I was an orphan.
From newborn days, I'd lived in the Orphanage. In a way, you could call me a Pureblood Orphan. Newborn orphans were rare to begin with.
What kind of era was this, anyway?
Even marriage came with conditions and calculations—education, job, family background, wealth. People weighed it all before tying the knot and having kids. In a society like that, a newborn going straight to an orphanage without any guardians was extremely uncommon. Couples fought tooth and nail in court over custody; they almost never just sent the baby away.
In modern society, as long as an orphan could endure the social stares, life was pretty decent.
Back in the old days, orphans had to farm or beg just to scrape by. But not anymore. The state covered us with taxes, and donations poured in from organizations. It wasn't luxurious, but we never went hungry.
Anyway, amid that bland existence, I picked up a hobby.
Reading books.
Books held countless lives within their pages. They were artistic masterpieces blending the author's thoughts, values, personality, and more.
Even the crappiest ones were fun to read.
And I had a special talent.
Perfect Memory—I never forgot anything I'd seen once.
After reading a novel, I'd close my eyes before bed and slowly replay it in my mind. The other kids' chatter became a lullaby, melting away the day's fatigue.
Of course, it was just memory; my creativity, reasoning, and intelligence were average. That's why I aced rote memorization but bombed subjects needing thought or imagination.
I never planned on college anyway.
After graduating the orphanage, I skipped university, rented a cheap monthly room, and started working. That's when I learned the state gave a hefty settlement—resettlement support.
My job? Day labor. Cash per day, busting my ass at construction sites.
Then home to bed with a book. That was my life, my hobby.
Reading cost next to nothing and worked anywhere.
Web novels? Five minutes per installment. Twelve an hour. At 100 won each, that's just 1,200 won for sixty minutes of fun. Half the price of PC bangs, billiards, bowling, or whatever.
Plus, platforms ran discounts, events, bonuses—charge 10,000 won, get 1,000 extra; or free 10,000-won giveaways.
Under 1,000 won an hour? Insane value. Hard to beat when drinks with friends ran 100,000 won easy.
Workdays: five or six hours post-shift. Weekends off? All day on my phone. The tiny screen wrecked my eyes—glasses now—but no regrets. As long as I could read comfortably.
Good web novels, bad ones—all entertaining to me. Even the weirdest had their charm.
And it wasn't just web novels.
I read pure literature too.
Unlike web novels, those were free.
Not pirated downloads—I hated that crap.
Legally free: libraries nationwide.
Built with taxpayer money for education and culture, letting folks borrow for nothing.
Unlike web novels, libraries stocked fresh releases too.
Joke had it pure lit authors survived thanks to libraries buying their books.
Web novelists raked in billions while pure lit folks starved. No wonder the two camps didn't get along.
But pure lit was plenty fun. Books were my reason for living.
I lost track of the decades blurring by in pages.
By the time I'd read every Korean novel out there—or so it felt—I died.
Cause? Construction accident. Not a bolt, but a massive H-beam.
No pain, though. Lucky break?
Just regretted all the unread books.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇"Ugh... waaah!"
I screamed from agony. Something crushed my skull like a vise. I opened my mouth to yell, but no voice came.
It hurts like hell!
After minutes of torment, my body slipped free.
Voices around me. But I'd died...? Maybe I got lucky and survived. I tried speaking.
"Uh... waaah!"
Baby cries. Vision blurry, like no glasses. People towered gigantic. My cries confirmed it.
With decades of web novel experience, I clocked it instantly.
Classic regression trope.
Yup. Reincarnated. As a baby, no less.
"Great job! Such a pretty baby!"
"You did well!"
Doctors and nurses. Born to parents. But exhaustion hit; I couldn't fight sleep. Newborns can't hold themselves up anyway.
I shut my eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇"Sora!"
"Aigoo~ Our cute little girl!"
My new life: Lee Sora.
Obvious from the name—I'd reincarnated as a girl. The emptiness between my legs? Total shock. Still vivid in memory. (I don't forget.)
Bonus twist: it was the past.
Startled, sure, but I calmed quick. Common setup—protagonists reborn to past or future.
Web novel mastery kept me cool where normals might freak.
"Sora, Mommy's sorry..."
But my family? Dirt poor.
Tiny studio, no private room. Winter drafts seeped through walls. I shivered. Compared to the orphanage—which now felt like heaven—this was rough. At least there, heating worked.
Skipping meals? Routine. Three a day? Luxury. One or two max.
Still, I didn't hate it.
Mom and Dad made it bearable.
Family warmth I'd never known. Awkward for an orphanage baby.
No fights over poverty either. Great couple—PDA right in front of toddler me. Super positive vibes.
"There, Sora, sleep tight~"
Sandwiched between them, I drifted off. Hugs from both sides. No proper boiler, so we huddled.
Thick blankets helped.
In their warm embrace, even chilly drafts felt okay.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Read 24 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/the-elementary-schooler-who-writes-like-a-pro
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━