LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 36
We decided to have the serious talk tomorrow at the Supernatural Ability Response Team’s office, and rode in Oh Sang-hyuk’s car all the way to Sejong City where the office is located.
For dinner, Oh Sang-hyuk first suggested going to a restaurant, but I refused.
We ended up eating dinner at a nearby Seolleongtang place instead.
Hoo… slurp…
After a long time, having this soup warmed my heart that had been living abroad for an extended period.
I once thought that living in Japan for two years meant I wouldn’t care about Korean food. But that was just an illusion. The satisfaction climbing from the depths of my soul felt different.
Slurp..
“…It seems like you eat really well, Silver Sister.”
“Is that so? Dorim, can you bring me some more kkaekdugi?”
Puff! Cough, cough!
Hearing my comment, Sang-hyuk chuckled, but Dorim gave him a disapproving look when he started to choke.
It was rather late, well past dinner time, and since we were the only guests, the grandmother at the Seolleongtang place peeked at us and smiled.
Hmmm! cough! Well, that can happen… If customers want more, we should bring it to them, kick!
While Dorim dragged her gray hair as she carelessly brought the kkaekdugi bowl, Sang-hyuk leaned closer to me with a wide smile.
“It’s funny that there aren’t many people in our country who would boss her around… Hehe…”
“It seems like there’s a significant standing for a [Cyber Brain] Magical Girl in Korea.”
Sigh, it might seem significant, but even if it looks that way, I’m just ready to poke at every opportunity. Until recently, I was complaining about locking Dorim on a deserted island without signals.
Sang-hyuk’s expression turned sour as he scraped the Seolleongtang broth with his spoon.
The sound of the spoon scraping the bowl mirrored his frustration.
“Dorim hasn’t done anything bad even before her blooming, yet many people thought this was the perfect time to make a show out of it.”
“……”
“Are you going to talk about that again, uncle? It’s so annoying! They say when you get older, you keep repeating the same things.”
Thud
Dorim placed the kkaekdugi bowl she brought on the table.
“Those guys can’t even keep me locked up, and if they touch me, they’ll all end up dead. So it’s not like they can do anything. Just eat, uncle.”
“You should grow older too! People who have no one to listen to them keep repeating themselves to scrape the grime off their hearts!”
“Speaking of which, where will Silver Sister sleep? Did you book a hotel? Should I swipe on my uncle’s card?”
Dorim took out a card from her pocket and waved it, causing Sang-hyuk to jump back in surprise.
“Why do you have my card?!”
Wink!
Dorim mimicked a flirtatious pose towards Sang-hyuk and winked.
With her long hair, the scrawny middle schooler appeared more playful than seductive.
“Why are we acting like this, uncle? Let’s not be such amateurs.”
“What kind of relationship do we have? Just a neighbor and a kid living next door!”
“Do you guys live in the same apartment or something?”
Dorim nodded nonchalantly, and Sang-hyuk looked at her in disbelief, silently urging her for the card.
“Silver Sister, just talk casually to me!”
Shirogane Hikari sounded like “silver light,” hence the nickname.
“Should I?”
“You were casually talking earlier, why the sudden change…? You came from Japan, and your Korean is so good.”
“…Did you study hard in that place before coming?”
As he finished a bowl of Seolleongtang and drank some water, Sang-hyuk looked at me with hopeful expectations, which Dorim casually interrupted.
“Does someone who eats Seolleongtang for the first time also add kkaekdugi broth?”
“Oh, I see you like Korean food.”
“I could, the food is good, and I learn the language, meaning Silver Sister is understanding Korea better.”
“Wow, Dorim is saying some nice things.”
“From now on, you can listen to Korean music, watch movies, and so on, right?”
“That’s right! We got some tickets for Korean movies at the theater near our office. Silver-ssi, do you want to go see one by yourself when you have time?”
“Silver Sister, want to come over to my house and play games? It’s a super popular game from abroad! It’s really awesome! They said they’re opening a Korean server soon, so let’s play together on the foreign server!”
The two, who had been bickering just a moment ago, seemed to be executing their master plan of [Welcome to Korea] quietly.
I wonder why they casually call me Silver.
‘But this isn’t so bad after all.’
Since my appearance doesn’t look like it’s tied to any specific country, if I could temporarily hold an identity in Korea with their help, it’d be easier to approach the prickly [Sea].
“So where will you sleep tonight?”
“If you haven’t made a reservation, I can book a hotel for you.”
“Are there any rooms like a rest area or a night duty area that you use at the office?”
“Oh, we’ve got a surplus of night duty rooms due to the nature of our office. But is that okay?”
“I just want to be quietly with you all.”
“In that case, I’ll leave one in a place where other staff can’t enter. Feel free to use it.”
Whip!
