Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 023

 

“Hey, you little shorties over there! Yeah, you idiots standing around gawking. Now that you’ve seen me, why don’t you hurry up and come out?”

 

Wait a minute.

 

…Why is that guy talking like that?

 

For a moment I thought it was someone other than Kwon Hae-seong speaking.

 

But no matter how hard I looked, it was definitely Kwon Hae-seong. He was even standing with one leg cocked awkwardly, and you could tell he was a bit nervous, so it was definitely Kwon Hae-seong.

 

‘I mean, I was the one who asked him to draw aggro, but… I didn’t expect it to be this extreme.’

 

That’s right. We had decided on Diversionary Tactics.

 

Kwon Hae-seong would draw all the attention of the Blade-wielding thugs, and when their guard was down, I would use that opportunity to quietly extract Tae-jae.

 

“Wow, do you guys live here? What is that over there, some kind of hovel? Since it’s come to this, I’ll tear it all down for you. It’d be better to build something new. The demolition costs are reduced, so that’s good, right?”

 

But isn’t that beyond the level of drawing aggro?

 

Just listening to him talk, he sounds like someone who’s desperate to die.

 

“Oh, you don’t need to thank me. I’m not so desperate that I’d use old people and children as ingredients. Your brains are probably as small as your stubby little legs, so you probably can’t even say thank you properly, right? It’s okay. I’ll understand that with my generous heart too.”

 

I stood there somewhat dazed, unable to do anything, holding my forehead behind the Rock.

 

I pray that guy isn’t actually desperate to die.

 

“Phew…”

 

But aside from my worry, a satisfied smile naturally formed on my face. Look at that. The effect is too good, isn’t it?

 

‘Even doing the job too well can be a problem.’

 

The group of Bermons began slowly approaching Kwon Hae-seong as a unit. And they were thoroughly enraged.

 

The hands holding Blades moved rapidly up and down. Below their small Bone Masks, their eyes turned bright red as they glared fiercely at Kwon Hae-seong.

 

Not to be outdone, our guy punched the Rock beside him with his fist.

 

-BANG!!!

 

The Rock shattered into pieces and scattered across the floor.

 

‘Wow… Whatever that is, it’s incredible.’

 

I understood at once why Awakeners are all obsessed with Ability Amplification.

 

Come to think of it… I recalled Kwon Hae-seong’s Status Window that I had glimpsed earlier.

 

 

Could it be that the ‘A-‘ in parentheses is the maximum after amplification?

 

Then that ridiculously strong power makes sense. From B-grade to A- grade.

 

This doesn’t seem like it’s just ‘slightly’ breaking through limits.

 

But the thought that immediately followed was coldly rational to the point of being indifferent.

 

‘What a waste.’

 

If only there were no penalties for Ability Amplification, he could use something like that every day. Then Kwon Hae-seong wouldn’t be at the Kindergarten but would have been scouted somewhere good and living on a high salary – that thought naturally occurred to me.

 

Of course, happiness doesn’t only come from money, but…

 

‘He probably used to be someone who worked with his body.’

 

If he quit his previous job due to injury – one of the common reasons – and is now working at the Kindergarten…

 

No. Never mind.

 

Whether it’s a waste or not, he might not think that way, so I’m getting ahead of myself. And now isn’t the time to be thinking about such things.

 

When I might have to rush out at any moment.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re scared? Well, it can’t be helped. It’s a well-known fact that height and courage are proportional, so I’ll understand. As you can see, I’m… well, you can tell without me saying it.”

 

Was there originally a saying that height and courage are proportional? And I have no idea whose speech pattern he’s copying.

 

Anyway, coming back to the point, Kwon Hae-seong is enduring the penalty of Ability Amplification – that is, the side effects – to do this.

 

‘He seems to be pushing himself too hard.’

 

No matter how much the side effects vary from person to person, if he goes that far, one can’t help but feel sorry.

 

-Grrrrrr!

 

At Kwon Hae-seong’s final provocation, the Bermons all went completely berserk. They moved their short legs frantically and rushed toward Kwon Hae-seong in a swarm.

 

Meanwhile, I could see the Center of the Maze that had instantly opened up.

 

My palms are drenched with sweat.

 

Pull yourself together and do well.

 

And so that his sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain, I was able to quickly reach the Prison Cage.

 

***

 

The barred prison where Tae-jae was trapped was located in the most secluded corner of the maze garden’s center.

 

I approached that barred prison while controlling even the sound of my breathing.

 

‘Kwon Hae-seong did better than I expected.’

 

It felt like passing through traffic-jammed roads and suddenly encountering a wide-open highway.

 

“…Tae-jae!”

 

And thanks to that, I was finally able to call out that welcome name.

 

“…Teacher?”

 

The child who had been sitting cross-legged on the floor jumped up and quickly approached me.

 

“Huh? Nam Tae-jae? Where are you suddenly going?”

 

I could see the faces of the approaching figures becoming clearer.

