[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-606":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1240456,1667,"Chapter 605","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-606",606,"\u003Cp>I had a dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A dream where I walked across a snowy field blanketed in white.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The weather was cold and bitter.Yet, oddly enough, I didn’t feel unbearably cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Wheee!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the falling snow, Gu Ryeonghwa ran about, full of energy and excitement.Watching her, I spoke up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“You’ll fall if you keep running like that.”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Hehehe!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t seem to listen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she kept running like that, it wouldn’t be long before—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Ack!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Ah.”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As expected.Gu Ryeonghwa tripped and fell flat on her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Waaaah!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She cried out, tears streaming down her face from the hard fall.I sighed and walked over to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“See? I told you not to run.”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Owwwwww!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her face and cheeks were covered in snow.I brushed it off with my hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Hiiing….”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“When are you going to grow up, huh?”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seven or eight years old at most.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a ridiculous thing to say, especially coming from someone like me, who had never truly matured even into adulthood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking back now, I seemed to have been smarter and more articulate as a child.How did I end up the way I did as I grew older?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I busied myself tending to Gu Ryeonghwa, I suddenly felt—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rustle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A hand rested on my head.The hand was so large it covered my entire head and more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feeling the rough palm, I turned my head slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first thing I saw was my mother.She was smiling softly as she watched us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But, of course, the hand wasn’t hers.My mother’s hands were much smaller.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then whose hand was it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I shifted my gaze slightly and met the eyes of the hand’s owner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A tall man with crimson-red eyes and hair faintly tinged with the same hue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The head of the Gu family.My father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was stroking my hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had this ever happened before?I couldn’t remember. That was how I knew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘This is a dream.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I knew it was a dream.It felt too vivid, too nostalgic.This had to be a dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Father.”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My younger self smiled as he spoke.Smiling at my father—something that would be unthinkable now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was even more shocking—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘He’s smiling?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My father’s lips, normally stern, had curved ever so slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was smiling at me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smiled, and my father smiled back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Oh! It’s Dad!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryeonghwa noticed my father and quickly got up, running to hug him.With her small stature, she could only cling to his thigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“Daddy!”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My father said nothing but patted Gu Ryeonghwa’s head in response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Not a bad sight.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That thought crossed my mind as I watched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it because I knew it was a dream?Or maybe—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Because it’s something I’d always wanted to see?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a strange, indescribable feeling.There was also a sense of embarrassment, like I was seeing something I shouldn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some reason, it felt that way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this was a dream, it was time to wake up.This wasn’t the time to indulge in such things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Resolving to shake myself out of it, I tried to move my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tug.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My cheek was suddenly being stretched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Confused, I realized someone was pulling on my face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it my mother? It had to be my mother, right?That’s what I thought, but then—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh my, what smooth skin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The voice was low and rough, but the tone was uncharacteristically playful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is it because you’re young? Your skin is so soft and elastic.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was my father.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My father was pulling on both my cheeks while making such remarks.His face remained as expressionless as ever, but his words were anything but.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I were ten years younger, would my skin have been like this? Hoho.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘What the hell.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A shiver ran down my spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’d thought it was a normal dream, but this was nothing short of a nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To hear my father’s voice, see his blank face, and listen to such words—it was horrifying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Gotta get out.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I needed to escape this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was the only thought in my mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At first, I thought you barely resembled me, but the more I see you, the more you look like me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The addition of his laughter made it worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The situation was becoming unbearable.Closing my eyes tightly, I forcefully gathered energy in my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whrrr—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I channeled my energy, using it to forcibly wake myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still as scary-looking as ever. But with that face, I’m sure even your cousin—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whrrr—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The energy coursed through me, jolting my body awake. My eyes flew open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Gah…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gasping, I sat up, finally escaping the nightmare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A foreign ceiling greeted me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing it, I sighed in relief.I had truly escaped that terrifying, terrible dream.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As that thought crossed my mind—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh my.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same tone I’d heard in the dream reached my ears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Except this time, it wasn’t my father’s deep voice, but a bright, feminine one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And my cheeks—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were still being pinched.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’re awake?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still caught by the cheeks, I turned to look at the speaker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a familiar face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[“…Whmeltuswword…?”]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had meant to sayWhite Lotus Sword, but with my cheeks pinched, the words came out garbled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>TheWhite Lotus Swordlaughed at my attempt and spoke again.\u003C\u002Fp>",860,"2026-06-05T15:10:11.188Z",1,"novelbin.me","5bcaed256c188cf06f913c6e0389552a1f4028074d453071a53e4ab8ba3dda23","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-607","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-605",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]