episode_0018

Episode 18: Mom Crit (1)

I moved my seat next to the cussing kid.

Not to have fun playing games together.

“No matter how angry you get from losing a game, you shouldn’t cuss, you shouldn’t.”

It was to lecture her.

“……”

The kid held her knees, her bare feet on the PC bang chair, wearing a sulky expression.

Unlike her appearance, which seemed deliberately childlike and fragile.

“……fucking hell, talking just like my mom.”

The words she spoke were quite colorful.

“Ah, I mean my shitty mom, not your mom.”

The kid clarified belatedly, perhaps sensing it sounded like a parental insult.

While later generations than mine might naturally exchange parental insults.

Our generation wasn’t so lenient towards parental insults yet.

If you weren’t careful, a fight would break out immediately.

“Fucking cheap bastard. Using tricks.”

It seems the lecture failed after all.

Actually, lecturing someone in the same grade is an error in itself.

I had also bothered her too much.

Honestly, I can let the cussing slide.

“Tricks?”

I was rather interested in something else.

“Stop Mine is a fucking trick. Kim Yo-hwan got banned for using that too.”

“Oh, you know?”

“Of course I fucking know. Did I know I’d be hit by it? I had a bad feeling since you used Stop Lurker……”

To know Stop Mine after Stop Lurker, and even know it’s a trick.

This kid knows more about StarCraft than I thought?

Seems like she watches the leagues properly too.

But for all that, why is her StarCraft skill like that?

Is this that famous “keyboard StarCraft” or whatever it is?

“You fucking thought I was ‘keyboard StarCrafting’ just now, didn’t you?”

The kid, who had been holding her knees and not giving me eye contact, suddenly lifted her head.

Like she was some kind of mind reader.

“No, I just thought you knew a lot about StarCraft.”

Really.

Later, everyone would enjoy games regardless of gender.

But at this time, even StarCraft, no matter how famous, was mostly enjoyed by men.

I never imagined a middle school girl would be a true StarCraft fanatic who even watches the leagues.

“……Even though I’m like this, I was number 1 in StarCraft in my class in elementary school.”

“Among the girls?”

“Fucking no? Bitches don’t play StarCraft for shit in the first place. Ignorant bitches.”

There are kids like this sometimes.

A girl who doesn’t hang out much with other girls and plays soccer or games with boys.

Usually, that doesn’t get good talk among other girls.

Thinking back to the first timeline, there definitely seemed to be a kid like that in 1st year of middle school.

That must be her.

“Right, somehow. Her skill did get better from the middle.”

I turned my gaze and sat in the seat next to her.

And turning on the computer, I started entering my PC bang ID.

I had moved seats anyway.

Because I definitely wanted to say this one thing.

“Even controlled like 5 units of Mutalisks all at once.”

“?!”

The kid flinched for a moment.

“R-right? I’m not, not bad at control, am I?”

Then she awkwardly avoided my gaze and mumbled as if trying to gloss it over.

“Indeed. It was quite amazing how five units moved together without the slightest error. That’s something I can’t even do.”

“Y-y-y-you can just do it! Fucking hell, if your hands are fast, you can do anything!”

“Really?”

I said that and glanced sideways at her.

Srrk!

At that, she instantly lowered the legs she had placed on the chair.

Drrrk!

And then she yanked the chair close and pressed her body against the computer.

As if trying to prevent me from seeing her computer.

But for her, small for her age, it was insufficient.

On her screen, I could see that instead of the default PC bang wallpaper, there were compressed files and folders installed.

“Okay then.”

I didn’t bother trying to check further.

Instead, I checked the name attached to her white name tag.

“Ah, right. This was also amazing.”

I entered the archive once again.

Starting to quickly browse through the abstracts of the remaining half of the papers I hadn’t checked.

Then added with a wry smile.

“It was like you had some kind of insight. You detected me coming to drop units and even put down Turrets beforehand.”

“Th-th-th-that, well, I predicted it easily since you tried it a few times??”

“Really? You didn’t scout even once, so you must truly have some precognitive ability. Truly respect, respect. Ah, I haven’t seen this one.”

