I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 53: What Comes After the Game? a G####
Hana was still standing there— Serious. Very serious. Unbelievably serious. Cold wind dramatically blowing between them.
This round will decide everything.
It will be the last.
"Rock... paper... scissors!"
Hana: Rock.
Seorin: Rock.
Silence.
"ಠ_ಠ... Again," I muttered.
"Rock... paper... scissors!"
Hana: Scissors.
Seorin: Scissors.
My eye twitched.
"ಠ_ಠ... A-again."
"Rock... paper... scissors!"
Hana: Paper.
Seorin: Paper.
"ಠ_ಠ... Again."
Snow drifted down.
The fog thickened.
Somewhere in the distance, something large moved beneath the white silence of Snowfall Mountain/White graves, then stopped.
Because apparently somehow... even monsters are going to want to watch this nonsense.
Ten rounds later.
Nothing changed.
Same hands.
Same timing.
Same ridiculous tension.
Same all!
My hands slowly rose to my face.
"I... I swesr... t-this..." I whispered shakily. "T-this is going to be the final rock–paper–scissors..."
Both of them threw rocks.
Hana: Rock.
Seorin: Rock.
"...ಠ_ಠ Never mind."
Right beside me, the System window appeared like it had been waiting for this exact emotional collapse.
「(⌐■-■) I know you thought that was the last rock–paper–scissors.」
"...Don’t read my mind."
「Dumbass.. you whispered to yourself.」
"ಠ_ಠ..."
***
(After a whole Rounds and Rounds later.)
Rounds... I lost count.
"Rock...! paper...! scissors!!!!"
Hana: Paper.
Seorin: Rock.
Silence.
The wind stopped.
Even the fog seemed to pause—
"...I..." Hana blinked.
Then her entire face lit up with a HUGE GRIN.
"I WON!!!"
She jumped once.
Twice.
Then began doing a tiny, wobbly victory dance that had absolutely no rhythm and yet somehow contained pure happiness.
"Hehe— I won— I won— Dad I won! Hehe."
It was less of a dance and more of a small spinning celebration of existence.
Behind her...
Seorin slowly dropped to her knees.
Not dramatically at first.
Just... gently.
Like her soul had quietly left her.
She stared at the empty air in front of her, eyes hollow, snow landing softly on her shoulders.
"...Ah..."
A long breath left her lips.
"...Aigo..."
Another pause.
"...Life... is no good now... I..."
She looked toward me.
"I can’t go on Si-Heon."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Like a tragic heroine in the final episode of a 200 Chapter drama nobody asked for.
"...Eomma... I tried..."
She tilted sideways slightly— then caught herself before fully collapsing.
"...I lost... to a ten-year-old... in rock... paper... scissors..."
The wind answered with silence.
Even the System didn’t joke.
For two whole seconds.
Nothing happened, of course nothing happened.
"ಠ_ಠ... okay?" I muttered.
I turned toward Hana.
"...Congratulations," I said, clapping slowly.
Hana immediately ran toward me and hugged my waist.
"I did it, Dad! I really did it!"
"...Yeah," I said softly, patting her head.
"You did."
And strangely— for just a moment the freezing cold of Snowfall Mountain felt... a little less cold.
「(⌐■-■) Now what?」
The blue window shimmered.
Snowflakes passing through the light turned into faint particles... like tiny stars dissolving in midair.
A new line appeared.
「(⌐■-■) Choose now... we’v— I mean... you three have been in here for far too long... well... I don’t really care. Since... (~￣³￣)~ our AUDIENCE are happy and entertained~」
"Cool, cool... could I ask— wait, never mind. I’ll do it later."
I stopped and simply looked toward the woman.
Seorin was still on the ground, lifting one finger weakly.
"...If... the kid picks... something weird..."
She let out a soft, dramatic huff.
"...I’m uninstalling life..."
"ಠ_ಠ Damn... that’s... corny. Yeah... well, you can’t uninstall life," I said.
She sniffed.
"...Watch me..."
Hana turned back to the floating window, her eyes shining.
She stared at it for a long moment.
Then— she happily pointed at one of the skills.
"Dad... this is what I want you to choose..."
「Intimidating Glare (very weak)」
I stared at the words while holding my chin.
"...Hmm. Why?"
"’Cause it’ll make you cooler!!!"
"...Okay?"
I gently patted her head and cleared my throat like this was some life changing decision.
"System... I would like to choose... Intimidating Glare..."
The window instantly popped up.
「FIIIINALY! (⌐■-■)
Quick Get-Up — Stand faster after falling
One-Breath Focus — Perfect concentration for one second
Calm Mind — Slight panic reduction
Stamina Flicker — Gain energy equal to one deep breath
Perfect Snack Detection within 10 meters
Can Look Mysterious While Saying Nothing
Random Sparkle Appears During Cool Pose
Stabilize Body Heat — Reduces feeling of cold slightly
Can Pretend to Understand Instructions Convincingly
Intimidating Glare (very weak)
Has been CHOSEN.」
For a second— my whole body began to glow faintly.
I looked down at my arms.
"...What’s happening...?"
Seorin, still lying dramatically on the freezing, cold, black ground, glanced at me and muttered quietly, "That’s pretty normal when you choose a bunch of skills at once..."
She curled slightly like a defeated shrimp.
"...I remember my first time... Aigooo... youth..."
"Oh... alright."
Then— something shimmered in the air.
A translucent panel popped into existence.
────────────────────────
Name: Si Hon
Level: 19
Tendency: Careful Strategist
Job: Unemployed
Title: Thief — tap for more...
