18) Chapter 4. My Popularity!? (3)

To be honest, I let my guard down.

I thought that if you were a pretty girl, popularity would just come naturally.

Appearance is the first impression people get.

When you sit across from someone without saying a word, the only thing they can judge you by is your looks. In that sense, attractive people start off with a built‑in advantage the moment they meet someone.

Whenever celebrities on TV say things like, “What’s so hard about dating? Just be brave and talk to them first,” it always sounded like nonsense to me.

Of course it’s easy for them. If a good‑looking person approaches you, you’re already inclined to like them.

Anyway.

Maybe because I lived an unpopular life in my previous world, when I realized I’d been born with this kind of appearance in this life, I couldn’t help getting a little cocky.

If I talk to someone, they’ll probably like me, right? If I ask for something, they’ll probably help me?

People say that knowing you’re attractive and knowing how to use it is one of the scariest powers a person can have.

“Rua, hi!”

“Uh—uh, h‑hi…?”

But here’s the thing.

Now that I think about it, being an extrovert actually takes a lot of effort.

In my previous life, my social circle was small, so I never needed to memorize many faces. I didn’t even know half the names of the people at work. If someone called me, I answered; if someone asked me to do something, I did it. The only people whose names I needed to remember were my juniors.

After living like that for ten years, the mindset got stuck in my head. I completely forgot how to figure out someone’s name without making them feel bad when they greeted me first.

Even if Soi sat in front of me like a bodyguard, she couldn’t protect me every second.

Soi was always popular. A natural extrovert.

If someone talked to her, she always responded. And when her attention was pulled away, I was left sitting behind her, staring blankly.

But her friends never left a quiet person alone. For some reason, they all seemed to believe “a friend of my friend is my friend” and “if we’re in the same class, we’re all friends.” So if I sat there silently, they felt guilty.

So they kindly talked to me.

“Did you see ———— yesterday?”

“Uh? Uh?”

Someone far away burst into loud laughter right at that moment, so I missed the key word.

“Oh, I saw it, I saw it. It was amazing.”

Another kid who had joined our conversation smiled brightly.

She heard it? How? Or did she just guess from context?

Judging by the follow‑up—someone was cool, someone talked really well—it must’ve been some show. But I didn’t know if it was TV or a livestream.

“Right?”

Both of them looked at me.

“Uh? Uh—y‑yeah, it was cool. Mm.”

Yesterday I just watched dumb short videos on my phone, but I answered anyway.

With a slightly awkward smile. I mean, I’m pretty—maybe they won’t think badly of me?

I still didn’t know their names.

They had name tags on their uniforms, but staring at someone’s chest during a conversation felt wrong. In elementary school it might’ve been fine, but now we were middle schoolers.

…Actually, this problem started in elementary school. They didn’t wear name tags back then. I just followed Soi around thinking I’d memorize names eventually, and now it was coming back to bite me.

“Oh? What are you guys talking about?”

Soi suddenly cut into our conversation. Maybe she finally finished talking to the kid in front of her.

For a moment, it looked like there was a halo behind her head.

“Oh, you know how Meteor Hero had a talk show yesterday?”

Ah.

“Oh, my mom was on TV?”

Soi puffed out her chest proudly, and the kids giggled. It wasn’t real bragging—more like a playful pose meant to look like bragging.

It’s such a thin line, but she pulls it off so naturally. How?

Sometimes I wonder if that is her real superpower. Something different from the one in the novel.

…Probably not.

“Well, my mom is always cool. Isn’t that obvious?”

The kids laughed again. I joined in a beat late.

I was doomed.

If it was a talk show with Auntie Yujin, I should’ve watched it. I think I heard about it, but I must’ve forgotten.

They talked about Auntie Yujin’s abilities, how she met Uncle Dohyun.

Then a bit about Soi, and soon enough—about me.

“I heard Gale was saved by Rua once!”

“H‑huh?”

I had just relaxed because everyone’s attention was on Soi, but suddenly the topic shifted to me.

“She got seriously hurt by a villain once, and little Rua protected her with her ability. If not for that, she wouldn’t have been able to appear on talk shows now.”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s amazing. Truly the daughter of that family.”

“Uh—uh…”

I guess they didn’t mention that it happened at the orphanage.

Not that those two would ever bring it up. Unlike Chae‑yi, who often appeared on TV because of Cheong Hwirin, Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun never brought Soi or me on broadcasts.

The TV station must’ve found out on their own while covering other heroes.

My heart pounded. Goosebumps crawled up my back. My fingers fidgeted with the hem of my jacket.

Hearing things like that kept bringing back memories. And it felt like people were expecting something from me.

“And in elementary school—oh, did you hear this one?”

“Huh?”

When a group gathers, their friends gather too. Even if many came from the same elementary school, there were always kids I’d never met.

“She defeated a villain when she was in elementary school.”

“Yeah, yeah. It was huge. Reporters even came to the school.”

My forehead felt damp. Sweat was forming.

I didn’t do anything back then. I could’ve run away with Soi and Chae‑yi, but I stayed behind trying to act brave.

The kids thought I used my ability to subdue the villain, but that wasn’t true at all. I barely swung a rock, and it didn’t even work.

If the hero hadn’t arrived in time, I would’ve died. And traumatized Soi and Chae‑yi.

“Oh, by the way.”

Soi suddenly cut in again.

“On the way to school today, I saw that construction site finally finished.”

The sudden topic shift pulled everyone’s attention to her.

“I think a cute café opened there. Anyone want to go after school?”

It was an obvious diversion, but the kids exchanged glances and nodded.

“Sounds good.”

“Let’s go together.”

And just like that, the conversation shifted to the café. Everyone pulled out their phones to check the map or look up the menu.

I quietly exhaled.

My breathing eased. The chills down my spine faded.

After that incident, Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun didn’t just leave me alone.

A child nearly dying at someone’s hands—of course I went to counseling.

But maybe because people saw me as a child while my mind was that of an adult…

Counseling didn’t completely fix anything.

And what scared me most wasn’t villains.

It was people’s expectations.

Admiration for the child who saved a hero’s life. Praise for my “courage” in front of a villain. The belief that I’d become a great hero someday.

And since Soi still hadn’t awakened her ability, those expectations seemed to fall even more heavily on me.

I tried training my ability afterward, but I hadn’t improved at all since elementary school.

What if I never get better?

What if I go to the academy and fail to stand out, fail to become a hero?

What if I tarnish Auntie Yujin and Uncle Dohyun’s names?

Whenever these topics came up, I got anxious.

Even though I knew it was best not to think about it.

Even though I knew, from the novel, that I wouldn’t grow much stronger.

“……”

So I was grateful that Soi changed the subject.

Even if I ended up relying on her again.

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Pub: 11 Mar 2026 02:05 UTC

Edit: 11 Mar 2026 02:09 UTC

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