She was no different from a beast

Chapter 2

—–CROW—– 

“Weeheehoo!”

After enjoying Mom’s delicious kimchi fried rice and stepping outside… hmm.  As expected, it was incredibly quiet.

Ulleungdo.

An island village often treated by city folks as a byproduct of Dokdo.

Hmm.  Well, that’s true.  Honestly, Dokdo is more famous than Ulleungdo.

Anyway, I was born on this island, smaller than Seoul, to parents who built a detached house and lived a peaceful… not quite farming, but a healing life.  Does this make me a silver spoon?

Usually, in web novels and stuff, when someone undergoes TS, they’re born to parents living a commoner cosplay life in the city, and the daughters grow up without any hardships.

Why cosplay? What kind of commoners have a house in their name on the outskirts of Seoul!

A true commoner lives in a rented villa where the parents work multiple jobs, and the child is left alone at home, cooking ramen and watching the house.  That’s a normal commoner!

So, I’m a silver spoon too!

A country bumpkin, but still a silver spoon, right? Cheers!

“Hmm~ What should I play today~?”

I hummed, taking light steps down the hill.

Unlike Dodong or Sadong, the options for playing in Tonggumi, Namyang-ri, a quiet area where mostly elderly people live, were limited.

Last time, I climbed Turtle Rock and got scolded by the police officers on patrol, and Mom spanked me too, so that’s out.

I also did a triple somersault dive into the sea, came out with an octopus in my mouth, and ran into Dad, who was learning to drive a tractor from Grandpa with the dentures, and got scolded for that too, so diving is also out.

‘Hmm.  Then the only place left to explore is… that one place!’

Gajaegul Rock.

It’s not marked as a tourist attraction, but anyone who’s spent some time in Tonggumi knows about it.  It’s a famous fishing spot!

The name is Gajae (crayfish), but it looks like a rhino dipping its snout into the sea to drink water. A rock? A mountain?  Anyway, it’s something like that.

Sometimes, men from other villages fish there, and they often catch sea bream or horse mackerel.

After my victorious tentacle play with the octopus, I can’t lose to a mere horse mackerel or a sea bream that lives like a hikikomori on the seabed!

‘Tonight’s dinner is sashimi!’

Dad will be so happy, right?

Thickly sliced sea bream dipped in *gochujang* and popped into his mouth with soju… *drools*!

Dad, who loves the adult beverage in the green bottle, will definitely go crazy for it.

And at the end, spicy fish stew simmered with green onions, *minari*, and *dadaegi*!!

Ooh. My mouth is already watering! Watering!

Decided! Today, I’ll go behind Gajaegul Rock, catch sea bream and horse mackerel, and prepare a hearty dinner!

Dad, who’s learning to farm next to the grandpas, will jump around saying, “Ooh hoo~ I like it~”.

…Mom will probably clutch her chest, saying her daughter did something weird in the sea again, but it’s not the first time, so she’ll probably forgive me, right?

I am bringing home ingredients for dinner, after all.

That’s all that matters.

“Senior, is this really a good fishing spot?”

“Ugh. I told you it is, didn’t I? Why are you so impatient? Huh? You’re going to scare all the fish away with all that noise.”

No, what kind of talk is that?

How can fish living under the sea be scared away by human voices? Really.

‘Spending my hard-earned vacation fishing with my senior from work…’

Originally, I was planning to stay home and play games, but I couldn’t refuse my senior’s invitation to go fishing and got dragged along.

Well, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to enjoy it as a sightseeing trip… but he wants to fish here all day long.

‘I’ve never even fished before.’

I shouldn’t have come.

I should’ve just stayed home and played StarCraft. Why am I here?

Sighing inwardly, I squatted down, holding the unresponsive fishing rod, and yawned… huh?

‘A child? Does she live here?’

The path here is so rough, how did a little kid like that get here?

There’s no paved road, you have to step on small stones, climb up, and then jump down a height about as tall as an adult’s chest.  She came all the way here through that rough path?

Isn’t it dangerous?

“A baby goes to the island’s shadow~ to pick oysters~”

A child’s humming voice came from behind me.

?? What? Are those the right lyrics?

“Mom is left alone~ watching the hou… Oh? There are already people fishing here? Hello~”

“Uh, uh…. Hello.”

“Y-Yeah. What brings you here?”

“??? I came to catch fish, too.”

A cute girl with pretty black hair and fair skin, unlike a typical country child, with looks that would make many boys cry in the future, bowed.  My senior stammered, looking puzzled.

She came to catch fish? To fish?

But I don’t see a fishing rod…?

“You’ll only catch damselfish here during the day, so you won’t get any bites.”

“Oh, oh? Is that so?”

“Yes. That’s why the other men only come here for night fishing.”

No wonder.

Every time I reeled in, the bait was gone because nothing was biting.

