Even a gentle hug made Jung Yu-na groan.

It meant my strength had increased beyond imagination.

“W-what should I do…?”

My body instinctively froze.

Not knowing how strong I’d become, I couldn’t move easily.

I might cause serious trouble if I accidentally touched someone or something.

“Why don’t you try moving slowly for now?”

“Okay…”

I held out my palms like a criminal before the police.

Then I carefully stretched my foot towards the floor.

Thud-

Even with minimal effort, it sounded like I’d jumped.

It was completely different from usual, when I could silence my footsteps perfectly if I wanted to.

Just how strong had I become?

My ears trembled with fear.

“How does it feel, Gyeoul?”

“I think we’re in big trouble… What should we do now…?”

“Hmm… I’ll try to make an antidote to return you to normal. Can you hang in there for a bit?”

“Y-yes… I’ll try to be as careful as possible…”

Jung Yu-na was the top wizard in Yeomyeong.

If I waited, she’d surely make a cure somehow.

I decided to spend today being extra careful, as Jung Yu-na suggested.

‘I need to use as little strength as possible…’

I carefully grasped the bedroom doorknob.

Crack-

The metal doorknob shattered in my hand.

“Oh no…”

I really had become a monster.

I looked up at Jung Yu-na with startled eyes.

Jung Yu-na was smiling, but couldn’t hide the tension inside.

“We’ll need to be careful.”

“Y-yes…”

Click-

Jung Yu-na opened the door for me.

Outside, the children were sitting huddled on the sofa, staring at me.

“King!”

Levinas ran towards me.

Saebyeok and Gaeul followed behind her. I instinctively tried to hug the children, but quickly jumped back in surprise.

Even a small gesture from me could seriously hurt the children.

“Wait, don’t come closer!”

“…!”

Levinas looked shocked at my rejection.

Gaeul’s eyes also grew as big as saucers.

“King! You can’t do this to Levinas…!”

“Master…!”

Thump-!

Levinas fell to her knees.

Gaeul glanced at her and belatedly knelt down too.

They seemed shocked that I had refused to hug them.

Speaking for the despairing children, Saebyeok asked me a question.

“Gyeoul, are hugs banned from now on?”

“No, just temporarily. I’m incredibly strong right now.”

“Oh, because of that…”

Because of that?

It felt like she knew something.

“Do you know something about this?”

“N-no…?”

Saebyeok avoided my gaze.

She whistled, but it was half air.

“Saebyeok?”

What’s going on?

It really seemed like she knew something.

Just as I was about to question her further, Levinas emerged from her despair.

“King! You can’t hug because you’re too strong?!”

“Yeah. Let’s be patient for a little while.”

“Sniff. Okay…!”

Levinas nodded with her eyes tightly closed.

She looked like she was holding back tears.

Gaeul beside her also wore a gloomy expression.

“King, what are you going to do with your new strength?! Are you going to the dungeon?!”

“No. Even if I’m stronger, it’s dangerous if I’m not used to it. I won’t go to the dungeon.”

“Really?! Then what are you going to do?!”

“Well…”

I’d only thought about being careful, I hadn’t really decided what to do.

Since I’d become stronger, I wanted to use my power in a good way.

Was there anywhere I could put it to use?

“Hmm…”

After thinking for a while, I came up with an idea.

A place where I could use my strength.

“I’ve got a good idea.”

“A good idea?!”

“What is it?”

Everyone at home showed curiosity.

They must be wondering how I’d use this sudden great strength.

I pounded my chest proudly in front of everyone.

—

—

The children, Yeoreum, Jung Yu-na, and Sophia.

I walked through the park with everyone.

We were heading to the tent.

Just going out with everyone made me happy.

My tail swayed back and forth like a metronome.

“Hehe.”

Seeing me like this, Jung Yu-na chuckled.

Yeoreum also covered her mouth and giggled.

“What is it…?”

“It’s just cute how your footsteps make a thump-thump sound when you walk.”

“R-really…?”

At Yeoreum’s words, I looked down at my feet.

Maybe because I was so strong now, my steps made a strange sound.

It was more of a bouncy feeling than normal footsteps.

“I’d say it’s more of a thud-thud than a thump-thump.”

“Huh? Isn’t it thump-thump?”

Sophia and Yeoreum debated about the sound of my footsteps.

They both had smiles on their faces.

“W-well, it’s hard to control my strength…”

Usually, I could walk without making any sound if I wanted to.

I felt somewhat wronged.

