“The new student’s name is Siyeon, and she transferred here for personal reasons, so everyone should get along well.”
“Yeeees—”
The students’ responses to the teacher’s introduction of the new student were lukewarm and drawn-out.
This isn’t some Japanese anime; there’s no reason to get all flustered over just one transfer student.
Everything feels foreign to Siyeon.
Without saying a word in response to the homeroom teacher’s introduction, she bowed her head toward the class.
“Alright, you can sit in that empty seat over there.”
Following the teacher’s guidance, Siyeon walked across the desks.
There was only one empty desk in the classroom.
With only one option to choose from, she was assigned to the back row, close to the classroom’s back door.
That spot seems like it’d be nice when it’s time for lunch.
After the morning assembly, there was a brief gap until the first period class.
The boys quickly began playing together, while the girls, who seemed interested in the new student, gathered around Siyeon.
They pretended to be uninterested, but sneaked near her, eavesdropping on their conversation.
“Did you say Siyeon? Which school did you come from?”
“Do you watch any comics or anime?”
“Um, that’s….”
Sudden unnecessary attention focused on one person.
When I glanced from a distance, our eyes met, and she looked between her surroundings and me, as if asking for help.
Well, I guess there’s no choice; here, I’d be the older one….
Oh wait, we’re the same age.
Pushing through the group of students clustered at the back of the classroom,
I gestured for Siyeon to stand and took her seat, having her sit on my lap.
Although it was simply sitting down, it somehow conveyed a sense of familiarity to anyone watching.
“Mari? What are you doing?”
“Siyeon is my little sister. If you have any questions, just ask me.”
“Wait, really?”
To the question of where she came from, I said we moved back after living abroad for a while.
As for comics or anime, I mentioned the popular ones with a ton of boys in them.
When they asked how she transferred, I casually said she switched to a school nearby where family lives.
Except for the anime part, everything was a lie.
You might wonder if it was really necessary to go this far, but kids are surprisingly sensitive to various news.
With smartphones around, they might pick up on yesterday’s headlines as a conversation topic.
It wouldn’t matter if I was around, but mentioning she transferred here because she was bullied at another school would only hurt us both.
Whether black or white, sometimes you have to tell a lie when needed.
Anyway, since I was in the same class, and there were friends with matching hobbies, Siyeon’s expression visibly brightened.
Before long, during break time, friends were engaging in their own battles.
“What’s it like having a little sister?”
“Don’t you have a little brother too? Isn’t it similar? Don’t you feel like you have to take care of them?”
“Take care of what? I really can’t stand them.”
“I guess not, huh?”
Returning Dongha’s question with one about having a little brother, his expression soured, indicating he didn’t feel like taking care of them at all.
The bond between Siyeon and me seemed to appear stronger than that of other siblings.
After a round of chatting with the boys, Siyeon trotted over to our group.
“What were you talking about?”
“They think we look really close.”
“Really? That’s not normal?”
When I casually summarized our previous conversation, Siyeon tilted her head, questioning the non-normality.
Her question seemed so absurd that one girl sitting nearby turned around to refute it.
“Hey, no way… I have an older brother who’s two years older, and he’s super annoying.”
“I also can’t stand my little brother; if I don’t play with him, he cries… if I do, he’s annoying.”
As soon as the topic turned to sibling stories…
It seemed like everyone had something to say, and the break time quickly filled with tales of their sibling conflicts.
After spending two break periods talking about their sibling squabbles,
During the third break, Dongha initiated a new conversation topic about Magical Girls.
“Did you see that article this morning? There’s a video of a Magical Girl fighting in our area.”
“Really?”
When it comes to our area, it’s either me or Siyeon as the Magical Girl.
Since the only monster I encountered recently was the one that showed up while eating tteokbokki yesterday, it must be that footage.
Hearing that it was aired on the news made me push aside my usual thought to be more careful next time.
Can’t fight while checking if someone around is filming; that’d be troublesome.
“Oh, really? How did they even film it?”
“They said a person who couldn’t evacuate filmed it from inside a building. Wait, I’ll show it to you after school.”
