I woke up staring at a familiar ceiling.

I was in my own bed, though it wasn’t exactly my room. Rather, it was a space within my mental world—a room designed for author Yoo Eun-ha’s hermit lifestyle.

She sat in a chair, legs crossed seductively, giving me a cold stare. Did I do something wrong?

“What’s so special about that woman, anyway? I mean, sure, you’ve got a woman’s body, but do you really like women that much?”

Just because I have a woman’s body doesn’t mean I’m necessarily attracted to men. I’ve been reborn several times, and each time, I’m still into women. That’s all there is to it.

“Well, maybe you should have made me a man, then. Isn’t it natural for someone with a man’s mind to want to be with women?”

“So if a woman turned into a man, would she end up with another man?”

“It’d be an eyesore, but logically, from her perspective, sure, why not?”

At least, that’s the theory. I respect everyone’s preferences. If a woman who’s been transformed into a man is really into BL, I wouldn’t judge. The real issue would be if her chosen partner’s on board.

“No, that’s not it. Even back when you were wreaking havoc as an evil dragon, you still preferred women, Azidahaka. Gender doesn’t even mean anything to you.”

Well, considering I’ve gone from woman to man and then back to woman, that’s fair.

“Are you saying you just want to see me with a guy?”

Corrupting me into a submissive female? Not a chance.

“No, my point is that after all that time with women, would you really spend 100 years in the Archive just to save one? That’s what’s absurd to me.”

Yeah, I guess it would seem that way. But still—

“Isn’t a mother-daughter duo something anyone would dream of?”

“Sure, but even if it’s a dream for some people, isn’t this a bit extreme? Wait, does everyone dream of a mother-daughter pairing?”

Admittedly, if it were with a middle-aged woman I couldn’t stand, it wouldn’t be worth considering. But Rachel looks like she’s in her twenties. A mother who looks like she’s in her twenties, and her daughter? How could I not indulge? Besides, it’s like getting an exact copy of the same bloodline, right down to a matching pair down below. This is impossible to resist.

“Well, to each their own. Why are you hassling me about it?”

“I’m not even human! But still, 100 years? Thanks to you, things have gotten more complicated.”

I’m the one spending 100 years in there. Does she somehow experience everything I see and feel as if it’s her own dream?

“Isn’t it just a matter of enduring it for 100 years?”

“Azidahaka, don’t forget, I’m you. Which means, to me, this sounds like it’ll be an incredibly boring time. And while I could interfere, it comes with restrictions.”

Even if she tried to interfere, I wouldn’t accept it. If I just snapped through 100 years, it’d be hard to raise Rachel’s affection score.

“So, what are you getting at?”

“Maybe I don’t need a straightforward approach. Fine, if you run a little errand for me, I’ll speed things up a bit. Here.”

Muttering to herself, author Yoo Eun-ha tossed me a book.

[The Hero and the Demon King]

The Hero and the Demon King? What’s this about?

“Finish this book. In return, I’ll cast a spell to speed up time, so you’ll have no trouble winning Rachel’s heart.”

Of course, she’d think of something like that. She could just entertain herself, but instead, she’s putting it on me.

With a sigh, I opened the book.

***

After spending a hundred years in the Archive, I finally returned to the original world. The reward for my errand was a peculiar spell that made ten years feel like a single day. Somehow, despite a hundred years passing, it felt like only 24 hours to me. However, it seemed the magic only applied to me—Rachel had truly spent the full century by my side.

That made sense; if she’d only spent ten days, she wouldn’t be here beside me now, holding my hand with that deep gaze. And, without me even noticing, Rachel and I had ended up with a certain “love child” too.

After those ten days—or a hundred years for her—I finally brought Rachel to the penthouse in Songdo.

“Let me introduce you. This is Rachel Silverluck, Reyna’s mother.”

When everyone was lounging in the common room, I proudly introduced Rachel, now my woman.

“...”

Everyone’s faces went blank, especially Reyna’s, her expression unreadable—shock, confusion, delight, and longing all shifting across her face in quick succession. It was almost funny to watch.

“Wait… I don’t understand. You left for just a few minutes, barely even five, and suddenly you come back with…”

Apparently, only about five minutes had passed outside. Considering the time it took to open the portal and re-enter the Archive, it was barely any time at all. I worked my ass off in there for this, and only five minutes passed here?

Not that I’m complaining. If a hundred years had actually passed, the planet might have been ruined, even if Reyna the Monster and Si-woo the Lustful still survived.

“M-Mother!”

“My daughter…”

Rachel and Reyna embraced. A touching, tearful reunion of family. Reyna had been a child when she ended up here, drifting through an unexpected portal. Despite receiving government support, she must have felt a lingering loneliness without her family. Now, she could finally live happily with her mother.

And I’d gained my coveted mother-daughter duo.

“What’s that thing over there?”

“Creak!”

At some point, Yu-jeong had noticed the small dragon hovering beside me—a dragon with white, gleaming scales, clearly attached to me. It was also Rachel’s child. Yes, no need to say more—this was our love’s creation.

“This? Uh, well… our combined magic…”

“It’s the embodiment of our love,” Rachel said, touching her cheeks and blushing.

