Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: TS) She's a Total Beast Girl
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Whenever did it start?
"Haa, Manager Kim. You fucking bastard."
Living this boring life.
My pathetic lot, barely getting off work past 10 p.m.
You bastard. No, just last week he said to wrap it up by next month, and now he's flipping out demanding it done by tomorrow.
Thanks to him, I've ended up pulling unplanned overtime.
I wasn't always the type to stew in exhaustion and spit out curses.
I used to laugh my ass off with friends, pull all sorts of pranks, trade jokes... sometimes even dreaming up or trying stuff no one would imagine. Full of energy.
Back in my teens, friends slapped me with nicknames like psycho, clown, all sorts of weird shit, but we got along great.
Days when I didn't give a damn about reading the room, just showing my true self and having fun.
'How did I end up as such a boring adult?'
The kid I was—who seemed like he'd never change, harmless but wild like a beast—transformed in the cold, harsh reality.
Fantasies and quirks, boldness and cheerfulness gave way to scrambling through tasks at hand, pandering to others, trying not to stand out. A total bore.
Sighing, I drag my heavy feet toward home...
BRRRRAAAAANG!!
"Aaaaaaaaack!!!!"
"......???"
What the hell. Fuck.
What is that thing.
Common sense says roads are for cars only.
Yeah. Even if I'm a former psycho turned corporate slave in a black company defying all norms, I know that much common sense.
But why is... that... running around on a city road where it doesn't belong?
That cry—like a drunk guy's scream, something anyone who's been in the military has seen or heard at least once. Baby beast.
Our proud protected wild species, endangered and designated harmful: the urban outlaw roe deer.
Man, what a rare sight on my way home. Haha.
As a walker commuter, it doesn't faze me much—just some rare dopamine fuel... but in this shitty commute, I offer condolences to the roe deer that gave me a tiny thrill.
It's gonna end up smashing into some poor driver's car anyway and mutual destruction... right?
'......?'
"Aaaaaaaaack!!!!"
The roe deer twists and dodges cars in rhythm with the horn blasts, like a frenzied tap dance routine.
What. Why's it dodging so well.
That thing's reflexes are no joke.
Zigzagging with insane agility, evading oncoming cars like a pro. Not its first rodeo.
To survive in this late-night city and run the roads, you gotta be that good, huh.
Now I've got a full story to tell at class reunions or drinks with coworkers.
While enjoying the roe deer's thrilling performance with those small, happy thoughts... our eyes met.
When the cars stopped at the red light, it paused, looked around, and its black eyes locked on me.
"Aaaaaaaaack!!!!!"
Why is it?
Any normal person would scream as loud as that cry and run, right?
Or legs give out from fear and collapse.
But I'm not scared. Not tense at all.
Thump thump.
That forgotten thrill.
Freedom. Passion. Fun. Joy.
Something from my past I'd forgotten until right before sleep now sets my heart ablaze.
The roe deer's cry, which I'd thought was just noisy and ear-piercing... felt like it was scolding me.
Is this boring life what you wanted?
Its thick, sharp cry pounding my ears—I clench my fist tight.
I'm ashamed of myself.
Yeah. This isn't the life I wanted.
I wanted to live free, always laughing, carefree, ignoring others' stares, having fun!!!
I fling the bag in my right hand aside, and the nodding roe deer charges toward me.
I charge toward the roe deer too.
My body, which felt so heavy moments ago—exhausted enough to crash the second I got home—now light as a feather.
"Thank you!! Roe Deer Man!!!!"
"Aaaaaaaaack!!! "
The moment we leap with arms outstretched in each other's reach and embrace— I realize my gray life, bound by adult realities and shackles, is over.
...
Six years later?
"Yaaawn~ My girl, you're up already... Kyaaaaack!! Wh-what is all this?!"
"Mom! Look at this! I dug it up from~ that mountain over there!!"
I open my eyes to find I've succeeded at life's bucket list: life retry.
As a baby, it was cry, sleep, suckle mom, sleep, poop, sleep... always sleeping whenever I could. Maybe it's that rotten habit from my 20s as a workhorse, sleeping just 3 hours a day before commuting?
