A cool breeze blew in for June.
Just the day before, the temperature had exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, but now it was only 16 degrees. Could this also be a consequence of global warming?
Global warming truly felt like a magical term. It’s not entirely wrong to point fingers at it when unusual climate events occur.
Anyway, the drop in temperature was actually due to a typhoon passing near Jeju Island and Japan.
There was a shower falling all across Seoul, and I opened my dull black umbrella as I set out on my way to school.
There are various ways to get to Sephiron Academy.
It’s close enough to walk, but if I exit through the back gate and take the bus, I can get off right in front of the Academy Main Gate after just three stops.
On a windy day like today, even if I use an umbrella, the rain can be blown sideways by the wind, soaking my clothes uncomfortably. So choosing the shortest walking route was the wise option.
Thanks to that, I might get to meet Yuna a little earlier too.
[Seo Maru: Didn’t you say you were going to school with Yuna today? Are you out of your mind?]
Seo Maru, Yuna’s older brother and my V-tube editor.
After the competition and collaboration ended, dozens of messages flooded in from him, but I was so sleepy back then that I couldn’t even reply to him.
They mostly contained congratulatory messages for winning the competition, and some tears shed over the fact that I was a victim of a terror incident.
Scrolling through the latest messages revealed a somewhat puzzling one.
[Seo Maru: Na-me, you’re looking at your messages now, right? Yuna and I are on the bus together.]
We? Who?
That question was quickly solved.
A long dual-refracting bus entered the bus stop from the opposite side of the intersection.
It looked like an endless train running right in the middle of the city.
Even though there were quite a few seats, many people were standing, presumably because it was rush hour.
As I carefully maneuvered through the crowd, I spotted a man with a head sticking out noticeably taller than the others.
“Seo No-eul?”
The guy with a combat power, no, a height of 190cm, and a delinquent-like aura, Yuna’s second brother.
Right next to him, in the seat beside him, sat Yuna and her older brother Seo Maru, both engrossed in quiet conversation, oblivious to my approach.
With Seo No-eul’s intimidating demeanor, anyone who saw might think he was bullying his innocent siblings.
Just when the bus honked and prepared to depart, the first to notice me was Seo No-eul.
He really spotted me early.
“Hey, Na-me! It’s been a while!”
Seo No-eul placed his hand on my shoulder.
With a height difference that felt like 80cm, it was tough even to look up at him.
Suddenly feeling playful, I decided to tease him.
“What are you touching?”
“Eh?”
I only wanted to poke fun at him for looking like a creep, but suddenly all the passengers on the bus turned their attention to us.
“Wait…?”
In an instant, both Seo No-eul and I were taken aback by the sudden concentration of attention.
“Ah… no, I’m not that…!”
Seo No-eul raised both hands. I had never heard such a shaky voice from him before.
A middle-aged man suddenly began to stand up, an elderly gentleman raised his cane stealthily, and a high school student reached for an umbrella he had tucked away.
All of them were looking at Seo No-eul with peculiar gazes.
How was I supposed to know? Who knew that amid this noisy atmosphere, all of this would be overheard?
I quickly racked my brain to defuse the situation.
If I didn’t come up with a decent excuse in five seconds, Seo No-eul’s skull would be split in half by the righteous citizens of the Republic of Korea.
*
On the day Na-me had a groundbreaking interview that shook Korea, Maru and No-eul spent a restless night beside Yuna, who was snoozing away, blissfully unaware.
Considering the incredible feats Na-me had shown over the past week, it felt like a lie.
Until now, I had only vaguely understood that Na-me was exceptional for her age, but I had no idea just how outstanding she truly was.
Especially with magic, which had been the domain of a select few intellectuals, it was even more so.
She was indeed an irregular, or an outlier even among all of humanity around the world.
Otherwise, how could all morning news channels be solely filled with topics about Na-me?
Moreover, after hearing that she had been trapped in a capsule for seven years, I couldn’t even bring myself to speak.
