Transfer Student Neon

Neon had always thought.

That someday, she too wanted to live an ordinary life like those in the outside world.

That she wanted to gain the ordinariness of living like other children her age.

That was the only goal of Neon, who was born in the slums, stained with all sorts of filth and ugliness, and had fallen into despair.

However, this was a daydream that even Neon herself had unconsciously given up on until her emotions finally burst.

It was a goal and dream that she had suppressed and ignored in the sewers of the slums, thinking her situation was better than others.

Neon never imagined such a day would come for her.

That’s because in the past, Neon was destined to rot as a corpse at the bottom without even receiving anyone’s attention.

But surprisingly, this dream has now become a reality to the point where it could be said she has almost achieved it.

-Kuhik… In the end, you’re just a slum brat too, you stupid girl…

The words of Cha Baek-gi’s dying struggle that he had spat out before dying flashed through her mind.

Words that would have undoubtedly shaken the past Neon.

But because there was Shin-yeon, who not only pulled her out of the slums without asking for anything in return, but also proved the value of Neon’s existence as a girl, Neon casually scattered the words that came to mind.

She grabs hold of the nightmare-like memories that try to cling on stickily and peels them off her body.

And Neon covered herself with the rustling blanket up to her head, imagining the school she had longed for since ancient times, which wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say.

“Finally… I’m going to school…”

Like other children, Neon herself will now be going to school.

Although it was clearly reality, when she muttered it herself, Neon couldn’t hide her pounding heart at the unbelievable fact.

Tomorrow, tomorrow it will become a reality she can truly feel.

So Neon slowly closed her bright eyes under the blanket pulled up to her head, waiting for tomorrow.

She would need to sleep well tonight for tomorrow’s sake, after all.

Soon, Neon’s room was enveloped in quiet silence.

---

And the next morning.

“Damn it…”

Neon got up from bed, rubbing her dry eyes.

“…I can’t believe I didn’t sleep a wink.”

The reason her eyes were so dry was because she hadn’t slept a single wink from the moment she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Staying up all night was a common occurrence in the slums, and now that her physical abilities had dramatically increased after receiving the goblin gene mana stone, staying up one night wasn’t a problem at all, but she never thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep like this.

“So this is what it’s like to be too excited to sleep…”

A phrase she had heard on an old radio sometime.

When living in the slums, each day was hell, so she couldn’t understand the words of the outside world about looking forward to the next day.

But now Neon could understand the meaning of those words.

How could she not understand when she herself couldn’t sleep because she was looking forward to the school she would be going to today?

So Neon empathized with those words that she now deeply understood, took off her stretchy pajamas, and stepped into the bathroom.

“I should get ready quickly.”

The current time was exactly 6 o’clock.

The school had told her to come to the teachers’ office by 8:40, so it would be better to start preparing diligently from now.

Swoosh—

“Huaah…”

After finishing her shower under the warm water pouring from the ceiling, she quickly dried her hair and finished grooming herself.

There were various lotions, creams, and cosmetics on the table in front of the bathroom, but they were useless things for Neon, who didn’t particularly use such things and didn’t need them.

“I’ll skip breakfast, and Yeon-ah said she’d prepare transportation…”

From here in the General Management Team tower in the Central District to Gaeam High School located in the 14th District was a full 3 hours on foot.

That’s why Neon had heard from Yeon-ah in advance that she would prepare the means of transportation, so Neon took out the school uniform, which could be considered the final preparation, from the closet.

Clunk—

The Gaeam High School uniform neatly arranged on a single hanger.

First, she put on her underwear, then put on the blouse and buttoned it up one by one.

“Why did they make clothes so troublesome…”

From Neon’s perspective, who always wore loose t-shirts, the form of the clothes was extremely awkward.

Therefore, for Neon, the most difficult part of putting on the uniform was buttoning up this blouse.

Just yesterday, when she first put on the uniform and had to redo it from the beginning after buttoning one wrong, she almost tore the uniform because she couldn’t control her strength, so it’s needless to say how difficult it was.

But based on her experience of a few times, Neon managed to button up all the buttons somehow, then tucked the blouse into the skirt, fastened the hook, and pulled up the zipper.

“And…”

Finally, putting on the red ribbon around her neck completed the donning of the uniform.

Since the uniform had only arrived yesterday, she had worn the long-sleeved blouse and jacket, but the current season was summer.

She didn’t even take the jacket out of the closet, and the blouse she was wearing now was short-sleeved.

Neon looked in the mirror once to check her appearance and nodded slightly.

“Alright, now…”

Although putting on the uniform was finished, there were still things to prepare.

Thump—

“Did I pack everything I need in the bag?”

Neon checked the contents of the bag she had received from Yeon-ah in advance and slung it over her shoulder.

Yeon-ah herself had said it was a one-of-a-kind high-performance bag made by the General Management Team’s magic technology department, but from the outside, it only looked like an elegant and clean school bag.

