As soon as Geuru stepped into the hallway and confirmed his current location, the interior map he had examined earlier unfolded in his mind.
Since the system update, Geuru had gained a few things he was good at.
Remembering things he had seen even once, and accurately grasping the structure and shape of things.
The two-dimensional map in his head began building a framework and taking shape in three dimensions. He rotated the three-dimensional structure this way and that to confirm his current location, which he had seen on the map. Then he marked the distance he had traveled through the ventilation shaft with a dot and read along the words written on the map to find out what kind of place lay beneath it.
‘Casino.’
Having found his target, Geuru bent at the waist and slipped into the casino through a security guard’s blind spot.
‘Ooh!’
The inside of the casino was another world entirely.
Geuru wandered between the machines spinning with a clatter, his eyes shining.
Adults with hollow-looking eyes sat in front of the machines, piles of coins stacked before them as they pressed the buttons without pause.
Fruits and numbers whirled across the screens.
Just then, Geuru picked up a coin that had rolled across the floor.
‘Is this what I press?’
Ding!
[7777]
Coins began pouring out in a rushing cascade.
At that, every human who had widened their eyes turned to stare at the machine Geuru had touched.
‘Eek!’
Startled, Geuru slipped through the people like a loach.
This time, the casino employees began eyeing Geuru suspiciously. After all, there was no place less suited to such a young child than this.
Noticing this, Geuru stealthily attached himself to the backs of a couple. Like a child who had followed in after his parents.
At the sight, the suspicious gazes soon faded.
It was just when Geuru thought he had overcome the crisis with an incredible display of quick thinking.
The couple bent toward him.
“Oh my, how cute. Who are you?”
“Han Geuru-imnida!”
When Geuru introduced himself with a bright smile, laughter burst out between the couple.
“I see. What a brave little boy. Hmm, you didn’t come here alone, did you? Where are your mommy and daddy?”
Geuru smiled sweetly, pretending not to know.
“Should we help you find them?”
“No, it’s okay.”
Geuru shook his head from side to side and scampered away.
The couple turned their heads, assuming his parents must be over there somewhere.
‘Infiltration, perfect.’
With the corners of his mouth curled up in a smug grin, Geuru reached his destination, intoxicated by his flawless infiltration.
[No Entry Except for Authorized Personnel]
It was a door streaked with red lines.
Below where the ventilation shaft had been. The place where the villains were plotting their schemes.
‘Watch, ready.’
He was ready to call Jurim.
With this, Geuru could crush the villains’ conspiracy and even arrange a meeting between Jurim and Suhyeong!
‘I’m smart!’
It was just as he opened the door with a satisfied smile and was about to enter.
Thud.
At the unexpected obstruction, his fern-like little hand froze around the doorknob.
‘A foot?!’
Someone had raised their foot to block the center of the door.
‘An obstructer!’
Geuru lifted his head to identify the obstruction.
Then he saw his opponent and opened his mouth wide.
‘Pretty…….’
Those mismatched eyes were large, set beneath eyes whose ends tilted upward, giving him the appearance of a cat.
Geuru stared at him as if entranced, and the boy was quietly gazing back at Geuru as well.
Their eyes remained locked for a brief moment.
From behind the thick door came the sound of men’s voices.
He could not make out the words clearly, but they sounded terribly flustered.
There were screams like, ‘Uh, what is this, ahhh!’
‘What is it?’
Was something happening inside the room?
Geuru swallowed hard.
Surely they hadn’t already begun carrying out their conspiracy? He wanted to go inside and check.
He cast him an imploring look, but the boy merely stared at him without moving his foot aside.
Could he be on the villains’ side?
Whatever the reason, in any case……
‘He’s an obstructer!’
Just as Geuru decided to call Jurim if things came to it and was about to tell him to move, the boy quietly opened his mouth.
“Your name is Geuru?”
Huh!
“How’d you know?”
