Ch.1212 – Health Examination

*cough cough*

“You caught a cold? In summer?”

“I know, right.”

I caught a summer cold that even dogs don’t get. And on the day of my health checkup, no less.

The cause was staying too long in the air conditioning at the career fair.

‘How weak must my immune system be to get sick from such a small temperature difference?’

“I think I’ve grown a lot taller. I finally passed 120cm! How about you, NoName?”

“105.3cm? Well, you’ve grown quite a bit.”

Growing about 2cm in two months means there’s absolutely no problem with my development.

“Actually, aren’t you the one who’s growing too fast, Arin?”

“I’m still on the shorter side in our class, but…”

Have kids these days gotten that tall on average? Come to think of it, every Tom, Dick and Harry was 120cm, with many even exceeding 130cm.

It was truly pitiful that I had to keep looking up at these little runts.

“NoName, you weigh too little. You need to make sure you eat three meals a day properly, understand?”

I wish the school nurse would understand that gaining even 1kg is a struggle for me.

Without potions, I can’t even eat properly. Plus, these therapeutic mana potions aren’t covered by insurance, so they cost a ridiculous amount.

Suddenly thinking about the potions made things like height and weight seem trivial.

The cost of these potions wasn’t entirely covered by the orphanage.

Detective Ma Beom-il had prepaid 3 million won out of his own pocket so I could take them until now.

Not knowing this, I’d been diligently consuming three potions every day.

“I’m scared of getting my blood drawn. Could you hold my hand?”

“I’m already holding it.”

“Don’t let go!”

It doesn’t even look painful anyway. Modern medical technology is amazing. Children’s whining remains the same, past or present.

The children return to class one by one, pressing their other hand against the arm where blood was drawn to stop the bleeding.

After a while, Teacher Ha Sun-hwa scans down a list and calls out several students.

“The students I just called need to go to the auditorium when the break bell rings because your tests need to be redone.”

The selected children start murmuring. Do they have to get their blood drawn again? Worry is already setting in.

“And NoName, I think you need to go to the hospital with me now. I’ll buy you lunch on the way, so just eat in the car today. Okay?”

“Teacher, is NoName sick?”

“No, NoName just needs a more detailed examination at a bigger hospital. Arin, can you be brave and go home by yourself today?”

“Yes…”

And just like that, I unexpectedly had a date scheduled with Ms. Ha Sun-hwa.

“NoName, grab your backpack and let’s go.”

Despite how small my body is, I had no intention of stealing the car seat used by Sun-hwa’s daughter, who I estimated to be about 20 months old.

Given my mental age, that would be too much.

I simply settled into the passenger seat and dutifully fastened my seatbelt.

“Do you like bacon sandwiches?”

I took a bite of the sandwich she handed me.

“NoName, does anything hurt right now? You’ll need to explain well to the doctor at the hospital, but if it’s too hard to say there, would you tell me now?”

My lungs sting a bit when I cough because of the cold?

Since this barely qualified as pain for me, I made an X sign with my fingers.

“I want to tell you something, and I’m saying this because you’re so mature. I’m really grateful that you’re helping Arin adjust well at school.”

Arin was clearly the common topic between NoName and Sun-hwa.

Especially since she couldn’t stand silence, mentioning Arin was the expected course.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but Arin wasn’t always this talkative.

She’s a child who gets very lonely, so at first I tried to help her make friends through group activities, but it didn’t work out.

Usually students aren’t allowed to freely enter the teachers’ office, but I feel so sorry for Arin that I can’t bring myself to scold her for visiting.”

“Is it because of where she’s from?”

“Yes. I wish the children in our class would understand that they don’t want to discriminate against you all.

Something bad happened at our school last year.

Everyone is avoiding you all because of that incident. It breaks my heart that you’re suffering for something that has nothing to do with you.”

She added that it was particularly difficult to stop this trend because parents were the ones driving it.

There are about 30 children at Merlin Orphanage, including elementary, middle, and high school students.

Not located in the city center but on the outskirts, they all attended the nearest Arabyul Foundation school.

But rumors of these children disrupting the academic atmosphere, occasional school violence, and recently even alleged connections to criminal cartels made them the number one group to avoid.

Sun-hwa found this situation heartbreaking. Innocent children being ostracized because of prejudice.

On the other hand, she worried these children might go astray and harm others.

Sun-hwa couldn’t decide whose side to take if that happened.

The children at Merlin Orphanage all carried deep wounds in their hearts.

Abandoned by parents at birth, parents too busy with work, severed ties with parents…

It was impossible for two or three staff members to heal all their wounds.

That’s why they always hoped to be adopted.

They endlessly waited for someone who needed them.

But as years passed, they realized there was an optimal age for adoption and despaired.

Eventually, they understood that they could only rely on fellow orphanage friends, and there were no guardians to correct their missteps.

The conversation stopped for a while after that.

“We’re here for the detailed examination for a student from Arabyul Elementary School.”

