LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 29
Where should I go?
I started running, but my mind is still all jumbled.
Maybe it was because it was past sunset, but there weren’t many people in the lobby. If there had been more individuals scattered around, it might have been easier to blend in… But, well, just like it would be hard for them to approach me, I wouldn’t find it easy to escape either.
So, which side is the enemy on?
Since they’re not a combatant, they probably aren’t from Noir Corporation.
The output of Noir Corporation’s circuit is different from that of a Magical Girl.
The output of the Despair Circuit is significantly weaker than that of the Hope Circuit. To harness that energy, a pathway was needed for the energy dissipating from the circuit to distribute power throughout my body.
That’s why I put on the suit.
The circuit I received had an overwhelming output compared to what other combatants used, but even so, it wasn’t as powerful as a circuit that tapped into hope, which is why the suit was necessary.
Well, on some level, you could say its efficiency is better… but still…
Anyway, since my opponent has neither a circuit on their wrist nor a suit, they can’t possibly be a member of Noir Corporation.
If not, then they must be hiding to avoid detection. Who knows.
The circuit was spinning like crazy.
I had no idea how to use it. Up until now, all the circuits I used were attached to the suit, which automatically supplied energy to it.
Right now, that feeling was nowhere to be found—
Three people blocked my path.
They looked to be about 20 cm taller than me. They seemed like the kind of folks who could deliver a knockout punch without breaking a sweat.
Considering this was a hospital, they didn’t just throw punches at me.
“…Huh?”
But even though I knew they genuinely intended to hit me, their movements felt somewhat slow.
Was it because the entity swinging its fists at me wasn’t an ordinary person?
I squatted down just as someone lunged at me with their arms outstretched to grab me. That person also lowered themselves in a bid to catch me, but my fist was already swinging.
I landed a light hit to the center of their chest. There was no feeling of breaking bones, but the person staggered back, clutching their chest.
With that middle guy out of the way, I leapt over him.
My body felt light.
The pain I felt just a moment ago was barely there. I didn’t quite understand why. Was it perhaps the effect of the medicine I took while unconscious that was kicking in now?
But as soon as I started to nurture that delicate hope, I felt a slight tingling in my body. Breathlessness set in, my legs felt weak, and the pain in the soles of my feet became sharper.
Ah, I see.
This must be because of the circuit.
I couldn’t grasp exactly what principle was at play here, but the circuit was supplying energy to me.
Unlike the circuits I was used to, this one had an electronic display, and it continued to hum with activity.
Realizing that this wasn’t entirely my own power, I felt a bit of strength return to my body. The Despair Circuit lived up to its name.
What a joke.
To think that being disappointed and feeling bad is the essence of energy, my tastes really are the worst.
Wham!
While my opponent was trying to ‘catch’ me, my goal was still to escape.
There was no way I’d try to seriously fight someone without a suit, and certainly not while I wasn’t a Magical Girl. I didn’t want to unjustly bear the weight of a murder charge.
In the end, the person who finally couldn’t hold back and swung a punch at me, ended up collapsing after their fist met mine squarely.
How much do these people know?
Just like I didn’t know anything as a combatant, are they clueless about me being there to catch me… Looking at their uniforms, which were all medical, or maybe security team attire, it made me think they probably didn’t know anything.
Bam!
“Ugh!?”
A gunshot rang out from behind, and I felt a heavy impact on my back. As I was running forward, I stumbled and slid across the smooth, polished floor of the hospital. The circuit could endure pressure on my body, but it couldn’t completely erase pain, so getting shot in the back and slamming into the marble hurt like hell.
Fortunately, I managed to shield my face with my hands just before falling. It didn’t feel like I broke any bones— ah.
I quickly checked my stomach and back, but it didn’t seem like anything had pierced through. Nevertheless, my back was killing me.
Rubber bullet?
Is it non-lethal ammo used for riot control?