“Babies who can’t control their strength walk like that.”

“Yes, it’s nice to see such energetic steps.”

My gait must have changed a lot due to this sudden strength.

I entered the tent without paying much attention to it.

“King! Are you going to unleash your power here?! Won’t the tent collapse…?!”

“Master…!”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to use my strength on the tent.”

I picked up a dented pot nearby.

With my ridiculously increased strength, I thought I could straighten out the pot with my bare hands.

“Watch this.”

I pressed firmly on the bulging bottom of the pot with my hands.

The pot started to regain its original shape as it dented inwards.

“Wow!”

Surprised, Levinas picked up another pot nearby.

She tapped on the protruding part of the pot as if knocking.

Ting ting-

A light metallic sound rang out.

She seemed to be trying to flatten the pot like I did.

“Levinas can’t do it at all!”

Ting ting-

Levinas kept tapping the pot.

Gaeul, thinking this was some kind of game, started hitting another pot with both palms.

Ting ting-

Bang bang-

Clang clang-

Even Saebyeok joined in, hitting a pot with a wooden stick.

The rhythm was a mess, but the children looked like they were having fun.

I found myself tapping a pot too.

Tang-!

My light tap punched a hole in the pot.

It looked like it had been shot by a gun.

“The, the pot…!”

My ears and tail shot up in surprise.

Seeing this, the children’s performance came to an abrupt stop.

“Oh no…”

The hole was huge.

I put the pot over my face.

I could see clearly through the hole.

It was a shame, but it could still be used as a storage container, so it wasn’t a big deal.

As I was about to put the punctured pot back, Levinas approached me.

“King! You’re super strong now, so can’t you close the hole with your strength?!”

“Is that possible…?”

“Yeah! The current King can do it!”

“Hmm…”

Is this the kind of hole that can be closed with strength?

Just in case, I gathered the torn metal pieces together.

As I pressed and rubbed them firmly with both hands, the dented pot gradually started to restore.

“Wow…”

“Did it work?!”

“Yeah. It’s better now.”

Though there was still a crack so it couldn’t hold water, it looked more usable than before.

Happy, I tried to hug Levinas but quickly stepped back.

Hugging was absolutely forbidden.

Unhappy that she couldn’t get a hug, Levinas spread her arms wide and stomped her feet.

“Wuu! Wuuuu!”

Thump thump thump thump.

Levinas rapidly stomped the floor, and Gaeul joined her, stomping alongside.

I didn’t realize not being able to hug would be this frustrating.

Being strong was nice, but not enough to give up hugging.

“Um, you know…”

I wanted to return to normal and hug everyone.

I looked at Jung Yu-na with pleading eyes.

Realizing what my look meant, Jung Yu-na nodded with a smile.

“I asked the guild wizards for help. They’ve probably made an item to remove the effect by now.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah. I’ll go get it quickly. Will you wait here?”

“Okay.”

They’ve already made it?

My tail wagged with relief.

I decided to play with the children while waiting for the removal item to arrive.

—

—

“You’re sure this will let us take a picture with Gyeoul? I really went all out, you know.”

“Yes, of course.”

Jung Yu-na met with a buffer near the park and removed the buff on Gyeoul.

Then she ran towards where Gyeoul was, holding a bottle of drink.

“Hehe.”

The image of Gyeoul fidgeting, unable to hug anyone, kept coming to mind.

Surely by now, Gyeoul must have realized that being super strong wasn’t all good.

Actually, there was a protective spell, so hugging would have been fine.

Jung Yu-na chuckled as she moved towards Gyeoul.

“King, can you really jump this far?!”

“Yeah. I should be able to now.”

Gyeoul was standing in front of the pond.

On the opposite side, the children were waving and waiting.

“Huh?”

Was she planning to jump over the pond?

But the buff has already been removed…

Before Jung Yu-na could finish her thought, Gyeoul leaped up.

Though felines naturally had impressive jumping power, it wasn’t enough to clear such a wide pond without the buff.

Splash-!

Gyeoul fell into the pond.

In that brief moment, Jung Yu-na, with heightened concentration, could see it.

Gyeoul’s eyebrows, which had risen fiercely for the challenge, drooped pitifully as they met the pond water.

Her downturned eyebrows looked wronged and pitiful.

The children watched this scene with blank expressions.

“Ah.”

It’s a good thing I put a protective spell on her.

Jung Yu-na thought this as she watched Gyeoul fall into the water.

—

6/6 Enjoy the chappy!

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