Chapter 48 : Toothless and Transformed

With every ounce of pain, we managed to successfully pull out our front teeth.

While biting down on the cotton swab soaked in medicine, waiting for the bleeding to stop amid a small crisis of blood, I was calming down Siyeon, who was shedding a tear at the stinging alcohol smell lingering in her mouth.

“Ugh, this hurts.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Both of us slurring our speech slightly. Siyeon had her tooth cleanly removed in one go, but I needed two attempts.

The intense pain that had struck twice still vividly lingered in my mind, accompanied by an audible scream of anguish.

I feel like I should be the one crying more.

While comforting Siyeon, a sense of injustice refused to leave me.

The undeniable intensity of pain I felt compared to hers.

Rubbing the area near my gums where the cotton swab rested, I gently probed to see if the bleeding had truly stopped. Carefully opening my mouth, I pulled the swab out with my hand.

Even when I touched the empty spot with my tongue, the usual metallic taste of blood was barely noticeable.

Looks like it’s stopped, I thought as I turned to Siyeon.

“Siyeon-ah, open your mouth—ah—”

“Ahhh—”

The spot where her tooth used to be was still covered with a white cotton swab, faintly tinged with blood.

I gently removed the swab and checked if there was any more bleeding. Like mine, hers had stopped early as well.

Holding two used cotton swabs in my fingers, I threw them into the nearby medical waste bin.

Thankfully, the dentist’s bill for pulling out baby teeth hadn’t skyrocketed to the tens of thousands.

Honestly, charging so much for something you can do at home with string and alcohol would be a shameless rip-off. It’s not like we were dealing with the infernal nightmare of wisdom tooth extraction.

Ah, wisdom teeth…

Thinking about teeth led to another worry about a distant future.

Would they grow sideways again like in a past life, turning my life into a living hell?

As I absentmindedly rubbed the skin over the canines in my jaw, I found myself hoping.

Please, not this time. Don’t let me be immortalized as a legend on some wisdom tooth gallery.

With these thoughts of distant concerns, the day was drawing to a quiet close as I returned home, kicking off my shoes in the entryway.

“You’re back, huh?”

The two house mascots, lazing around as usual. While they were like parasites demolishing leftover delivery food, their presence erased the solitude of two kids living alone.

“Yeah, I’m back.”

“Huh? What’s up with your voice?”

“Pulled a tooth.”

After tossing my socks straight into the laundry basket, I answered the curious bear with my toothless lisp before heading upstairs to my bed.

With a missing front tooth, I’d have to carefully choose what to eat for a while. Anything chewy, like noodles, was out. Tough meats were unthinkable.

“Humans must find it inconvenient,” said the bear, casually climbing onto the second-floor bed as well, seemingly bored with life.

“You making fun of me? Wanna die?”

As usual, the bear’s quip was met with an exaggerated threat, our banter momentarily pushing the day’s toothless discomfort to the background.

It was like something out of a comic or game: a being with an air of superiority, speaking in a tone that mocked inferior humans, narrowing its eyes as it spoke.

But then, as if it had no intention of sounding like that, the creature suddenly appeared flustered and tried to explain its thoughts.

“Why do you always interpret things like that? I mean, isn’t it just terribly inefficient?”

“And you’re so efficient that you’re out here mascoting around or something?”

“Ah, geez, you’re hitting me where it hurts. But still…”

Even after that sharp jab, the bear-like creature didn’t want to back down, muttering a few more words under its breath.

“Having teeth grow in only twice in your life is pretty inefficient, don’t you think…?”

“You’re really something, huh.”

“Waah!”

As soon as I moved to get up, the bear, as if already struck, let out a quick yelp and darted up to the top bunk of the bed. It seemed like it was getting better at gauging the timing for retreat, to the point where it was now an art form.

Those little added remarks—it was as if they poured gasoline onto a smoldering ember, igniting a roaring fire in my chest.

If I were to die young, that bear would likely be the number one cause.

“Ugh…”

Seriously, what the hell.

I wondered briefly if there might be something wrong with its post-transformation form.

When I attempted the transformation spell with a single syllable, it didn’t even activate due to my incorrect pronunciation.

Finally, I pressed my tongue against my canine teeth and painstakingly enunciated the transformation spell.

“Thsunn.”

With the utterance of the spell, the emptiness that had lingered in my mouth vanished like a lie.

Clicking my teeth together to check the previous gap, I finally realized, only after touching my front teeth with my fingers, that the void had been filled.

“Whoa, that’s amazing.”

I muttered in awe, marveling at the mysteries of magic and the human body.