Could mere company personnel really use such things? Considering they boldly wield circuits, it felt plausible, but using firearms seemed like a whole other matter.
“Ah…!”
In the midst of this, I felt something tighten around my ankle.
Turning around, I looked down to see a lasso-like device snagged around my left ankle. This wasn’t an unfamiliar piece of equipment.
Though I had never encountered it personally, it resembled something the police used to capture rampaging monsters. A lasso that’s fired and activated by a gun.
At the end of it was something akin to a fishing pole, automatically reeling in its line.
As soon as I realized that, I began sliding rapidly across the marble floor. Just as I expected, the length of the line connected to the gun was rapidly shortening.
I lifted my upper body to try and free myself from the rope, but—
Ziiiip.
“Gah!?”
I screamed at the sensation I felt the moment I touched it.
It wasn’t just my hands. I felt a similar sensation in my leg connected to that wire. For a moment, my nerves tingled, and my spine arched backward.
Electricity?
Are they using a cable that conducts electricity on me?
Ah, right. I knew it had such functionality. Was it not designed to capture beings from outer space, who were stronger than humans?
It’s for capture, so I wouldn’t die, but—
I tried forcing my body to move. Given the circumstances, perhaps adrenaline was surging through my system like a rush of drugs, or maybe it was the effect of the circuits, but I could still manage to move myself.
“Ugh… Gah…!”
With both hands, I grabbed the rope around my ankle and pulled with all my might. The rope loosened bit by bit. There was a strange sizzling sound coming from my hands, but I ignored it.
“Ah!”
The person pulling the rope must have judged me to be a threat as they yanked it harder. I was sitting while holding the lasso, but this time, I fell flat on my face as I got dragged along. My fingers wouldn’t unstick from the rope.
As I struggled to free my fingers from the rope and finally tried to stand, I was pushed down again by the guy acting like he was some rugby player and barrelled into me.
Several people rushed in and grabbed my arms and legs.
Why?
Why are they doing this to me?
Tears welled up in my eyes.
I… right, I’m not a good person. If I’m honest, since the moment I joined Noir Corporation, I was already somewhere off the path.
But still, I’m not a murderer.
I’ve never killed anyone. I wasn’t responsible for blowing up that pillar. Why do I have to be the one to suffer?
Why must I bear the blame? Just to be used up by the higher-ups and tossed aside like this?
Ah, I see.
It wasn’t just to be used.
I got paid. I may not have received it directly, but it was still used for what I wanted.
Maybe I was behaving strangely because I was just a bit part without a name or proper face in this narrative.
I should have just been someone who followed along and admired the main character vaguely as things transpired.
It would have been enough to live that way, just like someone who never got mentioned in the original work.
…
No.
I don’t want that.
I don’t want to live like that.
It’s not that I want to be the protagonist. I don’t want to be the most pivotal character in a comic.
I just wanted to retrieve what I had lost. The things I had achieved in my previous life, which to others might seem insignificant, but were things that I had worked hard for, all vanished.
It’s natural to feel disheartened when someone leaves such comments on a comic they created.
And so, maybe the author deliberately placed me into this role in his comic, as if he was denying my existence.
I didn’t want to be denied like that.
Even if I wandered aimlessly with no purpose at all, I didn’t want my existence to be negated.
Perhaps that’s why I kept lingering around Ha-yoon. It might have been because I knew that Ha-yoon was the protagonist of a Magical Girl story.
Maybe it was also why I started active duty as a combatant a year earlier than Ha-yoon.
If I worked hard enough, I figured I could at least become a villainous officer. During the main storyline, I thought I could at least have my face seen.
So, if I could appear in the main story that way, it would serve as a little payback against the author.
Was that my aspiration?
“Ugh…”
What a disgusting feeling.
Truly.
“Get… lost.”
As I struggled to get back on my feet, shocked voices echoed around me.
