The Seed-Sowing Professor's Childhood
BOOM—!
"Ah."
"Jaeheon! Are you okay?!"
Rumble, crash—!
Where in the world was I? And why was it so damn loud?
The last thing I remembered was lying in bed in my room, catching up on my backlog of web novels before calling it a night...
"Ugh...!"
A vicious throb racked my skull, twisting my face into an involuntary grimace. It felt like needles were driving into my brain—sharp, invasive, and deeply unpleasant. At that exact moment, a deluge of memories from before I collapsed came rushing in. My name was Mo Jaeheon, and I had turned seven years old this year.
"Jaeheon, can you see Mommy's fingers? How many are there?!"
"Two... no, three... Argh, stop waving your fingers back and forth, please. It's making my head hurt."
"Phew... Do you have any idea how worried Mommy was when you collapsed?"
I couldn't very well tell her, How would I know? I just came to, so I decided keeping my mouth shut was the wisest course of action. If nothing else, I knew I was splayed out on the ground—the hard, unyielding asphalt pressed against the back of my head was proof enough. And the strikingly gorgeous woman hovering over me was, apparently, my mother.
"Come on, we have to get out of here. We need to hurry to a nearby shelter while there's a lull!"
"Ugh... my legs..."
The moment I tried to put weight on my feet, a searing heat shot through my ankle like a fresh burn.
"Hold on to Mommy! Hurry!"
"O-Okay..."
She scooped me into her arms. She was caked in grime and dust, likely from a blast nearby, but she took off at a dead sprint, her breath coming in ragged gasps without slowing down for a second.
Right then, far in the distance, something streaked across the clear, cloudless blue sky with a sharp whoosh, trailing a plume of pure white smoke behind it. It was traveling at such blistering speed that all I could make out was a brilliant golden gleam.
What on earth was that?
"...A star?"
"Hm? What is it, Jaeheon? Do you see something?"
"No... just something shiny flying through the air. Whoosh."
"Ah, thank goodness. If that person is here, we're going to be fine."
"Mom?"
"Yes, so don't worry anymore, sweetie. Just hang on a little longer. We're almost at the shelter...!"
"U-Uh-huh..."
Before long, we arrived at the emergency evacuation shelter. I had worried what we would do if the heavy, reinforced blast doors were locked, but a green laser beam scanned us with a high-pitched whirrr, and the doors slid open automatically.
Inside, the bunker was packed with refugees caked in dust and debris just like us. When the crowd saw a mother and child stepping through in such disarray, their eyes softened with immediate sympathy, and people shuffled aside to make room.
"Jaeheon, are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm okay."
Thanks to the kindness of strangers, we secured a spot to sit, even if the floor was hard concrete. Still, hearing her say "a nearby shelter" got me thinking... Did that mean there were at least several more of these bunkers scattered across the city?
"The bleeding from earlier... ah, it stopped. Thank goodness... A scrape like this shouldn't leave much of a scar."
"Was I bleeding?"
"Once things quiet down outside, Mommy will take you to the hospital."
"Okay, Mom."
"Good boy. You must have been terrified, but you didn't even cry. My little Jaeheon is all grown up, isn't he?"
"Mmh-mmph..."
She cupped my cheek and gently wiped the grime from my face with a handkerchief she pulled from her pocket. I let her fuss over me without protest. At the end of the day, any woman who had risked her own neck to haul a kid like me out of that war zone was unmistakably my mother.
On a hunch, I patted my pockets and felt something broad and rigid. Recognizing the familiar rectangular shape, I whipped it out with a surge of relief.
"Ah, Jaeheon. There's no signal down here. You won't be able to watch Baby Dolphin right now."
"Okay..."
To be honest, I had only pulled out the smartphone to inspect my reflection, but I saw no reason to explain that. Glancing down at the dark screen, I was relieved to see my ethnicity hadn't morphed into something unrecognizable; like my mother, I had pitch-black hair and dark eyes. Staring back at me was indisputably a little boy.
Well, at least I didn't turn out ugly.
It wasn't my original face, but getting younger and cuter was an absolute win in my book. Either way, one truth was now crystal clear: this was not the world I had come from. People had bickered about World War III breaking out back home, sure, but random downtown detonations weren't part of everyday life. Had I possessed someone? Or was this a past life? Reincarnation?
Having the kid's memories made it somewhat murky. I had always lived an honest life—never even left a single 5,700-character hate comment on a novel... It was a shame I didn't know which universe I had landed in, but there was nothing I could do about it now. Between the figure streaking through the sky earlier, it was obvious this place had espers or advanced sci-fi tech, but fictional worlds with that premise were a dime a dozen. At least the general technological era seemed roughly comparable to my old world, which was a relief.
Rumble, thud—!