“Uuuh… both of you brothers woke up early… huh? Wow, Na-me sent me a message!”
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Yuna suddenly bolted up and scampered over to her brothers, boasting.
“Today, Na-me is going to the Academy with me!”
The brothers, nearly screaming, barely managed to calm down the excited Yuna.
“Wait, today? And she’s taking the bus…?”
Did she really think she could walk around the streets boldly, unaware of how much attention she would attract?
Due to her appearance on broadcasts, I often mistakenly thought she was an adult, but Na-me was really just a 7-year-old child.
It was only natural for me to feel uneasy.
“Yuna, do you want to go with your brothers today?”
“What? Why…?”
“Just… I thought with Na-me becoming famous, she might need a bodyguard.”
“Right! It’s said that Na-me’s really famous now!”
Having spent the entire night wide awake, the brothers quickly changed their clothes and prepared to head out.
Looking at the smiling Red-Haired Girl, I couldn’t help but force a smile.
Could it be that Na-me’s presence was such a good thing?
Yuna still didn’t know about Na-me’s past.
It was only a matter of time before she did. Surely there would be children at the Academy who learned about it through the morning news.
With complicated feelings, the brothers boarded the bus and started debating among themselves.
“Let’s treat her just like usual.”
“Is that really okay?”
“If it were Na-me, she’d definitely prefer that. She’s really mature for her age.”
We can always comfort her later in private.
After all, we’re just trying to accompany her on her way to school to keep a sense of normalcy for her.
Right now, let’s allow her to live as an ordinary elementary school kid alongside Yuna.
We promised to treat her warmly and brightly, without revealing our real thoughts.
Even with that firm resolution…
“Where do you think you’re touching?”
Na-me suddenly accused Seo No-eul of harassment, putting him in the most cringeworthy crisis of his life.
He could genuinely feel his heart plummet for the first time in ages.
*
“If possible, you should pet my head too.”
Phew, what a brilliant response.
No-eul’s large palm swept across my head before returning to its place.
“Hey…! Whoa, I seriously thought my heart was gonna drop! What were you thinking when you said that!”
“I didn’t expect this to happen. Hey, Yuna, long time no see.”
“Na-me Na-me Na-me Na-me! You have no idea how much I wanted to see you! Huh…”
Yuna’s voice wavered, and tears welled up in her eyes.
I pinched Yuna’s soft cheeks and exchanged greetings with Maru and No-eul again.
“Been well?”
“Yeah, thanks to you!”
“Glad to hear that. But did you at least feed Yuna something good? She looks a bit thinner.”
I stretched her cheeks again. It felt like the texture had slightly changed.
“Greeeek…!”
“Other than that, I always buy her extra portions of beef, you know?”
“Hmmm… I’ll let it slide this time.”
Yuna was tall but always too skinny, and that was the problem.
Especially if you looked at her legs; there seemed to be hardly any fat at all, which always worried me.
“Excuse me, but…”
A timid voice came from behind me, prompting me to slowly turn my head.
“Yes?”
“That NoName… right…? The one on the news…?”
The tone of the passenger, presumably a middle or high schooler, was careful as they scanned my face, their expression shifting to one of certainty.
“Yep.”
“Wow, no way… what an incredible coincidence… on the same bus…? Ah, I’m sorry! I’m just so amazed!”
“Please sit down; it’s dangerous to stand.”
“Yes! Wow, this is unreal! Even your voice is the same…! It’s so cool.”
The student, who had resumed their seat, pulled out their phone and began furiously tapping away, filled with excitement.
Now that I thought about it, I started to feel quite a few piercing gazes directed at me.
“I told you that taking the bus wasn’t a good choice. That’s what I was going to say.”
Maru remarked casually.
Clearly, compared to just a regular stream, public broadcasts had an immense ripple effect.
Should I ask Professor Chun to take me home for a while?
While I was lost in thought, more people started to whisper about me.
They glanced between my face and their phones, and some looked utterly flabbergasted.
“You look much smaller than in the videos.”
“Shh! The kid will hear!”
