31 – First meeting with Belt
Arriving at the hospital again with Alkaid, Han Jaejoong immediately ran to the bathroom and vomited up what he ate. Being exposed to the eyes of an unspecified number of people was still something I couldn’t adapt to. The problem wasn’t just the mind. Overall, I felt bad.
It is the result of excessively rolling a body that has not yet recovered. It was similar to a player playing a game the day after being injured, or taking a test in a feverish state. Looking back now, it was a huge gamble. If Libra wasn’t vigilant, it could have been herself instead of Libra who became ashes on the spot.
When I thought about it, I got goosebumps. Next time, let’s prepare a little better and step forward. Jaejoong Han made that promise.
My head was dizzy. Originally, the belt, which would have been noisy during the quest by now, was quiet. More than anything else, it was a device that accurately told me that my body was not normal.
He lay face down on the bed. It was more comfortable than the floor of a house with yellow rugs, but I felt uncomfortable.
‘I should have just gone home.’
I feel indebted to Blue Sirius. Being protected by someone who needs to be protected is a shame.
Of course, this was not the only reason.
Han Jaejoong could not be sure that he was now Han Jaejoong. That’s why Blue Sirius’ favor could not be rejoiced at all. What she sees is herself, but not herself. Favors with the wrong object were just inconvenient.
It was something that made my heart feel bad, like a delivery or deposit that was delivered incorrectly. The difference from the latter two is that legal punishment is impossible even if received.
He could have been shameless and said he didn’t know me, but unfortunately Han Jaejoong didn’t have the personality to do that.
Besides, the body of Han Jaejoong is a former lover. It was a past relationship that should be forgotten now. It was a relationship that would only bring pain to each other if we kept seeing each other.
There was nothing good about it, but there was a reason why I came back to the hospital.
Han Jaejoong now has the status of an important witness who returned after being kidnapped by a monster. All of the people who were kidnapped due to the battle this night are returning, and it may not be important, but they are definitely protected by state agencies.
A short walk would have been fine, but going home at all would be a problem.
“Whoa…”
He put a hand on his aching head and let out a sigh. It’s good to know more. It’s nice to be able to handle all of the powers you have with near perfection.
But this is just the starting point. It is still too strong to fight and kill the representative monsters of the dilemma. Moreover, it is all the more difficult to kill while protecting rather than simply killing.
There is also a life problem here. It is impossible to receive a salary like a magical girl because it is a situation where you can not reveal your face openly. Quests get in the way of normal work, and there was also a plan to receive sponsors, but there was no way a company that sponsored monsters would be fine, so it was off topic.
It was stifling. The ideal is clear, but I never thought the road to that ideal would be so dark. I’m tired right now, so I thought about doing it tomorrow and closed my eyes.
At that moment, fire erupted from the belt. The luminous belt woke Han Jaejoong with a loud sound.
[I found a star.]
“Oh, what a fucking surprise.”
Han Jaejoong, startled, looked back toward the place.
“Did you find a star?”
[Succeeded in revealing a star that had been hidden until now by collecting Libra’s starlight.]
What are you talking about? While embarrassed, Han Jaejoong shook his head to interpret the meaning of the belt.
‘He completely revealed one star… Ah, no way.’
After pondering for a while, Han Jaejoong remembered one thing.
A star fragment that is a quest reward. The belt collects the starlight that spilled out while defeating the monster, and finally completes it into a single star. The meaning of discovering a star must have meant completing a new star.
The increase in strength was the best news for Han Jaejoong, who just felt he was lacking.
“Okay, show me quickly.”
[All right. Please lie down in a comfortable position.]
As the belt said, Han Jaejoong relaxed and lay down on the hospital bed. I closed my eyes.
There was nothing special about it. There were no flashes of holy light to be seen. He felt something strange, but he was so sleepy that he gradually fell into the unconsciousness of sleep.
As he fell asleep, Han Jaejoong had a dream.
**
Late one night, I was walking down the street. Now I didn’t have the money to continue the exam, and I couldn’t afford to post my specs after entering college. His social phobia was still so severe that it was not easy to talk to anyone.
In a society where the Internet solves everything, a lonely young man suffering from Internet phobia was one of the information-vulnerable classes.
There was still money in the bank account. Wicked money obtained from the death of parents and heavy money sent by lovers out of guilt. The moment I touched either of them, I felt like I was losing my humanity.
It was a kind of stubbornness that every person has. I couldn’t possibly covet the money of my parents who died because of me and my lover who was hurt because of me.
Someone might criticize you for stubbornness because you are full, and how many people die in poverty because you don’t have that kind of money.
But it didn’t matter. Originally, ethical standards are different from each other. His standards and values are just different from your own. The value of money is very important, but to me there was a more important value.
It was better to live without knowing when I would die of hunger than to live a life of sin.
“Sea haircut…”
Instead of sighing, he spat out a long curse and moved his feet without strength. Even if I moved my feet, the night did not pass at all. It was stifling.
