episode_0001

“Are there any injuries?”

The demon disappeared without a trace.

While the people who appeared to be police officers were standing off for a moment, a man came running from somewhere and argued with Masu for about a minute, and then a red-haired woman came and burned it cleanly.

“It’s always so sudden. Damn, how can I live with anxiety?”

“But you came quickly, right? The guild will repair the damage.”

“Excuse me for a moment. Could you please check the vehicle number?”

“Oh, thank you for your hard work. 29 more 7264… That’s my car.”

“Thank you for checking. The recovery team will arrive soon, so please wait a moment.”

People who had been confused for a moment quickly dispersed as if it was normal business.

“Aww, wow!”

As I was staring blankly at the extraordinary sight, a small fist hit me on the chin.

“Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Wow!”

When I came to my senses and rocked the baby back and forth, the baby smiled brightly.

“Use… .”

My elbows were sore from rolling around, but the pain melted away as I looked at the baby’s bright smile.

“Huh?”

As I stood there blankly trying to soothe the baby, I found a neatly folded note among the disheveled blankets.

I held the baby deep in my arms and put my hands in the blanket.

─I’m sorry. Please help me.

The handwriting looked like it had been scribbled on in a hurry.

“Um… .”

Then I found a silver bracelet on the baby’s wrist and looked at it closely. A name was engraved on a silver plate the size of my index finger… .

“Future… .”

Wait, is it already future?

It’s the heroine’s name that I saw in the summary. She also said that she treasured the bracelet with her name engraved on it. She said it was like a talisman that she had had since she was a baby.

I don’t know the details, because the summary was written from the perspective of the main character, Min Seo-hoo.

But judging from the current situation, the heroine could only be said to have been abandoned. She had even almost died at the hands of the devil a little while ago.

Baby. No, the hand that holds the future has strength.

I don’t know why, but the future was abandoned before my eyes. I couldn’t leave it like that, knowing full well that it was true. I held the future tightly in my arms and made a promise.

I will take responsibility for this child’s future.

In this world where we have to struggle just to survive without any purpose.

Let’s raise the heroine we found by chance properly.

If the heroine were to be abandoned here and go astray, let alone become a villain, then the world could really end.

In fact, more than anything, my mind was not at ease.

‘Haruya, if you meet someone who seems to be in trouble, be sure to help them. The hand you extend will surely come back to you someday.’

I couldn’t just pass it by, even if it was because of my mother’s words.

* * *

I sat down on the bench for a moment and searched through my bag to find out at least the bare minimum of information. All I found were textbooks, unopened mail, and a household newsletter.

First, I opened the household newsletter.

“There are people with the same name… .”

Surprisingly, the name of the child who was possessed was the same as mine.

The three letters of the name ‘Iharu’ written in neat letters.

It was a family newsletter where we wrote our future hopes, but it was blank except for the space for our class and name.

Not only your own future aspirations, but also your parents’ future aspirations are all written down.

Did you receive it today?

Actually, it wouldn’t be strange if I had received it before. When I was a student, I often threw the home newsletter in my bag and forgot about it.

I then checked the mail, which appeared to be a cell phone bill.

“E-3 Zone… ? Happy Villa 202… .”

The envelope had a somewhat unfamiliar home address written on it. I guess this was my home.

“Awww!”

“Oh, ahh… Are you cold? Wait a minute? I’ll find you soon.”

I hurriedly searched my pockets at the whining of the future. My gaze naturally turned downwards, and I noticed the pure white calves exposed below the knees.

…skirt?

It wasn’t shorts. It was a navy blue skirt that was clearly connected… .

Why? Even though it is said that the original basic clothing of mankind was a skirt, this is a city center that has a modern appearance.

“Uuuuu… Ugh… .”

“Ah, uh… tea, are you okay? Just bear with it for a little longer.”

There was no time to be flustered by the sudden appearance of the skirt. Mirae was clenching her fists and sobbing, clearly looking dissatisfied with something. Of course, there was no way she could be satisfied with this situation.

I quickly searched through my pockets and found a square object.

Smartphones. This is not the era where men walk around in skirts. This is the modern era where information is pouring down.

I felt relieved when I confirmed the existence of my smartphone. In addition, I was glad that the unlocking method was facial recognition, not a password or pattern.

“Um… .”

When I looked up, I saw a girl’s face, but I couldn’t recognize her because her bangs were down to her eyes. I lifted her jet-black bangs with my palm and pushed them back into the screen.

“Pretty… .”

Despite his young face, I couldn’t help but be impressed.

Her skin was as white as the first snow in early winter, and her black hair flowed down from above, fluttering around her waist.

The pitch-black eyes that stare blankly at the screen make the girl look like a girl, and the white breath leaking out from between the slightly parted, cute lips completes the pitiful girl.

