There’s a saying that one word can repay a thousand nyang in debt, but for this monster, a few words led to a lifetime of beatings.
Truly, nothing was more fitting than the saying about being beaten like a dog on a hot day.
Of course, if we were to scrutinize every detail from start to finish, it could be said that it was entirely the fault of all the monsters who used the Magical Girl, especially Sun, as a speed test. However…
Due to the appearance of a creature that seemed to enjoy shifting blame, all responsibility fell squarely on him.
After being thoroughly beaten by his comrades, with bruises all over and his body battered, the monster headed toward the recovery room.
The reason he was heading to the treatment room wasn’t to heal the wounds caused by the beatings.
Before being beaten to death by his fellow monsters, he had been unceremoniously shoved towards a solution.
“U-um, is Medic Tentacle here?”
“Y-yes…?!”
Medic Tentacle exclaimed in surprise at the sight of the monster’s puffy face, oozing green liquid.
“What happened to your face?”
The violence among the playful combatants on the ship was often overlooked, as it was commonplace among spirited monsters.
But they were stunned by the appearance of their combat comrade, which clearly exceeded acceptable limits.
“Uh, I was just being playful…”
But the comrade tried to brush off the question with a nervous smile, clearly uninterested in worrying about it.
After all, this was in front of the officer, who was scratching his head as the teleportation devices were being retrieved one by one.
“Uh, it seems I got beaten by my comrades because I accidentally blew the reaction speed game to the Magical Girl, leading them to start retrieving the devices, heh heh.”
…There was no way he could speak the truth like that.
Thus, the monster cautiously focused on just the matter at hand.
“Uh, can I get the metal plate that Medic Tentacle used during our previous conversation…?”
“Hmm? Why do you want that all of a sudden?”
Medic Tentacle replied with wide eyes, seemingly surprised by the monster’s request.
In a corner of the recovery room lay a metal plate that read ‘I want to talk.’
A symbol of hope that had become an inseparable means of peace with Medic Tentacle.
What on earth did he want that for?
Such questions filled his mind.
“Uh, I wanted to see if I could request a retrieval for the device… to try to talk.”
“Oh.”
Medic Tentacle made an intrigued noise at the monster’s serious suggestion.
In truth, Medic Tentacle was not opposed to the suggestion either.
Recently, Sun had been performing bizarre antics of stealing reverse teleportation devices sent to the monsters.
But it wasn’t like he would use the devices he had taken; he simply kept repeating the act of stealing them, which left Medic Tentacle perplexed.
However, it was only natural to dislike asking directly.
Considering that the Magical Girl Moon, who was supposed to talk, didn’t understand the black area, it was a bit burdensome to approach.
Just as he was lost in thought about who might substitute this role,
a combatant whose name he didn’t even know made such a proposal, making it impossible for him to not feel intrigued.
Medi Tentacle decided that this was fortuitous and quickly handed over the metal plate.
It was not a cold acceptance necklace he received but a metal plate containing a message for negotiation.
“Well then, you’ll take charge of the next black area too… please do well.”
“W-what?”
The monster, who received the symbol of peace with such casualness, was quite taken aback.
At that moment, in a park in Incheon.
Two figures running in the relatively warm midday.
“Left foot, left foot, left foot, left foot.”
“Whew, hack!”
In mid-January.
In the center of the biting winter wind, the two middle school girls, Kim Mari and Lee Siyeon, were running through the park, counting their steps.
Compared to Mari, who seemed to be relatively comfortable enough to match her steps while saying the chant, Siyeon struggled to keep up, panting while barely trailing behind.
Why were these two students, who cherished every day of their winter break, running in the park on a bright winter day?
“Left foot, left foot! Do you think this will help you lose weight?!”
The reason students, not yet adults, exercised to lose weight was pretty much the same.
Like animals that eat a lot of food in preparation for hibernation, as their regular school routine faded, these two had descended into a lazy indoor lifestyle.
With no changes, their weight remained the same.
…If only that was the case, everything would have been just perfect. But the reality was that enjoying a lazy life had honestly added weight to their forms.
