I Was Kidnapped By The Strongest Guild
Chapter 303: Pizza Cheek

The floor became the sky, and the sky became the floor.

In the spinning world, I could see my family watching me.

"King!"

"Gyeoul...!"

Levinas was hopping up and down, and Gaeul's eyes were rolling around following me.

Saebyeok was watching with her usual expressionless face.

Encia, who had been hesitating beside the children, carefully grabbed the cat wheel.

Worried I might get hurt, she didn't grip it too tightly.

Screech-

With the sound of friction, the wheel's rotation gradually slowed.

The cat wheel spun me around about four more times before finally stopping.

"Ugh, aaaah..."

It finally stopped.

How many times did I spin around?

I wanted to stand up, but my wobbly body kept tipping to the side.

"Nyah..."

It was hard to stand on two feet.

I had no choice but to use my hands to crawl out of the cat wheel.

Even then, my body was unsteady, and I ended up flopping over to the side.

"Wha! King turned into a cat! Walking on all fours!"

"Gyeoul's always been a cat, though."

"Oh! You're right!"

A cat?

Something seemed off, but I couldn't argue.

Lying on my side, I just flicked my tail a bit.

"Urgh."

"Hmm?"

As I was trying to rest on my side, I heard Gaeul groaning above me.

I rolled my eyes to look towards the sound and saw Gaeul stumbling around just like me.

Gaeul's eyes were spinning.

Her outstretched hands were grasping at thin air.

She must have gotten dizzy from watching me spin in the cat wheel.

Gaeul's antics were so funny that I couldn't help but giggle.

"Gaeul, you should lie down and rest too."

"Master..."

Thud.

The stumbling Gaeul flopped down on top of me.

It was amusing to see her tail wagging even as she was dizzy.

I reached out to pat Gaeul's back.

Encia approached us.

"Gyeoul, are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to Encia."

"I'm glad. I knew you were fast, but I never expected this level."

"Really? Was I that fast?"

"You were incredibly fast. If you hone your skills a bit more, no one will be able to match your speed."

Wow.

Was I really that good?

I couldn't remember clearly, but I had spun around the cat wheel many times just from its rotational force.

I must have been quite fast.

I felt a bit proud, but I didn't show it outwardly.

"I still have a long way to go, though."

"Well, you're still young, so it's understandable."

"Y-yes..."

I am in a young body, after all.

As I nodded to Encia, I spotted Choi Jinhyuk walking through the park in the distance.

"Ah!"

Happy to see him, I got up and ran towards Choi Jinhyuk.

But my body was still unsteady.

I was trying to run straight, but my body kept leaning to the left.

When I tried to lean right to compensate, I overcompensated and veered too far right.

I had no choice but to run in a zigzag pattern, right and left.

Running like that, I finally gave up on balancing and threw myself into Choi Jinhyuk's arms.

I ended up burying myself in his embrace.

"What kind of game is this?"

"I'm dizzy. I was spinning round and round."

"You were playing a spinning game?"

"Um... yes..."

Well, it was kind of like playing.

So it wasn't exactly a lie.

I nodded at Choi Jinhyuk.

"Don't play too roughly, okay?"

"Okay. But where are you going?"

Choi Jinhyuk had a large backpack on his back.

He looked like he was going camping.

"I'm going to visit that other world for a bit."

"That other world... you mean..."

Was he talking about my world?

I looked up at Choi Jinhyuk with wide eyes.

"I'll be back soon, so take care while I'm gone."

"Okay, but... don't you want me to come with you...?"

"It's alright. I actually enjoy this kind of thing."

Choi Jinhyuk gestured to his backpack.

He seemed to like camping and such activities.

"Then can I at least go with you to the portal?"

"Sure."

I held hands with Choi Jinhyuk and walked to the portal.

The children and Encia came with us too.

When we arrived at the portal,

Choi Jinhyuk stepped inside without hesitation.

We waved goodbye to him as he set off on his brief yet long journey.

**

In the world beyond the portal,

There was a girl who had formed a connection with the children.

Yoon Da-in.

On the day the children disappeared, she immediately reported it to the police.

Thanks to the testimony of the campsite owner at the foot of the mountain, the report was filed, but they still couldn't find the children.

'How could they leave no trace at all?'

Sigh.

Yoon Da-in let out a deep breath.

In truth, even if she found clues, there wasn't much she could do as a student.

Still, she wandered around the mountain like today out of worry for the children.

It's not like she had found anything so far.

Maybe she should give up the search.

Just as Yoon Da-in was looking at the path down the mountain-

"Beep?"

A cute cry came from somewhere.

Yoon Da-in's gaze naturally turned towards the sound.

"What's that...?"

It was a rabbit.

But it had a horn on its forehead.

A rabbit with a horn - even Yoon Da-in, who didn't know much about animals, knew such a creature didn't exist.

