I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 106: Unique game.
Si Hon and the old man slowly turned their heads at the same time, both of them staring at Suha... then at Seong-su... then back at each other. Sweat practically formed in sync.
"Old man..." Si Hon muttered under his breath.
"Yeah... I know, kid..." the old man replied just as quietly, already bracing for the worst.
Then—
Seong-su moved.
She slowly lifted her head, and the expression on her face... wasn’t what Si Hon expected at all. Her lips were slightly bitten down, her brows drawn faintly together— and her eyes... were wet. Not annoyed. Not embarrassed.
Shit. She was crying.
Si Hon blinked.
"Huh?"
Seong-su’s gaze shifted, locking onto Suha, who was still looking at her with innocent expectation. For a brief moment, something flickered across Seong’s face— hesitation, something deeper... something personal.
Then she moved.
Without saying anything else, she scooted closer, closing the distance until she was right beside Si Hon. Slowly, gently, she reached out and patted Suha’s head, her touch careful— almost unfamiliar, like she wasn’t used to doing this.
"Y-yeah..." she said, her voice softer than before. "I will... don’t worry."
A small pause.
"You want me to be your mom?"
Suha’s reaction was instant.
Her face lit up, bright and pure, like nothing else in the world mattered. She quickly pushed herself up from Si Hon’s lap and shuffled over, climbing into Seong-su’s lap without hesitation. Her small arms wrapped tightly around Seong’s waist as she buried her face against her.
"Yes! Me want you!" she beamed. "M-my mom!"
Seong-su froze for half a second—
Then slowly, her arms came up... and wrapped around Suha in return.
Tighter than expected.
Above them— 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
The stream exploded.
Messages flooded rapidly, overlapping in a chaotic storm that Si Hon very deliberately did not look at.
「KWAHAHAHA SI HON HAS A WIFE NOW!!」
「DUDE— WHAT ABOUT VESPER?! ARVEN?! SEORIN?! SARAH?! THE RED TSUNDERE HYUNA?!」
「Relax, relax... I’m rooting for her since the prison scene. She deserves it.」
Back below—
Si Hon and the old man sat there in silence.
Neither of them are looking at the... family bonding scene happening right next to them.
"ಠ_ಠ... Ahjussi..." Si Hon muttered stiffly.
The old man gave a slow nod, patting Si Hon on the back like a man who had already accepted fate.
"Yeah. I know. Didn’t expect this either..."
They both stared straight ahead.
Absolutely refusing to turn their heads.
Meanwhile, Han-Gyeol remained quietly against Si Hon’s chest, his grip still light but present, as if he had no intention of letting go anytime soon.
Time passed like that— strangely peaceful, strangely chaotic.
Until finally, the old man cleared his throat, as if remembering something important.
"I forgot to introduce myself," he said, sitting up slightly. "My name is Edur Vanhallad."
He paused briefly, then gave a small, easy smile.
"But you can just call me uncle."
Si Hon nodded without hesitation, his hand absentmindedly patting Han-Gyeol’s head.
"Uncle it is."
For a moment—
Everything felt... settled.
Then—
A loud, amplified voice suddenly rang across the entire arena.
"Since~!! The team picking is finally done—shall we begin with the rules?!"
The rabbit-masked announcer stood at the center once more, her voice echoing through the coliseum as every remaining conversation came to a halt.
Just like that—
The calm shattered.
And the real game... Was about to begin.
The announcer— aka rabbit bunny girl snapped her fingers.
Snap.
A massive roulette materialized behind her, spinning slowly as if it had always been there, while a towering billboard flickered to life beside it, glowing with shifting light that bathed the entire colosseum in color.
"Now then~" she began, her voice echoing smoothly across the arena. "Let’s talk about something fun."
She paced lightly across the pillar, hands behind her back.
"Since the very beginning... we’ve only done brawls. Fights. One versus one. Death games." Her tone dipped slightly, almost bored. "Over and over again..."
A pause.
Then her head tilted.
"But what if... we try something different today?"
The crowd leaned in.
Her smile widened.
"After all— this is a special day."
Cheers erupted instantly, louder than before, echoing across the colosseum walls.
"Roleplay~" she sang lightly. "Unexpected, right? Does anyone want to share their thoughts?"
She scanned the crowd—
Then—
A hand rose.
A woman in a black dress, wearing a cat mask.
In the blink of an eye, the announcer vanished from the pillar and reappeared right in front of her, as if space itself had folded to accommodate her.
"Perfect!" she chirped, handing her the mic. "Go on— tell them what you think~"
The woman hesitated, gripping the microphone with both hands.
