Chapter 217

“I’m telling you, that’s not it at all!”

The time for the anticipated interrogation arrived faster than expected.

The monsters, full of enthusiasm after a long-awaited job, sequentially visited various parts of Earth.

Even the domestic magical girls, including those from overseas, commented that “for some reason, the monsters were really intense,” indicating they were in a state of power.

This was also true for the ‘Black Zone’ where Mary was located, but the results did not change significantly.

As usual, the monster, caught in disbelief, was desperately trying to clarify her accusations that they weren’t secretly digging holes and building bases somewhere.

“…Is that true?”

After a moment of silence in response to the monster’s anxious explanation, I looked at it suspiciously and said.

“Of course, are you seriously asking that? After going all the way to the Arctic and burying everything, do you really think they would do that again?”

When I asked again, still not trusting, the unfamiliar monster, which I saw for the first time today, responded as if saying something nonsensical was akin to nagging.

Waving its arms as if dismissing my doubts, it continued.

“I swear, I can even stake my mom on it.”

“Don’t bring her into this, you crazy bastard.”

I scolded the monster, which seemed to have learned Earth culture incorrectly, as it attempted a gesture similar to ‘staking my mom.’

Even though I told it not to, I shook my head as I realized I shouldn’t be the one to say such things.

Whether the monsters genuinely had no separate schemes or were just good at acting remained unclear.

Still, my curiosity hadn’t been fully satisfied, so I pressed further at the monster, which was sullenly sitting quietly with its arms crossed.

“Why didn’t you come for three months?”

“Ah, about that?”

Even when I asked one question, the monster launched into an explanation that included ten others about how they suffered.

Summary of the ghastly 1.5 Setre… about 99 days of being confined aboard a spaceship condensed into five minutes without taking a breath; surprisingly, I found it somewhat relatable.

Disconnection from various information, limited vacation.

An environment where all they could do was engage in analog games far from the digital world.

This was practically the military of a pre-mobile phone era.

Considering the environment the monsters lived in as the military, the three-month gap didn’t seem so strange after all.

‘Interesting.’

Feeling a sense of understanding flow through me, I absentmindedly stroked my chin with my thumb and bent index finger.

Was the reason monsters couldn’t emerge worldwide due to a halt in operations lingering over the parachute survey from the upper echelons during the spaceship investigation?

As a common sense ordinary person, I could hastily dismiss that explanation as nonsensical.

Naturally, it wouldn’t have been odd if I immediately split its head open for lying right there.

However, everything in the earlier explanation lined up nicely under the neat umbrella of the common situation called ‘military.’

Isn’t this the magic word?

When a story sounds plausible, it’s a lie; when it sounds like a lie, it’s the truth.

Listening further, it didn’t seem that different whether here or there…

“Eh, whatever, go ahead.”

“Yes…”

With a clack, the sound of a blunt button being pressed caused a shimmering haze to grow and the monster to become transparent.

Though it was described as being transparent, that shimmering seemed to be part of the transmission process.

When looking at something like a massive spaceship, their technology was far superior to that of Earth, so why did they keep getting wrecked?

Looking back, even in previous superhero shows, there were those who conquered the universe while they couldn’t even deal with five men in tights on Earth.

Thinking of it again, it didn’t seem that strange.

They could easily wrap things up if they bombed from space, but they didn’t do that.

Oh, of course, if real-life interests were involved, the story might change.

It could be much cheaper to just send monsters than to spend on bombings…

‘Nah, no way.’

I snorted softly, folding away that absurd thought I’d just heard.

Strictly speaking, from the monsters’ perspective, it was essentially like being at war; there’s no way they’d fall into that Korean military mindset of “people are cheaper than machines,” would they?

Whatever, I’m done with work, so let’s go home.

As I removed the sneakers I’d hastily put on, I stepped into the entrance.

“I’m back!”

“Did you have fun?”

“Uh-huh!”

The gomtaengi greeted Shiyeon first as it entered through the doorway.

When asked by Shiyeon if it enjoyed itself, it gave a slight tremor of its head, made a vibrating sound, and stripped off its clothes, tossing them into the laundry basket.

Ultimately, the monster’s explanation for the three-month gap was that they were dealing with accidents.

While I couldn’t fully trust it completely, within its consistent statement that dripped annoyance, it didn’t strike me as an outright lie.

As the monsters that had been absent for three months continuously popped up, the press initially made a massive fuss, fluttering like the world was ending.

After about a week, with only fear-mongering articles emerging, people became desensitized, rolling their eyes at reports claiming the world was ending, which finally calmed things down.

“Should I see you off again tomorrow?”

“Yeah~”

One noticeable change in my life now that I’ve become a high school student is open relationships.

