Basement Cleaning Fiasco
That endless ding-dong-dang~ Another day of school dragged to a close somehow. So now what? Run!
"Whoa, look at all these people... Lily, we're gonna be late! Hurry up and run!!"
"Y-yeah!"
What kind of people are we Koreans? The nation that shocks the world with our lightning speed. Standing around leisurely while trailing at the back endlessly? That's a disgrace to our people.
"Whew— this is exhausting."
"Haa— haa—"
I shoved my tired body through the crowd of students, pushing past them. Thanks to that mad dash, we zipped through without any traffic jams— smooth high-pass all the way! Feeling like we had some breathing room now, I slowed down.
"Phew! You're getting good at this running thing now? Your stamina's improved a ton, huh?"
"Haa— haa— Y-yeah... I guess running like this every, every day is doing it. Hoo—"
Definitely... Back when we first started doing this together, she'd keep stopping midway, so even running hard, we couldn't catch up to the upperclassmen who'd finished first. We had no choice but to slow down...
If I ran alone, I'd get there first no problem, but why bother? With so few students, how long could the line be anyway? Just saving a bit of time. But ditching a friend? Individualism? No way— camaraderie and love for country! Korean spirit! Hooray—!
"Nice, kids gotta play while they run. That's how they get tough."
"Uh, y-yeah."
Lily, out of breath up to her throat, mumbled a half-hearted reply. By the time we were strolling slowly, the sweat had cooled off, and we reached the cafeteria. We filled our bellies nice and full at a leisurely pace...
I was the one getting punished, but Lily looked even more down than me, so I soothed her as best I could and sent her off. Back in the dorm room, there was still some time before cleaning duty started.
'Said to be at the office by 8, so I can shower quick, rest a bit, then change.' No point in a full hour-long wash since I'd just get filthy again in that dusty basement. I rushed through in 20 minutes, towel-dried roughly, and flopped onto the bed.
The clock hands marched indifferently, devouring my sweet short break. After lying there maybe 30 minutes? I dragged my heavy body up and stood by the table to change.
"Lemme see..."
I picked up the ragged bundle of clothes next to the notice. Patches of tears everywhere as standard issue, covered in unidentified black stains like badges of honor. The cuffs were already frayed to hell— it looked like something I'd seen before.
Hmm, no smell at least. I threw it on roughly, and it hung off me loose as hell. Spinning in front of the mirror to check the fit, I looked utterly ridiculous. Felt like I needed a white hardhat on my head, climbing a ladder to fix a power pole or something.
No special magic on it, seems like. Just punishment clothes, I guess? Still, with my good looks, even this outfit had some vibe.
"Haha—"
Ugh, gonna die. Wonder when this'll end. Lily, bro's heading out.
Swallowing a hollow laugh at my awkward getup, I opened the heavy dorm door and stepped out.
Scratch that—no magic at all? Definitely some heavy gravity spell on these clothes. No doubt.
"Hello?"
I sauntered into the office coolly, and the young guy at the desk looked up with a friendly nod.
"Oh? Ah, the cleaning duty kid, right? Name's... Seojun?"
"Yeah, hi."
"Cool, nice to meet you. I'm Nguyen Tying Hai. Got stuck supervising your punishment this time."
Tying Hai flashed a gentle smile and pointed to a chair inside. Face and name familiar to any Korean. Seemed way more approachable than those stuck-up professors drowning in authority.
"Have a seat for now. The others aren't here yet."
"Sure."
I nodded casually and sank deep into the chair.
Ha... anyway. These punks getting punished are late? Out of their minds! So damn slow.
I was inwardly chuckling, channeling my inner Marine spirit, when who knows how much time passed. The office door burst open roughly, and in stormed Eric, Vigo, and Soren side by side. Lips all puffed out like duck bills, faces full of gripe.
In those shabby work clothes, they looked even dumber than usual. With that IQ, no way they could handle skilled labor— perfect for holding ladders as assistant grunts, though.
"Oh, everyone's here. Come on in. But who's Eric, and who's Vigo and Soren? Only got the list, no faces."
