Hunter Kindergarten, Dolphin Class! - Chapter 9

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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 009

 

 

The current time is 3 PM.

 

It’s formal study time that comes after nap time.

 

Contrary to my worries, today was flowing by smoothly.

 

‘Maybe I worried too much.’

 

After experiencing that chaos on the first day, I naturally became tense.

 

But for the past few hours, things have been flowing without any particular incidents, so I’m a bit puzzled.

 

…Well, good things are good things.

 

“Now we’ll all be together once Cheonji comes…”

 

Since the family trip is about a week long, I’ll probably see his face around next week.

 

Nothing should happen until then.

 

“Now, are you ready~”

 

With that determination, I cheerfully called out.

 

“Yes! Yes! Teacher!”

 

Today’s prepared lesson is actually embarrassing to even call a lesson.

 

It’s just reading storybooks, drawing reactions in between, and naturally guiding Korean language learning.

 

It’s more like play with about 20% learning mixed in.

 

“Teacher, what are we doing today?”

 

“Oh! Nam Tae-jae, let me guess! Um, is it transformation play?”

 

“Noah, isn’t that what you want to do?”

 

The children are all excited with anticipation of doing something in earnest.

 

Today’s participants are…

 

Lee Seo-ro, Lee Seo-ra, Nam Tae-jae, Kim Noah.

 

And Lee Won-gang and Park Da-yeong from Seal Class too.

 

Ah, excluding the children, there’s one more person.

 

‘Kwon Hae-seong.’

 

During the restoration work of Dolphin Class, the 6-Year-Old Class also joined the lesson while we’re at it.

 

I brought several Handmade Storybooks I had made for college major assignments, and Kwon Hae-seong brought the notebook I saw last time.

 

‘What exactly is he doing.’

 

I looked at Kwon Hae-seong whose eyes were faintly gleaming, then quickly picked up a storybook.

 

Why are his eyes like that? Passion? Enthusiasm? Anyway, it’s burdensome.

 

Trying not to be conscious of him, I turned a page of the large Handmade Storybook.

 

Page by page, as each page turned, realistic Storytelling Performance continued.

 

-Tosik, snap out of it! We can’t go to the Moon. Darong shouted in surprise.

-What are you talking about! My grandmother told me. Our ancestors went to live on the Moon long ago. Tosik was angry at Darong.

 

I acted while changing my voice two or three times. Adding some Facial Expression Acting for natural immersion.

 

“Do you friends think Tosik can go to the Moon?”

 

And I didn’t forget to throw in surprise questions like this in between.

 

That way they could stay immersed without losing tension.

 

“I think he can go! My brother told me you can achieve anything if you wish for it earnestly.”

 

I nodded at Seo-ra’s words as she raised her hand high.

 

This is the textbook response I wanted.

 

“I don’t think he can go! Even humans have trouble going to the moon, so how can a rabbit?”

 

Surprisingly, Noah seems to have viewed it from a documentary perspective.

 

This is also not a bad perspective.

 

“I hope he can go. That way the rabbit won’t be sad.”

 

Won-gang has a warm heart.

 

“I think he can go.”

 

“Huh? Nam Tae-jae, you too? I’m the only different one!”

 

Tae-jae didn’t mind Noah’s words and continued calmly.

 

“I read in a book that the first to ride a spaceship into space wasn’t a person, but a dog. So… I think rabbits could go to the Moon if they rode a spaceship too.”

 

Drawing conclusions based on actual cases. That’s excellent.

 

…As I listened to various opinions about the book I made, I suddenly remembered what led me to create this book.

 

At the time, I was a fresh first-year college student, struggling to fit in within my department.

 

College life was tougher than I expected, and the major classes I had looked forward to weren’t as fun as I’d hoped, so I was quite depressed.

 

‘Looking back now, it was natural to feel that way…’

 

In my confusion, I even worried about whether I should stay in the Early Childhood Education Department.

 

As a result, Tosik in this book was a projection of my wandering self at that time.

 

[ Tosik Who Wants to Go to the Moon ]

 

I had packaged it as requiring quite a bit of contemplation for a children’s story – whether Tosik really wanted to go to the Moon, or if he wanted to leave Earth…

 

But in truth, it was no different from my diary at the time, filled with my worries about whether to leave the Early Childhood Education Department.

 

…It’s an embarrassing past.

 

After realizing it was just a temporary period of wandering, I attended diligently. It wasn’t fun, but I had equipped myself with social skills, so I managed to get through to graduation without major problems.

 

Still, the reason I brought this book was… regardless of my personal feelings, this book received quite good reviews.

 

‘That strict professor gave it an A+.’

 

Interesting development, moral lessons, cute illustrations.

 

Since the professor praised it as a book that had all three elements well-balanced, I brought it because it seemed too good to waste. Hoping the children would find it even a little entertaining.

