Common Sense Collisions
The horned rabbit yanked its head back. Blood trickled down its long, slender horn. With a sharp squeak, the creature pawed at the horn as if washing its face, then bolted deep into the forest. It had only meant to scare her away, never to kill.
"Ngh." Chae Juyeon slid down the tree trunk like a playground slide and collapsed onto the ground. Her face went pale from pain far worse than the wound itself. Why did such a small injury hurt this much? She found the answer soon enough. Because it's a child's pain... Even the tiniest scratch could make a child burst into tears. No eight-year-old could possibly endure having their stomach pierced.
"Haa..." A hot breath escaped her throat. Chae Juyeon hadn't heard the full explanation about Winter, so she couldn't understand why a mere horned rabbit had managed to impale her. She simply assumed it had been a childish mistake. First, she needed to treat the wound. As she glanced around, she noticed several people staring at her.
"Hey, look at that kid."
"Did she really get stabbed by a horned rabbit?"
"It's not even that bad. Just lick it and it'll heal."
Mocking eyes and scornful voices. Was that really something to say to an eight-year-old? Chae Juyeon's mouth fell open in shock, and in that instant she snapped back to reality.
"Hic...!" Cold sweat ran down her cheeks. Getting her stomach pierced in the weakest trauma... She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and looked around.
"Are you all right...?"
Han Yeoreum and Jung Yuna watched her with worried eyes. Everyone else had quietly left. They were being considerate. The Guild Master knew that showing weakness was dangerous, so he'd cleared the area and left only a few people behind. Even when blunt, the master of Yeomyeong Guild was surprisingly thoughtful. Chae Juyeon nodded in silent thanks.
"Ah, yes. I got stabbed in the stomach by a horned rabbit right at the start. It just startled me, that's all."
"Ah..." Han Yeoreum and Jung Yuna exchanged glances. They looked like they already knew something.
"People were mocking Winter for having her stomach pierced. Why would anyone do that to such a little kid...?"
As Chae Juyeon spoke, she studied the two women. Strangely, they seemed surprised by something else entirely.
"Small? Was Winter short in the trauma?"
Winter had been fairly tall back then, hadn't she? Han Yeoreum rubbed her lips, puzzled.
"Yes. Winter is short."
"R-right... Did she have ears and a tail too?"
Chae Juyeon crossed her arms and thought. There had been a strange sensation at the base of her spine—definitely a tail. She hadn't been able to feel it properly, but...
"Yes. She had ears and a tail."
"I see..."
So the trauma had been shaped by her current appearance. Han Yeoreum felt relieved that Winter's original form could stay hidden. She felt guilty toward Chae Juyeon for accepting help, but the less people knew about Winter's true nature, the better. Just the title "pure beastkin child" already brought plenty of advantages. Everything was for Winter's sake.
"I'll try the next one." Han Yeoreum held out her hand—a signal for the mana stone.
"All right. But be careful."
"Of what?"
"You get your stomach pierced right at the start."
The traumas grew stronger the further you went. At the end waited the malice of an evil spirit, designed to shatter the mind. "Something even more dangerous might appear, right?"
"Yes."
"...It's fine. I already prepared myself."
There was no hesitation in Han Yeoreum's eyes. Chae Juyeon handed over the mana stone. "I'll pour mana into you. Don't reject it."
"Okay."
Warm mana that refused to be rejected flowed into Han Yeoreum's body. Through that pleasant sacred mana, the horrific space of trauma manifested. Inside it, Han Yeoreum was beaten by Park Mingyu until she nearly blacked out. Jung Yuna experienced something similar and ended up bursting into tears in the body of young Winter.
**
Let's compare common sense with ordinary people. I walked toward the group with Sofia. Several people were sitting on picnic blankets chatting, and I had no idea how to join in. What should I do? I didn't want to interrupt their pleasant conversation. So I just wandered around in circles until they finished.
"......?"
The people on the blanket noticed me circling and turned to look. They exchanged glances, then shifted aside to make space—enough for me and Sofia to sit. That clearly meant we were welcome. I took off my shoes and sat down on the blanket.