Sang-hyuk snatched the card Dorim was holding.
Dorim struggled to get the card back, but Sang-hyuk successfully put it in his wallet.
“Darn it!”
“Why do you keep taking my card?”
I felt earlier that even though Dorim bloomed as a Magical Girl, I didn’t get the impression that her physical specs got better.
Is it because I’ve only seen tough ones like Ichika or Hana?
Wooosh
“Yikes?! What are you doing, sister?!”
‘Wow, she really can lift that lightly.’
Click, click, click, click
“Hehehe, you two seem really close! Silver-ssi! If you raise it higher, it’ll look good!”
“How about this?”
“Why are you taking this? Delete it!”
Snap
As a gray laser shot from Dorim’s hand and hit Sang-hyuk’s phone, the photos started disappearing.
Sang-hyuk, as if he expected this, stood up calmly and went to pay.
[Some believe that the decrease in crime rates due to Magical Girls and the democratic procedures should be viewed separately…]
[…while closely watching the Supernatural Ability Response Team, which operates like an extrajudicial investigative agency.]
The news channel playing in the Seolleongtang restaurant discussed various stances on the Magical Girl phenomenon and the tenuous balance that Korea was maintaining.
[Exploitation of Supernatural Ability users happening in various places overseas, similar to Japan’s Supernatural Ability militarization plan incident…]
[…and in Europe, the existence of crime groups made up entirely of Supernatural Ability users are being mentioned.]
[Conversely, the government stated that they will respect the freedom of Korean Magical Girls, recognizing them as citizens…]
‘Haven’t heard such news back in Japan.’
It seems overseas news reminiscent of Fujimoto’s case has also been edited out.
Korea can make a loud statement about this issue, so they proudly convey it. I missed out on information due to not being able to access the internet for reasons like receiving fees or timing.
“Silver Sister.”
“What is it?”
“Are we really okay?”
“……”
I didn’t quite understand the intent behind Dorim’s question, but I also grasped what was meant at the same time.
“It’ll be okay.”
“I see.”
Though we both didn’t precisely understand the intent of what the other had said, we seemed to know what the response meant.
*
The Supernatural Ability Response Team’s office was set in a building that was formerly used as a government residence by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, having been moderately renovated for use.
Sang-hyuk opened the door to a night duty room located in a separate area that was hard for regular staff to enter.
“The bedding is all inside, and you can use the bathroom comfortably.”
“Are you two not going home?”
“What’s there to do? No one is there anyway.”
“Actually, these days we both tend to be at the office or night duty room more often.”
It seemed both of them had their fair share of complicated circumstances.
“We’ll be sleeping in the main building, so contact us if anything happens.”
“Are you two really not going to keep an eye on me? What if I sneak away?”
I suddenly felt playful and smiled sneakily.
Sang-hyuk and Dorim exchanged looks and shrugged.
“If the [Start] Magical Girl runs away, what else can we do?”
“Nothing will happen to us in just one night.”
“Alright! Just a joke, so don’t worry about it.”
“Then good night, Silver Sister!”
“How about we have breakfast together at the bakery in front of us at 8 o’clock tomorrow?”
“Sure, see you tomorrow.”
As the two left the annex, they playfully exchanged words.
When their voices faded into the distance, I lay on the quiet night duty room and closed my eyes.
‘Should I check out the garden?’
It seemed too early for anyone to be up, and I wasn’t in the mood to wander around covered by an illusion curtain, so I passed.
I had secretly watched the council for a month, but Sumire had been leading it well on her own.
[… and in Europe, the existence of crime groups made up entirely of Supernatural Ability users is being mentioned.]
That reminded me of the news I had heard at the Seolleongtang shop earlier.
No doubt, that must be the 2-Star Magical Girls who had been looting in Russia while the protagonist in the original story made her way to meet the deceased in the [Death] domain.
‘So those guys ended up blooming early due to the pull of fate as well.’
Most Magical Girls were concentrated in Japan, while the remaining ones were evenly distributed across Korea, China, and Russia, but there were hundreds of Magical Girls in Europe and Central Asia too.
‘From the moment a small number of Magical Girls in that place learned to use their powers, they were practically treated like saints in their respective birth countries.’
The true villain Magical Girl group [Scavenger], who devoured the majority of those hundreds of stars while advancing.
Their wickedness was already at a level where just hearing their infamous name was enough to imagine someone who had already bloomed.
They were described as a threat even in lands teeming with monsters, being mysteriously untraceable regarding their origins and following nothing but the fight itself.
[Revenge], [Sword], [Bombardment].
Hearing news about those who hadn’t been paying attention due to very different activity areas made me feel uneasy.
‘Ugh, this anxiety again.’
I felt like Ichika’s comments on my worry issues were coming to life, so I pulled the blanket over myself and tried to sleep.