Let's Be Friends Starting Today (3)

Before I knew it, a full month had passed since I'd arrived in this world.

The setting was basically Korea, with special additions like monsters and Gates, but once I actually started living here, adapting came surprisingly easy. At this age, I wasn't expected to fight anything anytime soon, after all.

I was using my knowledge of the original story to gather all kinds of information—but strictly speaking, the current timeline was still before the original even began, so there was only so much I could do with that knowledge. Even so, I'd done just about everything within my reach.

And of the things I'd managed, the biggest harvest of all was this:

"Chan oppa~ Hurry up and come out!"

"Coming~!"

Answering the voice calling from outside, I shut off my computer and headed for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the door.

"Hey! Get out here already!"

"You're the ones who came too early."

Waiting right outside my front door were Lee Yeon-hui and her little sister, Lee Yeon-ah.

"If we're late because of you, you're doing all the cleaning."

"We're not going to be late. There's still thirty minutes."

"Unnie, your voice is too loud."

Lately, the three of us had been walking to school together more and more often. Having to attend elementary school at this age was enough to give me a full-blown existential crisis—but what could I do? Sticking close to both Yeon-hui and Yeon-ah was an opportunity too good to pass up. To keep Yeon-ah from getting kidnapped, the more time I spent with them, the better.

Of course, thinking that didn't make the psychological suffering go away.

"Alright then, Yeon-chan, why don't you give this one a try?"

"...Sixteen."

"Oh? You did that in your head?"

"Yes..."

"Correct! Still, so your friends can follow along more easily, could you work it out on the board next time?"

"Yes..."

Fighting down the heat flooding my face, I sank back into my seat. A college graduate getting praised for solving elementary school math problems. Anyone who knew me would be clutching their sides laughing.

Once the roller coaster of school classes finally ended, Yeon-hui and I got ready to go pick up Yeon-ah downstairs.

"Is Yeon-ah downstairs?"

"No. She said she was tired, so she's resting in the nurse's office."

Yeon-ah suffered from Mana Exposure Syndrome, so she often skipped afternoon classes. I usually tagged along when Yeon-hui checked on her during break, but on days like today—when she went to the nurse's office mid-lesson—it wasn't easy to catch right away.

"Then let's head to the nurse's office."

"...Yeah."

Something about Yeon-hui's answer felt awkward. I started past her toward the nurse's office when—

"Why are you two always hanging out together? Are you dating?"

Pfft.

The voice from behind made me snort before I could stop myself. They'd gotten a lot more mature compared to before, but kids were still kids.

Well, that's what makes them fresh and cute.

They were right at that age. Holding onto that thought, I kept walking toward the nurse's office to pick up Yeon-ah—

"Hey! Why are you ignoring me?!"

The voice that had been behind me shifted to my side, then planted itself right in front of me.

"Huh? Me?"

"Who else would I be talking to?"

"But who are you?"

"......"

Apparently my answer wasn't what he'd expected. The little kid, looking slightly heated, stared at me with a completely blank expression.

"I'm in your class."

"Hmm... Hold on, don't say anything. Let me guess. Um... Ah! Park... Sang-hyeon? Park Sang-hyeon, right?"

"It's Lee Seon-woo."

"...So close."

"......"

Close, but no cigar. My memory was pretty good in general—I just couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠remember faces and names to save my life.

"So what were you saying again, Woo-hyeon?"

"I said Sang-hyeon! No—Seon-woo!"

"Ah, seriously, I'm sorry. I've got it completely memorized now. Park Seon-woo. Park Seon-woo. Park Seon-woo."

"You got the last name wrong! It's Lee!"

Kim, Lee, Park, Choi—in a murim novel, those would basically be the Five Great Clans. Couldn't he just let it slide?

No, of course not.

Sorry.

"Hey. That's not even why I called you over."

As Seon-woo huffed and fumed, a friend stepped up beside him and tried to calm him down. Once he'd settled a little, Seon-woo took a breath, glared at me, and said:

"You two are always together. Are you dating?"

Oh, look at this kid.

I barely managed to swallow the laugh threatening to spill out and looked at him.

"Hmm... You like Yeon-hui, don't you?"

"W-what are you talking about?!"

"Heh heh. Adorable."

Watching these little brats who barely had blood pumping through their skulls act like this wasn't half bad, honestly. But my reaction must have stung his pride more than I'd expected, because Seon-woo started blowing up for real.

"Why would I like some ugly girl like that?!"

"Oh my! You're going to regret saying that. If you keep that up—"

I was about to offer some heartfelt advice when Yeon-hui appeared out of nowhere, grabbed my arm, and dragged me toward the nurse's office.

"Aww~ I was having fun..."

"Shut up!"

She was thoroughly pissed. Well, that was what he got for calling her ugly.

"See you later, Sang-hyeon!"

As Yeon-hui hauled me away, I tossed him a goodbye—and Seon-woo, standing in the middle, flipped me the middle finger in reply.

"Yeon-hui, Sang-hyeon just—"

"I said shut up!"

Our poor Seon-woo. Looks like this life is a bust for him.

We picked Yeon-ah up from the nurse's office and headed back to the apartment. The three of us settled into my room to start on our homework. Yeon-hui's mother usually came home around dinner and put out a light meal, so hanging out together like this until she arrived had become our daily routine.

"Oppa, why is Unnie so mad?"

Yeon-ah had picked up on Yeon-hui's foul mood and quietly asked me about it.

"Some kid who likes Yeon-hui told her she was ugly."

I kept my voice low enough that Yeon-hui wouldn't hear.

