I am back – Chapter 136

The phrase “It’s usually a polite way of saying that ‘it wasn’t hard to work.'”

If the person saying it has a very positive personality, then sure, they might genuinely believe it. There are people who, even after sweating away at work, look at someone next to them working even harder and think, “Ah, I had it easy.”

But most of the time, people say it to avoid hurting the feelings of those who assigned the work or worked alongside them. It’s synonymous with saying, “I’m okay.” It’s just a polite phrase for smoothing over relationships.

I watched Ga-young working hard, and it was clear she wasn’t able to say, “It wasn’t hard at all,” given her serious demeanor.

Moreover, I even thought, “She looks too exhausted to suggest having dinner.”

“I’m… doing this kind of volunteer activity for the first time.”

However, the more we talked, the less Ga-young’s words felt like mere politeness.

“Didn’t you do volunteer work in middle school?”

As Ga-young spoke, my older sister asked a little surprised.

“Oh, well… the typical volunteer activities are often done to earn volunteer hours.”

Ga-young replied with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“I usually did something like environmental cleanup. Picking up trash in Seoul parks and stuff.”

“That’s still helpful to others, so it qualifies as volunteer work.”

As my sister smiled and said this, Ga-young tilted her head.

“Umm….”

It seemed difficult for her to fully comprehend.

I could understand Ga-young’s feelings. Even if you’re cleaning a park, not many people genuinely go around picking up trash with enthusiasm. Even if someone does work hard at it, there’s usually some sort of reason behind it. For instance, if you don’t collect a certain amount of trash or get a minimum certification, no volunteer hours will be granted.

In reality, even if it’s done half-heartedly, such volunteer activities are often packed with kids who need the hours, so the impact is guaranteed. Since it’s volunteer work, there’s no need to spend additional costs, which isn’t bad.

In some sense, this volunteer activity where money is just taken from the church might seem a bit strange.

I don’t know exactly how the church operated under the Pastor’s guidance… but it probably isn’t a church aimed at accumulating wealth. Perhaps the surplus money is used to help people?

…Hmm, maybe a portion of the amount donated by the Goddess is being used, too.

“But still, it was my first time helping someone without expecting anything in return…”

At Ga-young’s words, we exchanged glances.

Helping someone without expecting anything in return.

On one hand, that’s true, but on the other, it’s also not quite right.

If you’re doing it with the hope that the world gets better, that, after all, means you have some kind of wish. It’s just that you don’t expect anything directly from those you help.

Whether it’s for personal satisfaction, beliefs, or faith, we help others because we have something we wish for. I felt the same way.

In this world, it’s good for everyone to live by helping each other.

That sentiment is based on the assumption that if I help someone, someday someone might help me too.

But conversely, if you don’t have any hopes from the people directly receiving help, or from the organizers of that volunteer activity, it means that for others, you don’t seem to have anything you wish for at all.

“Ah, I see.”

My sister nodded at Ga-young’s words without trying to argue.

“Ah, um, so!”

Not taking the serene atmosphere that had settled very well, Ga-young seemed even more flustered and hurried.

“So, I quite enjoyed it!”

“…….”

We briefly fell silent.

The first to speak up was Pia.

“It’s a good thing to find joy in helping others. Ga-young, you’re a good person.”

Seeing Pia say that with a nonchalant expression, Ga-young’s face turned bright red.

“Yeah, I think you could be a little prouder.”

With Arna chiming in from the side, Ga-young’s face grew even redder.

And without being able to say anything, she pulled the cup in front of her closer and started sipping through a straw.

Honestly, it was quite a funny sight, but as I saw her like that, I held back my laughter, fearing Ga-young might completely shrink into herself if I burst out.

*

My colleagues have righteous personalities.

And that doesn’t mean they’re naive or anything.

They have the ability to see through lies if the other person has malicious intent, and they also have a decent amount of experience. When you confront evil in various ways, you get a sense of what that evil looks like and how it operates.

So naturally, they could tell whether Ga-young was lying or not.

Saying that the volunteer activity was enjoyable wasn’t exactly an unforgivable lie. Actually, complaining to the people you volunteered with might be considered improper.

But even so, I didn’t feel like it was a lie. Looking at Ga-young smiling brightly among us made it hard to think she was acting.

Because of that, Ga-young seemed to leave a very good impression on my colleagues with their righteous characters.


Even if some people feel awkward or shy around others, if the target of that awkwardness keeps approaching and talking with a smile, that awkwardness disappears whether you like it or not.

“Hey, you know.”

As I was watching Ga-young chatting with my colleagues, someone poked me in the back.

“Huh?”

I turned my head to find Dana looking down at me slightly.

“Dana?”

She asked in a small voice, “In this country, aren’t there compulsory education requirements that everyone has to attend school even if they don’t want to?”

“Um… right?”

I think it’s until middle school? Of course, most people go until high school, and even if they drop out, it’s common for them to leave after attending high school for a while. From what I can tell, high school isn’t necessarily mandatory education.

But compared to the lives of commoners in Irrelaysia, including elementary and middle school, the nine years of education seem very lengthy. No matter how important human resources are, this kingdom is different from this side of the world where “everyone is equal” is written into law.

Education was fundamentally the right of those with money. Even if it seemed quite basic by the standards of this world, it certainly wasn’t something that’s easily accessible.

“Yet when we converse, it doesn’t seem that different from our world…”

“…….”

Hmm.

What you learn in compulsory education is just laying the groundwork for further learning. I think I heard that you have to relearn everything when you go to university… Well, I don’t really know since I haven’t been to college myself.

However, the fundamental knowledge is indeed basic in terms of our world, but not so much from the perspective of Irrelaysia. In an environment where there’s no foundation, the theories and achievements that might take decades of research to produce.

But you can’t really do anything with just memorized basic knowledge. It’s impossible to trigger an industrial revolution in Irrelaysia with just a bit of modern knowledge. If that were possible, I, who graduated high school with good grades, would have created a tank legion in Irrelaysia and pushed the Demon King’s forces back single-handedly.

Modern technology is far too complex for one person to handle all of its designs. If there’s a designer, there will be someone who selects the materials according to that. Each material has its own field of specialization. Even in the process of assembling everything, experts from various fields are required, and the specialists needed to acquire and purify the resources to move the item are yet another.

With just a high school diploma, I can’t possibly handle all of that. Even if I hypothetically could, it would take a lifetime to accomplish.

However, that knowledge is also a crucial foundation that scholars from Irrelaysia would probably scream, “If we only had this knowledge…!” about. It’s the most essential “idea” that, when handed to a few geniuses, could lead to massive advancements in the world. The reason I held back my words in Irrelaysia was because of that.

Well, that’s definitely an exception for Dana.

“Dana.”

“Yeah?”

“Not everyone in this world is as smart as you.”

As I calmly stated this, Dana’s cheeks turned slightly red.

Exactly. The ability to create foundational knowledge just from reading books at home and checking out the internet a bit, even with foreign language materials, is something only someone like Dana can achieve.

If every first-year high school student had that kind of intellect, maybe by now we would have time machines or something.

“Um, well, maybe that’s the case.”

Dana said, as if to brag at my compliment.

Dana’s face looked quite youthful, to the point that Ga-young looked more mature in comparison.

It’d be better not to mention that in front of her, lest she get angry.