Ch.271IF Side Story. From the Beginning (39)

I hesitated briefly.

Should I tell the other children about Noir Corporation’s ultimate goal? Should I tell Cherry?

Rationally speaking, it would be better to tell them.

After all, Noir Corporation is the villain.

The webtoon emphasized the irony of extremely ordinary, middle-class people working under a black company that tries to extract human despair to create and sell massive amounts of energy… but in the end, they’re still trying to somehow manipulate the entire Earth, or more precisely, human emotions as a whole.

I know how absurd it all sounds. This was also part of the webtoon’s story.

In the end, the plot didn’t progress much, and each episode was more of a self-contained story rather than advancing an overarching narrative.

When it was serialized on a blog, comedy was the main focus, but when it became an official webtoon, it transformed into an absurdist drama that maximized irony—the humor was significantly reduced compared to before.

And that’s why I ended up in this world after posting one wrong comment.

I wonder what the author would think of me now?

They probably wanted me, who criticized their work, to suffer as an extra rather than a protagonist, but now I was by Hayun’s side.

“Jieun?”

Hayun, who was sitting next to me, called out to me.

We were in the cafeteria.

Lunchtime. There were many children around us. Some of them were probably close enough to call friends.

We weren’t as selective about making friends as before, so many kids approached us without hesitation.

Well, most of them obviously had something they wanted from us.

Especially, there were many kids who were strangely concerned about Hayun’s parents.

My parents… well, nobody knows about them.

There seem to be rumors about me circulating in school. Especially about my “parents” who don’t even exist in this world.

There don’t seem to be rumors about their absence, but instead…

Strangely enough, there are rumors that they’re very important people.

No matter how many times I deny it when kids ask, the rumors just seem to grow because of my denials.

At this point, I don’t know what to do anymore, so I’ve just given up.

“…Jieun?”

Only after Hayun called me once more did I return to reality.

“Huh?”

“Do you have something on your mind?”

I do.

Things like the orphanage situation, or how I know too much about others.

If I had to choose, the former is more serious. The fact that I know about others can be kept secret if I just keep my mouth shut, but the orphanage story… once someone else finds out, it will spread like wildfire.

“No, nothing.”

So I answered like that for now.

Hayun tilted her head in confusion, but at least she didn’t press further.

…I’m really stubborn.

At this point, whether I hide it or not probably doesn’t matter.

I know very well that I won’t be separated from Hayun just because I live in an orphanage.

This is just stubbornness. Stubbornness I can’t give up because of my pride.

At least until I become an adult.

Until then, I wanted to show that I could be better than others without anyone’s help.

That there’s no reason for anyone to pity me.

Somehow, I felt that was the only way I could stand proudly next to Hayun.

Despite my answer, Hayun tilted her head.

It seems the long time we’ve spent together has deepened our connection too much to simply ignore.

*

But in the end, the deeper a secret becomes, the more people become interested in it.

“The mysterious magical girl of unknown identity.”

Ridiculously, some reporters gave me that nickname.

My face is known. They know which school I attend. They just don’t know about my family.

In reality, reporters could easily dig up information about my background if they wanted to. Some might already know my identity.

However, they probably have to be careful about various things, and they might have decided it’s better to keep that title as is, among other considerations.

I don’t know what the Galactic Federation’s intentions are, but Cherry, who leads the magical girls, was definitely inclined toward protecting us.

But even so—

There were still people who didn’t care about such considerations.

“J-Jieun…”

Jihye looked a bit scared as she watched me glaring at my smartphone screen.

On the smartphone, there was such a pointless article:

[Magical Girl, Human Victory.]

“…”

Anyone would think it’s praising me.

Well, the content of the article was indeed like that.

A story about a person with a difficult past who overcame adversity and eventually became a magical girl. Some might think it’s half made-up, others might say I didn’t actually suffer that much, and some might say it’s written too sentimentally—it was an article that thoroughly defended me.

But the problem lies in the underlying purpose.

The journalist who wrote the article must have known that Cherry and the Galactic Federation officials were blocking articles about my situation. After all, they’re a journalist.

But they deliberately wrote it like this.

“Noir Corporation.”

The internet newspaper that published the article is a subsidiary of Noir Corporation.

Why would they publish such an article?

Thinking about it, they had no reason not to release this article.

The minds of teenagers are usually sensitive. Even minor issues can cause emotions to fluctuate wildly. If they can shake up their opponent, it’s good to use that information.

Moreover, it’s an article that the Federation deliberately tried to block. All the more reason not to withhold it.

“…”

Looking up, I saw Jihye standing next to me, fidgeting nervously.

Is she worried I might think she told my story?

“…It can’t be helped, I guess.”

I can’t get angry in front of Jihye.

Of course not. Jihye did nothing wrong.

Jihye’s friends know she lives in an orphanage. Jihye was never ashamed of that fact. Her friends just accepted it.

With her good and lively personality, such things were probably treated as trivial. Jihye’s allowance from the Federation was also sufficient enough not to be lacking.

Rather, asking Jihye not to tell anyone might have been the more unreasonable request.

“Are you okay?”

No, I’m not.

I seemed more composed than expected, but I couldn’t tell if that was because I was so shocked that my mind went blank, or if I was genuinely handling it better than anticipated.

But either way, I’m not “okay.” The phrase “better than expected” is never used in an “absolutely positive” situation.

“Yeah. I’m fine. How should I put it… now that it’s out in the open, I feel much more at ease.”

I said that while looking at the newspaper again.

…Well, if I had to say, the side that blocked the article was more in the wrong.

Besides, living in an orphanage isn’t something to be ashamed of. The morally objectionable aspect of this article is that it revealed private information I hadn’t disclosed myself.

Even that might not resonate much with people who are “moved” by the story.

After all, there are people who would do anything to uncover the secrets of celebrities.

Jihye, who had been sharing a room with me for so long and had seen my face every day, seemed to recognize that fragment of emotion, quickly realizing that I wasn’t really okay.

Jihye didn’t say anything else until we laid out our blankets to sleep.

…I felt sorry for making Jihye so scared just because of one of my trivial secrets.

*

I’m not sure if it’s a positive thing that the article came out on a weekday.

If it had been Friday… kids with pent-up curiosity might have asked me something as soon as they arrived on Monday. But at least I would have had two days to prepare mentally.

But today is that Friday.

Since the article came out yesterday evening, some of the kids coming to school today would have already read it.

“Hi, Jieun.”

As usual, Hayun, whom I met in front of the bus stop, waved at me with a bright smile.

Does she not know anything?

Well, Hayun doesn’t seem to actively seek out news after becoming a magical girl.

She probably didn’t want to read about herself when it was plastered everywhere.

Most of the kids around us, who attend the same school, weren’t looking at me.

However, a few of them glanced at me.

Whether it was because I’m a magical girl or because of the article.

…And there were a few adults, not kids—especially some elderly people who looked like they enjoy meddling in others’ affairs—who were giving me sympathetic looks.

“…”

It seems today at school is going to be very tiring.