Jieun left the office with a look of exhaustion.
James, who had been quietly watching her retreating figure, quickly sat down and picked up the phone.
Although it was called a phone, its appearance was quite different from the ones on Earth in many ways.
If Jieun had seen it, she might have thought,
‘This is something an antagonist would use.’
It also had a somewhat retro style.
Overall black, with wires sticking out here and there.
The top part had something sticking out like a devil’s horn.
The impression was like a 90s cell phone screen and buttons attached to an electric shock device often depicted in the media.
James calmly pressed several buttons in sequence, then placed the device on the desk.
A moment later, a video appeared.
From the device’s screen, light radiated outward in a circular pattern, forming a 3D holographic image.
Technically, it was a type of ‘hologram.
However, the 3D nature didn’t hold much meaning due to the blurry appearance of the person displayed in the video.
Rather, it was the device’s operating method that mattered.
Like a walkie-talkie, it was a device that directly connected via a specific signal, without needing any intermediary.
That was its real value.
“Chairman, did you see that?”
James asked.
His tone suggested that the other person had heard their previous conversation in its entirety.
[Of course.]
The ‘Chairman’ replied.
The voice was altered, so it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female.
[A new possibility.]
“Yes.”
James said with a smirk, barely holding back laughter.
“Until now, the efficiency of despair has been lower than hope. It was something we could generate easily anywhere, but—”
Noir Corporation focused on the latter.
And that was also the reason they had been able to persuade the governments of various nations.
When economic indicators were bad, when people felt inequality, when they could barely scrape by, when wars broke out, or when news of severe environmental pollution was heard—
There were many ways to make people despair
In fact, it was such a common method that it had become somewhat chronic, and the efficiency of each instance wasn’t very high.
But on the flip side, even when the world was spiraling into the worst possible situation, the energy didn’t run out.
In fact, it increased in efficiency, and that was what they focused on.
And those who were economically well-off enough to avoid all of those situations could profit from that despair energy.
They didn’t even have to contribute to creating it themselves.
You can sell the air but not the wind, you can sell the water but not the waves.
Ultimately, they made money by reselling the products created through the leftover surplus energy in the world.
Noir Corporation’s plan was to export that surplus energy beyond space.
Their choice not to focus on hope was based on a simple logic: market economy.
It was more profitable to extract oil from a gushing well than to sell well-cut gems.
So—
“This situation is beyond our predictions. A certain individual can extract efficiency from a circuit to its absolute limit, to the point where the circuit will burn out. Perhaps they might even extract the same level of efficiency as ‘hope.’”
[However, the result is different from past research?]
It was easy to make despair.
But it wasn’t something that could simply be created by swinging a fist.
Noir Corporation had convinced the government for that very reason.
Those who despair should not give up.
Because giving up was the destination of despair.
Just like how you can’t extract energy from a well that’s been completely drained of oil, there was no energy to be drawn from people who lost their will to live and gave up everything.
“Understanding the nature of this efficiency will likely become the focus of our research.”
[Just don’t break then by pushing them too hard.]
“Of course.”
[…Despair or hope, in the end, it’s just a matter of direction. In that regard, the Federation’s research might be right.]
“Let’s interrogate the researchers and find out. We can’t be too harsh, though.”
[Try to persuade them well.]
“Leave it to me.”
After hearing James’s response, the ‘Chairman’ cut the communication.
James turned his body and looked down.
It was late at night, and even though it was still a weekday, there were still a lot of people walking on the streets.
Perhaps they were stopping by for a drink on their way home from work, or there might be tourists who had taken a vacation nearby.
If all these humans could develop efficiency like hers, how much profit could be made?
James placed his hand on the window and leaned against it, staring down for a long while.
*
That night, after receiving a checkup at the late-night clinic, I went to the orphanage.
The orphanage teacher seemed to have a lot to say to me but held back when they saw my expression.
After apologizing, I immediately headed for the shower.
I didn’t feel like taking a shower, but I had been running around hard just a little while ago.
I thought I couldn’t skip it completely, so I quickly showered.
I only washed my face, hands, and feet thoroughly.
I couldn’t eat dinner properly, but I brushed my teeth and sluggishly walked to my room.
The blanket was already laid out.
As expected, Ji-hye was already lying under the covers.
I lay down quietly without saying a word.
“…….”
I closed my eyes and remained still for a while.
It seemed like it would be hard to fall asleep easily
Perhaps because I was overly excited from the ‘fight, though my body was extremely tired, I couldn’t fall asleep.
“Are you okay?”
Ji-hye asked softly while I had my eyes closed.
