Watching magical girl anime with a full stomach after gorging on chicken.
Even though two people dove into one chicken, half of it remained uneaten, unable to fill the delicate stomachs of elementary school students.
The leftover chicken was now the mascots’ share before it got cold.
“Ahh.”
The combination of the greasy chicken and the soda flowed out as a refreshing shout from within.
With that refreshing sound as a signal, Siyeon’s mascot, resembling a sea snake, and the bear cub sneaked toward the chicken box.
The reason I ordered it as boneless was so these two could eat it easily.
They look as if they could survive on air, yet they are bizarre beings desiring what humans eat.
“I want fried chicken.”
“Wow, look at all this leftover…”
They’re the world’s first dolls munching on chicken.
Broadly speaking, can we consider them waste disposal units?
‘They’re practical, though.’
They don’t eat electricity and don’t need batteries.
As I stared at the bear cub’s back, Siyeon’s mascot gazed at me intently.
Following that gaze, the bear cub, who was hastily scavenging the chicken, turned to me and said.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“No, it’s just that I thought you’d make a perfect waste disposal unit.”
“Really?!”
They might just become the must-have item for housewives.
No food waste, plus they can keep you company; how great is that?
Once they finish off the leftovers, they will neatly fold the grease-stained chicken box and pour the chicken radish soup down the sink.
Given their physique, pulling an all-nighter is out of the question.
“Yawn.”
How long has it been since I had chicken? I let out a big yawn as drowsiness washed over me.
Siyeon, nestled against the sea snake mascot, was lying asleep on the bottom bunk, breathing shallowly.
Watching that scene, I stepped up the stairs towards the top bunk.
A bear cub selfishly lay sprawled across the center of someone else’s bed.
I casually grabbed it with one hand and tossed it over the edge of the stairs.
“Gwaak!”
‘What’s a wild creature doing in a place where people sleep…?’
After reaching the top step, I sank into the plush bed.
I had barely closed my eyes for a few minutes when the night that felt eternal was broken by the basic alarm sound ringing from my smartphone.
I swiped the alarm off, taking a moment to close my eyes again and let out a short sigh.
“Ah.”
While fidgeting in bed, a sigh slipped out unconsciously.
The meaning of that sigh was crystal clear, requiring no explanation.
‘…I don’t want to go to school.’
“Yawn.”
The journey to elementary school, beginning with Siyeon’s yawn.
And this is where it starts again.
How many more years do I have to wake up early in the morning?
Once I arrive at school, I sit down and hang my bag next to the desk.
With a backstory of being a magical girl without parents, yet birthed with the surname Kim.
Thanks to the unreasonable rule of the Korean alphabet, I can’t even comfortably lean back in this front seat.
Moreover, it’s the seat right up against the teacher’s desk.
‘What a stroke of luck.’
Filled with complaints, I collapsed onto my desk as soon as I arrived, trying to accumulate a bit of freedom before class started.
Without parents, can’t I at least change my name?
It’s a ridiculously flimsy world after all.
Can’t they let something like this slide?
“Hey! Kim Mari! Where’s the tteokbokki?!”
“It’s Kim Mari—Kim Mari!”
‘Ugh, those bastards.’
The everyday life of elementary school.
Making fun of people’s names.
It seems they never tire of teasing the same topics every day.
The boys in my class are tougher to deal with than monsters.
If I’m annoyed, I can just beat up a monster until I relieve my stress, but these kids can’t be handled that easily, which makes it all the more frustrating.
I wouldn’t want to smack them just to have their parents come by and make it a hassle.
‘These things don’t need to be realistic.’
“Sigh.”
Muttering such complaints, I let out a yawn, calling myself “Kim Mari” or “shrimp tempura.”
It seems even the magical girl framing has its limits.
Was it in kindergarten? I once beat someone up for making fun of my name, only to end up getting chewed out by an unreasonable aunt.
I still remember that conversation vividly.
The yell of the aunt, who didn’t seem to realize she wasn’t able to raise her child properly, demanding to call her parents.
In response, I asked why she was looking for something you didn’t even have, which almost blew the kindergarten up in shouts.
I also added that it’s because of brats like you that no-kids zones exist.
Looking back, that wasn’t something a kid my age should have said.
I mean, I was just at that age where I was figuring out how to behave accordingly…
‘It was a bit too much, though.’
