June, right after the midterm exams.
The time when summer vacation begins, a paradise for students and a hell for parents.
At that moment, noticeable changes occurred aboard the monsters’ spaceship.
It was study time.
From the large monsters to the average-sized ones that were not much different from humans, they were all learning something in their respective cabins.
The subjects of study were none other than Earth’s words and sentences, as well as proverbs and slang.
The reason for this learning was in hopes that there would be no tragic victims caused by interpretational differences arising from the differences in language, similar to the two Setres.
This learning initiative, implemented from high-ranking officials to regular combatants, opened a new era of culture shock stemming from the clash of cultures.
“Hey, isn’t this human seriously pretty?”
“Ugh, that crazy human-pig bastard….”
A few side effects appeared in the process of accepting the culture of another planet.
Some monsters were getting hooked on dancing and singing human idols….
“Can I go to Sokcho this time?!”
“Aren’t you trying to go see Venus, you bastard?”
“Tell that bastard in the transmission room to prevent him from going to Earth.”
For some reason, strange beings began to emerge, fervent fans of the magical girl they should be fighting against.
In fact, they were only fighting because they were told to.
Though they possessed infinite lives as long as the recovery device was operational, most combatants were disinterested in the high-ranking monsters’ land-grabbing operations.
From their perspective, the magical girl was like the friendly local older brother who got scolded for acting tough during battles and then came back.
“Everyone is crazy; this is all the magical girl’s plan!”
Some monsters that had faced magical girls of similar strength still burned with hostility and opposition, but….
Monsters that had experienced overwhelming power differences were filled with interest in Earth’s culture and food.
“Don’t you want to try this chicken?”
“I want to try something called Dongpa-yuk.”
“I want to go see a concert once; this atmosphere is nice, right?”
“Th-these things that are even shameful to be called monsters…!”
Even learning about Earth’s culture was wrapped in conspiracy theories about the magical girl’s schemes, as the monsters ranted angrily.
Unable to communicate their story effectively, they grew furious and criticized other monsters.
One of the monsters, fed up with this, half-jokingly suggested they just send him to the Black Zone on an odd day.
“Hey, just send that bastard to the Black Zone on an odd day.”
The odd days of the Black Zone.
No matter how many agreements had been made, the influence of the Black Zone still persisted aboard the spaceship.
The Day of Pain.
A name arbitrarily given by the monsters who felt they had acquired some knowledge of Earth’s language.
If the fear and dread of the Black Zone had stemmed from the Sun until now, the name ‘Day of Pain’ had a slightly different origin.
The existence of the magical girl, Mun, who perhaps remained hidden in the shadow of the Sun.
The Sun, who had stopped exerting intentional pain on the monsters.
From the perspective of regular combatants, she was a specialist in hunting monsters, sending them into the recovery devices with a clean shot without pain.
One precise stab to the heart to finish them off was no longer even considered magical girl behavior.
However, the magical girl Mun was a somewhat clumsy amateur hunter compared to the Sun.
From the viewpoint of the monsters, she looked like a crazy hunter who repeatedly poked her sword into their flesh under the guise of killing them mercifully.
“By the way, why did the Sun say to come at that specific time?”
“Isn’t it just the time when it’s the most convenient?”
The monsters, who had learned various aspects of Earth’s common sense.
When knowledge is acquired, natural curiosity and interest follow.
Wondering what would happen if they violated the time designated by the Sun, they began a conversation among themselves regarding stories about Earth.
One monster pointed to the metal clock shape scratched with their nails, denoting the forbidden time zone, revealing their curiosity with a wry joke.
“If I break this, will I die?”
“If you want to end up in the intensive care unit, go ahead and try.”
In response to the question about whether they would die for breaking the designated time, another monster jokingly referenced the intensive care unit to its comrade.
The intensive care unit, a place no one who had been there at least once could forget.
In the past, it had a reputation as a secret experimental lab for high-ranking officials, but….
After it became known as the prison for monsters destroyed mentally by the Sun, it was regarded with pity.
“Has any monster come out from there?”
“They say three got out this time and went back to their hometown?”
No one knew where such information came from, but the monsters continued discussing stories about the intensive care unit.
