Chapter 4

How to Raise a Half-Elf - Chapter 4 (4/245)

04

...A baby bottle?

A cap made of soft rubber material, usually marked with measurement lines like a scientific flask, designed to alleviate the inconvenience of feeding.

Obviously, it's not something a single man would have.

“Um, Hwaryeon, do we sell baby bottles at our convenience store?”

“Baby bottles? No, we don’t.”

The answer was not just confident but overflowing with certainty. Hearing this, Lee Hanseong felt defeated even before he started mixing the formula, and soon began to grumble inwardly.

‘Come on, logically, if you sell formula, you should sell baby bottles as a set, right? Why sell them separately?’

It’s common sense to buy a baby bottle before buying formula. However, this only applies to normal parents, and Lee Hanseong, who became a parent overnight in an abnormal way, couldn’t possibly know this.

‘I’m going to go crazy... I need to feed the formula right now, but I don’t have a baby bottle. Should I just mix it in a disposable cup and feed it?’

“?”

As he grew increasingly anxious and pondered deeply, a familiar sound accompanied the appearance of a message window in front of Lee Hanseong.

“Shop?”

What is this?

Not a snack stand, not a convenience store, but a shop—Lee Hanseong, seeing a word that he would only expect to see in a game, looked at it with a skeptical eye and cautiously pressed the [YES] button.

First to appear before his eyes were numbers that were too empty, and items that could only be described as pitiful. He had hoped that a shop would have some useful items, but the menu only had three items in total. Moreover, with his current balance of 0, he couldn’t obtain any of them. This shop was probably the most useless in the world.

“Come on, at least give me some money to unlock the shop. What’s the point of this?”

Seeing the shop menu asking him to buy items without giving him any money, Lee Hanseong tried to close the useless shop menu. However, a message window suddenly appeared, blinking and blocking his hand.

Choose one out of three, like in a Pokémon game...

Lee Hanseong, inwardly lamenting his situation, quietly selected the cheap baby bottle from the menu.

Instantly, a bright light flashed, and the baby bottle, which had only existed as an image in the menu, materialized.

A hard and rough nipple and a wooden bottle, suggesting it was not a product of modern society.

It really is a baby bottle that fits its name. With this thought, Lee Hanseong read the message window that appeared before his eyes.

“Well... it says it’s hygienic, so this should do.”

After all, it’s a free item. As long as it can be used without any issues, its performance doesn’t matter.

Lee Hanseong, who values cost-effectiveness over performance, cleared the message window and began to pour water into the baby bottle according to the instructions on the formula can, then put it in the microwave.

“Let’s see... 90 seconds, right?”

1 minute and 30 seconds. About half the time it takes to cook a cup of ramen. It’s a short enough time that you might not even notice it if you’re distracted, but for someone waiting, it feels longer.

The timer he set ended, and the microwave stopped. Lee Hanseong quickly opened the microwave, took out the baby bottle, and immediately began to mix the formula powder with the water.

‘It says to put in about three teaspoons... forget it. I’ll just estimate it by eye.’

Who follows the exact amount of water specified in the instructions when cooking ramen? Just like how ramen still tastes good even if you estimate the water, the same should apply to formula.

“It’s done.”

A message window appeared before Lee Hanseong, filled with harsh criticism of the formula he had made. Feeling a sudden surge of frustration, he quickly dismissed the message window.

“You’re asking for a lot. I mixed the formula for you, you should be satisfied. What more do you want?”

He had spent 22,000 won to buy the formula and made it by hand, yet received no gratitude, only complaints. It seemed his conscience had been flushed down the toilet along with the toilet paper.

Thus, while inwardly criticizing the system, Lee Hanseong headed towards the baby waiting at the cash register, holding the baby bottle filled with formula.

“Eh? Where did you get the baby bottle?”

Hwaryeon, who had been watching the baby at the cash register, tilted her head and asked Lee Hanseong, her eyes fixed on the noticeably strange baby bottle.