I pushed my hands against the floor and lifted my body up. The two or so men who were riding on my back were forced backwards by my strength.
“Get the circuit! Remove the circuit!”
I heard someone yelling that. A hand was reaching towards my wrist.
“Ah!”
But that hand quickly recoiled.
Fools.
The circuits spin with a tremendous amount of energy inside. Naturally, the heat produced is very high as well. It was designed to suppress bursts of energy so the user doesn’t get hurt, but it could still scald someone like handling a boiling kettle.
…I don’t know why I feel okay right now, though.
“Get lost!”
I yelled that while swinging my arm. A few of the men who were clinging to me flew off.
There was a push-like sound.
The circuit emitted such a noise.
Black smoke began to rise, but it looked a bit different from when other circuits malfunctioned.
Unlike previous circuits that burst from within, this time the plate of the circuit slightly elevated itself, as if it had been made with such capacity in mind, allowing it to emit smoke steadily.
“Cough…!”
Even those clinging onto me started gasping for breath, covering their faces or grabbing their throats from inhaling the smoke.
Was it some toxic smoke that shouldn’t be breathed in, and now they were suffering from their own stupidity?
In contrast, I felt fine.
Gritting my teeth and letting out rough breaths, I pushed off the people who had been laying on me.
My body was alright. Though I was a bit out of breath, it was still better than when the circuit wasn’t active.
The circuit James had provided was the real deal.
I had no idea what principle it operated on. Since I didn’t have a helmet or anything, I couldn’t see any of the metrics on the circuit’s display.
All I saw was a digital needle that continued to spin endlessly in a clockwise motion.
Actually, I didn’t really know. The speed of the clock seemed to have surpassed the maximum refresh rate of the display, so it just looked like it was blinking irregularly.
…I should definitely ask James about this when I see him again, if I ever get the chance.
Bullets began flying towards me, but before they could reach my body, they veered off in strange directions. I heard sharp sounds of something hitting the floor and walls.
Looking back at where the gunfire was coming from, I saw men with guns hastily ducking behind a pillar.
Are they scared while aiming at a high school girl?
Well, those trying to capture me must be those who saw that footage. They probably saw me fighting against a Magical Girl. If a normal civilian were caught in between, they’d have been flattened into little bits.
I stumbled along.
I hadn’t eaten anything since I woke up. There was a drink that Ji-hye had left on the bedside table far away, and I should have at least grabbed that before coming out.
I should have just had some conversation over it and eaten a little.
The circuit could generate immediate strength, but it wouldn’t replenish energy that wasn’t within my body…
First, I had to get out of here. No matter where, I needed to at least eat something.
Setting that as my short-term goal, I began to walk.
Once I stepped outside,
“…Ah.”
My eyes were hit by an overwhelmingly bright light.
Not just my eyes, but an enormous number of headlights flashed on in my direction. People waiting there shone their lights at me.
Just one girl, and yet, does it seem too dangerous?
It seemed they had been surrounding the door from the beginning. Figures flickered beyond the headlights.
[Jeong Ji-eun, please remove the circuit and lie on the floor.]
Surprisingly, the warning wasn’t too terrifying. The voice belonged to a woman who didn’t look much older than me. Clearly, they were accounting for the fact that I was a high school girl.
[If you don’t resist, nobody will need to get hurt. We are here to protect you—]
“If you want to protect me, why do you have your guns out?”
I asked curiously.
I wasn’t talking about the people inside the hospital.
Even the figures flickering beyond that light were holding long objects in their hands. It must be guns. If not, they were most likely weapons of some kind.
[Jeong Ji-eun.]
“…I didn’t do it.”
I said.
“That explosion over there isn’t my fault.”
But there was no response to my words.
If only they could reassure me with a lie, maybe things would have shifted a little. The person beyond the loudspeaker didn’t seem inclined to offer such assurances.
If not, could there be some legal entanglements?
