ReLife Player

[New friend (3)]

«…These kids.»

After grabbing the children, Eunha was unable to move anymore and just lay there. His clothes were drenched in sweat as he chased after them without using any mana.

«You’re the captain, how else could you jump from the second floor to the first floor?»

«No Eunha, you’re weird.»

It wasn’t surprising that Eunhyeok looked up to Eunha.

After catching Minji on the second floor, Eunha jumped off the second floor to catch him as he ran to a corner of the yard.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he leapt off the second floor, causing Minji to scream.

Contrary to her worst expectations, Eunha landed safely and touched Eunhyuk, who was equally startled and froze in place.

«You guys shouldn’t do that. You’ll get hurt.»

Only Eunha could do that. The children nodded wordlessly as if they knew.

And Euna, who witnessed it,

«I’m going to tell mom.»

«Sis….»

«I was so surprised!»

It wasn’t something Euna should have said as she climbed a tree, but Eunha had to deal with her.

He shouldn’t do that next time. He’d gotten a little angry while chasing the kids.

Eunha realized that what he had done was reckless. But the kids’ escape act made him angry and competitive.

Eunha assured her that he was fine, but his ankle was tingling. He was surprised, but he didn’t want to get in trouble.

«It was fun, though.»

Seona purred, looking away from the children who had gathered around Eunha. She didn’t even realize her tail was wagging, and she was giving off an air of nonchalance.

Eunha was about to cheer up,

«At least I’m not jumping off the second floor.»

You…!

Minji changed the subject again.

In the end, he had to listen to a long scolding from Euna and Minji.

Seona watched them closely, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

This day had been so much fun. With no children her own age at church, she couldn’t afford to take them to play. She had to keep an eye on the younger children, never knowing where they might disappear too. Moreover, as an Ain child, she was not able to use her full strength to take care of them.

But not today. She could run and play to the fullest extent of her physical abilities as a child. She realized how satisfying it was to jump as high as she could reach and run as far as she could run.

When she saw Eunha jump from the second floor, she wanted to follow suit, because she felt like she could do it.

But when she saw Eunha being scolded by the kids, she quickly stopped.

I still envy him.

I was jealous of Eunha’s scolding. Even from a distance, she could tell that he was loved by the children.

What she didn’t realize was that she was in the enviable circle of children.

«Seo-na, don’t you want to handle mana too?»

«Huh?»

Eunha, who had barely gotten away from the two of them, asked Seona, who was looking away.

As far as Eunha was concerned, Seona was the most athletic of the kids. As they played hide-and-seek, he wondered how far she could go if she had access to mana.

So Eunha secretly tested her.

Seona effortlessly jumped up a tree to escape and then swerved to skim alongside Eunha. Finally, he tries to jump off from the second floor to see if she can pull it off but he ended up being scolded by Euna.

Ain’s physical ability and the flexibility of children.

Seeing this, Eunha realized that if she trained her body from now on, she would be able to use any physical skill.

If only she could handle mana.

Eunha had vowed never to be a player, but as a former player himself, he was excited to see Seona’s talent blossom.

Ains have developed physical abilities based on the ubiquitous mana that has altered their genes, but it’s rare to see an Ain on the front lines.

In the player’s world, an Ain’s biggest role was as a telepath, a lieutenant. Possessing the unique ability of telepathy, Ain played a crucial role in connecting the front lines with the rear in areas where there was no communication.

In that sense, his companion, Jin Parang, was an unusual case. As a wolf-type Ain, he served as a Hunter for the Forerunners and a Telepath for the Lieutenants.

But telepaths were best when there were two of them, not one. With one telepath relaying the leader’s opinions to the troopers, and the other relaying field information from the troopers to the lieutenant, combat is facilitated.

Eunha had been trying to recruit a telepath to assist Jin Parang to change the party composition.

In his spare time, Parang has travelled with Eunha to meet with them, but none have caught his eye. Even when he did find an Ain he liked, they were either taken by a larger clan before he could bring them into the party, or they were too young to travel with him and didn’t fit his needs.

What if you recruited Jin Seona and Jin Parang?

Eunha made assumptions that would not come true. I would like to see Jin Parang utilize his skills as a hunter in the frontline, and Jin Seona as a telepath in the middle.

If she’s a telepath, you won’t have to worry about looking behind you against raid monsters.

Ah, my job has made me develop a complete occupational disease.

Realizing how futile his thoughts were, he smiled bitterly.

The future he was assuming was probably not going to happen.

Yeah, maybe.

Because I don’t intend to be a player.

«Where’s Hayang?»

The hide-and-seek wasn’t over yet. Eunha realized that in hindsight as he watched Euna look around, searching for Hayang.

«Where did she go?»

Eunha realized how much better Hayang had gotten, as he couldn’t find any sign of her.

