Chapter 33 – Episode 33. Hypnosis Experiment: The Case Of The Vegetable Store Ajumma Who Takes Jokes Well (1)
About three days had passed since I confirmed the reward.
During that time, after much deliberation, I decided to conduct an experiment to see if this hypnosis actually worked.
There were several reasons, but as the saying goes, “seeing is believing,” I thought that experiencing it firsthand would be the best way, rather than just reading about it in a book.
Now that I had decided to experiment with hypnosis, I needed a test subject (involuntary).
And the first test subject I chose was…
“Today’s vegetables are cheap~”
It was the ajumma at the vegetable store over there.
You might wonder why I’m suddenly experimenting on an ajumma instead of a busty college student.
Of course, there were several reasons for this as well.
First of all, based on my memory, that ajumma is good at taking the perverted or weird jokes of men and children.
That’s actually one of the biggest reasons.
Even if it fails miserably, she’ll just think it’s a normal joke.
Of course, the news that I played such a joke on the mothers might spread.
But think about it. If I tried to hypnotize a college student and failed, what would happen? I’d probably end up in a detention center at the very least.
The second reason was that the book said that hypnosis might work better depending on age, so I wanted to see if that was true.
I’ll compare it with other test subjects of different ages later.
And the last, third reason was…
‘That ajumma is what you’d call a “too much talker.”‘
And among ajummas, being a “too much talker” meant that she was likely to have a lot of information about the area that kids like me wouldn’t know.
Originally, the best way to get this kind of local information is from those talkative ajummas.
If I could coax this ajumma well with hypnosis, I could get a lot of information.
Of course, I’d have to verify if it’s true, but even just this was enough to make it worth trying hypnosis.
With that in mind, I tried to hypnotize her, but…
‘Is she really a “too much talker”?’
It was like she had an endless stream of customers.
I waited for a whole two hours, and there were still people there.
So, I had no choice but to change my plan.
‘Let’s come back when she’s closing up, then the people will be gone.’
After wandering around for a while, I finally saw the ajumma at the store getting ready to close.
“Oh my, it looks like you’re going home now…”
“Hehe. Yes. Ah, come to think of it. Satoshi from the udon shop…”
Seeing her still greeting people even while closing up shop, I could tell she was a huge social butterfly.
She even continued the conversation after receiving the greeting.
‘Amazing.’
She was someone I, as a person like me, could never hope to keep up with.
‘But I still have to do what I have to do…’
After this, she’d go straight home, and there wouldn’t be any time to do anything.
Thinking that, I decided to put on a thick face.
“Yumiko Ajumma~”
I called out to the ajumma at the vegetable store, no, Yumiko Ajumma, as she was closing up and getting ready to go home.
When I raised my hand and greeted her, she looked at me with a surprised expression.
“Oh my, Takuya-kun? What brings you here at this hour~ Ah, come to think of it. Ayaka-san said she enjoyed the drink you gave her last time, and also…”
As expected of a “too much talker,” she started rattling off words.
I was a little overwhelmed by the ajumma, but I slowly started to build up for the hypnosis.
“Yes, yes. I’ll pass it all on. Ah! Come to think of it. I learned something while reading a book today, would you like to see it?”
“Takuya-kun read a book?”
“I’m a man who does what he sets his mind to!”
“Hehe. If you put it that way, I’m curious about what Takuya-kun learned.”
Yumiko Ajumma said it without much thought, but it was the perfect bait for me.
Before Yumiko Ajumma could move on to the next topic, I quickly latched onto her words.
“Then I’d like to show you what I learned today. Do you have some time?”
My words seemed to pique the ajumma’s interest, and she chuckled and nodded in agreement.
“Hehe. Well, it’s time to go home, so shall we take a quick look?”
“Well, it might take a little longer, so let’s go to the park.”
“Okay. Hehe!”
And so, the ajumma and I headed to the park.
***
Sato Yumiko, whom Takuya called Yumiko Ajumma, looked at the young man walking briskly ahead of her with an intrigued expression.
That was because the identity of that young man was none other than Mori Takuya, one of the troublemakers in the village and the most notorious one.
Takuya was such a prankster that the word “village rascal” came to mind.
