The Babysitter Wants to Stop Dying

Prologue

"It's okay, Lottie. Look at me."

I slowly stroked the small, black head.

The tearful face, of course, couldn't grasp the situation. It might have been due to the earplugs, but this little kid only felt a fear to the extent of, we're both in danger.

"That's right."

I took out the small plugs that had been snugly fitted in Lottie's ears. Even amidst the earth-shattering roar, the child didn't cry. As expected, an extraordinary kid.

‘How admirable.’

I held my breath, trying hard not to reveal my pain, and met Lottie's eyes.

"This is just hide-and-seek. You know the rules of hide-and-seek, right?"

I gasped for breath, holding the small body that fit snugly in my arms. I wanted to speak as affectionately and nonchalantly as possible, but I had no time.

The blood flowing from the back of my broken head had long since drenched the area around my neck, and the piece of metal lodged in my abdomen was slowly eating away at my life.

I was going to die soon.

The words I could choose from in my head grew more and more scarce. No, they were all jumbled up. With the oxygen supply to my lungs dwindling and my blood running dry, my brain couldn't issue proper commands.

No.

Not yet.

I shook my head to clear my mind. Wiping away a few drops of blood that had splattered on the child's forehead, I barely managed to raise the corners of my mouth.

"Lottie, you have to sing a song. In your heart, keep calling for the Tiger Prince. When I start singing along, that's when you come out. You must not come out before then. Got it? You understand, Lottie?"

No matter how well she understood my words, I didn't know how much she truly grasped. But I spat out the words as if vomiting them. Because the blood clot I had been trying so hard to hold back had finally risen to my throat, about to burst out at any moment.

‘I can't let Lottie see.’

I couldn't let this tiny child be covered in crimson blood. She had already been through too much.

"Hide!"

I set the child down, almost throwing her, and covered her with the apron I was wearing.

"Keoheok! Ugh...!"

With a single cough, blood surged from my throat. I roughly wiped away what was flowing down my chin.

I had to find a weapon. I had to find even a broken branch, so that I could hold out until someone came.

I fumbled, desperately sweeping the ground.

‘I have to get my hands on something.’

It was then that I abruptly turned around in the acrid pit of dust where I couldn't see an inch ahead.

"Keok...!"

In that brief moment, a blade falling from the sky pierced my back without a hint of hesitation.

These sons of bitches...!

The remaining blood I had barely swallowed splattered all around. Even so, I looked back at Lottie. I could see drops of blood falling onto the apron.

"Kkeueu, kkeuk...."

Unfiltered pain shot through my entire body.

As if my insides had been completely butchered, my mouth spewed blood like an open faucet. The unfamiliar sensation of my body being split in two shot up to the tips of my hair.

‘Lottie, don't, come out....’

Watching the apron squirming before my eyes, I reached out my hand. But that was all. My body, with a gaping hole in its chest, held on for a few steps before finally collapsing.

Tears I couldn't tell were a reflex from the pain or from worry for Lottie who would be left all alone, mixed with blood and flowed down my cheeks.

‘Please, may she be saved quickly....’

Praying earnestly to a god I didn't even believe in, I finally closed my eyes.

1. Another Fine Day at the Center (1)

"Dere!"

"Hm?"

I don't know when I started spacing out.

A loud shout pierced through the sound of the babbling stream. When I snapped back to my senses, a white, round fist suddenly shot up from the baby wrap I was carrying her in.

"Dere! Dere!"

"What, that?"

I must have been still for too long. As I got up from the rock, two small arms flailed wildly in the air just below my chin.

Following her sparkling gaze, I saw a butterfly the size of my palm fluttering around the wildflowers next to the stream.

So she liked the butterfly. A laugh escaped me at the sight of her clear blue eyes looking up at me, as if telling me to hurry up and follow it.

"But Lottie, we have to go back inside now."

"Hyung-ah! Dere!"

She stretched out her index finger with a surprisingly determined face.

