#Episode 12
"Looks like you'll need to go to school."
"……?"
I turned to stare at her, caught off guard by the sudden remark. Jang-mi smiled — soft and easy, as if she hadn't been crying at all just moments ago.
"Actually… legally, Awakened individuals above a certain age are required to complete mandatory education. The Association contacted me — apparently Shin-a qualifies."
"Oh……"
Oh.
The Awakened Protection and Education Act.
To prevent accidents caused by uncontrolled mana in underage Awakened, the state required completion of a designated curriculum.
"Then first things first — we need to get Shin-a's school supplies! The cutest bag we can find, and we'll pick out notebooks and a pencil case too. I wonder what color our Shin-a likes?"
It was hard to believe this was the same person who'd been drowning in despair just minutes ago. Jang-mi's energy flipped like a switch — eyes sparkling, fingers already ticking off a mental list.
"Yes… but……"
I felt bad throwing cold water on her excitement, but a question had been nagging at me.
"Hm? What is it, Shin-a? Is there something you need?"
"I was just… wondering about your work. Didn't you come back suddenly because of me?"
Jang-mi went still at that.
"Oh……?"
Her eyes drifted, searching the empty air.
She sat frozen, lips barely moving, a single bead of sweat trailing down her face.
***
Meanwhile, at the Hongryeon Guild headquarters.
A suffocating silence had settled over the reception room.
"……"
"……"
Two people sat across from each other, a table between them, neither speaking.
Min-ji, and someone seated opposite her.
The other woman was sunk deep into the sofa, arms crossed, expression radiating displeasure.
A long streak of cold sweat ran down Min-ji's forehead.
'Guild Master… where on earth did you go…'
***
"Shin-a! Auntie will be back soon! Stay home and rest, okay!"
Jang-mi called back several times as she made her way to the front door, repeating herself with every step.
Then her heels clattered loudly down the hall, and she was gone.
"Yes……"
I answered absently, listening to the sound of her footsteps fade.
She'd come home, spent a full hour rubbing her cheek against mine, and then left for work again.
What kind of move was that, exactly.
"……"
Anyway…
"I have to… go to school?"
I lay down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
School.
A strangely foreign word drifting through my mind.
What exactly…
…was school even for?
I reached up with my still-aching little hand and turned on my phone.
Tap, tap. I typed two characters into the search bar.
School.
An educational institution where professional teachers instruct students for utilitarian purposes.
"……"
I knew that much already.
But that wasn't what was worrying me.
The state gathering Awakened together, managing and educating them all in one place.
"Kind of like an orphanage… maybe?"
A memory from my past life surfaced unbidden.
'Pick it up. And… kill each other.'
Even that brief flash was enough to send a full-body shudder crawling across my skin.
"Ugh… I really don't want to go…"
But the law was the law. I couldn't exactly refuse.
It would be nice to have someone to ask about this.
Jang-mi… was in the same boat as me, so she was out.
The people I'd known in my past life would probably be no different…
Then, out of nowhere, a face surfaced in my mind.
'What? Old man? I'm barely eighteen!'
That person I'd met today. Jeong I-deun.
He'd said he was eighteen, hadn't he?
Which meant he was either still in school, or had been until recently.
He'd know the ins and outs of school life better than anyone.
But…
"I don't have his number… and we probably won't run into each other again."
He was just a passing acquaintance from the start.
Hope he sells those magic stones and takes care of himself.
"Ahhh…… what am I supposed to do."
I flopped onto my stomach on the floor and kicked my short legs in the air.
***
"Hah… hah… sorry, I'm a little late— hm?"
Jang-mi walked into the reception room, smoothing her disheveled hair.
But what greeted her was a cold, untouched teacup and Min-ji sitting alone.
"The guild master already left. Said she'd come back another time."
At Min-ji's deflated reply, Jang-mi's shoulders sagged.
"Oh no… she was an important guest… I'll have to at least leave a message."
***
Buzz—
A vibration hummed from inside a skirt pocket.
A school uniform shirt hanging loose and open, a jacket tied carelessly around the waist as if dress codes were beneath consideration.
But more eye-catching than any of that was the girl's face.
Sharp, cool eyes. Lips pressed firmly shut. An aura that said: don't come near me.
She checked her phone with an indifferent hand.
The screen was filled wall to wall with a lengthy apology from Guild Master Jang-mi.
She sent back a short, flat reply.
[Okay.]
She pocketed the phone and glanced around. From somewhere in the distance, a noisy set of footsteps came rushing toward her.
"Ri~ da~ ya~!"
A bright, buoyant voice.
The cold-faced girl turned her head toward the sound.
There was a girl in the same uniform, bounding toward her with a wave and a puppy-like grin.
"How'd the meeting go?"
"It didn't."
"Huh? Why?"
"……Don't know."
The cheerful girl tilted her head at the cryptic answer.
"Hmmm……?"
A brief silence settled around them.
The cool-eyed girl fixed her gaze on the middle distance. The girl beside her watched carefully, then ventured, cautiously:
"But… Ri-da, are you really going to quit? Graduation's not that far off."
