After leaving a few sharp words with Shiyeon’s mascot like that.
Letting out a short sigh, I came down from the rooftop, opened the front door, and stepped inside.
The interior was dark with the light turned off.
The Gomtaengi that had gently flown to the entrance conveyed the current state of Shiyeon.
“Shiyeon has fallen asleep after crying.”
“Good, that’s good.”
“It seems that Shun has indeed made you understand that something is off.”
After praising it for the first time in a while, the Gomtaengi added an unnecessary comment.
That kind of annoying speech was enough to provoke a fist.
“Don’t you hear others saying you get beaten up around here?”
“Sometimes….”
The Gomtaengi, looking down and agreeing, sensing the mood from an offhand question.
“Then you know, huh?”
In disbelief, I waved my hand dismissively and hit its head, causing it to fall to the ground.
Maybe because its body was soft, it didn’t make much sound when it bounced off the floor.
“By the way, what were you two talking about?”
Now that getting hit had become an everyday occurrence, the Gomtaengi had flown back asking the question as if it hadn’t just been hit.
Glancing at the sea serpent, it backed off, looking thoroughly intimidated.
To think that such a reaction came from just a few swats.
Since there was nothing particularly secretive to hide, I briefly summarized the conversation we had on the rooftop.
“I just told Shiyeon not to act recklessly when monsters show up, saying she can’t take them on alone. Why?”
“Oh, no. I thought maybe you pummeled her like you did with me.”
Seeing the anxious state of my fellow mascot, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of it scratching its head with its soft hands that seemed like they wouldn’t leave a mark.
With a smirk, I raised one corner of my mouth and said, “Don’t worry, that’s just a private plane for you and the monster.”
“Sounds like a story to worry about.”
Turning my back on the deflated Gomtaengi, I noticed the contents of the bag I had carelessly thrown on the floor after returning from the mart.
The canned ham went directly to the kitchen, and I took out each egg wrapped in a cardboard pack, placing them carefully in the designated space in the refrigerator.
The quail egg dish was left in its packaging, alongside the sausage pack, in the refrigerator’s ample space.
To avoid forgetting the flake to sprinkle on rice, I placed it right on top of the canned ham.
The cherry tomatoes and Shine Muscat were stored in a separate section of the fridge’s bottom unit.
‘I’m getting more and more accustomed to household chores.’
Even though I barely used the refrigerator, I could now recognize items without needing to look at their packaging.
With nothing particular to do in the darkened room, I started gathering the contents of Shiyeon and my bags.
Pencil case, a notice from school that I didn’t even know how long had been in there, notebooks, clear files.
These were all items I would just shove back in after a picnic, so I gathered them and put them into an empty drawer.
I also folded and stored the clothes that had been hanging on the drying rack.
Since the clothes size was still small, many items fit into one section.
The wardrobe was divided into four sections for spring, summer, autumn, and winter from the top.
The efficiently allocated space was oddly satisfying.
Is this the joy of being a housekeeper?
‘Huh?’
The sound of boxes being placed outside the door reached my ears.
Not long after, a delivery completion message informed me that some of the items I had ordered just yesterday had arrived.
Just when I thought there was nothing to do, I realized something new had appeared in the blink of an eye.
The items that arrived via delivery were shampoo, body wash, lunch boxes, and fabric softener.
After unpacking and placing the items in their respective places, I truly experienced the freedom of being able to climb up to the steps of the bed.
When I checked my smartphone for the time, it read four-thirty-three PM.
A time too ambiguous to call afternoon and too late to call lunch.
I even belatedly realized that I hadn’t eaten lunch due to the monster situation.
As if in line with the belated realization, I was suddenly overcome by a gnawing emptiness in my stomach.
“Ugh….”
Sitting cross-legged at the low table, I swung my right leg up and down, groaning.
‘Shiyeon hasn’t eaten anything either.’
With that thought, I glanced towards the bed.
Shiyeon was sitting motionless beneath the puffed-up blanket.
Thinking about Shiyeon, who had fallen asleep after tears, made me want to order her something she liked.
However, since the favorite food would become tiresome if eaten all the time, I hesitated to order anything specific.
Reluctantly, I decided to hold off on my hunger for a while.
‘Surely she’ll wake up around dinner time.’
Every time I heard rustling from the bed, I turned my gaze toward it.
Realizing it was just Shiyeon shifting positions, I kept alternating between looking at my phone and stealing glances at her.
It was nearing six o’clock.
A growling sound came from my small stomach.
To try to forget my hunger even a little, I lay in the living room and looked at my smartphone.
The battery was at 43 percent. I plugged in the charger and gripped it with both hands as I visited the magical girl gallery.
Skipping past posts that might damage my sanity, I clicked on the concept post tab.
[Hey, what kind of nonsense is this? (62)]
[The more I think about it, the more I feel sorry for the werewolf monster ←← If this guy looks pathetic, upvote (152)]
[Why don’t they allow firearm possession when monsters are appearing???? (57)]
[Must be nice to be a magical girl… (89)]
I read through the posts that caught my eye, checking what kind of nonsense was being exchanged.