However, more time had passed than I thought. Today was a weekend with no regular schedule, but if we didn't head back soon, I might get another earful about excessive outdoor activities.

The watch on my wrist was already pointing to late afternoon. I spoke to the little one in my arms with a deliberately surprised expression.

"Even though it's snack time? Aren't you hungry?"

"No wike!"

Her cheeks puffed out at my roundabout suggestion to give up on the butterfly.

She was almost two, but she could still only say a few words, yet she understood things astonishingly well. She was truly an inscrutable child.

"Alright, alright. But you mustn't forget that Hyung doesn't have the talent to catch butterflies for you."

Faced with her determined finger, I ended up declaring surrender and started walking. I'll just get scolded a little, whatever.

I approached the butterfly, concocting an excuse for being late for the General Manager I might run into. We were on good terms, so he probably wouldn't say much, but I still had to show some sincerity.

Three months since I joined the Association's ‘Infant Protection Center’.

I was maintaining a decent relationship with pretty much all the staff. The Center Director even joked that anyone watching would think I'd been working here for years.

The reason was singular. Apparently, I was the first babysitter to get this close to Lottie.

Lottie, whom I had now been with for three months, quite liked me, who was practically incompetent, unlike her surroundings where most of her wishes were granted without a second thought. Thanks to that, most of the people at the Center were also favorable towards me.

Moreover, they said it was unheard of for her to open up so quickly, in just a matter of days. Every single one of them showered me with praise, saying things like, "Mr. Arsen must be such a good person for this to happen."

Considering the hierarchy within the company, it was a good thing for me, as I was being treated well by seniors so far up the ladder I would normally never even meet.

Lottie's previous sitters were said to have either died, or, due to Lottie's wickedness, switched their assigned baby or quit after signing a confidentiality agreement.

‘Wickedness...’

I glanced down at the child in my arms. A smile so clear it was spotless filled her small face. Wasn't this the very model of the theory that man is born good, as if she didn't know a speck of malice?

‘She's like an angel.’

If raised well, her future looks very bright. It's not just because I like babies; objectively, her looks and her disposition are all excellent.

Of course, all babies have a tendency to be impatient and want their own way, no matter how gentle they are. It's true I break out in a cold sweat when she acts up sometimes, but it's not at all to the point where she's unmanageable.

‘Just why were they all like that.’

Not long after I was lost in deep thought, a small hand tapped my cheek.

"...Ouch. Lottie, I told you not to touch other people's faces."

"Ttaha!"

A face full of some kind of complaint. It seemed I hadn't responded even though she had been calling for me for quite a while.

"Not fun anymore? Ah. The butterfly is gone."

Her chubby lips were pouting, seemingly quite disappointed that the butterfly had flown away.

"You'll shorten your philtrum if you do that."

A shy smile emerged when I playfully poked her pouting duck lips with my finger. She's so cute.

"Let's go inside now. What snack will it be today? Could it be, butter cookies?"

Lottie burst out laughing as I exaggeratedly stretched my arms to the sky and took a deep breath. I wonder if I'm good with kids, if she likes me too much, or....

‘If it's just because of my ability.’

I quickly rushed indoors before Lottie could get interested in something else.

***

"Mr. Arsen Neroro."

A low, monotonous voice called my name. A sigh automatically escaped through my teeth.

"It's 4:20. I believe the outdoor activity time for today was until 4 o'clock."

Forget the General Manager; out of all the people here, I was caught red-handed by the one person I had hoped not to run into.

I, who had just entered and was trying to sneak up to the room, had no choice but to stop at the sound of familiar footsteps.

"Good... afternoon?"

Turning around with an awkward smile, I saw a neat face with a file folder tucked under his arm. An intimidatingly large frame, a stiff suit, and shiny black shoes.

It was the Administrator.

‘Of all people.’

I braced my already uncomfortable stomach and slowly walked toward the Administrator.

"Perhaps I should buy you a watch."