 

-I can finally go to the Moon! You’ll cheer for me, right? Tosik said excitedly.

-Actually, I acted that way because I didn’t want you to go far away… Darong cried while holding onto Tosik.

-Then you should have been honest! We can go to the Moon together! Tosik jumped up and down with joy.

-That won’t work. My family is here, and so are Butterfly and Gangbok… But now, I think I can cheer for you.

 

The children were instantly absorbed in the continuing story.

 

Seeing them concentrate with their mouths open, losing track of time, made me quite proud.

 

However, apart from that, I couldn’t help but smile sadly.

 

What should I do? This is only Part 1.

 

I worked my mouth hard toward the ending, anticipating the end of Part 1 that would soon conclude.

 

Round eyes sparkled as if they would fall into the book.

 

Their bodies leaned forward more and more until their bottoms lifted off the floor.

 

-Tosik stood in front of the Yellow Spaceship. Then he opened the door and went inside. The spaceship was gradually moving. Soon, Tosik, floating in the sky, looked down through the round window.

-And at that moment, Tosik saw it. That’s right. It was…!

 

“…What could it have been? Now then, everyone, Part 1 of the story ends here.”

 

I casually put down the book and pulled over the mobile learning bulletin board that was beside me.

 

“Before we start Part 2 of the story, since we heard about Tosik’s dream, we should hear about our friends’ dreams too, right? Let’s use the Word Cards you see in front to talk about your dreams in front of your friends.”

 

“Huh?? This is betrayal!”

 

“I’m curious about what happens next…”

 

“Teacher! So does Tosik go to the Moon? What’s next? When will you read it to us?”

 

“…I want to go home.”

 

Sorry. I drew aggro just to do this.

 

On the Seal Class Learning Board, which was as good as new, Korean Word Cards were lined up in a row.

 

And what was written above them was:

 

[ Tell Us Your Dream! ]

 

This was a program to hear about the children’s future aspirations, connecting them with Tosik’s dream of going to the Moon.

 

Going further, the ultimate goal was to have them learn Korean using the Word Cards.

 

Now, let’s see. Our first batter is…

 

Lee Seo-ro, the child with a clear dream.

 

When I suggested he try first, Seo-ro stood up from his seat without embarrassment and approached the bulletin board.

 

Then he stared at the Korean Word Cards attached to the bulletin board and began picking them up one by one.

 

The magnetic cards gathered on the bulletin board in order.

 

[h], [j], [n], [t]

 

After the consonants were completed, the moment he finally attached the vowels too.

 

I stared at Kwon Hae-seong in a daze after seeing that one perfectly formed word.

 

Uh, um…

 

“What is Field Team Na?”

 

***

 

While Na Hwi-yeon was bewildered by the appearance of the unheard-of term “Field Team Na.”

 

The people of the problematic Field Team Na were having a more leisurely day than usual.

 

“I feel like a cafe barista whose only pleasure is chatting with the occasional customers on a suddenly ruined Earth.”

 

“…You certainly take a long way around to say there’s no work today.”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok was busily typing away at his keyboard, writing reports.

 

He listened to the conversation between his senior who had his feet up on the sofa table yawning loudly, and another senior managing equipment across from him.

 

How many pages of reports were left.

 

“Isn’t our youngest bored? If you sit in that chair all the time at your fresh young age, you’ll age quickly.”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok lightly shook his head in response to Kang Ho-won’s words as he stretched.

 

It was a simple gesture of denial.

 

“Writing reports makes me less bored. And we’ll have to go to the field site soon, so it’ll be hard to just sit in chairs.”

 

“…You’re saying the exact same thing as that crazy bastard at my house who says studying makes him less bored.”

 

“Would you like to do one if you’re bored?”

 

Lee Seo-hyeok said as he lifted a thick bundle of documents from the shelf.

 

[ Safe Grade Dungeon Regular Report – C1116 ] E-Grade

Special Notes: No Boss Found

Regular Exploration Field Teams

: 1) Team Ga 2) Team Na 3) Team Ra 4) TBD

 

“…No, you do plenty.”

 

“Seo-hyeok, when are we departing?”

 

Behind the disgusted Kang Ho-won, Lee Seo-hyeok’s other senior Choi Un-seong asked.

 

Lee Seo-hyeok checked the Watch on his wrist.

 

“We depart in about 50 minutes. It’s a government emergency mission as the team leader told us in advance.”

 

“Government side? What do you mean? I didn’t hear about that.”

 

Choi Un-seong, who had finished maintaining his equipment, asked back with a bewildered expression.

 

“…Well, it’s obvious. Yesterday she looked so happy she seemed like she might fly away. She probably gave Seo-hyeok a heads up just because she was in a good mood.”

 

“Yes, but she didn’t tell me any other information except that it was a government emergency mission.”

