The Magical Hunter Girl Decorates the Dungeon! - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Magic Hunter Girl Arranges the Dungeon! Episode 103
Lee Ji answered honestly.
“If you don’t like it, I’ll just give you the candy and go.”
“…What would I dislike?”
“Me being next to you.”
“Yes, yes—why are you next to me? What for?”
Ha-rin looked ready to bolt from her seat at any moment.
Rather than try to hold her back, Lee Ji sat down on the stairs leading to the 5th Floor and spoke.
“You know, you play Piano really well. Like high school students do.”
The corners of Ha-rin’s mouth twitched, barely suppressed pride seeping through.
Soon after, she covered her mouth and shook her head.
“Oh, no! I’m not good at it. That’s why I stay at the academy so late.”
“When the teacher isn’t looking, you play amazingly.”
“…How do you know that?”
“I heard you from Room 1 when I was practicing in Room 2. Your Piano playing is really beautiful.”
“Beautiful?”
“Yeah. Beautiful! Like magic.”
She wasn’t sure what words to use to describe music that sounded good. But the first time she heard it, the Milky Way appeared in her mind, and next came the thought of a Magic Girl, so “like magic” felt like the right fit.
“But… do you hate this academy?”
“What?”
“I overheard you on the way home last time. You said you wanted to learn Piano from your mom.”
“…”
“You play so well, that’s why you’re dropping out of the academy, right?”
It was an innocent question.
But Ha-rin’s lips quivered, and her voice grew increasingly thick as she spoke.
“It wasn’t something I said because I really wanted to learn. …Anyway, Mom wouldn’t teach me.”
“Why?”
“Mom’s busy. She has so many students to teach. And Mom is kind, so she does free concerts and volunteer teaching work…”
“…”
“And I… Mom doesn’t really need to be with me…”
The moment that word—need—left her lips, tears finally spilled over Ha-rin’s flushed face.
Room 403. An empty, makeshift office.
Sitting on an ownerless sofa, Ha-rin poured out a decade of her life.
From the age when she couldn’t tie her own Shoes, Ha-rin learned Piano in her mother’s arms.
But on the day she graduated from kindergarten, her mother said:
“Just because I’m a musician doesn’t mean my daughter has to be. You don’t need to learn Piano anymore.”
In truth, Ha-rin didn’t really like Piano. Even as a child, she felt it—dancing to the music was more fun than making it.
Yet young Ha-rin shook her head.
“I want to learn more Piano! Like you, Mom!”
…Then she’d have an excuse to ask her mother to pay more attention to her.
Of course, the real reason stayed her secret alone.
Her mother accepted Ha-rin’s words and nodded with a stern expression.
“If you’re going to learn, you do it seriously. Like I do.”
True to those words, Ha-rin practiced Piano diligently. For someone who didn’t enjoy it, her skills developed quickly, and eventually she grew to love it.
At her first-grade recital, the moment her mother said “You do take after me,” Ha-rin felt like she could fly.
But in second grade. When she said she’d perform the theme song from her favorite cartoon at the recital. Her mother’s face twisted.
“At nine years old, other kids are entering Concours. And now you’re going to a recital playing a cartoon song? Are you being serious? You could play that at home!”
That was when she understood. Her mother didn’t like things like that.
To please her mother, she had to become more serious…
After that, Piano stopped being fun again. Her academy teacher seemed to find Ha-rin as uncomfortable as a thorn in her side.
But now she couldn’t abandon Piano. If she did, her mother would be twice as disappointed.
“I’m good at Piano, that’s true. But… I wanted to play with my mom, so I asked her to teach me Piano.”
“Can’t you just ask her to play with you?”
Ha-rin snorted and spoke proudly.
“My mom is busy, I told you. She teaches bigger students, gives lectures, does volunteer work. My mom has to do important things.”
“Does your mom not need you?”
“…”
“The neighborhood grandmothers said that if parents don’t play with their kids when they’re young, they’ll regret it later. I guess your mom doesn’t know that.”
“…She might not.”
Ha-rin sniffled and spoke.
“Adults aren’t perfect either. Mom might not know a lot of things because it’s her first time being a mom, I read that on the internet.”
