Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 45

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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 045

 

Like rewinding film, photograph-like afterimages passed by several times before finally completely overlapping with reality…

 

I forced open my stiff eyes.

 

I was currently… sitting face to face with Kwon Hae-seong.

 

Exactly as it was before I pressed the Status Window.

 

I looked around with dazed eyes for a moment.

 

Nothing had changed.

 

-Ding!

 

 

Mental stability automatically increased?

 

At the newly appeared Status Window, I immediately examined Kwon Hae-seong.

 

…Indeed, the murderous gleam in his eyes seemed to have died down a bit.

 

‘Just by viewing the past, there’s an effect.’

 

It was an unexpectedly tremendous effect.

 

To the point where I wondered if there was any need to add more words here.

 

But…

 

‘I have something I want to say.’

 

I picked up the Red Colored Pencil that was placed on the table and lightly tapped Kwon Hae-seong’s clenched fist.

 

-Tap.

 

Then, Kwon Hae-seong’s gaze, which had been fixed on the floor, slowly rose up… and met mine.

 

I took a deep breath and let it out.

 

“Who said the results of mistakes are always the worst?”

 

“…What?”

 

“And do you think you can avoid making mistakes by living with your nerves on edge every minute and second? Are you certain?”

 

“…”

 

“If the result is the worst, good intentions and all that are useless? Who says that? Bring them here.”

 

Yeah, honestly speaking, things didn’t go well at the Snow Mountain Dungeon.

 

However, I know that the judgment Kwon Hae-seong made was the best answer he could give at that moment.

 

And now that my emotions aren’t synchronized, I can think like this…

 

Do you know how dangerous the thought ‘If I had ~ done’ is?

 

Actually, such thoughts are wrong from the premise itself. The assumption of ‘what if’ also includes the reason why that thought wasn’t chosen at that moment.

 

If it were up to my heart, I’d want to slap him once to snap him back to his senses…

 

But as an adult, he should realize it himself.

 

“Since both Teacher and I are grown-ups, I won’t say overly hopeful things.”

 

That means I won’t beat around the bush.

 

“Life is originally shitty.”

 

“…Huh. Huh?”

 

“It’s originally like that. Sometimes things don’t go your way even when you work hard, and sometimes life flows smoothly even when you live without using your brain.”

 

But connecting all these causes and effects to my diligence, effort, and carelessness?

 

That’s perfect for getting a mental illness.

 

“I think the more irregular the results are, the more important one’s mindset becomes. Because that’s the one thing I can change solely through my own will.”

 

If it weren’t for this mental victory, I would have quit the kindergarten job long ago.

 

…Acting with good heart and spirit.

 

You might not know how valuable this is.

 

‘But you, at least, should know.’

 

At the very least, you shouldn’t fail to recognize yourself trying hard to do everything with good intentions. Especially if you want to continue this work in the future.

 

“And… I know very well that Teacher always approaches work with a good mindset.”

 

Now that I look at it, this guy shouldn’t just consume information but should also eat mugwort and garlic.

 

‘He needs to smell more human.’

 

Whether shocked by my profanity, Kwon Hae-seong just widened his eyes and dropped his shoulders.

 

Along with that, his strength gave out and the crumpled memo pad unfolded in his palm.

 

“…Wh, what if the other party resents me?”

 

Why, are you worried Da-yeong and Won-gang might say something to you later?

 

That you kept feeding them even though they said they didn’t want to eat, without properly understanding their intentions?

 

From my position of having seen the past, I could well understand that the single fact of the two children not eating had triggered Kwon Hae-seong’s trauma.

 

‘But this case is different.’

 

I put down the red colored pencil and placed the three-color ballpoint pen next to it into Kwon Hae-seong’s hand.

 

For reference, this pen is office supplies I bought with my own money.

 

“Write it there. What you did, what you said, and also write this next to it.”

 

“…?”

 

“In case of problems, Na Hwi-yeon will jointly take responsibility.”

 

“Wh, what?”

 

What are you so surprised about?

 

For guys like you who have unnecessarily heavy shoulders, you need to at least pretend to lighten that burden. To put it grandly….

 

‘Just like how my aunt and hyung accepted me as new family after I lost my parents.’

 

So I’m saying I’ll share that heavy sense of responsibility with you now.

 

“If things go wrong, we’ll apologize together, ask for forgiveness together, and reflect together…. At least it’s better than suffering alone in agony.”

 

That chapter viewing really seems to have something that makes people feel uncomfortable.

 

‘I wonder if I’m meddling unnecessarily again….’

 

At that moment.

 

-Ding.

 

 

The status window appeared again.

 

‘The status abnormality… has a line through it.’

 

Moreover, the NEW chapter had also disappeared.

 

But it was still surprising.

 

Following that….

 

 

I alternated between looking at Kwon Hae-seong, who was staring at me with a dumbfounded expression, and the blindingly bright status window.

 

“….”

 

Curses, curses…. are coming out.

 

Damn! Stop! I won’t do it! I said I won’t!

 

***

 

Several days passed after that.

 

I put on my apron as usual while receiving greetings from my colleague teachers.

 

And even some good news that Kwon Hae-seong casually shared.

 

“…Um, Teacher, you left work early yesterday so I couldn’t tell you….”

 

“Yes.”