 

“…Do you still have no intention of changing that mindset? Ji-ah thinks our entire team is full of crazy bastards. I’m dying of injustice.”

 

“So far… she’s never brought up anything related to that.”

 

“Hope for something realistic. What are you expecting from someone who stubbornly holds onto their original intentions?”

 

At Choi Un-seong’s harsh words, Kang Ho-won became dejected and slumped down.

 

“No, do you know what Ji-ah said to me? She said she’d rather go out with the Ocean Kindergarten kids than do joint operations with Team Na guys. She said what we do looks like we don’t use our brains.”

 

“That’s a bit much, what did we do wrong?”

 

“That’s what I’m saying! We’re just doing what the team leader tells us to do!”

 

That’s understandable.

 

Lee Seo-hyeok secretly sympathized with Field Team A’s Lee Ji-ah’s words.

 

Time doesn’t just flow by carelessly. Even Lee Seo-hyeok, who had no interest in company rumors, was living in society after all, so now he couldn’t help but know.

 

Team Na field team leader, Moon Chae-yeong.

 

So, his direct superior turned out to be very famous in the company as a… complete nutcase.

 

‘A person beyond common sense, they say.’

 

The biggest reason she’s called that is…

 

According to BOND regulations, field teams must hold meetings led by the team leader before going on missions or assignments to assess situations and coordinate strategies and personnel deployment.

 

And this wasn’t optional, it was mandatory.

 

‘It’s a matter of life and death, so you can’t go in without a meeting. That’s common sense.’

 

“I completely agree that work should be enjoyable, right? But saying that too much information reduces the fun, so she only tells us right before deployment unless it’s a life-threatening mission… Even though she’s our team leader, she’s really like a crazy bitch.”

 

That’s right.

 

What Kang Ho-won was pleading almost tearfully boiled down to one thing.

 

‘Our team doesn’t do ordinary.’

 

Moon Chae-yeong believed in her own ability and believed in her team members’ abilities.

 

Excessively so.

 

A deformed personality almost similar to narcissism had become the atmosphere of the entire team.

 

And this soon led to not even thinking about obvious things.

 

 

“It’s not the mindset of ordinary people.”

 

Thus, Field Team Na became the only team within the company’s field teams to completely abandon ‘preliminary meetings.’

 

 

At first, Kang Ho-won and Choi Un-seong also made a big fuss about this damn thought process… But when they actually tried it once or twice, it was better than expected, so it had continued half-heartedly until now.

 

Perhaps because of this mission deployment method, a strange phenomenon continued where no department, including field teams, wanted to work with Field Team Na, and eventually even a nickname was born.

 

‘The Airhead Team.’

 

No thoughts at all…

 

The three quite aggrieved team members tried making excuses and pretending otherwise… But the way people looked at them showed no signs of changing.

 

However, there was a fact that even Field Team Na, excluding Moon Chae-yeong, didn’t know.

 

It’s darkest under the lamp.

 

Namely, most employees in the company thought of the entire Field Team Na, including Moon Chae-yeong, as all the same type of people.

 

You could tell just by looking at the company intranet bulletin board.

 

-You know the ones who tell you to do things are really scary, right?

 

-Field Team Na kids are damn impossible to communicate with. They say they don’t read Dungeon Preliminary Reports unless it’s B-grade or higher.

 

↳I thought no way, but I was shocked when I saw them give it right back saying the team leader told them not to look at it.

 

↳They’re all A-rank so they were just cheerful. Nice to look at though.

 

↳Nice to look at my ass. Try getting involved with them even once. You’ll feel like you’re gonna die from frustration.

 

↳They have something to rely on. There’s no balance breakdown like this. Isn’t the standard rule for field teams to mix A through D evenly?

 

↳There are teams like this and teams like that.

 

↳Do they even know? That when you’re so carefree without any plan, it makes people watching you feel drained.

 

↳Still, their performance rate is amazing.

 

Team Na members who didn’t realize that both the person who acts outside common sense and the people who tell them to do so are both strange.

 

“Sigh. Still, we have to go, what can we do? If we do it again, we’ll manage somehow?”

 

“That’s the problem though. Still, sometimes it’s really fun because we don’t know. I guess it’s because it’s like Russian roulette with our lives on the line.”

 

“Still, I think it’s amazing that you always manage to pull through.”

 

“…Hey, Seo-hyeok. You sure speak nicely. You’ve gained experience too and were quite agile in the field.”

 

“I think I’m improving as I do it. Since the amount of information is absolutely limited, I think my quick reflexes and Intuition have developed. Seeing that there are advantages like this, it seems the team leader isn’t completely thoughtless either.”

 

Those subordinates are no different from their superior.

 

And shortly after, our airhead Field Team Na, dispatched on an emergency mission, repeats the same mistake.

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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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