He hadn’t even performed his belly-button bow yet. Geuru’s eyes went wide as he took a step back.
The boy pointed with his eyes toward Geuru’s name tag.
Oh, right. They had put one on him when he entered the kids’ center.
“Then don’t go inside right now.”
“Huh? Why?”
What did Geuru being Geuru have to do with him being unable to go to the villains?
But the boy gave him an even more incomprehensible answer.
“Your name is the same as my friend’s little brother’s. So.”
Nothing followed the “so.” The boy did not seem inclined to explain any further and simply chewed his gum.
After waiting obediently, Geuru asked,
“Your friend’s little brother’s name is Geuru too?”
“Maybe? It’s definitely read as Geuru.”
“……!”
How fascinating! In his not-so-short four years of life, Geuru had never seen another child anywhere whose name was Geuru.
“Geuru was the only Geuru until now! I’ve never seen another Geuru besides Geuru!”
At the barrage of Geurus fired off by Geuru, the boy tilted his head to one side.
“……Was that some kind of pun?”
“Eoneoeu-eung?”
“My Korean is still pretty damn short. You’ll have to understand.”
Of course he should understand. From his light brown hair to his mismatched eyes, the obstructer seemed to be a foreigner in every way.
Geuru nodded repeatedly, meaning to say that he would make allowances for his circumstances.
But judging by the fact that he knew the word “eoneoeu-eung,” Geuru’s Korean seemed to be shorter.
“Anyway, ‘Geuru’ is a word I can read, so I’m saying I’ll help you. Okay?”
What was okay? Geuru could not understand the connection at all, but there was a universal answer for times like this.
“Okaaay…….”
Even as he answered obediently, Geuru’s gaze turned back toward the door. From beyond it now came the sounds of things crashing into one another and breaking with a great clatter.
“Then, when can Geuru go inside?”
“A little later.”
“Later…….”
Geuru nodded once.
Since two people were blocking the way in front of the door, the villains would not be able to escape outside anyway.
Instead, Geuru stared fixedly at the boy.
As if passing the time, the boy blew a bubble with his gum. The bubble popped with a soft *pop*.
“Mister.”
In an instant, the boy’s eyes flew open. He looked around, then pointed at himself.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Mister? Sereuhi hurriedly rolled his eyes.
Come to think of it, in Korea, “oppa” was a term used to address an older male with whom one was close, wasn’t it?
Because he had no family, it was a form of address he had never once heard in his life.
Flustered, he gave a clumsy reply.
“Uh, yeah. Yes. Why?”
“Your little brother Geuru—does he have yellow hair too?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know about that……”
How was he supposed to know what color hair his gaming friend’s little brother had?
Meeting the child’s pale coral eyes, the boy looked over his face.
‘I think I know what he means by that question.’
He had not lived in Korea for very long, but he had already experienced enough of the exclusivity that came with being a single-ethnicity nation.
Flamboyant platinum-blond hair and pale coral eyes.
It was only natural that he would stand out starkly among people with black hair and black eyes.
It was something Sereuhi himself had often experienced in his home country because of his mismatched eyes.
Thinking of the attention people had shown him without malice, Sereuhi forced the words out.
“Yellow Geuru is better. He looks like a chick.”
After barely managing to spit out the words, he scratched his cheek shyly.
Aside from those involved in his missions, he had hardly interacted with other people, and as a result, he had no immunity to even such simple conversations.
As he wondered whether his answer had been too embarrassing, Geuru blushed all the way to his cheeks and giggled with a vacant smile.
Only then did Sereuhi relax and offer a faint smile of his own.
Just then, having confirmed that the situation was over, Sereuhi lowered his leg.
“You can go now.”
“Ah, okay.”
With a quiet chuckle, he ruffled the little boy’s head.
“Goodbye, Yellow Geuru.”
Ding!
[Potential caregiver detected. Increasing the attachment index may allow caregiver registration.]
‘S-rank?’