"I... think it’s actually interesting," she admitted, her voice slightly shy. "I’ve been watching this arena for a while now and... it’s getting kind of repetitive..."
A small pause.
"And... I’ve been into romcom and roleplay movies lately so... I wouldn’t really mind something like this..."
Before she could say anything else—
The mic vanished.
The announcer vanished with it.
And just like that, she was back on the central pillar.
"Guess that settles it!!!"
With a flick of her hand, glowing letters burst into existence above her, hovering in the air like a command etched into reality.
"So, if you’re wondering how this is going to work..."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out something small.
A spherical object.
Orange and black. Mechanical. Compact— BALLS. Strange, but filled with power, since it is letting out those aura... yk what I mean?
"Do you all know... the Tower?" she asked casually. "The place where you can obtain items, power, unique traits... and more?"
Si Hon’s brows furrowed slightly.
(The Tower...? Is she talking about mine? ...No. That doesn’t make sense. Arven said I’m the only sane one living there... more like... probably the only one who reached that place.)
Meanwhile, the crowd erupted again at the mention of it.
"We reached floor seventy-one," she continued, lifting the orb slightly. "And this... was the reward."
She tapped it lightly.
Click.
The floating letters above her shifted instantly, reforming into a new message.
「Floor Maker: One-time use
Description: Generate a floor of your choice. Within this floor, players can obtain items, levels, and abilities— just like any other domain.」
The reaction was explosive.
The crowd roared, some cheering, others shouting in disbelief, and some were whispering.
Above Si Hon, the stream flickered violently with messages.
「Floor 71 and THAT’S the reward??」
「Unbelievable... this feels rigged.」
「Si Hon... I don’t like this. Something’s off.」
The announcer tapped her mic lightly, her tone dropping into something quieter. More controlled.
"And lucky for you all..." A small smile formed in her lips. "I know how to use it to its full potential."
Then—
The roulette behind her began to spin.
Faster.
Faster.
Until the sections became a blur of light.
And then, one by one, the options revealed themselves as it slowed.
1st: Protect a village from monsters
2nd: Serve as royal guards in a corrupt kingdom
3rd: Survive as test subjects in a lab
4th: Run a circus while something is hunting you
5th: Normal fantasy school life... where someone in your class possesses the power of regression
Silence settled over the colosseum, heavy and unnatural, as every team leader fixed their eyes on the roulette.
The options lingered in the air, glowing faintly, almost as if they were waiting to be chosen rather than merely observed. Si Hon’s brows pulled together slightly, his unease growing the longer he stared at it.
"Isn’t this... weird?" he muttered under his breath.
The words barely left his lips before the announcer let out a soft chuckle.
And then—
Something shifted.
It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t dramatic.
But it was everywhere.
A faint shimmer rippled across the entire colosseum, like reality itself had just been brushed over and rewritten. The air distorted for a split second, the ground beneath them feeling just slightly... off, like it no longer fully belonged to the same world.
Si Hon’s eyes widened.
"What—"
Before he could finish—
Light bloomed.
All around them.
In front of every prisoner. Every participant.
Windows appeared.
"!?"
They flickered into existence like a summoned constructs, hovering silently in midair— clear, structured, and unmistakably system made.
The sudden presence of them sent murmurs through the arena, confusion mixing with curiosity as prisoners instinctively reached out, only for their hands to pass through light.
At the center, the announcer laughed again, clearly pleased with the reaction she had caused. She spread her arms slightly, as if presenting a stage she had personally prepared.
"See?" she said casually, her tone light but layered with something deeper. "I can even do this."
Her head tilted.
"Now then~ choose your unique traits... and complete your character."
Si Hon didn’t respond immediately.
His gaze remained fixed on the window in front of him— then slowly shifted, one by one, to the people beside him.
Han-Gyeol was staring quietly at his own panel, his small hands still clutching onto Si Hon’s clothes. Suha blinked up at hers in confusion, while the old man narrowed his eyes, clearly trying to understand what kind of system this was.
And Seong-su... she was silent. Watching. Careful.
Si Hon exhaled slowly, then looked back at his own.
The panel hovered steadily in front of him, split cleanly into two halves.
On the left—
A full image of himself, standing still, almost like a character model waiting to be customized.
On the right—
Options.
Clean. Simple.
「Choose your Traits:
Handsome
Lucky Bastard
Good Perception
Survival Tips
More... 」
The words didn’t flicker.
They didn’t move.
They just... waited.
For him.
...
"Damn... handsome traits? To bad I don’t need that... I’m already too handsome for that." Is what I would say if I were on Si Hon foot.
