12. The Butterfly Only Needed a Flower
12. The Butterfly Only Needed a Flower
12. The Butterfly Only Needed a Flower
—In accordance with the contract, Han Si-jun's mana core is loaned for 10 minutes at the cost of 6 months of his lifespan.
Damn, that's a huge chunk.
Normally, a Magic Power Nutritional Supplement is taken three times a day, spaced out.
Because I'd overdosed on it all at once, the combined side effects seemed to have inflated the cost of the enlarged mana core as well.
This was my unique ability, Libra (天秤宮).
Its meaning is tied to the constellation of the scales, and it follows the principle of equivalent exchange.
Nothing is gained without a price.
That was the description of the skill tied to my origin.
It was an ability I had avoided because my lifespan was the only thing I could offer as a price.
A current of magic power began to swirl through my body.
"...But it was clearly written that you were born without magic power."
"Who says I don't have magic power?"
As long as I paid the price, I could even gain power rivaling an S-rank Hero for a moment.
The only problem was that the price Libra demanded was far too steep.
I pointed the barrel of the gun at Na Yu-na, the muzzle now brimming with magic power.
Na Yu-na started spitting out words, aimed straight at me.
"You're still trying? Did you actually think having a bit of magic power would let you beat me? You're delusional. Just stay still. I'll finish this."
She was tightening her grip on the spear again, preparing to thrust.
She couldn't hold back her anger after being struck where it hurt.
"I wish I had a mirror to show you."
"...What are you talking about?"
"You don't know what kind of face you're making right now, do you?"
Na Yu-na frowned.
Her face, which normally maintained a blank expression.
What was wrong with that?
She didn't seem to realize her mask had slipped off.
"You're angry. Purely angry."
Without a single thought for NAVI Enterprise.
"And that—"
Smirk.
I let a smile tug at my lips as I pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
My targets were the four Na Yu-nas.
I fired the remaining four shots at all of them—illusions or real.
A magic bullet, unlike before.
I wrapped magic power around a spiraling round.
The rotation rate was 3,000 times per second.
The difference in speed and rotational force was overwhelming.
My current Magic Power stat was between 6 and 7.
Its destructive force was enough to snap Na Yu-na back to her senses.
'So this is... the power of magic.'
The sharp crack of magic power tearing through the air from the muzzle filled the room.
A bullet wrapped purely in magic power.
For someone like me with low physical ability, its destructive force made it the perfect weapon.
That magic bullet struck the shoulder of Na Yu-na, whose eyes were wide with shock.
"Aah!"
A girlish scream that didn't suit her.
Na Yu-na's spear flew high into the sky from the blow to her shoulder.
The unexpected impact sent Na Yu-na falling hard on her rear.
No matter how high her kinetic vision was, she couldn't keep up with my surging magic power.
Na Yu-na seemed unable to predict it either, her yellow eyes darting back and forth.
"D-Did I just... get hit and fall over?"
Why?
She had glimpsed the flow of magic power for an instant, but the moment the impact spread through her body,
Na Yu-na's form was already on the ground.
Dropping her spear, I approached the bewildered Na Yu-na.
"You hate admitting it, don't you? That you lost to me."
"..."
Of course it would be shocking to her.
Terrible stats.
Fighting with nothing but an outdated revolver.
For someone who had walked the golden path of the elite, this was an ending she couldn't easily accept.
"...I can't accept it."
Right.
That's the pattern.
I lost to a piece of junk like that...?
I can't accept it...!
The perfect loser's excuse.
I walked up to Na Yu-na, whose body was trembling with rage.
Click.
Na Yu-na's mana barrier hadn't broken, so the match was still ongoing.
All I had to do was pull the trigger on her.
"How does it feel?"
"...Infuriating. It's humiliating to have you looking down on me. The thought of losing to some nobody like you makes my blood boil."
That was a bit harsh.
I'd like to tease her a little, if I could.
But I decided against it, since I might end up with a spear through me while I slept.
Anyway.
What did the game say to do?
According to the strategy guide, after the fight, you approach the fallen Na Yu-na and whisper.
'I understand you. Na Yu-na.'
And then you dive straight into Na Yu-na's route.
The NAVI Family episode, known for its extreme difficulty.
The epitome of ruinous stories, tagged with "mildly ruinous."
I absolutely didn't want that.
But this wasn't a game. It was reality.
I had free will to speak, so I only had to save Na Yu-na as an individual.
Forget the rest of them, Na Yu-na. You just live well.
I brought the gun barrel to Na Yu-na's head.
"Are you done talking now?"
"Ugh..."
Na Yu-na started to groan.
It seemed like she was feeling a kind of terror from tasting defeat for the first time in her life.
I pulled the trigger on Na Yu-na.
Crack!
"Heeek!"
But.
What echoed wasn't a gunshot, but a dull thud.
Clutching her forehead where I'd flicked her, Na Yu-na let out a deflating sound.
And ten seconds later, once she understood what had happened, Na Yu-na screamed at me.
"Wh-What did you do!? You didn't finish me off! Are you pitying me!?"
"I'm not pitying you."
The ten-minute time limit.
My body no longer had the strength left to fire a magic bullet.
Even if I reloaded and fired a normal round, it wouldn't work against her superhuman body.
