Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 36

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

Episode 036

 

“Wait!”

 

I desperately grabbed onto Noah’s sleeve.

 

And while maintaining that grip, I turned my head to look around and was able to spot another chosen person quite nearby.

 

-You have been selected as the bride.

 

The person standing under the light pouring down with the voice was… Grandmother?

 

Ah, no.

 

This won’t do.

 

If we go to that Confession with this insane combination, we’ll be heading straight to the Glass Bottle.

 

“Oh my? Now I can see a bit. Hey, young man, what is this place for? My granddaughter brought me here but I can’t see where the child went~”

 

“Teacher, let me go! I need to go quickly.”

 

“What? Sit down? Ah, ah, go out? Where am I supposed to go! You need to speak clearly for me to understand.”

 

“It feels like someone’s pulling me around? Alright! I’ll go! I’ll go!”

 

This is driving me crazy.

 

In my urgency, I looked back at Moon Chae-yeong.

 

‘Isn’t there really any other way?’

 

When I sent her a desperate look, Moon Chae-yeong opened her mouth with a reluctant expression.

 

“Even if you do enter the Glass Bottle, clearing isn’t guaranteed-“

 

Absolutely not.

 

“That won’t work. If Noah and Grandmother go in here, all the people inside the Glass Bottle might get completely submerged in syrup.”

 

“If we clear it, all the humans here will be sent outside anyway, so it might be okay…”

 

“When would that be? Right after clearing? Or some time later? If it’s the latter case, then the brains of the people in there would already be filled with syrup!”

 

“…Yes, that would be the case. I’ll think of a method too.”

 

I now lifted Noah, who was being dragged away, from behind. My feet were dragging and my body was being pulled backward.

 

‘I’ve used up all the jelly and what is this situation!’

 

Damn it! That’s what you get for not thinking before using it!

 

I was hanging on while imagining kicking my past self… Wait, is my body actually lifting up?

 

Just when I was barely holding on and felt like I couldn’t hold on any longer.

 

I heard Moon Chae-yeong’s muttering.

 

“…Should I go out in their place?”

 

!

 

“Can Team Leader go out instead?”

 

“Since my ability is hallucination, right? I think it would be possible if I overlay a hallucination and go out.”

 

Why are you only saying this now!

 

“Instead of Team Leader, would it be possible to change the appearance of me and Grandmother?”

 

“Ah, of course.”

 

Moon Chae-yeong immediately looked back and forth between me and Grandmother, then looked at me and winked…

 

‘A wink?’

 

Ah… Moon Chae-yeong’s Ritual Condition.

 

 

As soon as I recognized Moon Chae-yeong’s expressionless face returning afterward…

 

I could see a translucent membrane being overlaid on my skin. At the same time, I could clearly see my original form slowly crumbling away.

 

‘She used her ability.’

 

Now the light no longer illuminated Grandmother.

 

The light illuminated me and Noah, who were overlaid with Grandmother’s appearance.

 

‘Still, there really were some flimsy aspects to it.’

 

Honestly, I wondered if we could get away with just deceiving the appearance.

 

I roughly brushed off the glitter touching my cheek and thought.

 

This time it would really become a pure battle of wits.

 

***

 

Noah and I, who had climbed onto the platform, faced each other.

 

The child’s raised cheekbones showed excitement that couldn’t be hidden.

 

“Teacher, shall I show you my dance?”

 

Being up on the platform, he seemed to feel like a star on stage.

 

Noah, this isn’t the time for us to be doing that….

 

Huh?

 

But.

 

“How did you know I was the teacher?”

 

I should clearly look like a grandmother, right?

 

I had clearly confirmed with my own two eyes that Moon Chae-yeong had properly cast the hallucination.

 

“Didn’t Teacher transform into a grandmother?”

 

“Huh? Oh, right.”

 

“Then you’re still just Teacher! You transformed right next to me with a ‘whoosh’ and now you’re asking what I’m talking about. Really!”

 

Noah even drove the point home with ‘I’m not stupid,’ and I could only nod blankly.

 

That’s right.

 

‘Why didn’t I think of this.’

 

Logically, even if a healthy adult man suddenly transformed into a grandmother, you wouldn’t think… that the inside had changed too.

 

Sure enough, the people below the platform whose eyes met mine nodded with the same expression.

 

As if agreeing with Noah’s words.

 

…Everyone saw it?

 

And there wasn’t a trace of doubt or confusion in their eyes.

 

They just…. had all adapted to this surreal situation.

 

The situation we were in from the start was already crazy, so this much wasn’t even a problem.

 

I finally understood the current situation.

 

“So, would you like to see my dance? Nam Tae-jae complimented me, saying I dance well like I have no bones.”

 

Whether I transform into a grandmother or not, dancing is more important to you.

 

But, Noah, let’s save that dance for a little later….