In addition, the faint dark circles under her eyes blended in well, making her young face look a little more mature.

A doll-like appearance that anyone, regardless of age or gender, would look back at at least once.

therefore….

“Is this…me?”

Before I knew it, I had forgotten to unlock the camera and was panning it around to capture only my own image.

But isn’t it too young?

I took out the household newsletter that I had roughly checked and put away.

Class 2, Grade 4.

There are no fourth graders in middle and high schools. There’s no way I could be a college student with this face. That means I’m 11 years old.

“Awww!”

“Mi, sorry. Bba, let’s go in quickly!”

As I stood there dumbfounded, unable to keep up with the chaos, my discontent with the future reached its peak.

I decided to put my problems aside for the time being and start looking for a house. It was too chilly for a baby to be outside for too long.

I quickly unlocked it and launched the internet browser that said GOGLE. The names were similar so I was curious, and sure enough, it was our GOGLE teacher.

There is nothing to be afraid of when you are with the teacher.

* * *

The teacher’s directions were accurate. E is an abbreviation for the city name Easty. Happy Villa was located in Easty, an eastern administrative district.

“Uuuu!”

“Right, you held out well. You’re all here.”

Happy Villa was a two-story, six-unit, corridor-style townhouse. The building was flat, so all six units were lined up in a row.

I went up the stairs next to the building and found room 202.

The first thing that caught my eye was a pink Post-it note.

─I made too much dinner, so could you please give me a little bit? Please help me out, ma’am!

The rounded handwriting seemed to reveal the writer’s personality. Was he a close neighbor?

Without thinking much, I took off the post-it note stuck to the door and stuck it on the blanket Mirae was covering herself with.

“There’s no door lock… .”

I dug through my bag again and took out the keys from my front pocket. Luckily, nothing like ‘that wasn’t my house key’ happened.

Crunch.

The sound of the key fitting into place was refreshing and I could feel the impact on my fingertips.

“Over there… … .”

Suddenly, my feet stopped. I am Iharu, but I am not Iharu. From Haru’s parents’ perspective, I am a complete stranger. On top of that, how absurd it must be to suddenly bring a baby. I just couldn’t move.

But when I peeked inside, the house was dark, and there wasn’t a single pair of shoes left in the shoe rack.

“Excuse me… .”

I stepped in carefully. I took off the leather shoes I was wearing and went into the living room.

Exactly.

When I pressed the switch above the sofa, the fluorescent lights came on, and the dimly lit living room came into view.

Kitchen attached to the living room.

A small table is placed in between.

A sofa and a TV, two rooms and a bathroom.

All the doors were open, but there was only one room with a bed.

I looked around, holding the future in my arms. It was a pretty bleak sight for an elementary school student. Don’t they usually put up alphabet signs on the door and put down soft mats on the floor?

“Huh?”

As I continued to think like that and search for clues about myself, I felt something tugging at my toes.

tether.

What was caught in my feet was a rope. It even had a round knot in it… .

“Ugh… .”

My body was trembling.

I couldn’t sit still because I had a constant chill and a chill running down my head. I hurried to the kitchen.

They are all one.

Bowls, chopsticks, spoons, and cups.

There was only one.

“No way… .”

Bam.

“Hic… !”

My shoulders hunched at the sound of the rope falling from my hands. As I faced the rope again, all the strength drained from my body.

Since the current situation was clearly pointing to only one place, I didn’t feel like denying reality.

I walked towards the room where the bed was.

Bed, desk, wardrobe.

It was a room with only basic furniture. Besides, there was no decoration other than textbooks, a calendar, and a notebook.

But then I found something on the desk that seemed so out of place in an elementary school student’s room.

sleeping pills.

A can of sleeping pills, still unopened, sat on the desk.

“Haa… Haa… .”

My breathing became rapid. Mirae also felt the ominous atmosphere and kept her lips pursed.

November 30th.

A day circled in red on the calendar. Beneath it were small, dense letters.

─The day I went next to Mom and Dad.

I checked today’s date on my smartphone.

November 29th.

“Oh… .”

As I lowered my head as the future reached out to me, I saw water marks engraved on my pale cheek.

Knock, knock.

“Aww… .”

Every time a drop of water falls, Mirae rubs her face as if it is ticklish. At the same time, she reaches out and wipes the tears on my chin with her hand.

“Thank you… .”

I sat down on the floor, hugging the future tightly.

It was so hard that I developed dark circles under my eyes at a young age. It was so hard that I decided to end the life I hadn’t even lived yet.

I, Haru, inherited that life of Iharu.

“… You worked hard.”

So let’s use it carefully.

As my mother used to say, let’s reach out to others.

I hope that the hands I extend will make this day a little warmer.