She was no different from a beast

Chapter 9

—–CROW—– 

A quiet village where Dad came to fish with some neighborhood men.

A boring village with no people, just the sound of waves crashing on the beach.

…Did I make a mistake coming here?

There was no playground, no arcade games… not even any kids my age.  As I was killing time, staring at the beach alone, I made eye contact with a really pretty girl.

She had long, black hair, slightly downturned gray eyes, and unlike me, very fair skin.

“Hey! What’s your name?”

I’d never seen such a pretty girl before!

She was even prettier than the kids on TV.

I asked for her name, wanting to become friends…

“Greetings! Strong and powerful morning! If you ask me who I am, I’m Han Yuna!”

She stood with her hands on her hips, chest puffed out, and spoke confidently… uh, hmm.

‘Is she a little… slow?’

Mom told me that kids like this weren’t strange, they were just a little unwell, and I should be nice to them.

Sometimes, there are kids on TV who have difficult lives. Is she like them?

If I asked if she was okay, she might get angry. Yeah, I think so.

I would be upset and angry if other kids asked me the same thing.

“O-Oh, really? Let’s be friends! I’m Na Yuri! I’m 8 years old!”

I forced a smile, pushing those thoughts away… The pretty girl puffed out her cheeks and glared at me, looking slightly upset and angry.

“Why did you look at me like that just now?”

“…Huh?”

D-Did she notice?

No way. I just thought it, I didn’t say anything.

“You thought I was easy, didn’t you?”

“N-No! I really want to be friends!”

I vehemently denied it, afraid she’d see through me, but Yuna still looked suspicious, tilting her head and looking at me with narrowed eyes.

U-Uh, i-it’s true.

I did have some bad thoughts, but I really want to be friends.

“Ahem! Fine! This Han Yuna will make a special exception for you!”

“O-Okay…”

“But I’m the only kid here. Where did you come from? The mainland?”

“Huh? Oh, f-from Dodong… My dad went behind those rocks to fish with some men.  He told me to wait here because it’s dangerous.”

“Ah~ fishing?  Rockfish is delicious in spring, hehe.”

Rockfish? Is that the name of a fish? Ugh, I don’t know much about those things.

I don’t even know why people do something boring like fishing.

“Then, want to play together?”

“Really? Yes! I want to play!”

I thought time would fly by if I made friends with this pretty girl and played together until Dad came back.

Heehee. Next time Dad goes fishing, I’ll come along and play with Yuna.

Yuna smiled at my answer, took my hand, and led me towards the big road by the sea where the cars were parked. Then, she ran to a tall rock and jumped, grabbing onto it…?

“…?”

“We can see the men fishing from the top! Let’s go up!”

“??”

‘…How do you even climb that?’

Yuna dangled from the rock with one hand, beckoning me.

How do you climb such a tall rock, Yuna?

It’ll be a big problem if you fall. Huh?

“I-Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Huh? Is it? I accidentally fell from up there before, and I just got a little scratch.”

“??”

It looks like you’d die if you fell from there.

But she only got a little scratch?

‘S-She’s not human…’

People die if they fall from there, Yuna.

Can a human even hang from a huge rock so easily?

“Y-Yuna… um, c-can we play something else?”

“Something else? Hmm~”

*Hop.*

She lightly jumped down from a height that looked three times taller than me and then, as if lost in thought, stroked her chin like an adult.

Let’s play something else. Yeah. I-I’m a little scared of climbing rocks.

“Okay! Then let’s go to where my little brother is!”

Little brother!!

Yuna has a little brother!

He must be super cute, just like Yuna, right?

I’m so excited!!

I followed Yuna up the hill, and after a strenuous climb, we arrived at a slightly larger doghouse…

“Oink?”

“…?”

“Little bro! Let’s go for a walk!!”

“Oink! Weehee!!”

“???”

Instead of something cute, there was a large pig… the kind that would break in half if you bumped into it, like the ones our teacher showed us at school.

What is this place?  I’m scared.  Is Tonggumi always like this? I want to go home…

Our little friend, Yuri, seemed more timid and frail than I thought.

Shouldn’t children chew on rocks and enjoy spinning on merry-go-rounds with their friends to grow strong and resilient?

‘In my past life, I would laugh and get right back up after being thrown off a merry-go-round.’

I still remember it.

The time when I played, oblivious to my bloody shins, saying, “Heehee, this is fun~”.

Later, I was surprised to see my blood-stained pants at home, applied some ointment and antiseptic, wrapped it with a bandage, and bragged about it to my friends the next day.

Children should get covered in blood, break bones, and get hit by things while playing to build up their resilience. That’s how they gain the strength and endurance to survive in the harsh world of the future.