I don’t know what it means, but some female students walk around with boys of similar ages who see them all the way to the school gates.

Surely they must have to go to their own school, so what is this effort of going to someone else’s?

By the way, I know there are quite a few middle schools around, but there shouldn’t be any high schools besides ours, right?

What school is that boy from?

He looks taller than the female student he’s with…

Could he be a middle schooler?

Leaving behind a couple who are already putting on mild displays of affection in front of the school gates, I walk into the first-floor corridor.

From here on out, naturally, I will be parting ways with Shiyeon, who is in class 8 at the end of the corridor.

“See you after school!”

“Don’t get in trouble.”

“Ha, I’m the one who should be saying that!”

Half-jokingly telling her not to get into any trouble, Shiyeon refuted like someone questioning who should be giving such advice.

It was as if she were saying that even if trouble happened, it wouldn’t involve her.

As I opened the back door of my class, an unexpectedly burdensome day as the class vice-president began.

Having only female students didn’t mean there’d be special events that wouldn’t happen in a boys’ school.

With boys around, there were the usual talks about games or comics.

Meanwhile, the female students, relatively disinterested in games, would chat about male celebrities or dive into topics with a distinctly female vibe, including comics.

The only difference was whether the conversation leaned toward male or female interests.

Just because they’re girls doesn’t mean they’re particularly quiet.

Active girls often play with each other, raising their voices, while those who are sleepy might lean back and doze off.

At least being with the same gender made me feel more at ease compared to a mixed-gender environment.

After all, no matter how much they claim not to care, in co-ed environments, one gender completely vacates the space to change clothes before physical education classes, right?

Well, the fact that it’s less uncomfortable in some areas is a minor advantage.

But the downside is everything else.

A space filled with peers not caring about the opposite gender is nothing less than hell.

When you put three close male friends together, it’s like their brains regress to childhood; it’s not much different for the girls.

“Hey, look at this outfit!”

I momentarily turned my head towards the direction of the loud voice.

A female student pointing at the buttons of a friend, whose shirt looked like it might burst right in the middle of her chest.

With a light flick of her hand, as if unlocking a smartphone screen, a button popped loose as soon as she pushed it.

“Damn, don’t do that!”

The victim of the prank spat out her annoyance, maneuvered her buttons back together as she smoothed out her clothes.

So that kind of scene wasn’t exclusive to comics after all?

Instances of such pranks are hardly seen between male and female students.

To be honest, the shirt’s size of the classmate being pranked might be a tad tight though…

If I gave it a real hard pull, would I be able to see buttons flying off like in a comic?

“Mary, hold out your hand like this.”

“Uh?”

As I momentarily shifted my gaze to my generously endowed friend, the class president called out my name, which made me turn slightly.

She asked me to demonstrate by holding my hand forward unexpectedly, and I extended my fingers vertically.

My palm noticeably overlapped with the palm of another hand of a different size.

“Wow, your hand is really small.”

As small as that hand was, the height was still pretty short.

Ignoring the warmth I felt from the touching hands, the almost finger-length difference was evident.

It’s not that I have some pathological issue causing my height; it’s just that when others are 5 centimeters taller, I remain at half their height.

Honestly, if it were a condition, I could just get treatment for it.

Under the label of ‘physique,’ there’s simply no solution.

“You’re short too.”

“Shut it.”

Hye-won, sitting behind, intruded and poked at my sensitive spot.

Among the friends I made at the girls’ high school, there’s definitely a type like Seonhyuk.

The kind that only finds it amusing to poke at spots that would trigger a reaction…

It’s that type of person who automatically makes mean comments.

While it’s somewhat annoying when talking, both Seonhyuk and Hye-won don’t really cross the line into unpleasantries, so I often engage with them.

Sitting right behind me leaves no escape either.

The tasks of a class vice-president are not as numerous as one might expect.

Unlike the class president, who gets summoned to the staff room when incredibly bored, I’m merely in the position of an alternate president.

“Vice-president? I need to swap this water out.”

“Yes.”

Usually, the water in the automatic eraser’s container would be changed after school.

However, on days when the blackboard gets used a lot, the water gets dirty quickly, so it’s not uncommon to swap it out during class.

Dragging my feet, carrying the water container toward the bathroom as I grumble.

Is this being a vice-president or just the water boy?

With a hollow sound, I poured the cloudy water, colored by white chalk, into the bathroom sink before turning on the faucet.

The rush of water exploded forth from the tap.

As clean water filled the transparent plastic container, I couldn’t help but think of the comments often left on internet videos with every step in tech advancement.

“When machines develop, robots will take away all human jobs, right?”

Looking at my current situation, it seems like tales from an era that is still quite far off.

It seems simple tasks are still more cost-efficient when done by humans.