If they were to pressure me into perjuring, it could backfire on them during trial…
“I said I didn’t!”
I shouted. My voice cracked.
[Jeong Ji-eun.]
What a frustrating voice; it was so calm.
[This can all end well. If you don’t resist—]
“Then where are you taking me?!”
I yelled.
“Are you trying to throw me in jail?”
[Not jail, we’re taking you to the hospital—]
“What hospital?! You’ve brought so many people just to capture me, what the heck kind of ‘hospital’ is this?!”
I couldn’t believe it.
The circuit trembled.
The black smoke began to take shape.
[Jeong Ji-eun!]
That presence was becoming visible, and the voice grew a touch urgent.
[Stop this right now!]
You think I could just stop?
This was the only item I had to protect myself. There was no choice but to keep it active to defend myself from them surrounding me.
What would happen if I removed the circuit and got shot? I would definitely end up with broken bones. I could bleed out inside. Even the places I was hit when I wore the circuit are still sore.
I’m done with pain.
They didn’t seem willing to listen to me over there.
Then, there was nothing more for me to say.
I heard a voice shouting over the loudspeaker, but I ignored it.
Gunfire rang out. Bullets started flying from all sides. I didn’t know if they were rubber bullets or what, but I decided not to dwell on it further.
I ran.
*
Gunshots echoed in the heart of Seoul.
Ha-yoon instantly understood what that meant. Perhaps Ji-eun is…
“Ha-yoon.”
Cherry, who was perched on her shoulder, called out in fear.
“I know.”
Trying to calm the beating of her heart, Ha-yoon shifted her body toward the direction of the sound.
Please, please, please.
Let those gunshots not be aimed at Ji-eun.
Even though she knew the chances were slim, she still thought that way.
Positive thoughts drive the Hope Circuit. Even when the worst situations overlap, a positive mindset keeps hope alive.
“…Ugh!”
But Ha-yoon felt her body dip down slightly.
While she was flying through the air, she knew she shouldn’t think such things, yet the bleeding figure of Ji-eun kept flashing in her mind.
Still, at least she wasn’t plummeting to the ground and could aim herself toward the source of the sound.
…In order to keep from losing hope, she thought maybe Ji-eun was resisting because she had at least taken on a circuit.
That’s how urgent Ha-yoon felt at that moment.
*
Boom!
She crashed through the barricade.
Screams erupted from onlookers, and the thud of something heavy hitting the ground and the sound of wrought iron bending filled the air.
Shouting and more gunfire ensued.
The bullets couldn’t land on target. The stray bullets ricocheted dangerously, creating a cacophony of sounds. More screams followed.
My left arm was completely covered in a black substance.
Just like that crab-like arm I had seen the last time.
I looked like a monster now.
This was a phenomenon sometimes experienced by aliens visiting Earth.
Usually, they wouldn’t lose their rationality, so I must be the same.
I dashed forward quickly and smashed the gun from the hands of the man in front of me. As that happened, a shot rang out again, followed by another scream. When I turned around, I saw another police officer on the ground, rolling about from the overlapping fire.
I wondered if what was inside him wasn’t lead bullets, as he wasn’t bleeding out.
I discarded the gun and made a powerful leap.
A Magical Girl is on her way, right?
So I had to avoid any trouble in the meantime. As far as I could reach, I didn’t know where I was going.
And, and…
What should I do about it all?
At the very least, I ran hoping to not encounter Ha-yoon and Ji-eun.
Ah, I felt like tears were about to spill.
Why did I have to endure this?
Truly, I wanted to throw it all away right now.
Even though saying that now wouldn’t make any difference.
The realization only made me feel sadder.
From afar, the sound of police sirens grew louder. It seemed they’d sent more personnel given the overlapping sounds.
And far in the sky.
A pink light was flying toward me.
…In the end, we’re meeting.
Feeling as if everything was about to crumble, I ran again.
Because that was the only thing I could do.