“Unbelievably, this little kid is the same NoName?”
“Hey, did you guys catch the morning news? They found a survivor from eight years ago, the Valpurgis incident…!”
“That’s her.”
“Huh?”
“That kid sitting over there.”
“Whoa…?”
I had been overlooking this.
I must have been wrapped up in the eye of the storm at Professor Chun’s house.
I had no idea there would be so many people recognizing me just one step outside.
From now on, I should quietly stick to the Academy and either call Professor Chun or hitch a ride with Lee Ha-ru when leaving.
[This stop is the Academy Main Gate. The next stop is the Sephiron Foundation entrance.]
Since there were so many people on the bus, I waited until others got off before moving slowly and deliberately.
When I sensed we were nearly the last to exit, I took Yuna’s hand and headed toward the back door.
In that moment, people in front of us suddenly surged to get off.
“What? Is everyone getting off now?”
It suddenly struck me that I had never come in through the Main Gate except on the day of my entrance ceremony.
Since there was a back gate, there was no reason to circle around the large academy campus.
I just figured it was a place filled with crowds all the time.
What a huge misconception.
“Look, everyone over there is wearing raincoats?”
Not umbrellas, but raincoats?
Following No-eul’s gesture, I turned my head in that direction.
The instant I locked eyes with one of them, it felt like a scene straight out of a horror movie—the heads of everyone else turned uncomfortably at the same time.
“There are reporters ALL over the place!”
Seo No-eul opened his umbrella to shield Yuna and me, but it seemed we had unwittingly attracted a load of attention.
“Na-me, Yuna, from where is the Academy Main Gate?”
Maru asked urgently.
“Uh… um… we need to walk quite a bit from here. About a hundred meters?”
“Alright, we’ll get you there quickly! Can you hold the umbrella while I carry you?”
“Carry me? What?”
“Hurry, there’s no time!”
Yuna dashed over to No-eul first and jumped up to be carried.
Reluctantly, I placed my hands on Seo Maru’s shoulders.
“Whoah…!”
In an instant, we became Transport 1 (Seo Maru) and Transport 2 (Seo No-eul), experiencing a whole new world with a higher vantage point.
“Hey, is that NoName?! NoName!”
“Can someone block the path up ahead? Quickly, anyone!”
“NoName, just wait a minute!”
The reporters, who I had thought numbered ten, were in fact many more.
Camera staff armed with expensive camera equipment rushed in from all directions—not just by the main gate, but also from the overpass, crosswalk, underground subway entrance, and bus stop.
What if one of them falls?
“Hold on tight; we’re gonna run!”
“Ahhhh! Hurry, hurry! Everyone get out of the way!”
Seo Yuna, 8 years old.
At the age where she delighted in being carried, she shouted joyously as if riding the most fun amusement ride.
*
“In the end, that was definitely a backdoor entrance!”
Kim Yong-seong, the manager, huffed and banged on the principal’s office door.
“Ms. Gu! Principal Gu On-yu! I know you’re in there!”
Clunk—!
The door opened on its own.
Now, this had become quite the routine.
Inside the principal’s office, only an elderly lady quietly sipping tea was present.
One could only vaguely guess through her curly white hair just how much she had experienced in life.
“Cheon Kyu-jin, or rather, Cheon Byeong-ho… there’s no way Ms. Gu On-yu wouldn’t know about him. What if the term ‘bungee jumper’ gets thrown around?”
Kim Yong-seong said, blood vessels bulging in his neck.
The principal set her teacup down momentarily and clasped her hands.
She glared at Manager Kim with a piercing look.
“A bungee jumper? Come now, Manager Kim. That’s quite an underestimation of student NoName, don’t you think?”
“I know the student is exceptional, but that’s not the point right now.”
“Hmmm… ‘bungee jumper’ sounds a bit harsh. Alright, let’s say ‘airborne special forces’ instead.”
Principal Gu On-yu smiled disarmingly as she cast her gaze back at the now hectic Academy Main Gate.
