No matter how chaotic the neighborhood got from the noise, I calmly typed in the front door password and entered my home since my business was done.
It seems that the art academy keeps people occupied for quite a while.
After checking the CCTV, calling the police, and even squabbling with the delivery thief aunty, it was nearly 7 PM and Siyeon still hadn’t returned.
If it were a typical academy, she wouldn’t be back until around 9 PM, so maybe this is to be expected?
The bear cub, who was crawling out of my pocket, seemed flabbergasted by the thief’s antics and muttered a few words.
“Seriously… Huh, what kind of aunty acts like that?”
“The world is vast, and there are plenty of crazy people.”
I checked the condition of the small cardboard package I had brought back, tightly held in my arms.
Inside, there was bubble wrap like a matryoshka, and within that another box.
I tore the tape off and found the tablet PC box, proving it was a brand new item still wrapped in thin plastic.
Deciding that the joyous unpacking should be left for Siyeon, I began popping the leftover bubble wrap with my fingers as I entered my room.
After lying on the bed, I kept popping the bubbles one by one while rolling over.
Once I started, the bubble-popping was impossibly addictive, and it went on endlessly.
After popping about half, I got bored and twisted the unpopped portions together like wringing a rag.
With a dull thud, the pile of bubbles shrank down.
Oh right, this isn’t the time for that.
I suddenly jumped up from the bed and started sorting the clothes that were draped on the drying rack, separating them and folding them neatly.
After placing each item in its respective wardrobe, I headed to the kitchen.
“What should I make for dinner tonight—”
Muttering to myself, I opened the fridge and freezer one after the other, making rustling noises as I searched through them.
Inside the fridge, along with eggs, there were some sesame leaf sauce, squid sauce, and spicy red paste sitting alone.
There were plenty of frozen foods in the freezer, but nothing that really sparked my interest.
My hand hovered aimlessly inside the fridge.
Then, the bear cub made a suggestion.
“There’s a bag of thinly sliced pork belly in the freezer. How about we fry it and eat it on rice?”
Why does this little guy know the state of the fridge better than the owner?
I tilted my head in confusion, but since it wasn’t a bad suggestion, I took the pork belly out from the outermost part of the freezer.
Since it’s not something that would splatter like fried food…
I thought there was no need to fully transform, so I just put on an apron over my underwear and took out a wok like the ones you’d use at a Chinese place, placing it on the induction stove.
Food is best enjoyed warm whenever possible.
To keep track of when Siyeon gets back, I grabbed my smartphone and sent a message.
[When will you be back?]
I still saw the “1” indicating she might still be in class or something.
With no other option, I decided to wait a moment without turning on the induction.
“Maria, by the way…”
“What is it?”
“A monster has appeared.”
“Ugh, how annoying…”
It hasn’t been long since I got undressed.
Upon hearing the bear cub, I hung the apron on a kitchen chair, made a disgusted expression, and went to the room to put on my tracksuit.
It seemed I could recognize monsters fairly well now, but just in case, I shoved the mask into the top of my tracksuit before heading outside.
The elevator slowly descended from the top floor.
Rather than waiting, I decided to walk down.
As I walked down to the first floor, the elevator arrived at the same moment I reached it.
“Oh? Where are you going?”
From the communal entrance, Siyeon appeared, looking a bit dazed as if she had come home without checking her phone.
“Oh… I’ll cook dinner when I get back, wait at home.”
At that moment, the elevator doors opened with a clank.
“Oh? Maria, Siyeon, hi!”
“Hey.”
Emerging from the elevator was our neighbor, Tae Hyun.
This is getting complicated.
Siyeon entered the elevator while Tae Hyun was synchronizing his steps with mine as I was coming out.
No, please just walk past.
“Where are you going?”
“To exercise, you?”
After skillfully diverting from actually fighting a monster and calling it exercise, I subtly asked about his route.
Please, let’s not cross paths.
Well… even if we did, if I just avoided him, it’d be fine, right?
Since I already said I was going to exercise, it was certain I would head to the nearby park, so please just say you’re going to the market.
Don’t pull the “I’m a diligent middle schooler out for exercise at 7 PM” card.
“I’m, um… going to the market.”
“Oh, okay, good luck.”
Fortunately, we had different routes.
Feigning indifference, I maintained the façade of starting to run as soon as I reached my home.
