Chapter 108
In the darkness, Shin Seha swallowed hard.
Her phone screen displayed the comment section of the Mage Gallery.
A comment left by Newbie.
The short sentence rattled her.
[Because there's a process for registering magic, we need to meet once.]
We have to meet.
A stranger. No, someone she knew but had never actually seen before.
"... Impossible."
Shin Seha shook her head.
She had completely forgotten how to look someone in the eye and talk to them.
She didn't want Newbie to see such a miserable side of her either.
Even if she managed to get over it and meet him, there was still a problem.
To use the ring, she had to use magic.
Once again, that memory swept through her head.
She could almost smell burnt flesh lingering at the tip of her nose.
She remembered the failure from a few days ago.
The house, ruined when she had only tried testing a single shield.
Her power was uncontrollable.
It was like a bomb that could go off at any moment.
Use that power again?
"Hic...."
Shin Seha wrapped her arms around herself.
She couldn't stop trembling.
This was better.
Right now, when she didn't meet anyone and did nothing at all.
Nothing dangerous would happen.
No one would get hurt because of her.
This dark room was safe.
"......"
But was that really true?
Shin Seha suddenly had that thought.
Was this really a safe life?
How much longer did she have to live like this?
How much longer did she have to live while trembling at every call from the Association president?
How much longer did she have to live vicariously through other people's climb stories?
How much longer, really?
[It's an item that takes back magic again....]
Newbie's comment kept echoing in her head.
A ring that reclaims magic.
What if that were true?
What if it could reclaim magic that had gone beyond my control?
Then she wouldn't have to hurt the people around her anymore.
She wouldn't have to fear her own power anymore.
"... Could I live like I used to again?"
It wasn't that she wanted to be back in the spotlight like before.
Just normally.
Sometimes breathing fresh air outside, mingling with other people.
A life where she could help someone with the power she had.
Maybe she could live that kind of life again.
All the things that had once been a given.
"... Just once."
Shin Seha muttered without realizing it.
The image of Newbie, always boldly doing things outside the bounds of common sense, came to mind.
He wasn't someone who got scared and collapsed like that.
A chance offered by someone like that.
"... I want to meet him."
She muttered without realizing it.
She wanted to meet Newbie.
She was curious what kind of person he was, and through what kind of eyes he saw the world.
She wanted to talk with him.
"Hoo...."
Once her mind was made up, there was no reason to hesitate anymore.
With trembling hands, she pressed the keypad.
One letter at a time, carefully.
ㄴPkkatju: Can we meet in two days?
As soon as she sent the reply, Shin Seha hurled her phone onto the bed.
At the same time, regret and relief flooded in.
"I did it."
There was no turning back now.
Shin Seha began waiting for a reply in the darkness.
***
I stood in front of Shin Seha's house.
I took one deep breath and rang the doorbell.
"I'm weirdly nervous...."
Ding-dong.
From inside, no sound came back.
Did she not hear it?
Just as I was about to press the bell again.
Click.
With a faint sound, the door opened a crack.
Through the gap, I could see a few strands of pure white silver hair and eyes full of wariness.
Those eyes widened as if startled by the sight of me.
"..."
"......"
A short silence fell.
The time we spent confirming each other's appearance and falling silent.
Before coming here, I had looked up a few photos of Shin Seha online.
Photos from before she'd holed herself up in her room.
She had a confident, lively smile, full of the sparkle of an idol on stage.
But the person in front of me now was completely different.
Of course, she was still pretty. Even more so than in the photos.
But that was all.
I couldn't feel any life in her face.
I spoke carefully.
"Uh, hello?"
At my voice, her shoulders gave a tiny jolt.
Shin Seha still didn't seem to let her guard down as she asked back in a very small voice.
"... You're really Newbie?"
"Yep, I'm that sand-eating mage."
"H-how old are you? You look way younger than me..."
Shin Seha looked to be somewhere between a high school student and someone just past twenty.
An age even younger than the original me.
I smiled and pointed at myself.
"It's a little different from what you expected, huh? Believe it or not, I'm older than I look."
"No, you look like an elementary school student no matter how I look at it.... How old are you really?"
"My age's a bit flexible, you know? I can't really pin it down to a specific number. It shifts a bit depending on who I'm talking to."
"???"
"Um, using honorifics is way too awkward.... Can I just talk casually?"