The flick to her forehead had been the best I could do.
I looked at Kang Su-ho, who was staring blankly at me, and said:
"Number 38, Han Si-jun. I forfeit."
I'd accept defeat.
At my words, the room began to buzz.
Quitting a match after the outcome was already decided?
Was he joking?
Regardless of the process, there was no way anyone would look kindly on him.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I've got no strength left in my body."
I said this while waving my limp arm at him.
I was at my limit.
The recoil from having a mana core appear and then disappear.
The pain from it was slowly washing over me.
'I'm tired.'
Pain aside.
I had to end this.
I looked at Na Yu-na.
Her eyes told me she truly couldn't understand me.
I spoke to her.
"If you want to rest, come find me. I'll be waiting."
"...What does that mean?"
To throw away the mask, to break free from that blank expression.
I'll become the flower, a sanctuary for the butterfly trapped in its cage.
A faint breeze will gather strength and surge in and topple the tower.
Dragging my staggering body, I beamed and said:
"Well, I'm just saying let's be friends."
That's what I meant.
And with that, my body collapsed right onto Na Yu-na, who was still sitting on the floor.
My eyes slowly closed, and the pain of the side effects swept over me.
I'll just sleep.
Then the pain will disappear too.
I lost consciousness like that.
***
"..."
How could she describe this feeling?
Na Yu-na couldn't find the word for this ticklish sensation.
"What is this..."
Her opponent was a man named Han Si-jun, whom she had dismissed as completely unremarkable.
Rude, low-class, and arrogant.
Everything about him had rubbed her the wrong way.
It was her first taste of defeat, and to him, of all people, no less, yet Na Yu-na's emotions were strangely complicated.
"What does he mean by 'let's be friends'...?"
Friends.
The word "friend," as she understood it, was akin to a transaction.
Give and take.
A relationship where connections were precisely measured and severed cleanly.
Was he asking her to have that kind of relationship with him?
Han Si-jun didn't seem like that kind of person.
The granddaughter of the NAVI Family.
A promising academy student.
A woman with both ability and beauty.
His tone hadn't been aimed at that outer shell, but at the Na Yu-na beneath the mask.
He had seemed to be telling the lonely girl in the cage to dare to dream.
"If I become your friend... could I go back to the old days?"
Na Yu-na stared intently at the unconscious Han Si-jun.
He looked fragile, but had delicate features.
Yet, his inner self gave off the impression of a wall stronger than anyone else's.
Na Yu-na brushed Han Si-jun's bangs up from his forehead.
"...You look like a total idiot."
She felt ashamed of the feelings she had held toward him at the start.
She had gotten angry at words that were true.
She had been unable to be honest with herself.
Na Yu-na whispered softly into the sleeping Han Si-jun's ear.
"I'll do it. I'll be your friend."
Taking off her mask, she revealed a quiet confession laced with honesty.
For Na Yu-na, who had always lived a lonely life, this was monumental progress.
"Friend..."
A small smile on her face, Na Yu-na stroked the fallen Han Si-jun's forehead.
His forehead was warm.
It was the first time Na Yu-na had ever felt another person's body heat.
It felt like spring.
***
A hospital room with a white ceiling.
This was probably the Hero Academy's infirmary.
"Ah..."
How much time had passed?
Outside the window, a red glow was already mingling with the sunset.
I checked my body, and aside from a faint pain in my chest, I felt nothing.
This was to be expected, since I'd had a mana core and then had it removed.
Oh, right.
What happened with Na Yu-na?
I hadn't heard her answer.
The last expression I'd seen on Na Yu-na's face was pure incomprehension.
Did she actually accept my offer?
If she didn't, things were going to get seriously tangled up.
With that worry nagging at me, I looked out the window at the students heading home.
"The time looks like it's around six..."
Wait, six?
The nutritional supplements to strengthen my body were three times a day.
Morning, afternoon, evening.
If that routine was broken, the effect would be halved.
Right now I was in a patient gown.
I jumped up from the bed in a panic.
"My clothes, where are they? My pills...!"
Three pills for one day.
I kept them in the pocket of my school uniform.
Even now, I had to take them so the effect wouldn't be reduced too much.
A cough escaped my mouth as I scrambled to move.
Cough.
Ah, was this a side effect of the mana core?
Red blood spilled from my mouth along with the cough.
"Damn it..."
I only used it for ten minutes, and it did this to me?
This body really was cursed.
I wiped the blood off my hands and pulled the pills out of my pocket.
Strength, Agility.
I tossed them both into my mouth without any water.
"I'm almost out, that was a close one..."
"...Almost out?"
Thud.
The sound of something dropping and a human voice.
I turned my head toward the sound.
It'd been a while.
My homeroom teacher with the red hair was standing there.
But she was giving off a vibe that was different from usual.
"Shin Si-hwa?"
Had she come to visit me?
But why was she making that face?
Her expression was clouded with sorrow.
Shin Si-hwa spoke to me in a trembling voice.
"What did you mean by that...? 'Almost out'..."
"Huh?"
Blood smeared thickly around my mouth.
The sight of me desperately downing my pills.
That image was more than enough to cause Shin Si-hwa to have a grave misunderstanding.
