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“…This is a bit dangerous.”

“Hmm? Dangerous? What’s dangerous? Did you see a wild boar or something?”

“No, it’s not that.”

I let out a deep sigh.

The reason it was dangerous wasn’t some physical threat. It was more a psychological one.

Let’s think about it. I’m fighting against despair. That means I have to embrace despair to find strength.

The problem is that right now, it seems I’m slowly getting better as if I were somehow undergoing therapy.

Pang-pang is… how should I say this?

She’s a bit too optimistic.

Even though the food we have is gradually running out, she seems to believe we can manage somehow. It doesn’t seem like she has no plan at all, but I suspect that plan wouldn’t adequately prepare us for our future.

Pang-pang isn’t someone who shares in my worries. Being with her doesn’t alleviate my concerns; it just makes me feel even more frustrated.

Totally, I have no reason to get annoyed or angry at her since she’s primarily just trying to help me.

If you were to ask whether she caused me any inconvenience, I’d say no… but, well, it didn’t really harm me so much as it was just a happening.

If I had cut ties with a friend for throwing up after drinking, I wouldn’t have any friends left by now.

So if I were to lose my cool here, it would just be the situation that turns completely sour. It would mean Pang-pang ended up getting caught up in what was just a brief episode meant to help me.

I know my personality somewhat. Even if I try to suppress the bad stuff, it’s going to explode eventually.

So yeah, it’s dangerous.

I didn’t want to lose one of my few friends.

That said, it wasn’t like I had no options.

“…Fine.”

I said to Pang-pang.

“If I leave this place and someone comes, you must run away no matter what. Got it?”

“Huh?”

Pang-pang blinked at my words.

“But, Ji-eun, you don’t have a cellphone.”

“Right.”

“Then how are we supposed to contact each other?”

…Well, that’s unavoidable. If we separate, there’s a high chance we’ll stay separated.

It was an incredibly irresponsible thing to say—but given the situation, I had no choice.

However, I couldn’t really tell Pang-pang that outright.

“Your smartphone is off right now, but you should still be able to use the map app, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And it’s not like we can’t contact each other at all without a phone. There are payphones after all.”

I said that and pointed to a backpack I had packed in advance.

Pang-pang insisted on sharing a tent with me, and in the end, I had no choice but to take a step back.

And it turned out to be a surprisingly beneficial choice.

“That’s an emergency backpack.”

I told Pang-pang.

“It has at least some food inside, and it also has a tent.”

Exactly. The unused tent was put inside Pang-pang’s backpack for emergency purposes.

“Remember that road we saw earlier? Follow that road. Go to the closest city from here. And hide your body no matter what. I’ll definitely come to find you.”

Pang-pang nodded at my words.

At least while she was listening to this, she had a serious expression, so that was a relief.

After finding the abandoned village, Pang-pang seemed somewhat delighted.

I think I understood the reason. She longs for adventure. She came to Earth hoping for that, but circumstances didn’t allow her to live it out.

Having camped in a mountain she had never seen before and now camping in an abandoned village must be quite exciting for her.

Even though my insides were slightly burning, I managed to keep my sanity somewhat thanks to her.

“I’ll be trusting you.”

“…”

What could I possibly say to Pang-pang, who answered like that?

I can’t even trust myself; having someone who believes in me felt a little burdensome.

But at the same time, it felt like I was being given a reason to exist in this world.

“When all of this has ended…”

Pang-pang suddenly opened her mouth.

“Shall we really go camping properly?”

“Huh?”

“Since we’ve really experienced all of this, isn’t it a bit much?”

Seeing Pang-pang scratching her head as she said that made me chuckle.

“Well, fine. Let’s do it, camping.”

Really leisurely, maybe even roasting some barbecue.

If that’s possible.

“…By the way, Pang-pang. Have you been to any other planets besides Earth?”

“Hmm… No, just the planet I lived on.”

“How was it there? Could Earthlings adapt to living there?”

