Chapter 35 : Immigration Inspection

There are things that become even clearer in the world of 0s and 1s.

The human heart, the movements of society, the flow of groups.

When they have substance, they’re incredibly complex, but a surprisingly clear image emerges when everything is converted to points and drawn as a picture.

One girl realized this at a very young age in her corner of the room.

The day she gained a slightly special ability.

The picture began to appear more clearly, and simultaneously, the girl despaired.

All the pictures showed was black.

Was it being drawn in black, or was it black from the beginning?

So she desperately searched for even a single white dot.

Because in this picture, only that white dot could reveal the original color.

* * *

“…”

Hearing such direct speech after a long time was a dizzying feeling.

But is it okay to talk like this in a place like this?

Looking at that mister’s expression now, he seems like he might collapse if I said, “This world will end next year.”

“So-so-so-so-so-sorry!!!!”

Oh Sanghyuk, whose scalp visible through his sparse hair had turned completely pale, naturally stood covering the ash-gray avatar and apologized while bending his body at a right angle.

“This kid is a child who only played games in her room corner, so she doesn’t know how to talk to people properly, and being excited about meeting the magical girl of [Beginning] whom she’s respected for a long time, questions she saw in her dream last night seem to have poured out without her knowing, so with a heart as vast as the sea, please…!”

Oh, Sanghyuk, as if truly out of his mind, unconsciously pushed the avatar girl’s body beside him with his left hand, as if telling her to apologize, even though she had no physical form.

“Dorim! What’s with that way of speaking! Just until yesterday, you were smiling brightly, saying you wanted to go on a Korean food tour together if you met the magical girl of [Beginning]! You’re just feeling a bit gloomy because you slept after reading a sad novel yesterday, right? Right? You often talk like that to the Minister, too, and do weird role-playing! You!”

Sanghyuk desperately scolded and deconstructed Dorim’s words, trying to cover up what Dorim had blurted out earlier as if it were just a silly joke.

But through the waves of the dream world I had spread out earlier, I could feel that the despair Dorim had been feeling for a long time had significantly shaken.

‘Were they feeling their own hardships under the seemingly bright Korean news?’

I didn’t particularly have the self-awareness of being a representative of a specific country who needed to bring benefits to my own country, and rather, the despair and desperation they were feeling was a welcome reality check for me.

There was even a sense of relief that it became easier to talk.

It was very reassuring that there were people who were seriously concerned about the current situation in this way, not just considering their own greed but thinking about others.

‘But the way of speaking is a bit…’

If it’s Korea in 2011, it’s when I was just a little kid too, but I remember it as an era where corporal punishment was barely occurring, and this girl’s attitude was a bit too honest.

Do they not scold for such speech habits in Korea within the light novel?

[Hikari-chan!]

She seems to be about middle school age, just a bit older than Hana at most, and it’s really admirable that she didn’t get drunk on her own powerful ability and stabilized Korean society, but…

“So?”

“Y-Yes…?!”

“…”

I spoke in a cool tone while looking at Dorim’s avatar, which was still staring at me with a desperate expression over Oh Sanghyuk’s pale shoulder.

“Are you done saying what you wanted to say?”

“…”

“What were you going to do if I happened to be someone who came to invade this country?”

“Huk…?!”

“…”

Strictly speaking, it was correct as far as magical girl society was concerned.

“You’ve probably become so direct in personality because you can control information yourself, but you need to speak while considering the situation and the other person’s intentions.”

As I continued my pointed remarks, Oh Sanghyuk’s pale complexion gradually relaxed, and he seemed rather relieved by my rational response.

The expression on Dorim’s avatar faded, and her eyes wavered, then…

Zzzzt

The ash-gray avatar disappeared with noise.

“Ack, Dorim?!”

“Huu… huff… sorry.”

Kang Dorim’s main body staggered over from beyond the empty parking lot where we were standing.

Her skinny limbs, looking frail even as a magical girl, were sticky with sweat, and her abundant ash-gray hair, long enough to cover her whole body, was tangled and messy all over.

“Sor…ry… huff.”

“Okay, let’s not do that next time.”

“Huu… heuk… huk”

She continued speaking with difficulty while breathing roughly.

“If I… don’t know… hek… everything might… be ruined…”

“Do-Dorim…!”

