Ch.189184 – One Day, One Woman, Three Autumns

[“I’m certain. It was the innate magic I provided to Wearsoft as an outsider contractor. I remember giving it that fantastical and captivating name, ‘Ring of Ashtyle.’ But why are you showing this to me…?”]

[“Professor Volkov, look carefully. This person is not an NPC but a player. Surely you didn’t release a 5th circle innate magic under GPL (open source license), did you?”]

[“No, I didn’t… Are you saying Wearsoft leaked my innate magic to this person?”]

[“Whether there was some deal with the company or if this was an independent castojacking, we don’t know yet. What’s certain is that someone must be held accountable. Would you sign here? We’ll handle the resolution for you.”]

Innate magic of middle-circle or higher was essentially a magician’s identity.

The more complex the spell formula, the more the circuit arrangements and rune characters in the magic circle reflected the caster’s habits.

Especially someone who was a former military mage was a valuable strategic asset to a nation, and in modern times when wars frequently broke out, it was common knowledge that there was nothing to gain from revealing one’s innate magic.

“Ophelia,” an ASI production company headquartered in England.

Their contract was unilaterally terminated by Wearsoft, and now their flagship product was at risk of having its technology leaked through a replica that had been passed to an individual.

If this became a corporate battle, it would easily take 10 years to reach the Supreme Court. It was obvious they would go bankrupt before that.

Therefore, Ophelia’s legal team changed their target to NoName and decided to recover “Adella” by any means necessary.

After watching her gameplay videos repeatedly, waiting for something to exploit, they finally caught evidence that she had stolen and used someone else’s innate magic.

They immediately hired a South Korean law firm and everything proceeded smoothly up to the preparation for litigation.

How many days had it been now? Getting chewed out by executives asking how much longer they needed to wait, then coming home to find their families already asleep.

‘You dare openly disrespect our company? Well, the results will show whether you’re the pathetic ones or we are.’

Whether it was Wearsoft or NoName, Ophelia’s legal team was confidently smiling, ready for anyone to challenge their thorough preparations.

That is, until they received a call from the Korean law firm demanding ten times the already paid retainer fee.

“What are you talking about? Suddenly asking for ten times the amount!”

“In a situation where criminal prosecution is impossible, to claim civil damages we need to hold the minor’s guardian responsible, not the individual herself. This is completely different from what the client initially described.”

“Why is criminal prosecution impossible? Our technology was clearly leaked!”

Their reason was ridiculously simple.

[Republic of Korea Criminal Act Article 9 (Criminal Minors): Acts of persons under 12 years of age shall not be punished.]

The tenfold increase was practically an unspoken pressure to cancel the case altogether.

“Didn’t you see the news yesterday…? We don’t take cases with high probability of losing, even for publicity purposes. If you don’t decide by today, we’ll refund your entire retainer.”

They added that neither the claim that a 7-year-old child committed castojacking, nor that Mage Cheon Byong-ho overlooked or encouraged a crime, made any sense.

Given the performance-oriented nature of Korean law firms, they had already assessed the probability of winning this case as zero.

“Seven years old? What are you talking about? Who’s seven years old?”

The legal team was still dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the situation.

There was a rustling sound over the phone line, and then the voice changed.

From a naive young man to a middle-aged woman with a dignified voice.

“Hey, give me that phone. Do you really want to do this to a poor seven-year-old child? Whether you offer 10 times or 100 times the retainer, our firm will not take this case. I’d appreciate if you never contacted us again! The nerve of you, typical of a xenophobic country.”

Click-

The phone was abruptly hung up.

‘Poor? Who? NoName? Why?’

Their gaze shifted to the news screen.

Fresh news from yesterday.

That day, Ophelia’s legal team’s world collapsed.

* * *

The beginning of the video Na-me showed was certainly ordinary.

-Aww she’s so cute haha

-The weather looks really hot

-I love crepes too!!!

└ Wow, I found something in common with NoName!

-Even saying thank you, her personality is god-tier

-NoName… intelligence, gaming skills, personality, she has everything… but I, Ham Pil-gyu, 32nd generation of the Gangneung Ham clan, have nothing

└ LMAO

└ Who the heck is Ham Pil-gyu lol

└ He’s 14 and shooting his shot with no hesitation lol

-I honestly want to arrange an engagement between NoName and my son

└ How old is your son?

└ 14 months

└ Not even 14 years but 14 MONTHS? Have you lost your mind? lololol

But as the video progressed, they couldn’t help but express their astonishment bordering on admiration.

[“I hope there will be no more tragic victims around the world, and I send my deepest condolences from afar.”]

[“Even in the face of uncertainty and difficulty, your determination to move forward toward a better future is admirable.”]

[“I hope the days ahead will be happier than those that have passed. For me, and for all of you.”]

These were words that touched the heartstrings, difficult to believe they came from the mouth of a fourteen-year-old if one hadn’t heard them directly.