I didn’t really expect that their parents had passed away.
Thinking back, it was a grandiose argument between someone who never had parents and someone who lost theirs.
Anyway, learning from that experience, I’ve tried to live without causing trouble.
Of course, there are plenty of kids I want to smack right away if I was certain their parents wouldn’t show up.
But teasing someone about their name? I guess my inner adult would just endure that.
Yet, oh how the pure malice of children sometimes breaks the iron will of that inner adult.
After school, during cleaning time.
We start cleaning with brooms and dustpans or mops, according to our assigned numbers.
If I run away, my number stays on the board.
Squatting down to pick up some big trash, the prepared mop comes into the classroom.
With a slosh, the mop’s already damp, dragging the excess water across the floor.
“Yay!”
What’s so exciting about that, as the little ones whiz between desks?
If they’re motivated, it’ll end quickly, which is good.
While I was thinking that, looking at my smartphone…
A clumsy thump rang out, and I felt dampness across my head.
“Ah.”
One kid, high on excitement, raised the mop way up, but couldn’t control its weight as it came crashing down on my head.
That already too wet mop showered my head with sandy garbage.
‘…??’
Wait, the line of reason vanished from my mind.
Yet, I very well understood it.
Yeah, they’re just kids, so that’s understandable… they might make mistakes.
But will this fist forgive you?
The fist of my body that couldn’t accept this started drawing a clean trajectory.
In that moment, the lost thread of reason returned to its place, connecting with my head.
Avoid the one-touch jaw surgery, twist its trajectory away from my face.
“Ugh!”
Fortunately, my fist landed on the right side of my chest, and I bolted out of the classroom to deal with my trash-smeared head.
As soon as I entered the bathroom, I managed to rinse off the sandy garb stuck to my scalp in the school’s filthy bathroom.
My long hair, which I’d been too lazy to cut, was maddening at a time like this.
‘What a mess.’
Regret dawned late.
I should hope that kid’s mother isn’t an unreasonable brat.
Inside, I felt congested and bitter.
I decided to grab a candy on the way back.
Siyeon, who was in another class, was waiting for me at the school gate until cleaning ended.
Of course, Siyeon asked why my hair was wet and listened to me recount what had happened during cleaning to make sense of it.
“So, you hit him?”
“Uh-huh.”
I casually answered, popped a strawberry-flavored lollipop I bought from a nearby stationery store into my mouth.
It’s all in the past now.
A man doesn’t regret the trivial past.
…Or can I do that now?
Hearing my nonchalant answer, Siyeon wore an expression of discomfort.
“What will you do then…?”
“When I came to my senses, my fist was already out.”
Looking at my tightly clenched right fist, I gave a smirk that implied there was nothing I could do.
Siyeon’s look went from troubled to one filled with horror, muttering a futile lecture to something that wouldn’t change.
“You shouldn’t say that proudly…”
Ah, sweet candy.
Strawberry really is the best.
“Mari, you aren’t listening, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Phew…”
I’m amazing for making an elementary student sigh.
Once I returned to the apartment, everything was normal.
Other kids are busy complaining about needing to send their kids to academies, taekwondo classes, and all that noise…
But those stories don’t apply to us.
Are you telling me we’re high-level personnel that must defeat monsters?
Even high-level personnel have their days off.
The days when monsters don’t appear are holidays.
“Today, no monster’s showing up.”
Siyeon muttered while lying on the lower bunk with her legs crossed.
“Don’t say such things; that’s a bad omen.”
I scolded Siyeon by quoting a proverb about speaking misfortune into existence.
Mumbling as I sucked on the leftover candy stick, I gave thanks for this monster-free day.
…Until that night, anyway.
“Mari! Mari!”
“Ah… damn it, what the hell…”
With the horrible voice of that damn bear cub ringing in my ears and the blinding light in front of me, it felt like the sun was too close.
This insane bear cub had shone a flashlight right in my eyes.
Even a complete loser wouldn’t shine a flashlight in someone’s eyes.
Yet this damn bear cub managed to pull it off.
“The monster has appeared… wait? A chicken?!”
The bear cub’s voice twisted around my throat as its fingers gripped it.
I couldn’t withstand this strangulation any longer.
“Monster this and monster that, do you want to raft down the Styx River with Charon?!”
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