Chapter 221
Yuki’s gym.
Seeing the car parked out front, I had a small realization.
“…Ah, right.”
Maybe I didn’t need to ask Edel so desperately. I could’ve just asked Da-eun to come pick me up.
“Hmm…”
I shook my head.
The incident had occurred not far from Demoninus.
If I was being generous, I could even call it nearby.
Because of that, the area around Demoninus was absolute chaos right now.
People who hadn’t left yet, those who happened to be nearby for other reasons, people coming to report or just watch the commotion, and so on…
Just looking at it was dizzying, and getting out of there was even worse.
A large crowd meant heavy traffic.
So if I had asked Da-eun to come get me, there was no telling how long it would’ve taken.
It wasn’t like I didn’t have any way to get here. Asking her to suffer just so I could be a bit more comfortable didn’t feel right.
Screech.
“I’m back.”
“Canaria!”
Thump!
The moment I opened the gym door, Da-eun came rushing in.
I had already sensed her fidgeting presence before I even opened the door, but I didn’t avoid her hug.
But Da-eun didn’t stop there.
If I were a normal girl, I might’ve suffocated.
That’s how tightly Da-eun hugged me before letting go and grabbing both my cheeks.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I’m fiiiine—”
“You sure? Your face looks half gone.”
“Ow.”
“You’re hurt?!”
“I said no—”
Da-eun held my cheeks and inspected me with a worried look from every angle.
It was kind of annoying… but I didn’t feel like pushing her away.
Still, I wish she’d at least let me speak properly.
Even if I wasn’t in pain, she kept squishing my cheeks, and it was making me lisp.
“You’re such a doting mess.”
Yuki, who had walked up at some point, said with a tone of disbelief.
“You saw she was fine. Why are you making such a fuss?”
“Well, you never know. She might look fine, but she could have internal injuries from the fight…”
“Doesn’t look like a face that took internal damage.”
“That’s just because you don’t know Kana well enough! Kana never shows pain even when she’s hurting! I can feel it! Her usual softness is off by 0.01 grams… Ack!”
“…That’s enough.”
Da-eun let go of my head, disappointed as I slipped out of her grasp.
Obviously, I had no intention of letting her grab me again just because she sounded sad.
My cheeks aren’t toys.
And what does she even mean by being 0.01 grams less soft?
While I was grumbling internally, a gentle weight settled on my head.
Unlike before, Da-eun’s hand softly stroked my hair.
“I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”
“…As if I’d get hurt from someone like that.”
I pretended to sulk as I looked at her smiling eyes that were gently curved.
From Da-eun’s point of view, I probably just seemed to be throwing a random tantrum, but she didn’t wipe the smile from her face.
With her eyes half-closed, she kept caressing my head—and then Yuki’s words came to mind, and I opened my eyes.
“Wait, were you watching?”
“Not watching in person. I saw the video that went up.”
“Ahh.”
So it did get uploaded.
Not surprising, but faster than I thought.
Well, if it hadn’t been, that many people wouldn’t have gathered.
“It was a Dimensional Creature… right?”
“Yeah.”
“…Has it started?”
“Not yet.”
Phew…
Da-eun let out a sigh of relief.
Someone like her, who feared fighting, wouldn’t welcome a war, so she must have been really worried.
Though, to be fair, there aren’t many people who’d like war.
Especially not if they have to go fight themselves.
“Can you explain it to me?”
She asked cautiously, and I nodded.
“Yeah.”
I was planning to tell you even if you didn’t ask.
Now then, where should I start?
Both Da-eun and Yuki had some prior knowledge, so I didn’t need to go into the background.
I gathered my thoughts and began to speak.
In truth, there wasn’t that much to explain.
Even though a fair amount of time had passed since I left the gym, all that had happened was fighting off the Dimensional Creature and talking to Edel.
If you take out the time Edel spent talking to the Administrator, and the time I spent stuck in traffic, the actual events were very few.
So it didn’t take long to explain how I defeated the Dimensional Creature and what decisions we made going forward.
“So, you decided to just leave it alone…?”
“Yeah. She said she doesn’t have the energy to waste on things like this. And that it’s like getting a preemptive vaccination before the real war starts.”
“That’s… quite a violent vaccine…”
“This is the mild version.”
Even if there were casualties…
No, there might’ve been injuries.
But I tried my best to minimize damage, so if anyone did get hurt, it probably wasn’t too serious.
“Hmm, hmmmmm… I seeee…”
“…?”
Even though I’d finished explaining everything, Da-eun still seemed weirdly lukewarm.
“Is there something you didn’t like?”
“Huh? Oh, no. It’s not that.”
“Then why are you acting like that? You look like a puppy that needs to poop.”
“Hey! Girls shouldn’t say gross stuff like that!”
Is that really a gross thing to say?
While I tilted my head in confusion, Yuki, who had quietly been listening, stepped forward.
“Why don’t you just say it?”
“Huh?”
She said it like she already knew why Da-eun was fretting so much.
Naturally, my gaze turned to Yuki.
“Instead of acting like a constipated puppy, like Kana said, wouldn’t it be better to just spit it out?”
“Why are you saying that too?!”
“Well, anyone who sees you right now would think the same. Right, Kana?”
“Yeah.”
“W-Was it that obvious?”
Nod.
Looking at Da-eun, whose eyes were trembling, I gave a firm nod.
Da-eun let out a deep sigh and rubbed her face.
“I thought I was hiding it well… So it was that obvious…”
“…That was you trying not to show it?”
I thought she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
Putting aside the unbelievable words for a moment, I opened my mouth to help Da-eun with her worries.