Look at me now.

“Oink!!”

“Aaaaaargh!!!”

“Kyaaaaaah!!!”

Look at me sprinting down the road with Tonggumi’s youngest and mascot… my four-legged little brother, whom I named Burari because calling him a wild boar felt impersonal!

Doesn’t this prove that a child’s physical strength, capable of withstanding a merry-go-round, is comparable to a wild boar’s?

Last year, my body was barely at a human level, but recently, it’s become superhuman.

That’s why, when I run with Burari, I run on all fours as a handicap to make it fair. Hehe.

This refreshing wind, the wide-open road free of cars and people.

I ran freely, without a care in the world, feeling the breeze carrying the salty scent of the sea mixed with the fresh smell of grass and soil.

This is the freedom you can only experience as a child.  Definitely.

When you get older, you won’t have the energy or the time.

I need to enjoy this privilege while I’m still young so I won’t regret it later. Yeah.

“N-No!! I don’t want to anymore!!! Let me down! Let me doooown!!!”

Sigh.  With such timidity, how will she survive in the harsh world of the future?

She can’t be so physically and mentally weak.  Hmm.  It can’t be helped.

For my first friend as Han Yuna, I’ll have to give her the special course.

“Burari! Turn right!!!”

“Oink!!”

Burari and I naturally jumped over the railing and climbed the mountain.

When I usually take Burari for a walk, we use the road, but sometimes, maybe because he’s a wild boar, he seems to miss nature, so we climb the mountain and run together.  Yeah.

But you know what?

There are no paved roads on Tonggumi’s mountain yet.

There’s no reason for the grandpas to climb the mountain.

“Kyaaaah!!  Kyaaaaaah!!!”

Seeing Yuri clinging to Burari’s neck and screaming like a water deer motivates me!

It’s Burari’s first nature outing of the year, so he seems excited, putting all his energy into running!

Come on! Burari! Let’s run like this for another 30 minutes!

As Tonggumi’s beast duo, we have to do our best so our friend Yuri can be reborn as a healthy child!

Let’s give her the full course treatment!!

With that in mind, I ran excitedly, clearing my head…

“… “

“Y-Yuna… *sob*. I-I want to go home… Take me hooome…”

“…B-Burari. Look over there. I-It’s a mountain we’ve never seen before!”

“O-Oink! Weeheehee!!”

We were screwed.

We were lost.

“Huh? Where did Yuri go? Sir~ Have you seen my daughter who was around here?”

“Huh? Daughter? Ah~ Are you talking about the small girl with short hair?”

“Ah. Yes, yes. That’s right.”

“That girl. She went to play with our village’s Hercules a while ago.”

“??”

Hercules? Was she taken by a bulky man?

I wondered if she had been kidnapped, but looking at the dazed expression of the old man sitting outside the supermarket, it didn’t seem like it.

“Hercules?”

“Yeah. Hercules.  She’s the daughter of the young couple who live over there.  The girl is incredibly strong and has a good personality, so that’s what we call her in our village.”

“Aha.”

So it’s just a nickname.

That’s a relief.  It seems our daughter made a friend and went to play.

“Is that so? That’s good~ I was planning to stay here for the day anyway.  Give me some *gochujang* and a case of soju.”

“Oh my. You’re really going all out today. Did you catch a lot?”

“Sigh.  What’s there to say~ I caught so much the net was overflowing~ We’re going to drink at the tent over there and head back tomorrow morning.”

“Chuckle. Yes, yes. Did you get permission from your wife?”

“…”

Well, tomorrow’s me will figure it out, right?

It was an irresponsible thought that would make tomorrow’s me go crazy, but what else could I do?

We caught so much rockfish and Korean rockfish; I couldn’t just let it go to waste.

I’ll eat the rockfish as sashimi while it’s fresh, mix the rest with *gochujang* and make *mulhoe*, and boil the Korean rockfish whole for spicy fish stew.

I’ll have to save some for Yuri and her friend when they come back.

*Grin.*

I took the cola the supermarket owner gave me as a service and chatted with my friends, sharing drinks. As I got tipsy, I found it bothersome to drink from a glass and started drinking straight from the bottle…

“*Hiccup!* Come to think of it, where’s Yuri?”

“Huh? Yuri?  Well~ she must be playing with her friend.”

“Yeah~ That’s good.  Oops. What are you doing with that empty bottle? Are you already drunk?”

“Bullshit. I can drink all day long.”

Even though the sun had set and it was pitch black, we were still drinking.

Our Yuri must have liked her friend~

—–CROW—–