'What is that?'

The horned rabbit stared at Yoon Da-in with fearless eyes.

Yoon Da-in stared back at the horned rabbit.

As they were looking at each other,

Yoon Da-in remembered the animal ears the children had.

Children with animal ears, and a rabbit with a horn.

So it was true after all.

Gulp.

Just as Yoon Da-in swallowed and was about to approach the horned rabbit,

A man with a backpack appeared, pushing through the bushes.

"A horned rabbit? There are horned rabbits here too?"

He spoke as if he knew what a horned rabbit was.

This man must have some connection to the children.

Yoon Da-in clenched her fists and approached the man, Choi Jinhyuk.

She didn't believe she could do much as a student, but she wanted to do something for the children's sake.

**

That evening,

We all decided to have a late-night snack together.

Tonight's snack was none other than pizza.

"It's pizza! Pizza!"

"Pizza?"

"Yeah! Has Gaeul puppy ever had pizza?!"

"Huh..."

Gaeul shook her head.

It meant she had never tried it before.

I couldn't help but tilt my head at this.

"Gaeul, didn't you eat the brick oven pizza at the buffet?"

"Meat!"

"O-oh..."

I see, Gaeul only ate meat.

Pizza is mostly carbs, after all.

It probably didn't even register to Gaeul, who loves meat.

This might be a good chance to get Gaeul to try food other than meat.

"Levinas had pizza at the buffet earlier!"

Ahem.

Levinas puffed out her chest.

I chuckled at Levinas's behavior.

"Levinas, the buffet pizza is quite different from the pizza we're getting now."

"D-different?"

"Yeah. The buffet pizza is flat, but the pizza we ordered is thick."

"What's the difference...?"

"Well..."

To be honest, I wasn't sure either.

What is the difference?

As I was thinking, rolling my eyes around, Saebyeok explained in my place.

"The cheese stretches on thick pizza."

"Stretches?!"

"Stretch?"

"Yeah. It stretches this much."

Just as Saebyeok spread her arms wide,

Yeoreum came in carrying the pizzas.

"Kids, your sister brought pizza."

"Wow."

We all ran to the entrance.

Chattering excitedly, we returned to the living room together.

"Pizza!"

Gaeul opened the pizza box.

There was a meat pizza to suit our tastes, a shrimp pizza, and a veggie pizza.

Gaeul picked up a whole round pizza.

Then she held it out to me, offering me to eat.

"Gaeul, we can take one slice at a time."

"One?"

"Yeah."

I tore off one slice and put it in Gaeul's mouth.

Gaeul's eyes widened as she chewed the pizza.

"...!"

Gaeul's hand holding the pizza slowly dropped to the table.

She seemed surprised by the taste, and the cheese was stretching from her mouth all the way to the table.

"Huh?"

Gaeul tilted her head, looking at the stretched cheese.

Across from her, Levinas was also eating pizza, stretching the cheese.

"Amazing! It stretches like King's cheeks!"

"My cheeks...?"

"Yeah! This is King's cheek pizza!"

"N-no, my cheeks don't stretch like that."

"They do! King's cheeks are pizza cheeks, so they stretch!"

Levinas came over to my side.

Then she grabbed my cheek and pulled.

"Owie."

My elastic cheek stretched out.

Seeing my stretchy cheek, Levinas puffed out her chest with a proud expression.

It was as if she was saying, "See?"

"Gyeoul's cheeks are like cheese."

"I thought they were more like marshmallows."

Yeoreum and Saebyeok chatted as they watched my stretching cheeks.

Cheese and marshmallows?

Are my cheeks really like that?

I put down the pizza I was eating and was about to pull my own cheeks when-

"Stretch."

Gaeul quietly pulled both of Sophia's cheeks as she sat in the massage chair eating pizza.

Sophia's cheeks were like elastic pudding.

"Gaeul, you shouldn't do that."

"...It's fine."

"Is it okay?"

"Yes, tactile play is important for children."

I see.

Sophia must see Gaeul as a complete baby.

It wasn't exactly a wrong assessment.

"Is tactile play really important for kids?"

"It is. It helps improve cognitive abilities."

"I see."

Gaeul is still young, after all.

Is that why they're letting her be?

As I was backing away to my seat, Gaeul approached me.

"Master!"

"Yes?"

Gaeul stretched my cheeks.

Then she nodded and pointed at me.

"Number one!"

"Number one? I'm number one?"

"Yeah!"

Gaeul continued to list rankings.

I wasn't sure what it was about, but Sophia was second and the pizza was third.

"What am I number one in?"

"Stretch! Number one!"

"S-stretch...?"

Does she mean I stretch the most?

I'm sure she saw the pizza cheese stretch much more.

I looked at Gaeul with confused eyes.

I never figured out what exactly I was number one in.

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