He was a troublemaker who would ice-pick not only the nearby female students but also the ajummas’ skirts.
He was also an evildoer who would occasionally run through the streets and steal a few vegetables or fish.
Of course, this alone was enough to make him a villain, but Takuya was either cunning or smart, and he never went beyond that level, so the villagers decided to just accept his pranks sometimes.
After all, Takuya and his mother would come back to pay for the stolen vegetables or fish and apologize.
But recently, there was another rumor going around about Takuya.
[There was that kid named Takuya from the Mori family, right?]
[Ah, you mean that rascal?]
[Yes, yes. But I heard that he’s changed recently.]
[Changed, you say… Could it be…?!]
[No, not like that, but I heard he’s changed for the better?]
It was a hard-to-believe rumor that he had reformed.
It was easy to understand why it was hard to believe if you thought about his usual behavior.
[Ice-pick! Hehe! It’s purple today, Ajumma!!]
[Youuu!! Stop right there!!]
Not only would he tease people like this while running away, but he would also go around the neighborhood announcing people’s underwear colors. He was a complete hooligan.
That such a kid had reformed? Yumiko thought it was an absurd rumor and just agreed with it to a certain extent before moving on to another topic.
That’s why she was surprised when she met Takuya today.
He looked the same as before, but strangely, the atmosphere was different.
Before, he was just a big perverted kid, but now, it was like he was showing a maturity in his actions that was different from before.
Anyway, so many things had changed.
[Yes, yes. I’ll pass it all on. Ah! Come to think of it. I learned something while reading a book today, would you like to see it?]
Normally, he would have picked his ear and said, “Yeah, yeah, I get it,” and then…
[I’m a man who does what he sets his mind to!]
His usual cocky and sarcastic tone was now replaced with a confident and manly demeanor.
[Well, it might take a little longer, so let’s go to the park.]
And on top of that, he even showed consideration that didn’t seem like a student.
Everything was telling her that Takuya had changed.
Honestly, she didn’t believe it at all at first, but seeing it in person like this, it was clear that Takuya had changed.
That’s why it was even more of a mystery.
Because there was no reason for Takuya to have changed recently.
There hadn’t been any major events in Takuya’s life, or even in the village itself.
If she had to pick something, it would be that the Nakamura family’s goat escaped and ate all the crops?
It was hard to believe that Takuya had suddenly realized something on his own and changed like this.
Of course, Yumiko was curious about Takuya’s change, but she kept her mouth shut.
At least, she felt like she shouldn’t cross the line.
Like the fact that Takuya had two mothers in his family.
‘Actually, he’s a really pitiful kid. Abandoned by his father.’
Thinking that, she looked at Takuya’s back and felt sad for a moment.
Takuya and Yumiko arrived at a nearby park and sat on a bench where there weren’t many people, and they talked about various things.
Things that had happened recently, and accidents.
In this aspect, she was still a “too much talker” who hadn’t changed at all.
Fortunately, before Takuya’s energy was completely drained by the conversation, they were able to get to the main point.
As they got to the main point, Takuya took out a coin with a string tied to it from his pocket and said.
“Ajumma, what I learned is, it’s hypnosis~”
Hearing Takuya’s words, Yumiko couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.
‘Even if a person changes, a prankster is still a prankster,’ she thought.
Takuya showed her the coin and said confidently.
“They say that if you focus on this coin for about 5 seconds, you’ll be hypnotized!”
At that, Yumiko chuckled and said.
“Hehe. So, you’re thinking of hypnotizing Ajumma with this?”
“Well, yeah?”
“That sounds fun. Go ahead and try.”
Of course, there was no way she would be hypnotized, so she was planning to tease him a bit and then say that she had never been hypnotized.
“As you look at this coin, your consciousness will slowly sink, and your mind will become at ease.”
But strangely, the more she focused on the coin that Takuya was swinging, the more she felt her mind becoming hazy, and after a while…
Takuya, noticing that Yumiko Ajumma’s eyes had become blurry, said.
“Ajumma?”
“Yes…”
“Would you try raising your left arm?”
“Okay…”
The ajumma raised her left arm as Takuya commanded, and Takuya smiled slyly at the sight.
‘Just as planned!’
Fortunately, the hypnosis was real.
