Please Raise Me, I'm Just a Baby
"So she was an orphan."
Se-rin had succeeded in digging up information on the girl. As expected, she was living in a poor environment.
Park Jeong-ah, fourteen years old. Her entire family had perished in a rift accident about ten years ago. Since then, she had been staying at an orphanage.
Since she doesn't have parents...
It seemed Se-rin would have to become the girl's guardian. She clicked her tongue at the sudden task thrust upon her. Adoption itself wasn't difficult. As a professor at Harman Academy, Se-rin possessed the social standing to bypass any complicated bureaucratic red tape. What worried her was her relationship with the child. If she did adopt the girl, how was she supposed to treat her?
"Hmm..."
Se-rin had no idea what made a good parent, let alone how to handle children. She had spent her youth diving into rifts and hunting monsters. She was already constantly criticized for her lack of social skills; could she really get along with a sensitive teenager going through puberty?
For now, she decided to seek advice from an expert. The phone rang for a long twenty seconds before a voice answered from the other end.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"How do you get close to kids?"
Se-rin had a habit of clipping her words and abbreviating most things. Naturally, anyone who didn't know the context would have no idea what she was trying to say.
"What kind of bullshit is this first thing in the morning, Se-rin...?"
"I'm serious."
"Did you have a kid? Did you meet a guy or something?"
"I will soon."
"So, what's the deal?"
The friend was a mother of two daughters and a son. Surely, as a parenting expert, she would offer a clear and brilliant solution—
"Actually, I don't know either."
She didn't.
"You just get along nicely. Laugh and have fun, and if they start straying, you set them straight."
"..."
In short, there was no foolproof method. It meant Se-rin had to figure it out and navigate it using her own intuition.
Sighing, Se-rin asked, hoping for at least a little help.
"What do girls usually like?"
"Girls? How old?"
"Fourteen. Just starting middle school."
"She's a year younger than my youngest. Hmm, what does she like again...?"
After a brief moment of thought, the friend's answer was somewhat dubious to Se-rin.
"Money?"
"Money? A fourteen-year-old likes money?"
"Yeah, my daughter does. She told me not to bother with gifts and just give her cash. Kids these days are so bold."
"...Is there anything else?"
"Maybe eating delicious food? You're a good cook. Try appealing to her with that."
"Cooking..."
She's a mother, so she must know better than me. With that thought, Se-rin engraved her friend's advice into her mind one by one.
Even after that, my daily life didn't change much. I was still a fourteen-year-old orphan, and my routine was strictly confined to the orphanage and school. I simply went to school and returned to the orphanage as if commuting to a job. If there were any changes, however...
"They've been super quiet lately."
"Quiet is good, isn't it?"
"But she definitely had that look in her eyes like she was going to seek revenge..." Yujeong mumbled, tilting her head as she took a bite of her sandwich.
Since then, Yujeong and I hadn't been bullied by Lee Hui-ji's gang. Normally, just as Yujeong said, they would have gone wild trying to get back at us. But perhaps the shock from that day at the capsule room had been too great; instead, they seemed to be actively avoiding me. For me, I was just glad it ended there. Thanks to that, we were enjoying peaceful days.
Yujeong had started sticking to my side 24/7 after that day. She claimed she was terrified of being dragged off and beaten if she was left alone. It made my heart ache to think she had been bullied badly enough to develop such trauma. Just how severely had they tormented her? The original Park Jeong-ah must have been in a similar boat, which was probably why she had refused to go to school. I didn't know what had happened to that original Jeong-ah, but looking at the current situation, she would probably be clapping her hands in approval. With that thought, I took a bite of my sandwich. It had been a week since I started living in this body, and despite my complicated feelings, the sandwich was delicious. Incredibly so.
"How is my mom's cooking? Good, right?"
"Way better than school lunch."
I wasn't just saying that; it was the absolute truth. It was currently lunchtime, and Yujeong and I were eating on the rooftop to get some fresh air. Our menu consisted of sandwiches made by Yujeong's mother. It had already been three days since we started skipping school lunch. There were two main reasons: first, the school lunch tasted awful, and second, my wallet was completely empty.
The first reason wasn't much of a problem for me, considering I had eaten all kinds of bizarre foods during my time as a hero. The real issue was money. This school operated its cafeteria like a commercial food court, and every single menu item was both tasteless and outrageously expensive. The school administration was definitely taking a cut from the vendors. Otherwise, there was no explaining the ridiculous prices and terrible quality. I didn't know how the previous Park Jeong-ah had managed her lunches, but I had no intention of squeezing out my non-existent funds for such garbage. Yujeong agreed, so we decided to bring packed lunches instead.
There were other students on the rooftop who seemed to have the same idea, eating their packed lunches in small groups. They gathered in circles, happily sharing the food they had brought. It was a heartwarming sight, but unfortunately, Yujeong and I couldn't recreate such a wholesome scene. After all, I hadn't actually brought a lunch.
