Ch.29Chapter 6. Enemies in the Same Boat (3)

Where should I go?

I started running, but my mind is still in chaos.

Since it’s after sunset, there weren’t many people in the lobby. If only there had been others mixed in… though I suppose just as it’s hard for them to approach me, it would have been equally difficult for me to escape.

Who are these people?

Judging by the lack of a Combatant uniform, they probably aren’t from Noir Corporation.

The circuit output of Noir Corporation is different from that of Magical Girls.

The Despair Circuit’s output is much weaker than the Hope Circuit’s. To receive assistance from that energy, you need pathways for the energy emanating from the circuit to deliver power throughout your body.

That’s why we wear suits.

The circuit I received had overwhelmingly better output than what other Combatants use, but it was still inferior to circuits using hope as an energy source, which is why it came with a suit.

Actually, in some ways, it might have been more efficient, but…

Anyway, that’s why the person with no circuit on their wrist and no suit is probably not from Noir Corporation.

Unless they’re disguising themselves to avoid detection. Whatever.

The circuit is spinning like crazy.

I don’t know how to use it. All the circuits I’ve used until now were attached to suits and automatically supplied energy.

I don’t feel anything like that now, but—

Three people blocked my path.

They were about 20cm taller than me. They looked like they could knock someone out with one punch if they wanted to.

Considering we were in a hospital, they weren’t openly swinging at me.

“…Huh?”

But even if I knew they were seriously trying to hit me, their movements seemed somewhat slow.

Was it because the beings who had been swinging fists at me until now weren’t ordinary people?

I quickly crouched down as someone came at me with arms spread wide trying to grab me. They lowered themselves to catch me, but my fist was already swinging.

I lightly hit them in the center of their chest. I didn’t feel anything break, but they clutched their chest and fell backward.

After taking down the person in the middle, I jumped over them.

My body feels light.

The pain I felt earlier has almost disappeared. I’m not sure why. Could it be the effect of medication I received while unconscious?

But as soon as I entertained that faint hope, I felt my body tire a bit. I was getting out of breath, and my legs were weakening. The pain in the soles of my feet also intensified.

Ah, I see.

It must be because of the circuit.

I couldn’t understand the principle behind it, but the circuit was supplying me with energy.

Unlike the one I usually used, this circuit with an electronic display was still whirring and spinning.

Knowing that this wasn’t entirely my own ability, I felt some strength return to my body. The Despair Circuit truly lives up to its name.

How ridiculous.

Disappointment and negativity being the core of energy—what terrible taste.

Smack!

While they were trying to “capture” me, my goal was simply to escape.

I had no intention of seriously hitting someone without a suit who wasn’t a Magical Girl. I was already in enough trouble without adding murder charges.

When someone finally lost patience and swung at me, our fists collided precisely, and they clutched their hand as they fell.

I wonder how much these people know.

Just as I was a Combatant who knew nothing, are these people also coming after me without knowing anything? Seeing that they’re all dressed as medical staff or hospital security, I don’t think they’re completely clueless, but I can’t be sure.

Bang!

“Ugh?!”

A gunshot rang out from behind, and I felt a strong impact on my back. I fell forward and slid across the smoothly polished hospital marble floor. While the circuit could handle the physical strain, it apparently couldn’t completely eliminate pain—my back where I’d been shot and the parts that hit the marble hurt terribly.

Fortunately, I was able to protect my face with my hands before falling. My bones didn’t seem to be broken—oh.

I quickly felt my stomach and back, but nothing seemed to have penetrated. My back just hurt tremendously.

Rubber bullets?

Non-lethal rounds used for riot control?

Could a regular company employee use such things? Given that they openly use circuits, it seems possible, but gun usage still seems like a different issue.

“Ah…!”

During this time, I felt something wrap around my ankle.

I turned my body to look down and saw a snare-like device around my left ankle. This wasn’t unfamiliar equipment.

It was similar to what police used to capture rampaging Kaijin. A snare fired from a gun.

At the end was a gun-like device that automatically reeled in the line, like a fishing rod.

As soon as I realized this, I began sliding rapidly across the marble floor. As I expected, the length of the line connected to the gun was decreasing quickly.

I tried to raise my upper body to do something about the line, but—

Zzzzt.

“Kyak?!”

I screamed at the sensation I felt upon touching it.

It wasn’t just my hand. A similar sensation ran through my leg connected to the line. For a moment, my senses tingled, and my back arched.

Electricity?

Are they using an electrified line on me?

Right, I remember that such a function exists. It’s designed to capture alien Kaijin who are much stronger than humans.

Since it’s for capture, it probably won’t kill me, but—

I tried to force my body to move. Whether it was due to my brain releasing endorphins in this situation or because of the circuit, I could move with effort.

