Dorm Life Shuffle and the Bitter Truth of Hard Labor
An officer in our unit looked around at the group and spoke up.
"We have four living quarters in our unit."
He divided them by role. "We'll assign them based on function: deployment, duty, rest, and emergency call-up."
Four quarters? That got one of the other living-quarter seniors to raise his hand.
"Is that request not accepted?"
"Yeah, it's already decided. Honestly, we've tried this before. I don't know why we're doing it again. Anyway, we'll roll it out as smoothly as possible..."
The officer glanced our way. It wasn't so much looking at us as checking the vibe.
"Anyway, that's how it is! The newbies might struggle to adapt, but we hope you settle in fine! I..."
"Is this some kind of joke?"
"They're doing this now of all times?"
"We've never had the most deployments before. We've always been sent to the other living quarter."
"I hate deployments."
"It's because you saved up so much money."
"Rotating duties is truly awful, and they want us to do it for a whole week?"
"Still, if we get a full week off, it might be okay..."
"What exactly is emergency call-up? Is it just for filling gaps?"
From the reactions around us, it seemed like nobody was thrilled about it.
The stagnant ones had heard that change makes people uneasy.
It was just something overheard, but suddenly changing an already comfortable system must have stirred up resistance.
"End of roll call for today! Meal broadcast will be soon, so take a break!"
Everyone headed back to their own living quarters.
The moment I returned, Kim Heejin threw off the jersey she was wearing. It was a throw with a hint of anger in it.
I flinched at the force, but Jung Yoon-ah, who had already finished making the bed, was trembling. No one paid her any mind, though.
"Hah."
"Why are you acting like that?"
"Huh? Asking why?"
I didn't ask why! I really don't know why! I have no idea why the seniors react so overreactively!
The world is harsh. A world where you get scolded for not knowing what wasn't told...
...Yeah! It's also because my brain is bad! But you know what? Sometimes you just want to be cheered up with a nice word!
"Hey, Heejin. Don't be so harsh. What if Harang cries again?"
"You should just pretend you didn't see it. I'm so embarrassed. That time..."
"How can you pretend not to have seen it? Our Harang's first day here. I even marked it on the calendar. Every year we have to throw a celebration party."
We take in and give back. It's so much that we'd be full just from receiving.
"Harang, are you not managing your account?"
"Account management? I don't do that. I send everything to my sister."
"Really? How much is in there now?"
I opened the bank app after the other senior's comment.
"Five..."
"Five thousand?"
"It's probably not five hundred. Still, we've done a few deployments."
"50."
"What?"
After I asked back in disbelief, I said it as it was.
"50 million won is in there."
I even showed the phone screen.
It was exactly 503,457 won...
"50 million isn't it. It's 503,457 won."
I quickly corrected it, thinking it would be grounds for scolding the next thousand digits and apologized. This should at least get a B grade, right?
But there was no response. Curious, I glanced around and noticed everyone looking at me with pitying eyes.
"...You sent it all to your sister?"
"Yes. Because they give us food and a place to sleep here anyway."
"Still... Harang, would it be okay if I asked how you used to live? It seems like I haven't heard the full story."
To Jung Seung-ah's cautious question, I answered straightforwardly. There was nothing to hide or be ashamed of.
"Anyway, the story isn't interesting. Other people probably had similar environments."
"It wasn't exactly similar?"
While doing nail care, Han Jihye tossed out casually.
"What do you mean?"
"What are you asking now?"
"Sorry!"
One senior bowed her head sharply.
Krr krr. Amid the laughter, Han Jihye spoke again as if nothing had happened.
"Listen to yourself."
Then she went back to nail care. After admiring her now-clean index finger, she moved to the middle one.
Her ears were still turned toward me. She seemed to want to hear more.
"So how did you live?"
"There wasn't anything special."
I summarized it simply. I just did part-time jobs.
Even so, the mood sank oddly.
"...Construction sites and day labor?"
"Yes."
"Parcel loading and unloading?"
"I did."
"When I hadn't awakened yet?"
"Yes."
Only then did I realize what was strange.
The correlation between my current body and the part-time jobs I did before.
Research shows that the appearance and build after awakening follow the pre-awakening ones. In other words, everyone here thought I had a lean, skinny build like before.
Doing tough work like construction sites or parcel loading with such a body made sense for the reactions.
"Hm."
Still, it was true that I did those jobs before awakening.
"It must have been... tough..."
Jung Seung-ah's reaction.
Jung Seung-ah said it directly, but the other seniors who kept their mouths shut seemed the same. They looked away as if it didn't concern them.
After hearing 'blindingly pale' comments all the time, hearing this gave me unexpected goosebumps.
Since it was the past anyway, I brushed it off by saying I didn't mind now.
"So why did you ask about the account?"
