Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 89
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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 089
5-Year-Old Shark Class teacher, Kang Sa-gwa.
And 7-Year-Old Dolphin Class student Lee Seo-ro.
Just as I was surprised by the sudden encounter with my workplace colleague and the child I’m in charge of, their unique appearance caught my eye first.
What the… They looked like people going mountain camping, with backpacks stuffed to the point of bursting and each holding kimbap firmly in both hands…
I felt a bit of shock beyond the novelty.
“Teacher.”
“Teacher?”
“What brings you two here…?”
Saturday morning, 9 AM, Seoul Peace Dungeon Park.
This place was currently bustling with people going for a 1-night 2-day field hunter experience.
Unless they came to the park at 9 AM on a Saturday morning with kimbap for a stroll, these two were…
Flutter.
Kang Sa-gwa pulled out a flyer and held it out in front of me.
Ah… I have one too.
“Teacher and… Seo-ro came for the hunter experience too.”
“You too, Teacher?”
Nod. I also took out the flyer from my bag and showed it. Then, Kang Sa-gwa looked at me with an understanding expression and asked.
“You got it in front of the company yesterday, right?”
“Ah, yes.”
“They were struggling to fill the quota last year too, looks like it happened again this year.”
“I guess it’s not very popular?”
“It would be strange if it were popular.”
…Hey, why are you saying that. You’re making me anxious again.
Is it not fun? That’s just the simple reason, right?
I suppressed my uneasiness and asked Seo-ro, who was diligently eating kimbap.
“How did our Seo-ro come here?”
“I’ve been coming since I was 5. I’m going to become a hunter when I grow up anyway, so I thought it would be good to learn in advance.”
Like advanced learning or something?
“I see~ Seo-ra didn’t come with you?”
“Lee Seo-ra went to experience a weekend ranch with hyung. She likes sheep and cows better.”
Both of them have clearly different tastes.
Leaving Seo-ro who was diligently chewing kimbap, I also accepted and ate the kimbap that Kang Sa-gwa offered.
“Thank you. I was hungry since I came out without eating breakfast.”
“…But how did you end up participating in the camp, Teacher? I came out of curiosity last year and promised Seo-ro to participate together again next year.”
They don’t even talk to each other at the kindergarten, but they made such a promise?
While feeling puzzled, as I thought about answering Kang Sa-gwa’s question, I finally remembered the ultimate goal that led me to participate in this camping.
Namely, finding Nabi’s right leg.
The fact that while others enjoy the camp freely, I alone have to search for body parts of something non-human feels quite… like a sad reality.
‘Just looking at the wording, I sound like a crazy person too.’
Of course, contrary to my sentiments, the owner of the body parts was excited.
[Shall we go to the ocean to find the leg~]
[Shall we go to the mountain to find the leg~]
Please don’t randomly adapt children’s songs and sing them…
‘…I can’t tell the truth about this.’
I decided to use what Kang Sa-gwa had said earlier while swallowing the truth of ‘I’m trying to find my friend’s right leg.’
“I guess… it’s also because of curiosity. I saw the flyer and it looked fun. My body has recovered too.”
“Oh, right. How are you feeling now?”
Fortunately, after that, the conversation topic shifted to my physical condition without any further suspicion, and we enjoyed casual chat…
“Now, those participating in the 1-night 2-day field hunter experience camp, please gather here!”
Finally, we were called to move by someone who appeared to be the camp guide, arriving quite late.
The guide divided the participants between two large buses. As Kang Sa-gwa had said, it didn’t seem to be a popular event – there were few enough people that one bus would have been plenty.
‘Well… I’m fine with having more space to sit comfortably.’
We traveled by bus for about an hour. As we completely left Seoul’s outskirts, fewer and fewer buildings became visible and traffic began to thin out.
Just when my back was starting to ache, we were able to arrive at our destination.
I stepped foot onto what appeared to be a greenhouse field.
A crude banner hanging on the greenhouse fluttered in the wind.
《2 Days 1 Night Field Hunter Experience Camp!》
Below it, in tiny print, it read ‘Sponsored by BOND’.
Beside me, I could see Kang Sa-gwa and Seo-ro putting on arm guards and sun caps as if they were used to this.
No way…
“By any chance, was it like this last year too?”
No way… Was the course exactly the same every year?
“The year before last and the year before that were similar too. I looked up the event organizer’s website schedule, and aside from the lunch menu, nothing much has changed over the past few years.”
“They said that to become a hunter, you need to get used to repetitive labor too. I like it.”
…If Seo-ro says so, then Teacher has nothing to say about it.
However, Kang Sa-gwa seemed to think differently from Seo-ro.
“Some merchant bastard must have really sweet-talked the kid. All the event staff here are either merchants or part-timers who followed along without thinking, so don’t expect much.”
Yes… I’ll keep that in mind.
“Now now, today’s hunters perform various tasks and requests every single day! Just like picking peaches at an orchard~”
And as soon as Kang Sa-gwa finished speaking, the guide presumed to be that merchant grabbed the microphone.
“For about 2 hours, you’ll be picking peaches at this Happy Orchard! Think of it as a kind of request that came to us!”
“This is probably something the orchard is paying for too. They’re pocketing our daily wages.”
“I hope this experience becomes a very valuable time for building stamina and perseverance! These two qualities are also virtues that hunters must possess.”
“Sell your snake oil.”
…Sa-gwa Teacher, you seem very angry.