“Yes, please sign here as the guardian. There’s no separate payment process, so please have a seat and wait.”

“How long will it take, if I may ask?”

“Hmm… about 20 to 30 minutes. Would our little friend like to follow the nurse?”

So NoName was led away by the nurse.

The same procedures as before at the hospital were carried out.

A machine emitting high-intensity, subtle mana waves circled around NoName’s body, and as always, it was time for the consultation with the doctor.

To NoName, he looked quite young, but he must have had severe astigmatism because his squinting expression behind thick glasses looked somewhat comical.

Of course, the conversation was conducted with Teacher Ha Sun-hwa present as the guardian.

Sun-hwa spoke first.

“Is the condition serious?”

“How should I explain this… First, the diagnosis is Emery-Dreifuss Muscular Dystrophy.

While it’s a genetic disorder, in this patient’s case, we believe it was acquired through genetic mutation due to prolonged exposure to high concentrations of mana.”

“Muscular dystrophy means muscle contraction…?”

“Eventually, it can progress to muscle atrophy.

As you can see, it progresses gradually at first, so many people don’t know they have it until adulthood. I suppose it’s fortunate we discovered it at such a young age…

Still, you should understand that physical sports will be impossible for life.”

He added that, like most genetic diseases, there was no perfect cure yet developed.

The doctor prescribed medication to alleviate symptoms, vitamins, and tripled the dosage of the mana potion NoName was currently taking.

The desperate consumption of potions to survive had accelerated the shortening of future lifespan.

‘Talk about unfair.’

“It’s hard enough to drink 3L of water a day. How can a child drink all these bitter potions…?”

“That’s the best we can do for now.”

* * *

Round and round, it always comes back to money.

For such a small body, I sure eat up a lot of cash.

The orphanage might even kick me out. As far as I know, Merlin Orphanage is already at its operational limit.

Should I be grateful just to have functioning limbs? Anyway, the financial issue looms larger than my health concerns.

Pay money now to preserve my limbs, or save money and become completely paralyzed?

The balance is off. Obviously, I choose the former without question.

The usually talkative teacher didn’t say a word until she dropped me off near the orphanage.

She probably needs time to think too.

They don’t teach you at teachers college how to comfort a student with an incurable disease.

I didn’t go straight into the orphanage but wandered around the nearby alleyways.

Whether it’s because I’m female, or just my nature, I sometimes get swept up in emotions.

If I went to my room, Arin would rush to me like a retriever and comfort me, but right now I preferred being alone.

In early 2000s novels, protagonists who died would wake up as adults, but I don’t know why I always start from the beginning.

If I were an adult, I could at least tutor these snot-nosed kids with my past life knowledge, but I’m barely over 1m tall.

At least until I don’t look like a child anymore…

[Gung PC Bang]

[Free support for high-resolution streaming software like Twissy, VTube, etc.]

“Want to play for a while before going home?”

“It costs 3,000 won per hour here.”

“It’s 2,500 won for members.”

“Still too expensive.”

“I’ll treat you today. There aren’t any other PC bangs around here anyway.”

I overheard two boys who appeared to be friends.

Right, why hadn’t I thought of that?

If I can’t have a proper physical body, I can make do with virtual reality.

Even when trapped in the capsule, some people would play games with personal cameras attached.

They would all talk non-stop. I wouldn’t need to do that, but still.

The PC (Personal Capsule) bang I entered on impulse was generally dimly lit.

The owner wasn’t visible. Is it an unmanned system?

As the students said, the price was a bit higher than what I knew from the previous world.

But this was the only PC bang on the way to and from school. That’s what happens when you’re awkwardly situated in a child protection zone.

Right, I was thinking school time was being wasted anyway.

I could spend nights in the capsule with cleansing magic and sleep at school during the day.

What a perfect plan.

Besides, I was tired of dealing with the occasional troublemakers at Merlin Orphanage.

With my monthly allowance of 5,000 won, I paid for 1 hour and 30 minutes and entered the capsule.

A familiar and cozy feeling envelops me…

It was truly disgusting.

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[Accessing void space. Data conflict detected.]

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[Welcome, User Name: NoName]

“I ended up coming back. But Mom is gone now.”

Six walls form in the empty space, transforming into a single room.

It was the familiar single room I knew.

White wallpaper, a bed, a table, and a chair. But there was no trace of Seol-ah anywhere.

“It would have been nice to play games together. I wonder if Mom disliked games?”

I lean against the bed where she used to lie.

“I made a friend named Arin. She’s nicer than I expected.”

I thought I’d be alone in this life too, but I’m always receiving more love than I deserve.

“They say my body is very sick. You would have worried a lot if you knew, Mom.”

Even in the game, she would throw herself to block attacks aimed at me.

“It’s so funny. I was supposed to be the one who could die in your place.”

Really…

What were you thinking, dying instead of me?

That makes the game all wrong…

We always played a game we couldn’t win, but I think in this life, I felt happiest during that time.