She probably didn’t know what I was doing.
She might have thought I was just seeing a boyfriend or something.
Did I look like I had been in a fight?
“…Honestly, not really.”
I couldn’t help but sigh as I answered.
Ji-hye, who had been facing away from me, turned over to face me.
As usual, I was lying there looking at the ceiling.
“I don’t really know what you do,” Ji-hye said.
“But… don’t you think you’re trying too hard?”
“Is that so?”
“Well… yeah.”
It seemed like she thought I was in a relationship.
She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something more, but then, like me, she turned to look at the ceiling.
It was a ceiling I had seen countless times.
Since the moment I was picked up from the baby box in this world, Ji-hye and I had been together.
There was a reason both of our last names were Jeong, and our first names were similar.
Even though she wasn’t part of the story, she was the reason I couldn’t just dismiss this world as nothing more than a novel.
“Did I interfere unnecessarily?”
After a long silence, Ji-hye asked cautiously.
“No. I think it’s fair for you to say that.”
She didn’t know.
And I had no intention of telling her.
What would Ji-hye say if she did know?
If it was Hayoon, she might try to persuade me to stop right away, but somehow, I felt Ji-hye might respond differently.
Even if she found out she was caught up in this because of me, would she still take my side?
*
Lost in thought, I snapped back to reality and realized it was morning.
At some point, I must have fallen asleep.
In the midst of sleep, the trivial conversation seemed to have had the opposite effect, as it was so similar to usual that the excitement faded away.
“Hey, hey.”
Lying down without being able to fully open my eyes in the sunlight, Ji-hye poked me in the side with her foot.
“Get up. Aren’t you going to have breakfast?”
“I’m not eating…
“Are you going to mope around all day again?”
Why does a high schooler sound just like a mom?
In the end, I couldn’t withstand Ji-hye’s attack and got up from my seat.
Breakfast was a tasteless bean sprout soup.
… When will the performance bonus come in?
Only then will breakfast, or any meal, taste a little better.
I poured some rice into the soup and gulped it down while thinking about that.
*
The kid who had been tormenting me didn’t show up today.
But I felt surprisingly at ease.
I already knew that neither that kid nor his mother would ever bother me again.
Actually, my body ached a bit here and there, probably from pushing myself too hard yesterday.
While I could treat the wounds, I couldn’t do much about the pulled muscles.
“Jieun.
“Ah!?
Hayoon suddenly linked arms with me as she approached, and I couldn’t help but let out a startled yelp.
She flinched and quickly pulled her hand away.
Ah.
She wasn’t the type to do this first, but after we went on that trip together last time, she had been sneaking closer more often.
Maybe she thought we’d gotten a bit closer
Now, Hyaoon looked like she was debating whether to hold onto me again after my startled reaction.
“N-no, it’s nothing,” I quickly shook my head.
“I must have slept wrong. My muscles are just a little sore.”
“You’re not mad at me, right?”
“Of course not.
When I said that, Hayoon seemed relieved and moved closer.
She didn’t cross her arms but lightly placed her arm against mine as she sat down next to me.
“Do you want a bite?
I held out the piece of bread I was eating toward Hayoon. She hesitated at first, shaking her head, but then—
“Yeah.”
She said, then took a small bite of my bread
“It doesn’t taste very good, right?”
It was one of those terrible sandwich breads from the school snack shop.
It was supposed to be a sandwich, but it only had a little bit of peanut sauce in the middle, and the outside was just dry, cheap bread.
But even after my comment, Hayoon shook her head.
“…Something on your mind?”
I casually asked
Hayoon’s expression darkened a little
Yesterday, I hadn’t seen Hayoon at all.
The magical girls who faced me were Iris and Rose.
Was there trouble in multiple locations?
Or was it just a personal issue that delayed her deployment?
“No, nothing.
Hayoon gave a small smile at the corner of her mouth and said that.
It meant she wasn’t going to say anything.
“…”
She probably couldn’t say it.
That the magical girl had failed.
It wasn’t even mentioned on the news today.
Even the Noir Corporation subsidiary site, which always inflated even the slightest success in their articles, said nothing.
Maybe the mission had actually been a success, and that’s why they were keeping quiet.
That was a little unsettling.
Hayoon gently leaned her face against my shoulder.
“… Does this hurt too?
“No.”
Honestly, it did sting a little, but I pretended it didn’t bother me
… I had things I was hiding from Hayoon too.
Hayoon remained like that for a while, resting her head on my shoulder, her eyes closed.
In the end, I left the bread unfinished.
For me, to waste food I had paid for wasn’t something I would normally do.