“What’s bothering you? Is there someone you don’t like? Want me to take care of them?”
“…It’s not that, but even if it were, do you think I’d ask you to do something so shady? I care about you too much, Kana.”
“Fine, whatever.”
It wasn’t something I meant seriously in the first place. Just said it to lighten the mood.
Da-eun pouted and mumbled, “Who even lightens the mood with that kind of line…” but her body—now visibly calmer compared to earlier—didn’t lie.
Though she was still hesitating.
‘Spit it out already.’
Unable to endure my sharp gaze, Da-eun finally spoke with reluctance.
“I didn’t want to make you worry.”
“Seeing you like this worries me even more.”
“…Okay. I’ll say it. I’ll talk.”
And with that, she let out another long sigh.
I was starting to worry she’d sink the floor at this rate.
“…Do you remember that thing from before? You know, the time someone posted a picture of you?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t that long ago. Of course I remembered.
“Well, that started trending again.”
“…That? Wasn’t it over?”
“It was. But today, after someone saw you fighting a Dimensional Creature, they got reminded of ‘Canaria’ from Silia Online. Because of that, that old incident is getting attention again.”
“….”
It felt like a thunderbolt struck in my head.
…Ah. That’s right.
I wasn’t alone anymore.
Back in Silia, whatever the consequences of my actions, I only had to shoulder them alone.
I bit down hard on my lip.
“…So?”
“Well… because of that, the fan café is kind of blowing up. People are asking if it’s really the same person, if we already knew, or if we have any inside info about what happened…”
Da-eun let out a sheepish laugh.
“It’s fine though. It’s just speculation. If we deny it, it’ll blow over eventually. You don’t need to worry.”
“There’s no way it’ll be that simple.”
Da-eun’s words were obviously unrealistic.
Sure, with time, it might die down.
But something this juicy isn’t going to cool off that easily.
“…So what do you want to do, Da-eun? Do you think we should just come clean?”
“…My opinion? I don’t think it really matters… Didn’t you say you decided to leave it alone?”
“It matters.”
They’re going to find out eventually anyway.
And besides—
“You’re more important to me, Da-eun.”
Who do you think I crossed over to Earth for?
I know it’s emotional, but unless it completely goes against the greater good, I have no intention of throwing away my feelings.
Da-eun didn’t respond right away.
Lost in thought, she stayed silent, mulling things over deeply.
Finally, her voice broke the long silence.
“…I…”
***
Even a full day after the anomaly appeared in the Seoul sky, the fire that had spread to Joanie’s fan café showed no sign of going out.
No—instead, it was growing.
It was only natural. The location of the incident wasn’t just anywhere.
Sure, Korea has a smaller population than other countries, but when something that bizarre happens in a capital city, it’s bound to make waves.
And during times like this, rumors tend to run wild.
Most of them turn out to be baseless nonsense and fade quickly, but some are just persuasive enough to survive.
The blaze burning in Joanie’s fan café was one of the latter.
At first, people dismissed it as ridiculous.
But as they kept watching, some started thinking, “Huh? That actually makes sense…”
And since the only one who could give a real answer was Joanie herself, the café turned into total chaos.
So much so that even the staff managing the café were dropping like flies from exhaustion.
[So when’s she coming? When’s she coming? When’s she coming? When’s she coming?]
[I’m gonna die kekkk kekkk kekk]
[This is total chaos;]
What made things worse was that she canceled her previously scheduled stream—whether in response to the situation or not—only fueling the flames further.
At this point, even going live might not be enough to extinguish it.
That was when a notice went up.
[There will be a major announcement at 2PM today.]
A short, single-line post.
[A major announcement?]
[Does she actually know something?]
[Yeah right LOL she’s just baiting for attention. So many gullible idiots here.]
[Can’t she just say it straight? Yes or no, pick one already.]
There were complaints, sure.
But in the end, there was nothing they could do.
All they could do was wait for the scheduled broadcast time.
And finally, when the time was just about to arrive—
[Joanie has started streaming.]
[Major Announcement]
Joanie’s stream went live.
And in that instant, people who had been waiting for the broadcast flooded in all at once.
–Let’s go~
–Please explain
–This is. all. the commies’ fault. Even now… we must purge the pro-North traitors.
–Does this mean we’ll see Kana again? I can breathe again??
–LMAOOO
–Lag is insane lol
The chat couldn’t keep up with the sudden flood of viewers.
Only after switching to subscriber-only chat did the chaos somewhat settle.
Stripped of their voice, the rest could only stare at the dark screen, waiting for it to light up.
And finally, at exactly 2PM—
Click—
The screen turned on right on the dot.
But the camera wasn’t showing Joanie’s usual streaming setup.
Instead, it showed what looked like a gym—soft padded floors, various workout equipment.
–?? Where is this?
–Gym?
–Major announcement: I’m starting a diet today
–If that’s it, it’s gonna be a disaster LOL might as well quit streaming right now
Even those familiar with Joanie’s streams were baffled by the unfamiliar backdrop, and the chat buzzed with speculation.
But the one meant to explain things had yet to appear.
As the recently calmed chat began to stir again—
“Ah, ah.”
A voice came through the mic.
A soft, pure tone unique to a child.
–??
–?
–Who is that?
–Is that Joanie?
–How could you possibly think that’s Joanie’s voice?
–Probably just someone else in the room
Just as confusion started to swell—
A girl appeared on screen.
A cute girl with striking pink hair and eyes.
With her eyes half-lidded, she calmly raised a hand in greeting.
“Hi.”
And just moments later—
The chat exploded.
—
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