This Is Anomaly Girl — 3

The argument kept going after that.

Yoo Ari dug in, insisting they had to stay put, and I was busy tearing her case apart. I thought I was being reasonably logical about it, and still it felt like it wasn't enough.

While the two of us locked horns, the others must have been listening and sorting out their own thoughts. Thanks to that, a conclusion came quickly.

"Wouldn't it be better if we moved?"

Kang Joohyuk was the first to speak. He came up beside me as if to put his bulk on display, then said it in a voice that didn't leave room for doubt.

"Like Lee Jun said, sitting around isn't gonna help anything. Right now we ought to be doing something. Yeah?"

He grinned at me with his teeth showing. It was probably a cue to back him up, but I was honestly thrown and answered a beat late.

"Ah, right. Staying still now is a loss."

Maybe he liked that I was at least trying to be proactive. Kang Joohyuk slapped my shoulder hard, all friendly. Considering the fairly threatening tone he'd used on me earlier, it felt a little awkward.

That was when Lee Nari spoke, almost a whisper.

"B-but it could be dangerous, couldn't it?"

Her hands and feet trembled faintly, like someone who scared easily. She clearly didn't want to walk into something that risky. I was about to open my mouth and talk her through it when Kang Joohyuk, beside me, got there first.

"It's fine, kid. If anything dangerous happens, I'll protect you."

His brave tone must have comforted her a little. Lee Nari gave a small nod.

"So we're moving now, then?"

Park Jihye, who'd been watching from the side, said it in a blunt voice. At that, the others stepped forward and got ready to go. Yoo Ari looked thrown by the sight. She clearly hadn't imagined the humans would actually get moving like this. She'd probably assumed that even if someone shot a suggestion down, they'd still end up doing what she said.

As if.

When she'd introduced herself earlier, she'd said she was seventeen. A high schooler, at best. Who wants to take orders from a kid still eating cafeteria lunches? Explain it as logically as you like — the pushback is inevitable.

This was a fight I was almost guaranteed to win.

More than anything, people get more anxious doing nothing than doing something. Preferring the suggestion to move was only natural.

"……Fine. Then let's move."

Only then did Yoo Ari fold, meek as anything. Her face, surprisingly, played it as if none of this bothered her at all.

Or maybe she genuinely doesn't care.

Either way, I was still uneasy.

……For now, I've done what I can.

I didn't have much information to begin with. Knowing who the anomaly was only let me sidestep the worst outcome. I was simply doing my best. Even so, some hollow sense of responsibility settled on me.

A deep sigh escaped before I knew it. The road ahead already felt hopeless. But if I wanted to live, I had to hold out somehow.

"Hey, mister."

Baek Kigon called over to me, rough about it. Suspicion sat in his voice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as he asked.

"Where are we going?"

Only then did I realize everyone was looking at me. I tensed for no good reason. I felt like I had to say something, but I wasn't used to this, and my mouth wouldn't open.

"……Then let's get moving."

Somehow I ended up at the front. Honestly, it irritated me, but there was nothing for it. I was the one who'd stepped up and argued for moving in the first place. If I wanted to keep Yoo Ari from taking command of the group, I had to lead in her place.

Once we were underway, I checked the others out of the corner of my eye and opened the gallery. Then I started reading Anomaly Girl's serialization. The first thing up looked like the post she'd put up during introductions.

The moment I saw the post, a chill ran over my whole body.

Shit.

She knew I'd lied? How? I kept my face blank and walked on, rattled on the inside. I couldn't let the others catch on that I was doing something.

Does she have some other way of finding things out?

Now that the lie was blown, the other side would be watching me. If my luck was bad, they might kill me first. There was one small mercy.

Still. She doesn't know my name or my age.

The anomaly didn't know my real name yet. Even if a moment came when someone tried to play games with a true name, I could slip that trick.

I kept reading Anomaly Girl's posts.

For a second I nearly stopped walking. I caught myself and kept going, trying to sort my head out.

She's going to kill me?

I'd clearly gotten under her skin. I'd expected suspicion, maybe attention. I hadn't expected her to decide to kill me outright. Cold sweat poured off me worse than usual.

Damn it. Did I stick my neck out for nothing?

No. That couldn't be it. If none of this mattered, Anomaly Girl wouldn't be this openly pissed. I tried to shove the unease down. Yeah. Better than sitting still. That's what I told myself.

I moved on to the other anomalies' posts. Most of them were nothing but chatter about whatever Anomaly Girl was currently serializing.

There wasn't as much useful information as I'd hoped. All of it was pointless small talk, and most of it amounted to little more than wishful noise. The only interesting parts were the posts about me.

I can't say I was in a great mood. Most of them were already calling it that I'd be the first to die. Past unpleasant, it was starting to feel outright ominous. I raked a hand hard through my hair for no reason.

Figures. Should I have just stayed out of it?

Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut when she said to stay put. There was a little regret in it. But what was done was done. Better to worry about what came next.

"Excuse me."

A familiar girl's voice cut in.

"Mind if I walk beside you?"

Anomaly Girl — Yoo Ari — came up next to me, smiling.

"……Do as you like."

"Aha. Thank you."

She stuck close to my side. The dread hit a high I hadn't felt yet.

Why the fuck is she next to me.

Trying to kill me already? I hadn't even done anything yet. If I dropped dead over something this unreasonable, it would blow past fear and turn into plain rage. Not a joke. For real.

"Um. I picked this up, though. Want to take a look?"

Out of nowhere, Yoo Ari held out a scrap of paper. I caught it on reflex and read.

The second I finished, I looked at Yoo Ari.

Hmm……

Anomaly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Girl. You got pretty tilted, didn't you?