“The atmospheric composition is similar, and the vegetation is similar too.”

“There must be places to camp there too, right? Not every planet is covered in cities.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then let’s camp there.”

I replied.

“I want to experience some adventure too, now that you mention it.”

“…”

Hearing my words, Pang-pang nodded.

Her expression was somewhat dazed, for some reason.

Well, this wasn’t really something I would say.

*

A few days later.

James and I executed the first part of a plan we had long been preparing.

Originally, it was planned to carry out at Pang-pang’s house, but thankfully she didn’t kick us out after a few days, allowing us to plan with a bit more leisure.

But that didn’t mean our operation had all the time in the world.

As we stepped outside, we found ourselves pressed for time.

There were things we couldn’t do in the field without electricity, far more than I had thought. Especially things related to fire and light. We had a flashlight, but the batteries had limits, and most importantly, we needed information immediately. We needed a radio to understand the situation.

So, James and I hit up the Noir Corporation headquarters first.

Naturally, we saw Ha-yoon there.

…Yeah.

In various ways, that was both good and bad.

At least, it means I could find the strength to fight again, so I can’t say it was entirely bad.

“…Ugh.”

As I sprang out of nowhere, I collapsed to the ground.

“Ji-eun!?”

It was Pang-pang who rushed over while shouting that.

As she helped me up while my transformation started to slowly fade, she looked at me with a worried expression.

“I’m fine. We achieved our goal.”

I showed her the generator.

At least now we had a glimmer of hope to fight.

No, it was my hope to fight. Pang-pang… had to be safe. That was the plan.

Now we could use electricity, and with the parts James and I had brought along, we could make something like a radio—yet for some reason, Pang-pang didn’t look happy at all.

Pang-pang hurriedly took me into the abandoned house.

It seemed while I had stepped away, Pang-pang had been busy tidying up inside the building. It looked much cleaner than when I last saw it.

Yeah, if I had lived alone, I might have found myself lying in that pile of trash without even thinking about it.

First, laying me down on the plastic sheet that had been put down in advance, Pang-pang pulled out whatever clothes she could find to cover me, trying to keep me warm.

The best option would be to enter the tent, but it’s a little tough to help someone into a one-person tent.

Pang-pang sat down next to me.

“…”

We were silent for a while.

“James, can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course.”

As I pointed to the generator, James replied and boarded his drone.

Watching him move the generator a bit, I laid back again, staring at the ceiling.

Pang-pang didn’t say a word.

“…Why are you just sitting there?”

“Um, it’s not that…”

That’s a weird thing to say.

“Didn’t you see me often enough when I was a combatant? Why?”

As I said this with a slight smile, Pang-pang shook her head.

“Because it’s different being in a fight and just watching.”

“…Is that so?”

Well, I guess that makes sense.

Actually, I’m not sure.

I saw Ha-yoon fighting. I understood she had her own melancholic story behind her.

But Ha-yoon was a magical girl.

Not a fake like me, but a real shining magical girl. I probably could never be like that.

…

For some reason, it felt very hollow. I came back after completing what I wanted to do, yet strangely, I felt no sense of achievement.

Why is that?

“…Hey, I…”

Pang-pang slowly opened her mouth. Unlike usual, her expression was quite serious.

But in the end, she didn’t say anything.

She probably wanted to say something. She didn’t want to keep things gloomy.

But if she said something just to fill the silence, it might only sink the atmosphere further.

So, I decided not to voice my own thoughts either. There was no need to pass that kind of gloom on to Pang-pang.

My despair was enough for just me.

…

No, that’s wrong. If I were to be honest, I would want to make everyone at Noir Corporation despair.

The lower ranks probably know nothing, so they could never feel any sense of achievement, but at least the higher-ups at Noir Corporation…

Who were born well, living well, thinking it’s right to take from others…

…Well, I was one of those who benefited from them too.

So maybe that’s why I ended up this way.

So I thought, just me being the one to fight would be enough.

 

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