"What?! Who does he think he is?!"

Whether it was the insult to her sister that set her off, Yeon-ah shot to her feet with a shout. Truly beautiful sisterly love.

The problem was—

"Hey. You wanna die?"

"Ah... Sorry, Oppa..."

Yeon-hui snapped at her like she'd been chattering nonsense. It's fine. Oppa's fine...

Fortunately, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yeon-hui's rage didn't last long. By the time we sat down for dinner, she was almost completely over it.

"Oppa! This is so good!"

"Glad to hear it. I was a little worried."

"You... Why are you good at cooking, too?"

Normally Yeon-hui's mother left at least one meat side dish for us, but yesterday she'd forgotten to go grocery shopping, so I'd whipped up a simple soy-braised beef. Luckily, it seemed to suit both their tastes.

"I've been living on my own for over ten years. I'd be a pretty sad case if I couldn't manage this much."

"You're twelve."

"I had an unusually strong sense of independence, even as a fetus."

"What are you even talking about?"

"Don't listen to him. He's just spouting nonsense."

Haha. Now I was getting called out for talking garbage by a kid. Oh, the life I lead. Still, I'd gotten used to this kind of thing lately, so the damage wasn't as bad as it used to be.

For all her grumbling, Yeon-hui polished off my braised beef just fine. Maybe it was because it had been a long time since anyone had eaten something I'd cooked. It didn't feel bad at all.

I was sitting with that quiet satisfaction when—

A low buzz. Along with the apartment's PA announcement, the emergency disaster alert on my phone went off.

"Close the windows and draw the curtains."

Before I'd even finished speaking, Yeon-hui and Yeon-ah were already on their feet, shutting the windows and pulling the curtains closed with practiced speed. It had been startling the first time, but you got used to situations like this. This place might have been similar to the real world I'd come from, but every time something like this happened, I was reminded just how different it was.

Leaving our half-eaten dinner on the table, the three of us ducked under it and waited for the next announcement. Before long, another alert tone sounded.

Another buzz. Another disaster text. Seeing the messages that lifted the evacuation advisory and the request to stay indoors, we finally climbed back into our chairs.

"Is your mom okay?"

"Yeah. She said nothing happened."

I'd asked Yeon-hui, who'd called her mother while we were hiding under the table. She answered with a calm face, thankfully.

Gates. A kind of doorway that opened without any restriction on place or time. The moment one appeared, monsters poured through it. The exact mechanics weren't fully understood, but once a Gate had spit out a certain number of monsters—or once those monsters were eliminated—the Gate itself would vanish.

Gates that opened outside restricted zones were generally treated like small fry. They were classified by rank and scale, of course, but these days roughly ninety percent of the Gates popping up left and right could have their range contained. You could pretty much say a truly dangerous Gate never opened.

For now, at least.

We cleaned up the table and played games together for a while. Before long, Yeon-hui's mother came home. Since they lived right next door, I could have stayed and hung out a bit longer—but I had things to do, so I said I'd come by next time and headed home. She'd be tired from work; having me around would only keep her from resting properly.

I'm not a little kid. I can take a hint.

And it wasn't a lie that I had things to do, either.

Over the past month, Yeon-hui's family and I had grown remarkably close. Landing next door by pure luck had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a lot to do with how quickly that happened.

The problem was—

I still haven't found a fundamental solution to stop Yeon-ah's kidnapping.

In the novel, the scene of Yeon-ah's funeral described cold wind and scattering autumn leaves rather than blazing sunlight—so I figured the funeral had probably been sometime in the fall. But that wasn't enough to pin the incident itself to autumn. Just because the funeral was in the fall didn't mean Yeon-ah had gotten caught up in the crime in the fall.

I didn't have much time. I'd possessed this body around the end of May, and now we were in the thick of midsummer.

Over the past month, even while spending time with Yeon-hui's family, I'd been combing through every scrap of information from the novel to track down the organization that might have kidnapped Yeon-ah. Police databases, Hero sites, Hunter sites—official pages and information ordinary people weren't supposed to access. I'd dug through all of it, and I still had nothing solid to show for it.

Whenever I spotted anything that looked shady, I'd planned to quietly tip off a Hero or the police. But—

"There's barely any information about Yeon-ah in the novel to begin with."

With so little to go on, there was only so much I could uncover. If I could just protect her myself, nothing would be better—but right now I was a powerless little kid with combat ability hovering near zero. And my best guess was that the other side was a criminal organization made up entirely of adults. Even ordinary adults would be more than I could handle. And in this world, the odds of that being the case were basically zero.

In this world, every organization had superhumans mixed in. Awakened—humans who wielded mana to display superhuman power. Most of them operated as Heroes or Hunters, but plenty didn't. Enough that the word "villain" actually got used.

Which meant there was a hard limit to what I could do alone. If they came at me with raw force, I had no way of fighting back. That was the reality.

So there was only one method left.

Call in people who actually have power.

It wasn't a normal approach, and it was something I'd wanted to avoid if at all possible. But—

"Haa... This is all I've got. No choice, I guess."

"I'm Lee Hyeon-seong. I'll be working with you starting today. Looking forward to it."

"Choi Min-ho. Nice to meet you~"

A solidly built man and a somewhat leaner one introduced themselves to us. So they'd actually shown up. Everything had gone according to my plan—but I couldn't help being nervous about how Yeon-hui and Yeon-ah would react. I glanced over at the two of them.

"Apparently some psycho sent us a threatening email saying he was going to kidnap us."

Ah... I see...

Sorry. That was me.