Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 59

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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 059

 

I pressed one hand against the ceiling and gripped the tube with the other, breathing heavily.

 

‘Who the hell built this building like this.’

 

The Annex Audiovisual Room, located a bit away from the Main Building, was designed for proper indoor temperature and soundproofing, with money thrown at it recklessly….

 

‘Ugh.’

 

Except for two small windows near the ceiling, it was no different from a perfectly sealed building.

 

‘They said Head Office employees sometimes use this place too.’

 

So what now. It’s turned into this mess.

 

Thanks to that perfect seal, after all the children evacuated, the water seemed to have barely drained out at all.

 

‘Though the water was rising incredibly fast too.’

 

When we arrived, the External Instructors had already taken all the remaining children and escaped outside.

 

Except for Seo-ra.

 

 

They said they couldn’t easily approach because of the water sprays rapidly forming around Seo-ra.

 

The Automatic Door leading into the Audio-Visual Room wouldn’t open due to the water level and pressure that had risen quickly.

 

In the end, I had no choice but to rely on the single tube I’d brought and enter through the window, the only connection between outside and inside.

 

“Seo-ra, can you hear Teacher?”

 

Seo-ra, lying on the tube with her eyes barely open, answered.

 

“…Teacher?”

 

“Ha…. Yes, our Seo-ra is so brave, not crying. Was the origami time fun?”

 

If this water chaos happened because she lost consciousness once already, I don’t know what might happen if she loses consciousness again.

 

‘So I absolutely can’t let her lose consciousness.’

 

I calmly turned the tube while slowly moving my feet in the water.

 

The flashlight Yu Jin-chae had carefully handed me was probably sinking to the floor of the Audio-Visual Room by now.

 

As soon as I found Seo-ra, I dove underwater, but while grabbing the child’s body, I let go….

 

So for now, I had to move relying only on the mobile phone lights of Kwon Hae-seong and Yu Jin-chae waiting outside that window.

 

I could see two streams of light coming into the dark building from far away.

 

I kept talking while checking Seo-ra’s eyelids that kept trying to close.

 

“What did you fold with the Colored Paper? I heard you were going to do a puppet show with them today, so let’s do it together with Teacher next time.”

 

“…I folded a sailboat.”

 

Seo-ra raised her drooping fist, gently pushed it toward me, and opened it.

 

Then I could see a single Silver Sailboat soaked with water in her small palm.

 

“Wow. Our Seo-ra is really good at folding sailboats. But it’s silver? It’s pretty.”

 

“I thought…. it would be visible from far away.”

 

“I think that’s exactly right~ Teacher was swimming around here trying to find Seo-ra, and something sparkled underwater. The sailboat must have told Teacher that Seo-ra was here.”

 

The building I actually entered was darker than it looked from outside.

 

Honestly, I was worried whether I’d be able to find the child in here.

 

However, really by coincidence, not long after entering, I caught something sparkling underwater for a moment.

 

‘When I dove down to check, it was Seo-ra.’

 

Thinking about it now, it was probably the mobile phone light that Yu Jin-chae and Kwon Hae-seong shone reflecting off something underwater…. Anyway, finding her quickly was most important. Is that what matters.

 

“By the way, Seo-ra, congratulations on your Second Awakening.”

 

“Second…. awakening? What’s that?”

 

Look at her suddenly becoming wide-awake.

 

Oh my, she really can’t stand being curious about something, can she?

 

“What Seo-ra experienced now isn’t something to be scared of at all, but something to be congratulated for. Now you can use both Fire and Water, right?”

 

“Then…. Older Brother won’t scold me?”

 

I don’t think Lee Seo-hyeok would scold her for something like that.

 

I answered while being conscious of the lights getting closer and closer.

 

“Of course~ If Older Brother scolds you, tell Teacher. Teacher will say ‘Don’t scold Seo-ra!'”

 

“…Hehe.”

 

Finally, Kwon Hae-seong’s sturdy arms reached down through the window we had arrived at.

 

I handed Seo-ra to those arms and squeezed my body out through the window.

 

“You’ve worked hard. You’re going straight to the emergency center, right?”

 

“Yes, we need to check Seo-ra’s condition quickly first. What about you, Teacher?”

 

“Teacher Hae-seong and I will follow along too. Teacher I-deun and Teacher Sa-gwa agreed to stay and watch the remaining children with the external instructor.”

 

“Yes, then I’ll leave it to you.”

 

Right, it would be faster for a former official to handle this than a civilian like me.

 

Feeling my soaked clothes become incredibly heavy, I climbed down the ladder.

 

‘My legs are all shaky. I feel like I might fall while going down.’

 

Now that I think about it, getting in there was also quite a task.

 

There were traces everywhere of the struggle to enter that window that was practically stuck to the building’s ceiling.

 

‘It was only thanks to Kwon Hae-seong stacking the unused furniture from the storage room and classroom against the building exterior wall like Tetris.’

 

Only by doing that could we barely reach a height where we could place a ladder to get in.

 

I crawled down the ladder with shaky legs, then came down the stairs made of furniture before I could finally stand on the floor with both feet.

 

…There wasn’t a single dry spot from head to toe.

 

However, there was something else that needed immediate attention.

 

“Let’s head to the emergency center for now.”

 

***

 

Lee Seo-ra was lying in a corner of the emergency center, receiving a sedative.

 

Around the bed, it was noisy with the conversation between Lee Seo-hyeok, who had just rushed over after hearing the news, and the medical staff, but the child herself was busy falling into a deep sleep.

 

Lee Seo-ra had a dream.

 

A dream of the old days when Mom and Dad were by her side, when they all went to the ocean together.

 

Clear skies, refreshing waves.

 

Even her older brother who willingly came on the family trip despite his busy exam studies.