 

Tae-jae looking purely delighted, and a middle-aged man who looked like he might faint from shock.

 

“Teacher, I’m so glad to see you.”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

Both the man and I were left speechless as Tae-jae stretched his hand through the bars to greet us.

 

It’s not easy to render two adults speechless.

 

But our Tae-jae managed to accomplish that difficult feat.

 

I felt absurd but soon found myself relieved and chuckling softly.

 

“Tae-jae, when you suddenly disappear, Teacher gets worried.”

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

Tae-jae sincerely apologized and earnestly explained the situation from his perspective.

 

To summarize: while we were confused by the suddenly darkened environment, this little kid could see perfectly well on his own. So… he just walked. Like usual.

 

Then he saw a faint light at the end of the hallway, so he ran toward it without thinking and found a round, mysterious cluster of light.

 

“And also…”

 

“And?”

 

At my question, Tae-jae’s black eyes rolled around and stopped at one spot.

 

…The restroom man.

 

To borrow Kwon Hae-seong’s words, this person was probably the main culprit who dragged us into this place.

 

From the circumstances, it seemed this man had brought Tae-jae here, and regardless of the situation, I wanted to beat him up with my fists.

 

However, contrary to my rough thoughts, the words I actually spoke were nothing special.

 

“Let’s have a proper talk once we get out of here.”

 

My hypothalamus screamed regardless of the situation, but I decided to listen to my frontal lobe, which governs reason.

 

However, I didn’t hold back in my assessment of that bastard.

 

‘Kidnapping bastard.’

 

Anyone with a brain would know it makes no sense to bring a child into a dungeon.

 

“Let’s get out of here first.”

 

“…As you can see, there’s no door.”

 

At the man’s muttered words, I hurriedly looked around.

 

“…”

 

Indeed, there was no immediately visible passage that could be called a door.

 

However, there must be one somewhere.

 

…The monsters behind me weren’t magicians, so they couldn’t have thrown two people into a doorless barred cage.

 

And this thinking wasn’t wrong.

 

 

After frantically searching around for about 5 minutes, I finally found it. Something was visible through a rock crevice behind the barred prison.

 

A faint line.

 

That rectangular line was so inconspicuous that it was barely visible even when squinting.

 

I ruthlessly squeezed my body through that gap. Then I grabbed the window inside the line and shook it hard once.

 

-Clang!!

 

“…There was something like this?? I couldn’t find it no matter how hard I looked!”

 

The man approaches, spitting as he exclaims in surprise.

 

-Clatter!

 

When I pull with more force once more, the line becomes a bit clearer.

 

“Hey! The sound is too loud…!”

 

The man turns around and shouts at me in alarm.

 

What am I supposed to do about it. Your voice is even louder.

 

“Ah… Yes.”

 

Being mindful of Tae-jae, I pressed my lips together at that point.

 

And then, more carefully than before, I grabbed the Door Handle again and… pulled.

 

-Clat… ter!

 

A line cracked along the edges of the door.

 

With this, I’ve definitely found the door.

 

And there’s one more piece of good news.

 

“What? Why is it so flimsy??”

 

As the man said, the door had become loose just from me pulling it a few times.

 

However, if there was a slight problem, it was that this flimsy device was wrapped tightly with sharp grass.

 

If only the noise wasn’t so loud every time I pulled the door.

 

-Clatter! Clatter!

 

“Hey, hey! Try being a little gentler!”

 

“This isn’t something that works by being gentle.”

 

Just shut up for a bit. Let me concentrate.

 

“Kim Pyo-sang mister, shh. Please be quiet. We’re helping by staying quiet.”

 

“Nam Tae-jae! Whose side are you on??”

 

Having apparently grown quite close in the meantime, the kidnapper asks Tae-jae with a hurt tone.

 

‘…What does he expect from a kid.’

 

I glared at the man with incredulous eyes, then sighed and focused again.

 

“I’m not on mister’s side.”

 

“Hey, Nam Tae-jae. We even shared potatoes!”

 

“You spit on it… Gross.”

 

…Focus. Let’s focus.

 

I don’t know how these two have stuck together until now.

 

I pulled the door again, conscious of the sweat dripping down my forehead.

 

‘Just a little more and it should work.’

 

-Clatter!!

 

-Grrooo?

 

-Grrooo!!

 

 

That’s when it happened.

 

‘Was the sound too loud?’

 

Sure enough, some of the Bermon that had been swarming Kwon Hae-seong noticed something strange and turned to look this way.

 

“Damn! They’re looking this way!”

 

“Please refrain from swearing in front of the child.”

 

“Teacher, I’m fine with it.”

 

No, I’m not fine with it… I grabbed the Tough Grass with my hands and tried to tear it off.

 

Scratches formed on my palms as blood seeped out. Sweat and blood mixed together and dripped to the floor.

 

“Hurry, hurry!!”

 

Ignoring the urging voice, I even grabbed handfuls of grass and pulled them out.

