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I tried to forget, at least while fighting.

But as soon as I returned to the orphanage, what I saw was Ji-hye, fighting with a circuit on her wrist.

She was fighting, but she wasn’t very good at it. Like me in the past, she couldn’t transform and was using a shield to block attacks from thin air.

Could it be the spare circuit that Cherry brought?

However, the situation didn’t look good. I had no idea how the child ended up outside—Ji-hye was protecting that child with her shield.

“……”

From the looks of it, there seemed to be no hope.

The buzzing in my ears had completely drowned out any other sound.

“Ji-eun?”

Ha-yoon looked terrified as she glanced my way.

I was staring at an alien. There was no leader among the aliens, just a chaotic brawl without discipline or rules.

Like beasts.

The swing and seesaw that I used to play on with Ji-hye since childhood were now broken. The playground, which used to be a sandy area in our childhood and was later re-padded with rubber for safety, had holes everywhere.

Glass from the buildings was shattered, and the walls were wrecked. Parts of the roof were broken and the top was caving in.

I didn’t know how others saw this orphanage. To them, it was just a place filled with parentless children.

So, to them, this place wouldn’t look like a “home.”

But it wasn’t like that for me.

This place was home. For someone like me who had lived in this world without family for so long, it was home, no matter how uncomfortable it might be or how the facilities were a little aged, sharing with other kids.

A place I could return to someday.

Even if I had to leave as an adult.

“……”

What was I supposed to say after witnessing such a scene?

Can’t forgive? I didn’t see the point in saying something like that. At any rate, whether I said it or kept quiet, I knew I wouldn’t forgive them.

The words “I won’t let this go” were equally pointless. All those words felt so cliché.

I never thought of justice or anything while I was fighting back then—but fine, now I really didn’t care.

The beings that were fighting all looked up at me. The magical girls slightly parted their lips, and even the aliens seemed to sense some killing intent from me.

Not just the kind of killing intent that suppresses, but the kind that truly wished to wipe everything out.

Although my dress was originally black, it was becoming darker by the moment.

I heard no sound in my ears. No, the only sound now was the wind. Everything else seemed to be sucked into something.

I saw light behind me.

Light from the sky was flowing. A black hole, as if it wanted to swallow everything around it, was pulling in everything nearby.

“……”

Was it called despair? The power behind moving my circuit.

That felt unfair.

It was indeed unfair for me alone to be in despair.

I wanted all the trash that made me despair to feel the same despair—

The aliens floating in the sky started to come down haphazardly, spiraling down into the hole in midair.

I think I heard something as they passed by. The speakers were yelling something, but I didn’t care.

I’ll be waiting.

I’ll make sure to smash you.

That was what I thought as I directed my thoughts toward the owner of that voice.

*

There was one thing I was good at, and that was blaming others.

I guess I had some share of the blame for what happened to me—but still, blaming others was just easier for me.

I couldn’t say it was all my fault, could I?

The fact that I ended up in this strange world to begin with was like that. They didn’t give me any good role and just tossed me in here to survive on my own.

I hated it all.

Everything was annoying, one by one.

Crack.

At that thought, the hammer I swung had a sharp blade on the end. It looked suitable for smashing something apart.

What I barely managed to think was that I couldn’t kill them.

Once I crossed that line, I wouldn’t know what I would do next.

My clothes were now completely stained black. The outfit was already a little dress-like, but now it was unmistakably a dress. Without the color, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone called it a wedding dress.

No, maybe it was a bit too revealing.

“Ha… ha…”

Before the fallen, I let out a dry laugh.

Yeah.

Even in such a situation, my mental state was terrible enough to still recall what Pang-pang had just said.

Just feeling jealous of Ha-yoon, who hadn’t done anything wrong, and thinking about wanting to win at least once—what a pathetic person I was.

So, it was natural for me not to maintain my composure after hearing such a confession from Pang-pang.

“… Hah.”

I took a deep breath.

What lay before me was some structure.

Although there was a part where the walls had bent and broken from my entrance through the black hole, it seemed I had succeeded in entering.

“Ji-eun!”

I heard Ha-yoon calling my name.

Her hand grasped my arm, and my body was turned around.

I looked at Ha-yoon and the other kids, slightly exhausted.

They all looked worried about me. Even Ji-hye was among those caught in the black hole.

“……”

Ha-yoon was the one who had called me to stop, but she couldn’t bring herself to continue.

The circuit on my left wrist was vibrating, almost on the verge of breaking. I heard a dangerous humming sound, but I wasn’t particularly worried.

For now, I just wanted to chase down the chairman.

First, let’s achieve our goal and then talk to Pang-pang again.

No matter how it had come to be, or how things had flowed to this point—

Right.

Let’s ask the chairman.

That was what I was thinking.

“… Let’s go.”

My voice sounded tired, but it seemed to carry some strength.

Ha-yoon, Rose, Dalia, Delphinium.

Iris and Ji-hye too.

Without a word, they all nodded along.

Everyone understood that this was the most crucial turning point.

I would drop this ship—end it all.

 

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