episode_0099

The rest of the process went very smoothly.

All you had to do was focus on what the guide said.

I listened to the incomprehensible conversation that lasted for a long time. To be honest, I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I decided to memorize the conversation as much as possible.

Just in case something goes wrong and something big happens.

Of course, it was difficult to memorize it because I couldn’t understand it properly. I felt like I had to memorize every single letter without any meaning.

But somehow it worked out because she tried hard. It was possible because Sera had a good memory. Thanks to that, she was able to somewhat relieve her anxiety.

And most of the remaining procedures are taken care of by the family, so now all that’s left is to just attend the academy.

I didn’t have much affection for the school I originally went to, so it was easy to let go of my attachment to it. Life there was always like hell.

… … And I don’t have any friends.

But apart from that, I felt a bit nervous about going to a different school for no reason.

“It’s okay.”

At that moment, my brother held my hand as usual. Then, I felt like the tension was slightly relieved.

“Then, shall we go now?”

To that voice, Seora answered brightly, “Yes!”

I went out and walked around the neighborhood with my brother. At first, I wondered why I didn’t go straight home. But that question was just fun because my brother was considerate and kept wandering around aimlessly.

Sometimes I would eat snacks and buy toys. Even though I didn’t really want them, my brother would hand them to me on purpose, saying he wanted to buy them for me.

Sera remained silent for a moment and then muttered softly.

“Thank you.”

My brother chuckled at that sight.

After that, I just kept walking around here and there. It was a new feeling since I usually just stayed at home. Sera slowly smiled and moved around to different places with light steps.

Today, I was able to go to a place I’ve always wanted to go to. It was a movie theater, but honestly, I thought it might not be that great. It was a place that was often mentioned by the kids in my class who used to bully me, so I didn’t have a good impression of it, but when I actually went there, it was really great.

And today I went to a place I had heard of for the first time, and it was, as expected, good. It seemed like a place where you could just eat cake.

The name of the place was said to be Cafe.

And I also went to a place called PC Bang, but it wasn’t that good. I couldn’t understand why kids go there.

But still, it was fun being with my brother.

It feels like I’ve escaped from a hell that seemed like it would last forever, and now I’ve come to heaven!

For a moment, I really thought about that.

It was around the time the sun was setting.

“How was it? Did you have fun today?”

Sera nodded vigorously, unusually excited. Then she answered with a bright smile, raising both arms high.

“It was so much fun! It was really fun!”

I waved my arms and told my brother how happy I was.

I felt so happy that I wished every day could be like this.

“That’s really fortunate.”

Suddenly, her brother smiled bitterly. As a young girl, Sera couldn’t understand why he was making such an expression in such a happy situation.

My brother, who was standing there sighing deeply and looking uncomfortable, spoke to me in a soft voice.

“Sera, from now on you’ll have to live alone in the dorm. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah! I’m fine.”

Since I had heard this information from the guide in advance, I was mentally prepared. So, it really was okay, and it wasn’t a lie.

“I wonder if it’ll be scary if I actually go?”

Was he trying to scare me? My brother spoke in a slightly dark tone. Still, Sera thought back to her daily life and answered more gently.

Compared to that, I think I can do it well enough.

“Yeah! It’s really okay! No, it’s even better!”

“I see.”

My brother tapped my shoulder for a moment. It seemed as if he was trying to comfort me in his own way. So I smiled back.

“… … .”

There was silence for a moment.

I waited for him on purpose because I felt like he had something to say. But he still didn’t say anything. He just stared at the distant mountains with his fingertips trembling slightly.

“Brother?”

Eventually, Sera, tired of waiting, spoke first. Only then did her brother respond. The boy, who had been looking at the girl for a moment, smiled faintly and muttered.

“Yes, because you are still young. You have plenty of time.”

What could it mean? Sera tilted her head at that one word, which was even more incomprehensible than what the guide had said.

“Nothing. Let’s go now.”

“… … ? Got it.”

Seo-ra held her brother’s hand and went back home, still wondering what on earth she wanted to say.

*

Time passed and it was soon time to go to the academy. Sera was preparing her luggage in advance for her life there.

“Did you bring everything you need?”

My brother approached me with a gentle smile. Sera, who was packing her bags diligently, sweat dripping down her face, immediately responded brightly to his voice.

“Yeah! I got it all.”

