Relife Player:Imugi

We left the house with my mother and got into the car. She turned on the radio and began driving in silence while I gazed out the window, appreciating the view of Korea. Despite having lived in this country in my past life, this Korea was different. The major companies were not the same, armed people walked freely through the streets wearing the uniforms of their respective clans, and advertisements featuring the faces of famous players were everywhere.

This was their world now—a world where strength was everything and where kindness and hope were scarce… but not nonexistent. As long as you had power or the right mindset, there was always a way to climb the social ladder. For an ordinary person, that would be complicated, but I was not someone ordinary. Or at least, that's what I liked to think. It wasn't arrogance, just reality. How many people could say they had transmigrated to another world?

I recalled my conversation with God. According to Him, my case was unique. Somehow, that made me special.

That thought led me to remember the strange object I had hidden under my bed: a blue sphere that radiated an intense mana and, somehow, always seemed to call out to me. So far, I hadn't discovered exactly what it was, but I had some hypotheses.

The first option was that it was a monster's ability stone. These were crystallized manifestations of certain creatures' abilities, and a compatible player could absorb them.

The second possibility was even more intriguing: a phantom beast egg. If that were true, my future would change drastically. A phantom beast was similar to a "familiar" in RPGs—they formed a contract with a human of their choice and remained with them until their death. These beings were based on existing monsters, so if my theory was correct, once it hatched, I would only need to check the players' library to determine what kind of creature it was.

Obviously, there were also less serious hypotheses… like it being just a glowing ball or, worse, a bomb. But that last one was ridiculous.

There was something else strange about this object—neither my father nor my mother seemed to have noticed its existence. With their level of mana detection, they should have easily noticed it, but they didn't. It didn't make sense. I thought about it for a while but decided to stop worrying. Sometimes, it was better to just go with the flow.

My thoughts were interrupted when my mother's voice called me back to reality.

—Seha, we're almost at the park. I want you to behave and not wander too far from where we'll be, okay? Even if it's safe, you never know what could happen.

—Alright, Mom, —I responded without much enthusiasm. I didn't plan to play too much anyway.

Upon arriving at the park, the first thing I noticed was the number of Ain (semi-humans) and foreigners. It was rare to see so many gathered in one place. Normally, Ain avoided attracting attention, and although international relations in this world were better than I remembered in the novel, some prejudices persisted. There were people who considered them "non-human" and, in the worst cases, monsters.

My opinion on them…

—Wow… what beautiful people, —I blurted out without thinking.

My reaction was completely honest. Despite the adult mentality I retained from my past life, deep down, I was just a regular university student who had never seen people with animal ears and tails walking down the street.

Some people gave me weird looks. Others simply ignored my comment, assuming I was just a child. The most significant reaction, however, came from my mother, who looked at me with pride. As a player, she had many Ain friends, so the fact that her son reacted well to seeing them made her happy.

But her pride was short-lived because she immediately scolded me gently.

—Seha, no matter how nice your thoughts are… keep them to yourself, okay? Some people might feel uncomfortable with comments like that.

—Yes, Mom… —I responded, embarrassed, feeling my cheeks heat up.

I quickly decided to change the subject.

—Mom, why are there so many Ain and foreigners in this park? I don't think it's a bad thing, but according to what Dad told me, they don't usually gather in public places because it could cause a commotion.

—This park is near Itaewon, son. That's where most foreigners live, and some Ain prefer to move there because they feel more comfortable, —she explained with a smile.

As we talked, we didn't realize we were already close to the meeting spot. When we got near enough, Kim Ho's mother waved at us.

—Seha, dear! —she greeted warmly—. You've already met us before, there's no need to be so formal. Go on, have fun with the other kids. They're playing near the slides.

I nodded and said goodbye before heading toward the playground. "Friends" was a strong word to describe the kids I was about to meet. In my mind, they were more like playmates.

But oh well… if I was going to live in this world, I had to start somewhere.

And this picnic was the first step.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

—Guys, I'm here!—Hey, Seha!—Seha, come over here!

As soon as the kids saw him, they got excited. Seha was popular among them; his appearance stood out, and his motor skills were far superior for his age. Naturally, this made it easier for him to make friends.

Or at least, that's how others saw it.

Seha, on the other hand, had a completely different thought.

"I don't want to babysit kids."

It wasn't that he hated them, but feeling like an improvised nanny wasn't part of his plans. Still, he tried to join the game. He ran with them for about thirty minutes before getting bored. Just when he was about to return to his mother, something caught his attention.

