Chapter 50 : The Pervert Pursuit: A Rainy Day Adventure

Before unnecessary delusions start piling up, I first blurt out a half-hearted excuse, not even a proper one.

“Household ledger?”

“Uh, it’s my mom’s.”

Now I’m casually selling off my virtual parents without blinking an eye.

If I were a middle or high school student, hiding a comic book under my textbook and saying something like this, it would be obvious that it wouldn’t work.

But right now, I’m just an elementary school student who, by common sense, still can’t tell a believable lie.

The unnaturalness of my casual lie mixed with the household ledger creates a sense of confusion, making me wonder, “Did I really bring my mom’s by mistake?”

“Right, you should only open your textbook during class. Put it in your bag.”

“Yes.”

‘Phew.’

With that response, I let out a big sigh of relief inside, putting the ledger into my bag.

Anyone can do simple calculations, but if I get too much attention for something like that, my bluff will be exposed quickly.

Already, while I’m purposely answering obvious questions wrong to adjust my score, it’s clear that being praised as a genius or a prodigy because of memories from a past life is just a delusion, a mismatch between my age and the knowledge I have.

‘It can’t be helped.’

So, reluctantly, I continue my plan for this month’s expenses, writing numbers here and there in my textbook, using the blank spaces in between.

It’s the third period on a rainy morning—PE.

The rain tapping on the window continues to fall heavily.

There’s no need to take out my gym clothes from the locker; I just stay in my seat and yawn.

There’s no more meaningless time at school than PE class, especially when it’s just theory lessons in the classroom.

In essence, “indoor PE” is just a fancy way of providing free time.

The teacher, who once chased hornets during a school picnic, is now leisurely enjoying the meaningless time, probably looking at his smartphone at the teacher’s desk.

“Hey, Kim Mari! What are you doing?”

“Stop acting silly and go away, Panda.”

A boy interrupting my serious ledger calculations with his free time.

“Ugh.”

Despite claiming he’s going to “panda,” he’s shaking my notebook with his palm, messing it up.

I swiftly kick his shin, my foot just barely slipping out from under the desk.

“Ah!”

A skillful shin kick that can be performed even in indoor slippers.

After kicking, I quickly return my leg to its original position before anyone notices, speaking with a still-dawning, clumsy accent.

“I said I’m going to panda.”

“Teacher! Mari kicked me!”

“When did I? It hit the edge of the desk, didn’t it?”

“Don’t lie!”

I stubbornly counter with a lie that fits my logic.

As expected, the boy, all worked up, accuses me based on his own perception.

Unable to ignore the ruckus, even the PE teacher, who had been looking at his smartphone, slowly walks over.

“What’s going on?”

“He’s saying I kicked him, but it just hit the desk leg.”

“Stop lying!”

An excuse that even I think sounds pretty plausible.

In a typical argument between people who are clearly divided into black and white, the side that stays calm and gets less angry tends to be the more credible one.

A boy who just yells “Don’t lie!” without giving any explanation, and is a troublemaker in general.

A girl who calmly spouts out seemingly plausible but false logic, and is usually well-behaved and quiet.

If you were a teacher, which side would you support?

The gym teacher’s mediation veered far from the truth.

“Siyeon was wrong. Apologize to Mari quickly.”

“No, that’s not it… It’s the truth…! W-w-whaaa…!”

They say you can trust a tool until it betrays you.

In the end, the truth didn’t even reach the teacher, and Si-yeon, the boy, broke down into tears.

Children’s tears are only shed when they are truly wronged.

So, the truth lost, and the lie won.

At an early age, they learned to distrust adults and the harshness of the world.

After the chaotic gym class, the only meaningful time of the school day came: lunchtime.

“Oh, braised short ribs.”

For Na-na and Si-yeon, who are stuck with the same delivery food every day, this meal at least offered some variety.

The main dish was pieces of meat cooked in sweet galbi sauce with small rice cakes.

Other than that, there was rice, egg soup, small portions of kimchi and spinach that the kids could eat, and a yogurt for dessert.