"Oh my, oh my."
"She sat down! What do we do...!"
The people looked strangely tense. Some of them were the same ones who bought vegetables from us.
"Um..."
What kind of common sense were we supposed to compare? I looked up at Sofia, who was still standing, when someone offered me a piece of fried chicken.
"Want some?"
Without thinking, I opened my mouth and took a bite. The juicy fried chicken surprised me. Oh no. I was eating food from a stranger. This was definitely not allowed, right? My ears and tail shot straight up in shock. Sofia came and sat beside me.
"Don't feed her too much. She still needs to eat lunch."
It wasn't "don't eat," but "don't feed." She wasn't talking to me—she was speaking to the people offering the chicken.
"Okay. If I skip lunch I'll get scolded, so I'll just taste it."
"...Right. Thank you for being considerate."
Sofia cleared her throat, and someone promptly pushed a piece of fried chicken into her mouth. She smacked the ground with her tail in protest, but only beastkin could read tail language.
"So, do you have something to ask us, unni?"
Sofia's brow twitched slightly at the word "unni." It was such a tiny change that only my eyes could catch it.
"There are a few things I'd like to ask..."
"Things you'd like to ask?"
"Yes."
Sofia glanced at me. She seemed to want me to ask directly.
"Um, there's something I'm curious about..."
"Sure. Ask anything."
"If chocolate falls on the ground, do you not pick it up and eat it...?"
"Uh, yeah. Usually we don't."
They didn't pick it up? Just because a little dust got on it? That sounded like such a bourgeois thing to do. I couldn't understand it at all.
"Are you all incredibly rich?"
"No, we're just ordinary office workers..."
"I-is that so...?"
Even ordinary office workers didn't eat chocolate off the ground. Maybe Sofia was right—my common sense really was focused only on survival. I had to admit it by now, but I decided to ask one last thing.
"Have you ever tried eating this?"
I pulled up a nearby foxtail grass. It was something nutritious you could eat instead of rice.
"Isn't that foxtail grass?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Hmm... I've never eaten foxtail grass before."
"Really...?"
Of course it wasn't something people normally ate, but surely they tried it once in a while? I was shocked by how different our common sense was.
"Yeah. People don't usually eat foxtail grass."
"I... see..."
I wondered if maybe it was just these particular people, but everyone confirmed they didn't eat it. That settled it. All the thousands of little and big pieces of common sense I'd learned in my world had become completely useless. No, not completely useless. It was still edible, just not something people ate. There was no need to despair too much.
"Sofia, I guess I've been living like an idiot."
"Don't say such strange things. Your knowledge is special."
"Special?"
"Yes. When it comes to survival, you're more of an expert than anyone else in the world. Your knowledge is just concentrated in that area. That doesn't mean you've been living like an idiot."
Hearing Sofia say that made me feel relieved. My tail swayed gently.
"That's right, that's right. How important is survival knowledge?"
"In the end, the one who survives longest is the one who knows the most about survival."
The people on the blanket chimed in to support Sofia. My tail started wagging faster. Fast enough that I could feel the breeze. Thank goodness. I hadn't spent that time completely meaninglessly. Just as I felt relieved, I heard a familiar voice from far away.
"I'm going to kill that bastard Park Mingyu!"
"Y-Yuna, calm down...!"
"I'm going to tear that guy limb from limb...!"
"He's already been torn apart!"
Han Yeoreum was trying to soothe an agitated Jung Yuna. My tail froze mid-wag at the sheer killing intent radiating from her. I quickly said goodbye to the people on the blanket and ran toward Jung Yuna.
"If I ever see that son of a—...!"
My eyes met Jung Yuna's as she raged. Her killing intent made my body tremble. Strangely, Jung Yuna trembled too. What on earth had happened to make her this angry? I didn't know, but it seemed like I shouldn't act up.
"I-I'm a cat, though..."
I'm not a dog, so don't get mad. I said it playfully to calm her down. But for some reason, Jung Yuna's face went deathly pale.