Chapter 2

“No one even knows she’s a child. It’s a useful ability, but I can’t afford to let my guard down.”

King Rabbit carefully checked even the newest posts online to make sure no information about Daisy had been revealed.

He wanted to eliminate every possible risk.

“There’s no way I’d fail to protect a rookie hunter.”

Though he was currently trapped in the body of a rabbit, his true identity was that of an S-Rank Hunter.

Reminiscing about his invincible days, King Rabbit moved to close the browser window on the smartphone.

Unfortunately, a rabbit’s front paws lacked the fleshy pads needed to operate a touchscreen properly.

His paw simply slid helplessly across the display.

“Damn it. How much longer am I supposed to live in a body like this?!”

Daisy answered seriously.

“What do you mean, a body like this? King Rabbit is a wonderful rabbit! You defeated the bad guy so coolly today!”

“…Thanks.”

He didn’t care about villains. He just wanted his original body back.

But King Rabbit gave up trying to explain.

There was no reason to crush an elementary school girl’s pure-hearted innocence.

Instead, he offered a mature farewell.

“Good work today. Now go study hard.”

“If I find another strange dungeon, I’ll call you right away! You should get some rest too, mister!”

“I’m still in my twenties—… never mind.”

At this point, being treated like a rabbit was a bigger problem than being called “mister.”

King Rabbit’s shoulders drooped.

And a tired-looking rabbit naturally tugged at people’s heartstrings.

“Mister must be exhausted!”

Daisy hurriedly tapped her book.

The black rabbit vanished in a flash of light.

At the same time, Daisy’s beautiful magical outfit reverted to a hoodie and cargo pants, and the floating book transformed back into a spelling worksheet.

Thus, Daisy the magical girl hunter returned to being Shin Yi-Ji, a second-grade elementary school student.

Yi-Ji proudly puffed out her chest.

“I worked hard as a magical girl today!”

She stopped a villain!

She strengthened her friendship with a mysterious animal companion!

“…Not sure how I did as a hunter, though.”

Well, magical girls and hunters were basically the same thing, right?

The smallest student in Class 3, Grade 2 of Sparrow Elementary School.

The quiet girl who rarely stood out.

The child who lived alone with her older sister.

The reason Yi-Ji awakened as a cool Magical Hunter Girl was—

a promise she had made on Parents’ Day the year before.

Earlier That Year

It was still chilly outside.

The moment Yi-Ji got home from school, she headed for the veranda.

Her homeroom teacher had assigned homework.

Help your family by doing household chores.

As luck would have it, that day was recycling collection day.

“Let’s organize everything before my sister gets home from work!”

Her sister would definitely be happy.

While sorting paper waste, however, something caught her eye.

A mint-colored shopping bag sat in the corner of the veranda.

“What could have been inside such a pretty bag?”

It was probably empty.

Still, with the same curiosity one might have when picking up a cicada shell, Yi-Ji grabbed it.

And—

inside she found a beautiful card.

The first line, written neatly, immediately drew her attention.

To Hyun-Ji, who always brightens my world

“Gasp!”

Yi-Ji instantly closed the bag.

Her heart pounded.

“That was adult male handwriting!”

Hyun-Ji was her sister’s name.

Calling her sister by name so affectionately…

Sending a handwritten card in this day and age…

“My sister has a boyfriend!”

Her face instantly turned red.

“A boyfriend… Well, my sister’s an adult, so that’s normal! Wow, she’s really grown up!”

Calm down.

Nothing to be surprised about.

Let’s get back to sorting recyclables.

She reopened the shopping bag.

Then saw the card again and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Don’t look! It’s her private life!”

She tried to put the bag back where it belonged, but doing that with her eyes closed proved surprisingly difficult.

After opening and closing the bag about five times, she screamed internally.

“Teacher… I can’t do my chores!”

She couldn’t stop thinking about her sister’s boyfriend.

A ticklish excitement spread from her fingertips all the way to her feet.

Fleeing the veranda, Yi-Ji wandered around the apartment in circles before finally pressing her cheek against the cool refrigerator door.

There happened to be a family photo displayed nearby.

Looking at the picture, she silently shouted at her parents.

Mom! Dad!

I think Sister got a boyfriend!

He says she brightens his world! I think he even gave her presents!

Sister’s an adult, so…

…Will she get married?

Boyfriends and girlfriends loved each other.

Her sister was twenty-eight years old.

A grown-up.

And grown-ups who loved each other got married.

“Just like Mom and Dad!”

Yes.

That explained everything perfectly.

Satisfied with her reasoning skills, Yi-Ji pulled away from the refrigerator.

Now she could clearly see her parents’ faces.

They had passed away when she was five.

The only memories she had left were photographs.

As her gaze lingered on them, something else beside the picture caught her attention.