“Ah... I thought I had left it at home, but I brought it.”

“Lucky you. But where did you buy that baby bottle? It looks really unique.”

A typical baby bottle is made of plastic. Despite the controversy over environmental hormones, plastic is convenient and useful.

However, the baby bottle Lee Hanseong held was made of wood and leather, something you wouldn’t see in modern times.

“Ku, KuX. They said it’s better for kids because it’s made of wood.”

“Ah, that’s true. Plastic does have issues with environmental hormones.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

It was a pretty convincing excuse, even to himself. Fortunately, Hwaryeon didn’t suspect anything and let it pass. Lee Hanseong breathed a sigh of relief and quickly began to feed the crying baby.

“Drink it quickly and go to sleep. I need to rest too.”

What was he doing at the convenience store at 10 PM?

For Lee Hanseong, who usually packed his entire week with part-time jobs, sleep was very important. At least 10 hours a day, or at least 8 hours. He needed that much sleep to function.

But the baby, who had no understanding of Lee Hanseong’s situation, just sucked on the bottle, filling its stomach.

“Ugh...”

The baby stopped drinking and looked at Lee Hanseong with a face full of complaints.

“What? What’s wrong now?”

What could be the new complaint this time?

“The formula doesn’t taste good,” Hwaryeon said, observing the baby’s expression.

Lee Hanseong, taken aback by her words, protested to the baby.

“Hey, this is 22,000 won formula. Do you know how expensive that is for a part-time worker like me?”

“Ugh!”

“Enough. Drink it quickly. The world isn’t a convenient place where all your complaints are solved. If you really don’t want to drink it, mix it yourself and drink it.”

It was a pointless threat. No matter what he said to a baby, who hasn’t even developed a sense of self, it wouldn’t make any difference.

“Mr. Hanseong, do you really think the baby understands what you’re saying?”

Hwaryeon looked at Lee Hanseong with a gaze that suggested he was a bit lacking, and asked.

“Ah, sorry. I’m just really stressed today.”

Usually, Lee Hanseong didn’t show his twisted and dirty personality outside, but today he had experienced too many absurd things to hide his true self.

“I understand. If I had to raise a child alone after the father ran away, I would probably react the same way.”

“...What?”

What was she saying? It sounded like a scary story that could actually happen.

“I don’t know the details, but I understand you, Mr. Hanseong. It must be very hard. Raising a child while working part-time, it’s tough.”

“No, no, wait. There’s a big misunderstanding-”

“No, you don’t have to hide it. Even if society gossips about people like you, you need to be proud. Being a father isn’t something to be ashamed of.”

“No, that’s not-”

“Mr. Lee Hanseong! If you deny being the father, who will take care of this child!”

Hwaryeon raised her voice, cutting off Lee Hanseong’s chance to explain. Frustrated, Lee Hanseong finally shouted at her.

“Hey!! Just listen to me for a second!!”

“Ah, you scared me. Why are you shouting all of a sudden...?”

“You started it! Can’t you let someone finish speaking? You’re making it impossible for me to talk.”

“Well... then what were you trying to say?”

Hwaryeon, seeing Lee Hanseong’s agitated state, asked awkwardly.

“So, this isn’t my daughter. We’re not related by blood, I haven’t adopted her, and when I got home today...”

“...What?”

“...She was there.”

Silence fell between them. Lee Hanseong, well aware that his explanation sounded unbelievable, sighed deeply and gave up.

“Let’s just say she’s my daughter. Ugh, my head hurts...”

What’s the point of the misunderstanding? I’ll send the baby to an orphanage tomorrow, and everything will be resolved without any hassle.

Realizing there was no need to explain, Lee Hanseong started feeding the baby again.

“Umm...”

At first, the baby had refused the formula because it didn’t taste good, but hunger eventually overcame the taste. The baby obediently drank all the formula, and Lee Hanseong finally felt relieved.

“Huh?”