Chapter 640

〈 Chapter 640 〉 Part 2, Chapter 3, Episode 05

“Hey! Albino brat!”

“……”

The white-haired Maiden responded to the taunts of the boys surrounding her with a sneer.

“What, what are you staring at like that!”

“You don’t even have parents!”

“Orphanage kid!”

“…”

The Maiden sighed and got up from the swing. Just to take away the swing they wanted to play on, the boys gathered in a group to pressure her.

“…”

Though she still had time, the Maiden decided to retreat quietly. If she caused trouble unnecessarily, it would hurt someone else rather than herself.

“Woohoo! We drove away the white-haired witch!”

“Hmph, those guys sure are having fun.”

As the Maiden exited the park, she mocked the boys while pulling up her hood. Though shabby and old, this was the only way for her to hide her unusual appearance.

“…”

On her way home from school. The steps of the Maiden walking alone back home were extremely heavy. The strap of her worn-out bag looked like it might fall off any second.

“…”

“What?”

The Maiden frowned at the man blocking her path.

“Blonde? Are you an adopted one?”

“…If you say that again, I’ll make you regret it.”

“Why are you standing here blocking the road with your bleached yellow hair all the way from Busan? Get outta here already.”

The Maiden walked past him irritably. The blonde man stood silently and then disappeared.

“Damn bad luck… huh?”

The Maiden noticed something lying on the ground. The black wallet appeared quite thick, and it seemed to contain a large amount of cash.

“Eek, fifty thousand won…?”

An amount of money the Maiden had never touched before.

“A hundred notebooks’ worth…!”

The moment the Maiden finished calculating with her sharp mind, she tucked the wallet into her bosom. Though she initially thought of turning it into the police station, her harsh circumstances made her reconsider.

“Fifty thousand is a lot of money, isn’t it…?”

“What are you doing, Bung-gu?”

SLAP.

Someone slapped the back of the Maiden’s head. Though startled by the tingling sensation on her nape, the Maiden panicked when a hand reached inside her chest.

“Crazy bastard!”

“You think finding someone else’s wallet means buying a hundred notebooks? That’s ridiculous.”

The black-haired boy held the wallet he snatched from the Maiden in one hand and grabbed her wrist with the other.

“Come with me.”

“What, where are we going?!”

“We need to find the owner.”

Without resistance, the Maiden followed wherever the boy led her. It was the local police station.

“…Why do you always tell me to turn in lost items when you yourself claim them as yours?”

“If it’s a wallet, you’ll end up in jail for theft if you keep causing trouble. Do you want to get scolded by Principal again?”

“…You’re the one who gets scolded every night for coming home late.”

The Maiden smacked the boy’s hand and shouted.

“Bung-gu! You think living life honestly will prevent people from screwing you over?”

“What? It’s not because I’m honest, you idiot.”

The boy hit the Maiden’s forehead with an exasperated look.

“It’s something everyone should naturally do.”

“…”

After submitting the wallet to the police station, the boy and the Maiden left.

A week later. A terrifying rumor spread through the station about a corrupt officer turning into a Monster, but neither the boy nor the Maiden knew anything about it as they fought over the donated pizza bread at the orphanage.

* * *

And someday, late at night.

The now taller Maiden lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. As soon as the sound of the window rattling reached her ears, she sat up and cursed loudly.

“…Bung-gu, what time is it now, crawling in-”

“…”

The boy tumbled onto the floor after climbing through the window. The Maiden felt her heart sink at the sharp smell emanating from him.

“Y-you?!”

“Don’t shout. You’ll wake the younger ones.”

With a weary face, the boy leaned against the wall. His whole body was covered in wounds, but his clothes seemed freshly changed.

“What the hell have you been doing running around looking like this?!”

“…To protect world peace? Heheh.”

The boy chuckled as he stood up. The Maiden supported him as usual and helped him sit on the bed.

“Don’t worry. I’m not doing anything dangerous like you think.”