The Administrator's eyebrows arched fiercely, radiating displeasure. He was saying that while pointedly looking at my wristwatch.

He, who had been appointed to the Center a little after me, was unusually strict with me.

I didn't know the reason, but he was the person I was most at odds with at the Center, where I maintained an amicable relationship with the majority. Of course, it was a one-sided animosity.

Though I had nothing to say now, since I was in the wrong.

"I'm quite sure I instructed you to strictly adhere to the time for outdoor activities. Did the General Manager not inform you?"

The Administrator's pitch-black eyes stared intently at us without a single blink. As usual, at that bizarre feeling, I lowered my gaze to his tie and replied quietly.

"...I'm sorry."

"It's not good to just play outside for a long time. Isn't it time you shed your rookie status?"

"Yes. I'll correct my behavior."

"No matter how much the assigned baby follows the sitter, a sitter who doesn't meet the qualifications cannot work at the Center for long. You should at least follow the basic rules."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Be careful in the future. I will be watching."

Fortunately, perhaps because I wasn't too late, the Administrator unexpectedly backed off. Since his scoldings could easily go on for over an hour once they started, I let out a sigh of relief and prepared to bid him farewell, but....

"Hello, Lottie."

The Administrator, with a blunt expression, bent down to greet Lottie. His black curly hair was like the child's, but his ice-cold face was not the least bit similar. Lottie turned her head away as if in rejection.

"Haha.... She must be tired from playing so much."

I felt awkward myself and changed the subject.

"What activities did Lottie do today?"

But the Administrator, seemingly unconcerned, asked mechanically without the slightest waver. His black eyes were still fixed on Lottie.

What activities? Had this person ever asked something like that before?

For a moment, I felt a stifling tightness in my chest. I figured it was because of his aura, since he was such a high-ranker, and began to ramble as I carefully recalled what we did outside today.

"In the morning, we were inside the Center, and after lunch, we went straight to the beach. We spent a whole hour building a sandcastle, but Lottie cried quite a bit because I accidentally broke it. To soothe her, I carried her on my back and ran around on all fours on the beach and in the forest for a long time, and phew, I thought my back was going to break. And then we went to the stream...."

"Was there anything else out of the ordinary?"

The Administrator's voice cut me off sharply.

"Anything else out of the ordinary...?"

Would it be an overreaction to say the Administrator's gaze was momentarily chilling? As I raised my eyebrows and asked back, the Administrator straightened his back and shifted his gaze to the file folder he was holding.

"Never mind. Lottie is slow with her words, so I was wondering if there were any other changes. Her guardian is quite concerned about that point."

"Ah.... That's right. I'm worried too since her speech isn't improving at all. The doctor in charge said there are no problems, but I really don't know why that is."

"If you happen to notice any peculiarities, please report them to me first. After all, any reports go up through me anyway."

"Yes. Understood."

With the Administrator's nod, I quickly headed for the room. I didn't want to be with the Administrator a moment longer.

Regardless of whether we got along or not, the Administrator was a strangely unpleasant man. There was also a bastard named Cobe Alecman whom I utterly detested, but he was different in nature.

This might just be the instinct of a powerless herbivore. Both are rankers among rankers, but the aura the Administrator exudes is, how should I put it, unsettling.

As I walked up the stairs, I checked Lottie's face, and she too did not have a very good expression.

"Lottie."

The small head looked up.

"You don't like the Administrator-ahjussi?"

"Kka-uuu-."

This kid, no matter how bad she was at talking, she would often answer like this. But now was not the time to point that out.

"Still, when someone greets you, you have to greet them back, Lottie. That's how you become a polite person."

"Awu!"

"You don't want to? Why?"

"Uu-."

Her little mouth jutted out, and she abruptly hid her face. Seeing her like this, I could understand why they said she had only opened her heart to me. Or could it be that she also feels this unpleasant sensation that I feel?

‘No way. A baby like this?’

