Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 84

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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 084

 

The time when all the children at the kindergarten had gone home.

 

The remaining teachers also hurriedly left for home, and thus Ocean Kindergarten’s day came to an end.

 

However, only I couldn’t leave work yet. There was still something I needed to finish.

 

“Well… shall we go to the office first and prepare?”

 

 

Following Kang Ho-won, I came to Field Team Na’s office again, which I had visited once before.

 

As you can see, there’s no one inside.

 

“Ah, Seo-hyeok also got a personal mission earlier and went out.”

 

As I stood there awkwardly, Kang Ho-won went somewhere efficiently and started rummaging through a box placed in the corner.

 

He rummaged through the box, then pulled out something like a black bundle and handed it to me.

 

‘Clothes?’

 

When I unfolded it, it was field team work clothes consisting of a top and bottom set.

 

Moreover, work clothes with the exact same design as what Kang Ho-won was currently wearing.

 

Black short sleeves that covered the entire neck and jogger pants with many pockets.

 

“….”

 

…Why is he giving this to me?

 

As I stood there bewildered, just staring at the clothes, Kang Ho-won smiled playfully and added an explanation.

 

“Seo-hyeok ordered it wrong and just stored it away, but it’s not dirty. Still, if you want to at least not look like an outsider, I think it would be good to wear something like this.”

 

I see. I didn’t think of that.

 

If I’m going to a place only company personnel can access, I should at least show the minimum courtesy.

 

“Geez~ he was being so picky, saying he wouldn’t wear anything that wasn’t long sleeves, so it’s really fortunate we can put it to use like this. You can change behind that partition over there.”

 

I hurriedly changed clothes behind the partition Kang Ho-won pointed to. Fortunately, the work clothes fit my body reasonably well.

 

‘But this is quite uncomfortable.’

 

When I awkwardly came back out from behind the partition in the unfamiliar outfit, he handed me a black face mask this time.

 

“Try wearing this.”

 

“…How is it?”

 

“At a glance, someone might mistake you for Seo-hyeok…”

 

“Really?”

 

“No, looking again, not even close. Even with everything covered, you still look like Teacher.”

 

Even with only my hair and eyes barely showing, he says I still look like me.

 

While I was getting serious by myself, Kang Ho-won shrugged his shoulders, picked up a bundle of card keys from the desk, and said:

 

“But it should be fine. The underground dungeon is pretty dark, right? As long as you don’t have a conversation while passing by, they won’t know.”

 

“…Well, that’s fortunate then.”

 

We headed to the underground dungeon like that. I moved my legs diligently while mulling over the advice Kang Ho-won had given me.

 

-Seo-hyeok is a guy who thinks this place is the military. Just use short, clipped speech patterns when anyone calls you.

 

Passing through the lobby, we boarded an elevator that only led underground. Peculiarly, all the buttons in this elevator were marked with alphabets.

 

He pressed a button without hesitation.

 

[ E ]

 

The elevator made rattling sounds as it descended endlessly downward…

 

-Ding!

 

-Floor E.

 

…The door opens with the sound. At the same time, a hallway scene unfolds that contrasts with the bright elevator interior.

 

Dim light from blurry lamps with just enough brightness to barely make out someone’s silhouette.

 

Ant-hill-like corridors branching out like limbs from the elevator as the center.

 

‘Finding directions here would be quite a task too.’

 

However, Kang Ho-won entered without hesitation and moved his steps as if familiar with the place.

 

In between, we passed through walls blocked by dual security systems using card keys and iris recognition in sequence.

 

During this time, only the sound of sparse footsteps echoed in the corridor, but no human figures were visible.

 

‘I guess there aren’t as many people passing by as I thought?’

 

Just as I was thinking that and letting my guard down, someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind.

 

“Hey, Lee Seo-hyeok. Where are you going?”

 

“…!”

 

Looking ahead, I saw that Kang Ho-won had also stopped walking and was looking this way.

 

I tried my best not to turn my head and didn’t react.

 

“Didn’t you say there was no overtime today? You were so happy about having dinner with the twins tonight… Do you have a lot of extra work? Should I do it for you instead?”

 

What should I do.

 

Kang Ho-won was also approaching with a frown, unable to identify who was grabbing my shoulder.

 

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you? Your team leader and seniors making you handle the paperwork they don’t want to do? They’re just messing with you on purpose. Those crazy bastards.”

