Ch.191IF Side Story: Galactic Love (16)

“…..”

In the end, I told them everything.

Of course, it was unavoidable. I needed to find Pang Pang somehow.

And after hearing everything I blurted out, the kids remained silent for a while.

“In that case, there’s only one option,” James spoke up, being the least emotional among us.

“We have to go rescue Miss Pang Pang.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Cherry immediately agreed.

“If the chairman kidnapped Pang Pang, there’s only one reason why.”

Using Pang Pang’s information to completely take over the company. James and Cherry’s opinions aligned on this.

The current chairman hasn’t fully seized control of the company. The real headquarters must be somewhere in space, not just in this country, and he’s planning to take over that headquarters to completely turn the tables.

And Pang Pang must hold a very important position there. Whether it’s her fingerprints, DNA, or whatever—the former chairman must have made arrangements for her to inherit the company.

Yes. No one here would disagree with that explanation.

But how are we supposed to get there? Do we even know where “there” is?

“I’ll find a way somehow,” James said, seemingly having thought this through already.

“…How?”

“I’ll search through the spacecraft you shot down. The chairman was clearly planning to use it as his flagship. It was meant to replace the ‘headquarters’ that the original chairman had hidden.”

“You mean you already knew about this place?”

“It’s a bit frustrating to admit, but I heard the chairman worked with his family members in the early days of the business. That makes sense. He couldn’t share his grand plans with people who weren’t close to him.”

James looked up at me.

“So he might have known the location somehow. Perhaps… this is frustrating to say, but he might have successfully brought one of the chairman’s close associates under his control. After all, no matter how capable someone is, a plan of this scale couldn’t be completed alone.”

Initially, he probably had a slightly different plan. He might have wanted to completely purge the former chairman’s inner circle and take over the company himself.

The problem was that the former chairman wasn’t a fool.

He would have installed various safeguards within the company, making it difficult to completely take control even after staging a rebellion.

And then I appeared.

Someone who could extract incredibly efficient energy all by myself without needing to produce Kaijin.

The Kaijin production plan was pushed aside. Because Noir Corporation’s reason for existence wasn’t selling batteries, but finding ways to infinitely extend the lifespan of the universe.

Efficiency or profit wasn’t that important. It was almost like an ideology.

That’s why he wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible, eliminate the chairman and his inner circle, find the company’s keys, and take control of everything.

Only then could he open his own market.

Now that everything has essentially fallen apart, the chairman chose to take Pang Pang as a last resort to solve everything at once.

I clutched my head again.

“…I’ll look for it as quickly as possible. The chairman would have anticipated even this situation.”

“That’s right. For your friend’s sake, for all of you, and for the people of Earth, I’ll find it as quickly as possible. I promise.”

Though James and Cherry said this while looking at me, I couldn’t feel any better.

*

But that didn’t mean there was no hope at all.

Even though Pang Pang had been kidnapped, getting to that “headquarters” right away would be very difficult.

At least we know it’s not on Earth.

No alien, no matter what kind, can travel between stars without a vessel. Even if there were beings that could withstand the vacuum of space or cosmic radiation, the distance from Earth to another planet or star is measured at the speed of light.

There aren’t that many places in this country where a spacecraft can take off.

There aren’t that many routes from this country to other countries either.

While there are direct routes from Earth to other planets, those are essentially very important airports. There would be various problems using them while carrying a kidnapped person.

Fortunately, the government and police were somewhat cautious around me. From the government’s perspective, going against someone with immense power who can generate energy equivalent to dozens of power plants or more would only result in losses.

Especially since I’m quite rebellious.

“…..”

But despite all these possibilities, I was still anxious.

“Jieun.”

Although the orphanage had been attacked, thankfully the most important parts weren’t damaged thanks to the magical girls’ desperate protection. Even though there were holes in the ceiling, it hadn’t collapsed.

The children would be inconvenienced until repairs were completed, but it wasn’t damaged beyond repair.

But that doesn’t mean it was completely intact. The playground where Jihye and I used to play together was now destroyed to the point where it needed to be completely rebuilt.

The swings and seesaws would be replaced, but it would no longer be the place where I played as a child.

“…It’s not your fault.”

The swing where we often sat to rest and chat has now been completely removed.

Hayun approached me as I stood there blankly staring into the distance, unable to even sit down.

“…It is my fault.”

“No, it’s not.”

This time Hayun answered more firmly, and I turned my head to look at her.

Hayun’s expression was somewhat rigid.

The expression of someone who has something important to say. That was the expression Hayun wore.

“This is the fault of the people who tried to use you.”

As I stared blankly at Hayun without saying anything, she continued.

“Your despair is the fault of the people who put you in that situation, not yours. You… you were in a position where you had to keep running away. You were just trying to live your life the best you could.”

“…Hayun.”

“So don’t blame yourself so much. Somehow… we’ll find a way to get her back. There’s still hope.”

“…Hope.”

What a faint word.

When was the last time I lived with such a thing? At some point, I started wearing the despair circuit on my wrist.

It was despair I walked into myself. The result of stubbornly insisting on winning like a child.

I couldn’t blame others for how my fate had unfolded.

If I were to trace the cause, it would lead to Hayun, who had done nothing wrong. While Hayun was just living diligently following her parents’ guidance, I joined the villain’s side just because I wanted to win.

And from there, everything went wrong.

I should have just let the magical girls save the world. Instead, I had to have strange goals.

“It’s my fault.”

I clutched my head.

And crouched down.

There was a buzzing sound in my ears, and my head was throbbing. I had taken off the circuit for a while. These days, it kept vibrating even when I was just wearing it, making it burdensome to keep on.

I want to think the way Hayun says. I want to believe it’s not all my fault.

But no matter how I look at it, it was all my fault.

I should have at least read that webtoon properly. Pang Pang must have had a pretty important role. Much more important than someone like me.

But I recklessly accepted help from Pang Pang…

Hayun must have felt it was impossible to convince me with words anymore.

But that doesn’t mean she gave up trying to comfort me.

Hayun simply approached me and crouched down beside me.

And gently placed her hand on my back.

That gentle stroking hand, ridiculously enough, gave me comfort.

I heard more footsteps, and more children crouched around me.

Jihye and Ju-a.

Despite what I had done, they were all trying to comfort me somehow.

Nothing had been resolved, but I felt better. I’m not sure if I deserve to feel better, but I felt that I wasn’t alone.

This sensation was something I had felt before.

When I was with Pang Pang.

Pang Pang did the same for me.

Sitting next to me without saying anything, talking to me for no particular reason, showing me videos she was watching.

Drinking coffee together, showing me her drunk self, falling asleep in the most comfortable clothes and position. As if there were no walls between us.

Come to think of it, what Pang Pang did for me was no different from what I used to do for Hayun.

I remembered our conversations lying side by side in the tent.

She said we should go to space together.

She said our next walk should be on another planet—

…

Yes. It’s my fault.

But that’s no reason to give up.

I didn’t want to give up.

Even if everything is my fault, I’ve learned from falling to the ground time and again that it’s no reason to give up.