Even those who hadn’t fully grasped Na-me’s genius before could understand it at once.

This child was different.

With that realization, the childlike voice no longer seemed jarring.

When focusing on the thoughtful and considerate messages contained within, the voice itself felt secondary, regardless of how it sounded.

-Finally home!

-Face reveal?

-Please be a cute girl please be a cute girl please be a cute girl

-PLEASE be an ultra-cute girl!!!!! I’ll use all the luck in my entire life for this!!!

-D cup! D cup! D cup! D cup! D cup!

-Praying for Farmer Na-me! Praying for Farmer Na-me!

But some people began to feel something strange or uncomfortable when they saw Na-me’s room.

-Huh?

-???

-Wow, it’s NoName’s room!

-Where have I seen this before?

-This is VTube! That math!

-?

-Isn’t this the background from when she proved that theorem?

-Wait, why is it appearing there…?

-That was virtual reality, right? Isn’t this real reality?

At the beginning of the vlog: cars, trucks, and buses speeding by.

Green signs commonly seen in downtown Seoul.

Green leaves gently falling in the breeze.

No matter how sophisticated virtual reality might be, it couldn’t compare to the real world.

The scenery that had been flowing through the video suddenly shifted to NoName’s room.

And then, with the appearance of a black-haired girl casually flipping her hair,

Everyone in the stadium froze in silence.

Why?

Why did an avatar that should exist only in virtual reality also exist in reality?

It wasn’t a hologram, nor was it edited.

Each of her gestures was too realistic for any other explanation to fit.

A traffic jam occurred in the synapses of the public’s brains. It was like hearing phantom car horns blaring from all directions.

And what broke through it all was Na-me’s next statement.

“Hello. I’m No Na-me, a second-grade elementary student at Cephiron Academy. Nice to meet you.”

Na-me in the video greeted everyone cheerfully.

A moment of silence.

Had she predicted the public’s reaction?

If Na-me’s statement was a bomb, the viewers’ chat was the shrapnel after the explosion.

-What’s happening? What’s happening? What’s happening? What’s happening?

-Who the heck are you!!!

-What…? Why is the same person in reality too…?

-Holy shit, am I dreaming?

-8 years old? Why 8 years old?

-Is this live right now?

-Seeing everyone’s genuine shock, this doesn’t seem like a prank

-Stop joking, it must be edited… wait…?

-????????????

-Cephiron Academy is the one in Gangnam-gu

-Not 14 years old… but 8 years old…?

-Where’s the D-cup Na-me?

-She has a younger sister, right? That must be it, right? Please let that be it…? Huh?

-Ah lol NoName, your joke is going too far lol

Emotional changes are immediate.

Viewers who had been desperately denying it became confused one by one. Amidst that confusion, voices demanding the truth from Na-me began to emerge.

-Wait… is this for real…?

-This doesn’t seem right? This doesn’t seem right? This doesn’t seem right?

-What am I even watching?

-Please tell me this is a prank, this doesn’t make sense

-Is that really NoName?

-She’s so small? Elementary division means elementary school student, right?

-She’s younger than my youngest sibling!

-She’s younger than my son?

└ Damn…

-Is the video not over yet? Someone ask NoName quickly!

-What are the casters doing just standing there?

Na-me’s voice filled the stadium again, dismissing the controversy.

“Haha… how will I wait until tomorrow? Even now, a day feels like three years. Anyway, I want to tell you the story of my life. It’s not particularly grand or long, so please listen for just a moment, I sincerely ask. And when the story is over, I hope you’ll grant my small wish if I win tomorrow’s finals.”

While Na-me’s video continued to play on the main screen, the side screen showed the face of the child standing modestly in the center of the stadium.

The microphone, tightly gripped with both hands, was held below her waist.

The expression Na-me wore was neither joy, nor sadness, nor was it expressionless.

With eyebrows curved downward and lips tightly closed, her face conveyed loneliness and desolation.

“My mother, No Seol-ah, was kidnapped by the terrorist group Walpurgis seven years ago and gave birth to me. Soon after, both mother and daughter were caught up in an operation to eliminate Walpurgis. You might find this absurd. What am I suddenly talking about, right?”

There was no answer to Na-me’s words.

Not just no answer—there was no sound at all.

“To put it simply… I’m recording this video to reveal that I am a survivor of the Walpurgis incident.”

In this vast stadium where even the faintest breath was not permitted,

The public maintained their silence, holding their breath.

“My mother passed away six years ago,”

To bring up the past of being trapped in separate capsules just 10cm apart, living in that strange cohabitation with a corpse,

“I was confined in a capsule for seven years since birth.”

It truly required great courage.

Enough to make Na-me’s interlocked hands tremble slightly.

When she closed her eyes to reminisce, her vision was probably filled with nightmarish scenes.