In the world of 0s and 1s, some things become clearer.
The human heart, the movements of society, the currents of groups.
When it has substance, it’s incredibly complex, but if you replace everything with points and draw a picture, unexpectedly, a clear picture emerges.
A girl realized this at a very young age, in her room.
On the day she gained a special ability.
The picture started to become clearer; at the same time, the girl despaired.
All she saw was black.
Was it drawn in black, or was it originally just black?
So, she desperately searched for a single white dot.
This picture could only know its true colors by that white dot.
＊
“……”
Hearing such direct speech after a long time made my head feel numb.
But is it okay to talk like this here?
That guy over there looks like he’d collapse if he heard ‘This world will perish next year.’
“F-F-F-F-F-Forgive me!!!!”
Oh Sang-hyuk, whose scalp turned white and was visible through his sparse hair, naturally covered his ash-gray doppelgänger, bent at a right angle, and apologized.
“This kid is just a child who only played games at home and doesn’t know how to talk to people, so I got carried away meeting the Magical Girl [Start] I’ve always respected, and it seems the questions I dreamed about last night just spilled out without me knowing, so please bear with me like the sea…!”
Oh Sang-hyuk really seemed out of his mind; even though there was no substance, he unconsciously forced the doppelgänger girl next to him to bend down and apologize.
“Dorim! What kind of habit is that? Just yesterday, you were saying you wanted to go on a food tour in Korea with the Magical Girl [Start] and smiling so brightly! You’re feeling a bit down because you cried from that sad story you watched last night, right? Right? You often say things like that to the Minister too and act all weird! You!”
Sang-hyuk desperately scolded while decrypting Dorim’s words, masking what she had previously said as a silly joke.
But beyond the waves of the dream world that unfolded earlier, I felt the despair that Dorim had been feeling shake immensely.
‘Did these people, who always seemed cheerful in the news from Korea, have some troubles of their own?’
They didn’t seem to have the sense of duty of representatives from specific countries needing to bring their interests. Rather, the despair and urgency they felt were a convenient recognition of reality for me.
There was even a sense of relief in being able to talk freely.
It was incredibly reassuring to know that there are people who are thinking about others and not just selfishly complaining about the current situation.
‘But their tone is a bit…’
I remember being a kid in 2011 Korea, right on the razor’s edge of corporal punishment, but this girl’s attitude was a bit too blunt.
Aren’t they scolded for their speech in light novels set in Korea?
[Hikari-chan!]
She seemed to be just a bit older than a middle school student, yet it was commendable that she had stabilized Korean society without being intoxicated by her powerful abilities…
“So?”
“Yes, yes…?!”
“……”
I spoke calmly while looking past the pale Oh Sang-hyuk’s shoulder at Dorim’s doppelgänger, who still looked desperate.
“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”
“……”
“What if I’m someone who came to invade this country?”
“Huh…?!”
“……”
Strictly speaking, it was true in terms of the magic girl society.
“It’s not that you’ve become so direct because you can control information yourself, but you have to think about the situation and the other’s intentions while talking.”
As I continued my calm critique, Oh Sang-hyuk’s pale complexion began to relax, and he seemed to feel relieved by my rational response.
Dorim’s doppelgänger’s expression faded, and her gaze wavered…
Zzzz
The ash-gray doppelgänger vanished with a noise.
“D-Dorim?!”
Huu… Huh… Sorry.
Dorim stumbled back towards us from beyond the empty parking lot.
Even after becoming a Magical Girl, her frail limbs looked weak, drenched in sweat, and her abundant ash-gray hair was tangled and a mess.
“I… I’m sorry… Huh.”
“Yeah, let’s not do this next time.”
“Huff… Huh… Huh”
She gasped heavily and struggled to continue her speech.
“If I don’t know… Hah… everything might… crumble…”
“D-Dorim…!”
Dorim’s eyes were still burning with desperation.
“The power to… b-b-blow up the social system… in the hands of young girls… recklessly…”
Dorim desperately continued speaking.
