Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Dragon Homeschool (1)
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The kindergarten was currently closed for a break.
It was a decision made in consideration of the abducted children's mental health.
Even though most of the kids didn't even realize they'd been kidnapped.
Anyway.
After that series of unfortunate events, the dragon kids were spending the whole day rolling around at home instead of going to kindergarten.
I watched over the dragons staying home and couldn't help but fall into one particular worry.
'Kids grow up by playing. But is it right to just leave them like this?'
Without kindergarten, they felt way too free-spirited.
They didn't look like kindergarteners anymore—they looked like jobless slackers who'd given up on life.
It even reminded me of my past self.
I stared at Hwa-ryeon, lying in front of the TV and munching on snacks.
"Puhahaha! I beat all the bad guys! Game Ranger is the best! So strong, wins every day!"
Crunch!
Hwa-ryeon lay there stuffing potato chips into her mouth while watching TV.
I scolded her sternly from behind.
"Hwa-ryeon, watching TV too close will ruin your eyesight. And don't drop crumbs on the floor—sit up and eat."
Glance.
Hwa-ryeon turned to look at me briefly, then turned back to the TV.
"Hmph, Red Dragons don't get bad eyesight! I'm gonna keep eating snacks!"
"..."
"Mmm, delicious!"
She was totally ignoring her dad.
Her little head made me want to flick it hard.
"Sigh, hold back. It's just the usual Hwa-ryeon, right? I’m the adult here—I need to understand."
I'm the adult, the dad.
Forgiving Hwa-ryeon despite the urge, I turned to the next slacker dragon.
The target was Su-ryeon, staring blankly at her smartphone.
I called out to her as she peered intensely at the screen.
"Su-ryeon."
"..."
"Su-ryeon?"
"..."
"Lee Su-ryeon!"
Snap.
Only when I used her full name did she finally register my presence.
Su-ryeon looked at me with hollow eyes and replied in a drained voice.
"What, Dad...?"
"What have you been doing on your phone all day?"
"I was just playing a game...?"
"Show me what game."
Hesitate.
Su-ryeon seemed to hesitate for a moment but nodded and handed me the phone.
The screen showed a blocky little world.
“What’s this?”
“Don’t touch it... If you break my house, I’ll break yours too...”
“You’ve been glued to your phone since yesterday. This is what you were playing?”
“...”
Nod.
Su-ryeon nodded silently.
Then she took the phone back and dove right back into the game.
“I’m gonna fortify the house more and make it a fortress... So the zombies can’t attack it...”
Damn.
No kindergarten meant all-day phone fiddling.
Judging by Su-ryeon's hollow, tired eyes, she was deep into gaming addiction territory.
I couldn't bring myself to snatch the phone away, so I withdrew my hand and left her alone.
“What kind of dragons are these... They’re just total slackers...”
Even dragons were supposed to be lazy, sure.
But this was too much.
Even relatively quiet Cho-ryeon proved it.
"Hmmnya... Hmmm..."
"Maaang... Maaang..."
How long was she planning to sleep?
Cho-ryeon lay on the floor next to Mangmung, lost in deep slumber.
She slept at night, and even took naps at lunch.
"No matter what... I can't just let this go on... This isn't right...!!"
No way.
I steeled myself and stood up.
Then I yelled at the three slacker dragons.
"Everyone, freeze!!"
Boom.
My loud voice made Hwa-ryeon pause mid-snack and look at me while still watching TV.
“What? Dad, I can’t hear the TV!”
Su-ryeon looked up from her phone.
“Dad, don’t interrupt my game.”
Cho-ryeon wiped drool from waking up.
"Hmmnya... What’s wrong, Father...?"
Mangmung stared at me sleepily.
"Mang mang...?"
The bunch who'd been lounging like slackers on the floor all turned to me.
Confidently, I declared to the slackers.
"No kindergarten classes, so no choice. Today, I'll teach you all myself."
Dad's confident declaration.
The kids reacted differently, furrowing their brows.
"Game Ranger is more fun than Dad’s classes!"
"...Do we have to?"
"I’d rather sleep more... But if Father insists... I suppose I have no choice..."
No enthusiasm for studying.
To the unmotivated bunch, I said simply.
"By the way, listen well, and I might buy you toys."
Sparkle!
The uninterested eyes lit up.
As expected—kids need proper incentives to study.
"Alright, class starts! Everyone, desks out!"
***
Everyone sat at the dining chairs.
United in their intent to study.
"Mang mang-!"
"Yeah, Mangmung sits up too, for manners."
Leaving Mangmung on the floor alone would be awkward.
I seated Mangmung on a chair too.
To study properly, I addressed them.
Using the tone of a memorable teacher from my past, despite their short attention spans.