First, a post that suddenly said it must be nice to be a magical girl.
Upon clicking, I saw a certification mark stuck to the goods.
[Even if overseas direct purchasing is blocked, you can just fly there and bring them back…]
I frowned slightly at the brainless content of the post.
I’d rather pay a higher price and buy it domestically than fly to get it.
I then glanced at the comments under the post.
[Does your ancestor block the monsters while you fly?]
[Low IQ, upvote hahaha]
[Even the monster has a sense of community hahaha]
[This kid just says the same thing, ‘one vote’]
[Turns out it’s fake news that they cancel this too]
[Yeah, they’re even looking for student volunteers to put the certification marks on this lol]
[Please magical girls, just a beam in the Blue House]
‘The response is hot.’
The posts I read to distract myself from my hunger were quite entertaining, so I quickly moved on to the next concept post.
This one appeared to be about firearms being mentioned as a means to combat monsters, citing recent foreign cases.
The post included a link to that overseas article.
[Seeing this, it seems that citizens in the United States work together to tackle monsters. Isn’t this somewhat something a developed country should emulate?]
[Counterargument: Monsters ㅇ]
My gaze immediately shifted to the comments.
I was curious about what the responses would be.
[So why is it a fabrication?]
[Shut up, more people are likely to die from monsters than from gunfire ㅇㅇ]
[Idiot]
[Good point, upvote]
[So reality is an FPS?]
[Then if we can’t see magical girls, why authorize it? Seriously don’t get it]
[This is it]
[Are you a genius?]
[hahaha]
[This kind of guy should have monsters appear in their room]
While I was engrossed in reading the comments in the gallery, I heard a sound of fabric rubbing against each other.
It was the sound of Shiyeon waking up, brushing her messy hair.
As soon as I saw the moment I had been waiting for, I closed the gallery and approached the bed, holding my growling stomach.
“Did you wake up?”
“Uhh…”
Hearing a whiny reply, I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
It was ten minutes past six.
Having not eaten lunch, it was naturally the time for hunger to set in.
“We need to eat dinner. Is there anything you want?”
“…Jajangmyeon.”
“Jajangmyeon? Sounds good.”
My hunger had reached its peak, and honestly, anything would have been fine.
If I had received an answer of ‘anything,’ I might have lost my mind.
Quickly pressing the home button on my smartphone, I swiped up from the wallpaper to find the delivery app and located a Chinese restaurant.
I just needed somewhere that delivers quickly.
I quickly added one large portion of jajangmyeon and one small portion of sweet and sour pork to my cart.
Even so, it came to just over 20,000 won, and I sighed at the prices before finishing the transaction promptly.
‘I’m so hungry….’
After two hours of torturous fasting, I groaned inwardly while lying on the living room floor.
It would take a while for the delivery to arrive anyway, so I might as well continue reading the posts I had been looking at.
[Hey, what kind of nonsense is this? (84)]
One of the posts I had previously seen had refreshed, accumulating more comments.
The content of the post was one of the recently published articles.
I clicked on the casually written link, and it led to a story about our area.
[Exclusive] [‘Quick and Accurate’ Monster Extermination XX, what was the reason it took 27 minutes to normalize?]
[The region XX that the magical girls Sun & Moon are responsible for is facing controversy, as it took 27 minutes to exterminate a monster.]
[Under normal circumstances, it would be handled in 5 to 10 minutes at most, but this time it took an astonishing 27 minutes.]
[Some citizens expressed, “We moved here for the expensive fees, thinking the monster extermination would be quick, but now we can’t even let our kids go outside for fear,” they complained.]
[Representative NA of the XX party harshly criticized, stating, “Hiding the magical girls only makes them lazy.”]
[This has been Shin Hye-seon reporting for XX Daily.]
‘Then they can just fight with guns themselves.’
Scoffing at the usual nonsense, I clicked the back button in succession to check the comments.
The reactions were, of course, explosive.
[It might take longer sometimes, shut up hahaha]
[Spouting garbage, that kid’s probably the one making a fuss.]
[If those idiots keep talking like that, why not just throw them in front of a monster?]
[What a pathetic excuse for a nation.]
[Slothful idiots, that’s what you all are.]
[Ugh, tax money wasted.]
[Whether it’s 5 minutes or 27 minutes, seriously, they should throw monsters in the Blue House and let them handle it, right? What’s the processing time without magical girls?]
[When will the magical girls of Seoul ever go on strike?]
It felt like the atmosphere was heating up to a point where even the magical girls themselves would be furious reading these comments.
Meanwhile, I thought, ‘Here we go again with the usual nonsense.’
[The rider has completed the pickup at the store.]
‘It should be arriving soon.’
Imagining the jajangmyeon and sweet and sour pork arriving home shortly, I straightened my body that had been lying on the living room floor.
It’s funny how humans, in front of something delicious, can make the accumulated hatred and resentment melt away, even if just for a moment.