Went to bed at 8 yesterday, so I woke up at dawn.
Body feels super light, full condition, so I went for a morning workout jog-walk to the mountain 30 minutes away.
Bonus: as a wild child inheriting roe deer spirit, I brought back nature's treasures as spoils! Ahem!
I carefully dug up cute little matsutake mushrooms buried under pine needles with my tiny hands.
Huh? Isn't the mountain someone's property? Nah, no way! I'm the mountain boss here! Eh?! It's been 6 years!
Born and raised local!
You think I don't know that?!
Left the small ones to grow stronger, picked only the long, thick ones.
But mushrooms alone felt stingy, so I grabbed some sweet red goji berries too!
Body still small and light—climbing trees was a breeze!
"Hehe. Whaddya think? I did great, right?! Supermarket Grandpa with the dentures said~ matsutake mushrooms are super expensive and good for you... Ow!!"
"Ag-gain?! You snuck out at night again?! I'm gonna die! For real!!"
CLANG!!
Skull-crushing impact!!
Ugh!! Br-brain!! My brain's getting smashed!!
The second Mom's nuclear knuckle rap hits my crown, I flop to the floor and roll around dramatically... She sighs at the sight.
"It doesn't even hurt, so quit the drama."
"Hehe. Yup."
Well, she's right—it doesn't hurt at all.
No, seriously, is my physique roe deer-like? Mom's killer knuckle feels like a water punch.
I grin and sit up, covered in dirt, looking grubby as I gaze up. She looks down with a complicated expression...
Hmm, yeah. Parents would worry seeing their young daughter auto-hunting every dawn.
Right now, living as Suyeon's daughter Han Yuna, it's 2008.
No child protection laws like juvenile acts or Minseok laws yet, and CCTV is rare in rural spots like this.
Imagining her cute, pretty daughter defiled by some creep adult... Oof. Parents' hearts would shatter.
'But I could even take on a cultivator tractor and win.'
Experience talking.
Playing one-sided tag with a stray cat friend I found, this grandpa from the hill came chugging on his cultivator. Worried for my daily cat buddy, I body-blocked it—and it stopped.
That old man's face was priceless.
Heard he was so shocked he barely hit the brakes in time.
Anyway, what adult could handle me, who wins even against cultivators?
"Please, Yuna. There might be dangerous people at night, so you can't go out, okay?"
"Hehe! If any bad adults show up, I'll beat 'em up!!"
Super! I'll kick their balls till they pop!
Whoa! Han Yuna, unlicensed neutering surgeon! But unlicensed doc, huh?!
"......"
Mom can't even counter my words.
'Cause I'd totally do it! Ahem!
I beat the neighborhood uncles at arm wrestling! Eh?!
Over there! Sparred with and caught the wild boar wrecking far-off Grandma's field!
Locals call me Peerless Warrior!
"But I don't like worrying Mom... so no going out at night."
"Good. Yes. My girl. Such a good girl."
No matter how much I vowed to live free and fun, I don't wanna be the rebellious daughter troubling her parents.
Only now does Mom smile and pat my head...
"Wanna wash up first? Your hair's full of dirt too."
"Yeah! I'll go wash! What's for breakfast?"
"Sausage and kimchi fried rice, your favorite!"
"Wooow~ Mom's the best! Be right back!!"
Ah, can't resist Mom's kimchi fried rice.
The tangy perfectly fermented kimchi soaks into every rice grain, with corn kernels crunching now and then when it gets bland... Krrrh!
"My mouth's watering already!!"
"Ah, n-no, Yuna? Where'd you learn that...?"
"From Dad! He says it to you every night before bed!"
"...... Huh?"
Of course, Dad never said that.
They're still all lovey-dovey like newlyweds, sure, but no way he'd say that.
As I lather shampoo in the bathroom, I hear Mom yelling at Dad from here.
Hehe. Dad, hold strong as the family pillar!
Not 'cause I never dated or married in my past life.
Nope. Just for family harmony.
Definitely not 'cause I'm jealous of Dad marrying a sexy alpha female like Mom, who's too pretty and busty for her age, and wanna drag him to hell.
...Probably not?