A group of girls, whose faces were already familiar to him, were playing in the sandbox with unusually serious expressions. Seha approached out of simple curiosity… and what he heard left him stunned.

—I would never give this thing to someone as insignificant as you!

—Mother…!

—Who is your mother?!

—...I'll be fine, so don't worry…

—Do you really not understand? Our son has a bright future ahead of him. But do you think someone who grew up without parents like you would ever fit in?

—Mother…

—That's enough. Take this and get lost. I hope I never see you again.

Seha blinked.

"What the hell am I watching?"

He stood there, completely dumbfounded.

"Is this what children's role-playing games are like in this world? Why does it feel like I'm watching a morning soap opera?"

He knew that in this world, dreams and illusions were easily crushed by reality, but seeing little girls acting with such intensity left him baffled.

"Maybe I should stay and watch a little longer."

And so he did… until, after another thirty minutes, he got bored. Just when he was wondering what to do next, he heard his mother calling him for lunch, accompanied by the voices of other mothers.

When he returned, he saw his mother holding a plate with skewers and some Kimchi Jjigae.

—Here you go, sweetheart. Eat it all —she said, handing him the food.

Seha didn't waste any time. While eating, he tried to examine the mana of the people around him, excluding his mother, of course. She would notice immediately, and the first thing she would do upon returning home would be to interrogate him.

He wasn't surprised to discover that none of his friends had significant mana. Some had a level slightly above average, but nothing impressive. Unfortunately, he had no intention of helping the "common ones" reach their full potential in the world of players.

He finished eating faster than the other kids and, after a few seconds of hesitation, asked his mother:

—Mom, can I go back to the playground?

His mother raised an eyebrow, surprised.

—Sweetheart, don't you want to wait for your friends to finish?

Seha thought of an excuse, but after a moment of reflection, he decided to tell a half-truth.

—It's just that I want to use the slides while they're still empty… —he explained, pretending to be slightly embarrassed.

His mother looked at him with a mix of understanding and resignation.

—Alright. Go ahead, but come back in an hour so we can leave.

Wasting no time, Seha got up and headed back to the playground.

He approached the sandbox and sat down, beginning to practice his mana control. He wasn't there to play but rather because he thought shaping the sand with his energy would be a good exercise to refine his control. Since he didn't have enough mana to manipulate it directly, this was his best option for now.

Thirty minutes later, he stopped to rest.

—The limitations of having so little mana really don't help… I feel like I just ran a marathon, and my hands are itching —he muttered to himself.

Just as he was about to resume his practice, he felt someone's gaze on him.

He lifted his head and found a girl watching him with curiosity… and shyness?

She had black hair tied up in a high ponytail and distinctly Japanese features. Her expression was somewhat sharp, but instead of making her look intimidating, it only made her look cuter.

—Hello? —Seha greeted, somewhat confused.

The girl flinched, and upon realizing she had been caught, she ran to hide behind the slide, peeking out timidly from there.

Seha had to hold back a laugh.

"This is the first time I've seen someone act this adorably."

Not wanting to be rude, he decided to play along.

—Hi, how are you?

The girl seemed reluctant to respond. She looked at him cautiously, and when she finally opened her mouth, she said something that caught him completely off guard.

—Don't you hate me because I'm a foreigner? Don't you want me to leave?

She tilted her head with a pained expression, as if she were used to being rejected.

Seha blinked, surprised.

—Why would I ask you that? Why would I want you to leave?

The girl hesitated before answering in a quiet voice:

—The first time I came here, the other kids told me I was an ugly foreigner and that I should go back to my country and never come back… So now I only come at this hour, when no one else is around.

Seha looked at her in silence, finally understanding the reason for her behavior.

She was just a child afraid of being rejected again.

"She's only five years old…"

His thoughts became clearer, and after a few seconds of reflection, he gave her a bright smile.

—Why would I hate you just because you're a foreigner? Also, you shouldn't listen to those idiots who told you that you were ugly. You're a very pretty girl, you should have more confidence.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. Her face turned a little red upon hearing his words.

Seha, on the other hand, simply continued naturally.

—Why don't we introduce ourselves? My name is Yoo Seha. What's yours?

He didn't think too much about this encounter. To him, it was just a fleeting moment in which he helped a girl overcome her insecurity.

But when he heard her response, all his thoughts vanished.

—My name is Kaede… Kaede Hoshimiya.

At that moment, something changed inside him.

"No way..."

His encounter with her… wouldn't be as simple as he had thought.