“Ugh… keuuk…!”

I grabbed the line wrapped around my ankle with both hands and pulled hard in opposite directions. The line loosened slightly. I ignored the sizzling sound coming from my hands.

“Ah!”

The person pulling the line must have decided it was urgent and pulled harder. I was sitting while holding the snare, but now I was dragged along face down. My fingers wouldn’t detach from the line.

I forcibly straightened my fingers to release the line and tried to get up, but this time I was pushed and fell. The person who shoved me like a rugby player pinned me down.

Several more people rushed over to grab my arms and legs.

Why?

Why are they doing this to me?

I started to cry.

I… yes, I’m not a good person. To be honest, I’ve been somewhat twisted and off-track since joining Noir Corporation.

But still, I’m not a murderer.

I’ve never killed anyone. I didn’t blow up that pillar. Why do I have to be sacrificed?

Why do I have to take the blame? Am I just being used by those above me and then discarded?

Ah, I see.

It wasn’t just being used.

I received money. Not directly, but it was used for what I wanted.

Maybe it was my fault for doing something strange when I was just an extra with no name or face properly shown.

I should have just lived my life going with the flow, expressing admiration next to the protagonist.

Like a character with no name in the original work, I should have just lived that way.

…

No.

I don’t want that.

It’s not that I want to be the protagonist. I don’t want to be the most important character in some comic.

I just wanted to regain what I had lost. Everything I had achieved in my previous life, things that might seem like nothing to others but that I had worked hard for, all disappeared.

It might feel bad to see such comments on a comic you drew.

Perhaps the author deliberately put me in this role in this comic, as if to deny that I was nothing.

I didn’t want to be denied like that.

Even though I lived aimlessly without any purpose, I didn’t want my existence to be denied.

Maybe that’s why I kept circling around Hayun. Maybe because I knew Hayun was the protagonist of a magical girl story.

Maybe that’s why I joined the Combatants and started activities a year before Hayun.

I thought if I worked hard enough, I could at least become a villain executive. I thought I could become someone who at least appears briefly in the main story.

And by appearing in the main story, it would be like landing a blow on the author’s face—

Was it because of such greed?

“Get…”

This feels disgusting.

Really.

“Get away.”

As I trembled and raised my body, I heard surprised voices around me.

I placed my hands on the floor and lifted myself. The two men on my back were pushed away by my strength.

“The circuit! Remove the circuit!”

I heard someone shout. A hand reached for my wrist.

“Argh?!”

But that hand quickly withdrew.

Fools.

The circuit contains enormous energy as it spins. Of course, the heat it emits is quite high. While it’s designed to prevent the user from dying or getting injured, it’s still like touching a kettle of boiling water.

…I’m not sure why I’m fine right now.

“I said get away!”

I shouted as I swung my arm. Several men who were clinging to me were thrown off.

Push-shik.

That sound came from the circuit.

Black smoke was rising, but it looked different from when other circuits broke down.

Unlike previous circuits where the top part burst from the inside, this one’s panel slightly rose up as if designed for this, steadily emitting smoke.

“Kuk…!”

The people clinging to me inhaled the smoke and clutched their faces or throats with expressions of suffocation.

Perhaps it was toxic smoke that shouldn’t be inhaled directly.

Yet I was fine.

Gritting my teeth and letting out rough groans, I pushed aside the people sprawled on top of me and stood up.

My body was okay. I was a bit short of breath, but at least better than when the circuit wasn’t working.

The circuit James gave me was real.

I have no idea what principle it operates on. Without a helmet, I couldn’t see the measurements that would normally display on the circuit.

All I could see was a digitally displayed needle continuously rotating counterclockwise.

Actually, I’m not sure. The clock seemed to be moving faster than the screen’s maximum refresh rate, so it just appeared to be blinking as it regularly changed position.

…I should ask James about this if I see him again. Though I’m not sure if I will.

More bullets came toward me, but they all curved in strange directions before hitting my body. I heard sharp sounds of objects hitting the floor and walls.

Looking in the direction of the gunfire, I saw men with guns quickly hiding behind pillars.

You’re aiming guns at a high school girl, and you’re scared?

Well, the people trying to arrest me must have seen that video for whatever reason. They would have seen me fighting a Magical Girl. If an ordinary person in regular clothes had been there, they would have been physically crushed to death.

I staggered as I walked.

I hadn’t eaten anything since waking up. The drink Jihye left for me was still on the bed far away—I should have grabbed it.

I should have eaten something while talking.

The circuit provides immediate strength but doesn’t replenish energy that’s not in my body…

Let’s get out of here first. Go somewhere and eat something.

Setting that as my short-term goal, I walked.

As I went out through the door,

“…Ah.”

An extremely bright light shone in my eyes.