Haah, I really shouldn’t have come.

I should have come with someone who’s experienced in fishing.

I just followed my senior, who’s all talk, and ended up suffering.

And he wants me to come back here again at night through this rough path?  No way.

It’s not just a rough path; if I’m not careful, I could get seriously injured.

‘But if she knows that, why did that kid come here?’

The little girl stood naturally at the edge of the rock, stretching as if she were used to it, and took off her yellow cardigan.

“Do you have any damselfish you caught?”

“I caught a few… why?”

“Hehe. They’re really tiny, but they’re super delicious~ If you make *mulhoe* with them, adding *gochujang* and leafy vegetables… nothing beats it!”

??

*Mulhoe* with these tiny things? Is that even possible?

“I was wondering if we could trade what I catch later! Damselfish are tasty, but they have a lot of tiny bones, so it’s really hard to eat them as they are!”

“Oh. Hmm. Well, we’d be grateful if you did.”

I was worried about what to do with these small fish, but my senior nodded at the local girl’s words.

The girl smiled brightly at his answer and then threw herself into the sea…?!!

“Uh, uh?!?”

“I-Is that right?! S-Shouldn’t we save her?!”

*Splash!*

She went straight into the water and didn’t come back up.  My senior and I hurriedly put down our fishing rods and ran to where she jumped in, but… we gulped, looking at the rough waves and the bottomless depth.

I-Is she dead?

What should we do?  The police?  Should we call the police?

Flustered by the first suicide attempt I’d ever witnessed, I fiddled with my phone… when!!

*Flap!*

“??”

Three mackerels… right?… with distinct white and black stripes, were thrown onto the rock.

The three fish were thrown from the sea in a perfect arc and landed at our feet.  What a bizarre sight!

*Splash!!!*

“Aaaaaargh!!”

And there she was, the girl, with a large octopus in her mouth, holding several fish in her small hands and arms, letting out a strange scream.

“…Is she a water deer?”

“…….”

Well, it’s a bit much to call a kid a water deer.

‘She really is like a water deer.’

So there was a little water deer that ruled the sea in Ulleungdo.

Yay!  I traded six damselfish for three sea bream!

If you fish normally, sea bream are like hikikomori nerds that live at the bottom of the sea, so they’re rare and hard to catch… but hmm.

‘Then why not just go in and catch them?’

I don’t know if it’s because of my invincible TS body or because I inherited the physicality of the water deer, whose dazzling steps would make even a bipedal, top-of-the-food-chain human clap, but it’s possible.

I can hold my breath for about 3-4 minutes underwater, and even though I look like an ordinary little kid on the outside, I have monstrous strength that defies buoyancy.

Truly a physically overpowered being on both land and sea!

“Our Hercules.  Been playing in the water again?”

“Yes! Look~ I caught a lot of fish for dinner with Mom and Dad tonight!”

“Haha.  You’re such a filial daughter.”

“Hehe. Oh, right! Grandpa! Here. I picked these for you!”

On my way home, I showed off today’s trophies to the bald grandpa who owns the supermarket at the bottom of the hill.

At first, he was startled by my water deer-like energy, clutching the back of his neck and almost fainting, but now he’s used to it and laughs it off.

It’s about time he got used to it.

He saw me fight a boar and win with his own eyes.  If he still hasn’t adapted, wouldn’t he be left behind in this harsh society?

“Oh my~ You picked all this?  Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m super strong~ You like steamed oysters, Grandpa!”

I took out a handful of things that looked like rocks from my panty liner, where I had stashed them because they wouldn’t all fit in my shorts pockets, and handed them over.

I remembered Grandpa eating only steamed oysters at the village feast last year, so I picked them up while I was at it… I’m not that much of an angel.  Ahem. Ahem.

Um… I worked hard picking these, so can I have a bottle of cider?

As if touched by my words, Grandpa’s eyes welled up, and he went inside the supermarket and filled a large bag with snacks and drinks.

…Isn’t this too much?

In my left hand, I held the basket I received from the tourists, filled with today’s appetizers.

In my right hand, I held the large black bag Grandpa gave me.

“Grandpa! One cider is enough! You don’t have to give me this much!!”

“Oh, I’m giving it to you because you’re like my granddaughter.  I can’t give you allowance, so I have to give you something.”

No. Even so, this is too much. What will you have left?

Of course, it’s a profitable business for him.

I don’t know if it’s because I, Han Yuna, look like a cute and adorable child on the outside, but possess the strength of a water deer, but natural oysters around this time cost about 1,000 won each.

One oyster is more expensive than a snack and costs about the same as a drink, so it’s a win for Grandpa, but that’s not really important.

Unlike the harsh reality where people calculate prices and try to profit from each other, this is a village where warm hearts still exist.

—–CROW—–