What to do now, how to live As I was walking down the street thinking about that, I saw a light in a back alley.
It was crazy to go into a dark alley where no one might be, just for that reason. But I moved my feet towards it.
There was no logical reason. just feel.
I had an intuition that going that way would open up new possibilities for me.
As I walked in, I felt a sticky, slimy feeling on my feet.
I didn’t know because it was dark, but now that I think about it, it was probably blood.
Without fear, I could see the source of the light that gradually turned inward. It was a lens that shone brightly, reflecting the moonlight.
belt.
There was a strangely shaped belt resembling a telescope somewhere. To be honest, I didn’t think it was a belt when I first saw it. If it was a belt, it didn’t have a belt that it should have.
As if possessed, I picked it up and examined its structure. In the meantime, the lens and the eye met.
A hot pain, like an electric shock, rose from the fingertips holding the belt. Remember what you see again.
It was like a dream in a dream. Memories revisited in memory. At the end of the blurry vision, someone peeked out again.
A picture of lying on a comfortable-looking bed, holding a smartphone and rolling around. The face, body, and situation were all different, but somehow I was convinced that it was me. It was strange. There is no evidence anywhere to make such a judgment.
It felt like I had met someone whose soul, not body, was exactly like my doppelganger. Yeah, that’s not the only explanation. self in a parallel world. Is it like that?
There was a cartoon for entertainment drawn on the screen of the smartphone I grabbed. After scrolling down for a while, I saw the title.
Magical girl’s heyday.
**
“Oops!”
The sheets on the bed were damp. Evidence of sweating too much while sleeping. It was hard to breathe.
“Heo-euk… heh… heh…”
What was that thing you just saw? Han Jaejoong calmed down his rapidly beating heart and chest that repeatedly filled up and fell, and managed to calm himself down. Meanwhile, I turned my head and looked at the belt.
Unlike the appearance in the dream, it was a clear sphere. He was still silent, and said nothing.
I rubbed my face a few times and massaged my tired eyes. I woke up from a good night’s sleep, but I didn’t feel refreshed at all. I was still tired, even displeased.
The dream I had earlier was not just a fantasy, but a clear memory. It must have been that he regained additional memories while observing the completed star. What Belt had said before that he could restore his memory by perfecting the star was unmistakably true.
I was on guard because the possibility was high, but I never thought it would come in like this.
“Whoa…”
He exhaled a long breath and managed to clear his mind. Han Jaejoong started reasoning based on the memories he had just seen.
He met the belt at the point before he was chased by the monster, and through that belt he observed someone. That someone probably owns a parallel world with a very high probability. The name of the webtoon he was reading was ‘The Golden Age of Magical Girls’.
‘Did I confuse those memories and misunderstand that I was possessed?’
If so, I could understand this familiar Jaejoong’s body, values, trauma, and behavior. But it’s still too early to be sure. Clues were lacking. I needed to get some more memories back.
‘In the end, I want to defeat the monsters again.’
what a good thing It was also Han Jaejoong’s own wish.
He was able to steal so many starlights just by defeating Libra’s alter ego. I suddenly realized that the best way to quickly gain memories and strength is through the quest to defeat S-class monsters.
However, if you look for a shortcut too much, you can also take a shortcut to the underworld. Han Jaejoong decided to cover up the situation and get a star.
He looked back at the belt.
The belt became even more suspicious through memories from earlier.
How did this belt show that? In the first place, who made this and for what purpose was it made?
My head was complicated.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, it’s okay. I just couldn’t sleep.”
Han Jaejoong, who answered naturally, looked at the place where the voice came from, stunned.
“What, what is it?”
“I’m sorry. I often hear that I’m not popular.”
“No, not that, who are you…”
Han Jaejoong stopped talking and observed her closely. A woman with her pale beige hair neatly tied up so that it does not flow. It was plain clothes, but it was unmistakable.
“Golden Aldebaran…?”
“Thank you for noticing.”
She was a magical girl who was a master of stealth.
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here to hear the testimony.”
“from morning?”
“Yes. I think it’s better to end this quickly.”
“That… isn’t it too morning?”
I looked back at my watch. 7 o’clock in the morning. It was a bit early to find people.
“A magical girl’s working hours are always 24 hours.”
“It’s a good work ethos. Except I applied the same ethos to others.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“I’m being sarcastic…”
Looking at Golden Aldebaran standing dignifiedly, Han Jaejoong let out a deep sigh.
“Huh? But wait a minute. Pink Denevna… Snow story… Kuhmm, weren’t Blue Sirius originally in charge of the investigation?”
“Yes, it was originally like that, but…”
Aldebaran hesitated.
“The two of you are currently unable to come.”
There are only a few things that I can’t talk about like that. Jaejoong Han guessed the words behind him.
“You were attacked by the S-class monster Scutum… Both of you are currently in a state of unconsciousness.”
Even so, the moment I heard those words, I felt like my heart was thumping.