 

“Could you show it to just me privately later? This stage is too small to contain you.”

 

“Is that so? Alright then, I’ll specially show my dance only to Teacher. Come out alone to the kindergarten playground later.”

 

“…Thank you so much.”

 

Your generosity really brings tears to my eyes.

 

Only after promising Noah about attending the secret dance performance did the Confession begin.

 

-The faithful shall confess their sins and repent.

 

‘Let me get my head straight.’

 

I must get the answer right.

 

-The faithful will now randomly confess sins that are either false or true only.

 

“This morning I secretly brought all the potions from Mom’s workshop. Those are mine because I made them! So it’s not my fault….”

 

Dismay appeared on Noah’s face as he mumbled his words.

 

“Oops!”

 

Then his small hands covered his mouth with surprised eyes.

 

-Priest, determine whether the faithful’s words are true or false.

 

‘Whew….’

 

True or false.

 

“….”

 

The child’s hazel pupils turned toward me, and I easily caught the truth within them.

 

‘I know.’

 

A steady voice flowed past my throat without wavering.

 

“It’s true.”

 

You little rascal.

 

You really did take the potions without Mom knowing.

 

-Faith has been proven.

 

‘I’ve mastered the art of reading the room.’

 

Besides, the other party is a student from our class?

 

The data accumulated so far couldn’t be ignored either.

 

-Believer, please continue your Confession.

 

“I hate Mom. She said she’d take me to the amusement park but she didn’t. Mom likes work more than me and seems to like Nam Tae-jae more…”

 

Noah said this with his head hung low, looking like he was about to cry.

 

A small sympathetic sigh could be heard from below the Platform.

 

“Oh no, that sounds real.”

 

“Oh my… how upset must that poor child be.”

 

Not stopping there, the people below even started giving me subtle hints.

 

“Truth! That’s the truth!”

 

“His, his nose didn’t grow…!”

 

“That’s genuine, young man.”

 

Moon Chae-yeong also gave me a thumbs up.

 

It seems most people have jumped on the bandwagon of being convinced it’s the truth.

 

But what should I do…

 

-Priest, please determine whether the believer’s words are truth or lies.

 

Desperately ignoring the pouring gazes, I calmly opened my mouth.

 

“It’s a lie.”

 

 

It’s not that everything the child said just now was a lie.

 

It’s that there were lies mixed in among the confession of sins.

 

‘The people who came out so far must have been the same.’

 

Noah was just no different.

 

The reason I thought it was a lie was because of this part:

 

 

‘He doesn’t hate her though.’

 

He was just upset and sad.

 

There was exactly one time when this child, who had been smiling brightly from the moment we met until now, looked depressed.

 

 

Even then, Noah didn’t show any resentful feelings toward his mom.

 

He held back his tears alone and quickly shook it off.

 

Noah was that kind of child.

 

I waited in silence for the voice to give me an answer.

 

But somehow there are boos…

 

“No way, young man! You got that wrong?”

 

“Hyung, are you really that bad at reading situations?”

 

“He got that wrong. He got that wrong.”

 

Excuse me, I’m technically a grandmother right now.

 

People stare at me intensely like I’m some burning Potato and throw comments at me.

 

‘No, really, I’m right.’

 

-Faith has been proven.

 

See?

 

“Huh? Really?”

 

“What? What part was the lie?”

 

“Was there no nose-growing buff chance this time?”

 

Yes, exactly that.

 

I got it right by reading the situation, that’s what I’m saying.

 

-Faithful priest and believer, please return to your seats.

-Today’s service ends here.

 

“…!!”

 

A bell sound so clear it felt sacred rang out.

 

The people below the Platform looked at each other silently for several seconds before bursting into cheers.

 

“Wow! Finally!”

 

“This means we can get out, right?”

 

“We’re leaving? Are we really leaving?”

 

The darkness was lifting.

 

Beyond the Stained Glass made of sugar, with the afterimage of the sun rising, the inside of the Cathedral began to brighten.

 

“Teacher!!”

 

At Moon Chae-yeong’s call, I looked down below the Platform.

 

She shouted while showing me her Watch screen.

 

‘This isn’t the time! Let’s get out!’

 

I scooped up Noah and approached the Glass Bottle, shouting.

 

“We can leave now!”

 

Then the woman who was closest to the outside spat out the Syrup that had gotten in her mouth and said.

 

“Ugh! It all got in my mouth! Anyway! Thank you!”

 

“…What?”

 

For what?

 

“I said thank you! Everyone here saw it! You were… doing -“

 

Saw what?

 

Me becoming a Grandmother?

 

‘I can’t hear well.’

 

The moment I moved closer to hear again.

 

?

 

With a feeling of suddenly sinking into the floor, my vision flipped upside down.

 

“What did they see… Ugh!”