 

“…Da-yeong and Won-gang are eating well now. Really…. They were just sleepy.”

 

I smiled back at Kwon Hae-seong, who was speaking with a pleased smile.

 

“That’s great.”

 

See?

 

I told you it would work.

 

It was worth leaving work a whole hour late just for counseling.

 

“But is Teacher Jin-chae not here yet before work starts?

 

While exchanging various small talk with Kwon Hae-seong, my head turned at a sudden thought.

 

The person who always came to work earlier than others and sat sprawled on the sofa was nowhere to be seen.

 

The clock on the wall had already passed work hours by quite a bit.

 

“Sa-gwa, Jin-chae still isn’t answering her phone?”

 

“No, she hasn’t answered since last night.”

 

Park I-deun and Kang Sa-gwa, who were sitting on the sofa, spoke as if answering my question.

 

“…She wasn’t answering my calls either.”

 

Kwon Hae-seong, you too?

 

…She hasn’t been answering since last night?

 

I sat down on the sofa and asked Kwon Hae-seong.

 

“Nothing happened to her, right?”

 

If she’s been out of contact since last night and didn’t even come to work, maybe something really did happen.

 

“Ah…. But it’s probably nothing serious. She’s done this a few times before.”

 

What?

 

“Teacher Jin-chae often takes time off and goes somewhere. Usually she gives us a heads up the day before…. But today she didn’t contact us…. Maybe she forgot.”

 

Kwon Hae-seong stared blankly at his mobile phone screen and spoke with an uncertain voice.

 

“So she took time off today?”

 

“…No. That’s probably not it. I didn’t hear anything about her taking time off.”

 

What, then it really is an unexcused absence after all.

 

However, everyone except me seemed calm.

 

As if it really wasn’t a big deal.

 

Park I-deun even casually patted my back and added this:

 

“Don’t worry too much~ I’ll take care of Teacher Jin-chae’s class today. If you need any help, I’ll fully support you! We all help each other out~”

 

Wink.

 

She wrinkled her nose bridge and smiled mischievously…. But she didn’t look that reliable.

 

Still, for an unexcused absence, the atmosphere was quite light, so I decided to go with the flow too.

 

‘She’s done this often before. What could be wrong?’

 

Right, the key is how to get through today.

 

And that’s exactly what happened.

 

It was noisy, but we got through the day safely without any major incidents, and I frantically headed home from work.

 

 

Finally…. Time to go home.

 

[ Let’s go home! ]

 

On my way home, I bought two ice creams from a nearby convenience store. I gave one to Nabi and unwrapped one for myself to eat.

 

‘By the way, I hope nothing really happened to Teacher Jin-chae.’

 

I took out my mobile phone as I entered the alley leading home.

 

Recently, because I’ve been snacking with Nabi on my way home from work, I’ve only been walking through shortcuts that people don’t frequent much.

 

‘Kwon Hae-seong seemed really worried.’

 

I remembered him saying with a sigh before leaving work that she hadn’t answered her phone all day today.

 

‘If we can’t reach her by tomorrow, maybe we should go to the police station.’

 

I moved my fingers busily to send a message with this content.

 

‘It’s difficult trying to do this with one hand.’

 

Eventually, I held the ice cream in my mouth and grabbed my mobile phone with both hands again….

 

 

Thud.

 

Thunk.

 

 

Suddenly, the ice cream I was holding well in my mouth fell to the floor.

 

Huh?

 

A moment later, I felt an impact strike the back of my neck and my body collapsed forward.

 

Through the muffled surrounding noise, Nabi’s cheerful voice pierced my ears.

 

[ What’s this? ]

 

[ This looks fun! ]

 

No, hey….

 

This isn’t a fun situation…. No, hey.

 

I pressed both hands against the dirt ground and shook my head left and right. I tried to put strength in my legs to get up, but.

 

‘I can’t put any strength into them.’

 

I felt hot liquid flowing down from the top of my head.

 

“Huh? This one doesn’t knock out in one hit… As expected, is this the rumored Awakener?”

 

I forced my head to turn and check my opponent.

 

Black Hat and Black Mask.

 

The Baggy Jacket and Pants made it difficult to identify the person.

 

“Who are you… ugh!”

 

-Thud.

 

I couldn’t finish my words.

 

This time they struck the back of my neck.

 

 

And when I opened my eyes again.

 

I couldn’t help but be shocked.

 

The person I had been searching for so desperately was right before my eyes.

 

“Oh? You’re awake? Teacher!”

 

“…Teacher Jin-chae?”

 

I opened and closed my mouth in surprise, then quickly shut it at the chilling feeling.

 

Wait a minute.

 

I forced my stiff neck to turn and immediately checked my surroundings. And my body too…

 

Wow, this is crazy.

 

This isn’t right.

 

Restraint Device fastened to my wrists with my arms bound behind me.

 

My torso wrapped tightly with Iron Chains.

 

An Indoor Space completely enclosed on all sides without a single window.

 

A tightly closed Iron Door.

 

The typical location and situation struck my sleeping frontal lobe awake.

 

Alarm bells rang through my head.

 

“Don’t tell me this is… kidnapping?”

 

Yu Jin-chae’s eyes widened then gently curved into crescents.

 

“Correct~”

—————
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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