Since we had our smartphones confiscated during school, there was no way to see it until the very end of the day, and my curiosity couldn’t do much.
Should I reluctantly submit a dummy phone like a punk?
Anyway, once the classes that felt like an eternity finally ended, we promised to watch the fight video of the Magical Girl on Dongha’s smartphone.
As students began to leave the classroom one by one, I cozied up to my seat, preparing for the viewing.
I felt a bit embarrassed that three boys were watching me, but…
Oh well, they wouldn’t know it was me anyway.
Checking the angle of the filmed scene, it seemed like someone filmed me from a small window on a building about three floors up.
The screen shook as they filmed with excitement, capturing the flickering red beams of light soaring up into the sky, where a monster was reduced to ashes.
So this is what it feels like to see from a third-person view.
…Even through my own eyes, it looked chilling.
“Wow, insane! This is practically a biological weapon, isn’t it?”
“Really, Sun has a whole mad movie of monster fights.”
Sunhyuk exclaimed in awe while Dongha chuckled, clearly satisfied by the reactions around him and shared the video link.
The problem arose when I got the smartphone back and returned home.
[Animal rights group, protesting in front of Incheon City Hall, “Opposition to slaughter… we must stop the killing”]
‘…What’s this?’
It happened to be a protest happening in our area, so I was curious and clicked on it, revealing a banner.
Staring back were records from a few years ago about exterminating the cat monster and the werewolf.
In short… there was news about protests against monster slaughter.
Have these people collectively lost their minds or what?
You’d think I’d owe them a big thanks just for being here, but what?
Opposing slaughter?
These animal rights folks can’t seem to drop their habits, always focused only on dogs and cats.
“I can’t believe this….”
Moreover, since the next protest was already announced, I checked the date.
It just so happened to be today at 5 PM for two hours. If a monster shows up during the protest, that’d be great.
Then they wouldn’t be babbling about slaughter or killing.
“Siyeon! I think a monster’s about to come out!”
“Today… is the 27th! It’s my turn?”
Before the monster alert even rang, it looked like the sea snake mascot’s monster detection sensor had caught something, causing both of us to get busy.
With the timing being perfect, the monster appeared, and I turned to talk to the busy-looking Siyeon.
“Ah, Siyeon, wait a moment….”
“Yeah?”
“Let’s go together today.”
And there we were, soaring together above the skies of Incheon for the first time in a while.
Maybe because the cold was starting to fade as spring approached, the breeze felt a bit warm against my skin.
Only once we entered the neighborhood where the alarm was ringing did we see the shape of the monster.
It was a dog the size of a car, but with six legs…
It felt more monstrous than the large cat from years ago, resembling a giant dog.
I didn’t know if it was a Magical Girl or what, but it seemed like it just enjoyed running around in the park.
“Oh, this is perfect….”
“Since we’re in the park, should we just hit it with a big ice chunk?”
“No, no, just let me handle this… I’ve got a good idea.”
Checking my phone mid-air, the time was 5:48 PM.
With animal rights activists protesting, it was a very timely moment.
Like a bird of prey snatching its prey from the air, I lifted the giant dog monster that was wreaking havoc among the park’s structures and trees.
“Grrr, grrr….”
It barked while resisting as it got closer to the ground, but once it was suspended in the air where it couldn’t find footholds, it whined softly like a frightened puppy.
As Siyeon watched me move without immediately defeating the monster, she tilted her head in confusion.
“Why that dog? Are you keeping it?”
“No, no, I just think we need to wake them up from their complacency.”
“Wake up…?”
I zoomed with Siyeon straight toward the protest site of the animal rights group.
Naturally, the scene turned into chaos as the giant dog monster crashed into the protest site.
Of course, we only flew close enough to the ground for safety while holding onto the giant dog monster tightly….
“Kiiaaaaah-!!”
“It’s a-a monster!!!”
The chaos of the protest scene only highlighted my hidden form amongst the fur.
As the giant dog monster barked near the ground, everything from banners to anything else was hastily abandoned while everyone scrambled to escape.
“Monster? Isn’t it the same dog that those animal rights people love so much? They’re being too dramatic.”
“Wait… Sun? Is this really okay?”
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.