Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 71

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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 071

 

Just a few hours before the Principal came into Dolphin Class carrying coffee.

 

The children in Dolphin Class had started playing role-playing games.

 

However, what was different from usual was that the setting of their role-play was rather extreme.

 

You know, everyone probably has experience playing that kind of role-playing game at least once in their childhood.

 

Like surviving in a pit of fire where the floor is all flowing with lava, or surviving in a cave in the harsh winter mountains, or if not that, surviving in the Amazon jungle…

 

Survival-type role-plays where you survive in extreme environments.

 

…This time, it was just a setting where they became five blood-related siblings surviving in a villa in the harsh winter mountains.

 

I covered various large toys and tables with thin blankets to make a crude villa for them.

 

And the children started their role-play inside it.

 

But you know…

 

‘Their acting has improved.’

 

Somehow it seems like their acting skills keep improving every time they play house or do role-plays.

 

Just then, Noah entered the villa holding a handful of colored pencils and shouted.

 

“I got tree branches! Let’s light a fire with these and cook food!”

 

“Wow! Kim Noah is the best! Then, can we eat meat today?”

 

“Lee Seo-ra, do you want to eat meat that badly?”

 

“Isn’t that obvious? I kept eating only grass, so now I want to eat meat!”

 

Seo-ra, don’t tell me you’re saying that because you ate spinach side dish at lunch.

 

Behind the grumbling twins, Tae-jae put the colored pencils Noah brought on the ground and started rubbing them with both palms.

 

It looked similar to the primitive act of making fire.

 

Huff huff! Next to him, Cheonji pretended to help by blowing air enthusiastically.

 

“The fire… is lit.”

 

At Tae-jae’s words, all kinds of cheers and loud shouts poured out. Instead of trying to see the invisible fire that only preschool children aged 7 and under could see, I just laughed heartily.

 

“Waaahhh!! Fire!! Now there’s nothing to be scared of!”

 

“Wild animals are afraid of fire. It’s really fortunate that we got the fire going.”

 

“Let’s quickly build up the fire before it goes out. Let’s wrap potatoes in foil and roast them too.”

 

…In the midst of all this, apparently potatoes exist in this setting.

 

As the role-play continued like this, just when everyone was about to go to sleep saying night had come.

 

“That… isn’t that a bear?”

 

Cheonji suddenly stood up and pointed to an empty corner.

 

After a moment of silence and an ominous atmosphere… the villa became noisy again in an instant.

 

No, wait, wouldn’t they be safe if they just stayed inside the villa?

 

“We have to fight it!”

 

“Noah, you go out and fight the bear.”

 

“Me? Alright! Nam Tae-jae! I’ll try fighting it!”

 

“…Can’t we just all not go out?”

 

“Seo-ro, this is a golden opportunity to eat bear meat.”

 

Wow… Cheonji has a scary side.

 

Seo-ro let out a quiet sigh, then reached out and lifted the blanket on the floor with his ability. Then the blanket, which had taken on the crude shape of a bear, began approaching them while showing off strange body movements through Seo-ro’s telekinesis.

 

‘Why is the quality unnecessarily good and causing a fuss.’

 

At the critical moment when the blanket bear that had approached close was about to pounce on them.

 

Cheonji, who had been cautiously watching the blanket bear, rolled across the floor as if jumping out and swung a toy spatula toward the bear.

 

And starting with that, all the children rushed toward the blanket bear.

 

The result was, naturally, a victory for the blood-related siblings.

 

They carried the bear they caught with their dignified attitude like a trophy and roasted it over the fire they had made.

 

…I was in a slightly dazed state, quietly watching their incredible survival journal, when I suddenly came to my senses.

 

‘It’s time to give them snacks.’

 

But the children absorbed in their role-play didn’t seem to have any intention of eating snacks.

 

In that case…

 

“Knock knock! Excuse me! I’m a neighbor living in that village! I brought some snacks, would you like to have some?”

 

I had no choice but to join in on the role-play.

 

After some time passed, Tae-jae opened the villa door with suspicious eyes.

 

“Mister Na. How did you know to come here?”

 

So the setting is that he knows my name but doesn’t know my address.

 

“Mister Kwon, the hunter, told me. I made too many snacks, and it’s nice for neighbors to share with each other.”

 

I quickly pushed five food trays into the villa.

 

On the white plastic food trays were freeze-dried fruit, boiled corn, and apple juice.

