Guru stepped into the hallway and checked her current location. In her head, the internal map she’d seen earlier unfolded.
Ever since the system update, Guru had developed some specialties.
She could remember anything she saw once. And she could accurately grasp the structure and form of objects.
The two-dimensional map in her head started forming a three-dimensional skeleton, building out its shape. She rotated the 3D structure this way and that, confirmed her current position based on what she saw earlier, and marked the distance she’d moved through the vent. Then she read the label written on the space below.
“Casino.”
Guru hunched down and slipped into the casino, using the security guard’s blind spot to sneak in.
“Ooooh!”
Inside the casino was a different world entirely.
Eyes sparkling, Guru wandered between the spinning machines.
The adults, with hollowed-out gazes, sat in front of the machines with stacks of coins, pressing buttons nonstop.
On the screens, fruit and numbers whirled past.
Just then, Guru picked up a coin that had rolled onto the floor.
“You push this?”
Ding!
[7777]
Coins poured out with a shaaaaaa.
Every single adult with wide, startled eyes turned to look at the machine Guru had touched.
“Ack!”
Startled, Guru slipped away between people like a mudfish.
Now, casino staff were casting suspicious glances her way. It wasn’t just anywhere—this place was clearly not meant for a little kid.
Noticing the looks, Guru subtly slipped in behind a couple, acting like a child who had followed her parents.
The suspicious gazes soon faded.
Just as Guru thought she’d skillfully escaped a crisis with incredible improvisation—
The couple bent down toward her.
“Oh my goodness, how cute! Who are you, sweetie?”
“I’m Hanguru!”
Guru grinned brightly as she introduced herself, making the couple laugh between themselves.
“I see! So full of energy. Hmm, you didn’t come here alone, right? Where are your mom and dad?”
Guru just smiled sweetly, pretending not to understand.
“Want me to help you find them?”
“No, issokay~”
Guru shook her head and trotted away.
The couple assumed her parents were just nearby and turned their attention elsewhere.
“Infiltration: Perfect.”
With a grin spreading across her face, Guru reached her destination, high on the thrill of a flawless sneak.
[Authorized Personnel Only]
A red line slashed across the sign.
This was the space below the vent. The place where the villains were plotting.
“Watch: ready.”
She was ready to summon Jurim.
Now, Guru could crush the villains’ conspiracy and set up a meeting between Jurim and Suhyeong!
“Smart!”
Just as she beamed with pride and reached to open the door—
Thunk.
Her tiny hand froze on the doorknob at the sudden interference.
“A foot?!”
Someone had stuck out their foot to block the center of the door.
“An interrupter!”
Guru looked up to see who it was—
—and her mouth fell open.
“Pretty...”
Mismatched eyes—one blue, one amber—were framed by upturned cat-like eyes that gave him a feline look.
Guru stared at him, captivated. And the boy stared back at her just as intently.
A few seconds passed as they locked eyes.
From inside the thick door came the muffled sound of men’s voices.
It wasn’t clear what they were saying, but the tone was frantic.
Aaaah, what the—argh!
Screaming?
What’s happening in there?
Guru swallowed hard.
Could the plan already be in motion? She wanted to go in and check.
She looked up at the boy with desperate eyes—but he only stared at her, unmoving, still blocking the door with his foot.
Was he working with the villains?
Whatever the reason, one thing was clear—
“He’s an interrupter!”
Just as Guru braced herself to call Jurim if needed and opened her mouth to tell him to move—
The boy spoke in a low voice.
“Your name’s Guru?”
Gasp!
“How’d you know?!”
She hadn’t even done a bellybutton-bow yet! Guru took a step back, eyes wide.
The boy gestured with his eyes at her name tag.
Ah, right. They’d given her a name tag when she entered the kids’ center.
“Then don’t go in there right now.”
“Huh? Why not?”
What does knowing her name have to do with not being allowed to go near the villains?
But the boy gave an even more confusing answer.
“Because my friend’s little sister has the same name. That’s why.”
And then... nothing.
He didn’t continue. Instead, he started chewing his gum again like he wasn’t planning to explain further.
Guru, still standing quietly, asked,
“Your fwiend’s wittle sistew’s name is Gwuwoo too?”
“Maybe? It is spelled Guru, though.”
Wow! In her not-so-short four years of life, Guru had never met another child named Guru.
“Guru has always just been Guru! I’ve never seen another Guru except Guru!”
At the verbal bombardment of Guru-Guru-Guru, the boy tilted his head slightly.
“......Was that some kind of pun or something?”
“Whaddoya meany?”
“I’m still, like, my Korean’s super bad. You get it.”
Guess I have to get it. Brown hair, mismatched eyes—this interrupter definitely seemed like a foreigner.
As a sign of understanding his situation, Guru nodded her head up and down.
But honestly, judging by his reaction to the word “whaddoya meany,” he might know even less Korean than Guru.
“Anyway, ‘Guru’ is a word I can read, so I helped you. Okay?”
Okay what? She had no idea what that had to do with anything. But this was the moment for the universal answer.
“Yeeaah...”
She answered obediently, but her gaze was already back on the door. Beyond it, the sounds of crashing and things breaking had started.
“Then when can Guru go inside?”
“In a little bit.”
“A little bit...”
Guru nodded once.
Either way, with two people blocking the door, there was no way the villains could escape.
Instead, Guru stared hard at the boy.
Looking bored, the boy blew a bubble with his gum. Pop!
“Oppa.”
For a second, the boy’s eyes snapped open wide. He glanced around in surprise and then pointed at himself.
“Me?”
“Yeeaah.”
Oppa? Serhi’s eyes darted, flustered.
Right. In Korea, “oppa” was just something girls called older boys they were close with.
He’d never heard anyone call him that before—no family, no one in his life had ever used the term.
Caught off guard, he answered clumsily.
“Uh... yeah. What?”
“Is your friend’s Guru’s hair yellow too?”
“No clue, not that far...”
How would he know what his game friend’s little sister’s hair color was?
As he met her soft coral eyes, the boy scanned the child’s face.
I think I get what she meant by that.
He hadn’t lived in Korea that long, but he’d already felt the way its ethnically homogeneous culture could be... exclusive.
That flashy platinum-blonde hair and those soft coral eyes—
In a crowd of black hair and dark eyes, she probably stood out way too much.
He remembered how people used to stare at his different-colored eyes back in his own country.
Recalling the “harmless attention” people gave with mixed motives, Serhi struggled to get his words out.
“Yellow Guru’s better. You look like a baby chick.”
He finally pushed the words out, then scratched his cheek shyly.
Outside of assigned missions, he barely talked to anyone. Even a simple chat like this felt like uncharted territory.
Was that too cheesy? He started to second-guess himself.
But Guru’s cheeks turned red, and /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ she giggled with a goofy grin.
Only then did Serhi relax and crack a small smile of his own.
At that moment, realizing the situation inside was over, Serhi lowered his foot.
“You can go in now.”
“Ah, okayy!”
He gave a quiet laugh and gently ruffled her little head.
“See ya, Yellow Guru.”
Ding!
[Prospective Caregiver detected. If Affection Index increases, caregiver registration is possible.]
S-Rank?

Comments

Loading...