Ch.330325 – Mountain Climbing

[ORDER]

[1. This case is dismissed.]

[2. The plaintiff shall bear the court costs.]

The first trial wasn’t rejected – it was dismissed.

If rejection is like taking an exam normally and failing, dismissal is like being kicked out of the exam hall for not bringing your ID or writing utensils.

Adella’s case was dismissed because she failed to meet the litigation requirements in terms of both subject eligibility and party eligibility.

Unlike second and third trials, first trial judgments are written by AI judges with final reviews conducted by a small number of human judges.

“They seem to keep delaying cases at the first trial level to avoid them reaching the second trial, where they’d have to deal with them,” Attorney Cheon Jeong-ho consoled me apologetically.

Topics with room for debate always come with great responsibility.

He explained that everyone tries to avoid socially sensitive lawsuits, especially if one plans to enter politics, as past judgments can be scrutinized during hearings.

When I delivered the bad news to Adella, she brushed it off casually.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Since when did I care about that stuff… I’m going to prepare for my stream now.”

I’ve been observing Adella more closely since she complained about discomfort in virtual reality.

What’s different about her?

First, she doesn’t blink often.

A normal person should blink at least 10 times per minute.

I might have missed some instances, but Adella’s blinking interval has extended to as long as an hour.

Her breathing also seems deliberately forced and quite unnatural.

Additionally, while people rarely sneeze in virtual reality, Adella actually sneezes about once a day.

These are all minor issues so far.

But even these uncertain signs were enough to warrant caution.

“Hmmph! This is tough.”

I stretched fully, hoping to grow even a little taller.

In the living room, I tossed off my clothes and changed into outdoor wear.

Professor Cheon was away on a week-long business trip for the Gunsan Mana Power Plant inauguration ceremony, so I was alone at home.

I layered on black thermal leggings and a layered shirt.

Then I grabbed my white padded jacket and went out for a walk to clear my head.

‘I haven’t been moving much lately, so my body feels increasingly sluggish.’

My brown Ugg boots made crunching sounds as I stepped on the white snow.

Children’s bodies are fascinating.

Just walking normally and then jumping with both feet to land perfectly on a pile of snow automatically brings a bright smile to my face.

‘What am I doing?’

I looked around and then continued walking nonchalantly.

My destination was Guryong Town.

“Lora, let’s go.”

“Aww, but it’s cold outside…”

“I’ll keep you warm.”

“Okay, I’ll be right out!”

I called for Lora, who’s a year younger than me, and together we climbed the hill behind our neighborhood.

The white pom-pom on her fur hat bobbed up and down.

Despite the chilly winter, there were quite a few hikers climbing the mountain.

Well, at this height, people would probably consider it a walk rather than a hike.

The elderly seemed curious about two young girls holding hands while climbing the mountain and commented:

“Are you two here alone? Where are your parents?”

“We’re just out for a walk together.”

“Oh my! Be careful going up since the ground is frozen! Here, would you like some chocolate?”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

I took off my gloves and unwrapped an ABC chocolate from its plastic packaging, popping it into Lora’s mouth.

“Mmm, it’s delicious!”

Lora exclaimed, shivering.

She was sniffling, so I took out a tissue from my pocket and wiped her nose.

“Lora, hold out both hands.”

“Like this?”

[Cast: Heat Transfer – Conduction]

I can generate heat by rapidly rotating my aura, but Lora can’t do that.

So I shared some of my heat with her.

“Warm now? Shall we continue?”

“Yes!”

“Let’s just go up to that point and then head back down.”

The mountain wasn’t very high, but we didn’t climb all the way to the top.

I might have gone all the way if I were alone, but I was with Lora now.

We sat in a pavilion halfway up the mountain and took out the snacks I had packed.

While Lora gulped down water, I took off my hat and wiped my sweat.

Although we couldn’t see a wide-open view, the snow piled on the trees sparkled like the Milky Way and looked beautiful.

“I used to think people hiked just to reach the summit. I couldn’t see any other reason to climb a mountain.”

I shared thoughts with Lora that I couldn’t tell anyone else.

She wouldn’t take it too seriously anyway.

“Exercise, dieting, or seeing beautiful scenery – all those secondary reasons can be substituted with something else.”

Those could be advantages of hiking but never the purpose itself.

I thought the purpose was conquering the mountain and coming back down – that was meaningful in itself.

Reaching the summit meant success; failing to reach it meant failure.

“But hiking with you, Lora, makes all that irrelevant. It’s just fun to hike with someone.”

“Hmm? Isn’t there one more reason?”

Lora asked while munching on a chocolate cookie.

“What reason?”

“After hiking and coming down, food tastes so much better!”

I was speechless at the child’s pure yet insightful answer.

“You’re right. So what would you like for lunch today?”

“Ox head soup!”

“Ox head soup…? Do you even know how to eat that?”

Do kids even like that?

I didn’t dislike it myself – I’d lived on nothing but soup two years ago.

