Episode 2
“Mom, I wanna go here.”
I mean, I just got an acceptance letter to a magic school—how could I not go? What kind of 21st-century Earthling would turn that down?
And if I learn magic, I could grow fruit anytime I want, right? That means I get to eat all the expensive fruit I couldn’t afford in Korea—for free, forever. Mwahaha.
“It’s a scam.”
Mom casually crushed my dreams with cold water.
“They’re just trying to get money from you.”
“But it doesn’t say anything about tuition?”
“Of course it doesn’t! That’s how they trick innocent kids like you. You show up for the entrance ceremony and BAM! They slam the doors and yell, ‘Hand over the cash! No money? Then we’ll sell you as a slave!’”
I narrowed my eyes and sniffed Mom’s face.
“Sniff sniff… What’s this smell?”
“Huh? Smell? I chopped firewood and took a shower after—”
Mom sniffed her own shirt.
Not that smell!
“I smell a liar!”
“L-Liar?! You just don’t get it because you’ve never been out there. The outside world is a scary place!”
Her face suddenly looked serious and sad. It felt… real.
“Selly, let’s think about this logically.”
“Okay, let’s hear it.”
I folded my arms like a sassy little queen, but let’s be real—a 10-year-old squirrel-like girl isn’t exactly intimidating.
“Magic runs in the blood. I’m just an ordinary human. So how could you be a mage?”
“So that means…”
I made a V with my fingers and rested my chin on it like a detective solving a mystery.
“My dad must be a mage.”
Mom’s jaw dropped.
“…Where did you learn the word ‘dad’?”
Yeah, I guess it was shocking. She had never said “dad” in front of me.
She was so thorough that, in her version of “Baby Shark,” there was no daddy shark—only a Toothy Shark took his place.
Any storybooks with dads were locked away deep in storage, and the only books I had left were things like The History of Modern Technology.
I even opened a dictionary once and saw that “dad” and all its synonyms had been cut out. I had to admire the commitment.
But then…
“You were born by budding, Selly.”
Okay, that’s just too much.
I mean, I did get accepted to a science high school in my past life!
Still… I almost believed her. Magic already breaks all science rules, so why couldn’t humans reproduce by budding, right?
And Mom even showed me a long scar on her back, saying it was proof.
‘Didn’t she say that came from fighting a giant wolf once…?’
Honestly, the wolf story sounded even less believable. Budding actually made more sense.
Anyway, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Mom, who seemed so desperate to hide my dad’s existence.
‘Not like I really care who he is.’
I mean, I am curious. But I’m not dying to find out.
Option 1: Amazing Mom
Option 2: Amazing Mom + Random Dad
Obviously, I’d choose option 1. Especially after having trash parents in my last life and going through double the trauma.
So even though I had a pretty good guess, I pretended not to know.
Every year, on Love Day, three winged boxes would show up at our cabin. Mom never opened them—just sent them right back.
I never saw what was inside, but I did remember the names written on the wrapping.
Kai.
Leon.
And the last one didn’t have a name—just a drawing of a crow.
One of those three has to be my dad.
“So… one of them is a mage, huh…”
As I mumbled to myself, Mom—who had zoned out—suddenly jumped in panic.
“No! Selly! You don’t have a dad, okay?”
That’s just your wish, Mom.
“Then let me ask you something. I can talk to animals.”
“Huh? Since when?”
Mom blinked like this was the first time hearing it. Well, it had just started recently.
“On the day the chicks were born.”
I’d been feeding the chickens when it happened:
“A bird must struggle to break free from its egg! The egg is the world! To be born, one must destroy a world!”
“Huh?!”
What kind of weird fantasy world has Demian quotes?
At first, I thought Mom was just reciting something dramatic, but it was actually the hen yelling at her chicks to hurry up and hatch.
‘I can hear chickens now?!’
How could I suddenly gain a power I never had before?
There’s only one answer: genetics.
“So where did this power come from?”
Mom’s narrowed eyes flew open wide—like she just remembered someone.
‘Yep. My dad is a mage.’
“Ugh… Oh no…”
But then Mom buried her face in her hands and muttered,
“Why would he pass this on… I can’t even call him your father…”
…What does that even mean?
Peep peep peep!
I turned toward the sound coming from outside. A rooster was chasing a chick.
Male animals rarely care for their young. I’ve seen plenty who hurt their own babies.
Peep peep!
“Help me! Help me!”
The chick ran toward the window, and I scooped it up into my pocket.
As the chick calmed down and started dozing off, the rooster strutted around proudly, like he’d done a great job chasing off the “freeloader.”
‘Maybe Mom ran away because my dad’s a jerk like that rooster.’
If so, I guess I get why she’s hiding it so hard.
But man… Mom is really bad at lying.
Especially now, when I can clearly tell this admission letter is not a scam.
“Ugh. The way he writes… What a crazy bird…”
“Huh? A crazy bird?”
“Rexarion is still the headmaster?!”
Her hands holding the letter were shaking.
“What is wrong with the world?”
“Wait, who’s Rexarion?”
Also, why does a regular farmer mom living in the middle of nowhere know so much about a magic academy?
But she didn’t answer. She just crumpled the letter.
“You cannot go to Spellmore. Absolutely not.”
Judging by her reaction, this wasn’t the first letter. She must’ve been hiding the others.
‘Not this time!’
Just as I reached to take it back, Mom grabbed me in a panic.
“Selly, you promised we’d live here together, just the two of us, happily ever after.”
That line—”Let’s live here happily, just the two of us”—is Mom’s favorite thing to say.
And I always answered, “Okay!”
And I meant it. I really did.
But now… I’ve changed my mind.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I have a new dream now.”
Living a quiet, peaceful life in nature is an adult dream—one you choose after seeing how hard life can be. It’s not a child’s dream.
I had a rough past life, and I never even got to become an adult… but I still picked an adult’s dream.
‘I thought this was the life I wanted—but maybe it’s not.’
My heart, which had always felt calm, started racing with excitement for a new challenge.
Maybe I just needed time to recharge. Now that I’ve rested and regained my strength—it’s time to chase a new goal.
‘I never got to attend science high school in my last life—but in this life, I’m gonna graduate from magic school!’
Because what is a magic academy?
Every Earth kid’s dream!
Do they sort dorms with talking hats here too?
Do they have random jelly beans with weird flavors?
…Please no earwax flavor.
Of course, Mom wouldn’t get any of that.
So I told her from the heart:
“Adults dream of putting down deep roots. But kids should dream of flying high in the sky.”
And for some reason, Mom looked shocked.
“H-How do you know that line…?”
“Huh? I just said what came to mind…”
Was it really that shocking?