«Where did she go?»

Eunha realized how much better Hayang had gotten, as she couldn’t find any sign of her.

I give up. I can’t find her, since when could she hide like a cunning fox?

Eunha had no choice but to deploy his mana detection network to find her.

«…Huh?»

He couldn’t see her for some reason.

Hayang was inside the apartment complex. No wonder I couldn’t find her.

«Then she cheated!»

«That’s strange, she wouldn’t do that….»

«Where is she?»

The children looked very surprised.

Eunha pointed his finger to the place where Hayang was.

«Over there.»

«Huh?»

It was on the 4th floor of the apartment complex.

Minji, who was suspicious of Julieta’s house at best, scratched his head at the mention of an unexpected place.

The fourth floor is where the landlord lives.

Minji had only heard stories about the grandfather who lived there and had never seen him in person. He was known as Goseogwang (1) and was said to be reclusive and buried in books.

Minji frowned, trying to figure out why Hayang was on the fourth floor.

«She didn’t get into any trouble, did she?»

She was worried that Hayang, who didn’t even live in the apartment complex, might be in trouble up there.

☆

«Wow~!»

I couldn’t play hide-and-seek anymore.

Entering the hallway without taking off her shoes, Hayang saw the books stacked all over the house and gasped in admiration.

«Mmm~ the smell of books!»

Hugging the nearest book, she was overcome with happiness as she breathed in the smell of old books. The light reflected off the dust on top of the stacks of books was fantastic.

«This is heaven….»

She placed her hands on her cheeks and let out a sigh of happiness. Every time she passed by a bookshelf installed on the wall, she didn’t know what to read.

«This is the end.»

The last room was the one that looked out onto the balcony. A rocking chair sat in the center of the room. The couch in the corner was very plush, and I felt like I could sink into it the moment I sat down.

«Ah! But where is this place….»

As she looked around the room, she suddenly realized what she was looking at. She realized that she had entered the room as if she was possessed by something, and she was no longer frightened by the fact that she had entered someone else’s house without permission.

«I have to get out of here.»

The other children must be worried, too. She decided to leave without being seen by the landlord.

She decided to leave.

Her eyes were drawn to a book on the desk.

A book covered in red leather. In the center of the gold-trimmed cover, a silhouetted rabbit held a clock.

«Pretty….»

Hayang had never seen such a nice and pretty book in her life. She stepped on the chair and reached up to take a closer look at the book.

«…Hmm? What does it say?»

She didn’t know English yet. (E/N: Me! Me!! I remember how I started to learn English just because the tranlsations of my fav novels could not be found in Spanish. It. Was. So. Hard.)

She held the book, which was half her height, in her arms, but she couldn’t read the title, and her eyebrows came together like Eunha.

Then,

«It’s called Alice in Wonderland.»

«Oh!»

Where did it come?

An old man with a beard stood behind her.

«Hiccup!»

She was so startled that she stopped hiccuping. Her face turned white and she dropped the book in her arms to the floor in fear.

«Hehe….»

The old gentleman chuckled softly and picked up the book from the floor.

«Hah, ah…!»

The more he stretched his hand over Hayand’s head, the more she shuddered, her round eyes wide open.

☆

«What’s this….»

Eunha, who had run over to Hayang in worry, was too exhausted to speak.

It was the same with the other children.

«Grandpa, so what, then what?»

«Let’s see, Alice is back to chasing rabbits….»

Sneaking up to the fourth floor like they were on an undercover mission, the children were greeted by a world of books. At the end of this unrealistic world, there was a study.

The voices emanating from the study were the laughter of a kindly grandfather and Hayang’s voice asking for more books.

The landlord known as a Goseogwang was sitting in a rocking chair in the center of the study, reading a book.

She was sitting on his lap, hidden by the book he had opened.

«Jung Hayang….»

This girl, really! She walked into a stranger’s house with no fear….

No, why is she with a grandfather she doesn’t recognize?

Eunha called out to Hayang in disbelief.

«Huh?»

Hayang poked her head out of her book. She looked up to see the children entering the study, and she was stunned.

«Hehe….»

The monocle-wearing grandfather smiled benevolently when he saw the children barging in unannounced.

Eunha tore his eyes away from Hayang and glanced at the old man. His gaze did not show any wariness or animosity toward the children.

Rather, his gaze was one of favor.

There’s no problem.

With a rough assessment of the situation, representing the children, Eunha greeted him after roughly assessing the situation.

«Hello. We came to look for a friend who went missing while playing.»

«Hehe, if you had a friend, you could have told me.»

«Well, that’s because I forgot to….»

«Forget?»

Eunha asked in disbelief, catching Hayang off guard.

Hayang had seen Minji and Eunha fight, but this was the first time Eunha was angry with her.

