the video twice more before returning the smartphone to Sang-ah.

“Gyeoul has grown again.”

She felt both happy and a little sad.

Seeing Yeoreum’s wistful expression, Sang-ah chuckled softly.

“Children grow up so fast.”

“I wish they wouldn’t…”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

That’s right.

Children grow up quickly.

Even if their physical growth might be slow, their mental growth was unstoppable.

It meant that someday, she’d have to tell Gyeoul the truth.

Perhaps that day would come sooner than expected.

‘Gyeoul said she’d help with the zombie survival event.’

It was certainly not a bad proposal.

She was a child who had directly experienced the zombie world.

The problem was that Gyeoul’s memories were sealed.

To get proper information, they’d need to unlock Gyeoul’s memories.

It meant touching on Gyeoul’s trauma.

‘The choices are tough…’

If they didn’t get help, the chances of saving Gyeoul’s world would be lower.

If they did get help, they’d have to deal with Gyeoul’s trauma.

It was a heartbreaking situation no matter which path they chose.

‘Is there no way to access just a small part of her memories?’

Ugh.

Yeoreum pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Just then, someone tugged at the hem of her clothes.

“Ah… Gyeoul, you’re back?”

Yeoreum looked down.

Gyeoul and the other children were there, smiling brightly.

“Yes. We just got back from the park.”

“I see. But what’s that?”

A carp was nestled in Saebyeok’s arms.

No wonder Saebyeok looked a bit smug.

“We helped the mother snow leopard and got this as a reward.”

“Mother snow leopard…?”

“Yes. The mother snow leopard was heartbroken because she lost her cub.”

“I see.”

So that’s why Gyeoul was playing with the snow leopard.

As Yeoreum nodded in understanding, her gaze fell on Saebyeok.

“Um, Saebyeok?”

“Yes?”

“Is it possible to retrieve just a little bit of that? Only as much as needed?”

Yeoreum tapped her temple.

While glancing at Gyeoul.

Saebyeok understood that she meant Gyeoul’s memories.

“Yes. It’s possible.”

“It’s possible?!”

Yeoreum’s eyes widened.

Even if they were terrible memories, it might be okay if they only retrieved a little at a time.

Gyeoul, still holding onto Yeoreum’s clothes, just looked confused.

Did Yeoreum want to eat carp too?

That’s what she thought.

—

2/6 Enjoy the chappy!

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep