episode_0004

Phew. Phew. Something was tickling my face, so I snorted loudly on purpose.

Every time that happens, it feels like I can get some air for a moment, but then something covers my nose again as if it’s playing a joke.

“Etch!”

If your nose is itchy, you will naturally sneeze. It is the same for hamsters, not just humans. I have seen hamsters sneeze occasionally.

He went into a corner by himself and sneezed.

Anyway, that’s not the point. Thanks to the sneeze, the recoil caused me to sink deep into the ground.

The place I was lying down must have been quite soft. I felt around for something and felt something familiar.

Come to think of it, when we were abandoned, that wad of trash felt like this. Huh, so did we get abandoned again? Did Narin think we were too much to raise…?

At that moment, when I was unable to make sense of the situation in the dark surroundings, a rustling sound was heard from the side, and a ray of light began to shine in.

It was Hamshik who opened the door. Well, it seems like he didn’t open it because he wanted to, but rather because he was leaving and the door opened.

As the light came in, I realized that I had made a house out of Narin’s delivery boxes. And I had put these wads of waste paper in it as insulation.

“Hehehe. It’s home, home.”

It was something I had never had in the giant’s house. I was so happy about that that I laughed heartily.

Then, Hamshik turned around and made a sound of the wind escaping from me.

It’s a sound that can be made, whether it’s farting or exhaling, but to my ears it sounded like it was mocking me.

“What the heck, Hamshik, you just laughed at me! Am I pathetic? Huh? Do you know the sorrow of being homeless?”

When I actually got a fever, I realized that Hamshik was in the same situation as me. The other animals were living in cages.

I’ve never seen him stay anywhere in that vast room, whether he escaped or was just hiding, although there were at least toys and a bed in there.

Are you perhaps suffering from some kind of parasitic disease? If you stay in one place, your teeth will start to itch. That might be why you eat so much.

I grumbled as I walked to Narin’s room, which was dimly lit, perhaps because it was morning, although the lights didn’t seem to be on.

“Oh, right. I’m the smart one who should understand. What would you know? You stupid pig Hamshik… … . Oh, you’re awake?”

We went out of the dark box into the bright world, and there was a giant wearing clothes and listening to us mumbling.

Of course. This is the home of that giant, Narin. The kind person who took us in when we were abandoned on the street.

So it’s natural to greet her with a smile. It doesn’t do any good to upset the landlord.

Luckily, Narin was also looking at us with a smile.

“Yeah. Did you sleep well? I worked hard to make it, but I’m worried that it might be uncomfortable because it was a hastily built house.”

“It was so warm and cozy! So fluffy.”

“Fluffy… … ?”

“Oh, that was hamster hair.”

Come to think of it, the wad of toilet paper is soft, but it doesn’t fluff up. It’s probably all ham hair.

So Hamshik slept with me? That was unexpected. Whenever I asked him to play with me, he would always disappear into a corner.

Then, when you climb on its back, it gets annoyed and starts to lie down. When you get off, it runs away again.

While I was tilting my head, a neatly dressed Narin came to our house and said.

“Anyway, it’s fine. I was just about to leave, Namin-ah.”

Namin. That was the name that called me. The first name given to me after being reborn into this body.

It’s not like the giants who abandoned me were abusing me, but they still didn’t call me by my name.

That’s why that name was more special to me. It really sounded like Hamshik and I were being accepted.

If I didn’t have a name, I would have been no different from just an ornamental fake plant that I brought into the house for a short time. But with the name Namin, it gained meaning.

“Nam-in? Oh, you named me? I’m happy! But you’re leaving?”

My heart swelled with joy, but soon I began to question Narin’s words.

“I have to work to earn money so I can buy you guys food. I have to pay off the mortgage on the house we live in. Oh, is that too difficult? Hmm, let me explain it more simply… … .”

Narin, who thought I was ignorant of the ways of the world, kindly explained things to me in detail.

It was such an obvious story. Unless you were a descendant of a conglomerate or worked from home, you would have to go out and work to make a living.

Even though I had never experienced social life in my previous life, I know that if I hadn’t died from cancer, I would have had to jump into that job market.

It’s just that I was wondering something else.

“Oh, no. I understand. But should I go out too?”

Wasn’t Narin’s hand reaching out to me? It was a gesture that said she would take me out too.

Since I was living off of her, I had to listen to her, so I obediently climbed onto Na-rin’s hand. But since I had already been abandoned once, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Yeah. You can talk like this and you’re smart, but I can’t keep you as a pet. That’s why I’m going to name you Inamin and register you as my younger sibling. Do you like the name?”

I like the name. I’m just concerned about the idea of taking her as my younger sister.

If it’s a pet, it can just play and eat comfortably. But, saying that I have a younger sister sounds like saying that I can’t just become a carnivore.

Human rights are born. That means that with rights come responsibilities. It’s a suffocating feeling like you have to do something.

Still, I felt like I should do something to feel a little better. If I proved my usefulness, wouldn’t it reduce the chances of Hamshik and I being abandoned?

Thinking about it that way, it was a good thing anyway. I nodded.

“Oh, yes! I really like it! Thank you!”

“Yeah. So I’m going to stop by the office on my way to work and make an ID card. Do you remember anything about what world you came from? Or, um… where you were born, or something like that.”

So that’s why you’re leaving. Yeah, I don’t think he’d abandon me just to raise Hamshik. Because he told me I was cute yesterday.

And if you throw it away, wouldn’t you throw away the hamster that eats so much? … … Right? Even though it eats a lot for a hamster, don’t you think the food cost will be that high?

Anyway, since there was a reason for going out, I completely understood and responded.

“No, I don’t really remember anything. I just remember the place I lived before being completely white. Oh, and there were other rats and birds besides Hamshik.”

“Uh-huh. I see. Then maybe he was a collector or something… … . Or maybe a temporary shelter? Okay, okay. Let’s go. Oh, it’s cold outside, so do you want to wear this? I took it off the Ghost White figure. I think the size should be about right… … .”

“I’ll wear it well!”

I feel a bit sorry for the figure that ended up naked because of me, but it’ll be hard to find clothes that fit my body.

I was worried that it would be a bit flashy or something because it was called a figure, but fortunately it was a very healthy sailor uniform. No, I should say it was a school uniform.

If I had worn these clothes as a real person instead of with this small body, I might have really looked like Narin’s younger sister.

After tearing up the tissue and putting on my sailor uniform, I looked up at Narin to show that I was finished changing.

But Narin stuttered as if she had been stabbed by something.

“Uh, no. That… … . It’s not like I’m an otaku or anything, I just won the figure from an event? Or you can get it by donating more than 10 million won to the Magical Girl Foundation, but there’s no way I have that kind of money. Anyway… … .”

“Oh my, is it that expensive? If it’s like that, I’ll take it off again!”

“Oh, no. It’s not that the figure is expensive. Anyway, it’s more important that someone who can wear it wears it! But can I just take a picture? Na-min is so cute right now.”

He’s an otaku who’s afraid of being mistaken for an otaku. There were kids in school and the military who were embarrassed about others finding out about their hobbies, and Narin seemed to have that kind of personality.

Well, I’m in a position where I have to accept anyone, as long as they’re not a bad person. Being an otaku is a big deal.

“Of course! But I have to show you too!”

And just then, I happened to be wondering what I looked like. I know that I have pure white skin, and that I am light without flab, yet firm enough to jump higher than my own height.

Now that I think about it, it was just because I was small that I could move relatively much with little muscle strength.

An elephant can’t jump very far, but a flea can jump dozens of times higher than its own body.

Anyway, even though I know those abilities, I don’t even know my own face. All I know is that my long, white hair is all that matters.

So I sat on Narin’s shoulders and snapped a picture. Narin showed me the screen of her phone that had taken our picture.

On the shoulders of the smiling black-haired beauty, a doll-like girl with snow-white hair flowing down to her waist sat smiling brightly.

It wasn’t a face that looked depressed from a long battle with cancer, but rather, I felt good because I liked the innocent and cute look that I saw.

“Wow, it came out well!”

“Really? That’s good. Then let’s say we go… … What should Hamshik do? Will he be able to stay alone? I’m planning on packing some food for him, but he’s already eaten and he’s going to be hungry later, right?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

I was going to tell Hamshik, “We’ll be back soon. Take care of the house!” But if you think about it, if there’s no one to feed Hamshik, he’ll be really hungry.

Even if you leave two or three servings of food here, Hamshik will definitely eat it all in one go and go look for other food.

Maybe it’ll gnaw through that wooden chair, or gnaw through the door and escape. Oh, it’s so scary.

Hamshik noticed that we were leaving him alone and was looking up at us with his pitch-black eyes sparkling.

In the end, Narin, who couldn’t overcome it and couldn’t find any other solution, took Hamshik and me into her arms.

“Ugh. I can’t help it. Let’s go together. But Hamshik, you have to be quiet.”

Narin said that even though she knew that Hamshik couldn’t understand her.