Chapter Index





    Ch.190IF Side Story: Galactic Love (15)

    I tried to forget during the fight, at least.

    But as soon as I returned to the orphanage, what I saw was Jihye wearing a circuit on her wrist and fighting.

    Though I say fighting, she wasn’t exactly fighting well. Like my past self, she hadn’t even transformed yet, just creating an invisible shield around herself to block attacks.

    Could it be a spare circuit that Cherry had brought?

    But the situation didn’t look good. I don’t know how the child ended up outside, but Jihye was shielding the child in her arms while maintaining her barrier.

    “…”

    Looking at the situation, there was no hope to be found.

    The buzzing sound in my ears finally swallowed all other sounds completely.

    “Jieun?”

    Hayun looked at me in horror.

    I was glaring at one of the Kaijin. There wasn’t really a leader among the Kaijin. They were beings that just fought wildly without any discipline or order.

    Like beasts.

    The swing and seesaw that Jihye and I used to play on since childhood were destroyed. The playground floor, which used to be a sandbox when we were young but was later replaced with urethane because children were getting hurt, was now full of holes everywhere.

    Windows were shattered all around, and the outer walls were broken. Part of the roof was destroyed, and the rooftop was pitted in various places.

    I don’t know what others think of this orphanage. Just an orphanage, I guess. A place full of children without parents.

    So in their eyes, this place probably wouldn’t look like a “home.”

    But not to me.

    This was home. For me, who had lived my entire life in this world without family, no matter what anyone said, despite some inconveniences from living together with others, some worn-out facilities, and having to share with other kids—this was still my home.

    A place to return to someday.

    Even if I had to leave when I became an adult.

    “…”

    What should I have said seeing that scene?

    Unforgivable? I don’t see why I should say such a thing. Whether I say it or not, I would never forgive them anyway.

    I won’t let this slide—that’s also the same. All those words just feel cliché.

    I wasn’t someone who fought thinking about justice or anything like that from the beginning, but—fine, now I really don’t care about anything.

    All the fighting beings looked up at me. The magical girls had their mouths slightly open, and even the Kaijin seemed to sense some killing intent from me.

    Not just the kind of intent to subdue—but the intent to truly kill them all.

    My clothes were already black, but the color seemed to deepen even more.

    I couldn’t hear anything in my ears. No, now I could only hear the sound of wind. Besides that, even sound itself was being sucked into something.

    Behind me, light appeared.

    Light from the sky was flowing. A black hole was pulling up everything around it, as if it would suck in everything in the vicinity.

    “…”

    Despair, was it? The power moving my circuit.

    That’s unfair.

    It was unfair that I alone should despair.

    I wanted to make all those trash who made me despair feel the same despair—

    The Kaijin floating in the sky flew in randomly, spinning and falling into the hole in the air.

    I might have heard something from around the passing Kaijin. The speaker was shouting something, but I didn’t care.

    Wait for me.

    I’ll definitely crush you too.

    That’s what I thought toward the owner of that voice.

    *

    There’s one thing I’m good at, and that’s blaming others.

    There is some fault of mine in how I ended up like this, but—well, it just makes me feel better to blame others.

    I can’t say it’s all my fault, right?

    Starting with how I came to this different world in the first place. They didn’t even give me a good role, just threw me in strangely and told me to figure it out on my own.

    I hate everything.

    Every single thing irritated me.

    Crack!

    At the end of the hammer I swung with such thoughts, there was a sharp blade. It was the right shape for smashing things.

    The only thing I could barely think of was that I shouldn’t kill.

    If I crossed that line, I didn’t know what I might do next.

    My clothes were now completely dyed black. My outfit, which already looked somewhat like a dress, was now a full-fledged dress. Except for the color, it wouldn’t be too strange to call it a wedding dress.

    No, maybe it’s still a bit too revealing.

    “Ha… haha…”

    I let out a dry laugh in front of the fallen.

    Yes.

    Even in this situation, I was recalling what Pang Pang had said earlier, showing how weak my mental strength was.

    I was a pathetic person who was just jealous of Hayun, who had done nothing wrong, and wanted to win just once.

