I hesitated in front of the item that Han Seori had brought, much like Daesik does when he’s being lazy. Not that I was uninterested… no, I was more like the Singularity.
Seeing me like this, Han Seori’s face took on an expression of what seemed to be mild distress.
Though it wasn’t a pleasant sight, I told myself that there was nothing I could do about it.
And there was a reason.
What lay in front of me now… well, it was the type of study material one might expect for children just learning language and writing… essentially, children’s educational materials.
It wasn’t that I was particularly upset by the sight of preschool learning books.
After all, my body—objectively as well as subjectively speaking—was that of a small girl. Naturally, since I couldn’t yet speak, it made sense that I’d be taught language through this rudimentary material.
But now was the time for some careful thought.
Of course, I could sponge up these lessons like a sponge, earning Han Seori’s approval. That might not have been so bad.
If I showed promise in this way, I might be able to naturally request what I wanted, and even gain useful information while communicating with her.
But it struck me that such gains would come with even greater losses. Perhaps it would be better to pretend to understand just enough.
I had felt this way when heading into the labyrinth and swallowing that bizarre can before.
If I were to reveal that I had a perfect understanding of language and the ability to write freely… I had a premonition that it would lead to quite a tiresome affair. Right now, I only had to follow arrows, touch things, and swallow—but the likelihood of being dragged into more tedious situations seemed high.
This feeling verged on certainty.
Didn’t they say in the military, don’t aim for perfection—just do enough?
Hide your strength.
Hadn’t I already proven my worth by solving the labyrinth and the can?
Hadn’t I worked hard enough?
While muttering something about how “it’s exhausting,” I noticed that entering and exiting the bathroom seemed different somehow, but who cared? No one was going to criticize me anyway.
Right. I had worked hard enough. Now it was time to rest.
With these thoughts in mind, I stared at the workbook Seori had handed to me, picked up the colored pencil she gave me, and began to scribble on the pages.
“Hmm!?”
Though Han Seori’s startled exclamation made me feel a prick of unease, where my heart would have been, I proceeded according to plan, continuing my scribble on the workbook.
I briefly pondered what to draw—though, of course, the theme was obvious.
Why not sketch Daesik, Sosik, and Alice? Showing my best effort might raise Seori’s suspicions, so I loosely sketched Daesik in his rounded form, followed by a diminutive Sosik and Alice with her golden hair.
I even added Han Seori and Kim Cheon-soo in the corner. She might be disappointed, but wouldn’t she be pleased?
Once I finished, Seori stared at my work for a while, tilting her head in confusion.
From a short distance away, she mumbled seriously, looking at my doodle:
“Hmm… what is this supposed to be? Oh, that blob must be the primal slime… but what’s the rest?”
…What?
She couldn’t recognize this?
Ah… disappointing… she’s a doctor, isn’t she?
Anyone could tell these were Daesik, Sosik, Alice, and finally Han Seori and Kim Cheon-soo!
Why couldn’t she see it?
In that moment, I had an overwhelming urge to write words, but I repressed it. Recognizing the harmful consequences of revealing my ability to communicate, I had to restrain myself.
As I observed Seori’s puzzled expression, I re-examined the drawing I had made.
…Hmm.
Had I hidden my talents too much?
…Even now, if I focused, I could do much better than this.
But drawing again would imply I fully understood her words.
Pretending to be unaware of the problem, I forced the faintest upturn of my jelly-like mouth, glancing at Han Seori.
Looking at my “mouth,” Seori smiled awkwardly and gently patted my head.
Though getting praised for something small felt nice, it left a strange emptiness.
“Uh… maybe starting at this stage was too ambitious? I should probably try a different method…”
While murmuring this, Seori unwrapped a candy from her pocket and placed it inside my jelly form.
Oh?
She was unwrapping it?
What about Daesik and Sosik? What were they supposed to eat?
But before I could dwell on it, Han Seori pulled out more candies, unwrapped them, and placed one on the body of the reclining Sosik and one in front of the doll containing Daesik.
Appalled at the loss of discipline I had strived to maintain, I wobbled over, slurping my jelly, and collected the candies meant for Daesik and Sosik.
“Huh?”
Regardless of Han Seori’s slightly surprised tone, I did what I needed to do—I couldn’t let the discipline I had painstakingly established crumble.
