You Can Train Parents?

"Ugh. I'm wiped out."

—Beep-beep-beep

Late evening.

By the time I finished work and got home, the clock hands were already pointing to nine. An entire day of wrangling kids had drained every last drop of stamina. On top of that, today had been parent-teacher conference day—straight-up hell march.

I took a quick shower and collapsed onto the bed. I was so exhausted that even hunger refused to register. My hand drifted to my phone on pure muscle memory and opened the familiar app.

My one and only hobby: scrolling the online community. In this grind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a life, it was pretty much the only time I ever cracked a smile.

It was an anonymous site exclusively for teachers—people who called themselves Tutors. The moment I logged in, a mountain of posts from the day piled up to greet me. Every kind of disaster story and ridiculous nationwide anecdote you could imagine was stacked high.

I worked through them one by one, letting out hollow little snorts. Whenever something hit close to home or actually made me laugh, I dutifully tapped the recommend button.

After a good long while of that, the endless feed finally started to thin out. Drowsiness crept in and my eyes felt gritty. I decided it was time to call it a night. If I wanted to survive tomorrow's shift, I needed real rest.

I was just moving my finger toward the power button when—

"Hm?"

A brand-new post suddenly appeared at the very top of the board. The title alone was so bizarre it reeked of someone who'd just gotten completely wrecked by a parent.

...Looks like somebody's properly pissed off.

The title was so clickbaity my finger moved before I could stop it. It was already late, so the view count still sat at zero.

—Tap

"Haa. Fuck."

The over-the-top ad copy dragged a curse out of me on pure reflex. Even worse, some mystery illegal program was sitting right there attached at the bottom of the post. The strangely named app hyped up in the body. Anyone with eyes could tell it was a shady adult ad.

Obviously I didn't click it. Who the hell would install some unauthorized program like that? The mods would show up any second and delete the whole thing anyway.

...Still, if it were real, it'd be a little tempting.

For a cheap ad, the concept was pretty damn creative. An app that let you freely re-educate entitled parents? If that actually existed, it would explode in popularity across the entire Tutor community.

Of course, my mental age wasn't pure enough to fall for garbage like this. I was just about to close the post with a snort when—

—Ding!

A notification suddenly refreshed at the top of the screen. And something started downloading.

"Huh? What the hell?"

I panicked and checked the program that was installing itself. To my complete disbelief, it was the exact shady app attached to that post.

I hadn't even clicked anything and it was installing itself. I frantically hunted for a cancel button, tapping everywhere. But for some reason the cancel button was nowhere to be found. It didn't show up in the app manager either. Forcing the phone to shut down did nothing.

While I was still flailing, the download-complete chime rang out. It was already too late to stop it.

"Ha! What is this?"

A hollow laugh of pure disbelief escaped me. Had my phone just been hacked? I was a total amateur in this field—I couldn't make sense of any of it.

I immediately froze every bank account I had. Just in case money started vanishing, I locked every payment app too. In the app list, a brand-new icon I had never seen before had already appeared. Naturally, its name was Parent Management App.

What kind of disaster is this supposed to be?

All sleepiness had completely vanished. I carefully tapped the icon to figure out what the hell it was. A simple interface loaded, and blue text began scrolling across it.

...What? So it was just a game?

The word "tutorial" made the tension drain right out of me. It didn't look like some sophisticated hacking program. I let out a short, empty laugh of pure relief.

Meanwhile a brief tutorial was already running on the pink screen. It seemed to be some kind of collection game—dozens of characters were lined up across the display. But for some reason every single face looked familiar. Even the names written underneath were all names I already knew.

The second that realization hit, my eyes snapped wide open.

"...No way?"

I looked again, carefully. No doubt about it. The exact parent roster registered at the kindergarten. It matched perfectly. Not just the names—the characters' appearances were near-perfect replicas of the real people.

How was this even possible? Personal information was supposed to be locked down tighter than anything. I felt like I'd been possessed by a ghost.

"Huh."

A shopping cart? The concept was completely absurd, but I decided to follow the instructions for now. Even at a glance this was no ordinary app. Deep down, a tiny spark of expectation was already flickering.

After a brief moment of thought, I picked one character and dropped her into the cart. The exact woman who made my life hell more than anyone else. A black-bobbed woman was glaring daggers right at me. Her voluptuous figure was rendered so faithfully it was almost aggressive. The outfit was the same suggestive office look she always wore—long stockings, sharp high heels, a black sleeveless turtleneck that left her pale skin fully exposed, and those violent curves she could never hide. Even through the screen, a thick, dense feminine scent seemed to drift off her.

But I couldn't let that face fool me. For all that fuckable body, she was the kind of woman who would dry a man out with a tongue like a viper. Her name was Han Gyeowool. A woman as cold as her name. Just looking at those icy eyes these days was enough to make my molars grind.

The system was surprisingly polished. I checked Han Gyeowool's profile first. Tapping her portrait in the album brought up a string of information.

"Oh-ho?"

The profile information matched almost everything I already knew. Height was roughly right; age and job were exact. I still had no idea how any of this was possible, but the data itself was solid. With a strange little thrill of anticipation, I pressed the Educate button.

At the same time, several options floated up on the right side of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the screen. It looked like it wanted me to choose a game mode.

"Mmm. Pretty hardcore for a tutorial."

I tapped Education Theme first. Most of the options were locked behind padlocks, and unlocking them required a serious amount of Education Points (EP). For now I just picked what was available.

Alright. Hierarchy Obedience Training it is.

The moment I selected the theme, the next linked options appeared. Time to choose the education location.

All kinds of filthy maps stretched on forever. Just looking at the menu was enough to dump dopamine. Curiosity had already graduated into full-blown interest. I selected Tropical Uninhabited Island from the open options. Finally the tool options appeared. Education tools allowed multi-select.

"...Oh damn."

I'd vaguely sensed it was adult content, but this laid it out completely bare. This was straight-up adult-game energy. And honestly? That only made it better. Personality-wise she was pure garbage, but Han Gyeowool was still a premium-grade woman I'd wanted to fuck at least once. Especially that ripe body of hers—it rivaled any porn actress. Being able to train a filthy-tempered, smoking-hot mom however I wanted? Even if it was just a game, it was almost too good to be true.

I calmed my already pounding heart and pressed the final Confirm Settings button. The moment my finger tapped the screen, a strange background track started and the loading screen began to spin.

—♩♫♪♬

A pink kaleidoscope whirling round and round. It rotated slowly, almost hypnotically. And for some reason, the longer I stared at it, the more my mind started to go hazy. Maybe all the exhaustion from today was finally crashing down at once. My eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept fluttering shut under that distant, floating sensation. Then at some point my vision blurred and swam. I pinched my cheek hard, trying to fight it—but it was completely useless thrashing.

I blacked out right there.

Before long, a deep, absolute silence settled over everything.