And so our lunch menu was decided.

Going down was faster than climbing up.

We descended quickly like squirrels, taking a different path than the one we came up on.

“Aaaaah!”

Halfway down, the path was icy, and Lora almost rolled off the trail.

Fortunately, I grabbed a branch for support, and she climbed back up holding my hand.

“Is your ankle okay? Not sprained?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! But sis, is this really a path people use? It seems too rough.”

“This way is faster.”

“Oh, Name sis, your clothes are torn.”

“Where? Oh, you’re right…”

Both of us were covered in dirt.

My padded jacket had caught on a branch somewhere and was torn diagonally with tufts of padding sticking out.

The seat of my leggings was also damp from sitting on the snow.

“Let’s quickly eat and then go to my house to clean up.”

“Okay!”

Even though we took a shortcut, Lora came down slower than expected, so there wasn’t a dramatic reduction in our descent time.

We stopped at a soup restaurant at the entrance and ordered one ox head soup and one blood sausage soup.

Since we’d passed the lunch rush, the restaurant was empty except for one table.

We sat near the electric heater and hung our padded jackets on the chairs.

I opened a pack of wet wipes to clean Lora’s dirt-covered face.

“Lora, bring your face closer.”

On the opposite side, three elderly men were leisurely watching television.

[Next news: The “stock-rich” minor under 12 years old with the highest valuation has been identified as a teenage sibling pair with stocks worth over 100 billion won.]

“My goodness, what child has 100 billion? They’re rich, so rich.”

“A 4-year-old with 50 billion won? Being born to good parents is also luck.”

“None of that matters! You can’t take it with you when you die.”

The elderly men picked their teeth with toothpicks while commenting on the lifestyles of the upper class.

Meanwhile, the restaurant owner brought two steaming bowls of soup.

“We didn’t order dumplings, did we?”

“It’s on the house. Enjoy your meal, kids!”

“Thank you very much!”

Polite Lora bowed her head and took a bite of the dumpling.

“My, how well you eat!”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, nothing. Don’t mind us and eat up! You came with your sister? Where are your parents?”

If she says don’t mind us but asks a question, am I supposed to answer?

While I was pondering this, Lora jumped in first.

“I only have a mom, and sis only has a dad!”

“Hey, Aurora…!”

“Huh? It’s true, isn’t it?”

“Oh… is that so?”

The elderly men’s expressions suddenly hardened.

One of them even had reddening eyes, seeming to have a major misunderstanding, so I quickly clarified.

“We don’t live in an orphanage. And it’s not a blended family situation either. We each live well in our own homes.”

“Ah, I see. The world is harsh and difficult… At least eat well and rest here.”

“Yes…”

I don’t get it.

[Next news: Johnson & Johnson has announced its decision to acquire the domestic startup ‘Bio-Akashic,’ which developed a treatment for multiple sclerosis, for 870 billion won. This is an unprecedented scale for a startup less than a year old, and domestic venture investors will each earn profits in the hundreds of billions of won.]

“Wow, how much is 870 billion?”

“That’s 100 million bowls of soup.”

[Meanwhile, Bio-Akashic’s co-founder NoName is estimated to gain a massive profit of 348 billion won with her 40% stake. There has been a heated response from netizens about NoName, who at 8 years old has joined the ranks of Korea’s youngest wealthy individuals. Let’s take a look.]

“Isn’t that her? That genius girl.”

“It is! Well, I guess she really is a genius.”

“Wow sis, you’re on TV! I wish I could be on TV too, I really wish I could!”

“…?”

Lora pointed at my ID photo on the TV while humming a children’s song.

An odd silence fell over the restaurant.

I held my twintails with both hands to cover my mouth and looked around nervously.

“Huh? Huuuh?”

One of the elderly men tilted his head in confusion and looked back and forth between the TV and me.

“Child, is that really you?”

“Pardon?”

“It really is! What in the world! Ma’am! Come look at this!”

“My goodness…! A rich person eating soup at a place like this? Well, I never…!”

The elderly men made a fuss and dragged their chairs closer.

I haven’t even eaten half of my soup yet…

I shot Aurora a reproachful look, but she didn’t even think to look my way.

“Child, how does one become rich?”

“What happened to ‘it’s all useless when you die’?”

“We’re in the era of centenarians now! It’ll be a long time before we go!”

“To think we’d meet such an important person here. Don’t mind us and eat your food! We’ll just sit quietly beside you!”

“Why is it so noisy! Hey…! Why are you bothering these children while they’re eating!”

“Ma’am, shouldn’t we get NoName’s autograph? She’s our country’s star! A star!”

“NoName? Oh my goodness! It really is her?”

Clang-

The restaurant owner dropped her tray.

I quietly whispered to Lora.

“Ready to go if you’re done eating?”

“Not yet!”

“Alright…”

I thought I’d gotten used to this after the fan meeting, but such direct attention was still uncomfortable.