The time was 6:32 PM, and the remaining warmth of the budae jjigae was chilling rapidly.
Siyeon entered the house with the sound of the door opening.
‘I need to bring up the money situation.’
It was already at the point where Siyeon had finished cleaning up and doing the dishes before coming into her room.
Going all the way into her room to say something felt a bit awkward.
For now, I was managing the bank accounts.
There were hardly any withdrawal records, only deposits almost exclusively filling the account.
The few withdrawal records were all made because if I didn’t use them for too long, they would turn into dormant accounts, so I’d take out just enough to avoid that and then refill them.
The account with Siyeon’s saved amount of about 500 million was substantial.
Even if she had taken quite a long break, it was still the result of nearly seven years of being a magical girl.
However, trusting her completely with “You handle it yourself” worried me, fearing she might splurge without restraint.
To be frank, the idea of one hundred million is far detached from reality.
There are many stories of people who became famous after winning hundreds of millions in lottery only to be “ruined in a few years.”
So, I decided to increase her allowance starting from middle school.
“Your allowance will be 500,000 won a month from now.”
“Ah, okay.”
Keeping the conversation brief and to the point.
Summoning up as much courage as I could, I peeked my head around Siyeon’s door to deliver the allowance raise announcement.
Compared to the 100,000 won she received as an elementary school student, it’s five times that.
Honestly, at this age, places to spend money are sure to increase significantly, so even raising it fivefold might not feel like much.
Prices are always rising, and the money one receives really stays stagnant.
Still, it was a decent amount from the beginning, so I was content with that.
Now, considering living expenses and other costs, it seems small, but seven years ago, it felt surprising to receive such an amount.
‘I wonder if she’s getting along well with her friends at school….’
I returned to my room without asking a single thing about Siyeon’s school.
I wondered if a girls’ middle school had a vibe similar to a boys’ middle school.
She followed a friend to a girls’ school, so they must be in the same class now.
What is the class atmosphere like? Are there any friends who seem nice?
I had many questions, but the day passed by without answering any of them.
And thus, the next morning arrived.
“Siyeon, wake up…”
This was the only time I could enter her room without hesitation to talk, the morning before going to school.
The budae jjigae I made just for myself the day before was the breakfast.
I had cooked a good amount, so there were enough leftovers for dinner if I added some ramen to it.
Maybe because it was early, Siyeon hadn’t even finished half of her bowl of rice.
Reluctantly, I mixed my rice with hers and ate the budae jjigae.
After finishing the meal, Siyeon went into the bathroom to get ready, while I finished my meal and did the dishes.
It was customary that I would enter the bathroom just as she was coming out.
The only sounds were the noise of water and clinking dishes, without any chatter.
Once Siyeon grabbed her mascot and went out, I had around 20 minutes of free time.
It was a hassle to dry this long hair after coming out of the bathroom.
When I was a boy, I thought it looked nice, but I never imagined maintaining it would be such a pain.
Should I just chop it all off?
‘Time to head out.’
With a weary step, I headed for school.
I left the boiler on and switched off all sorts of lights before walking out the front door.
Gomteng had gotten smart; he was already in my jacket pocket before heading to school.
At least since it was a jacket, it wouldn’t be noticeable if something was inside, but what would happen in summer?
It feels a bit weird at my age to carry a stuffed bear in my pocket.
Is there a good solution for this?
As I pondered where to store Gomteng while walking casually, I arrived at school.
Such worries could wait until after school.
…With that laid-back mindset, I enjoyed the little time left with my smartphone at school.
The number of students entering the classroom gave me an idea of the time.
With around 80% of students present, that meant about 10 more minutes before the homeroom teacher arrived.
“Hey! Kim Mari, what are you up to?”
“Chill.”
Either way, since I had one acquaintance in class, more kids began to gather and call each other with “Hey” and “You.”
“Touch me, and you’re dead.”
“Whoa.”
The problem was, the kids I could chat with were all boys.
Even then, just as we got a little closer, they’d pull out their skills in gaming and vanish.
“Damn it.”
I really wanted to smack those guys with a mop handle.
And there was hardly any common ground with the girls, so there was nothing to talk about.
Questions like what cosmetics they used or if a guy named Taehyun dated in elementary school came up.