    So it’s natural that I couldn’t maintain my composure after hearing such a confession from Pang Pang.

    “…Haah.”

    I exhaled deeply.

    What I saw was the inside of some structure.

    There were parts where the walls were bent and damaged in the process of me creating a black hole to enter, but it seemed I had successfully entered the ship.

    “Jieun!”

    I heard Hayun calling me.

    My arm was grabbed by her hand, and my body was turned around.

    I looked at Hayun and the other kids with a somewhat tired expression.

    Everyone was worried about me. Even Jihye was among those caught in that black hole.

    “…”

    Though Hayun had called me, she couldn’t continue with what she wanted to say.

    The circuit on my left wrist was now vibrating, almost on the verge of breaking. A dangerous buzzing sound could be heard, but I didn’t care much.

    Right now, I just wanted to chase after the Owner.

    Let’s achieve my goal first, then talk to Pang Pang again.

    How did it come to this, why did things have to flow this way—

    Yes.

    I’ll ask the Owner too.

    That’s what I was thinking.

    “…Let’s go.”

    Though my voice was already exhausted, it seemed to have its own strength.

    Hayun, Rose, Dalia, and Delphinium.

    Iris and Jihye too.

    They all nodded silently.

    Everyone must know that this is the most important turning point.

    I’ll bring down this ship—and end everything.

    *

    What I saw then was a mass of despair.

    I think I understand why the Owner wanted to launch this ship.

    Surely, there was much that could be done with that energy.

    He probably planned to float this ship in the middle of space, create circuits, make Kaijin, and sell them. Theoretically, he could have sold energy that was almost infinite.

    The initial idea that James mentioned, about breaking the law of entropy to extend the life of this universe, was now nowhere to be found.

    I approached that core without hesitation.

    People were calling my name around me, but I really didn’t care anymore.

    I just wanted to end everything quickly.

    At that time, I didn’t even think about why the person called the Owner wasn’t visible anywhere on this ship.

    Why there was no special guard for such an important part.

    I was just too tired.

    No, that too would be my fault.

    It was just that my thinking was too shallow.

    A small black hole rose in the middle of the core.

    Even in a situation where my head wasn’t working well, I could think of one effective thing. I was that desperate, I had a generator in my hand, and so naturally, I could produce that enormous power—

    …No, as with everything I do, it happened again this time.

    The energy carried the sound of tearing laughter.

    That sound I heard from the speaker, from the broadcasting room.

    [I told you you’d regret it, didn’t I?]

    The Owner said.

    [Let me tell you something.]

    Before I could understand those words, the Owner’s voice kindly informed me.

    [That girl was the key.]

    I didn’t need to think long about who that girl was.

    Suddenly my heart was beating like crazy.

    The girl I had left alone in the abandoned building. Pang Pang.

    The child the Owner was talking about was definitely Pang Pang.

    [It’s impossible to measure and track a magical girl’s power now, but a black hole is different, isn’t it? Especially a black hole created by you in extreme despair.]

    “What do you mean—”

    [It was actually a bit of a gamble. How much I could make you despair. How much all of you would despair—]

    I could almost see the Owner’s smiling face.

    [But once was enough. You showed tremendous energy, and I was finally able to find it.]

    The next moment, my view had changed.

    Before the children around me could even make a sound of surprise, I had rushed into the building.

    That broken door. The collapsing building.

    “Pang Pang!”

    But there was no one to answer my call.

    “Pang Pang! Pang Pang!!”

    That name, which I once thought was a bit ridiculous, I called out several times as I frantically searched around the abandoned building—

    Thud.

    Finally, I fell to my knees on the floor.

    Psshh.

    From the circuit attached to my left wrist, such a sound was heard.

    After overflowing so many times, a very faint white smoke was rising from the despair circuit.

    “…”

    Again.

    Again.

    Once more, I was swept away by emotions.

    Once more, I had put the life of someone I cared about in danger.

    The children quickly came around me and put their hands on my shoulders, but I didn’t even feel their touch as I just sat there blankly for a while.


    0 Comments

    Heads up! Your comment will be invisible to other guests and subscribers (except for replies), including you after a grace period.
    Note
    // Script to navigate with arrow keys