 

However, compared to the Grass Clumps lock breaking one by one, the speed of the monsters approaching was faster, which was maddening.

 

‘Damn it, isn’t there another way?’

 

If things went wrong, I even thought that retreating from here and waiting for the next opportunity might be the only option.

 

I struggled with my hands that kept slipping from sweat, pressing down again and again as I tried every possible way to tear out the tough grass.

 

And finally, when I felt I had removed nearly half of it.

 

Unexpected voices reached my ears.

 

“Hey! You guys don’t hit Seal Teacher!! You, you ugly things!”

 

“…I came out because I was worried about Noah.”

 

“These guys are noisier than that fat kid from earlier.”

 

I could tell just from their voices.

 

These bastards…

 

They had burst out of the hideout that Kwon Hae-seong had painstakingly created!

 

A chill ran down my spine. I couldn’t turn around since I had to somehow open this door, but Kwon Hae-seong’s panicked face was vivid before my eyes.

 

-Clang!

 

-Clatter!

 

When I put my full body weight into it and gave it momentum, it began breaking faster.

 

-Snap snap.

 

-Snap snap.

 

-Creeeeak.

 

 

The last one!

 

-Clang!

 

Finally, all the grass wrapped around the iron cage broke, and the door opened halfway with an unpleasant noise.

 

Got it!

 

I reached my arm through the gap and hurriedly lifted Tae-jae first.

 

“Come out quickly!”

 

After confirming that the man was hurriedly following behind and circling around the barred prison, the Bermons that had been fiercely advancing toward us were nowhere to be seen.

 

Instead…

 

“What is this? Where are we supposed to go now!!”

 

“…”

 

“What about those kids? Hey, did you say teacher? Is it okay for him to be like that?”

 

An absolutely chaotic show was unfolding.

 

Cheonji and Noah, whose abilities weren’t attack types, were standing on a rock cheering for Seo-ro and Kwon Hae-seong at the top of their lungs.

 

“Go for it! Strength! Let’s go!!”

 

“Let’s go, let’s go, fighting!”

 

And Seo-ro and Kwon Hae-seong, who were receiving their cheers, were the stars of this chaotic show.

 

From what I could see, Kwon Hae-seong was holding Seo-ro under his arm and using him like some kind of bazooka…

 

“Over there.”

 

“Like this?”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“Ah, here too.”

 

“Yes.”

 

When Kwon Hae-seong kicked the Bermons charging in groups one by one, Seo-ro would use telekinesis to send them flying far away.

 

Naturally, smashing them once more was more effective than just kicking them.

 

Kick, then launch.

 

Kick, then launch.

 

They were truly a fantastic combo.

 

I wondered if these were really the same kids who had threatened me not to bully Tyros just a few hours ago.

 

Eventually, the other children seemed to have completely forgotten about that past and were even giving advice while cheering.

 

“Lee Seo-ro, behind you! Look behind!”

 

“Teacher, how about trying to go a little faster?”

 

My head was pounding.

 

It seemed like their stance had completely changed after seeing Kwon Hae-seong get beaten up when dealing with the Bermons earlier.

 

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and opened them again.

 

…Right, this is reality.

 

Reality denial could wait for later. I adjusted my hold on Tae-jae and informed the kidnapper who was following behind us.

 

“If you want to get out, cooperate. I won’t ask for much, so just carry Tae-jae and run in the opposite direction from where I’m going.”

 

“Why should I do that.”

 

I scratched my head once, paused for a moment, then spoke up.

 

“Then stay here alone.”

 

“You say you’re a teacher, so why do you talk like that?”

 

“Am I your teacher?”

 

“…Both the teacher and the kid have no manners at all.”

 

“Mister, shh.”

 

When Tae-jae gave him a final warning, the man nodded his head while muttering curses. Though I felt uneasy about it, I handed Tae-jae over to the kidnapper.

 

 

At least the rescue was successful, so we were halfway there. Now we just needed to get out of here.

 

I looked back at the path we had taken to get here.

 

‘Going back immediately looks difficult.’

 

The debris from the rock that Kwon Hae-seong had brought down and the furious Bermons were firmly blocking the entrance to the Maze Plaza.

 

In that case…. Retreat for now.

 

“When I give the signal, carry the kid and run.”

 

“What?”

 

“When I give the signal, carry the kid and run. Mister, focus!”

 

“…Nam Tae-jae, your attitude is different from when it’s just you and me?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Hey!”

 

I pulled out one of the long cylindrical containers I had roughly stuffed into the inner part of my bag.

 

The text on the yellow film label read as follows.

 

[Fire Drill Smoke Grenade]

 

This morning, while I was organizing the storage room, I had practically swept up supplies.

 

This was one of the things that had accidentally gotten mixed in during that process.

 

*Do not throw at people.

 

The warning written in red caught my eye. A sweat-soaked smile formed on my face.

 

Right, promises should be kept.

 

But….

 

Then, it should be fine as long as I don’t throw it at people, right?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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