Quantum Perception of the Human Brain Applied to a Two-Dimensional Harmonic Oscillator?

That sudden inspirations or precognitive dreams people have are actually due to quantum entanglement between brain waves?

Based on this premise, they analyzed the correlation between lottery winners’ numbers?

Wow, this is totally about her.

Pat.

I immediately closed the nonsense paper and moved to the next one.

“Hey.”

I called her name in a low voice.

“……”

But there was no answer.

“Hong Ja-hee.”

Finally, when I called the name I had just confirmed.

“Why……”

Only then did she reply softly.

I then delivered the final verdict to her.

“You used map hack, didn’t you?”

“……”

“And multi-command too.”

“……”

Just like before, there was no reply.

I also didn’t bother to look and check.

Because it was obvious what kind of face she was making anyway.

“Ah, no!! Fucking hell, it’s really not―!! *Gasp*?!”

Standing up abruptly with a bright red face and shouting at me.

Suddenly, she sharply bowed her head down again.

I wondered why she was doing that and looked.

“Fu-fucking hell…… uh, Mom’s here……”

She said, holding her breath.

Then, quickly looking around, she searched for an escape route.

She slightly peeked her head up again to check towards the door over there.

“Ah, fucking hell, no……!”

It seems she’s in a dilemma.

“Hey, hey! Hide me……!”

“No, what.”

Before my words even finished, Hong Ja-hee was already squeezing in under my legs, under the desk.

Wondering what kind of mother would cause such a commotion, I also slightly raised my head to check.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but be astonished.

Her appearance, holding a ladle just as she was wearing an apron.

Furthermore, the way she held that ladle was by no means for cooking.

It was precisely an attack ready stance, filled with the will to immediately strike the head of anyone she found.

“Hey, don’t lift your head……! What if you get caught……!”

From the sight of her looking up, shouting while holding her breath under my legs.

Finally, the forehead hidden by those long bangs became visible.

A red bump was swollen there.

It seemed to be the work of that ladle.

“I wondered why she grew her bangs long enough to poke her eyes, but now I get it.”

I didn’t particularly want to know about such deep, dark family history of others.

“Fucking hell, is that important right now……?! Please! Hurry and pull the chair! So I’m not visible……! Please!”

Hong Ja-hee forcefully pulled my leg, dragging the wheeled chair towards her.

While being just pulled along by that, I slightly shifted my upper body sideways.

I checked her computer seat again.

『zIjaheeIz Remaining Time : 07 hours 36 minutes』

The PC bang ID is the same as the StarCraft ID from earlier.

That aside, the charged time certainly indicates a true PC bang user.

-There’s an ID there, written as Ja-hee in English, right? Yes? Ah, that’s it. I told this damn bitch to come straight home when it was over, and she’s here again…! This time, I’ll really show her a lesson!

And it seemed her mother had already figured out her child’s ID.

No, if you create an ID like that, how could you not get caught?

“It looks like she already figured it out by seeing your PC bang ID.”

“Ah, fucking hell, right……! I should have turned off the computer!!”

“But why did you deliberately use such an easy-to-get-caught ID? Looking at your forehead, it doesn’t seem like this is the first or second time you’ve been caught.”

“I have to use up the charged time first, don’t I……!!”

Uh, yeah, that’s true.

That’s incredibly persuasive.

“Ah fucking hell, what do I do?! What do I really do……?! If I get caught this time too, my allowance will really disappear……!”

Jongbeom, huh.

This kid seems to be a considerable cyber ghost who’s mastered not just StarCraft but internet communities too.

This kid already has a bright future. Yeah.

“Ah fucking hell, I don’t know! Hey, turn off the computer for me! Please! And tell her I’m not here! Ah, no, just pretend you don’t know……!!”

What should I do?

Save her?

Watching her head get cracked by the ladle like this wouldn’t be bad either.

“Hey, should I save you just once?”

But usually, in situations like this, you should do the opposite and aim for ‘that’.

“There is one way to prevent your allowance from disappearing.”

“R-really?!”

I nodded calmly.

At that, she immediately pleaded.