 

If this silence goes on any longer, I’ll really be suspected!

 

“Hey, why aren’t you answer—”

 

“It’s fine. A senior said they’d help.”

 

So I just went for it.

 

Cold sweat broke out on my back.

 

I perfectly imitated Lee Seo-hyeok’s speech pattern and voice that I’d heard when eating with Team Na before… I hope it was okay.

 

Whether it’s the Storytelling Buff or not, I’m confident in Voice Mimicry. Of course, the longer the sentence gets, the higher the risk of being caught, so keeping it as short as possible is key.

 

Please just pass by. Please.

 

….

 

“…Is that so?”

 

“….”

 

Did it work? Did it get through?

 

However, contrary to what he said, the grip on my shoulder grew stronger. Just as it seemed like he was about to turn me around, I unconsciously stiffened…

 

Thud. At that moment, Kang Ho-won’s heavy palm landed on my opposite shoulder.

 

“Ah~ Who do we have here? Isn’t this Seo-hyeok’s only friend in our company?”

 

What? Seo-hyeok’s friend?

 

Wait, isn’t this totally screwed?

 

…I think I just used military-style speech to someone who’s supposed to be my friend?

 

But whether the person involved was dying of thirst or not, the conversation was still ongoing.

 

“…It was Senior Ho-won.”

 

“How come you can’t recognize me but you recognize Seo-hyeok?”

 

“Among the Field Team members, this guy is the only one who wears a patch on his pants.”

 

Patch?

 

Only then did I notice the patch with ‘BOND’ written in blue fluorescent letters on the pocket part of the jogger pants.

 

‘These are Lee Seo-hyeok’s pants, right?’

 

Now that I looked, both Kang Ho-won and this person were wearing patches on their right shoulders.

 

“Ah~ Right, right, that’s how it was? So there was a reason our Junior Member was being so stubbornly weird? It was all to show off to his friend?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“Such touching friendship. Well, well. Anyway, we have to go work now, so we’re leaving~ You should get off work soon too.”

 

“…Yes. Hey, Seo-hyeok, see you tomorrow.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Thud thud. I held my breath until their footsteps could no longer be heard…

 

I can’t believe that actually worked.

 

After confirming once again that no one was in the hallway, Kang Ho-won patted my shoulder and said.

 

“You did well, Teacher.”

 

“That was a lie… It’s harder than I thought.”

 

“For something like that, you did the voice mimicry well. For a moment, even I was surprised thinking you had actually become Seo-hyeok.”

 

You’re being too generous with your praise.

 

If you knew what thoughts I had during those few short minutes, you might take back that compliment.

 

Anyway, after getting through that crisis, nothing else happened.

 

And so we were able to quietly, without anyone knowing.

 

Arrive at our destination.

 

[Safety Grade Dungeon E0815-F Grade]

 

-Disabling security for ‘Safety Grade Dungeon E0815-F Grade’.

 

With the announcement, Kang Ho-won passed through the security device and opened the iron door to enter. I also quietly followed behind him and stepped inside.

 

At the end of the dark hallway not far away, there was a gate.

 

“If you give me Ellumis, I’ll go in and quickly release it.”

 

“Yes, just a moment.”

 

At those words, I rummaged through my belongings in the darkness and pulled out a small glass bottle.

 

…I’m sorry. No matter how I thought about it, the insect cage would be too conspicuous, so I had no choice but to put it in a strawberry jam container.

 

Under the brilliant light of the gate, I could see Ellumis inside the strawberry jam container, now resigned to its fate.

 

‘I’m really sorry.’

 

Before handing Ellumis over to Kang Ho-won, I lifted the glass bottle to eye level and gently stroked it while speaking.

 

“Yesterday and today, you really went through a lot… I want to apologize for the unseemly things the child did. I’m truly sorry.”

 

Then, after a moment, a weak voice came through the slightly opened glass bottle lid that was left open for air circulation.

 

-…It’s unnecessary. If you knew the terrible things that small human did to me, you couldn’t apologize so easily. Besides… confining me in such a cramped and disgusting place multiple times, there’s no greater humiliation and shame than this.

 

This is trouble.

 

It seems like getting forgiveness is out of the question, so what should I do?

 

…Later, if Tae-jae and Ellumis ever meet again, there’s going to be chaos.

 

I continued talking, trying somehow to improve Tae-jae’s image.