"Huh? Oh.... Speak however you want."
Shin Seha looked at me with a confused expression.
This wasn't the time for this.
I took a small ring from my pocket and showed it to her.
Her gaze moved to the silver ring in my hand.
"Should we go inside first and talk?"
"Y-yeah. Come in."
Clunk.
I heard the chain inside the door come undone.
The front door opened slowly.
'Looks like she did tidy up a bit...'
Even so, the inside of the house was still cluttered.
Mysterious fragments were still rolling around on the floor.
As soon as the door opened, Shin Seha backed into a corner and glanced at me.
A bob cut that looked like it had been hacked off at home.
A somewhat shabby hoodie.
It showed the kind of life she had been living.
I opened my mouth first to break the awkward silence.
"It's kind of amazing. Seeing you like this after only knowing you by your nickname all this time."
I spun around and turned in place once to show my appearance.
"So, what do you think? Am I a little like what you imagined?"
At my question, Shin Seha's face reddened slightly.
She looked away and muttered.
"No, not at all...."
"Did you think I was a guy?"
"... I thought you'd be a girl."
"Did I really act that feminine?"
Even so, I thought I was doing some real alpha-male gallery lurking.
"When you uploaded that sand totem video last time.... after seeing that, I figured you had to be a girl..."
"Ah, that."
"If I'd thought you were a guy, I wouldn't have asked to meet..."
"Hmm."
I felt an odd pang of guilt for some reason.
Feeling awkward, I changed the subject.
"How is it different from what you originally imagined?"
"I didn't expect you to be an elementary school student..."
"Were you disappointed?"
I pouted my lips on purpose, pretending to be sulky.
Shin Seha panicked and waved her hands.
"N-no! I didn't mean it like that... I thought you were cute.... It almost makes me feel bad for having called you here."
The last part was almost a whisper; I could barely make it out.
I awkwardly cleared my throat and scratched my cheek.
A brief awkward silence passed, but the atmosphere had loosened a little from before.
"Shall we get started?"
I placed the ring on my palm.
"I'll hold the ring, so try casting your magic onto it once."
At my words, Shin Seha's face turned ghostly white.
Shin Seha shook her head and said urgently.
"No. It's dangerous."
"I'm sand, so lightning probably doesn't conduct through me very well, right? You could say the elemental match-up is pretty good."
"Even so...."
Shin Seha shook her head.
The fear in Shin Seha's eyes was genuine.
I looked at her for a moment, then spoke gently.
"I need to be beside you in order to make the final adjustments."
"But..."
I smiled to reassure her.
"If you're that worried, I can just put up some walls around us."
I manipulated the sand and made a small jar.
A jar just big enough for the ring and a hand to fit inside.
"This way nothing can leak out. And I definitely won't get shocked."
Was my persuasion working?
After hesitating for a moment, Shin Seha gave a small nod.
"... I'll do it very weakly."
"Yeah. Do that."
Shin Seha took a deep breath.
Tiny sparks bloomed from the tips of her fingers.
Crackle!
In an instant, the electricity that had slipped out of control shot off in all directions.
But that was expected.
The lightning couldn't break out of the sand jar.
All the current that had tried to scatter everywhere was sucked into the ring.
Bzzzt!
The ring glowed blue and spat sparks violently.
I picked up the ring without hesitation.
"Are you okay?!"
Shin Seha shouted in horror.
"Yeah. It's just a little tingly."
I answered casually.
"They say sand doesn't conduct electricity very well, right? So this much is fine."
I gripped the ring, lightning still writhing around it, and began the final process.
With mana, I created a virtual hammer and chisel and carved in the last pattern.
The crackling sparks that had been flying so wildly died down as if nothing had happened.
"There, all done."
I held out the finished ring.
Shin Seha hesitated, then took the ring in her hand.
The ring, which I'd expected to be cold, was unexpectedly warm.
"..."
Carefully, Shin Seha slipped the ring onto her finger.
The ring fit perfectly, as if it had always belonged to her.
"Let's test it right away. Want to try casting magic again?"
"... On what?"
"Could you shoot me? It shouldn't work anyway."
"A-are you crazy? There's no way I could do that!"
"I'm serious, it really is fine."
"Absolutely not!"
Shin Seha shook her head violently.
"Hmm... I guess using it on a person right away is a little much."
Then a good idea came to me.
