I had no idea the price of desiring an ordinary school life would be so steep.
My mental health was being ground down in real-time, so I began researching ways to drop out.
After all, I didn’t necessarily have to attend elementary school right now.
I could always go to middle school or high school later, when I was older.
[Search: How to drop out of elementary school]
[The concept of dropping out does not exist for elementary schools. As compulsory education, attendance is generally required. Furthermore, missing more than one-third of class days may result in retention.]
“Ah. Dropping out… isn’t possible…?”
Damn it all.
While a homeschooling system reportedly existed, it was generally not an option available to the average person.
Moreover, withdrawing from school required a legitimate reason along with the principal’s permission.
Conversely, this meant that.
Unless the principal granted permission, the path to dropping out was blocked.
As a secondary option, I looked into skipping grades, but even this was not possible through ‘ordinary’ means in elementary school.
In other words.
I was stuck.
For the next six years.
Right here.
“I have to stay here…?”
My eyes, filled with dread, swept over my surroundings.
“Teacher! Do you have a mom and a dad too?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Then is your mom a girl too?”
“Yes.”
“Wow! That’s amazing!”
Six years with these pure, uncorrupted rascals….
The thought of it.
My gaze dulled to a profound black.
Just then.
As I sat there, utterly dazed, a few friendly children approached me.
“Hi! Um… where are you from?”
A boy with a short, sporty haircut asked.
He exuded that distinct childish aura.
I considered ignoring him, but then a thought struck me.
This child.
They were speaking.
Not mumbling.
They were looking directly at me, speaking clearly.
At the very least, they were old enough to possess some semblance of intelligence.
Right.
It was still too early to jump to conclusions.
Although there was an immense gap in mental age between these children and myself.
That didn’t mean we couldn’t engage in emotional exchanges, did it?
‘Even if that wizard guy was full of himself, he managed to hang out with septuagenarians at eight years old, so why couldn’t I?’
[What, you punk? It’s not conceit, it’s just that I’m genuinely awesome, alright? Who else mastered a 5th-tier spell at eight…! Hey, hey!]
Indeed, there was that one guy who communicated with stuffy Archmages at the tender age of eight.
Unlike those old fogeys (TL Note: ‘Kkon-dae’ is a Korean slang term referring to an older person who is condescending or preachy.), I possessed an exceptionally broad and benevolent heart.
‘Even if he was a special case, I remember being quite mature at eight myself. If these kids were even just that mature, they’d be worth befriending.’
Not my previous life, but the one before that.
My first life.
When I first turned eight in that life, I was like this:
“Director. We wouldn’t have cared if you exploited us, as long as we were safe.”
I possessed enough intelligence to communicate with adults to some extent.
*Crunch!*
“Aargh!!!”
“We needed a fence. You needed our labor. But if you can no longer be the fence that protects us…”
“W-wait! P-please spare me! Kids! I’ll give you…!”
“Is there any reason for us to work for you anymore?”
*CRUNCH!*
That was the period when I orchestrated an orphanage coup, hunted monsters, conned people, caught con artists, and occasionally fought while rolling around in a tower.
Looking back now, it was a very immature time.
Yet, I was confident that if these children were even just that mature, I could get along with them reasonably well.
So, I offered a kind smile and pointed behind me.
They had asked where I lived, hadn’t they?
“Back there.”
“Huh? Over there?”
“Yes, I live over there.”
“Really?”
“Why?”
Was it a place they knew? Or did they live nearby? If they were neighbors, I’d gladly share some rice cakes.
As I stared expectantly, awaiting a reply, the answer that came back was shocking.
“They say that’s an officetel (TL Note: A Korean building type, typically a studio apartment with office functions, often associated with renters rather than homeowners.) where only kids whose moms pay monthly rent live. My mom told me not to be friends with kids from there.”
What…?
My head suddenly swam.
As I paused, the child tilted their head as if nothing was wrong.
Then came the one-two punch.
“Are you perhaps a beggar?”
I had heard that kids these days talked about ‘jeonse beggars’ (TL Note: ‘Jeonse’ is a Korean housing lease system where a large lump-sum deposit is paid instead of monthly rent, implying a lack of homeownership.) or ‘wolse beggars’ (TL Note: ‘Wolse’ refers to monthly rent in Korea, implying a similar lack of homeownership.), but this was the first time I’d actually heard it directly.
To draw an analogy, wasn’t this like noble brats at an academy telling a commoner, ‘You live in our territory, right? You beggar commoner, pfft lol’?
‘Huh? Wasn’t that just the average noble’s personality?’
[Don’t agree with the analogy, you idiot!]
For a moment, I nearly fell for the absurd sophistry, but I managed to regain my composure.
Most importantly, the brat before me was neither the rightful owner of the land I lived on nor an authoritative noble.
Therefore.
I first sternly warned the nonsense-spouting child and sent them away.
“Don’t go around saying things like that.”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because if you do, your face might get scraped on the asphalt.”
In reality, I’d likely face social ostracism rather than physical injury.
But wouldn’t having my head scraped on the asphalt be preferable to that?
In the past, I would have thrown down a handkerchief and immediately challenged them to a duel, but the world had certainly improved.
To think a world where I’m insulted to my face but only issue a verbal warning had arrived.
I considered this a rather kind warning.
However, afterward, no children approached me to talk.
Instead, children started whispering about me from afar.
“They said earlier that….”
“Their family is poor.”
“Their personality is terrible too.”
“Mom wasn’t wrong at all.”
“Right. A beggar with a terrible personality.”
This was all on the first day of the new semester.