“N-Nooo….”
“If you keep that up, you won’t be able to eat anything on New Year’s?!”
While talking about New Year’s, I urged the dragging Siyeon, who was struggling to keep up.
Indeed, New Year’s.
The ultimate blow to the belly fat floundering in the hibernation of vacation…
The day when all the delicious and oily foods gathered to deliver the final judgment on their weight.
It was a little harsh, but they needed to move vigorously at this time to ease the burden.
More than anything, Siyeon’s lifestyle had turned into a cycle of home, cram school, home, cram school ever since the vacation started.
For an artist who barely moved except for travel, forced exercise was a necessity.
Running a big lap around the outside line of the park.
It wasn’t like they were aiming for some grand goal of losing 5kg solely through exercise.
Just doing it regularly enough to exert themselves would suffice.
For kids who didn’t usually exercise, this level of activity was better than doing nothing at all.
They had seen cases in the military where even comrades who were once overweight ended up losing more than 10kg just by being coerced into morning runs, albeit slowly.
“Phew, good job.”
Breathing out with relief, they finished today’s workout.
“I’m so tired, I can’t go on….”
Siyeon wobbled and declared she couldn’t continue, then walked over to the nearest bench and collapsed onto it.
Though it was a familiar course, it had been quite a while since they ran together in the park since elementary school.
It seemed that after taking a break, her legs had completely adapted to indoor style, since she looked utterly exhausted, sprawled out on a long, empty bench, wrapped in her coat.
In the midst of the vacation season at 3 PM, the types of people in the park were quite certain.
They were either people dragged out because their pets couldn’t contain their excitement or seniors whose routine involved sitting in the park.
Along with them, there were the moms who regularly walked to maintain their health by swinging their arms, and young folks who jogged as if it were part of their daily routine with earphones in.
Surprisingly, parks were a place where a diverse array of individuals came together.
Next to the bench where Siyeon was sprawled, there was a small space still available.
Wanting to rest her tired legs, she sat down there.
“Alright, let’s take a break before heading back.”
Just touching the ground made both legs feel about three levels more comfortable.
Even though it was light exercise, they had just been running for ten minutes straight.
Siyeon slightly lowered the zipper that had climbed up to the end of her clothes, making a rustling sound.
The padding had turned into a little steam room due to the sweat and body heat.
As soon as she unzipped, a refreshing gust of winter wind pierced through her chest, so invigorating it was.
After taking a breath, she began counting her significant schedule in her head.
After winter break came New Year’s.
After New Year’s came the start of the new school year, then the spring break.
Just a few steps to the second year of middle school.
If she endured until the third year, then the shackles of compulsory education would be released.
Still, she wished to shed the label of being a middle school graduate.
High school graduates could reasonably argue that various circumstances hindered them from attending college, receiving some understanding in society…
Due to the deeply ingrained elitism in Korea, having a final educational background of a middle school graduate usually results in being treated as ‘a problem child.’
Even if it’s chaotic, it’s best to at least have a high school diploma, yes.
With her elbow resting on the metal armrest, she lost herself in thought, propping her chin on her hand.
“Ugh!”
With a vigorous exclamation, Siyeon jolted up from the bench.
“Are you done resting?”
“It’s cold.”
When asked if she was sufficiently rested, she stood up, said it was cold, and began to walk towards home.
It seemed that after sweating a lot, the cold weather had quickly chilled her.
Similarly, having slightly unzipped her jacket, she no longer felt warm and instead was shivering enough to want to zip it back up.
Following Siyeon, who walked ahead, they headed home.
“Oh, snow.”
The white snowflakes falling from the gray, dark sky heralded the true beginning of winter.
Thinking of white snow, she remembered the long toy lodged in the corner of the balcony.
Once again, Siyeon had actively taken out the snow-making tools whenever it snowed.
I wondered if she would do the same this year and tentatively brought it up.
“Should we make a snowman if it piles up?”
“Pfft, we’ve outgrown that age, you know?”
With a pouting remark, Siyeon coldly declined the proposal that seemed fit for kids.
She still seemed like a child, though.
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.