King Dragon Loading-Dock Cheerleader

I arrived at the logistics center.

Until just a few days ago, this had been the place I came to every single day.

The conveyor rails spinning without pause, the boxes piled up everywhere, the workers moving in and out of the floor — all of it was familiar.

"Huh."

On the surface, nothing had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠changed. The question was what the ten-year-old me in those photos had actually done here.

The moment I stepped into the work floor, heads turned toward me from every direction.

Familiar faces, all of them.

"Oh? Jiwoo's here!"

"Foreman! Jiwoo showed up!"

"She really came?"

"And here I thought she wasn't coming today."

"……."

What the heck.

Why is everyone so happy to see me?

A man passing by with a handheld scanner gave my head a light pat.

"You came after school? Good work, kid."

Dring.

I hadn't even been inside for a full minute.

So they really were waiting for me.

A strange feeling.

Well, I'd come here to work, so work was where I should start.

I found a pair of work gloves and pulled them on, just like I used to.

Then I grabbed one of the boxes stacked behind the rail.

"Hnnngh…."

I put my whole body into it.

It didn't budge an inch.

"……."

A little harder, then.

"Hnngh!!!"

It did not move. At all.

Which, honestly, made sense.

I was ten years old right now. I did have some mysterious awakening ability, but that didn't mean my strength had actually gotten any better.

I'd briefly forgotten that little fact.

"Jiwoo."

"……?"

I looked up.

A man was staring at me with the expression of someone witnessing an atrocity.

"What are you doing?"

"Working?"

"Why are you the one lifting that?"

"I came here to load and unload boxes, didn't I?"

"No, what are you talking about? Leave that thing alone and come over here."

The man peeled the gloves right off my hands.

"Hurry up and go change in the locker room, then get back to your real job. We're down one person today, so everyone's been waiting on you."

"What is it I normally do, exactly—"

Before I could finish, I'd been shooed away.

What is this.

Shuffle. Shuffle.

I headed to the locker room.

Inside, lockers lined one wall.

Gray. Blue. Gray.

And wedged between them was a single locker that stood out absurdly from the rest.

A glittering pink.

It was covered head to toe in dinosaur and star stickers.

Right in the middle, there was even a name written on it.

"……."

I opened it.

Hanging inside was a green work uniform.

The hood had a pair of dinosaur eyes stitched on it, and a row of yellow spikes ran down the back.

There was even a tail.

Below the uniform sat two yellow pom-poms, arranged neatly. You know, the round fluffy things cheerleaders shake in their hands.

"……."

I stared into the locker for a long, long moment.

What is this, exactly.

No matter how I looked at it, I could not imagine wearing this to move boxes.

But I couldn't exactly ignore something sitting in a locker with my name on it, either.

In the end, I took the outfit out.

When I returned to the work floor, reactions erupted from every corner, as if they'd been waiting for exactly this.

"Oh, she's ready!"

"Yeah, that's the stuff!"

"Now we can actually get somewhere."

"……."

I stood there with the dinosaur hood pulled over my head and a pom-pom in each hand.

This is….

This is so embarrassing.

The foreman spotted me from across the floor and clapped.

"Alright! Now that Jiwoo's here, let's do this properly."

With that, he hooked his phone up to a speaker.

Bam ba-bam bam-bam, pa-bam pa-ba-ba-bam!

Upbeat music blared across the work floor.

People started moving again.

And I stood rooted in the middle of it all, pom-poms in hand, staring blankly into space.

"……Uh."

So what am I supposed to do, exactly?

A moment later, the foreman noticed me.

"Jiwoo, what are you doing?"

"That's what I was going to ask — what should I be doing?"

"Do what you always do."

"What is it I always do?"

The foreman just looked at me, dead serious.

"Seriously, what's gotten into you today? Last week you wore that thing and ran around the floor for two whole hours straight. Here, look at this."

He pulled out his phone and played a video.

"……."

There was a dinosaur on screen.

Well — a dinosaur costume. With me inside it.

In the video, I sprinted back and forth across the work floor with a pom-pom in each hand like I owned the place.

Next to people running on empty, I was shouting encouragement; where the workload was piling up, I hopped along like a bunny cheering everyone on.

And it didn't stop there.

I could tell at a glance which line was falling behind and which one was nearly finished, and I was tossing around work-floor jargon with a fluency no ten-year-old had any business having.

Every time I passed by, people grinned and found a second wind.

"……."

Whoa. Who is this kid.

Is she actually an elementary schooler?

Why does she look so natural at this?

"See?"

"……That was really me?"

"Who else? You think I put on a dinosaur suit and did that?"

"I mean, that would be… something."

The foreman pocketed his phone.

"Anyway, now you know. So hurry up and get back out there and do your thing."

I pushed into the middle of the floor, where people were hauling boxes.

I looked down at the pom-poms in both hands.

"……."

I guess I have to.

I gave my hand the tiniest shake.

Shake.

"……Hang in there."

The man hammering away at his back right in front of me looked up.

"Whoa! Here she comes, here she comes!"

He straightened his spine and immediately hoisted a box over his head.

"……?"

Was that a coincidence?

I spoke a little louder.

"Everyone… hang in there just a little longer!"

Shake. Shake.

I waved the pom-poms.

This time there was no mistaking it.

The line that had been drowning in boxes moments ago was visibly moving faster now. Hands receiving packages sped up, and the people hauling them moved like someone had suddenly thrown open a window and let the air back in.

"Ha! Now THAT'S the stuff!"

"Jiwoo! Our line too!"

"Hey, don't just take that side — get over here!"

"……."

I walked across the floor, step by step.

"…Fighting over here too?"

People answered with grins.

"Fighting!"

And in that instant.

Dring.

"Oh."

So that was me.

