Chapter 9

Chapter 9

[Class of Evergreen Pine].

In the first year of the lunar calendar,

It was a year when Eunhas life disappeared without a trace.

The events of this new year of history took his family away from him and set him on a path of maddening monster destruction.

If he hadnt died at the end of The Abyss and regressed, he would have ended up as a mad swordsman.

So in this life, he decided to change the future of losing his family.

I decided to change it.

Before the life-changing event, Eunha had to greet children of his own age.

A new friend came today. Eunha, can you introduce yourself?

My name is No Eunha, Im six years old. Lets get along well from now on.

In the first year of the lunar calendar,

Eunha finally became a kindergarten student that he had been putting off.

The result was this.

Doan Kindergarten, Class of Evergreen Pine, attendance number 25, No Eunha.

Mr. Tayo, the only male teacher in the kindergarten, was pushing Eunha in front of the children.

Eventually, he had to introduce himself to the children, even though he didnt want to.

Wow! Eunha!

Thats Eunha?

Whats with these kids? Why do they know me?

Their curious stares were hard to bear. I had been preparing for this since I left the house this morning, but I hadnt expected this level of interest.

Eunha, is there anything else? The kids seem to want to get to know you.

No. I dont want to be friendly with kids.

I really dont like dealing with snotty dogs. Plus, at this age, kids make a lot of noise, want to solve everything with tears, and think theyre the center of the world.

I dont want to take care of kindergarteners when Im already sighing heavily while playing with the neighborhood kids.

I was hoping for a quieter year, and I didnt want to add to the stress of taking care of the kids when I was already busy trying to figure out a plan to save my family.

Where do you live, Eunha?

Near Hyehwa-dong.

What about your family?

Sister, mom, and dad.

By the way, Eunhas sister is Euna. She used to be in our class. How is she doing?

Shes doing so well that shes getting a bit cocky.

Mr. Tayo had to ask questions to get him to talk.

Eunha couldnt help but answer one question after another.

It turns out that her sister was also in Mr. Tayos class before. Strangely, I thought my mother and the teacher were close.

She said she learned the dance called ppappappam from her kindergarten teacher.

Eunha felt sorry for Mr. Tayo as he imagined him dancing with his hands above his head.

Which one of you has a question for Eunha!

Yeah~!

Why are there so many of them?

Almost all the kids raised their hands, and Eunha wanted to go home.

Do you like Pokmon?

What do you like?

Do you want to play with us?

Where do you live in Hyehwa-dong?

Do you know how to add and subtract?

I want to go back.

The childrens baptism of questions continued one after another. No introduction was necessary, and the children were enthusiastically interested.

Soon, Eunha was surrounded by his classmates. Boys were pressing their faces close in curiosity, girls were tugging on his arm, begging to play. Finally, the neighborhood kids were bragging about how proud they were to know him.

Its hard to deal with them all.

At first he answered sincerely, but after a baptism of questions that never ended, he decided to answer bluntly.

Hoping to distract them.

If you keep doing that, No Eunha will have a hard time!

It was then.

A voice from beyond the swarm of children summarized the situation.

With a single word, he made them shut up. As the kids backed up and made way for him, I realized he was the boss of the class.

Whoever it was, Eunha had no intention of getting into a territorial fight, so he thanked him and turned to leave.

I was going to leave.

Why are you here?

Thats for me to say. Why are you coming to our class?

It was Minji who appeared with her arms crossed.

Eunhas eyes immediately started watering when he saw her.

He tried to focus and strengthen his eyes.

Oh, my eyes hurt.

This is really strong. How long is this going to continue?

But Eunha couldnt show any signs of weakness as someone who could control his mana.

Phew, my victory.

Huh! I dont like that youre in our class, but if anything happens to you, just tell me and Ill help you.

Huh.

You think I dont know what youre up to.

Youre trying to make me pay.

Ill never need your help Mukminji, so youre dreaming.

You~! Did you call me Mukminji again! Didnt I tell you not to call me that?

Youre still Mukminji, youre a pig right?

Im not a pig!

Oink, oink.

Stop!

The two exchanged glances, as they always did whenever they met in the neighborhood.

The kids couldnt help but stare at them as they argued head to head.

By now, the neighborhood kids were forming a circle around them, shouting about who was winning.

If it werent for Mr. Tayos intervention, the kids in the Evergreen pine class might have started betting at a young age.

Min-ji, didnt the teacher say its bad to fight, and Eunha is a boy, so you shouldnt say that to a girl, right? Dont bully Minji, Eunha.

I didnt bully her! She made fun of me first!

He started the fight.

Youre both in the wrong, hold hands and apologize.

ugh.

Mr. Tayo is on fire.

Damn it.

Haaa, I cant help it.

From the first day, there was no way I could have pissed off Mr. Tayo.

Minji felt the same way.

In childrens fights, its not the logical statements that matter, but the ability to set the mood and humiliate the opponent. In that sense, Eun-hyuk seems to have a natural talent for scratching peoples insides.