Even amidst this, Dorim’s eyes were burning with desperation.

“The power to… col-collapse the social system… given to young girls… indiscriminately…”

Dorim desperately continued speaking.

“And then… as if telling us to fight each other… that strange broadcast… it seems to be encouraging everything to be ruined…”

Huu huu

After catching her breath for a moment, Dorim straightened her shoulders and said.

“Rather than just covering our eyes and pretending not to know, I wanted to ask you.”

Oh Sanghyuk tightly closed his mouth as if giving up, unable to stop her.

“Because all I can show you is honesty.”

“So that’s why you spoke to me like that right away?”

Dorim nodded.

“Please tell us the method of <Magical Girl HAZARD>.”

“What do you think I came here to do? There’s no guarantee that’s the truth either.”

“Debutante.”

Dorim was looking at me with eyes full of conviction.

“I searched through the keywords Japanese magical girls mentioned on SNS and all broadcast records of magical girls, but the magical girl of [Beginning] hasn’t shown herself since creating the ‘Garden.’”

“…”

“If you simply wanted to rule, you would have come forward more actively than anyone, but you desperately tried to separate everyone from the state and make them independent.”

“…”

“At least from my judgment, what [Beginning] wants is the growth of magical girls and coexistence with the original world.”

“So that’s what you think.”

“To me… it looked like a struggle to prepare for some great turmoil.”

After finishing all she had to say, Dorim bowed her head to me and said.

“Rather than staying still and being swept away by the flow… I’m going to do something.”

Oh Sanghyuk looked at that quietly with a complicated expression, then bowed his head together.

“This kid suddenly acted up, but since I’m here to take responsibility for that… I’ll ask for your help too.”

“…”

The ambiguous red broadcast and the transcendent power of magical girls arbitrarily given by gods, and society accepts it with desire.

A girl who continued all of this and wrote the conclusion of destruction.

She miraculously stabilized Korea despite the abnormal situation of magical girls appearing and is trying to sense and prepare for the malice of transcendent beings hidden in this situation itself.

They throw themselves into uncertain possibilities, seeking the best in a situation where they don’t even know if they’re right.

How scared and trembling must they have been while speaking to me?

Nevertheless, they showed me their sincerity.

“…”

They could have threatened me by revealing my identity.

They could have lied outwardly and called for support to ensure safety.

But what they showed was stubborn sincerity.

I saw a quiet dream world except for the waves of emotion I felt from them.

‘I want to help.’

Wasn’t this something I had to do anyway?

* * *

“First of all, let me say this.”

“Yes?”

“…”

Snap!

Cracks slowly form in the space and split apart.

This was not the parking lot where not a single car was visible until just now, but a quiet beach near Incheon Airport.

Time was already approaching evening, and the memory of walking out of the airport exit toward the parking lot was scattering like a dream.

Splash

Splash

Oh Sanghyuk was confused as he felt the waves crashing against his feet.

He was sure they were talking in the parking lot until just now, but his pants were already soaked as if they had been hit by waves several times.

“Let’s properly introduce ourselves.”

With closed eyes, the mysterious girl looked at Sanghyuk and Dorim with her back to the sea, reflecting the sunset.

Rustle

When she removed her cap, her silver hair came loose and fluttered in the wind.

Her swaying hair reflecting the sunset looked like a sparkling silver curtain.

“Magical girl of [Beginning], Shirogane Hikari.”

“Head of Korea’s Supernatural Ability Countermeasures Team, Oh Sanghyuk.”

“Magical girl of [Cyberbrain]… Kang Eunseol!”

“…Wasn’t it Dorim?”

“I changed my name.”

“Because people teased you asking if your surname was Sin?”

“Uh… that’s right, but how did you know? You speak Korean so well too…”

The mysterious girl just chuckled while putting her hands in her hoodie pockets.

Her long eyelashes which seemed closed curved gently, and she placed her slender white fingers on her lips.

“It’s a secret.”

Oh Sanghyuk and Kang Dorim could only blankly stare at the girl smiling with her back to the sea.

Dorim suddenly thought that the name ‘Eunbit’ (silver light), which she had called Hikari’s name in Korean style by herself, seemed to suit her very well.

“It’s getting close to dinner time, shall we go eat some soup somewhere?”

“…”

“…”