Free Stat Points: 0
Strength: 27
Agility: 19
Stamina: 33
Endurance: 33
Luck: 21
Intelligence: 19
Mana: 12
Skills (Active):
Quick Get-Up — Stand faster after falling (10 second cooldown)
Passives:
One-Breath Focus — Perfect concentration for one second
Calm Mind — Slight panic reduction
Stamina Flicker — Gain energy equal to one deep breath
Perfect Snack Detection within 10 meters
Can Look Mysterious While Saying Nothing
Random Sparkle Appears During Cool Pose
Stabilize Body Heat — Reduces feeling of cold slightly
Can Pretend to Understand Instructions Convincingly
Intimidating Glare (very weak)
────────────────────────
"Ohhh... that’s cool..."
I scratched my cheek awkwardly.
"Got startled for a bit though... didn’t expect it to just be my status window."
Hana suddenly tugged on my clothes.
"Dad..." she said, eyes sparkling like someone who genuinely wanted to ask for something.
"C-could you do a cool pose?" She asked.
My eyes twitched.
"...What?"
"Pleaaaseeee?"
Behind her—
Seorin’s body twitched too.
Like she had been struck by invisible lightning.
She slowly stood up, brushed imaginary dust off her clothes, then looked at me with a very forced serious face.
"...Yeah. You... should do what the kid asked."
She nodded firmly.
"Children’s dreams are important, you know."
"...Why do I feel like you just want to see me embarrass myself?"
She looked away immediately.
"Pf— pff— W-what?! No...? Of course not. Aigo... why would I ever want that..."
The System window slid in beside us.
「(⌐■-■) I also support this decision. For... scientific observation. And... of course for the audience.」
That again. I really wonder why... this thing keeps mentioning something about audience.
"WELL... WAIT... what the fuck? YOU TOO?!"
Hana clasped her hands together.
"Dad... cool pose... with sparkle..."
Silence.
Cold wind blew.
Snow drifted dramatically.
My... my dignity... slowly leaving my body.
"...Haah."
I exhaled, then ran a hand through my hair and pulled it back, trying to look at least 1% cool.
"Fine."
I stepped forward— then suddenly spread both of my arms wide and forced the biggest smile I could manage.
It was the kind of smile that tried very hard to look cool... and failed in several emotional ways.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Seorin’s eyelid twitch slightly.
I chose to ignore it.
Completely.
"...Like this?"
For one second— nothing happened.
Seorin leaned forward.
Hana stopped breathing.
Even the wind felt like it paused.
Then—
ting.
A bunch of, tiny, extremely low-budget sparkle appeared near my shoulder.
It flickered weakly— then it disappeared.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even the cold wind passing through us seemed to pause... just to judge me.
Seorin’s lips trembled.
Hana’s eyes widened.
And somewhere, deep inside the invisible System... I swear I felt secondhand embarrassment.
「...(⌐■-■) Budget constraints.」
"THAT’S IT?!" I shouted.
Hana gasped softly.
"...Dad... do it again."
Seorin covered her mouth, shoulders shaking.
"P-pfft— AIGO— sorry— I mean— very cool... very very very cool..."
Me:"Stop laughing!"
Seorin: "I’m not laughing!"
Me...: "ಠ_ಠ You’re vibrating!!"
Seorin: "(つ≧▽≦)つ C-culture shock!!"
I sighed deeply... then, for absolutely no reason— I turned my head slowly and used my newly acquired skill.
Intimidating Glare.
My eyes narrowed.
Serious, sharp and cold~
’Powerful.’
A very weak breeze passed by.
Seorin blinked.
"...Did something happen?"
The System replied helpfully.
「(⌐■-■) Target feels... 0.3% nervous.」
"...Wow," Seorin said flatly.
"I’m trembling. Truly."
"HEY."
But Hana— Hana looked at me like I was the coolest person in the universe.
"Dad..." she whispered in awe.
">▽< amazing... and... you looked so handsome when you did that pose!"
I... yea.. fuck... I immediately looked away.
"...Yeah. Of course, it was because I’m your dad."
Behind me—
Seorin whispered quietly,
"...Aigo... why does that line sound cool even though nothing is happening..." Seorin muttered under her breath, staring at the empty air where my so called sparkle had just disappeared.
"...Sure..." I answered weakly.
Right at that moment—
Grrrrr... GROWLLED.
A very small... very tragic sound echoed in the quiet world.
I looked down.
Hana immediately covered her stomach with both hands, cheeks turning pink.
"Oh... hungry?" I asked gently.
She nodded.
Very slowly.
"...Let’s cook something," I said, turning toward the lit campfire.
The campfire was already burning softly, warm orange light flickering across the black stones Seorin had lit earlier. The gentle heat pushed back the endless chill of cold, though the cold still lingered in the air, stubborn and quiet.
It was nice.
Then I glanced sideways at Seorin.
"Seorin... could you... uh... could you get... some..."
My voice trailed off.
I sighed.
"...Could you grab the dead bodies of those mole-rats? I’m pretty sure there were a lot."
She crossed her arms immediately, lifting her chin with that familiar I am-clearly-planning-something expression.
"...I mean... sure, I guess," she said casually.
Then she smirked.
"But you need to... accompany me first."
I stared at her.
"Don’t forget," she added softly, eyes narrowing just a little, "just because we’re buddy-buddies now... doesn’t mean I’m letting you go."
...Ah.
Right.
I did promise I’d answer her questions.
About the skill.
About how I MAGICALLY did that teleport thing.
For a brief second, the cold wind felt heavier.
Then—
A familiar blue window suddenly appeared in front of me.
Soft. Quiet.
But impossible to ignore.
「3rd Quest Reward — 3 QUESTIONS, 3 ANSWERS」