After finishing everything on the tray, I rubbed my strangely satisfied stomach.

Now, I could only worry about how I’d spend the last hour, distracted.

And then came the long-awaited time to go home!

“Why did I have to be on cleaning duty today?”

Of all days, I got the cleaning duty.

On days when I’m not hanging out with friends, Si-yeon waits outside our classroom.

“Go ahead, I’ll catch up later.”

“Okay!”
She answers confidently when asked if she can go alone.

Unlike the clumsy bear, Siyeon’s mascot usually sticks with her, so even though she’s going alone, I can still feel somewhat at ease sending her off.

If something dangerous were to happen, I’d tell her to just transform and handle it.

Today’s cleaning duty, made up of quiet girls, was a lot easier than when boys were involved.

The time spent on cleaning was brief, but after that, the school felt completely empty.

With a lazy yawn, I shuffled along, slippers and bag in hand, holding an umbrella in the other, heading home.

Crossing and re-crossing the alley that led home, I noticed that even the few kids I used to walk with were no longer around.

It was an unnecessary winding alley where cars didn’t need to pass through.

Naturally, this was a place I no longer belonged to.

And even that was barely visible through the thick rain.

‘It’s not even worth exposing, is it?’

A patient of exhibitionism from some legend.

I briefly noticed a shadowy figure in the distance, but turned away with a blank expression and continued walking slowly toward home.

When I looked back, it was as if the person, wearing a black cap and mask, was saying, “I’m not a righteous person.”

A gray hoodie and messy sweatpants.

As soon as our eyes met, the person dropped their pants.

Naturally, this was something I no longer had to see.

And even that was barely visible through the heavy rain.

“But I’m about to go out again

Today’s schedule was unexpected, but it turned into a journey to catch a crazy pervert instead of a monster.

There’s the sin of contaminating my eyes, but more than that, the situation is emotionally unsettling for Siyeon.

With that thought in mind, I put my slightly damp bag and indoor slippers bag near the entrance and headed outside with an umbrella.

After transforming in a suitable spot, I carefully flew up into the sky, being careful not to tear the umbrella.

Even in transformed form, I don’t like getting wet.

The damp smell from the rain that has entered the house was also coming from the laundry basket.
“By the way, I’m going back out.”

So today’s schedule, though unexpected, turned into a mission to catch a pervert instead of a monster.

There’s the sin of contaminating my eyes, but more than that, the situation is emotionally unsettling for Siyeon.

‘There it is.’

From the sky, I saw eight black umbrellas.

Among them, a few kept moving, but one stopped as if it was waiting for something.

It was even in the same area as earlier.

It seemed like another girl wouldn’t be passing by alone, so the pervert appeared to be targeting her in an alley.

The sound of stepping on puddles was light and rhythmic.

What might be unpleasant for housewives—the monsoon rain—could be part of the joy for a carefree child.

The black umbrella slowly headed toward the child, threatening to ruin their day.

“Hey, little one….”

The same method as when I was young, the dark voice slowly…

“Drugs?!”

With a sudden shout, it didn’t reach the child.

“Huh?”

The pervert, now surprised, turned around, but the place only had the abandoned black umbrella rolling in the wind.

The pervert, who had a smile on their face just moments ago, now looked terrified, clutching their shirt as if holding onto a lifeline.

“Ugh, uhh, ugh!”

“Don’t struggle, I’ll drop you.”

Surprisingly calm, the pervert was held in one hand as I arrived at a nearby police station.

Since I had no free hands, I tilted the umbrella and gently tapped the glass door.

A few officers, sitting idly during the rain, quickly noticed and rushed outside.
The sound coming through the window reached my ears.

“Isn’t that Sun?”

“Wow, first time seeing the real deal without the mask.”

The glass door creaked open.

A somewhat older officer, fiddling with the cap of their hat, greeted me warmly.

“Welcome. What brings you here?”

“What should we do about a guy who targets elementary school students and exposes himself in front of them?”

“Ugh!”

“You little shit, are you bragging?”

The pervert’s level of skill in self-defense was impressive, as there were many situations where it could come in handy.