Chapter 24
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: Centipede's Child (4)
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Woli almost never screamed. No matter what, there wasn't a single person in the office who could overpower her by force, and even outside, they were extremely rare.
“What happened?!”
Taeju rushed to the shower room door as fast as he could, but he couldn't bring himself to enter the women's shower, so he had no choice but to shout through the door.
As Taeju stood there flustered, Woli opened the door and came out.
“Get me a towel.”
Woli's voice was completely deflated. And so was her hair and clothes.
She looked just like a drowned rat.
It wasn't as big a deal as he'd feared, and with her hair all tangled like seaweed, she looked kind of funny.
“How'd you end up like that?”
Taeju asked, holding back a laugh, but Woli instantly flushed with anger, whipped her head around, and glared at him.
“Just get me a towel first.”
At Woli's words, Taeju hurried off to grab one.
“What the hell is this?!”
As soon as she took the towel, Woli grumbled irritably and roughly wiped the water off her body.
“You think that's gonna dry you off? Your clothes are soaked too.”
Woli shook her head at Taeju's words.
“I was gonna shower again anyway since I'm already drenched. I'm heading to my room to grab some clothes, but I can't drip water everywhere, so I'm wiping off.”
“Got it. So how'd you get soaked like that?”
“She's seriously weird.”
The comment was so out of left field that Taeju couldn't understand why Woli would say that.
“What do you mean? Calling someone weird?”
Taeju said incredulously. Now that he thought about it, it had taken way too long just to show her the shower. She hadn't even started showering until the phone call ended, which seemed suspicious.
Already upset from getting drenched, Woli scowled and glared at Taeju.
Taeju flinched for a second and raised both hands in a calming gesture. Woli spoke in a sharp voice.
“She doesn't even know how to use the shower!”
Taeju didn't get it at first.
“What do you mean? Who doesn't know how to use a shower?”
Taeju said in disbelief, but Woli insisted it was exactly that.
“Exactly what I said. She had no idea how to use the shower. So I went in to show her, and then she yanked the lever all the way, and we both got soaked! How was I supposed to know I'd end up in some sitcom-style disaster?!”
Woli fumed that her morning shower had been for nothing, but compared to her usual self, it was remarkably restrained.
To be precise, she was angry, but it looked like she'd given up on raging further.
It was the first time Taeju had seen Woli like this, so he found it a bit intriguing.
“Normally you'd flip out, but you held back pretty well for you.”
At Taeju's words, Woli quietly nodded.
Normally, there'd be some cursing or at least some collar-grabbing and shaking.
She'd become much more cautious around civilians since starting the job, but that didn't mean her personality had vanished.
So even she didn't seem to fully understand why she wasn't that upset.
“I don't know, it was like... I was mad, but not that mad? Like a kid making a mistake. It felt awkward to really yell, like I should just let it slide. Kind of blank slate-ish?”
“Blank slate? What do you mean?”
At Taeju's question, Woli furrowed her brow like she wasn't sure herself.
“I told you. She didn't know how to use the shower. Thinking back, she was weird from the start when I showed her the bathroom. She was fumbling around like she had no clue. So I explained everything—shower's here, shampoo's there, all of it.”
She must have felt bad for Hanseol standing there lost.
“And then we both got hit with the water blast. Cold water too, so it was freezing.”
At least it wasn't anything serious like Taeju had feared. When Woli screamed, he'd thought his heart was going to drop out.
“Oh.”
So now, Taeju's reaction was pretty nonchalant. Maybe taking it as teasing, Woli's face scrunched up.
“Not your problem, so you're all casual about it.”
“Well, what can I do? I'm not the one wet.”
Woli let out a resigned sigh at Taeju's words.
“You're definitely off today.”
Taeju wondered why, since he'd made breakfast himself, so it couldn't be bad food.
“So what's she doing in there now?”
“She was staring at the shower like it was the coolest thing, so I turned on the warm water for her and left. Said she'd only heard of it, never seen one.”
Woli said that while wringing out her wet hair with her hand.
“And yet she kinda knew what shampoo and stuff was for. Like she knew about it but had never used it herself? I get why the Director brought her here. She's really weird.”
Woli's last words weren't criticism or belittling—just stating the fact as she felt it. For people living in a place like this, calling something “weird” carried extra weight.
“Whatever! I'm gonna shower again, and check she washes properly too.”
With that, Woli headed to her room to grab clothes.
Since it didn't seem like Woli and Hanseol would come out soon, Taeju decided to think things over slowly.
Taeju went to the dining table, pulled out his notebook from his pocket, and jotted down a few things.
‘Wounds, clothes, shoes’
Just from the clothes and shoes, you could tell she'd run and rolled around the mountains like crazy. But aside from some scrapes, her body had no major issues. Not even much muscle pain.
“Could I run around till my clothes were that trashed?”
Taeju shook his head. Maybe Woli could, but a normal person? No way.
If it was true she'd rolled down a mountain—even for just one day—that wasn't normal stamina.
“Not Woli-level physical ability, but...”
Still, pretty high for an average person.
Taeju scribbled more in his notebook.
‘Mountain’
According to Sia, the place where Hanseol was found was impossible for humans.
“Why'd she go into a place like that alone?”
According to Woli, Hanseol lacked basic knowledge. If true, it was worth pondering where she'd lived her life.
‘Kid found in an impossible place with exceptional stamina.’
‘Knows things, but lacks experience.’
Something definitely felt off.
Most people who came here weren't normal anyway, but Hanseol had especially suspicious circumstances.