 

She built sand castles with Lee Seo-ro and made a sand grave over her older brother’s body.

 

She picked up shells with Mom and rode piggyback on Dad as they walked across the sandy beach.

 

‘This is so fun!’

 

‘Lee Seo-ra, come with us!’

 

‘Lee Seo-ro, hurry up!’

 

‘Seo-ra, Seo-ro, get on the tube.’

 

While playing with Dad and Lee Seo-ro in the shallow sea, her body suddenly slipped through the tube she was riding in an instant.

 

She swallowed water and coughed several times, but Lee Seo-ra was happy to see Dad, who had quickly lifted her up, face to face.

 

‘But… honestly, it was scary.’

 

Even after returning from the trip, she was afraid of water for a while. The sensation of stinging eyes and nose and not being able to breathe was quite a shock for a child to experience.

 

However, when she realized that her parents were no longer by their side.

 

Lee Seo-ra tried to love the frightening ocean and water.

 

‘It was scary, but I can never play like that with Mom and Dad again. I should keep it as a good memory! And I’ll keep remembering it.’

 

I should love it. Fear can’t stop me from loving what I love!

 

However, apart from her brave resolution, it would be a lie to say there wasn’t still a bit of fear in a corner of her heart.

 

Perhaps it was because she now realized that if she fell into water, there would no longer be a dad to come rescue her.

 

Sometimes she would get sad about not being able to fully love the ocean and would secretly cry without Lee Seo-ro knowing…

 

“Teacher, thank you. And I’m sorry…”

 

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s fortunate that there’s nothing seriously wrong with Seo-ra’s body.”

 

“Second Awakening… I really never expected it…”

 

The hazy sensation of waking from a dream.

 

At the same time, her older brother’s and teacher’s voices were the first things she heard.

 

Lee Seo-ra blinked her eyes. Through her heavy eyelids, she could see Lee Seo-ro sleeping while tightly holding her hand.

 

‘Why is Lee Seo-ro sleeping here?’

 

He was sleeping with reddened eyes, and that sight was funny.

 

‘Usually he tells me that going to bed early is childish.’

 

When she turned her head, at that moment her eyes met with Older Brother who was looking down at her.

 

Older Brother made a sniffling sound and brought his face closer.

 

“Seo-ra?! Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you tell Older Brother that your body hurt or felt strange?”

 

He grabbed her cheeks with a surprised face, but….

 

Lee Seo-ra kept her mouth tightly shut.

 

Well…. If I say my body feels strange, then I become sick. I know that much too.

 

“It didn’t hurt that much…. I was just a little cold….”

 

“Still, you should have told Older Brother!”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok had raised his voice out of worry, but Lee Seo-ra almost teared up at the loud voice that sounded like scolding. So without realizing it, she shouted back.

 

“I! I can only be healthy!”

 

“…What?”

 

“Older Brother and Lee Seo-ro are good at many things and can do many things! I’m not! I’m only healthy!”

 

“….”

 

“You said being healthy is the best…. But why are you angry at me?”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok stood still for a moment, as if at a loss for words. Then, he calmly calmed his breathing and brushed back Lee Seo-ra’s wet hair.

 

After that, a voice thick with moisture was heard again.

 

“Being healthy is the best. That’s right…. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know when you’re in pain. Older Brother wants to know if Seo-ra has any pain, whether in body or heart.”

 

“…Why?”

 

Why? Why do you want to know about pain?

 

Pain is bad. Shouldn’t it be hidden?

 

“So that Older Brother can be by Seo-ra’s side when she’s in pain. You don’t have to tell me about happy things or good things, those can be just yours. But until Seo-ra grows up, tell Older Brother about painful and sad things.”

 

“You…. want to know that much?”

 

“Yes, I want to know. If not, Older Brother will really…. be sad.”

 

Lee Seo-ra felt sorry seeing Older Brother’s face that looked like he was really going to cry.

 

“…Okay. I’ll tell you everything from now on.”

 

I guess pain wasn’t something to hide….

 

I thought I had to hide it when I was sick because being healthy is the best.

 

“And you…. are good at many things besides being healthy…. You eat really well, shoot Fire well, and now you’ll be good with Water too….”

 

She could see tears forming in Older Brother’s eyes and then falling drop by drop. But something else caught Lee Seo-ra’s attention.

 

‘Really? I’m good at many things? Come to think of it…. Teacher said I eat well and that I’m kind too! Oh right, now I can use Fire and Water too? Wow…. I had many good points?’

 

Leaving behind the sniffling Lee Seo-hyeok, Lee Seo-ra couldn’t stop marveling at her self-discovery. Then, she suddenly remembered the light she had seen In the Darkness.

 

Oh, right! Teacher!

 

Lee Seo-ra hurriedly called out to Teacher who was standing near the Bed with other Adults.

 

“…Hm? Seo-ra, did you call Teacher?”

 

She could see him approaching and bowing his head toward her.

 

Lee Seo-ra had something she wanted to say ever since discovering the ‘human lighthouse’ In the Darkness.

 

Suppressing her shyness, she carefully grabbed Teacher’s ear. And whispered softly.

 

“Teacher, thank you!”

 

“Why? For what?”

 

“I’m not scared of the Ocean at all anymore. I’m really really really not scared anymore!”

 

I finally said it!

 

“…Really? That’s great!”

 

Lee Seo-ra smiled brightly seeing Teacher who was happy with her.

 

Now she knows.

 

Even though Dad and Mom aren’t by her side, if she falls into water again, someone will definitely come to save her.

 

From that day on, Teacher Na Hwi-yeon settled in Lee Seo-ra’s heart as one word.

 

‘Human lighthouse!’

 

Even if she were to drift alone in the Vast Ocean again someday, she now had confidence that she wouldn’t be as scared as before.

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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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