“This is really… an amazing discovery.”
Professor Park Gu-il, who is turning 60 this year, was a scholar studying languages at Korea University, known as the best in South Korea. Originally, he mainly researched domestic languages, but after the discovery of Gate language, he shifted all his research in that direction.
Until now, the language of the Gate was treated as a derivative language by both the public and academia.
It was considered not very important. Most people were pouring all their attention into researching the byproducts of monsters. Because of this, the language inside the Gate was relatively neglected.
Even if you understood the language inside the Gate, there was no clear place to use it. Hunters mainly discussed the attack patterns of monsters and how to hunt them safely and accurately.
They didn’t pay attention to the characters written on the rocks inside the Gate.
In a way, it was natural. What good would it do to understand the language inside the Gate? But Park Gu-il thought differently. He believed that deciphering this language could reveal the principles behind the Gate’s occurrence and the habits of the monsters. It was all in Park Gu-il’s head.
However, last week, a major event occurred that changed his life as a linguist. It all started when a graduate student brought a strange notebook to his lab.
“This is really amazing!”
At first, Park Gu-il thought it was a prank by someone who had studied or researched Gate language.
This language had not yet been properly deciphered, but the contents of the notebook far surpassed the current decryption patterns. There were not only new characters but also existing ones intricately mixed.
And below, it was kindly translated into Korean. Park Gu-il, feeling uncertain, compared it with his existing research materials. After researching day and night with his graduate students, it was confirmed that the contents of the notebook were true.
“Who wrote this?”
On the desk, printed papers were piled up like a mountain. The contents of the notebook had already been stored on computers and various information devices to prevent any loss.
Park Gu-il picked up a printed sheet and stared at it intently. He had been staring at it since he came to work in the morning. Once he grasped the clue to the research, he lost track of time.
Until now, it felt like wandering in a cave without a single ray of light. But after understanding the contents of the notebook, it felt like a beam of light had shone down. Lunchtime was approaching, but Park Gu-il was too focused to notice.
“Absolutely, absolutely not a prank. Someone who knows this Gate language definitely wrote it. But why did they write the theme song of a children’s animation?”
Park Gu-il concluded that the person who knew this language must be quite an eccentric. He expected them to write about everyday topics, but they wrote something completely different.
“Professor, could it be a child?”
Park Gu-il heard the absurd claim that the person who wrote the Gate language might be a child. One of the graduate students suggested it, but it was too ridiculous. Park Gu-il was certain that very few people knew the Gate language perfectly.
He concluded that the person wrote the theme song of an animation that children would like to avoid specifying themselves. Park Gu-il was eager to find the person who wrote this language.
He was confident that meeting this person would greatly, no, tremendously advance the research on Gate language. It was surprising that someone with such proficiency in Gate language was unknown in academia. It’s not like they were some hidden master from a martial arts novel.
Park Gu-il started grinding his graduate students like a millstone. Like a ship lost at sea, his research, which couldn’t see an inch ahead, had found a lighthouse. It was a good sign.
———————————————-
Vroom
The car slid along the road. I leaned against the car window and looked at the scenery outside. People were bundled up tightly, as if it were cold.
I, who dislike the cold, was also wearing a fur hat and a thick padded jacket. The car was warm with the heater on, but I didn’t take off my clothes.
“Where are we going?”
I had planned to eat lunch and take a nap, but Bora and Haru were taking me somewhere. Were they planning to fatten me up and sell me to someone? I absentmindedly scratched the car window. Perhaps because it was fogged up, my nail marks were left like scratches.
“We’re going to get Hana’s school uniform.”
Bora, who was driving, said cheerfully. As she said, I would soon be entering school.
There’s a private school called Starlight Elementary School that our guild established.
The unique thing is that it’s a school where hunters and ordinary people mix. Normally, they should’ve been separated, but it seems the Starlight Guild thought it’d be better for them to grow up together from a young age.
That’s probably why they have separate uniforms starting from elementary school. Don’t uniforms usually start from middle school? I suddenly felt uneasy. For some reason, I could clearly see a future where I’d be wearing a frilly skirt.
As we chatted, we soon arrived at a store that handles uniforms for Starlight Elementary School. I got out of the car. The cold wind nipped at my cheeks. White breath softly rose from my mouth. It felt like I was smoking a cigarette.
I grabbed Bora and Haru’s hands, one in each of mine, and went inside the store.
*Ding-dong*
As I opened the door and entered, the bell attached to it echoed through the store. The sound of bells is always pleasant.
“Welcome!”
“Hello.”
The store employee greeted us.
“Is this your first time here?”
“Yes… I found it on my mobile phone…”
Before I knew it, the two women left me behind and started chatting with the store clerk. I thought I could just grab any uniform, but it seemed Bora and Haru had different ideas.
I looked at the various uniforms hanging on the racks. The boys’ uniform caught my eye. It looked neat and stylish.
But when I turned my head, I saw the girls’ uniform. How am I supposed to survive this cold weather when the bottoms are skirts? It’s kind of obvious, but I really didn’t want to wear a skirt.
So, I hid in a corner like I was playing hide-and-seek. If I stay here, they’ll never find me. But Bora easily found me.
“I knew you’d be here!”
Saying that, she picked me up and headed somewhere. I flailed my legs in protest, but it was no use.
Bora stood me in front of the employee and said,
“Please fit Hana with a uniform.”
“Of course! Don’t worry.”
The employee, who seemed friendly, knelt down, held my shoulders, and looked me in the eyes.
“Hi! I’ll make sure you get the prettiest uniform in the world.”
The employee pulled out a measuring tape and started taking my measurements.
“Can you raise your arms?”
I silently raised my arms. But there was no sign of it ending anytime soon.
The employee kept smiling and measuring, saying things like,
“Our Hana, when you grow up, you’ll make so many boys cry!”
While measuring, the employee made silly comments. Not to brag, but objectively speaking, I’m quite pretty. My arms and legs are long, and my body has more of a Western look than an Eastern one.
On top of that, my green hair, which can’t be covered by normal dye, and my green eyes, which even circle lenses can’t replicate… My appearance is exotic, not something you’d commonly see in Korea.
Time felt like it wasn’t moving, but before I knew it, the measurements were done, and I was free. I hopped around the store excitedly.
“Come back next week, and it’ll be ready.”
“Ah, thank you so much.”
Bora was talking to the employee. The usual polite exchanges like “Please take care of the uniform” and “Don’t worry” were exchanged.
With that, we left the store. I said to Bora,
“Can’t I just not wear a uniform and not go to school?”
No matter how I thought about it, studying with elementary school kids felt weird. I even tried solving some test problems, and with my skills, I could probably handle middle school or even high school freshman year. Except for Korean, of course.
“No~ Going to school isn’t such a bad experience, right?”
Bora comforted me as we headed home.