She looked fine on the surface, but closer inspection revealed oddities.
This case seemed like a tangled, tricky mess.
Taeju let out a deep sigh. Dealing with headaches like this might give him bald spots soon.
Taeju also considered that Sia was already at the scene. Since the ex-shaman Sia was going herself, he figured it involved gods or rituals.
That made some pieces fit.
“No way... a divine territory?”
But that didn't quite add up either.
Hanseol was passive but conversed well. She didn't seem to fear people. Accounting for trauma from hardship, she might normally be pretty sociable.
So probably not totally isolated.
It was hard to understand. He'd need to hear the details directly.
Whirrr—
“Wow! Ahahaha!”
The sound of a hairdryer from the room came with exclamations of delight. A happy voice—Hanseol's.
She must have finished showering quickly. Taeju closed his notebook.
“Ah, no! Don't come out yet! You need to put on ointment first!”
Woli yelled from inside again. At least they were getting along somewhat.
After a moment of quiet, Woli opened the door.
“Okay, I'll put this first-aid kit back and dry my hair.”
“Got it. Thanks for the help.”
Woli had helped Hanseol shower, even applied ointment and stuck on bandages.
Normally, Woli would've grumbled and done it reluctantly, but not with Hanseol.
Taeju thought she should act like that more often, but still felt a bit proud of her.
While Woli dried her hair belatedly, Hanseol sat at the table, swallowing hard.
“Go ahead. I made this for you, Hanseol.”
“R-Really? Wow! Looks delicious! Thanks, I'll dig in.”
Hanseol started wolfing it down without even a moment for manners.
“Take it slow.”
Despite Taeju's urging, she polished off the first bowl in under five minutes.
“Um... could I have another bowl...?”
Hanseol asked in a small voice, glancing nervously. Figuring she must be starved, Taeju scraped up all the remaining rice for her.
Hanseol was wearing the school gym clothes Woli had given her. Not great, but way better than her previous rags.
Taeju glanced over Hanseol, really feeling how important clothes were. Her long limbs made the outfit a bit short, revealing glimpses of red bruises.
Her skin was pale like it rarely saw sun, but her posture was straight, and body-wise, she looked way healthier than Woli.
The gym clothes suited her well because of it.
The second bowl emptied quickly too. By the time Woli returned, Hanseol had nearly finished eating.
“What're you staring at?”
Woli, back before he knew it, poked Taeju in the side.
“Ugh—”
Taeju hadn't noticed her return and let out a groan mixed with surprise and pain. It wasn't meant to hurt, but Taeju couldn't handle Woli's strength.
“Your eyes are impure.”
“Ow, no they're not! I was just checking her injuries. Poke gentler next time, that really hurt.”
“Even checking injuries, you looked like a total perv.”
Taeju couldn't argue with Woli and just groaned.
“It's okay, these injuries heal fast. Just scratches.”
Hanseol said, having just finished her second bowl.
An impressively quick meal. A bit slower than Woli, but way more impressive. Her manners were perfect; just the speed was fast.
“Thanks for the meal.”
Hanseol bowed politely. Taeju smiled back.
“Glad it was tasty.”
His side still hurt, but he managed a smile.
“Oh! What kind of meat was that just now?”
Hanseol pointed at the empty ham plate and asked. It wasn't something you'd ask about, so Taeju answered awkwardly.
“Just regular ham. Nothing special.”
“Oh, ham meat?”
“Ham... meat?”
Hanseol's eyes sparkled as she waited. While Taeju was speechless at “ham meat,” Woli jumped in. She'd probably gotten used to Hanseol's quirks during the shower.
“You've never seen ham before either?”
“Yeah, first time seeing something like that!”
Taeju was inwardly shocked. It wasn't like strict parents banning processed meat. It was pure curiosity for something brand new.
“You really never had it before?”
At Taeju's question, Hanseol answered innocently.
“Yeah, first time. I've had pork or beef plenty, though.”
Woli and Taeju looked at each other. Their expressions confirmed they'd heard right. They shook their heads in unison.
“What kind of nonsense is this in the modern world...”
“Where the hell did you live...?”
At their reactions, Hanseol tilted her head. She clearly didn't get the issue.
“It's not that weird... I grew up in a really remote place, just me and my sister. Living out there, I don't know a lot!”
Taeju figured “remote” was an understatement.
“Got it. Well, since we're at it, why don't we hear your story from the beginning? What happened?”
Taeju decided to get the story first. He had guesses, but wanted the accurate version from her.
“Sure! But where do I even start...”
Hanseol hesitated, unsure how to begin. So Taeju pulled it out with questions.
“How about your home first? You said you lived with your sister?”
At Taeju's words, Hanseol paused, then started.
“Well, she's more like a mom to me. I've lived just with her since I was little. Oh, her name's Okbun.”
A name that sounded like it belonged to a grandma came out, and Taeju was thrown but didn't show it.
“I see. Quite an age gap, huh?”
“Yeah... pretty big, I think.”
Hanseol's tone was uncertain. Taeju found it odd but didn't press since the story needed to move fast. Plenty to hear, and he could ask later if needed.
“Got it. So what happened on the mountain this dawn?”
“Well, it's a long story. One day, my sister just vanished. Totally sudden. She'd go away for a few days sometimes, but she'd leave a note. Never disappeared without a word like this.”
“What do you mean, vanished?”
At Woli's question, Hanseol looked troubled. Well, even she didn't know exactly, so that was the best way to put it.
“Exactly that. One day, she was just gone.”