On the very first day we brought lunches, Yujeong witnessed my disastrous cooking skills and declared she would just pack enough for both of us, saying it was no trouble at all. Since I couldn't bring myself to deplete the orphanage's already scarce ingredients any further, I didn't refuse her kindness. And so, it had been like this ever since. Although Yujeong insisted it was nothing because her mother ran a restaurant, I couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of guilt. I wasn't shameless enough to happily eat free meals every day.
Naturally, I still hadn't been able to pay back the 5,000 won I borrowed from her. This only added to the burden weighing on my conscience. I needed to find a way to make money as soon as possible.
Asking Han-ah when the money will come in... No, that's definitely a bad idea.
Even if I asked politely and indirectly, it would still sound like I was pressuring her, so I didn't try. Although I kept in touch with Han-ah, I hadn't logged into Asteria since then. I simply didn't have the funds to visit a capsule room. Even if I did get some money, paying back Yujeong's 5,000 won came first. Because of this, whenever Han-ah asked when I would be able to log back into Asteria, I found myself completely at a loss for words.
I need to make money, but how?
At this rate, let alone buying a capsule, even becoming independent from the orphanage would be an impossible dream. Even if I wanted to get a part-time job, almost no place hired middle schoolers. I thought about doing manual labor using my physical strength, but apparently, even for that, Awakened individuals needed an official superhuman identification card to verify their identity. It felt like I was constantly hitting a brick wall. Indeed, financial issues were the main source of my headaches lately.
"So yummy, hehe."
Even as I watched Yujeong smile brightly, the complicated worries consuming my mind didn't fade.
"Jeong-ah, this is Professor Cheon Se-rin. She is a renowned professor at Harman Academy, the only academy of its kind in the country."
"So your name is Jeong-ah? Nice to meet you."
A woman I had never seen before raised her hand in a stiff greeting. She looked remarkably young for someone with the title of professor. The director of the orphanage, who usually barely spoke a word to me, had suddenly called me in, only for me to find a professor sitting here. Well, I could tell she was someone important, but... why were they introducing her to me?
As I blinked in confusion, Professor Cheon Se-rin cleared her throat awkwardly. Her breathing was oddly irregular. Looking somewhat restless for some reason, she finally spoke.
"Um, the reason I came here is to see you, Jeong-ah."
"...? Yes."
"I'll get straight to the point. I want you to attend the Academy."
Professor Cheon Se-rin slowly laid out the details. From how she had coincidentally witnessed me fighting last week, to how she had asked around to find the orphanage where I lived. It was truly mind-boggling how a single street brawl could snowball into this. I could tell this was an incredible opportunity just by looking at the director's face. I had thought he was a stern man who rarely smiled, but right now, his face was practically blooming with joy. Regardless, I had a few questions.
"Can I really enroll just by saying yes? Without taking any separate tests?"
"Issuing a recommendation letter is entirely up to me, and I've already seen more than enough of your talent. As long as you're willing, there won't be any issues. However, there is one thing: on paper, you will become my daughter. Students without a guardian aren't allowed to enroll... and having a parent-child relationship prevents people from nitpicking, while keeping the paperwork clean. Don't worry, though—I'm not asking you to actually treat me like a mother."
"I see..."
Professor Cheon Se-rin rattled off her explanations as if she had prepared all the answers beforehand. Though I didn't show it, I was utterly bewildered. Going to the Academy, which only a select few Awakened could attend, and getting adopted—all of it was happening so fast. But as always, opportunities present themselves in the most unexpected ways. Let's quickly weigh the pros and cons of accepting this offer.
First, the pros: I can escape this suffocating orphanage. I'll transfer schools and receive a high-quality education in a much better environment. And though I don't know the specifics, being an Academy student will likely grant me far more freedom of movement. An Academy student is, by definition, a superhuman with a guaranteed identity. I could probably even do all the manual labor I wanted without any restrictions.
As for the cons, there really aren't any. If I had to nitpick, it would be parting with my only friend, Yujeong, but that's something I can easily manage with a bit of effort. I can just meet up with her whenever I have free time, or visit her mother's restaurant. Honestly, the pros overwhelmingly outweighed the cons. It would be foolish not to accept. Following Professor Cheon Se-rin would solve almost all of my current worries.
Just as I made up my mind and was about to speak—
"Um, I don't know if you know this, Jeong-ah, but I'm a 1st Generation Awakened, meaning I've been active for a very long time."
Professor Cheon Se-rin suddenly began pitching herself.
"So, I've accumulated quite a bit of wealth. I'm also constantly making money from my professor job. It's enough that I can easily give you a few million won in allowance every month. Anyway, you won't have to worry about financial burdens while living with me."
"And also, um... Unni's house has one of those virtual reality capsules kids like these days. I use it sometimes too, and it's pretty fun."
"Do you have any favorite foods? Cooking is my hobby, so I can make almost anything."
Passed. Absolutely passed.
With a beaming smile stretching across my face, I spoke.
"Mom."
Please raise me, I'm just a baby.