With the proper running posture, I swiftly exited the apartment complex.
As soon as I left, my phone buzzed with a disaster alert.
I hurried towards the alleyways filled with illegally parked cars with no CCTV or patrols.
“Sun.”
I softly called out the incantation while looking for a cozy transformation point.
With a light bounce, the breath that was about to raise suddenly sank.
‘This aspect is fascinating.’
No matter how I looked at it, this transformation was a reality-based invincibility cheat.
Unlike my original body, I wouldn’t get tired, I wouldn’t get burnt, and I could fly with powers beyond those of mere humans.
As I marveled at my temporarily smaller form, the bear cub desperately urged me on from my pocket.
“What are you doing? Let’s go!”
“Yeah, I’m going… can’t I think of anything else?”
“We do that after we defeat the monster!”
“Ugh… that’s surprisingly accurate.”
In no time, I arrived at an apartment complex in Bupyeong.
It was something resembling a bipedal lizard person, distinguished only by having a single eye, like the lizardmen you’d see in games or fantasy comics.
I quickly reduced my speed for a rapid descent.
I landed just in front of the monster’s torso, ensuring not to slam into the ground, and immediately targeted the clear sky above with my staff.
“Oh?”
“Thanks for coming, goodbye.”
While the monster was flustered and unaware of what was happening, a thick beam of red light burst from my staff.
It hadn’t even been 10 seconds since I arrived on the scene.
With the upper body disappearing, all that was left was the lower half beginning to disintegrate before my eyes.
I quickly leapt into the air and flew away from the scene.
Dinner tonight will be a pork belly rice bowl.
Returning home after disengaging my transformation at several memorized points.
As soon as I transformed back, the sensations that had vanished returned.
“Ah, I’m out of breath.”
Entering the house after taking off my sneakers.
Thinking there wouldn’t be anyone else coming in, I saw Siyeon walking out barefoot from the room with light streaming out behind her.
“Maria, you worked hard!”
“Uh, huff… how was the art academy?”
I exhaled the breath that had accumulated up to my chest and asked Siyeon about her impressions of the art academy, which she had attended for the first time today.
Siyeon, who never attended any academy even in elementary school, looked cheerful, possibly because it wasn’t a study academy and she had gone there for herself.
“It was fun!”
“Great, I’m glad… I’ll start cooking the meat, so just wait a bit.”
As if all the heat that had been trapped escaped, I instantly felt cooler once I took off my tracksuit.
I tossed the shirt soaked in sweat into the laundry basket like a basketball.
Even though it was early spring and still cool, moving around a bit made me sweat so much that it filled my clothes.
After wiping my hands and arms under the sink with just water, I chopped the lonely onion sitting on the cutting board into thin strips, not too thick.
Next, I opened the freezer and took out the bag of thinly sliced pork belly that I had left outside earlier.
I turned the induction knob to the max and poured the entire bag of meat into the pan.
In the meantime, I retrieved the neatly stacked rice from the fridge and placed it in the microwave.
I set the time for 2 minutes and 30 seconds—perfect for a quick bite.
While it whirred away, I gathered a variety of seasonings and set them nearby.
Regardless of whether it was beef rib sauce or pork rib sauce, I prepared a container of rib sauce and some pepper.
As I sautéed the pork belly like it was grilling, once I noticed some grease coming out, I dumped the chopped onions straight from the cutting board into the pan.
I sprinkled pepper on it lightly and at different intervals.
Just then, beep beep, the microwave rang to indicate the rice was heated through.
Hearing the increasingly frantic sounds of meat sizzling, Siyeon popped out from the other room.
To signal her to get ready to eat, I gave a brief command.
“Bring the chopsticks and spoons!”
“Okay!”
I then transferred a serving of rice into a wide bowl suitable for mixing.
As the liquid from the onions began to simmer with the meat, I discreetly poured a ladle of rib sauce into the pan to ensure it wouldn’t burn by fully evaporating.
As the sound of the bubbling oil blended with the boiling sauce, the delightful aroma of rib sauce enveloped the house even with the exhaust fan on.
Once I had divided the dish appropriately into a large bowl, I was done.
“Let’s eat dinner!”
On the white rice lay the stir-fried pork belly with rib sauce and chopped onions.
With a combination that couldn’t possibly taste bad, we enjoyed a pleasant dinner.
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