“Fucking hell, please! Please save me……! I’ll grant you one wish you want! Except anything related to money!! And anything I can’t do!!”

No, adding things like that after asking for a favor is hilarious.

Is she on her second life too? She’s smart.

Anyway.

Ddiring!

The conditions have been met.

[Sub Quest 『Mom Crit!』]

[Content : Hong Ja-hee’s mother has found out that she secretly went to the PC bang. Let’s help her get through this safely.]

[Reward : Life Point 1pt and Hong Ja-hee’s Wish Free Pass (Not related to money, Not impossible things)]

Yes, this is what I wanted.

Even if I don’t need that Free Pass thing at all.

Life Points are a different story.

Because I can buy elixirs from the perk shop to raise my stats, my intelligence.

“Okay.”

[Sub Quest 『Mom Crit!』 has been accepted.]

As soon as I accepted the quest, I took out two things from my bag.

First, the glasses I stopped wearing after my eyesight got better since my stamina stat increased, and.

My research notebook I wrote in today’s debate class, supposedly summarizing future plans.

Srrk.

Putting on my glasses like a model student.

Tak!

I confidently placed the notebook open in front of the keyboard.

“Come out. And sit in the chair next to me and stick close to my side.”

“Then I’ll get caught immediately……!”

“You’ll get caught even if you hide anyway.”

Her PC bang ID is already JizonJaheeJizon, and her mother confirmed it.

Even if she somehow manages to avoid getting caught at the PC bang and barely gets away.

It’ll be the same anyway; she’ll go home and get beaten with a ladle and her allowance will disappear, no, fly away.

So.

“Let’s go confidently instead. Right out in the open.”

* * *

When both Hong Ja-hee and I were side-by-side, confidently ‘pretending’ to be discussing something in front of the PC bang computer.

“Hong Ja-hee, you were hiding here!”

Finally, her mother found us.

“You bitch, today it’s either you die or I die!”

And her mother was more ‘no turning back’ than expected.

Buung!

The powerful swing of the ladle came flying without fail, giving no time to check what she was doing.

“Ugh, Uwaaaah……?!!”

Hong Ja-hee bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

Ttuk.

Then it barely stopped.

“……Whew.”

I somehow wedged myself between Hong Ja-hee and her mother.

If I had been just a little bit slower, it wouldn’t have been Hong Ja-hee’s head flying, but my forehead.

“Hello?”

I barely caught my breath and greeted her while feigning composure.

“You……”

Perhaps it was an unexpected situation, the mother was still in a buffering state.

Taking that opportunity, I asked first.

“Are you perhaps Ja-hee’s mother?”

Very courteously.

I asked with a smile that a polite child would make.

Only then did Hong Ja-hee’s mother lower the ladle.

“I am Ja-hee’s mother, but who are you?”

“I am Ja-hee’s classmate, Han Gyeong-jun.”

Introducing myself like that and greeting her one more time.

If before it was only with my eyes.

This time, I bowed with my head and waist, but not overly so, like a child would.

Once a child shows courtesy and approaches politely, even from the position of being a parent, one cannot treat them roughly.

“You were Ja-hee’s friend.”

Whether my strategy worked just as planned, Hong Ja-hee’s mother forced a smile at me and spoke as if asking a favor.

“But could you step aside for a moment? Auntie and Ja-hee have something to talk about just the two of us.”

Kkigik.

The sound of the ladle handle twisting.

At that, Hong Ja-hee behind me flinched and trembled for a moment.

If things continued like this, the conversation the mother and daughter would have would likely be a very intense ‘conversation of the body’.

And a very one-sided one at that.

Phew, calm down.

This is me, who dealt with all sorts of overzealous parents while tutoring in university and as a graduate student.

Besides this, how many strange professors did I wear a mask and act towards?

Compared to back then, now, this isn’t such a difficult opponent.

First.

Towards a parent who seems like they’d appear in a bizarre family sitcom, it’s necessary to provoke them first from this side.

“Hmm, that’s a bit difficult.”

“What?”

Hong Ja-hee’s mother’s eyes furrow sharply.