Despite the negative opinions of the executives, it was ultimately an order that came down from above, even if it was just a casual remark tossed around in a meeting.
From that day on, various materials, including space debris and supplies for monsters with weak physical structures, began to arrive for the monsters.
From a human perspective, these were very basic tools like shovels and pickaxes.
But it was better than having nothing at all.
The monster warriors who heard the news were momentarily at a loss for words, unable to comprehend it.
They had previously been dropped onto Earth to fight without mercy, yet now they were being told not to fight, but instead to build a base.
What on earth was this supposed to mean?
The executives, who were not so clueless as to not understand such thoughts, spoke up after the explanation, adding a few words according to their respective departments.
“Right now, our executives feel the same as you do; you must be wondering what kind of nonsense this is.”
“Not that much…”
Seeing the Shield Lion disrespecting his superior in front of countless warriors made the monsters in the control room flustered.
They were just taken aback by the raw display of anger from their superior.
In reality, their thoughts were not much different.
Anyway, orders are orders, and they had to follow them.
Holding the transmitted message in his shield-like hand, the Shield Lion scratched his forehead with the edge of the shield and got to the point.
“So… I’m thinking of making a few modifications to the outfit and transmission policy for going to Earth.”
The outfit for heading to Earth.
For monsters with inconsistent forms, this was a baffling statement…
“Warriors who think their physical features are unsuitable for mining and construction must definitely carry construction tools and head to the transmission room.”
Construction tools.
In fact, they were primitive tools that felt ashamed to even carry such a grand title.
It was the perfect moment to call them something akin to a hidden camera.
But amidst the serious atmosphere, the murmurs of the monsters grew as they suddenly realized this wasn’t a joke.
“What the… how are we supposed to build a base?”
“I don’t know, what can we do?”
“Uh, next is the transmission policy…”
Ignoring such mumblings, the Shield Lion continued speaking.
The existence of quotas, a sin of sorts, had always been part of the transmission policy.
However, unusually, due to the purpose of base construction, the quotas assigned to each region could be adjusted according to the transmission policy.
The monsters, who had been quietly observing their surroundings, perked up at this point.
Wait, does that mean we can adjust the quotas assigned to each region?
Does that mean we can skip the regions we don’t want to go to?
Perhaps that expectation was showing on the monsters’ faces, but the Shield Lion, sensing the atmosphere, added nonchalantly as if to temper their hopes.
“Ah… Let me tell you in advance, only a few warriors will be randomly selected to participate in the base construction, so don’t get your hopes too high.”
“Ah.”
As the disappointment continued among the monsters…
The strategic forward base construction by the monsters equipped with outfits and transmission policies.
The name of the place where the monsters were transmitted, which would become the great first step toward world domination, was…
“It’s just a glacier.”
“Ugh, how are we supposed to build a base in this freezing place?”
It was the Arctic, covered in pure white ice and icebergs.
Many monsters were not the least bit surprised by the scene, but the most bewildered was the Jelly Monster, which began freezing from the bottom where the ice touched.
Perhaps it was how absurd it was, but treated as the weakest among the monsters, he was the first to vocalize his thoughts.
“Is this really where I’m supposed to be sent?”
“Hey, you’re already freezing up!”
“Fk…”
The Jelly Monster, who immediately dropped an expletive learned on Earth.
Even though it was randomly selected, how could fate play such a cruel joke?
It was a place chosen specifically because no one lived there, but for some monsters, the place itself was tougher than fighting against magical girls.
[In the last 30 days, a sudden drop in monster appearance rates worldwide… Is it a boon or a bane?]
[Do monsters have holidays too? A significant drop in monster appearances nationwide on the 30th.]
A day passed on Earth.
Since some of the monsters that were supposed to appear in various regions were directed to uninhabited areas, the overall monster appearance rate drastically declined.
Articles related to this slowly began to surface.
While viewing this, Mari and Siyeon strolled along the asphalt road.
“What’s going on?”
“Who knows.”
A vague reply to Siyeon’s question.
What could I say? I’m not a monster.
Today is April 1st, April Fool’s Day.
Every site was drenched in the atmosphere of April Fool’s.
Webtoon sites playfully changed their cover images, and the gaming site within the same company had their content swapped around.
Everywhere was a prank, albeit not a holiday, it was a commemorative day.
Even the school was subtly charmed by the atmosphere, and a few lively students prepared for the April Fool’s event.
“Do you think everyone has different textbooks out?”
“Hey, let’s all take out our math books!”
The teachers probably all knew it was April 1st, but it was still amusing to play around.