"……Yeah."
"Why? The big guilds will be lining up to recruit you the second you graduate."
Her eyes went quiet and deep.
"……He's not here anymore."
"Honestly… you never even had a proper conversation with him, and you're this hung up on him. That… Kim Shin-woo? person."
"Show some respect."
The cold-faced girl shot her a look.
"Ahaha! Okay, okay~ Don't glare at me like that~"
The cheerful girl laughed it off. When the sharp edge of her mood softened slightly, the girl leaned in close to Ri-da's side and whispered.
"So… if you quit, then……"
"……?"
"Should I quit too?"
"……Give me a break."
She stared at her like she was hopeless, dropped a single flat remark, and walked on ahead.
"Aww~ wait for me~!"
***
The next morning.
"Shin-a… are you really sure you'll be okay alone again today? Hm? Do you want to come with Auntie to work instead?"
Jang-mi stood frozen at the front door, unable to make herself leave.
Her eyes were full of worry.
"I'll be fine."
I nodded, unbothered.
"Ugh… you have to call me, okay! Don't pick up numbers you don't know! And if Auntie calls, you answer right away! Got it?"
"Yes."
Jang-mi waved several times over her shoulder before she finally made it out the door.
I was almost getting used to this routine.
Well… maybe things would be a little different once I started school.
Anyway.
Like it or not, I was going to school.
I'd done my own research over the past day.
From what I'd gathered, school wasn't quite as bad as I'd feared.
Calm, quiet, a place where kids laughed and studied together.
It almost sounded like a miniature version of the peaceful life I'd been hoping for in this new one.
Then again… what era did I think this was? It wasn't going to be barbaric.
"……"
Still, I had a few days left before school actually started.
Jang-mi had gone to work, and the apartment was wide and empty. I lay flat on the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
Bored.
So incredibly bored.
I picked up the remote and flipped through TV channels without purpose, but the laughter of celebrities on screen and the predictable turns of some drama held zero interest.
Instead, my mind kept drifting back to something else entirely.
Yesterday in the dungeon — that cold, electric tension, the feeling of death running down my spine—
"W-what am I even thinking—!"
I startled myself and shook my head.
To have thought, even for a split second, that a life-threatening experience like that was fun.
Had I grown so accustomed to the blood-soaked life of my past without even realizing it?
"No… that can't be it."
Death was terrifying.
I knew that better than anyone. I'd already been through it once.
I was just so bored my brain had gone sideways. That was all.
Chasing stimulation leads nowhere but ruin.
I needed to get used to peace.
So, the only thing that could cure this unbearable restlessness was—
"Let's eat something!"
I jumped up and headed for the refrigerator.
The pleasure of eating was the safest, most reliable joy available to any human being.
"Okay… let's see… hm?"
The moment I opened the fridge door, cold air spilled out — and what greeted my eyes was this:
Transparent plastic pouches filled with thick, dark red liquid, packed neatly into every shelf.
"……"
What… what is this.
I carefully pulled one out.
Cold and slightly squishy to the touch. But no matter how I looked at it, the contents were well outside the category of food or drink.
"This is… blood, right?"
They were blood transfusion bags.
I couldn't begin to understand why a regular household refrigerator would be stocked with dozens of these — but then again, what species was the person who lived here?
A vampire.
"Come to think of it……"
Since I'd moved in, had she ever actually cooked for me herself?
'Shin-a, let's eat~'
Delivery.
'Shin-a~ let's go out to eat today~'
Dining out.
"……"
It was always one or the other.
She never went near the kitchen. The stovetop gleamed like it had never been touched.
Not that I'd complained — the food was always good — but…
"Is there really nothing else in here……?"
I refused to give up and dug deeper into the corners of the fridge.
Clinging to the hope that there might be a hidden snack or some instant food tucked away somewhere.
"Oh…! What's this—!"
My fingers closed around something solid.
I pulled it out eagerly — and the moment I read the label, my expression went flat.
[Easy Prep] Rich Sundae Soup
"It's blood again!"
I recoiled, shoved it back into the fridge, and slammed the door.
"……Wait… what did I just do……?"
I stopped, catching my breath.
Sundae soup.
The only thing it had in common with blood was the color. It wasn't like I couldn't eat it.
So why had I thrown it back?
Could it be?
I tried to think of the foods I wanted most right now.
Fried chicken… pizza… burgers…
"……!"
No way…
"My… my taste buds have gotten younger too?"
I didn't want to believe it, but my body had already answered.
The me right now had the palate of a grade schooler, plain and simple.
Anyway. Conclusion.
"There's nothing to eat."
You say everyone says that when they open the fridge?
……There's genuinely nothing.
I glanced over at the sundae soup I'd shoved back in.
"Mmm…"
Still a stretch. I couldn't bring myself to chew on those dark, dense chunks.
Ugh. I want delivery food.
"……"
Chasing stimulation leads nowhere but ruin.
That went for food too.
But…
I was a kid.
Little kids were allowed to be like this.