“… … That?”

There wasn’t much that Sera had packed. The blanket that she had used to confide everything to her family that day, the pillow she used often, and finally, one thing that her brother had bought her.

The rest were just small things like toothbrushes, so packing them up was a breeze.

So I prepared everything by myself.

“Then why are you sweating?”

“It’s summer.”

“Just because it’s summer?”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh. Seeing Sera’s simple yet profound appearance made me feel relieved.

Yeah, a kid like this would do well at Hunter Academy.

“Then, should we go to sleep early for tomorrow?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep well today… … .”

“But I still have to sleep. Since it’s the first day, shouldn’t I go in a more perfect condition?”

“Right… … .”

“Then let’s go in quickly.”

“Okay.”

Seo-ra nodded and went into the room. My younger sister went in and I was left alone. I, who didn’t have a room, was just in the living room.

“… … .”

Actually, when my brother told me he was going somewhere, I felt strange. Maybe I hadn’t accepted it yet.

To that extent, I couldn’t understand my own feelings.

I stayed still for a moment and then sat down on the floor. I could have gone to the kitchen and sat down on a chair, but I didn’t bother to do that. I just wanted to collect my thoughts for a moment anyway.

Actually that day.

When I was walking around with Sera, I wanted to tell the truth. Why my parents passed away, and what my relationship with Sera was like.

I felt like I could somehow talk about my parents. So I decided to have a good time that day and tell them everything at the end.

But I couldn’t say anything. I just asked if he had a good day, but nothing came out of what I wanted to say.

Unfortunately, I’m still hesitating.

‘… … .’

Maybe it was just natural.

Well, the truth I’m about to tell is truly cruel.

I couldn’t even imagine how Sera would react if she found out that her mom and dad died because of me.

I remembered the day I was at the funeral.

Especially, when I remembered that day when Sera had cried, I couldn’t help but close my mouth. Whenever I tried to open my mouth, I saw Sera crying, so I couldn’t speak.

A word to refer to one’s own parents.

I had no choice but to run away from the truth. But even the excuse of “but” seemed ugly.

“Fuck.”

For a moment, I felt unpleasant. So I lay down on the floor in frustration. The cleaning itself must have been clean since Sera usually did it often.

But my heart is dirty because Sera didn’t clean it. Of course, I pushed it away on purpose.

Sera’s parents died because of me. Everyone said that it was an unavoidable accident.

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t help but think that it was my fault. Even though my grandparents kept telling me it wasn’t my fault, I couldn’t shake that thought.

That day, the gate suddenly burst open.

I still vividly remember that time. The bloody surroundings and the screams of people.

The sight of surrounding objects being torn apart was not easily erased from my memory.

But what was even more unforgettable were Sera’s parents.

“… … .”

To put it bluntly, it’s just a simple truth.

Yes, I wasn’t originally a family member of Yusera. It was just a relationship that happened by chance when I was adopted. In short, it means that I wasn’t originally related to Yusera by blood.

It was a truth that I had to know someday. But I felt uneasy because I thought that if I told her the whole truth, she would curse me.

Because if I saw him hate someone, and if it was directed at me, I don’t think I could live in the present.

But deep down, I know that what Sera will do when she finds out about all of this is so obvious.

I remembered that day.

Memories of when Sera’s parents were still alive. I just wandered around outside because I didn’t have many clothes that fit me.

But that coincidence brought us despair.

-Kwakwaaang!!!

I still can’t forget that loud noise. The feeling of people screaming and the ground shaking so much made me feel the most unpleasant feeling I’ve ever felt in my life.

For some reason I looked around.

What he saw there was nothing else but a giant monster that he had never seen before in his life.

-Kooo!!!!

The guy screamed.

At that moment, when the situation had not yet been assessed, Serane’s father grabbed my wrist and started running in the opposite direction.

Serane’s mother also seemed to understand the situation, unlike me. She was running ahead of me.

-Keeek!!!

The sound felt like it was tearing apart. I covered my ears for no reason at that time.

We kept running. We had to evacuate to survive, and understanding the situation came later.

So I followed where the people were running.

The hunter hasn’t arrived yet.

Maybe he didn’t come at all. I curse the hunters who were there for no reason.

Headed forward.

To be honest, I was exhausted from running for so long. So I wanted to stop, but I knew better than anyone that I shouldn’t do that, so I gritted my teeth and kept going.

