27) Chapter 5. Oh, Come On. (7)

I… like Soi.

How could I not?

If Soi had even slightly disliked me at any point in my life, my life would have been hell.

A child who suddenly came to live in her house.
Not even a real sister—just some kid her mom brought home out of nowhere.

And that kid had so many issues that for a long time, she monopolized all of her parents’ attention.

She had every reason to be jealous, every reason to dislike me.

But Soi liked me so much.

That’s why my childhood could be so happy.

I still have a photo on my phone from our first Christmas together. My first Christmas in that house. A small, young me hugging a giant rabbit plushie. And a small, young Soi hugging me.

Soi’s face in that picture looked like I was the real Christmas present. Whenever I looked at it, I couldn’t help but smile.

The plushie from back then is still in Soi’s room.

“Rua, look at this.”

We were sitting on a bench outside after lunch, soaking in the sun, when Chae‑yi—pressed right up against me just like Soi always does—showed me her phone.

On the screen was a black-haired anime girl blushing shyly.

“She looks like you.”

Chae‑yi said it with a bright smile.

I like Chae‑yi too.

She could have hated me forever. I clung to her without permission, then disappeared, then came back much later begging to be friends again.

But when she acted cold toward me, it wasn’t because she truly disliked me—just because circumstances were messy.

If things had gone wrong, Soi might have been my only friend. So having someone like Chae‑yi now… I’m really lucky.

But—

“Heh.”

“…Huh?”

Soi, sitting on my other side, snorted when she saw Chae‑yi’s screen.

“What?”

“No, just… I guess Chae‑yi’s a bit slow.”

A faint wrinkle formed between Chae‑yi’s brows.

Surprisingly, Chae‑yi never frowns at me. Even friends get annoyed sometimes, but she always smiles shyly at me.

There’s only one person who can break that smile: Soi.

Soi, sitting pressed against me just like Chae‑yi, crossed her legs and lifted her chin proudly.

Um…

Soi, crossing your legs like that is kind of dangerous, isn’t it? There are a lot of people walking by…

But saying something would make it seem like I’m the only one thinking weird things, and if she doesn’t care, then me caring alone feels even more perverted, so I kept quiet.

“See? I already maxed out her affection.”

“…!”

Soi shoved her phone toward Chae‑yi.

Oh. She really did.

In this game, raising affection slightly boosts character stats, but the higher the affection, the smaller the effect, and after 50 it doesn’t matter at all.

But Soi had raised it all the way to 100.

…Which obviously requires spending money. Very inefficiently.

“Grr…”

Huh.

I turned to look at Chae‑yi, surprised by a sound I’d never heard from her before, but she was smiling sweetly as usual.

What?

No, more importantly—why are they getting competitive over this?

Not long after we started rolling up our skirts, Chae‑yi did the same.

In this world it’s normal, but in the world I came from, most East Asians had black hair, so blond hair usually meant dyeing. And a lot of dyed-hair students were delinquents.

Pink hair didn’t even exist naturally.

So from my perspective, two delinquent-looking middle school girls were sitting on either side of me, competing over affection points in a cute-girl mobile game.

…Why?

I had no idea.

But asking would feel weird.

And saying something like “It’s hot” or “I’m uncomfortable” might hurt their feelings.

So I stayed sandwiched between them on that bench until lunch break ended…

*

Having friends at school is nice.

Even if you have something heavy on your mind, just chatting about nothing with them makes you forget you were worried at all.

And honestly, it wasn’t even my problem to begin with.

A villain appeared. A serial killer.

A lunatic who even sent letters to the press.

It’s scary, but it’s not like I can do anything. In my past life I was an adult, but here I’m just a middle schooler.

Even as an adult, what could I do? That’s for the police—or heroes, in this world—to handle. If I tried to get involved, I’d only get in the way.

I don’t think this was even mentioned in the original story.

I skimmed a lot of it, so maybe I just forgot, but still.

So it probably has nothing to do with the main characters.

…Probably.

I looked out the window.

A few people were standing around the field. Not students, not teachers.

The man from the ice cream shop yesterday.

The one who smiled back when Aunt Yujin waved. I saw him this morning too—he greeted me lightly when I said hello.

So it should be fine.

It’ll be fine.

Oh, come on. What could possibly happen?

The math teacher wasn’t exactly engaging. His voice barely changed pitch, and since I wasn’t interested in the subject, my mind kept wandering.

I wasn’t sleepy enough to doze off.

So I just stared out the window—

Bzzz.

I jumped at the vibration.

I didn’t squeal, but still.

My phone vibrated hard on the desk.

No—

Not just mine. The whole class was buzzing. Even the teacher’s phone on the podium.

A moment later, the harsh emergency alert tone rang out.

[14:31 today — Superhuman disturbance near Seoul City Hall. Avoid the area. If nearby, evacuate under police guidance.]

A popup on my phone.

I blinked.

“Alright.”

The teacher clapped once.

“Stay calm. Do not leave your seats.”

The class buzzed with whispers.

City Hall was pretty far from here. Maybe twenty minutes by car.

The teacher closed his book.

“We’ll wait for instructions.”

Well, that made sense.

Some superhumans could move incredibly fast.

If it was twenty minutes by car, someone could get here much faster.

My body trembled slightly, and someone grabbed my hand.

Soi.

“Rua.”

“Y-yeah.”

I couldn’t hide the shaking.

My body reacted before my mind could process fear.

I looked out the window again.

The people on the field were gone.

*

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Not even ten minutes later, another alert. Then another.

Warning messages kept coming.

Some were from parents, but most mentioned the “disturbance.”

So it wasn’t a “terror attack”?

If no guns or bombs were used—only abilities—then maybe it counted as a disturbance.

But if each person’s ability was as dangerous as a bomb, how many would it take to cause a “disturbance”?

“……”

I realized again how careless I’d been.

I barely remembered the novel anymore. I tried writing down what I could recall, but all I could clearly remember were vague character details.

I’d read multiple academy stories, so the settings were all mixed up in my head.

Even if I tried to warn people about the future, would it help? What if I gave wrong information?

But if someone died because of something I forgot…

Then—

“……”

Soi squeezed my hand.

She didn’t say anything.

She was afraid that speaking would scare me more.

…How pathetic am I?

I heard sniffles around the room.

Some parents might work near City Hall. Or anywhere in Jung-gu, really—there are tons of offices there.

If all of this was happening because I couldn’t remember the setting…

Then…

…Oh, come on.

No way. There’s no way. The author wouldn’t have written out every detail from years before the story starts.

So…

My thoughts were cut off again.

“Kyaa!”

A scream.

I whipped my head toward the sound. A girl by the window had covered her mouth and was pointing outside.

I looked.

There was a circle drawn on the field.

In red.

The red line curved around, then straightened near the end.

At the end of that line, someone was stumbling back, bleeding.

“…Ah.”

It was the man who’d been standing there earlier.

I couldn’t see clearly from this distance—

But someone was watching him.

A woman with black hair.

Her gaze turned toward us.

Toward the school.

And somehow… it felt like her eyes met mine.

…No way.

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Pub: 17 Mar 2026 20:59 UTC

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