I let out a soft chuckle and gently stroked her black hair.

"Well, whatever. It's only natural to be shy around strangers at this age. It's okay."

Reaching the dormitory floor, a familiar structure stretched out before me. It looked just like a hotel.

The third room from the right. A snack bundle was placed in front of it. When I picked it up and opened the door, the inside was as messy as when we had left in the morning.

Clothes scattered here and there, an unmade bed, and various other toys. This was the result of rushing out because we were late for breakfast.

So much to do today, as always.

"Sit and wait, okay."

First, I sat the presumably hungry Lottie at a small table and unwrapped the bundle.

Nice. As expected, it was butter cookies today.

"Kkakka!"

A moment ago she wasn't interested, but a laugh escaped me seeing the little one's eyes sparkle at the sight of the cookies.

"Here. One for Lottie."

Four for me.

"Another one for Lottie."

Four for me.

"One for Lottie...."

"Hyung-ah!"

My hand that was dividing the cookies came to a halt at the very clear shout. Her small, flashing eyes had noticed the injustice. Did she know how to count?

‘She's gotten a bit smarter than last month.’

I scratched my cheek awkwardly. They say a child grows differently every day, but this felt different from when my own nephew was growing up.

‘But why is everything else so slow?’

A connecting question. Lottie was very smart, but all her other development was slow. She couldn't even walk properly yet.

"Hyung-aaaah!"

"Sorry, sorry. Here. Two for Lottie."

...Four for me.

But a kid's a kid. When I gave her two, she beamed and showed me the cookies, one in each hand.

Watching her chew them well, nyam-nyam—though it was closer to melting them in her mouth—made me feel drowsy. After I lightly washed her face, she began to nod off.

It was only natural she'd be sleepy after playing so much. I gently laid Lottie down on the bedding, planning to let her sleep until dinner.

I wonder how long I had been sitting alone by the window.

Lottie's room on the 3rd floor of the Center was a place where the horizon was visible at a glance beyond the picture window. The sunset covering the sky showed that another day was safely coming to a close.

If I listened closely, I could hear the sound of crashing waves and the chirping—jireureu—of unknown insects.

‘Is it okay for things to be this peaceful?’

When I first fell into this world, I thought I was completely fucked.

Now, I was starting to think that maybe living like this forever wouldn't be so bad. The job suits my aptitude, the company is decent, the salary is amazing, and the people, except for a few, are all nice....

‘No, what am I thinking.’

I quickly shook my head at the thought that had momentarily crossed my mind. I turned and waved my hand vaguely at the empty air. I didn't forget to mutter ‘Quest’ inwardly.

A translucent blue notification window unfolded above the sleeping Lottie.

Content : Astava is under a curse. Gather clues to find the protagonist,

and help the protagonist destroy the false world. The misaligned wheel of fate must be set back in its place!

Grade : S

Achievement : Lifting the curse cast by ****

Reward : Preservation of the world, maintenance of the player's soul

Penalty : Permanent damage to the timeline, destruction of the world

<1st Clue>

The protagonist is strong.

Clue Accumulation Rate 1/5

I stared blankly at the window I must have read thousands of times over the past half year. I was at a point where I could recite it from beginning to end without a single mistake even without looking, but even this had become a sort of habit.

Find the protagonist.

Help the protagonist.

World destruction.

The protagonist is strong.

I muttered the utterly frustrating words several times before letting out a lonely sigh. Swallowing the irritation that surged up, I ruffled my hair.

‘So who the hell is the protagonist!’

I had been rolling around in this world for half a year, but I still didn't have a single speck of a clue. On top of that, I was being chased by debt, and after being pushed to the brink of doing this ‘Player’ gig, I had barely managed to fend it off by getting a job here.

"Lottie."

I looked down at the peacefully sleeping child and repeatedly rubbed my dry face.

"Just... who could the protagonist be?"

In the silent, still room, only the sound of soft, even breathing echoed.