“And just like… as if encouraging each other to fight… it feels like it’s telling us to all perish…”
Hoo Hoo
Catching her breath for a moment, Dorim straightened her shoulders and said.
“I wanted to ask you instead of blindly closing my eyes and pretending to not know.”
Oh Sang-hyuk seemed resigned and tightly shut his mouth as if he couldn’t argue against it.
“Honestly, all I can show you is sincerity.”
“So that’s why you spoke directly to me?”
Dorim nodded.
“Please tell us the way of [Magical Girl HAZARD].”
“Do you know what I’m here for? There’s no guarantee that’s the truth.”
“Debutant.”
Dorim looked at me with confidence in her eyes.
“I searched through the keywords mentioned by Japanese magical girls on social media and all the magical girls’ broadcasting records, but the Magical Girl of [Start] hasn’t shown herself since creating the ‘Garden.’”
“……”
“If it were just to govern, she would have intervened more actively than anyone else, but she desperately tried to separate everyone from the country and make them self-reliant.”
“……”
“At least from my perspective, what [Start] desires is the growth of magical girls and coexistence with the original world.”
“So you think that.”
“I see that as a struggle to prepare for some great chaos.”
After finishing all she wanted to say, Dorim bowed her head towards me.
“If I’m just going to stand still and get swept away by the flow… I’ll do something.”
Oh Sang-hyuk quietly watched with a solemn expression and then lowered his head too.
“This kid might be rambunctious, but it’s on me to take responsibility… so I ask for your help.”
“……”
Amidst the ambiguous Red Broadcast and the transcendent power of magical girls granted by the gods, and a society that accepts it as desire.
A girl who continued to write towards the conclusion of destruction while also miraculously stabilizing Korea during the bizarre events of magical girls.
Trying to sense and prepare for the hidden malice of the transcendent beings within this situation where they don’t even know if they are right.
When they spoke to me, I wondered how scared and trembling they must be.
Yet, they showed me their sincerity.
“……”
They could have threatened me by revealing their identities.
They could have lied on the outside while calling for support to ensure safety.
But what they showed was earnest sincerity.
Aside from the emotional wave I felt from them, I saw a tranquil dream world.
‘I want to help.’
After all, isn’t it something I need to do?
＊
“First, let me say this.”
“Yes?”
“……”
Crack!
A crack slowly forms in the space and splits apart.
This place was no longer the parking lot that had no cars but a quiet beach near Incheon Airport.
Time was approaching evening, and the memories of walking out to the parking lot were fading like a dream.
Splash
Splash
Oh Sang-hyuk felt the waves crashing against his feet in confusion.
He clearly felt like he was conversing in a parking lot just moments ago, but his pants were already drenched as if they had been soaked by waves multiple times.
“Let’s properly introduce ourselves.”
The mysterious girl, with her eyes closed, looked back at Sang-hyuk and Dorim against the backdrop of the sunset-lit sea.
Swish
As she took off her hat, her silver hair flowed out and fluttered in the wind.
Her shimmering hair reflected the sunset, looking like a sparkling silver curtain.
“Magical Girl [Start], Hikari Shirogane.”
“Supernatural Ability Response Team Leader of the Republic of Korea, Oh Sang-hyuk.”
“Magical Girl of [Cyber Brain]… Kang Eun-seol!”
“…Wasn’t it Dorim?”
“I changed my name.”
“Were you teased about that being a family name?”
“Uh… Right, but how did you know? You speak Korean really well…”
The mysterious girl just chuckled, putting her hand into her hoodie pocket.
Her long, curled eyelashes swayed gently, and she placed a slender white finger on her lips.
“It’s a secret.”
Oh Sang-hyuk and Kang Dorim could only stare dumbfoundedly at the girl who smiled at them from the beach.
Dorim suddenly thought that the name she had called Hikari in a Korean way, ‘Silver Light,’ seemed to suit her very well.
“Evening is approaching; should we go grab some gukbap?”
“……”
“……”
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