Chapter 6

I could say that I became an easy baby to handle as I slept well during the daytime and only cried at night if there was a reason. However, my current existence was thanks to my parents’ sacrifice for me over a long period of time in my past life. As every child does, I had made my parents heartbroken.

Back then, I nearly died from swallowing a piece of apple at the age of one and worried my parents because I wasn’t able to talk well until I was four. I was also hospitalized for more than two months after bumping into a motorcycle at the age of seven. Of course, I didn’t remember any of these memories, but my mother had told me.

Things I remembered from my childhood were more about my ‘firsts’ rather than being sick or injured. Those memories were fragmented like an old picture; for instance, the first time I watched fireworks with my cousin, went to my best friend’s house and visited my grandfather at the hospital.

I couldn’t remember my parents’ dedication while raising me, which made me realize how selfish a child could be.

***

“Mama. Mama. Mama.” For the first time, I said the word to my mother, instead of meaningless mumbles. I spoke while making eye contact with her. My mother wouldn’t know, but this was to make up for all her worrying about how I couldn’t talk until I was four. Ultimately though, the biggest reason was for this quest.

[Like a Human 1: ‘Mom’ successful.]

[You have completed the quest ‘Like a Human 1’.]

[You have obtained 5 points.]

[Total points: 37]

My mother seemed not to care about whether I called for her intentionally or not, and she just enjoyed the moment. She carried me around for a while, then put me down on the floor.

The new quest was related to linguistic development, which was interesting because it underestimated a regressor like me. My pronunciation was awkward only because all my teeth had not grown in and I had a stiff tongue. There was no problem with my language skills!

My next quest mission was to speak sixteen words, which was a piece of cake. The quests that I had to risk my life for had already become only milestones in my growth development. The everyday quests I had in the original timeline were not like this since they were huge risks. Moreover, I gained five points for completing this quest. Back then, I only received two points for killing an F class monster. Moving my lips a few times with this body would give me points worth more than dealing with two monsters. I honestly could not hide my joy.

***

This would be the final quest of the cumulative quest ‘Like a Human’.

[Like a Human 5 (Quest)

Mission: Choose a particular individual and communicate with them using more than ten sentences.]

My father was on a business trip, and I couldn’t use my mother as a sacrifice for my quest. I first thought about the owner’s wife. She was a mean lady, filled with jealousy. She gave birth to a son, her third child, around the same time I was born. Therefore, she could not help but compare her son and me whenever there was a chance.

When I stayed quiet, she scared my mother that I would become a harelip. When I spoke out any words to refute her, she would denounce it by saying that I had a ghost who died because it couldn’t speak. She was a damn mean lady no one could stand, and she clearly enjoyed seeing my mother feeling uncomfortable.

There was another reason to choose her, and it was because she highly believed in shamanism. Talismans were everywhere - on the front door, in the kitchen, and on the way to the owner’s floor. I saw so many of them while being carried on my mother’s back.

I stood in front of the door that led to the front yard. Everything was huge from a baby’s perspective, so the ordinary door not only looked massive but also gave me the feeling of intense pressure.

The door didn’t open just by pushing. I had to push after removing the spoon on the doorknob and turning the knob. The spoon locking device and doorknob were located so far above my head that I had to fully tilt my neck back to see them. I couldn’t even reach it by jumping up and down with my arm outstretched.

My small heart started beating faster, and it felt like I entered the dungeon. My spine chilled, thinking that my mother might be watching me. I looked around to find something to step on and found hard pillows piled up in the corner of the room. It was past midnight, and it was the perfect day since the owner was absent like my father.

Jindol, the dog tied in the yard, saw me and wagged his tail when I appeared. The dog looked different from when I looked down on it from my mother’s back. The large beast’s eyes glistened under the moonlight, and I might have been overthinking, but Jindol’s leash seemed more slack than usual. As soon as the leash broke or Jindol pulled his neck from it, the dog would be like the boss monster in the wild mountains of Hwasung to me.

Wait. A thought flashed across my mind. My original plan was to complete the quest with the owner’s wife by pretending to be a child’s ghost and edifying her wicked mind. But why had I only thought of talking to a human adult?

It would be Chuseok soon, and I would meet my cousin. My cousin was four and spoke pretty well. Chuseok was not too far away to proceed with a plan that had a risk of waking my mother up.

***

“Why is my baby not smiling today? Are you shy, son?”

I wanted to nod and use Odin’s Wrath on my aunts who were poking fun at my penis.

There were many babies on Chuseok, and since my younger cousins were not born yet, all the crying babies were the older ones.

Ji-Ae, one of my cousins, walked towards me. She was born three years earlier and was pretty. She hated the small mole under her left eye, but that was one of her charms. Her mole, clear eyes, and sharp nose reminded me of how she looked like an adult. My aunts moved so that Ji-Ae could move closer to me because they were curious as to how cute we would look on our first meeting.

Besides being a beauty, Ji-Ae had a bright future ahead of her. In the past, she graduated from a prestigious university and became a prosecutor after passing the bar exam. She seemed to remain as the pride of the family forever but disappeared on the Day of Advent. She must have been attacked by a monster.

I wanted to advise my aunt to encourage Ji-Ae to find a career in sports even if she showed great talent in studying. Physical ability didn’t guarantee her survival, but it would be an important factor. At least her experience being a prosecutor did not help at all. People would have to at least train their bodies before the Day of Advent or would have to experience intense warlike situations.

“He is your younger cousin, so Ji-Ae should look after him like an older sister.” My aunt, Ji-Ae’s mother, put our hands together, and she hugged me tight as if she was attacking me. She rubbed my hair with her rough hands that were not familiar with holding a baby.

“Seon-hu. Seon-hu.” She had a cute voice, and I also gently whispered in her ear.

“Hello, cousin.” Ji-Ae’s hand stopped moving in surprise. My mother and other relatives were paying attention to other babies at that moment, so I quickly told her not to call the adults and that I could only talk to her. I was able to finish the quest by exchanging cute sentences with Ji-Ae.

[You have finally completed the cumulative quest ‘Like a Human’.]

[You have received a ‘silver box’ as your completion reward.]

Huh?

[Congratulations. You are the first person to complete all the quests available in the tutorial.]

[You have achieved the conditions to skip the tutorial.]

[There are no quests available from now on.]

This was just a tutorial?

[Do you want to skip the tutorial ‘Infancy and Childhood’?]

I faced a torturesome decision to make, but I had to stick with my parents’ side for the next few years anyway. If I stayed for the next tutorial, my behavior would be greatly restricted. However, I was still hesitant because skipping meant I could not spend time with my parents’ younger days. I shouldn’t make any mistakes to surprise or scare my parents, like how the First Evil grew up…

I skipped the tutorial since the real one was waiting for me, which was the Chapter of Beginning.