It seemed that the transformation created an avatar-like version of oneself, akin to something out of a game.

After all, if adult women could transform into the form of a child, it only made sense that missing teeth would be covered up seamlessly.

But if such things were possible, why couldn’t it get rid of the stench of blood that clung to me after battle?

Hmph…

Resting my fingers on my chin and pondering the question, no satisfactory answers came to mind.

It was yet another contradiction, another mystery in this ridiculous, slapdash world.

Transformation alone—shrinking my body, changing the color of my hair and eyes in an instant—was an inexplicable high-tech miracle. Asking for deodorization on top of that was probably asking too much.

“Release.”

As soon as I undid the transformation, the empty spot in my front teeth reappeared.

I flicked my tongue over the emerging permanent tooth, brushing it lightly.

When will it finally grow in?

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the sound of pouring water, like heavy rainfall, echoed from outside the window.

Now that I thought about it, the weather today had been far from sunny and bright.

Climbing down from the top bunk, I pulled back the curtain to see countless streaks of rain falling from the overcast sky, with not a trace of sunlight to be found.

“Is it the rainy season?”

I don’t particularly make a habit of checking the weather forecast, so I picked up my smartphone to figure out the recent weather trends.

Search: this year’s date + rainy season.

With smartphones, it’s easier to watch the news than on TV. I clicked on a video uploaded an hour ago.

“A day when the heat has eased thanks to the rain that started just in time. This rain will stop tomorrow, but starting this Wednesday, the monsoon season will officially begin in Jeju Island. Here’s weather expert Lee Seora with more.”

Sure enough, it looks like rain will be falling nationwide starting today.

The video switched to show a scene of rain falling in Jeju Island.

During the rainy season, it’s unpleasant to come back soaked from monster hunting, but thankfully, this year, there doesn’t seem to be any reason for that.

Still, there’s one minor inconvenience.

“Guess I’ll be drying the laundry indoors for a while.”

After finishing the video, I aggressively tapped the back button to close the pages.

By the time I figured most of the tabs were closed, I stopped on a screen showing some headlines.

[“‘Pathetic insult’ from magical girl Sun during a press conference—is this okay?”]

[“Were monsters really incapable of communication? Lingering questions remain.”]

[“Professor Hong, a monster expert, says Sun’s press conference was ‘to be expected.'”]

[“Magical girl Sun—her estimated age?”]

[“To polite reporters, magical girl Sun curtly responds: ‘None of your business.'”]

“Polite, my foot.”

Scrolling past most of the nonsense, I froze at one headline I just couldn’t ignore.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue, annoyed at the media’s habit of spinning things to suit their narrative. Look at them, twisting her words and claiming she said, “None of your business.” Always lies and manipulations—it’s no wonder nothing ever changes.

Leaving behind these rotten news articles filled with deceit and propaganda, I turned to a gallery that reflects the more honest opinions of the public.

Although, to be fair, calling them ordinary citizens might be a stretch…

[“Sun <<<<<< Honestly, super refreshing. +1 (189 likes)”]

At least there were some people supporting her.

[“What’s the fuss? She just spoke the truth. (78 likes)”]

[“Reporters <<< self-taught brats with no home training (98 likes)”]

[“Look at all the fake news pouring out just because their egos got bruised, lol. (112 likes)”]

While I appreciated the support, I didn’t stop there. I headed over to the monster gallery, where things were bound to be… messier.

[“Seriously, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it (53 likes)”]

[“Don’t lie! We can communicate with monsters, you b**. (37 likes)”]**

[“Have you lost your mind? Have you lost your mind? Have you lost your mind? (72 likes)”]

[“Don’t talk crap, you damn b**. (47 likes)”]**

[“I had a dream. (31 likes)”]

In stark contrast to the magical girl gallery, where everyone was laughing and cursing out the reporters, the monster gallery was steeped in chaos and madness.

[“One deep summer night, a monster woke up crying.”]

[“A magical girl, finding this odd, asked the monster.”]

[“‘Did you have a scary dream?’”]

[No.]

[Did you have a sad dream?]

[No, I had a sweet dream where Gae-Gal was acknowledged.]

[Then why are you crying so sadly?]

[Wiping away the flowing tears, Gae-Bung quietly replied,]

[Because… that dream can never come true.]

[Ha, damn. If it’s a sad Gae-Bung moment, give it an upvote…]

The chaos unleashed on the Monster Gallery after my words at the press conference turned into a trending post.

No matter how I looked at it, everyone seemed out of their minds.

“Oh dear, look at how fired up they are…”