"No, um... yeah. We were talking about that, right?"
Of course I wasn't completely indifferent, but hearing my words brought us back to the original topic.
"Meaning... you know how money comes into our account?"
"I don't know exactly. I only know it comes as salary."
"Ah, salary. Plus some extras. Like us, the forward units with many gates and undefined get basic life pay, and bonuses every time we deploy."
"Bonuses?"
"...Isn't it written in the documents? Or, since I just transferred here, we can talk about it?"
"Ah."
Now that I thought about it, the documents had three amounts listed.
I was about to sign off on the astronomical sum, but...
It seemed like salary, life pay, and deployment costs.
"So the others dislike it because the money they earn is less?"
"Less? That's cheeky talk, brat."
"...Yes."
"Where do you put 'yes'?"
Amid the ha ha laughter, the mood wasn't as before. There was a hint of something missing.
Huh? Did I really reach the level of expecting to be scolded?
I quickly erased the dangerous thought and decided to think in a different direction.
So, no more sudden deployments? Thinking about earning money from those deployments left me with a hollow feeling.
What could I do then?
...There wasn't really anything I could do.
"Superhuman Seo Harang, isn't this a bit odd?"
"If Superhuman Han Jihye speaks up, it will change, right?"
"Could you help just once? Superhuman Han Jihye's..."
The seniors piled on, and Han Jihye waved her hands frantically.
Something felt off? I quietly joined in too.
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"What? Hey, Seo Harang."
"Superhuman Seo Harang."
"Don't attach that 'cute' thing to me anymore, how many times?"
Unfair! Truly unfair!
Han Jihye's pettiness was only directed at me. The unfair world.
But that reaction actually made me feel better. Even after hearing my words, no one changed.
I never thought I'd get comfort from Han Jihye.
"Anyway, I have no idea. If it's the same line, maybe, but if it's from higher up, there's nothing we can do. I'm not even the one who got the Hero rank."
"Kkuung..."
"Just adapt on your own. Why, because they're guaranteeing rest conditions. It's not a bad thing."
"Still, it would be better to earn a lot, right? We're getting more deployment signals to our side..."
At those words, Kim Heejin furrowed her brows.
"Before saying that, go train. Don't think about bribing behind my back."
"Ai, can you even follow Superhuman Kim Heejin's strength? Even if we train hard, Superhuman Kim Heejin solves everything. Because Superhuman Kim Heejin pampers us, we never get the chance to show off."
A carefree senior said that. Given Kim Heejin's strict personality, she shouldn't have let it slide...
"Ah, is that so? Sorry. From now on, I'll be more careful."
Passing the buck?
Yeah, if we keep creating icy vibes, everyone will freeze. We should just let the passing go.
"So where do you think we'll be assigned? First role?"
"Since it's like this, I'd prefer deployment. Me."
"'Me' is casual talk."
"Ah, sorry!"
"Just wish I could rest for a full week."
"Are you that lazy that you can rest?"
"Ah! Harang, you're talking!"
"Superhuman Seo Harang? Sorry."
"Sorry comes out first. Kuku..."
While we were discussing, a sound like tapping came from the microphone.
— Ah, broadcasting from the situation room. Living Quarter 1. Please take deployment, deployment. End.
It was our living quarter. Time to eat.
The others said there was an personnel inspection, but since we're an independent unit, we skip those processes... I heard. It means you only eat if you want.
And in this heaven-like environment, most of the seniors skip breakfast. It was probably the same today.
"What kind of breakfast is today?"
"Stewed mackerel with potatoes and egg soup."
It answered like a machine that responds when pressed.
And I briefly checked Han Jihye's eyes.
It didn't seem like she wanted this. No, she clearly wanted more details.
Go back, my gray brain cells. What is today's breakfast menu? More details...!
"Bean rice, kimchi, and stir-fried zucchini are also there."
I grabbed the fleeting memory and brought it to my mouth.
"Right? Jung Seung-ah?"
"Superhuman Jung Seung-ah, correct. It's exactly as listed in the menu."
Jung Seung-ah was the one who judged if this was the correct answer.
She volunteered the correct answer. She was surprised by her own potential. Maybe she was close to an A grade?
"Oh— that's it. Good."
"Ah! Thank you!"
I felt strangely pleased by these small praises, even though I'd heard them many times. It was truly funny.
Han Jihye, who had been chewing on the breakfast menu, waved her hands.
"Eat if you want to eat. The non-eaters go."
Permission slip.
After the seniors shouted Yah! and flopped onto their beds, it looked like watching a cat sprawl out.
"...What about Harang?"
"I'll eat."
"Then I should eat too."
It was probably because I'd be lonely if I ate alone, so she'd eat with me? Jung Seung-ah really was a celestial.
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