LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 221
Yuki’s Gymnasium.
Looking at the parked car in front of it gave me a little realization.
“…Oh, right.”
Instead of bothering Edel, I could just ask Da-eun to come pick me up.
“Hmm…”
I shook my head.
The incident happened not far from Demoninus.
In a lenient perspective, you could say it was nearby.
Because of this, the area near Demoninus was literally a chaos pot.
Everyone was still lingering there, some just happened to be visiting, and others came to report or just to gawk, etc….
Just looking at it was dizzying, let alone trying to get out of there.
More people meant more traffic mess.
So how long would it have taken if I had asked Da-eun to come pick me up?
It wasn’t that there were no means to get away, but forcing someone to endure trouble just because I wanted convenience felt a bit off.
squeak.
“I’m back.”
“Kana!”
Thud!
The moment I opened the gym door, Da-eun rushed at me.
I sensed her fidgeting even before opening the door, but I didn’t evade Da-eun’s hug.
However, Da-eun’s actions didn’t stop there.
If I were just a regular kid, I might be out of breath.
As if thinking that, Da-eun loosened her arms, and this time grabbed both my cheeks.
“Are you okay? No injuries?”
“Get off me—”
“…Are you really not hurt? Your face looks like a pancake?”
“Ouch.”
“You say it hurts?!”
“I meant a kid—”
Da-eun held both my cheeks and looked around with a worried expression.
It was somewhat annoying, yet… I didn’t feel like shaking her off.
Still, I wished I could speak properly.
Separately from not being hurt, squishing my cheeks made my pronunciation wonky.
“You’re completely useless.”
Out of nowhere, Yuki appeared and shot back in disdain.
“You saw him get beat up and are still making a fuss?”
“But you never know. He might look fine but could have internal injuries from fighting…”
“That’s not a face showing internal injuries.”
“That’s because Yuki doesn’t know Kana well! Kana hides her hurts even when she’s hurt! I can feel it. Something about Kana’s softiness feels 0.01g less today…. Ah!”
“Just stop there.”
Da-eun waved her hair as she let go of me, sounding disappointed.
Just because I heard that didn’t mean I was going to let her capture me again.
My cheeks aren’t a toy.
What’s up with the ‘less softiness’ talk?
While I was grumbling internally, a light weight settled on my head.
Unlike earlier, Da-eun was gently patting my head.
“I’m glad you’re not hurt.”
“Can’t be hurt against such a guy.”
I feigned a pout toward her soft eyes, even though I wasn’t upset.
From Da-eun’s perspective, I probably looked like I was causing mischief for no reason, but she maintained a smile in her eyes.
Half-closing my eyes to feel her touch, I suddenly recalled Yuki’s words and opened my eyes again.
“By the way, were you watching?”
“I wasn’t watching actively. I saw the video after it was uploaded.”
“Ah, I see.”
So it’s up, huh?
Not surprising, but quicker than expected.
If it weren’t, there wouldn’t have been so many people crowded there.
“Dimensional beings… right?”
“Yeah.”
“Has it started?”
“Not yet.”
Phew….
Da-eun let out a sigh of relief.
Da-eun, who’s scared of fighting, wouldn’t welcome a war, so she must have been quite anxious.
Even if not, there aren’t many people who like war, to be honest.
Especially if they have to go out and fight themselves.
“Can you explain?”
At my careful question, she nodded her head.
“Sure.”
She was going to say it even without asking.
So where should I start explaining?
Since Da-eun and Yuki have some background knowledge, I wouldn’t need to explain much of the background.
I sorted my thoughts and opened my mouth.
Frankly, there wasn’t much to explain.
A decent amount of time had passed since leaving the gym, but the only things that happened were defeating dimensional beings and talking to Edel.
If you exclude the time spent with the admin and crawling on the blocked road, it was practically a blink of an eye.
Because of that, it didn’t take long to explain what happened with the dimensional beings and what I decided to do next.
“We just decided to leave it be…”
“Yeah. Said there’s no strength to waste here or something. And thought of it like getting a vaccine before the war starts.”
“That’s quite the vigorous vaccine…”
“This is on the mild side.”
There were casualties….
No, I wonder if there were injured people.
Still, I tried hard to reduce the damage, so even if someone got hurt, I thought they wouldn’t be too badly off.
“Hmm, hmm… I see…”
“…?”
Even though I finished explaining everything, Da-eun had a lukewarm demeanor for some reason.
“Is there something you’re not happy about?”
“Huh? Ah, no. It’s nothing like that.”
“Then why are you like this? Like a puppy that needs to poop.”
“Hey! Girls shouldn’t use such dirty words!”
Is that considered dirty talk?
While I was tilting my head, Yuki, who had been quietly absorbed in my words, spoke up.
“Just say it.”
“Huh?”
It seemed like she had an idea of why Da-eun was in such distress.
With that, my gaze turned to Yuki.
“Just like Kana said, instead of whining like a puppy, you might as well say it.”
“Why are you getting involved too?!”
“Well, looking at you now, anyone would think the same. Right, Kana?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it really that bad?”
Nod.
Looking at Da-eun with trembling eyes, I definitively nodded affirmatively.
Da-eun let out a long sigh and washed her face dry.
“I thought it would go unnoticed. Guess not…”
“Wait, that was meant to be unnoticed?”
I thought she was carrying all the world’s worries and concerns on her back.
Pushing that thought aside for a moment, I opened my mouth to help Da-eun with her dilemma.
“What’s bothering you? Is there someone you don’t like? Should I take care of it?”