The bunker ceiling rattled as the explosions continued outside, shaking loose a fine dusting of plaster and grit. Yet the evacuees merely let out weary sighs, showing no real terror—they were clearly accustomed to this. Beneath the dim bunker lights, people simply tapped away on their phones, whiling away the tedious hours until the chaos blew over.
That was my very first glimpse of this new world.
Once the turmoil subsided, we emerged from the shelter and headed straight to the general hospital, where I was subjected to an exhaustive gauntlet of tests. It felt like overkill for a minor scrape on my forehead, but my mother insisted on a full checkup just in case. In truth, it worked out in my favor; even with this child's memories, decades of an adult life made it awkward to act like a natural seven-year-old right away.
Lying in the hospital bed, I watched the television mounted on the wall to piece together the state of this world.
A world with superpowers... I see, so that's the setup?
Thank god I had consumed so many comics, web novels, and films in my previous life. Modern settings crawling with superheroes and supervillains were common enough. On the screen, a breaking news broadcast showed an interview with the superhero who had subdued the villain responsible for today's "rampage." I wondered if this world had its own friendly neighborhood heroes swinging around.
"Jaeheon, is the news interesting? Want Mommy to put on your cartoon channel?"
"I'm fine. There are other people here, too."
"Really? If you're bored, should we watch something on Mommy's phone together?"
"...L-Later. I'm really okay, Mom. Ah, miss nurse, you don't have to change it either! You can just leave it... yes."
"...Yes."
The hospital nurse, who had reached for the remote after overhearing our conversation, answered in a strangely vacant, dazed monotone. I wondered briefly if she was feeling under the weather, but brushed it off as she turned and drifted toward another patient's room. With the influx of casualties today, the doctors and nurses had to be running on fumes.
To someone like me whose core identity still belonged to my past life, the television news in this world was an endless fountain of pure dopamine. Things that only belonged in blockbuster movies back home were playing on the evening news as daily occurrences! The bigger problem was my objectively gorgeous mother constantly hovering at my bedside.
I wonder... could I awaken an ability too?
Sucking down the apple juice she had bought me, I pondered the thought.
"The test results indicate there is nothing wrong with him physically. However..."
"However...?"
When I went in holding Mom's hand to hear the physician's findings, my idle wish came true.
"If you look at this scan right here... this is a cross-section of young Jaeheon's brain. You see this glowing, highlighted area?"
"Y-Yes..."
"This is the specific region that shows prominent physiological changes when an ability user awakens—particularly those with non-physical, psychic traits."
"...What? Then, our Jaeheon—"
"He mentioned experiencing a sharp, piercing pain in his head when he was injured, correct? In my medical opinion, that seems to have been the exact moment of his awakening."
"C-Can you tell what kind of ability he has?!"
I'm an esper now, too?
"Ah, we cannot determine the specifics here. Because this is not a hospital specializing in awakened patients, our diagnostic equipment and facilities are somewhat limited..."
"Ah, I see..."
"Physically, he is in great shape. Keep him admitted overnight for observation, and once he is discharged tomorrow, I recommend paying a visit to the Association for formal testing."
"Understood... Thank you so much, Doctor."
"Thank you, Doctor," I echoed, politely bowing my head.
Hearing the examining doctor confirm my awakening made the puzzle pieces fall into place. That faint, hazy sensation prickling at my mind... and whatever I had subconsciously done to that nurse earlier. It hadn't been lingering shock from getting hurt; it was my nascent power manifesting.
"Jaeheon, you heard what the doctor said, right?"
"Yes. He said we have to sleep here tonight."
"That's right. So what should we be doing now?"
"...Turn off the TV and go to sleep?"
"Yes, time to turn it off and rest."
"Can't I stay up just a little longer...?"
"Going to bed early helps you grow tall. Besides, even if you weren't badly hurt, you must have been terribly frightened today. The doctor said so himself."
Warm fingers gently combed through my hair. Enveloped by that tender, affectionate touch, I found myself reaching out to hold her hand.
"Okay..."
"Good boy. Mommy will stay right beside you, so let's sleep together. Here, scooch over a bit."
"T-Together?"
"Of course together. What, are you embarrassed to sleep next to Mommy after all this time? Hehe..."
"..."
Knowing she would only tease me more if I argued, I kept my lips sealed and shifted my small frame to the edge of the mattress.
"You did so well today, my sweet boy."
As she lay down beside me and softly patted my chest, sleep claimed me in no time. I had planned to close my eyes just to sort through my thoughts, but this seven-year-old body simply couldn't resist exhaustion.
"Where... am I? A dream?"
Contrary to my expectation of drifting into mindless slumber, I opened my eyes inside an intimately familiar space.
"Must be a lucid dream. I can move my body however I want."
It was my room from my previous life—the one I used before shrinking into this child's body. I thought I would never see this place again, yet here it was. The solid texture of the desk beneath my palm, the plush softness of the mattress beneath my hips—everything matched my memories down to the smallest