“Oh. This letter.”

A letter she had written last year was pinned beside the family photo.

Dear Hyun-Ji Sister,

Happy Parents’ Day.

Thank you for raising me.

She remembered how her sister’s eyes had reddened the moment she read it.

The memory almost made Yi-Ji tear up too.

Almost.

Then she read the rest.

I’ll be good to you from now on.

When you get married, I’ll buy you a house this pretty.

I promise. Really, really promise.

②Ⓩ②Ⓩ②Ⓩ

—From Yi-Ji

Her head practically rang.

What kind of ridiculous promise is this?!

She had even drawn a house beneath the words “this pretty.”

A two-story house with a garden full of roses, sunflowers, and forsythias.

Apparently, first-grade Shin Yi-Ji had wanted to give her sister the best house in the world.

“Do you know how expensive houses are?!”

Still, she couldn’t simply dismiss it as a childish mistake.

“Look. I even signed it three times.”

A promise was a promise.

Even kindergarteners knew that.

How could a second grader break one?

Yi-Ji’s brain shifted into serious calculation mode.

“How much money do I actually have?”

She had received allowance on Monday.

“The rice-cake skewer I ate Monday cost one thousand won, and the thing I ate today…”

Before she could finish her calculations, she heard the electronic lock at the front door.

Her sister was home.

Yi-Ji hurriedly hid the letter behind the family photo.

A moment later, her sister poked her head into the kitchen.

“Yi-Ji! What are you doing in there?”

“Pika!”

“Huh?”

“…I was wondering if there was any pork cutlet left.”

“Ah, sorry. We finished it all. How about dinosaur chicken nuggets?”

“I like those too!”

“I’ll make them for dinner. Let me know if there’s anything else you want.”

“Okay! Yay!”

Pretending to be excited about the nuggets, Yi-Ji skipped back toward her room while secretly watching her sister.

Her sister opened a window to air out the apartment.

Then, from the veranda, she let out a short gasp.

“Wow, what a mess.”

Moments later, she entered the room while concealing something behind her body.

It was probably the mint-colored shopping bag.

During dinner, her sister asked,

“How’s second grade?”

“The textbooks got a little harder, but it’s okay! I’ve never gotten a single spelling test wrong!”

Yi-Ji had always been smarter than average.

She had memorized the alphabet and multiplication tables in first grade.

She even knew the meanings of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

She was ready to chatter endlessly about it all.

Instead, her sister changed the subject.

“That’s amazing, Yi-Ji… Other than that, anything happen? Anything you want to ask me?”

She seemed to be carefully watching Yi-Ji’s reaction.

Maybe she was worried the shopping bag had been discovered.

Yi-Ji shook her head.

“Nope. I can look up anything I’m curious about.”

“You’re awesome, Yi-Ji.”

Her sister smiled warmly.

The prettiest sister in the world.

The coolest, hardest-working, kindest sister in the world.

…And a sister who was hiding something from her.

Until bedtime, Hyun-Ji never mentioned having a boyfriend.

That night, Yi-Ji stared at her sister’s bedroom door.

“I hope Sister is happy.”

When would she get married?

…Marriage.

The glittering word stirred up an old memory.

Was it at their parents’ funeral?

Hyun-Ji had been running around taking care of everything.

Five-year-old Yi-Ji, exhausted from crying without understanding what was happening, had drifted in and out of sleep.

She remembered overhearing relatives whispering.

“Thank goodness Hyun-Ji is so dependable.”

“I’m more worried about her future. Will she ever get married?”

“Well, she’s practically raising a child. What man wants a woman with baggage?”

Back then, Yi-Ji hadn’t understood what they meant.

Now, at nine years old, she answered them in her heart.

“I’m not baggage.”

I’ll only bring happiness to my sister.

She knew that an elementary school student buying a house sounded impossible.

But she hated the idea that her earnest wish would be dismissed as a cute little dream simply because she was a child.

“I’ll make it happen.”

First, she needed a plan.

Adults always said doctors and lawyers were the ultimate careers for supporting one’s family.

Apparently they made tons of money.

“I’m good at studying, so I’ll study even harder and get into a great university early.”

Then she could become a doctor or lawyer by age twenty!

“…But will Sister wait that long?”

Plan revised.

Become a study influencer.

She had heard somewhere that famous people could sell enzymes and make money.

“Wait… what’s an enzyme?”

To be honest, she wasn’t entirely sure what an influencer was either.

Yi-Ji buried her face in her pillow.

“Sister…”

I need to get smarter faster.

I want to make your life easier…

And then—

at that exact moment—

a strange voice echoed inside her head.

Language — Korean

Mana-Compatible Individual Confirmed

System Initialization Pending

“…Huh?”

The mechanical voice was soon accompanied by text floating before her eyes.

Compatibility Loading… 3%