It turned out the source of that information was one of his friends from the recovery unit.
He was sharing recent tales he heard from his comrade, subtly hinting at the era when fear of the Black Zone peaked with a critique of the Sun.
“According to my friend from the recovery unit, the Sun has calmed down a lot… they said there haven’t been any rampaging monsters returning from the recovery device recently, so it feels good.”
“A legend, ah… speaking of legends, that reminds me.”
“Yeah?”
The monster, who had been listening quietly, suddenly recalled a once-used phrase from Earth and opened his mouth, seemingly having thought of something.
As he said he suddenly thought of something, the curiosity of the other monster increased.
With a brief question, the monster who had been in conversation felt anticipation for what the next words would be.
“I found out that the name Sun doesn’t appear in the Korean language, so I looked it up and found out it came from some word in English.”
“What is it?”
“It means ‘sun’; the red star we see over there? That’s it.”
“Oh….”
The creature expressed a short admiration at the surprising fact that came from his comrade’s mouth.
Looking toward the blazing red star outside the spaceship, the monster, who had been gazing vacantly, suddenly thought of an interesting similarity, raised one of his two fingers, and said while looking at his comrade.
“I just found a commonality between the Sun and that.”
“What is it?”
“If you get too close, you’ll die.”
“Ha ha ha.”
“Pfft… it’s not something to laugh at.”
The commonality between the Sun and the celestial body: if you approach too closely, you die.
Funny yet simultaneously tragic was the plight of the monsters.
Though they said it wasn’t something to laugh about, they chuckled quietly, having spent the day in admiration of her capabilities, which were utterly incomprehensible even to high-ranking officials.
At that moment, two individuals who had taken a vacation from the infamous Black Zone among the monsters….
Mary, who was taking a tender breath that tickled her nose, barely let out a sneeze.
“Eh, ugh… ACHOO!”
After sneezing loudly, she rubbed her nose with her index finger to chase away the lingering sensation of her sneeze.
They say even dogs don’t catch summer colds; why am I sneezing so much?
It doesn’t seem like a cold… is someone talking about me?
“Did you catch a cold?”
“I don’t think so, maybe I just spent too much time in the air conditioning… ugh.”
Nonchalantly blaming the air conditioning for no reason at all in response to Shiyeon’s concern, she sniffled.
There was no dizziness or that typical dull feeling in her head indicative of a cold.
In contrast to her, Shiyeon was well-dressed, even with a bag slung over her shoulder.
“I’m going to the academy—”
“Okay, see you later—”
Although school was on break, Shiyeon’s academy was in full operation.
Using the uniqueness of the vacation to speed things up, she often left for the academy around 1 PM.
Thinking that it might be awkward if she just stopped after one or two months, she felt rather silly, but Shiyeon’s expression looked pleasant as she departed.
She had made a good lunch, and now she could scratch her thighs and butt while resting until dinner.
“Yawn.”
After letting out a short yawn, as she lifelessly moved toward the sofa in front of the TV….
Just seconds after Shiyeon left the entrance.
Upon hearing a knocking sound at the door that had a childish ring to it, she turned around and headed toward the entrance.
‘Did she forget something?’
Without any suspicion, thinking it was Shiyeon, she flung the door open.
“What did you forget?”
As she immediately asked upon opening the door, there was no reply.
What came into view was a figure that couldn’t possibly be mistaken for Shiyeon.
As it turned out, it was Taehyun, who had come to our house at an impeccable timing.
Seeing him holding what looked like a container similar to a kimchi jar, it seemed he brought something again.
“Oh, um… My mom told me to deliver this to you on her way to the academy….”
“Oh, thanks. What is it?”
“It’s, um… duck meat stir-fry.”
“Thanks, please tell her I’ll enjoy it. I’ll return the container after eating.”
“Uh, yeah….”
Click, the door closed after their light conversation.
Today, Taehyun, who was particularly stammering, seemed off.
Is he feeling sick? she wondered, impassively holding the weighty kimchi container in one hand as she paused on her way back into the house.
“Oh.”
In front of her was a narrow, long mirror on the shoe rack.
Realizing her attire consisted only of underwear, she belatedly understood.
Given that appearance, it was no surprise he was stuttering.