“What, you haven’t been wandering around fighting Monsters or something? And you didn’t fight with those calling you albino and saying you don’t have parents, right?!”

“…” *sigh*. “Ah, caught me. Our Harang is so smart.”

The boy gently patted the Maiden’s head and smiled faintly. The Maiden clenched her fists on her lap and muttered under her breath.

“It’s not like I care or anything…”

“Taller than me though?”

“You’re just too tall like a stick!”

Though clearly the same age and both elementary students, the boy had grown as tall as a middle school student. Consequently, the Maiden had to look up quite a bit to see him.

“…Don’t wander around late at night. Principal isn’t here. Lately, Monsters have been swarming Seoul. Who knows when one might pop up.”

“Don’t worry. There are Heroes to protect us, right? Like your favorite…Mu-Gong-Hwa Boy.”

“Shut up.”

Embarrassed, the Maiden tried to cover her feelings with curses. The boy kept stroking her head.

“I’m a little tired. Is tomorrow Saturday? You’re lucky, Harang. Your male guardian is coming, right? I heard he’s pretty famous.”

“…Do you want to leave me?”

“…”

The boy stopped stroking her head.

“I do worry. If we go to Seoul from Busan, will you be teased for speaking dialect?”

“That’s not the problem. I’m worried I’ll be alone if my friend leaves.”

“Same goes for you. You don’t have any friends besides me…right?”

The Maiden shoved the boy onto the bed. On the worn-out mattress, the boy sprawled out, and the Maiden climbed on top of him.

“H-Harang?”

“I need to review what I learned in school. You skipped today, right? Let me teach you.”

“R-Review?”

“Health education.”

The Maiden approached the boy with a flushed face. As she drew closer with her red lips trembling, the boy froze completely.

Tch.

The Maiden licked the wound on the boy’s cheek and then screamed with a beet-red face.

“…S-Shut up! Don’t you know licking a wound helps it heal?”

“…Does that really work?”

“Shut up!”

“Is this cursing part of health education?”

The boy shook the Maiden’s lips which she had stuck out. Frowning as her lips were grabbed, the Maiden pressed her face against the boy’s again.

“Do you know how long we’ve known each other?”

“…”

“Do you know what I think?”

“Harang, that’s-”

“Shut up.”

The Maiden grabbed the boy’s face. Silence filled the room for a moment before the Maiden slowly raised her face.

“This is my first time…yours too, right? Consider it sealed.”

“…”What exactly are they teaching at school these days?”

The boy turned his reddened face away. However, the Maiden grabbed his face and forced him to look at her, smiling faintly.

“How are babies born?”

“Wha-what?!…”

“…”I think it’s fine since it’s you.”

“…Harang.”

The boy firmly shook his head. But he couldn’t meet the Maiden’s gaze staring directly down at him.

“Can’t we wait until we’re adults? Isn’t it better that way?”

“Hehe.”

The Maiden smiled and moved closer again.

“Then…isn’t kissing okay between us?”

“…Mixing tongues is not something for kids.”

The night grew deeper.

“Haa, haa. People say once you hit puberty and become a Special Ability user…heehee.”

“Hey. Becoming a Special Ability user just because of this? No way.”

“What will you do when I become a Special Ability user? Not during adulthood but high school?”

“Ugh…why are you so forward?”

“What? You’re the one being forward. Haha.”

The boy flicked the Maiden’s forehead with his pale fingers. For once, the Maiden accepted it without complaint.

“Hehehe. I know everything~”

“Sigh. Then what name should we use?”

“…”

The Maiden stared at her own reflection in the boy’s eyes for a while before muttering shyly.

“<Snow White Princess>.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Why! Consider it an honor that I included your surname in my codename!”

“How will we explain it to others?”

“…Just say I was deeply moved by reading <Snow White>!”

The Maiden shrieked and covered the boy’s mouth. After some time passed, the Maiden and the boy resumed their conversation.

“Still, isn’t it embarrassing? Should we change it a bit?”

“Hmm…”

The boy smiled faintly and pulled the Maiden into an embrace.