I surveyed the work floor again.

It was no longer possible to call this coincidence.

Everywhere I cheered my way past, people's movements stepped up a gear.

Someone who'd been about to clock out for a break took a sip of water and walked right back to his station.

The mountain of boxes vanished in no time.

Before long, boxes were leaving the floor faster than new ones were even coming down the rail.

If anything, things were running better than usual.

"Jiwoo! I'll give you a big one — come here first!"

"Your line's not even backed up! Give Jiwoo to us!"

Um, why are you two fighting over me instead of working?

"Heh heh."

This felt good.

I raised the pom-poms higher.

"Let's all push together!"

"Whoa!"

"We're almost there!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's finish early today!"

"Now you're talking!"

Before I knew it, my voice was getting louder and louder.

I did one little hop.

When I wiggled my hips side to side, the dinosaur tail wiggled right along with them.

I swished the pom-poms wildly through the air and ran back and forth across the floor with everything I had.

"Sir, hang in there!"

"I'm not even tired!"

"Then work harder!"

"Hey!"

Laughter erupted across the floor.

I laughed too.

Back in the old days, I could've hauled one more box than anyone and not a single person would have looked my way.

Now people were actually arguing with each other over which direction I should walk.

It felt a little strange.

And.

More fun than I'd expected.

At some point, the embarrassment had simply melted away.

"That's a wrap!"

The foreman's voice rang out.

The last box disappeared off the rail.

I lowered my pom-poms.

"Phew."

My throat was a little sore.

The men who'd spent hours hauling boxes, though, were suspiciously fine.

"Man, why am I not even tired?"

"Honestly, I could do another full shift right now."

"You're out of your mind, you know that?"

"Heh. Body feels so good the nonsense just comes pouring out."

Someone pointed at me.

"That's all thanks to Jiwoo right there."

"Told you. We're lost without her."

People began drifting over, one by one.

"Good job today, Jiwoo."

"Really, thanks for your work."

"Our dinosaur is the best."

A hand rose above my head.

Pat, pat.

Another hand joined it.

The dinosaur hood got a firm, squishing press.

"Ah."

Someone even pressed a cold drink into my hand.

"Throat hurts, right? Here, drink this."

"Thank you."

At first I'd wondered why I was even doing this. But looking at it now, I'd apparently been pretty helpful after all.

The foreman grinned.

"You think we call you out here for nothing? On days you're gone, people start crying bloody murder within the hour — but today we finished right on time even a man short. Text us next time and come again, alright?"

"If I'm free."

"Already playing hard to get, huh?"

Laughter broke out around us.

The foreman glanced at his watch.

"Oh, right. Jiwoo, have you had dinner?"

"I had tteokbokki earlier."

"And you think a snack like that counts? You came all the way here after school and ran around for hours. Come eat with us. Go change and come on out."

"Yes, sir."

We went to a sundae gukbap place nearby — a soup spot famous for its pork offal stew.

Steaming bowls of soup lined the table, with a platter of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pressed pork slices in the middle.

Soju bottles stood in front of the men; in front of me, a cider soda.

"Jiwoo, try some of this too."

Another slice of pork landed on my plate.

"I still have some, though."

"That's why you eat more."

The man beside me poured cider into my glass.

"How was school today?"

"Better than I expected, actually."

"Getting along with your classmates?"

"Yeah. I think so."

The foreman glanced down at my bubbling stone pot and shook his head.

"It's hot, so don't dive right in. Eat it slow. Burn your tongue and I bet you'll never come back."

"What does one thing have to do with the other?"

"Everything. Who do you think suffers if you're gone?"

Everyone around the table nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"He's right."

"We can't do this without you, Jiwoo."

"Today alone proves the point."

"……."

I picked up my spoon.

It was warm.

And delicious.

In my old life, I could work beside the same people all day long and not one of them would ever ask whether I'd eaten.

Things were different now.

They made sure I had food. They patted my head and told me I'd done well.

They even said they'd been waiting for me.

"………."

That's right.

This is what I wanted.

Only now did it feel like I was finally getting what I'd wished for.

"Jiwoo."

I looked up.

"Yeah?"

"More pork. Eat."

Another slice landed on my plate.

"Okay. Thank you."

It tasted a little sweeter this time.

On the way home.

My belly was full and my mood was even fuller. There was still plenty of daylight left — hours when, in my old life, I'd still have been hauling boxes at the center.

I strolled along at an easy pace, and that was when I glanced across the street.

"Oh."

A Gate.

One side of the road was cordoned off, and armed Awakened were filing through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the entrance.

I stopped and watched them for a moment.

Come to think of it.

I'd always wanted to see what it was like inside one.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Well, perfect timing."

I walked slowly toward the entrance.

There was a separate gate for Awakened coming and going. I moved to slip through it as naturally as anyone else, and—

Beep.

"……?"

What?

I stepped aside and tried again.

Beep.

"……."

How does anyone get in here?

As I stood there blankly in front of the entrance, a guard watching the area came over.

"Hey, kid. What are you doing there?"

"I'm trying to enter the Gate."

"You an Awakened?"

"Yes."

"Terminal says you're not registered. Unregistered Awakened can't go in."

"……."

I stared at the Gate in front of me.

Now that I'd actually come all this way, getting turned away stung a little.

I guess there was nothing I could do about it.

"So as long as I'm registered, I can go in?"

"Well… yeah, that's about it."

You heard that, right?

Do. It.

I turned back to the access terminal.

Beep.

The screen, red until a second ago, flickered once.

"……Huh?"

The guard went rigid.

The letters on the screen had changed.

He looked from the screen to me, then back again.

"There was definitely nothing there a second ago…"

"Well, there is now."

"No, this equipment doesn't just break down like—"

"I'll head in, then?"

Beep.