I snapped off my ring finger.
The soft finger hit the floor and, wriggling, turned into a tiny sand person.
"So cute..."
Shin Seha murmured without realizing it.
I gestured toward the sand doppelgänger and said,
"Try zapping that one."
At my words, Shin Seha's face stiffened again.
"No! How can you attack something that small...?"
"I said it's fine."
To prove it, I kept turning the sand clone back into a finger and then back into a clone over and over.
Shock filled Shin Seha's eyes.
"You turned a living thing back into a finger? That cute little thing...?"
Shin Seha glared at me as if she truly couldn't understand.
It was the look of someone staring at an atrocious criminal.
I hurriedly explained.
"No, it's just something made with a skill. It doesn't die just because it turns back into my finger, okay? The one you're thinking of now is a separate one called the First Unit."
"The First Unit? Even the name sounds so pitiful..."
"......"
I had nothing to say to that either.
Anyway, I had to keep stubbornly explaining the difference between the First Unit and a simple sand clone.
I'm not a psychopath.
If I'd known this would happen, I'd have brought the First Unit itself.
"... I'll try."
At my persuasion, Shin Seha finally summoned the courage.
She reached out toward the sand clone.
Crack!
The lightning struck dead on.
Of course, the sand-made one was perfectly fine.
The clone folded its arms as if it hadn't even blinked.
I could see the lightning that had broken free and was scattering around.
But unlike before, no disaster happened.
It hesitated in the air, then arced gently back toward the ring on her finger.
The power absorbed by the ring flowed straight back into Shin Seha's body.
A perfect circuit with almost no mana loss.
"Mm-hm, that's it."
I nodded in satisfaction.
It worked perfectly, exactly as I'd imagined.
"... It really worked."
Shin Seha looked down at her own hand.
The very hand that had been spitting out blue lightning just moments ago.
Nothing had happened.
For the first time in years.
The moment she had perfectly controlled her own power.
The surroundings were unharmed.
The magic had merely touched its target and then returned fully to her.
The moment she realized that, something hot surged up her throat.
Plop. Drip-drip.
Clear teardrops fell from her eyes.
"Sob... sob..."
Once they started, the tears poured out like a dam breaking.
Even if she tried to hold them back, she couldn't.
"W-wait? Why, why are you crying?"
I panicked.
I hadn't expected this situation at all.
I awkwardly moved up beside her, raising and lowering my hands restlessly.
'Should I pat her on the back or something? Like I saw in dramas?'
But was it really okay to do that?
While I was hesitating, her crying only grew even more heartbreaking.
In the end, I couldn't say anything and just stood quietly beside Shin Seha, waiting for the crying to stop.
Shin Seha kept her head bowed, her small shoulders trembling over and over.
A long time passed, and her sobbing gradually quieted down.
I judged that she had calmed down somewhat and quietly stood up from my spot.
Having me here any longer would probably only make her more uncomfortable.
My business here was done.
I silently turned and headed for the front door.
That was when.
"Wait...!"
I felt a faint tug on my clothes.
When I turned around, Shin Seha was standing behind me, anxiously clutching the hem of my clothes.
She must have just barely finished crying.
Her face, looking up at me with red eyes, was a mess from tears.
But those eyes were clearer than they had ever been before.
Her throat seemed tight; she couldn't keep speaking for a moment and only moved her lips.
Soon, a trembling voice slipped out.
"... Thank you."
"......"
"Really... thank you so, so much."
I scratched the back of my head, feeling a little embarrassed.
"If you're grateful, then toss some firepower behind my post later so it can make it to the featured posts."
I answered jokingly to hide my embarrassment, then hurriedly left the house.
Click.
The front door shut, and silence settled back over the house.
Left alone, Shin Seha quietly looked down at the silver ring on her finger.
The touch of the cold metal felt warm.
She slowly took one step after another toward the window.
Without hesitation, she reached out.
For the first time in several years.
With her own hand, she grasped the thick blackout curtain that had been blocking the light.
Swish.
With the sound of the curtain being drawn aside, dazzling sunlight poured in.
The room that had long been sunk in darkness was instantly filled with light.
Shin Seha narrowed her eyes.
The light stung, since it had been so long, but she didn't look away.
The warmth she'd felt for the first time in years.
Shin Seha closed her eyes and received the light with her whole body.
It felt like waking from a long sleep.