“<Flower Snow Princess>.”

“…That’s even more embarrassing. Hey, are you asleep? Sleeping?”

“…”

The boy fell asleep while embracing the Maiden. The Maiden caressed his sleeping face and laid him down beside her.

“How will I wait eight years until adulthood…?”

Facing the boy, the Maiden fell asleep atop him.

The next morning.

The Maiden, suffering from a fever, was rushed to the hospital and identified as an S Rank Hero.

The youngest S Rank Hero in the world.

<Flower Snow Princess> Seok Harang.

When she returned to the orphanage under the guidance of her mentor <Light Blade>, the orphanage had already been destroyed by someone’s attack.

Her first love had gone missing.

* * *

“Do you know what the easiest heroine to conquer in the world is? It’s the heroine whose conquest ends before the game even begins.”

For example, a girl saved from a traffic accident before the main story starts.

Or a heroine who falls in love at first sight upon seeing the protagonist.

Or a heroine who has known the protagonist since childhood.

Each heroine has unique traits and settings, and Seok Harang’s position is akin to the “<Turns Out They Knew Each Other Since Childhood>” trope.

The first love from the orphanage.

The Special Ability user who trained to avenge the boy attacked by enemies.

The righteous Hero who resolved to strive for world peace carrying the boy’s spirit.

And the pure maiden who, even at the age of 26, still cherishes her first love deep within her heart.

“The moment it’s revealed they’re childhood friends, the game is already over.”

After Light Blade’s death, the method to calm Seok Harang’s rampage was revealing that the protagonist was her childhood friend, Baek Cheonghwa.

Seok Harang, who clung to her mentor after his death and was corrupted by Rusalka’s power, met her long-lost first love in the place where 3 million citizens of Busan were massacred.

It was truly the worst reunion possible. If the player doesn’t follow Seok Harang’s route in the first run, she lets go of her self-awareness and surrenders her Spirit’s power due to overwhelming guilt.

Naturally, from the second run onward, efforts focus entirely on saving Seok Harang. During this process, it becomes apparent that she subtly investigates around the protagonist.

Cyan. Blue ‘Cheong’.

White. White ‘Baek’.

Hibiscus. Mu-Gong-‘Hwa’.

Approaching the man who shares connections with her first love’s name, is the same age as her, and exhibits similar personality traits with suspicion.

“Which I bypassed entirely by outing myself as Baek Cheonghwa.”

I openly declared myself as Baek Cheonghwa.

And in a one-on-one meeting, I mentioned anecdotes from Seok Harang’s route that only the protagonist would know.

“A post-first-run attribute unlock.”

To reiterate,

“Elementals fall in love quickly.”

Seok Harang had been in love with the protagonist fifteen years before the game even began.

* * *

Chuup.

After a long period of time, the arduous task of blending the snow meat came to an end. We embraced each other in the same position as when we were children (in setting).

“Pervert. You still remember that kiss from when we were twelve?”

“How could I forget my first kiss?”

(Given the setting) It was a blueberry-flavored kiss, so it’s understandable that it wouldn’t be forgotten.

“Same here. Heehee.”

Prolonged kissing can feel unpleasant due to saliva odor.

However, since the scent and taste of our saliva and breath resembled custard cream cheese and blueberries, we were able to kiss for quite a while.

“Where have you been all this time? No, why are you the Commander…?”

“Who do you think taught you about your Special Abilities?”

Seok Harang fell silent. Her already pale skin grew even paler.

“Because of me…?”

“That’s right. But Harang.”

I held her waist and stood up. Despite being an SS Rank Special Ability user, she obediently lay down on the bed as I guided her.

“Aren’t we adults now?”

“Uh-huh.”

Seok Harang’s face turned bright red. I mimicked her earlier action by leaning close and whispering softly.

“It’s been over eight years, plus a few more…shall we continue what we started back then?”

“…”

Harang covered her face with her hands. And almost imperceptibly—

She nodded slightly.