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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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“Snacks?”
“Yeah. Mom packed them for me.”
I only intended to pack the things mentioned in the family newsletter, like a day’s worth of clothes and toiletries, but my mother had gone to the supermarket and bought a ton of snacks for me.
Since I couldn’t ignore her sincerity, the top of my bag was filled with snacks.
Though it seemed likely that I would share all of this with the others on the way to the training center on the bus.
“Are all the fifth-graders here?”
“Yes. All the kids in my class are here. What about the fourth-graders?”
“All the kids in my class are here too. It’s a little early, but shall we depart right away?”
“Let’s do that.”
As I was thinking that, our class teacher and the fifth-grade homeroom teacher were having such a conversation and shouted to the children.
“Now, everyone! You have to get on the bus in an orderly fashion, okay? Got it?”
“Yes!”
“Yeees!”
Then, the children shouted that they understood and began to board the bus to claim good seats.
Of course, since I didn’t care about seats, I waited for a while before getting on slowly.
Because it was a bit much for me to fight kids over a seat.
It didn’t take that long for us to arrive at the training center by bus.
At most, it took about 30 minutes to an hour.
But in that short time, the children had eaten all the snacks they had brought.
Of course, the snacks in my bag were the same.
‘It makes sense, since everyone on the bus shared and ate the snacks.’
Although there were many children who had brought snacks, there were also children who hadn’t.
Since there was no one in our school who would ostracize the children who hadn’t brought snacks, we all shared and eaten them amicably.
“Everyone, you have to take your trash with you when you get off, okay?”
“Yes!”
“Yeees!”
The teachers didn’t particularly stop the children.
They must have also expected that the children would eventually eat all of their snacks on the bus.
And so, we, who had arrived at the training center, got off the bus.
‘…A familiar scene.’
It was a training center I had also visited before my regression.
Since the school I had attended was different from before my regression, I had thought that we might go to a different training center, but it seemed that was a groundless fear.
‘There was also an event here where we had to find a destination with a map and a compass.’
Orienteering, was that what it was called?
I remembered having quite a bit of fun with it when I was in elementary school.
Well… Since the terrain didn’t change every year, by the time I was in middle school and high school, all of the children, including me, had a rough memory of the surrounding terrain, so it had become no different from a running race.
As I was thinking that, a few other buses stopped next to the bus we had been on.
The buses that had come from other schools had also arrived.
“Kids! Everyone, grab your bags and follow your teacher!”
Our teachers, who saw that, made us move before the children from the other schools and our school could mix.
I had wanted to see if the twins I knew were on the other buses, but it seemed like I would have to postpone that for later.
And so, we followed our teachers to the training center’s auditorium where we were greeted by the staff of the training center.
“The classes that just arrived? Please have the children sit in the chairs in the left row. Teachers, please sit at the very back.”
The staff, with the help of the teachers, seated the children.
As the children from our school sat down, the teachers and children from other schools also entered the auditorium in turn.
I sat in my chair, turned my body to look back, and checked the people entering the auditorium.
‘…They’re here.’
And among the numerous children entering the auditorium, I discovered two who were particularly conspicuous.
Two identical-looking children with white hair.
If there was a difference, it was that one had long hair and the other had short hair, but in other words, it also meant that there was no other noticeable difference.
‘Later on, they grow up to the point where a clear difference can be seen, but… seeing them like this, the fact that they’re twins really sinks in.’
Having confirmed the appearance of the twins, I corrected my posture and sat down properly.
Although it was nice to see them after a long time, to those two, I would be a stranger right now.
I decided to be satisfied with having seen them from a distance.
“What’s wrong, Geon-woo? Do you know someone?”
“Hm? No, that’s not it.”
I answered the question of Lee Ha-eun, who was sitting next to me.
Lee Ha-eun seemed to believe my lie.
“Geon-woo has never lied to me. Right, Sarang?”
“Woof!”
“……”
For some reason, my conscience pricked me a little, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.
“After the room assignments are finished under the guidance of the teachers, all students will gather here again for safety and sex education, and then….”
As I was thinking that, a person who appeared to be the director of this training center came out and was explaining something.
Looking at the screen displayed behind him, it seemed that he was explaining this training camp’s schedule, but….
‘…No one is paying attention.’
The children were distracted because they were children.
The staff of the training center weren’t paying attention because they’ve done this already countless times.
The teachers had already familiarized themselves with the schedule before coming to the training center, so rather than listen to the director’s words, they were busy controlling the distracted children.
‘Looking at it this way, the director of the training center looks pitiful….’
However, as if he was used to it, the director steadfastly continued his explanation.
Still, it seemed like it would leave a scar on his heart….
I should at least sit up straight and pretend to listen to his words.
“After eating dinner, recreational activities will be held….”
And so, I sat up straight and let the director’s words flow past me.
…I felt sorry for the director, but to be honest, his words didn’t really enter my ears either.
It was to the point where I suspected that he might be using magic that prevented concentration or had a related psionic power.
“…With this, we will conclude the entrance ceremony for the training center. Teachers, please assign the students’ rooms according to the staff’s guidance.”
‘Ah.’
It seemed like the entrance ceremony had ended before I knew it.
For reference, even though it was called room assignment, it wasn’t assigned at the level of 2-person or 4-person rooms.
“Your fourth-grade rooms are here and here. This room is for the boys, and this room is for the girls. Got it? Go put your bags down and come out.”
It was close to a 10 to 15-person room.
Thanks to that, it would probably be noisy at night.
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After the room assignments were finished, it was time for the safety education and light sex education that we needed to be careful about while at the training camp.
I knew it was important, but honestly, it was boring.
