The Chick Class Hunter is Being Filial

That evening, Jurim informed her that Lee Taemin’s mana had stabilized significantly after being admitted to the hospital.
He also mentioned that the person who came with him had cried their eyes out, nose running and all...
It was probably referring to Guildmaster Choi Hyeonwoo. He hadn’t cared about his own body and just rushed to reach Lee Taemin.

Guru suddenly recalled Guildmaster Choi Hyeonwoo, who had almost slapped Lee Taemin across the face.
There must be many different shapes of emotion inside a person.
Sometimes it brings pain, and yet it still longs to reach out and embrace...

Guru didn’t quite understand it yet, but in any case, calling Jurim that day had been an incredibly sound decision.
If they’d waited just a bit longer, Lee Taemin would have really been in danger.
She’d saved Lee Taemin, eased Serhi’s worries, and wrapped up the [Caregiver Quest] in a really satisfying way, but...

Standing in the living room, the housekeeper Yeongran tied on her apron and said,
“I heard everything from the boss, Guru. No TV, right? He told me to keep a close eye on you.”
“Huuung...”
Guru had one huge personal hardship left unresolved.

Whimpering like a puppy, Guru paced back and forth in front of the TV.
Right beside her, Mephisto and Veilach—also addicted to television—hesitated alongside her.
Right now was when their favorite anime, Zombie Hunter, would be airing.

The last episode had ended on a cliffhanger, with the hunter-turned-zombie nearly being exposed by their teammates, so the three had been eagerly counting down the days...
“Muuu...!”
Veilach bared his teeth in defiance and glared at Guru.

It was a protest—Why’d you have to call Jurim and mess things up like this?
“Biiit!”
Mephisto responded with a kick to that bratty face.

Veilach fought back, smacking Mephisto repeatedly with his tiny grain-sized hands, and when Mephisto took to the air again to launch a counterattack, Guru grabbed the baby bird with both hands.
“Stop it! U-uwunsh gotta know how ta be patient!”
Guru blew out a sharp puff of air through her nose.

“Gwuu got too many tings ta do now, so Gwuu gotta go. Too busy ta watch TV anyway...”
Sniffling, she turned and trudged back to her room, tears brimming in her eyes. Yeongran, watching silently, let out a small laugh.
***

It was true—she did have things to do.
[Caregiver ‘Serhi’s Favorability Quest Complete!]
[Caregiver ‘Serhi’s Worry Quest Complete!]
Because she’d successfully completed two quests in a row, she’d earned a hefty chunk of [Filial Piety Points]!

[Filial Piety Points: 75,000]
'So sooo many!'
All of these points were thanks to Serhi and Subordinate 2 (Not).

Guru immediately activated the Filial Factory and began crafting a few more drones.
Whirr-whirr, snicker-snicker.

As she watched the factory clank and churn away, Guru checked the chest compartment of an empty Chick Drone.

'Would it sell for more if she put Veilach’s mana stone in it?'
She took out the earring that looked like it had been cut from the night sky.
[Veilach Shados’s Star (SSS)]

It was something Jurim had left behind after taking Taemin to the hospital.
He’d said Taemin had wanted her to have it, to deliver it to the Children’s Heist Gang.
Guru had only been able to accept it after being sternly reminded at least ten times not to use the mana stone recklessly.

Come to [N O V E L I G H T] think of it...
'How’d he know it was Gwuu just from the words ‘Children’s Heist Gang’?'
Guru propped her chin on her hand.

'Is it ‘cause Oppaw’s ranked number one?'
For someone who never went to preschool, her dad sure knew a lot.
Still resting her chin, Guru fiddled with the earring.

Veilach had said he couldn’t absorb or create any new mana stones right now.
'Cause he can’t go back to his real body.
According to Veilach, mana stones were kind of like kidney stones in the main body. But since he couldn’t return to his main body right now, he couldn’t produce any.
“Wazz a yooor stone...?”