Min-ji blushed at Eun-hyeoks words, unable to rebut them properly. She felt like she had to fight back, but the initiative had already been taken by Eunhyuk, who spoke first.

Eunha looked back at Nulpureun Solban (a type of tree) and sighed.

Choi Eun-hyuk, give it back to Ha-yang!

Kim Minji, who are you!

You really!

What the hell, if you can take it, take it! Guys, pass!

Pass!

Pass!

It was truly a childish scene.

Kids passing ribbons to each other just because the teacher was out of the room.

Eunha, who was watching from a distance, couldnt help but laugh.

What was so good about making fun of others?

They were young and stupid.

It was childish and cheesy.

It seemed like nothing but a childish prank to him, who had survived through all kinds of schemes.

A childs game, indeed.

But so be it.

It was an irritant in a world of disparity.

Childish, childish.

The voice came out, surprising even himself.

What?

The nonchalant, mana-laced voice was enough to throw a chill into the air.

And there was no way Eunhyuk, who was ruling like a boss among the boys, would let his words go unanswered.

What did you just say?

Its not just in childhood fights.

In the world of players, pride was important too.

If the leader of the group lost face, their leadership qualities were called into question.

Despite his youth, Eunhyuk seemed to know this instinctively. He didnt avert his eyes as he spoke in a low voice.

Hey, you. What?

He closed the book he was reading and stood up.

Childish, really. You think thats funny?

You want to die?

Look at this guy. Hes really trying to climb.

But he didnt have to fall for Eunhyeoks taunts like a child.

Eunha brushed aside the fist that was flying towards his face with the back of his hand and grabbed the ribbon that Eunhyuk was holding with his other hand.

Aaah! Uh, uh, uh!

He didnt forget to kick him either. Ignoring him as his body tilted to the side, Eunha handed the ribbon back to Hayang.

From now on, dont let yourself be stolen from. The person who steals is at fault, but the person who gets stolen from is also at fault. Anyway, you, who are still young, probably dont know how rough this world can be.

Thank you.

It was only a matter of moments before Eunhyuk collapsed and the ribbon returned.

Stunned by what had happened, Hayang nodded, not knowing what he meant.

You too. How can you get angry over something like this, childish.

Im not childish!

Eunha didnt forget to give a rebuke to Minji, who was red-faced and unable to say anything.

He didnt forget to slap Eunhyuks forehead either.

With that, he repaid the debt from earlier.

You, you! Do you think you can get away with this?

Huh. I shouldnt have heard that from a six-year-old.

Eunha looked back at Eunhyuk, who had gotten to his feet, his eyes were fierce, as if his pride had been hurt.

What are you going to do?

Shut up! Im not going to leave you alone now, and I wont forgive you if you apologize later!

Really? Why? Are you going to tell my dad? You cant. You wouldnt, would you?

Eunhyuk wasnt the only one who could get under peoples skin.

Eunha singled him out in a similar way to how Eunhyuk had teased Min-ji earlier, with the added nuance of, Are you trying to be childish?

Eunha was more high-minded.

His backhanded remark must have gotten through.

Eunhyuk couldnt say anything and his shoulders were shaking. Tears were forming in his eyes as his emotions reached their peak.

I decided to stop because I didnt want to make him look childish.

Uh, excuse me

Huh?

Thats when Hayang grabbed Eunhas sleeve, holding the ribbon tightly in front of her chest as if she wouldnt let go of it again.

It was so cute that it made him want to stroke her head again, which made his heart soften.

Lets be friends from now on.

Sure.

A cute little girl with a promising future.

Could anyone resist being fond of such a child?

Eunha stroked her white hair as it curled around her body.

But how much mana does she have in her body?

Suddenly curious, he decided to take a look at the mana levels of the children in the Evergreen Pine class

Minji was no different than before. She was only slightly above average.

The others were mostly average or below average, but Eunhyuk had a little more than Minji.

And Jung Hayang

Wow.

Huh?

She had as much mana as Euna.

Maybe even more than Euna.

Her mana handling skills were also considerable, and her mana was organized in such a way that it didnt get disorganized, so it was difficult to look into it further, so I couldnt see the bottom.

If this child were to become a player, she could easily become one of the top twelve, or at least The Seed.

But Eunha had never heard of Jung Hayang before. Even if she had not become a player, her name would have been known.

Strange. Thats weird.

I dont know. Ill think about it later.

It didnt bother him, so he decided not to think about it.

Instead, he grabbed Hayangs hand and shook it, as if he were going to eat the rice cakes that would fall later*.

Lets be friends!

Uh, uh!

Hayangs face turned bright red.

Eunha felt that he would have to take good care of her in the future.

He didnt know why Minji was pouting her lips or why Eunhyuk was strutting over his shoulders.

EN/ as if he were going to eat the rice cakes that would fall later*. The phrase means crumbs that fall or leftovers. Is saying that Eunha is willing to accept even the smallest of things from Hayang in the future, and is expressing it by shaking her hand.