As I put on the sun cap that Kang Sa-gwa handed me saying it was a spare, the guide raised his hand high and shouted.
His voice was very booming.
“Well then, before we start, we should boost everyone’s motivation a bit, right? One MVP participant who shows brilliant performance as a hunter today will receive a reward! The reward specially provided by our sponsor BOND is… Ta-da~ this!!”
At the man’s signal, a black suitcase appeared. When two young men who appeared to be part-timers carefully opened the suitcase lid, reactions poured out from everywhere.
“What is that? It’s disgusting…”
“Just give us gift cards!”
“…Eh, even kids these days wouldn’t want to receive something like that.”
“Really childish. It’s not even some occult toy.”
Really… What is that thing?
I could understand why the reactions were like this. The MVP prize in the suitcase was kind of… strange.
A long cylinder covered with yellow talismans.
At first glance, everyone felt not just reluctance but disgust at the visual that looked like it sealed some evil entity.
“Ugh, I wouldn’t take it even if they gave it to me.”
“Just give us a game console.”
“…I guess they brought some disposal item again.”
However, I couldn’t agree with Kang Sa-gwa’s sharp final comment.
Because… because you see.
[ That’s my leg! ]
Nabi had declared it!
That her leg was inside that cylinder!
Suddenly, I was flustered at discovering Nabi’s leg right from the start…
The man glanced around at people’s reactions and waved his hand as if telling them to calm down. Then he added in a whisper-like tone.
“Hey~ Even though the visual is like this, this is an expensive auction item? It’s a D-rank or higher item. They say it was discovered in some rural dungeon in Gyeongju, and I don’t know why, but the storage case just happens to look like this…”
The moment he mentioned it was a D-rank or higher item, people’s eyes completely changed.
D-grade or higher items start at around 1 million won even when sold secondhand.
That means….
“Anyway, for today’s schedule, we’ll give this as the 1st place, MVP prize to whoever performs exceptionally well! Everyone do your best~”
Wow, this is bad.
“The criteria for performance at this Happy Orchard is… naturally, the person who picks many high-quality peaches will stand out, right?”
I can hear the sound of competition skyrocketing like crazy.
***
Kang Sa-gwa rolled her stiff neck several times before finally looking straight ahead.
To think she had to do this for another whole hour.
For her, who had no interest in rewards or anything else, spending 2 hours silently picking peaches felt like nothing but manual labor.
‘This is why I didn’t want to come this year.’
But what could she do? She had gotten excited about becoming close with Seo-ro at this camp last year and even made a promise.
Still, it wasn’t entirely without benefits.
‘Maybe because there’s no time to think, it does seem to… provide some change of mood.’
Kang Sa-gwa turned her head. She quietly looked down at the plump peach in her hand, then sneakily tossed it into Lee Seo-ro’s basket.
7-year-old Lee Seo-ro was ruthlessly plucking peaches from the tree using telekinesis instead of his short arms that couldn’t even reach the tree.
‘Even a machine probably couldn’t pick them that fast.’
It was when she was secretly admiring this.
“Teacher.”
“…!”
“You put your peach in my basket, didn’t you? Hurry up and take it back. This kind of cheating shouldn’t exist in the world of competition.”
“Huh? Uh…. Yes, sorry.”
Kang Sa-gwa hurriedly retrieved a few peaches from Lee Seo-ro, who was now looking at her with sulky eyes.
‘He didn’t catch me last year.’
Thinking she might as well give them to Teacher Hwiyeon, she looked around… and saw a familiar figure moving busily in the distance.
“This one has a light color, and how about this one? Does it look okay?”
Na Hwi-yeon was talking to himself, seemingly possessed by a peach appraiser, busy shaking his head and nodding repeatedly.
Kang Sa-gwa approached the peach appraiser who was concentrating on his work, carrying her basket of peaches.
“Teacher, shall I give you some of mine too? I’m not really interested in the reward.”
“Hmm…. Teacher, I’ll gratefully accept just the thought. The color and shape don’t seem to be top quality.”
And she was rejected.
Ah…. Yes.
She had no choice but to put the peaches back in her own basket.
Kang Sa-gwa’s eyes grew increasingly lifeless as she watched her colleague burning with competitive spirit and that colleague’s assigned child.
After another hour of tedious and exhausting labor, the guide finally picked up the microphone again.
“Oh~ You’ve picked quite a lot in such a short time! However, the judging criteria isn’t just quantity, right? Today’s judge, Park Go-su, the owner of Happy Orchard, will fairly determine the winner!”
The farm owner appeared with the aura of a hidden master, scanning the baskets of peaches with eagle eyes.
“Tsk, tsk, this one has poor color.”
“No, who picked unripe peaches!”
“Whose is this? Picking only such ugly ones is also a talent, I suppose.”
After several rejections and harsh critiques.
The person finally chosen by the farm owner was….
“This one’s pretty good. The size is just right and they picked only well-ripened, pretty ones. You have a good eye….”
“Ah, then, that person? That…. handsome gentleman? Congratulations!!”
It’s… it’s Teacher Na Hwi-yeon.
Na Hwi-yeon is receiving a shower of praise from the farm owner with an embarrassed face.
‘What can’t that teacher do?’
Amid the absurdity and wonder, she also notices a small figure trembling nearby.
“…I lost.”
“….”
“I lost.”
Lee Seo-ro was trembling with his fists, glaring at Na Hwi-yeon as if he wanted to kill him.
That’s right. Lee Seo-ro had been this camp’s MVP last year. Even the year before that too.
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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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