She didn’t really get it, but either way, she knew this was the only one left.
'It’d be a shame ta use someting dis shiny all willy-nilly...'
If only mana stones grew like potatoes...

'Potatoes.'
Fluffy clouds bloomed inside her head, and then sprouted arms and legs—they were potato sprouts.
Mana stone potatoes that sparkled like the starry night sky.

The potatoes sang, “We’wwy stwong mana potatos! Supreme potatos!” as they tossed a baby lamb in celebration.
'Potatopotatopotatopotato.'
Her head soon filled with nothing but potatoes and mana stones.

'Let’s make one!'
'Gwuu gotta find out how ta gwow ‘em good.'
Just as she picked up her phone to search, Guru tilted her head at the notification that popped up.

It was a message from the kindergarten via the KidsNote app.
An announcement inviting parents to the upcoming school sports day.
Upon reading it, Guru lit up with delight.

'Dey’ww have a sports day!'
***
Chapter: Woojoo’s Awakening

Knock knock.
Kim Hyeokjung, the principal of Yustitia, knocked on the director’s office door.
“Come in.”

As he opened the door and stepped inside, the backlight streaming in made him instinctively squint.

“Perfect timing, Principal. I was just reviewing the event plan you submitted for the sports day.”
The director smiled sweetly, dimples blooming on both cheeks.

Roun Han.
He was the new director, recently transferred from the UK branch.
With his sleeves rolled up, Han Roun gave off an easygoing air, and his physique—visible through the dress shirt—made it hard to believe he worked a desk job.

His light almond-colored hair and eyes shimmered golden in the sun, and his appearance, too, was hard to pin down—part Asian, part Western, with an ethereal quality that matched his features.
From his nationality to his age to his looks, everything about him felt ambiguous.
“There’s nothing better than sports for team bonding among kids. Don’t worry about the budget—spend as much as you need.”

Though he made it sound generous, the truth was the event budget hadn’t come from the foundation. He’d wrestled it out of the Asian Olympic Council.
They’d made a deal after catching wind that the council planned to involve Awakened in the upcoming Asian Games.
He didn’t look even a day over thirty, but his resourcefulness was something else.

Suddenly, a chill crept down the principal’s spine, and he turned his gaze to the side.
There was someone else sitting in the director’s office.
A man? Since when had he been here?

“Uh... Director, pardon me for asking, but is that a guest? It’s just, this matter is technically internal, and... well, you know how sensitive things are these days...”
The man set his teacup down and straightened his back, then playfully addressed Han Roun in Japanese.
[“Oh? Should I at least say hello?”]

[“Stop teasing.”]
Han Roun replied in fluent Japanese as well, then turned to the principal.
“You don’t need to worry. He’s not very fluent in Korean.”

“Angnyonghassseyo.”
The middle-aged man offered a round-eyed greeting with a foreign accent.
He was quite large—so much so that it was odd the principal hadn’t noticed his presence earlier. There was even a sense of familiarity to him, as though they’d met somewhere before...

Why?
The principal found himself staring, trying to remember the man’s face when—
“Principal, may I ask what brings you here?”

“Ah.”
“With a guest here, if it’s not urgent, you’re welcome to come back another time.”
“No, no, I just wanted to confirm whether you received the report regarding the sports day. If anything else comes up, I’ll visit again.”

“Very well, take care on your way out.”
“Yes, of course.”
The principal bowed and exited the room.

From beyond the closing door, he faintly heard Han Roun’s voice:
[“Don’t be so unpleasant, Mr. Amakusa.”]
Clack—

The principal, walking back toward his office, tilted his head.
“Amakusa...?”
Amakusa? That was a familiar name.

He tried to recall the man’s face again, but his mind had already gone blank.
'But... wasn’t ‘Amakusa’ the name of that Japanese artisan...?'
No way.

Surely more than one person had the surname Amakusa.
Shaking his head, the principal stepped outside.