Things have been going smoothly so far.

I was able to escape to a place where there weren’t enough monsters.

That was the moment.

-bang!

Something fell and shook the ground loudly.

Serane’s father stopped for a moment in that embarrassing situation. Serane’s mother also stopped.

‘… … .’

There was a monster there.

Just as we had run to the place behind us, a monster was running wild.

From somewhere, we could hear a repeated call to evacuate. We also wanted to run away somewhere, but unfortunately, the hunter had not come yet.

There was nothing I could do. But there was definitely something I had to do.

With that thought in mind, I shook off Serane’s father’s hand and decided to sort out the situation. If we continued on like this, it would obviously be very dangerous. So at that time, I thought I should take the side road.

‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s move quickly!’

After hearing what I said, Serane’s father immediately moved to a different path. He even went into the path to get to a safe place as quickly as possible, and although it was dangerous, he was able to get away from the monster.

It was at that moment that we were moving towards the shelter, little by little.

It appeared. It appeared again.

He said he showed up.

‘This doesn’t make sense.’

There was another monster walking towards me, stomping. There was nothing I could do here. I could only accept death.

I thought about the life I had lived until now. When I thought back on those memories, it didn’t seem like a very good life.

The moment I was about to close my eyes, Serane’s father spoke to me.

‘You could move there. Can you?’

He pointed to a certain place with a little urgency. There was a small hole there, but it was big enough for me to escape through. I couldn’t say anything for a moment.

Then… …you guys?

Even if I live, what are you going to do… … .

My heart sank for a moment. At that moment, I thought of the young Sera. It must have been my guilt.

‘Now, go quickly. Quickly!’

I couldn’t say anything. There was no way I could have said no at that time.

Maybe it was selfishly because I wanted to live. Or maybe I just thought I had to follow what the adults said.

Whatever it was, at that time I abandoned Serane’s parents and ran away.

I was able to keep running like that and reach where the hunter was.

So in the end I survived.

And of course, both parents passed away.

‘… … .’

The funeral was held quickly. Because it was such a big event, they decided to quickly commemorate the victims who were there.

The atmosphere was heavy.

Someone was crying. It was as if I wasn’t supposed to cry.

Someone else was screaming. It seemed as if they weren’t even allowing me to scream.

The rest of the people remained silent, as if all my actions were not permitted.

So I let out a hollow laugh.

Because I knew the problem fundamentally.

The reason we went out on the street that time was to buy me clothes. In short, if I hadn’t been there, that wouldn’t have happened.

If I hadn’t decided to give up on the road then, I might have had a little more chance of survival. In short, I killed the last chance I had of living.

Thanks to that, I was able to enjoy the heavy atmosphere even more.

When I looked around, Sera was there.

As if he still didn’t understand the current situation, he always remained silent. He didn’t even show tears.

Well, even I can’t really feel that my parents have passed away.

Because it felt like I would be back any moment tomorrow.

Thanks to this, I was able to become more gentle.

I don’t know about anything else, but I have to protect Seora. I have to do something for Seora somehow.

I just live with that thought.

“… … .”

I lay on the floor without saying a word. When I opened my eyes, I was able to quickly return to reality as if I was dreaming.

“Can I tell you this fact?”

No, I have to say it. There is no one else who can say it but me.

Surely grandparents would tell you? They can’t. So I’ll have to tell you myself someday.

“Hoo.”

But apart from that, I was facing another problem, a fundamental problem in my life.

“There’s nothing I can do for you, Sera.”

On the contrary, I could have been in a position to receive help from Sera. Thanks to that, I couldn’t help but feel dirty for no reason.

“Let’s find a way.”

I can’t just sit still like this.

I have to do something.

Even if it means sacrificing my life. Even if it means sacrificing my entire life.

That’s what I was thinking.

Seo-ra’s older brother, Yoo Seo-hyun, was thinking that way. He probably knew vaguely that it didn’t make sense.

Surely, Sera would not curse her brother. The always rational girl would only console him, saying that it was not his fault.

But his guilt overcame his reason.

That’s why he tries to make the worst choice.

Does Yoo Seo-hyun know that if she thinks she can’t stay still and moves, misfortune will come to her instead?

Probably, you don’t know.

The only thing that can tell us this fact is the will of the future.