“Wow, really? I never thought of that! Where did you learn something like that?”
“Hmph. If you get into ‘Moonblit’ fan culture, you pick up a lot of what adults say quickly. That’s why I’m approaching Piano to match my mom’s level of understanding.”
“I see…”
So Ha-rin wasn’t just good at Piano. She was smart.
But a small question bloomed in Lee Ji’s chest.
“But here’s the thing. If your mom doesn’t know much because it’s her first time, couldn’t you just teach her?”
“Huh?”
“Tell her what you want. Say, ‘Mom, I want to play with you.'”
“…”
“The neighborhood grandma said that if someone is blocking your path, you just ask them to move. Even if you shoot lasers from your eyes or think to yourself that you’re generous enough to give way, nothing changes. You’re just being stubborn alone.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Then what?”
Ha-rin’s mouth twitched. Words seemed to be rolling around in her mouth, looking for a way out.
Finally, Lee Ji said it.
“Are you afraid your mom won’t understand even if you tell her?”
“…!”
That was the answer. Ha-rin’s face flushed completely.
Of course, Lee Ji knew how to handle this too. Geum Grandmother had taught her.
“If you ask someone to move and they absolutely refuse to—”
“Then?”
“Grandmother said she’d just carry them and go. Then that person doesn’t have to move, Grandmother gets to go faster, and it works out great!”
“…What kind of thing is that! That’s a weird grandmother. How can a grandmother carry someone!”
“Geum Grandmother can. Really.”
“You can’t do it!”
“But so far, whenever I’ve asked someone to move, they’ve never refused! I keep this as a last resort, so I can ask them to move with peace of mind!”
“…”
Ha-rin slumped against the sofa and let out a sigh.
“Right. I’m the fool for getting serious with a kid.”
But Ha-rin’s face looked much more at ease than before.
Lee Ji offered the Strawberry-flavored Candy again, and Ha-rin unwrapped the paper wrapper and murmured.
“…Talking to her would be better than carrying her.”
“Right. And you know, just in case. If you tell her and your mom still doesn’t understand—”
“Carry her?”
“No. Run away from home to here!”
Lee Ji patted the sofa. The break room still had Peach Black Tea Powder and Job’s Tears Tea left, so they could make it last a few days here.
Ha-rin was at a loss for words.
“Do you know what running away means?”
“It means showing that I’m not someone who can always play with Mom!”
Ha-rin first pressed her forehead, then her chin.
She tried to object, but instead found herself drawn to this definition.
“Where did you learn something like that? Did your mom tell you?”
“I don’t have a mom or dad, so I learned it from my sister. My sister raised me.”
“…”
“My sister said she really doesn’t know a lot of things, so if she upsets me, I can tell her anytime. She wants to play with me even when I’m twenty, so she told me not to run away…”
“…A good sister?”
“Yeah!”
Lee Ji nodded firmly. Every time she said the word “sister,” it felt like warm seaweed soup with white rice melted on her tongue—rich and comforting.
“What about your sister’s mom?”
Ha-rin put the Strawberry-flavored Candy in her mouth and made a face like she was chewing sand, but finally she said:
“She’s a mom I really, really love.”

* * *
Jang Geum-hui.
During the past few weeks of the hero’s activities, this woman had consistently sought Low-level Hunter Work in Dungeons and factories throughout the Seoul Metropolitan Area.
Of course, Hunters like that were a dime a dozen, but she who didn’t even attempt to adapt to any particular factory and kept moving back and forth across the Seoul Metropolitan Area in all directions stood out distinctly to the ATK Guild’s informants among countless other subjects of investigation.
However, after that point, information gathering hit a wall. Which company would hold onto information about a Daily Laborer who stops by briefly and leaves?
Jobseekers develop connections—once they gain experience, they either write careless resumes or enter through personal networks.
Fortunately, the informants managed to find her address in her initial resume, and after lingering in the area—
“Ah, there’s no one who’s lived an easy life at our age.”
“Still, ma’am.”
Sitting face to face with Jang Geum-hui, they succeeded in lowering that person’s emotional barriers.
At least, that’s what they believed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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