After gathering the candies, I split them in half and personally distributed them to each.
The ever-vibrant Daesik wiggled with delight, but reclining Sosik—ah, you too, huh?
Even a creature as lethargic as him came to life in front of food, returning to his usual self.
Han Seori observed this with great interest and began scribbling something.
“Hmm… Is it that they prefer to take care of things themselves…?”
While keeping a close eye on her muttering without turning back, I discreetly placed a candy into my own body—not because I particularly wanted more candy but to affirm the hierarchy.
At any rate.
Han Seori watched with intrigue, murmured something about finding another method, patted my head one last time, and left.
It seemed that my action of taking and redistributing the candy was not considered problematic.
Soon after.
Han Seori returned with something else, this time accompanied by Jin.
“…”
Whatever they were fussing over, it turned out to be a fairly large TV—wall-mounted, at that.
After much fussing, Jin installed it on the wall, fiddled with it until—click—the wall revealed a hidden compartment.
—What? There was something like that in this room?
As I gaped, Jin pulled a few wires from the hidden compartment and connected them to the wall-mounted TV.
“Hmm… good job.”
“…”
Acknowledged by Han Seori, Jin hesitated before voicing his concern.
“Um… last time, it really was a coincidence… you believe me, right?”
“Of course I believe you from the start, Jin.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
Seeing his face break into a broad grin almost instantly, I felt somewhat dispirited.
That said, the newly installed wall-mounted TV was, without a doubt, an intriguing object.
A large TV had appeared here when we didn’t even have one at home.
After Jin left, Han Seori smiled warmly at me, took out the remote from her pocket, and turned on the TV.
A crackling noise preceded an anchor’s appearance on the screen.
“[Recent reports indicate that Soylent Purple Co., which has long been supplying essential food for common people, will now enter the closure process. The opposition party criticizes the failure… to secure the tables of common people… and—]”
“AH, not this.”
Switching channels briskly while watching the news, Han Seori eventually landed on something…
…something that looked like educational content intended for children.
X-sunni.
It seemed she believed that since the workbook wasn’t working, transitioning to video content was the next step.
But no way.
Pretending not to be interested… well, I really was uninterested, so it wasn’t even pretending.
I reclined lazily on the bed, putting on an uninterested act.
Except Daesik inside Alice watched TV attentively, sitting up. I considered it a success.
Han Seori looking somewhat troubled made my conscience prick a little, but I liked my life as it was.
It would be ideal if there were no more tasks.
Hadn’t solving two big problems already proven my worth?
Deciding to laze around and casually sketch what I wanted later, even little Sosik began to gaze blankly at the TV.
…They’re showing X-tube to kids these days.
Seeing Sosik’s blank expression, I could understand why people called old TVs “dummy boxes.”
If I were a parent, I’d have said the same thing seeing my kid stare blankly.
That said…
If they brought in a TV…
…would they bring in a computer, perhaps? Surely that was asking too much…
While idly musing and wiggling my jelly on the bed, the anchor’s words from before came back to me.
Soylent Purple Co. was going out of business.
If I hadn’t become what I am now, I might’ve been shocked by that announcement.
After all, it was a brand well-known enough to be called the ally of the common folk, a brand I owed much to.
Though… it has transformed into the most hated company in my mind.
Even so.
The fact that such news was out meant… the events from before had quietly been brushed under the rug.
Thinking about that made Han Seori’s faintly troubled smile seem somewhat ominous.
Would not someone of her stature be involved in smoothing over such matters?
Had I overstepped?
She smiled because I was within her tolerance range, right…?
While secretly trembling with unease as a jelly,
“Hmm? Understood. I’ll go now.”
Han Seori, having received a call, left the room.
Leaving the remote on the bed.
…Leaving it behind.
Did that mean I could watch as I wished?
It was a rare opportunity to enjoy some cultural entertainment.
I would just change the channel before she came back.
When she went out, confirming her leave, I aimlessly glanced around and grabbed the remote.
—
A while passed.
“…”
Somewhere between watching and idly wiggling, I found the news channel again.
Soylent Purple Co., gone… the name brought something to mind.
If I had been in a different state, I might’ve felt a pang. It was a brand I had once relied on.
…Now though, it’s just the worst.
And yet here I was, watching TV.
The end.
