Episode -2 A
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[Thud, thud]
Is it an explosion? With an unknown sound, the ground trembles. Has the explosion still not stopped?
No. Eat is lying collapsed in some unknown grassland! The sound of something enormous approaching him...
It is a giant insect, a Barak. Even bigger than Barak Melon that Eat took down.
The vibration and rumble of the ground draws closer and closer.
[Thud, thud]
The gigantic Barak finds the fallen Eat, lightly lifts him up with one hand, and moves toward a dark forest.
[‘Wobble, wobble’]
Three small Barak can be seen following behind.
They sway their antennae as they scan the surroundings, and they move along happily, admiring flowers and tiny insects in the forest.
Their joy~ is probably because they captured Eat alive and now, at last~ can return to their nest.
Among them, one Barak kept probing the area with its antennae even while moving, and then—in an instant!—it sensed something in the sky.
A flying Barak with the shape of a bee appeared.
That bee-shaped one shouted toward the Barak heading for the forest.
“Hey, you lot, that’s as far as you go. From here on, I’m taking that guy.”
The biggest Barak stared at Eat in its hand and fell into thought.
Giant insect: “Ugu? Ugugu, uguugu?”
A small Barak watching beside it persuades the giant Barak.
Small insect: “Kkirik, kkiririk, kkirik~”
Giant insect: “Ugu! Uguugu!”
After understanding the situation, the giant insect obediently stretches out its hand, about to hand Eat over.
At the same time, the flying Barak slowly descends, making a strange expression.
“You guys, what about Mond? Why are you wandering around without him? Where’s Mond?”
Just as the ground-type Barak were about to answer, Mond appeared from the distance, leaning on a staff.
Injured and disheveled, he approached slowly and called out.
Mond: “Dod! Looks like you’ve been looking for me?”
Dod: “Huh? Mond, what’s with that state? What happened?”
Mond: [Ragged breathing] “I’m tired... I can’t explain it with words...”
Mond flicks his antennae, and Dod immediately catches on and points his own antennae toward Mond.
[Barak could rapidly transmit vast information through their antennae.]
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Having received all the information, Dod looks at Mond with pity.
Dod: “Melon got hit?”
Mond: “Yeah... not completely gone, but...”
Dod: “I see... mm...” [Dod thinking]
Dod: “Alright, this time, do what you want. I’ll hand him over to you.”
Mond: “Thanks. I’ll definitely give you a jar of honey later.”
Right after, Mond raises his antennae to his subordinate Barak.
His eyes begin to glow, and with short movements of his antennae, the subordinates move quickly.
The large Barak sets Eat down on the ground, and the small Barak run toward him.
Eat barely came to his senses from the impact of the fall, but inside his head, everything was still hazy, like a fog—half-dreaming.
Looking around with vacant eyes, Eat saw Barak charging toward him like hungry beasts and was horrified.
“Eek!”
Mond’s subordinates surrounded the fallen Eat and began to trample and ravage him mercilessly.
Watching the horrific scene, Dod and Mond burst into vile laughter, cackling as if their insides felt refreshed.
Wriggling in pain, Eat finally could not overcome the darkness pushing in, and lost consciousness again.
Only then did Mond send a signal of ‘that’s enough,’ and the Barak, steadying their rough breathing, retreated.
In the place the storm had passed, Eat lay once again on the cold grassland, thrown down helplessly as before...A calm, quiet night. Bright moonlight dyes the world silver.
Above it, the countless starlights pouring down made the night sky no different from yesterday.
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One by one, the children step into the room.
Inside, pale pink curtains softly filter the sunlight, and a fragrant floral scent calms the heart.
On the floor, a brown-patterned carpet lies atop yellow linoleum, making it feel warm just by looking at it.
In the center sits a round, low dining table, perfect for sitting on the floor to eat or to spread out books.
A small bookshelf is neatly lined with various books the children would like, and flowers in a vase add life to the space.
Overall, this place is ordinary, but clean and warm, with a faint pleasant scent—
a children’s study room that feels so cozy and comfortable that anyone would want to lie down and rest the moment they enter.
After looking around the room for a moment, Teacher brings several dishes and sets them in front of Rogi.
Fragrant, high-quality foods like something you’d only see at an upscale restaurant are spread out before her. Rogi falls into a dilemma again...
At that moment, outside is noisy. From far away, voices of boys running over can be heard.
The kids rush in, greet Teacher loudly, and beg for food, saying they’re hungry.
Teacher, looking even happier at the children who arrived afterward, hurriedly plates and prepares more food.
A child with red hair, a yellow T-shirt, and sky-blue shorts is especially loud. That child notices Rogi.
“Rogi! Hi~”
Next, a child with curly hair and black horn-rimmed glasses speaks up too.
“So you’re Rogi? You were already here? When did you get here?”
Lastly, a child with yellow hair and some strange thing worn on his left hand and right foot walks in slowly and greets them.
Then he also knew Rogi’s name.
Now Rogi wasn’t even surprised anymore.
“Uh, yeah. Hi~ I just got here.”
“Keekkeek” [Laughter]
The children ate together, mixing with Rogi without reserve, and then also talked a lot with Teacher.
Seeing the children chewing with mouths full of food, Teacher showed a pleased smile.
Usually boys ate twice as much as girls,
but Leo ate as much as four times, which greatly surprised Rogi.
Seeing Leo’s appetite, Rogi thought he was an amazing friend..
Before long, the meal ended, and after the cleanup was finished, Teacher and the children gathered in the room, listening to Rogi’s story.
As time passed and she learned Rogi’s situation, Teacher spoke first.
“I see, Rogi. Your mother isn’t in good health, so she’s in the hospital?
And only you and your father moved here first?”
Rogi: “Yes. When Mom recovers, we decided we’ll live here together.”
Teacher: “Right, Rogi’s mother’s illness will get better soon. Let’s pray together~”
Teacher: “And from now on, let’s live well while helping each other.”
Kids: “Yes, Teacher~”
Among the children, a child named Eti speaks up. Eti is the younger sister—by one year—of Eli, who has curly hair and black horn-rimmed glasses.
Eti: “Rogi-unni~ after our lesson ends, we’re all going to go outside together and play ‘story play,’ so sister should come too~”
Rogi: “Story play?”
Rogi: “Um... what is that?”
Pai: “It’s fun! You should come too. I’ll explain when we get there~”
Dabi: “Yeah, you should come too. Then we have one more member~!”
Teacher roughly knew what the children were talking about, but she did not get involved.
Yona: “That’s good, all together...”
Yona: “Ah! Since we have one more person, we’ll have to split the roles again, and we should add a bit to the story.”
Leo: “This story is already at the ending part now, so how about we add from next time?”
Yona: “Yeah! Let’s do that~”
Eti: “I’m so happy Rogi-unni came!”
Rogi: “Thank you, Eti~”
The children are having a joyful time with Teacher in the study room.
Lunch time passed, and the weather was cool.