 

“Still, thanks to that, you obtained unicorn feathers and pearls. I hope you can at least acknowledge that the child helped to some extent in that process.”

 

-Now I see… You’re also a crazy bastard… No, I misjudged you! I thought you might be different since you could communicate!!

 

Uh, wait a minute.

 

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

 

-Shut up! You’re the craziest human of all! You orchestrated the kidnapping too, didn’t you? What are you trying to gain by doing this! You ruined the Fairy’s Oath too, and if everything had gone according to plan, that damn small human wouldn’t have gone on a rampage!!

 

“…”

 

-The day we meet again, I will definitely drag you to our sanctuary and tear you limb from…!

 

“Sorry to interrupt your intimate farewell, but if this takes too long, it might look suspicious.”

 

Snatch.

 

Kang Ho-won intercepted and took the glass bottle I was holding…

 

“Alright, bye-bye monster, bye-bye Teacher.”

 

With those final words, he quickly flew away.

 

I stood there in place, watching Ellumis disappear beyond the gate, carried in Kang Ho-won’s hands.

 

“…”

 

This seems to have gone completely wrong.

 

Hmm… About a minute passed after that.

 

Kang Ho-won burst out from beyond the gate, almost sliding.

 

“Done! As soon as I opened the lid, it shot out really quickly. It suddenly rushed at me trying to chop me with a stone axe, so I just ran.”

 

…Wow, it would have been big trouble if I had gone with him.

 

“Still, it’s good that it returned safely.”

 

“Right, fortunately it doesn’t seem to have depression either.”

 

Following Kang Ho-won who was dusting off his hands and grinning, I also laughed weakly.

 

Anyway, I protected it. Ten million won…

 

I protected it. My clean criminal record…

 

Well… it seems like I’ve been properly marked by Ellumis, but since I probably won’t see it again, it should be fine.

 

‘I really hope Tae-jae never has to enter this place again.’

 

The tension completely released, and I thought all that was left was to return.

 

“Shall we head back now?”

 

“Yes.”

 

And we were actually on our way back.

 

Definitely.

 

‘We were… so why?’

 

I struggled to open my eyes that had been shut from the shock.

 

Before I knew it, my body was sprawled out in the underground dungeon corridor.

 

***

 

Wait, let me go back a few minutes…

 

After closing the iron door that led to ‘Ellumis’ Sanctuary’, we came back out to the underground corridor.

 

Though we were walking silently through the cold underground corridor without a trace of warmth, my heart felt light and relieved as if it could fly away.

 

After confirming there was no one in front or behind us in the corridor, I let out the sigh I’d been holding and spoke up.

 

“Ho-won, thank you so much for today. Even though you said it was easy, it really couldn’t have been that simple.”

 

No matter how much it was his own company and an easy place to access, Kang Ho-won had definitely spent time and effort on this.

 

‘So I’d like to give him at least a small gift…’

 

Even now, I don’t understand why he agreed to help by presenting such a trivial ‘condition’.

 

…Ah, could it be that he deliberately suggested a ‘condition’ because receiving something would be burdensome?

 

So I wouldn’t feel uncomfortable about it?

 

If that’s the case, I feel really sorry.

 

“Ho-won, I’m really grateful, so next time let me buy you a meal at least…”

 

-Clank.

 

-‘■■ Grade Dungeon E0915-■Grade’ security is being disengaged.

 

The sound of an iron door opening.

 

As soon as I turned my head at the sudden sound from behind, my collar was grabbed without warning.

 

“…?!”

 

Before I could even panic properly, my feet left the ground and my body was mercilessly thrown into the darkness.

 

-Crash clang clang clang!

 

“…Ugh!”

 

While groaning from the pain shooting up my back as I hit the floor, I lifted my head to try to understand the situation.

 

I gasped for breath and frantically checked my surroundings.

 

‘Where is this?’

 

Looking around, it seems like a corridor leading to another dungeon?

 

When did the door open?

 

No, before that, who attacked us? So Kang Ho-won threw me in here? To protect me?

 

…But the only person nearby was Kang Ho-won?

 

‘Is Ho-won okay?’

 

I tried to get up from where I was, struggling to figure out some answer.

 

However, there was no need for that.

 

-Thud.

 

The person closing the open iron door and coming in was none other than Kang Ho-won.

 

“Well, now that we’ve put out the urgent fire. Teacher, shall we have a serious conversation now?

—————
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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