No, not just my eyes. Many headlights were turned on in my direction. People waiting there were shining lights at me.

Maybe I’m too dangerous to be considered “just a girl.”

It seems they had surrounded the lobby exit from the beginning. I could see the silhouettes of people beyond the headlights.

[Ms. Jeong Jieun, please remove the circuit and lie face down on the ground.]

Surprisingly, the warning wasn’t too intimidating. It was the voice of a woman who didn’t seem much older than me. They at least considered that I was a high school girl.

[If you don’t resist, no one will get hurt. We’re trying to protect you—]

“If you’re trying to protect me, why do you have guns?” I asked, genuinely curious.

I’m not talking about the people inside the hospital.

Even the people whose silhouettes I could see beyond the lights had something long in their hands. Probably guns. If not guns, likely some kind of weapon.

[Ms. Jeong Jieun.]

“…I didn’t do it.”

I said.

“That explosion wasn’t my fault.”

But there was no response to this statement.

If they had lied to reassure me, things might have been different. The person behind that loudspeaker didn’t seem willing to do even that much.

Or maybe there were legal issues involved?

Perhaps they couldn’t make false statements that might be disadvantageous in court?

“I said I didn’t do it!”

I shouted. My voice sounded cracked.

[Ms. Jeong Jieun.]

Infuriatingly, that voice remained very calm.

[This can end well for everyone. If you don’t resist—]

“Then where are you taking me?!”

I shouted.

“Are you going to throw me in prison?”

[Not prison, but a hospital—]

“What hospital?! You brought all these people just to catch one person like me, what kind of hospital?!”

Unbelievable.

The circuit trembled.

The black smoke gradually began to take form.

[Ms. Jeong Jieun!]

Seeing this, the voice became somewhat urgent.

[Stop that right now!]

As if I could stop.

It’s the only thing protecting my body. I have no choice if I want to protect myself from people surrounding me with guns.

What if I get shot after removing the circuit? Something would definitely break. I might bleed internally. In fact, the places where I was hit while wearing the circuit still hurt.

I’m tired of being in pain.

They have no intention of listening to me.

Then I have nothing more to say either.

I heard the loudspeaker shouting something, but I ignored it.

Gunshots rang out. Bullets flew from all directions. I don’t know if they were rubber bullets or not, but I decided not to care anymore.

I ran.

*

Gunshots rang out in the middle of Seoul.

Hayun immediately understood what that might mean. Perhaps Jieun…

“Hayun.”

Cherry, sitting on her shoulder, called out to Hayun in fear.

“I know.”

Trying to forcibly calm her racing heart, Hayun turned toward the direction of the sound.

Please, please, please.

She hoped those gunshots weren’t aimed at Jieun.

She thought this even while knowing it was unlikely.

Positive thoughts make the circuit work. Even in the worst situations, you need positive thoughts for the Hope Circuit to function.

“…Ugh!”

But Hayun’s body dropped slightly in the air.

Even knowing she shouldn’t think such thoughts while flying, the image of Jieun bleeding kept appearing in her mind.

Still, she managed not to fall from the sky and headed toward the source of the sound.

…The only hopeful thought she could muster was that Jieun might have a circuit and was resisting, causing those sounds.

That’s how urgent Hayun’s feelings were right now.

*

Bang!

I threw a barricade I had knocked down.

I heard what might have been screams from onlookers. Bang! There was the sound of a heavy object dropping and metal bars bending.

Shouts were heard, followed by more gunshots.

The bullets couldn’t hit me. Curved bullets hit in all directions, making savage sounds. More screams followed.

My left arm was completely covered in black material.

It’s that crustacean-like arm I saw before.

Just like a Kaijin.

An unexplained phenomenon that visiting aliens sometimes experience on Earth.

Usually they don’t lose their sanity, so I’m probably similar.

I ran quickly and crushed the gun of a person in front of me. During this, another shot was fired, and I heard a scream. Looking back, I saw another officer rolling on the ground, apparently hit by crossfire.

There was no blood flowing, so perhaps they weren’t lead bullets.

I threw away the gun and ran with all my might.

A Magical Girl will come, right?

I needed to escape before then. As far as possible. I don’t know where to go, but…

And, and…

What should I do?

Hoping at least not to encounter Hayun during this time, I ran.

Ah, I feel like I might cry.

Why do I have to be doing this?

I really want to give up on everything, even now.

But saying that now wouldn’t make any difference.

That fact made me even more miserable.

In the distance, police sirens grew louder. Judging by the overlapping sounds, they must have dispatched more people.

And far up in the sky.

I could see a pink light flying toward me.

…So we’ll meet after all.

With a feeling like I might collapse at any moment, I ran again.

Because there was nothing else I could do.