At the TA's words, Eric scanned Tying Hai up and down and snorted. Looked like he found it hilarious that a non-professor Southeast Asian TA was overseeing them.
"Hah, I'm Eric. This is Vigo, that's Soren."
Eric jerked his chin at his crew and stood there all cocky. Tying Hai didn't bat an eye at the rudeness and led the students to the inner storeroom. He hauled out heavy stuff from the back and lined it up in front of us.
Not lightweight toys, by the look of it.
"Alright, grab one each. These are your cleaning tools for today. One set per person. Check nothing's missing."
Tying Hai handed each of us a bundle of beat-up cleaning gear. What he dumped in our arms was basically weapon-grade stuff.
"...We gotta carry all this?"
Eric's voice dripped disbelief, but Tying Hai just grinned and nodded. Me and Eric's gang looked like a total circus. Long broom like a staff, heavy bucket in one hand, dustpan wedged under the armpit.
Already looking like day laborers in the baggy clothes, now we were junk peddlers overloaded with crap. Weight... yeah, exceeds safe lifting limits.
"Okay, let's head out. I'll lead."
Tying Hai strode ahead lightly, and we lumbered after with our gear. Clang clang clang— total beatbox chaos. Crashing and clinking nonstop.
Soren especially kept kneeing his bucket, tripping like an idiot. Each time, the metal dustpan scraped the floor with a hair-raising screech.
"Tsk!"
Eric glared at him, pissed. "Eek—"
Sigh, this weight's no joke. We'll be wiped before we even hit the basement. I hugged my tools tight to minimize noise as I walked. First day on the job, and we were the noisiest crew ever.
At the end of a remote hallway, a dead-end untouched by feet, loomed a massive door. Surface damp and splotchy black, secured with a huge padlock. Silent warning: stay out, unused for ages.
"Hold up, everyone."
Tying Hai pulled a jangling keyring from his belt. Among dozens, a rusty, crude lump stopped at his fingers.
Click, click— thunk! Sharp cog-meshing echoed in the quiet hall, then a heavy clang! as the bolt released.
"Usually locked, so it'll be dusty. Brace yourselves."
He shouldered the door open— eeeeeek, spine-chilling creak. Musty cold air poured out, followed by a months-old dust blast hitting us.
"Cough! Ugh, what the hell's that smell?"
"Ah, seriously..."
The kids who'd inhaled gasped and hacked. Throat scratched raw— fine dust everywhere. Ignoring Eric's crew freaking out, Tying Hai calmly stepped into the dark and lit a wall lantern.
Whoosh, flames spread, revealing the basement: cobwebs draping like curtains from the ceiling, floor buried ankle-deep in mystery trash and stone grit. I readjusted my iron bucket and thought,
'This is gonna suck.'
One step in, something crunched unpleasantly underfoot, dust puffing up.
"Mm, expected it, but this is neglected bad."
With fewer people, unused spaces piled up. Especially underground— unstable mana flow limited magic, and no golems allowed, so hard to maintain.
"Not cleaning the whole thing anyway. Today, just from here to that back wall."
Tying Hai didn't forget the warning.
"Magic glitches easy here, that's why it's sealed. Not super dangerous, but swing a wand wrong and boom— accident. Don't wanna turn a cleanup into a funeral, right? No cheating with spells inside."
Silence after his words, then I plunked my bucket near the entrance— best air flow, not deepest corner.
I strolled up to Eric casually.
"Alright, let's divvy up zones. Hmm, Vigo. You're the biggest, so start from way back there and sweep out. Looks like the trashiest spot— perfect for your brute strength to shine."
I pointed sympathetically at the dark depths. Cobwebs galore, stone chunks everywhere— prime dust bomb territory.
"...What?! Why me?!"
"Obvious day-laborer material. Gotta learn heavy lifting early. I'm generously handing it over."
"You little—!!"
Tying Hai just shrugged amusedly at the instant discord, hung the lantern, and said,
"Not forgotten why you're here, right? Keep it chill. I'll sit there supervising. Sort zones or not, whatever— just make it clean."
Tsk— limbs not matching at all. This'll take forever...