chapter_0616

616 – Ventriloquism

616 – Ventriloquism

There was no longer a way to defeat Gaeul.

In fact, if I wanted to win, there were plenty of ways, but there was no need to struggle just to win.

I decided to acknowledge my defeat here.

“Oh no! Gaeul has completely stopped!”

Ugh, ugh.

I cried out while pressing my hands against the floor.

When I glanced up, Gaeul was still in a frozen state.

What’s going on?

Can’t she move a little now?

Could it be that she can only move again if I press a button?

Just as I was about to get up to press the button, I heard a shout.

“Ggakkoo!”

“······!”

Gaeul raised both hands high and startled me.

I hadn’t expected her to suddenly do that, and I leaned back.

“Eek.”

Was I tricked by her prank?

Gaeul giggled and bounced up and down.

Seeing her bright smile made my mood lift as well.

“What’s this? Wasn’t Gaeul stopped?”

“Anya, Ggauri jjan-nan-ya.”

“Aha, it was a prank?”

“Nae!”

Gaeul bounced around the house, expressing her joy with her whole body.

Then she ran towards Bomi and tugged at her hand.

“Anya again.”

“Again? What else is there?”

Hmm.

Bomi shook her head after a moment of thought.

Gaeul’s eyes widened in surprise at Bomi’s clear refusal.

“Anya?”

“Yeah. If I tell you like this, Gaeul won’t fall for it anymore. My fun will disappear.”

“Ugh···”

Gaeul seemed to understand and let go of Bomi’s hand.

Though she looked disappointed, her tail wagged happily.

‘Looks like she found the prank really fun.’

At that age, it wouldn’t be fun if it weren’t.

A little mischief can lighten the mood.

What kind of prank will Gaeul learn next?

It was an exciting moment.

“Gaeul, Gaeul.”

At Saebyeok’s call, Gaeul turned her head.

I, too, looked at Saebyeok, who was in the same room.

“Gaeul, I have an amazing chair. Do you want to see it?”

“Euja?”

“Yeah. It’s a transparent chair.”

Saebyeok sat down in the air as if on an invisible chair.

Everyone was taken aback by how she looked like she was really sitting on a transparent chair.

“Wow?!”

“There’s a transparent chair here.”

“Wow?!”

Gaeul’s eyes sparkled.

Seeing Saebyeok look like she was truly sitting on a transparent chair, I almost believed it myself.

‘Could there really be a transparent chair…?’

Saebyeok is strong, but can she sit like that perfectly?

I was in a situation where I was unsure whether to believe it or not, but Gaeul had no choice but to believe it.

“Wow! Wow!”

Gaeul’s eyes shone.

Curious about the transparent chair, she walked around sniffing the air.

“Isn’t it amazing? Do you want to sit on it too, Gaeul?”

“Neigh!”

Gaeul stomped her feet, eager to sit down.

Then Saebyeok got up from her spot and offered the transparent chair to Gaeul.

“You can sit here.”

“Eujki?”

Gaeul turned around and sat down in the spot where she predicted the chair would be.

Though she could have reached out to check if the chair was really there, Gaeul didn’t do that.

And in that moment, I saw it.

Saebyeok throwing a blanket and a sofa cushion towards the floor.

Thud—

Gaeul couldn’t sit on the transparent chair and ended up landing on the soft things Saebyeok had thrown.

“Eh?”

Gaeul’s eyes widened.

As expected, there was no transparent chair.

“Euja, what happened?!”

Gaeul searched around with her hands from her spot.

But unfortunately, she couldn’t find the chair.

After all, it was a chair that didn’t exist.

“There’s actually no chair.”

Saebyeok cleared her throat.

Even with her usual expressionless face, a hint of mischief could be seen.

“Euja, what happened?”

“Yeah. Actually, I was holding myself up with my tail.”

Saebyeok assumed the position of sitting on the transparent chair.

Then her tail lowered and supported her body.

“Wow!”

“Wow···”

Saebyeok’s tail was indeed strong.

If one is overwhelmingly strong, such things are possible.

Bomi seemed impressed by Saebyeok’s prank as well and clapped her hands.

“Impressive. This is a prank only Saebyeok can do.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve learned something. I need to think of a prank that only I can do.”

Is it because she’s somewhat of a prank expert?

Bomi crossed her arms and fell into deep thought.

Watching this, Gaeul ran over to me.

“Chuin! Chuin!”

“Yeah?”

“Eek, euja.”

Gaeul pointed at the empty air.

Could she be trying to pull the same prank she just played on me?

I was watching too, you know?

After hesitating for a moment, I had no choice but to make a decision.

My choice was to play along.

“A chair? Where’s the chair?”

“Eujki tumen.”

“A transparent chair?”

“Ugh···”

Gaeul awkwardly sat down in the air.