Because every time there was some event, there was always safety and sex education….
Later, after entering the academy and becoming an adult, education on drinking in moderation and not forcing alcohol on others would be added to this.
When that light education was over, it had become lunchtime before I knew it.
However, some children only ate a little bit, or those who took a lot couldn’t finish it all and left some food behind.
‘…I knew it.’
It was natural.
They had eaten so many snacks on the bus on the way here, so everyone must have been full.
This wasn’t just the children from our school. The children from other schools were the same.
Because the children from other schools must have also filled their stomachs with snacks on the bus on the way here.
Thinking that, I, who had quickly finished my meal, came out of the cafeteria.
From here on, it was free time for a while, and since I had been told that I could either rest in our room or walk around, I began to walk moderately.
“Geon-woo! Let’s go together!”
Of course, Lee Ha-eun didn’t leave me alone.
It was when I was spending time walking moderately around the playground with Lee Ha-eun…
“Geon-woo, look at her hair.”
“Hm?”
At Lee Ha-eun’s words, I turned my head and looked in the direction she was pointing at.
There, a white-haired girl was sitting on a bench while basking in the sun.
…So, it was the girl of the twins who had been my friends before my regression.
It seemed like Lee Ha-eun had become interested in her white hair.
“She must have dyed it.”
“…It’s not that she dyed it. Her hair color probably changed when she awakened.”
It was rare, but such cases existed.
Most Awakeners, including me, Lee Ha-eun, and Yeon Mi-rae, often had their original hair color, black or close to brown, but some Awakeners’ hair color would change upon awakening.
There were even cases of native Korean Awakeners who ended up with blonde hair and were mistaken for foreigners.
And the twins also fell into that category.
‘Was it because of that that they were subtly ostracized….’
The creatures called humans were the type that ostracized others if they were different from the norm.
That was the same for children, and the twins, whose hair color was different from the others, must have been ostracized.
Of course, there probably weren’t children who would openly bully them.
As they got older and learned that it wasn’t right, they would have started to accept the twins a little, but the wall probably hadn’t completely disappeared.
‘It’s also a problem I can’t solve for them.’
How much could I, who would meet them for only a short time today and tomorrow and then part ways, help even if I tried?
If I gave them some half-baked help now, since I was a person who would disappear right away, it would be as good as giving them false hope.
“Hey, what are you doing here all alone?”
“Huh?”
“……”
But Lee Ha-eun wasn’t the type who thought deeply like me.
No, considering her age, it was normal to do as she pleased without much thought.
Before I knew it, Lee Ha-eun had approached the bench where the white-haired girl was sitting and was talking to her.
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The white-haired girl, Ryu Ah-yeong, didn’t want to come to something like a training camp.
A daily life of listening to boring classes at school and resting alone during break time.
She didn’t think that a small change in such a routine would change anything much.
Rather, it seemed like it would be hell.
‘…It means that I have to spend a night with the kids from my class in a place without mom and dad….’
For that reason, she had tried to hide the training camp application form, but it was of no use.
Because her parents had seen the family newsletter of her younger brother, Ryu Ah-min, along with the training camp application form and had found out that Ryu Ah-yeong had hidden her form.
‘That Ah-min became close with the other kids quickly while playing soccer. So it’ll probably be good for him to go to the training camp.’
But Ryu Ah-yeong was different.
On the outside, everyone was pretending to be close to each other, but there was an invisible wall between the children who had been close before and Ryu Ah-yeong.
Even though it looked like she was talking with the other girls, in fact, Ryu Ah-yeong hadn’t said a single word.
It was just the other children, excluding Ryu Ah-yeong, talking among themselves.
“Ah-yeong! Sit here!”
“Okay….”
Even during lunchtime, they would sit at the same table and eat together.
But the other children, excluding Ryu Ah-yeong, didn’t focus on their meal, but rather, they just chatted while eating.
On the other hand, Ryu Ah-yeong couldn’t join in that chat and just ate quietly.
Today was the same.
Lunchtime at the training center, where she had come for the first time, was no different from at school.
Therefore, Ryu Ah-yeong quietly finished her meal while the other children were chatting and walked out of the cafeteria.
“Haaa….”
A child who was only in the fourth grade of elementary school let out a sigh as if she had lived through a lot.
After letting out such a sigh, she stared blankly into the air and waited for time to pass.
‘Endure it. In the end, it’s the same as at school. I just have to spend the time quietly and uneventfully according to the training center’s schedule. Night will be the tough part, but then I just have to sleep….’
Ryu Ah-yeong, who was having such pessimistic thoughts….
“Hey, what are you doing here all alone?”
“Huh?”
She came to her senses at the voice of a girl who had approached her.
Neither the Ryu Ah-yeong who had just come to her senses, nor the Lee Ha-eun who had spoken to her…
…Or even the regressor, Han Geon-woo, who was watching the scene from behind…
…No one had thought at all that this moment would be a meeting that would greatly change Ryu Ah-yeong’s life.
Lee Ha-eun stuck to Ryu Ah-yeong with her characteristic friendliness.
Ryu Ah-yeong was flustered by Lee Ha-eun’s actions and tried to keep her distance, but the latter wasn’t about to let that happen.
There was no way she could escape, since Lee Ha-eun had even used magic that strengthened her physical ability to hold on to Ryu Ah-yeong.
‘…By the way, this is strange….’
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T/N – Damn, I can relate to the entrance speech. I wonder if these people just like to hear themselves talk, because they HAVE to know that no one’s actually listening to them, right?
Also, we got the names and looks of the twins. I wonder what class they have? And with that foreshadowing, I kinda think that the MC will help them in some way.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