“It’s problematic from the start that one of the Five Pillars’ departments was involved in making a bag for students to use…”

In fact, Neon thought it didn’t make sense for the General Management Team’s magic technology department to put effort into making a mere school bag, but since it resulted in a school bag with a design she liked, she planned to use it gratefully.

The contents of the bag included several dozen textbooks, gym clothes, casual clothes, and a wallet.

It was amazing that all those things fit into one bag, but Neon was slightly impressed by the weight of the bag that didn’t feel heavy at all.

“Is this why they called it cutting-edge and high-performance?”

It was certainly a remarkable bag worthy of its name.

After checking the bag slung over her shoulder, Neon picked up the device on the table, and finally grasped the handle of the club that she had left at the head of the bed.

Clank—

The weapon she had received from Shin-yeon, which, after trying it out yesterday, could be said to be a perfect match for Neon herself.

“Actually, I don’t know why it’s called a club…”

It was a weapon that didn’t make sense to be called a club handle since it could become a sword, knife, axe, or shield depending on how she imagined it, but anyway, Neon picked up the weapon called the club handle and tucked it into her waist.

“Now with this, I’m really done preparing.”

She had put on her uniform, packed her textbooks, and prepared her weapon.

Having finished all the preparations she needed to make as a student of Gaeam High School, Neon emptied her lungs with satisfaction at her own appearance.

“Hmm! Then shall we go now?”

Glancing at the clock, the time was already pointing to 7:10.

Seeing this, Neon immediately called Yeon-ah to ask if she was ready to depart, and Yeon-ah’s answer came back without any hesitation.

[Yes, preparations are done, so come down. I’ve finished preparing the flagship.]

The problem was that this answer was strange in many ways.

…

……

………

“Wait, what? Flagship?”

[What’s wrong? There’s a landing site near Gaeam High School, so you don’t need to worry…]

“No, that’s not the issue, what high school student goes to school on a flagship?”

What nonsense is this about a flagship?

Neon shouted at Yeon-ah with that impression as soon as she heard Yeon-ah’s words, to which Yeon-ah tilted her head on the other side of the device.

[…Our little brother Rang goes to school like that though?]

“Look, that’s the weird part… I didn’t even reveal that I’m the adopted daughter of the General Management Team in the first place.”

Why doesn’t Yeon-ah know the common sense that even someone born in the slums like herself knows?

At this point, it seemed like Yeon-ah had prepared such a strange option to tease her.

And as if to affirm that, Yeon-ah answered in an innocent voice to Neon’s next words.

“Don’t you have something like a car instead of a flagship? That seems like it would be best.”

[Hmm… if it’s a car, there’s the Establishment Family exclusive magic carriage…]

“Not that kind of thing, I mean just ordinary cars that run on the streets…”

Feeling a headache coming on before even hearing her full words, Neon immediately cut off Yeon-ah’s words and added a clear condition.

Neon’s condition to prepare an ordinary car that runs on the streets.

Only then did Yeon-ah answer with a faint laugh that she understood, and as soon as the call ended, Neon let out a long sigh filled with various emotions.

“Haaah…”

Somehow feeling tired before even going to school.

She hoped it was just her imagination, but it seemed like she would have to endure such conversations for a while when going to school, so Neon grabbed her forehead.

But that was only for a moment.

Neon pushed the device she was holding into her pocket, and after checking her appearance one last time, slowly placed her hand on the doorknob.

It was really time to go to school now, so there was no time to hesitate.

Click—

The doorknob turns as Neon applies force.

And finally, the door opened wide for her to go to school.

---

“Huaah… this drink tastes good!”

At the Korean defense city airport located in the 34th District.

A girl with vermilion twin-tails and horns on her forehead shouted like that while tilting a bottle of alcohol.

Of course, several gazes poured on her from around at that shout, but the girl tilted only the alcohol bottle without paying any attention to such gazes.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Korea~”

Perhaps because it had been quite a while, the girl took a sip of alcohol while admiring the considerably changed scenery of the airport, and then took out a piece of paper from her bosom and looked down at it.

Rustle—

“So this little one is the human related to that Ancestor guy, huh?”

What was contained in the paper was information about a girl received from ‘Han Yun-ah’ who had been dispatched to Korea.

And after examining it once more and imprinting it in her mind, the girl… or more precisely, the oni who had come from Japan, Ryoka, put the paper back in her bosom.

To be honest, doing something like this was troublesome and hurt her pride in many ways, but because her desire to fight with goblins was greater than such things, it was something she could do.

Therefore, recalling the face of the human called Neon that she had firmly imprinted in her mind, Ryoka took the last sip of the alcohol bottle.

Gulp—

“Pahah! Alright, then let’s set out now~”

Ryoka exhaled a breath full of alcohol smell and got up from her seat.

And if you shook your head at such a drunkard-like appearance and looked back at that place again, all that remained was an empty alcohol bottle placed on the chair.

An appearance that disappeared mysteriously as if it had never existed there from the beginning.

And so, one oni quietly concealed her appearance.