“…Not really, but even if that were the case, I wouldn’t make such a nasty request to you, Kana. You know how much I care about you.”
“Forget it then.”
Honestly, I didn’t mean it seriously; I just wanted to lighten the mood.
Da-eun pouted her lips saying ‘Who’d use such words to lighten the mood?’ but her demeanor was noticeably calmer compared to earlier.
Still, she continued to fumble around.
‘Just spit it out.’
Overwhelmed by my sharp gaze, Da-eun reluctantly spoke.
“I didn’t want to cause you any worry.”
“You acting like this worries me more.”
“Alright. I’ll say it. It’s not hard to just say it.”
She sighed again deeply.
Doesn’t she wonder if the ground is going to swallow her up?
“…Do you remember what happened last time? The time you got a picture taken and posted?”
“Yeah.”
How could I not remember it, right?
“It became a topic of discussion again.”
“…Is that so? Wasn’t that done and dusted?”
“It was done, but today, seeing you fight the dimensional beings made someone think of the ‘Canaria’ from Silia Online. It seems that incident is being re-evaluated because of that.”
…
In an instant, it felt like thunder struck in my mind.
Ah, I see.
I wasn’t alone now.
When I was in Silia, regardless of the consequence of my actions, I could just accept it all myself.
I bit my lip.
“…So?”
“Um… So, the fan cafe was a bit noisy. They were asking if you’re really the same person, if you knew beforehand, if you knew anything about this incident… and stuff like that.”
Da-eun chuckled.
“It’s fine. It’s all just suspicion. Since it’s unfounded, Kana doesn’t need to worry.”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
Da-eun’s words were clearly absurd.
Sure, it might settle down over time, but there’s no way something of this nature would die down quickly.
“…What do you want to do? Do you think it’s better to reveal the truth?”
“…My opinion? I don’t think my opinion matters much… you said to leave it alone, right?”
“It matters.”
Ultimately, they will find out anyway.
Besides, originally—
“Because Da-eun is more important to me.”
Who do you think made the decision to come to Earth?
Of course I was aware of the sentiment, but as long as it doesn’t completely contradict my determination, I see no reason to abandon it.
Da-eun, after hearing my words, was momentarily silent.
With a deep thought, she looked contemplative.
Finally, her voice broke the long silence.
“…Me.”
* * *
Even a day after the weird phenomenon happened in the skies of Seoul, the flames on Joanie’s fan cafe showed no sign of subsiding.
No, rather than extinguishing, they were fanning out.
It was understandable because the incident took place in no ordinary location.
It’s true that Korea has fewer people than other countries, but there was no way a strange event in the capital wouldn’t become a topic of conversation.
And times like this are when all sorts of rumors circulate.
Of course, most rumors ultimately prove to be false but among them were some quite persuasive ones that stick around.
The rising flames in Joanie’s fan cafe were just like that.
Initially, those who thought it ludicrous began to think, “Wait? There could be some merit to this?”
With the only one who could provide answers, Joanie, the fan cafe was now chaos incarnate.
So much so that the staff managing the cafe were worn out and ready to drop.
[So when are you coming? So when are you coming? So when are you coming? So when are you coming?]
[I’m dying, kekekekeke]
[This is seriously insane;]
Not to mention that recognizing the situation, the planned broadcast was canceled, only fueling the flames further.
Even if a broadcast was turned on now, who knows if they could quell the fire.
It was at that time the announcement came.
[We will make an important announcement at 2 PM today.]
A short snippet of text.
[Why an important announcement?]
[Do you actually know something?]
[If you know anything, it’s just drawing attention from naive fools lol]
[Why not just say yes or no? If it’s correct then just say it goddamn!]
There weren’t exactly zero complaints, but there was nothing they could do about it.
They could only wait for the broadcast time to arrive.
Finally, when only a short time remained until the broadcast they announced.
[Joanie has started the broadcast.]
[Important Announcement]
Joanie’s stream went live.
And at the same time, people who had been eagerly waiting for her stream flooded in like a tide.
-Let’s go~
-Please explain.
-This is all a red commie conspiracy. Even now, we must eradicate the North Korea pro-communist forces.
-Will we see Kana again? Am I about to breathe again??
-LOL
-Lag is insane ㄷㄷㄷ
The rapidly increasing viewers caused the chat to get chaotic again.
Only after changing it to subscriber-only chat did the chat calm down a bit.
Those who had lost their right to speak simply stared at the black screen, waiting for the light to appear.
And at last, it was precisely 2 PM when the screen flickered on.
However, the camera revealed a completely different scene from where Joanie usually streamed.
A room that looked like a gym with a soft floor and various exercise equipment.
-?? Where is this?
-A gym?
-Important Announcement: Joanie vows to start a diet from today.
-This might really cause an uproar lol. Shouldn’t she wrap up her streams right away?
The chat buzzed at the unfamiliar scene, both to Joanie’s regular audience and those unfamiliar.
The protagonist who was supposed to explain wasn’t showing up.
Just as the restless chat began to become agitated again.
“Ah, um.”
A voice poured through the mic.
Innocent and delicate voice characteristic of a young girl.
-??
-?
-Who is this?
-Is this Joanie?
-How can anyone hear this and think this is Joanie’s voice?
-It’s just someone in a room.
At that murmur, just then, a girl appeared on screen.
A cute girl with notable pink hair and eyes.
The girl, half-closing her eyes, waved her hand and greeted.
“Hello.”
And moments later.
The chat exploded.