"Before we start class, I'll explain what we'll cover today. Any questions from dragons or Mangmung?"
Hwa-ryeon raised her voice confidently.
"I have a question! Dad!"
"Not Dad—Teacher. And next time, raise your hand."
"Hmph, annoying!"
Was she rebelling? She shot both hands up high and asked.
"If we do well, you’ll give toys, right!?"
"Of course. Listen hard, and I'll buy each of you one toy you want."
"Then I want the full Game Ranger robot set—"
"...Nothing too expensive."
I'd buy within reason.
She clicked her tongue 'tch-', but no further complaints.
"Ahem, assuming no more questions, let's begin."
I handed out paper to the well-behaved group at the table.
"First, we'll check your Korean basics. Period 1: Language Arts. Straight to the test. The content is..."
Dictation.
The word shocked some of them.
The dragons' reactions varied.
"Aaack! Why dictation!? I hate it!"
"Hah, a test? Piece of cake for me."
"The time has come to show Father my skills! I'm so excited! I'll get a great score so the paper isn't wasted!"
"Mang mang..."
Hwa-ryeon and Mangmung were weak at dictation, it seemed.
I gently stroked Mangmung's head.
"No mercy, even so, Mangmung."
"Maaang..."
Fair testing.
Once everyone was ready, I dictated the test questions aloud.
"First question: Hwa-ryeon lit the fire. Second question..."
I spoke them.
The kids wrote them down accurately.
I gave ten tricky ones.
"Ten done! Pens down!"
Let's see.
For accurate grading, I collected their papers.
"Yi Hwa-ryeon, time's up."
"Aaack, wait! Let me fix this one!"
Scribble scribble.
Hwa-ryeon used every last second to fix her answers.
"You fixed the first one. 'Hwa-ryeon stepped on red'..."
She'd agonized between "lit" and something else.
Changed it to "stepped on," so wrong.
I couldn't hold back a chuckle at her paper.
"What's so funny!? What's funny about me!? Wanna fight, Dad!?"
"No, nothing."
"Aaaah! I hate tests!"
Hwa-ryeon burst with a bit of rage, but it was her usual self, so I calmly started grading.
One paper had rain falling, another snow.
I'd manipulated the weather on every test paper, then handed back the results.
"Mangmung, zero."
"Maaaang..."
"Try harder next time."
Next.
"Yi Hwa-ryeon."
"What!"
"Not bad, surprisingly."
"Really!?"
"No, 50 points. Spelling and spacing were off."
"Gaaah!"
Better study language arts more.
Hwa-ryeon, unhappy with 50, immediately tore up her rainy paper.
"No way I deserve 50!!"
"The paper... What a waste, Hwa-ryeon sis..."
"Uwaaah! Shut up!"
She was going wild.
I told her to clean the floor, then distributed the rest.
"Yi Su-ryeon."
"Yeah."
"Pretty confident face, huh?"
"Results are obvious. Hurry up."
True.
No need to waste time.
"Yi Su-ryeon, 100. Perfect."
"It's me, Dad. Expected."
Su-ryeon coolly took her paper.
She didn't seem to notice, but her lips twitched.
Not as casual as her words—she was thrilled inside.
'Acting cool, but loving it.'
Chuckle.
I smiled at her reaction.
Then handed the last one to Cho-ryeon.
"Yi Cho-ryeon."
"Yes, yes! Father!"
"Too bad."
"W-what do you mean...?!"
"90. Forgot spacing on the last one."
"Ah..."
Droop.
Cho-ryeon bowed her head at the red mark.
Her horns looked limp.
Still, I patted her head comfortingly.
"You did great. Just one mistake."
"I'm so disappointed... Sorry to the paper that sacrificed for me..."
Slump.
Cho-ryeon seemed really down.
Anyone seeing her would want to comfort her.
But Su-ryeon had no such plans?
"Dad, why are you praising Yi Cho-ryeon?"
"Huh?"
Grab.
Su-ryeon snatched my hand and placed it on her own head.
She held it firm and said sharply.
"The winner should get Dad's hand, right? I got perfect. She missed one."
"Well, true..."
"See? I'm right, Dad."
No letting go, even for a second.
Su-ryeon glared coldly at Cho-ryeon.
"..."
"..."
Spark spark.
A strange tension flowed between the two dragons, the air turning ominous.
Maybe because of that.
They both yelled at me simultaneously.
"Dad, next period now!"
"Father! Next time, I won't lose! Give another test!"
Was their study passion overheating? Hope it's okay...
I worried briefly, but competition in studying sounded good.
"I'm bad at studying...!"
Only Hwa-ryeon teared up over the two's fervor, picking up her self-torn paper.