When she realized that Eunha was actually angry, she narrowed her eyes, she wondered if Eunha wouldn’t be willing to talk to her anymore and teared up.

«I’m, I’m sorry….»

She’s going to cry.

Thinking that it might turn into a sea of tears if he touched on the wrong topic, Eunha decided to withdraw at this point.

«I’m sorry for causing trouble.»

«It’s okay. Hayang was so happy to come along in the free ride.»

«Jung Hayang. From now on, when you go somewhere, you have to tell someone else. Got it?»

«Yeah, sorry….»

Eunha patted her forehead as she got off the rocking chair.

So this is the landlord’s grandfather.

After waving goodbye to the children, Eunha looked at the old man leaning back in the rocking chair.

The old man looked like he should be wearing a bowler hat. He was wearing an old-fashioned suit, not the kind of clothes that are comfortable at home, so it was hard to think of him as an old man in the neighbourhood.

Above all, the way he watched the children, I could feel the wisdom of the time. The air of bossiness that he exuded proved that he was not an ordinary old man.

I don’t even know what kind of neighborhood this is.

I was surprised to find an Italian couple upstairs, whose skills rivaled those of the Twelve, and an old man with the air of a high-ranking government official.

«Do you want some sweets?»

«No. It’s time for dinner.»

Eunha politely declined. The other children nodded in agreement, but Hayang, who was next to him, was disappointed.

«I just want to read a little more….»

«It’s already evening, do you know how much time has passed because of you?»

«I’m…so…rry….»

Even though she was worried about the children, Hayang was still curious about the contents of the book she was reading.

Eunha was dumbfounded and her cheeks stretched like glutinous rice cakes.

Grandpa regretted that she couldn’t read the book,

«You’ll have to come back another time. I’ve been reading and writing down books myself, and it’s nice to have a friend who likes to read.»

«Really!?»

Hayang exclaimed, running to her grandfather, who stroked her hair as she rested on his leg.

«Okay. Come again next time.»

«I’ll come again tomorrow, and then you can finish reading Alice in Wonderland to me!»

«I see you liked that book, it’s my favorite too.»

«And yours grandfather’s?»

«It was my wife’s favorite book.»

«Heh~»

Minji looked interested.

I see. She’s always the first to react when drama pops up.

Eunha clicked his tongue.

«Okay, let’s go home now. It’s too late.»

Eunhyeok wouldn’t mind if he went alone, but he was worried about Hayang and Seona.

Eunha thought about it and spoke up,

«Hmm, do you want Grandpa to take you home?»

«What?»

What a ridiculous thing to say. What if they got into a car accident?

Just as Eunha was about to say something, considering his age, the grandpa pulled out a smartphone from his pocket.

«Uh, Mr. Kim, sorry for the late hour. Can you send a car over here?»

What. What is this guy doing?

He knew he had a lot of money, but he didn’t expect him to have a chauffeur.

What surprised Eunha even more was the Mercedes that showed up not long after the call.

Stepping out of the Mercedes, which looked out of place in a residential neighborhood, the driver bowed to the old man and opened the car door for him.

«Now, those who are going home should get in this car.»

«…….»

Eunha was speechless at the scale of this grandfather. He knew how much the Mercedes was worth, even if the other kids didn’t.

Then again, Eunhyuk,

«Wow, this car is awesome! The seats are so comfy!»

Eunhyuk, covered in dirt from rolling on the ground, jumped around in the car.

How much does that car cost?

That one, that one, no fear…!

Eunha hadn’t been this scared since his regression. When he’d faced the Kraken, he’d resorted to evil, but money was out of his catch.

Luckily, Grandpa didn’t seem to mind his worries, stroking his beard and chuckling.

«Come on, you two, get in.»

«Thank you…»

«Wow~!»

Seona and Hayang got in after them, and they were equally impressed by the Mercedes’ ride. Seona was so impressed that she even took off her shoes and climbed in.

«Hmm, I guess I should get in.»

The grandfather with the children thought for a moment, then climbed into the passenger seat.

Mr. Kim (2) didn’t know what to say. «Let’s go,» he said quietly.

«These are kids who chose to be friends with me, and I’ve been keeping them up late at night, so it’s only right that I go say hello as an adult.»

Mr.Kim started to say something, but then nodded.

Eunha watched the Mercedes drive away,

«…This is nice. I’ve never been in one.»

He gave up trying to think of what the grandfather’s identity might be and envied the children.

Notes!

(1) In Korean, «고서광» is written with the characters «고서» (goseo) and «광» (gwang). Meaning he is probably someone who spends a lot of time reading or studying and doesn’t interact with others much.

(2) Mr.Kim, I will assume that’s the grandpa’s name…but I’m not sure since it could also be the driver’s name, (please keep in mind that) I will re-write the text when I get more information about it!