 

Tae-jae’s eyes looked at the food trays once, then at the siblings behind him who were looking at the trays with sparkling eyes… and reluctantly nodded his head.

 

“Thank you, Mister Na. Have a safe trip home.”

 

Even making a gesture to close the door at the end.

 

Tae-jae, isn’t that too cold when I even gave you snacks?

 

Still, I felt relieved thinking that I had safely delivered the snacks and was getting up from my spot, when the Principal came in with coffee after knocking.

 

***

 

If Kang Beom-seok’s mood were to be expressed in one sentence, it would be this:

 

‘Tears are blurring my vision.’

 

Since he was covered by a blanket and couldn’t properly see the snacks on the food trays, he could only understand the situation through conversation.

 

“Is this all the snacks we have today?”

 

“Seo-ro, compared to usual, this is a lot. We can all share a little and eat sparingly.”

 

“I’ll share mine too!! Sharing during hard times is what friendship is about!”

 

“Noah, sit still. If you move around, you’ll lose energy and get hungry.”

 

“I’m hungry too, but I’ll endure it!!”

 

Without even thinking that these were simply lines spoken by children immersed in role-play.

 

Kang Beom-seok’s misunderstanding was deepening.

 

Seeing Na Hwi-yeon approach with a wistful smile as if such conversations were familiar, he felt like tears were about to come out.

 

‘What a heartbreaking situation this is!’

 

How much of the budget must the Former Principal have embezzled…

 

“Please have some coffee…”

 

“Ah, thank you.”

 

An indefinable emotion surged in his heart.

 

Could I leave this place, abandoning people like these?

 

If I leave… another person will come as principal, but will that person really be decent?

 

Even if I start extracting budget from headquarters right now to repair facilities and fill in what’s needed, it still wouldn’t be enough…

 

As his sense of responsibility grew heavier and his worries deepened.

 

From far away inside the pile of blankets, a child waved their hand and shouted.

 

“Principal! Come over here!”

 

At the words of a mischievous-looking boy with flushed red cheeks, Kang Beom-seok unconsciously approached that direction.

 

‘Huh? Me? Really me?’

 

As he half-entered the cramped pile of blankets that barely had room for his face and shoulders… a freshly steamed corn suddenly appeared before his eyes.

 

“Since Principal is new family, I’m giving this to you specially.”

 

Seeing the warm corn placed on tiny hands, he picked it up as if enchanted.

 

“Hands! Make them round like this. I like strawberries, so I’m giving this to Principal specially!”

 

When he cupped his hands at the girl’s words, freeze-dried strawberries scattered down onto the corn.

 

After that, each child began sharing their own snacks one by one.

 

Before long, his large palm had become filled with food like an acorn storage room.

 

“You have to eat sparingly! Snacks are precious!!”

 

“You need to eat well to survive in this harsh world.”

 

“Principal, it’s windy and cold outside, so eat everything here before you go.”

 

“We ate bear so we’re not that hungry! Right, Lee Seo-ro?”

 

“That’s delicious. Lee Seo-ra, eat my strawberries.”

 

…I had no idea what he was talking about, but the deeply moved Kang Beom-seok was already sobbing inside.

 

Seeing Cheonji offer his one and only apple juice at the end, he finally made an irreversible decision.

 

‘I must…. I must! I have to protect this kindergarten!’

 

I will absolutely, without fail, show the teachers and children the taste of capital!

 

And Na Hwi-yeon, who saw the Principal suddenly reappear with a resolute expression, quietly achieved his objective just by staying still.

 

“…I will do well from now on.”

 

“Pardon?… Yes. Please take good care of me as well.”

 

***

 

What a stroke of luck this was.

 

He definitely hadn’t done anything, yet the Principal readily promised a future with the kindergarten.

 

Just before entering that blanket villa, I was worried because his complexion looked so pale.

 

I looked once at the door where the Principal had disappeared, then again at the blanket villa wrapped like a veil.

 

‘How fascinating.’

 

What on earth did he see and feel in there to suddenly act like that.

 

For a moment I thought about feigning ignorance and going in to see for myself, but quickly retreated from the idea.

 

‘Good things are good things. Whatever.’

 

I drank my coffee with a refreshed feeling. Then. A thought I had forgotten suddenly came back to mind.

 

‘Come to think of it…. I was going to check the children’s Status Windows once.’

 

I had forgotten about it since the overnight camp, being too busy dealing with the rush of problems that came after Cheonji’s incident.

 

I hesitated for a long while, but eventually quietly murmured to myself.

 

‘Status Window.’

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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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