Whenever I experienced something frustrating that needed relief, the conversation didn’t last long as it ended up going in circles, and I could only complain about girls I disliked.
Of course, among the girls I disliked, some were indeed noteworthy enough that made me think, “Wow, I can’t believe such a girl exists,” making it interesting to listen.
Anyway, after messing around with a game, I shoved my smartphone into the big bag the homeroom teacher brought in.
Naturally, there are kids here up to no good.
Handing in their old phones is standard, while the guys who obviously seem like heavy smokers don’t even submit theirs.
‘At least they come to school on time, so that’s a relief.’
As soon as the teacher left the classroom, I watched students in the back slyly pull out their smartphones while shaking my head so they wouldn’t notice.
Compared to the common sense we had back in elementary school, middle school classes were starting to drift away into a sort of everyday common knowledge realm.
The diligent Kim Mari was dead by this point.
In Korean class, we learned about understanding the speaker’s intent or something.
Why should the reader be expected to grasp that?
In math, they’d say probability and statistics are used in our daily lives and so on.
The calculator does everything for us.
Even if I didn’t understand any of the things taught in class, deep in my heart, I felt a deep-rooted resentment that the world ultimately revolves around money.
So the seemingly meaningless class time dragged on, and when break time came…
“Omok game?”
“Game on.”
Having stripped us of the digital world, the students began to play in an analog fashion.
Among those methods, omok with graph paper was the most prominent, along with some otaku talk and whatnot.
“Anyone for a cash grab from the school store!”
Besides, smaller groups started engaging in crazy cash grabs from the school store.
What’s commonly referred to as the lower tiers mainly revolved around otaku talks, while those in the middle tier engaged in cash grabs from the store or, for reasons unknown, did intense running around the hall.
The average student group would gather to talk about games or enjoy board games.
Though I’m unsure whether to label it as upper or lower tier, there were also groups sneaking out to smoke a cigarette before coming back.
Spraying some scent to hide the smell was the funny part.
Of course, there were also some outliers, students who ranked in the top two but still got absorbed in otaku chit-chat.
Taehyun was placed among the moderately normal student tier, leading me to follow along naturally.
These moderately normal students usually engaged in game talks or played quick rounds of omok.
“Not like this—”
“Wow, this guy just eats and plays omok, and he’s really good.”
Somebody has to be good at these simple board games.
They usually are the ones who’ve diligently trained themselves in board games, often claiming the top spot for omok in class.
Particularly with easily accessible games like omok, even the smokers show interest and sometimes participate.
In many ways, it’s an environment where it’s easy to befriend various tiers in one class.
Honestly, after dramatically abandoning the studying element, I was having a decent life.
The problem began when the monsters started appearing.
‘Ah, damn….’
When Gomteng’s signals would press against my belly while at school, a deep curse rose from within.
Usually, Gomteng’s signals came quicker than any alarm.
At this point, things became quite difficult.
If I raised my hand saying I needed to go to the bathroom, the alarm would definitely go off within three minutes.
There would be a late monster alarm in school as well, but the teachers and students would be indifferent.
“Hey teacher, aren’t we evacuating?”
“Oh, the magical girl will take care of it, so don’t panic. Just sit.”
They conduct fire drills and talk about evacuation methods during monster appearances and all that, but in reality, it’s this mess.
Even asking to go to the bathroom during class feels sensitive, and when the alarm sounds during break, students would be wandering around in the bathroom, making it even more of a mess.
While the faint buzzing of alarms can be heard from outside the window, I find myself sneakily raising my hand.
“Teacher, can I go to the bathroom…?”
“Not now. Stay seated.”
The teacher insists on enduring the last five minutes of class with his chalk making scraping sounds.
This scenario is the worst.
There’s always a situation where you have to go badly, but permission isn’t granted.
It was at a point where ‘I need to go’ wouldn’t cut it like in elementary school anymore, and a different excuse became necessary…
Having picked up something from somewhere, I immediately blurted out some disease I thought of.
“I, uh, have Irritable Bowel Syndrome…”
“Ah? Then you should hurry and say it. Go on.”
That short statement and action solidified my nickname as “Poop Guy.”
…Life, damn it.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.