 

***

 

Kim Noah, a child from the Big Brother Class who would enter Elementary School next year, woke up in the morning feeling gloomy.

 

‘Today is my birthday.’

 

Perhaps because he knew he wouldn’t receive the birthday gift he wanted most today anyway?

 

He noticed the large Gift Box placed on his Desk, but somehow he didn’t feel good.

 

A year ago, on Kim Noah’s 6th birthday, it was exactly the same.

 

Back then too, they had planned to go to Neverland, the three of them together with Dad…

 

‘We didn’t go!’

 

Both Mom and Dad just kept saying they were busy!

 

Dad was especially busier. Just, from some point on, he stopped coming Home altogether.

 

‘Even when I ask Mom, she just says she doesn’t know… It’s annoying.’

 

Still, Kim Noah had developed quite good intuition befitting the Big Brother Class.

 

Since Mom looked sad whenever Dad was mentioned, he had stopped bringing it up altogether.

 

Well, that didn’t matter.

 

‘I like Mom more than Dad anyway.’

 

So it was okay.

 

Mom was busy going to the company, and even when she came Home, she did dishes, cooked, worked…

 

Anyway, even though she was too busy to play with him much, it was okay.

 

Really… it was okay.

 

“But today is my birthday.”

 

He hugged the Sweet Potato Doll that Nam Tae-jae had given him tightly.

 

It’s a secret that he buried his face in it and shed tears in a way unbefitting a man.

 

After facing such sad reality and going out to the Living Room, Mom had already left for the company.

 

 

Before falling asleep last night, I remembered what Mom had said to me.

 

‘So what will you do in the meantime?’

 

When Aunt comes, I’ll do the same things – read books, make potions, and more.

 

‘…I want to go to Neverland.’

 

Once that thought occurred to me, I didn’t want to do anything else.

 

I just wanted to go to Neverland.

 

So….

 

I went outside without any plan!

 

“Puhaha! This is exciting!”

 

I put on clothes from the wardrobe, and took the card I always saw in Mom’s wallet that was on the dining table.

 

‘And I’m going to take all of this too! Hmph!’

 

I secretly entered Mom’s workshop and packed all the potions I had made into my bag.

 

“Mom said all of these could be sold for money! It’s the four principles of capitalism or something like that these days!”

 

Of course, with just a tiny bit of rebellious spirit mixed in.

 

And so my solo (runaway) journey began.

 

After that, I passed through the apartment main gate, took the bus, and got off at the Neverland entrance.

 

It was surprisingly easy!

 

Sometimes unknown adults would approach me asking ‘Hey kid, where are your parents?’ which was troublesome….

 

But I could solve it by pointing to a nearby adult and saying this.

 

“Over there!”

 

Kim Noah was smart. Not as much as Nam Tae-jae, but he could confidently say he understood how the world worked much better.

 

Saying I don’t have Mom = Having to go back home.

 

That much was basic.

 

However, little Kim Noah’s exciting Neverland exploration plan hit an unexpected obstacle.

 

He ended up meeting his kindergarten teacher along the way.

 

‘Oh no, I got caught!’

 

…But even that was good.

 

I was so happy to see him that I thought I might have been a bit too honest and spilled everything.

 

‘I even met an alien friend!’

 

Since Teacher told me a big(?) secret, I should tell him an equally big secret too.

 

When we passed through the dark, gloomy place and entered the place full of snacks, Kim Noah felt like he could die from happiness.

 

Seeing everyone playing inside glass bottles that glowed with pretty colors, he wanted to go inside them too.

 

The soles of his feet tingled and his heart seemed to flutter.

 

‘But Teacher keeps telling me not to go in.’

 

I felt sulky, but I held it in.

 

Somehow it felt like I shouldn’t push any further here….

 

But an opportunity was given!

 

I finally went up onto the platform with Teacher.

 

‘If I do exactly what the other people did, maybe I can go inside that glass bottle too!’

 

But I….

 

‘I wasn’t planning to tell any secrets though?’

 

“I hate Mom. She said she’d take me to the amusement park but she didn’t. Mom likes work more than me and seems to like Nam Tae-jae more….”

 

My mouth just moved on its own.

 

‘Huh, but I don’t hate Mom….’

 

I was just a little disappointed that she couldn’t come with me, that’s all.

 

Even though it wasn’t my intention, the fact that I had spoken badly about Mom made my heart suddenly drop with a ‘thud.’

 

‘That’s not true! I really don’t hate Mom!’

 

Just as tears were about to well up from the sad feeling without me realizing it.

 

Teacher said to me.

 

“That’s a lie.”

 

And hugged him.

 

He didn’t understand what was happening or how, but one thing was clear.

 

‘Teacher knows everything in my heart.’

 

Kim Noah wrapped his arms around Teacher’s neck and closed his eyes tightly.

 

Now, the thought of wanting to enter the Glass Bottle had completely disappeared.

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