It was nice that it wasn’t overly extravagant like those pictures circulating on the internet.
You know, something like desks facing the opposite way…
Or chairs taken outside into the playground, that kind of thing.
While it was fun to do, the cleanup was a hassle.
Switching textbooks was harmless enough to join in.
“…?”
With a clatter, the Korean teacher opened the front door and walked in.
After glancing at the cluster of math books on the desk with blue covers, he approached the podium with somewhat awkward steps.
He only said “students” to the student sitting in the front, but the Korean teacher firmly stated,
“I won’t be fooled, you all.”
“Eh-”
The jeers erupted, feeling that just once he could indulge in their prank.
However, the teacher, who needed to maintain the lesson pace, was endlessly cruel and merciless.
The time moved at a snail’s pace in contrast to the unimpeded progression of the lesson.
By the time the class was over, some students could be seen nearly collapsing in exhaustion.
Among them, Siyeon was no exception.
The classroom was in a devastating situation as it succumbed to the lullaby-like voice of the Korean teacher.
Dragging her weary body awake, she stretched and glanced around the classroom.
Just like the others, as soon as break time began, Siyeon was caught with her head down on the desk.
“Wow, it’s a total wipeout.”
The usual trio of boys she chatted with during break time were wiped out too in the classroom.
Every student slumped over in the classroom was in accord at that moment.
One student in the front row decided to turn off the lights to take a nap during the brief 10 minutes, while the students by the window covered the window with the curtains.
Thus, the classroom plunged into complete darkness.
Standing up quietly to avoid scraping the chairs, she arrived at the first-floor vending machine and bought two cans of drinks while suffering from thirst.
One can was the commonly drunk apple juice.
The other can was the orange juice that Siyeon liked.
With her nails growing longer due to laziness in trimming, she wedged one into the top of a drink can as she returned to the classroom.
After placing the orange juice on Siyeon’s desk,
She held the can of apple juice left in her left hand and, with her right hand, popped the can open with a “click” and gulped it down.
In an instant, the can was emptied.
After tossing the empty can into the trash can, she returned to Siyeon’s seat to grab the can of orange juice that was still full.
Though it was another kind of prank unrelated to April Fool’s, she playfully brought the cold orange can close to Siyeon’s cheek.
“Gah!?”
With Siyeon’s short scream, students who were slightly awake in the classroom looked up to see the direction of the scream, but soon realized it was nothing serious and slumped back down.
Facing Siyeon’s startled expression, she said with a playful grin.
“I brought you juice.”
“Ah… you scared me.”
*Click*, this time it was Siyeon opening the orange juice.
Then, the sound of her gulping down the juice filled the dark classroom clearly.
Though startled, she was drinking it, huh?
It seemed that it took longer than expected to go to the vending machine; ten minutes had passed.
The class bell rang, and the science teacher entered the completely dark classroom with the curtains drawn.
Without a word, he pressed the light switch with his finger, instantly brightening the classroom.
“Geez, are you all children of darkness or something?”
After turning on the classroom lights, he placed a thick textbook on the podium and rapped it loudly, making his signature sound.
He still uses that phrase, huh?
“Ah, ah…”
“Ugh…”
“It’s break time’s end, wake up!”
In line with the title of children of darkness, as the lights turned on, students, regardless of gender, displayed sour faces, groaning like monsters dying.
At school, it was just another day as usual, free of pranks or anything special, and life continued normally despite small jokes.
Thus, Siyeon returned home… without even holding hands.
Matching her pace to Taehyun, who shared the same route home, they strolled leisurely back to the apartment.
“Yawn…”
Having not napped during break, a yawn emerged belatedly.
Covering her mouth with her palm while making a ‘yawn’ sound and closing it…
“Speaking of which.”
As if waiting for the yawn to finish, Taehyun initiated conversation beside her.
With half-closed eyes, he looked over as if to ask if she had something curious.
“Hmm?”
“What do your parents do? I feel like I’ve never seen them before…”
“Our? They don’t exist.”
Taehyun’s expression immediately filled with shock.
Afterward, Taehyun, filled with an absurd thought, ended up saying something he didn’t need to.
“Uh? April Fool’s lie?”
“No, they really don’t exist.”
It was a look reminiscent of a character from some movie saying, “That sounds like a name for a prostitute; where’d you get that name?”
Why bring that up now…
Just then, a very simple question-and-answer exchange occurred.
Had I ever mentioned to him that my parents weren’t around?
“Oh, I guess I never told you.”
And so, it became a careless revealing of my parentless status on April Fool’s Day.
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