Was this… being an outcast (TL Note: ‘Wang-tta’ is a Korean term for being an outcast or bullied by a group.)?
Well….
It was fine.
I just wouldn’t make friends.
“……”
It truly was fine.
****
Oh Eun-ye, a 10-year veteran elementary school teacher, realized there was one unusual child among her students.
A boy sitting in a secluded spot, staring intently at his Korean language textbook.
‘That child.’
Before school starts, schools usually send out a notice inviting parents to observe with their children.
And Oh Eun-ye had never encountered a child who quietly mumbled to themselves alone.
It was rare for a child not to attend the observation day.
She didn’t know the detailed circumstances, as she wasn’t aware of the parents’ professions or special notes, but she understood that both of the child’s parents were alive.
Therefore, Oh Eun-ye approached the child, even considering the worst-case scenario of domestic violence.
Fortunately, there were no common bruises or lacerations on the child’s body.
Their skin was clear.
They seemed well-fed and well-rested, appearing taller than average, and their teeth alignment looked fine.
‘But my gaze keeps going back to them.’
Knowing there was nothing wrong with the child should have quelled her interest.
Yet, strangely, her eyes kept returning to that child.
The reason was probably….
‘For some reason, they look like someone who dreamed of a life-changing reversal and then poured all their assets into crypto, only to lose everything.’
It must have been because of the empty, almost wistful smile they wore.
Even other children didn’t approach them.
While it was natural for kids to be awkward with each other on the first day, by the second period, they usually started to cluster together.
However, the children specifically avoided the area around this particular child.
It would have been fortunate if it stopped there.
“Joo-chan said their personality is weird.”
“Shh! Speak quietly. It’s too loud.”
“Hmph! Okay.”
The children circled and whispered as if around the eye of a typhoon.
Overhearing their hushed tones, she understood why they specifically avoided that child.
‘Weird among the kids?’
Thinking the child might be emotionally unstable, Oh Eun-ye felt the necessity for continuous observation.
It was truly the intuition of a 10-year veteran teacher.
Later, during the third period.
The child was still alone.
If things continued like this, bullying would certainly arise (TL Note: ‘Tta-dol-lim’ is a Korean term for bullying or social ostracism.).
After observing them throughout the entire period, she noticed the child was quite calm.
Perhaps it wasn’t an emotional issue, but simply a lack of social skills preventing them from mingling with other children.
She thought the latter was more probable than the former.
There had been no separate reports, after all.
And the child showed that they were following the class normally.
If this child couldn’t blend in with the others, it would be difficult for Oh Eun-ye, their homeroom teacher, later on.
Ultimately, Oh Eun-ye resorted to an extraordinary measure.
“It’s already the fourth period, so why don’t we all stand up and do a little dance?”
“Yay~!”
Unlike the other children who shouted enthusiastically, the boy’s eyes were wildly shaking.
‘I have to do that?’
He tried to subtly slip to the back and just feebly wave his arms.
But Oh Eun-ye invited the boy to the center.
“Let’s see, our class has an odd number, so number eight, why don’t you come here and dance with the teacher?”
Calling them by number instead of name to appear as fair as possible.
Oh Eun-ye extended her hand toward the boy from the center of the classroom.
The nearby children formed a circle around the teacher, spinning.
If he went there, he’d have to dance while receiving all the children’s attention.
He desperately shook his head.
“No. It’s alright. Really, it’s fine.”
He said it with a serious expression, but to Oh Eun-ye, it seemed like he was refusing out of nervousness.
However, since it wasn’t good to force a child too much, Oh Eun-ye didn’t insist further.
Instead, she added a remark.
“If anyone can’t find a partner, please come to the teacher.”
A premonition of doom struck the boy, and he frantically looked around, but there was no child willing to partner with him, as he was already rumored to be strange.
Given the situation, there remained a final resort: completely ignoring it and not participating at all.
However, doing so would impose a burden on the teacher, as this was her main duty.
I would be doing something even those wizard old fogeys (TL Note: ‘Kkon-dae’ is a Korean slang term referring to an older person who is condescending or preachy.) wouldn’t do.
“……”
“Are you going to dance with the teacher?”
Nod.
Having no choice, he took the teacher’s hand.
[Through the white snow~]
For some unknown reason, he danced along to a Christmas song.
‘Where am I? Who am I?’
“You’re dancing well. Shall we try dancing with the other children too?”
Oh Eun-ye praised the boy to the best of her ability, but the more she did, the more his spirit withered.
‘I thought Ga-Na-Da-Ma-Ba-Sa (TL Note: The first seven consonants of the Korean alphabet, often taught as a basic sequence, implying fundamental or basic knowledge.) was the end of it….’
There was a deeper abyss beneath that.
If future classes proceeded like this, he wouldn’t be able to endure it any longer.
Oh Eun-ye, seeing that the boy had presumably relaxed a bit, encouraged him to dance with the other children.
“Shall we all switch partners? Lee Hwa, would you like to dance with the teacher’s partner?”
The children, who still had fewer prejudices against others, danced along with the boy who had been deemed a little strange.
Oh Eun-ye thought it was fortunate that they were harmonizing well.
But that was a clear misconception.
The utterly dazed boy could no longer refuse, merely fluttering like a paper doll.
Precisely from the next day, the boy did not come to school.
In other words.
The ultimate act of rebellion one could commit at school.
It was an unauthorized refusal to attend.
****
8:00 AM.
The time when students should be actively heading to school.
[Starting game.]
[Welcome, Third Life.]
I logged into Rio World.
Indeed, games were better than school.