Since she only bent her legs slightly, it didn’t feel like she was sitting on a chair.

Since she didn’t have a strong tail like Saebyeok, her posture was inevitably awkward.

“Wow, there really seems to be a transparent chair.”

“Neigh. It’s here.”

“Gaeul, I want to sit too.”

“······!”

Gaeul wagged her tail and made room for me.

I sat down, bracing myself for a fall.

“Ah.”

“Chuin!”

Just as I was about to land on the nonexistent chair, Gaeul, who was standing behind me, caught me.

Thanks to that, Gaeul fell instead, making a thud sound.

Still, she seemed to find it fun, giggling away.

It seemed like even when playing pranks, she had no intention of causing pain or distress.

“Hehe.”

A warm heart with a fun prank.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter like Gaeul.

I hope our family continues to have such fun in the future.

**

Thud—

Gaeul played the transparent chair prank on Haneul as well.

Of course, she cushioned her fall with her own body.

“Hehe, there was no chair···!”

“Ugh···!”

Giggling, Gaeul got up with Haneul.

Looking around, it seemed like she was searching for Levinas.

Was she planning to prank Levinas too?

As I chuckled at the thought of a surprised Levinas, the door opened, and Levinas rushed in.

“Big trouble! Big trouble!”

Levinas stomped his feet with a shocked expression.

He looked like he was about to run somewhere at any moment.

“Levinas, what’s wrong?”

“There’s a talking doll outside!”

“A talking doll? There are plenty of talking dolls already, right?”

There are dolls with machines inside that say recorded phrases when you press their bellies.

Did Levinas know this? He quickly shook his head.

“Not that kind of doll! It’s a doll that can talk with Levinas!”

“Talk with?”

Is there really such a doll in the world?

Since it’s a world where magic exists, there’s no reason it wouldn’t.

“Where’s the talking doll?”

“Outside!”

Levinas opened the door again and dashed outside.

The other kids, curious, stopped what they were doing and followed Levinas.

“Hey? Where are you guys going?”

As we all piled into the elevator, we ran into Hanyeoreum, who was just coming home.

Seeing us rush out, Hanyeoreum looked puzzled.

“We’re going to see a talking doll.”

“A talking doll?”

“Yeah. They say there’s a talking doll outside.”

“Is there such a doll?”

Our Divine Beast dolls can’t talk either.

Hanyeoreum, mumbling to herself, seemed curious and followed us.

“Look! There it is!”

Near the park pond, there was a table set up.

An adult man was sitting there.

A few kids had gathered around him.

“That’s···”

Where the man’s hand should have been, there was a doll stuck.

Through this, I realized what a talking doll was.

Ventriloquism···

“Oh, ventriloquism?”

At Hanyeoreum’s mumble, the kids’ gazes turned toward her.

Thinking it was related to the talking doll, Levinas’s ears perked up.

“What’s ventriloquism?”

“Ah··· no, I was just mumbling to myself.”

Was it to protect the children’s innocence?

Hanyeoreum hurriedly waved her hands.

I decided to help Hanyeoreum here.

“Wow, the doll is talking.”

I pointed at the doll stuck in the man’s hand.

Then Hanyeoreum smiled and patted my head.

“Doll! There’s a villain next to you!”

“Look to the side!”

We settled down and watched the puppet show.

Just as the story was getting quite exciting, the kids began to get excited.

“······!”

Gaeul, who had been watching the ventriloquist puppet show with her tongue sticking out, perked up her ears.

She looked like she had realized something.

“Gaeul, what’s wrong?”

“Gaeuri aratto.”

“You understood?”

“Ugh···!”

Gaeul pulled out a doll from the portal.

It was an ant doll that had a ghost Divine Beast inside.

“Ee-keh, ee-keh haetto.”

Gaeul placed the ant doll next to her face.

Then she started to act, changing her voice tone.

“Ggaemmi-ae-o.”

She moved the ant doll along with her words.

Oh my, has our Gaeul realized what ventriloquism is?

But there was one fact Gaeul overlooked.

“Gaeul, but that person isn’t moving their mouth!”

“Eh?”

The basic principle of ventriloquism is not moving your mouth.

Though her lips wiggled, they didn’t open as if she were speaking.

“······.”

Gaeul, who had been watching the ventriloquism intently, picked up the ant doll again.

And with her mouth tightly closed, she began to speak.

“Uhp-uhp··· Uwoop···”

Unfortunately, Gaeul was a child who didn’t know how to do ventriloquism.

As a result, only mumbling sounds came out.

“Oh?”

Gaeul’s eyes widened.

She realized that she couldn’t speak with her mouth closed.

“What?!”

Gaeul’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

Seeing Gaeul like that, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

Our Gaeul was getting close to the principle of ventriloquism.