Great. Reyna was already glaring at me. I’d planned to explain it as just a product of magic, but now I might get my hair pulled. During our time in the Archive, Rachel and I had combined our magic to create something new. It wasn’t intentional, but it just happened. With our magic mixed, I couldn’t exactly abandon it; it would feel like leaving a child behind.

“Her name is Rey. She wasn’t exactly ‘born,’ more created from our magic and love.”

“Looks like your kid, Eun-ha. You’ve got dragon powers, after all.”

Yu-jeong cradled my “child” in her arms, the size of a large guinea pig for now. Who knows how big it’ll get or if it’ll have any combat abilities?

“Krreeek!”

Yawning, it curled up to sleep in Yu-jeong’s arms like a pet. Rachel gazed at it with a mother’s affection, while Reyna shot jealous looks between Rey and me, eventually directing her irritation at me.

“Seriously? Out of everyone, you had to go for my mother?!”

“Don’t be too harsh; there’s a reason.”

Rachel stepped in to stop Reyna from coming at me, and I knew I had to explain before her opinion of me dropped too low. I told her everything—how I’d actually spent a hundred years in the Archive.

Upon hearing my explanation, both Reyna and Yu-jeong, who was holding Rey, looked stunned.

“You did it for me? And spent a hundred years in that Archive?”

“Of course. If it were something to help Han Su-ji or Yu-jeong, I’d do the same and spend a hundred years with them too.”

I managed to keep my image intact.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you’d have told me not to, and Rachel would still be trapped in there.”

Records can never escape. Unless someone burns the Archive and erases the record from its books, there’s no way out.

“But if records can’t leave, how did she…?”

“A monster.”

“You turned my mother into a monster?”

“Well, Eun-ha showed up, and the first thing she did was implant a core in my chest.”

It was the only way to bring her back to life. To revive a recorded entity, you have to implant a core. It doesn’t exactly mean a fully human body, though. As a result, it led to the strange sight of Rachel gathering her own bones.

—I’m clearing up my own bones. How ridiculous.

—But now you’re alive; that’s what matters.

—Even so, these bones are still a part of me; it feels wrong to destroy them.

—What are you talking about? To me, you are Rachel—all of you.

Even back then, I’d teased her with kisses. The process of turning her into a monster granted her a strange ability. She could transform her body into paper, like a character from a certain ninja manga. To be precise, she could shift into pages containing the records of the Archive. She could even teleport between books, which meant she could travel from a book in the penthouse to one at my place, appearing anywhere the books were.

Quite a handy ability.

I should probably hold off on the mother-daughter fantasy for now. There’s work to be done.

And I’m exhausted.

Come to think of it, Han Su-ji’s not here, is she? I pressed my temples and turned to Yu-jeong.

“Han Su-ji hasn’t come back yet?”

“Nope.”

There’s no way she couldn’t clear an event that even blockhead Park Jun-hyuk managed to complete. If anything, Su-ji’s stronger. Events are usually vague on details, and there’s little I can do to help directly.

“For now, why don’t you two, Rachel and Reyna, have some mother-daughter time? I’m tired and need some sleep.”

Surprisingly, fatigue was catching up to me. Spending every day in the Archive “playing” with Rachel wasn’t the problem; after all, physical exhaustion isn’t an issue for a dragon. The problem was overusing the damn Akashic Record. Even I can’t pull information from it nonstop without feeling the strain. Just linking Elene’s and Rachel’s worlds with this one gave me migraines. And I’d overdone it with the errands to finish quickly, so now the headaches were piling up.

“You, tired? That’s a first.”

“A hundred years’ worth of fatigue hit all at once.”

It wasn’t academy day yet, so I could afford to rest a bit. Leaving the heroines in the lounge, I threw myself onto the queen-size bed in the penthouse.

***

How long had I been asleep? It felt like a relentless headache was gnawing through my brain. Somewhere in that hazy border between sleep and wakefulness, as I struggled against the pain, a voice echoed in my mind, making me frown.

[How strange… that you, too, have entered my fragment.]

It was the voice of the Martial God. No way… seriously?

“What the hell is going on?”

[Originally, I sent the red-haired girl here to grant her power and experience, but it seems that since you have accepted me once before, you’ve been pulled in as well.]

So, I have to deal with this bothersome task too?

“So I also have to…?”

[Yes. You, too, must find your way out of this fragment. Accomplish what I could not. This is beyond my control.]

“Wait… hang on… Aaagh!”

Before I could finish, the damn Martial God yanked me into his fragment. By the time I regained my senses, I was in a military tent, something straight out of a historical drama.

“Where… where am I? Han Su-ji?”

Next to me stood Han Su-ji, looking bewildered. She was dressed in a ridiculously revealing armor, like something a female character from a Three Kingdoms game would wear. Apparently, I was dressed the same. Really, Martial God, you have some unique tastes.

“Eun-ha? What are you doing here? This was supposed to be a space set aside for me by the Martial God.”

“Looks like I got dragged along too, thanks to our past connection.”

As I was exchanging words with Han Su-ji, a man clad in armor suddenly strode into the tent from outside. Who’s this guy?

He looked at us with a baffled expression and spoke.

“The Cheok sisters. What are you two doing? Get moving.”

To where?

“Didn’t you say you were going to capture the fortress?”

A fortress?

“Yes, you said you’d capture it together. Off you go, then.”

What kind of insane nonsense is this?