Chapter 26 Part 1: Jin

“Did you have fun today?”

Amy asked as I was lying on the bed, holding the hat she had given me in my arms.

“Yes…”

I answered, covering my face with the hat.

It was a truly happy time.

Delicious food, heartfelt congratulations.

And the gift I wanted.

“It was really good!”

I twisted my body here and there while lying down.

My legs were flapping, and my long hair was gently wrapped around my neck.

“What about Shine?”

“I had fun, too.”

There was a smile in Shine’s voice.

She seemed to be in a good mood, just like me.

I looked at the large teddy bear sitting next to the bed.

It was a gift from Victor, who seemed to be bothered by everything and seemed indifferent.

The large teddy bear was looking down at me with a soft expression.

I reached out and rubbed the soles of the teddy bear’s feet.

The soft, squishy feel of the teddy bear.

A smile could not be hidden on my face as it tangled around my fingers.

“Birthdays are important.”

In a quiet room, with only the sound of the blanket rustling, Shine muttered quietly.

The usual routine was repeated.

Studying and eating with Amy.

At the gym, after finishing my ability control training with Victor, I run around with Shine.

A blue light sparkled from my fingertips.

Now, I’m used to it.

The current moves freely like my hands and feet, drawing pictures in the air.

Clap, clap, clap!

“Jeff! That’s great!”

Shine, who was sitting on a chair far away and waiting for my training to end, clapped her hands and said.

I immediately lowered my face.

My cheeks flushed red, my ears burning.

Suddenly, I felt that the gym was hot.

After training, I sat down and drank some cool water.

The cool water flowing down my neck cooled down my body temperature.

As I was catching my breath, Shine, who was far away, came over and wiped the sweat running down my cheek.

“Can I take off my bracelet now?”

Amy, who was sitting on the chair, said to Victor.

He raised his hand and fiddled with his glasses.

“Um…”

The folder in his hand.

His other hand lifted a pen and began to write something.

“At this age, this level of control is definitely amazing.”

“Then you can take them off.”

“But, they’re too emotional. Their control fluctuates greatly depending on their emotions.”

“But…”

“Amy. They won’t go outside anyway. They won’t be exposed to danger.”

“That’s true, but…”

“If you really want to take them off, you have to go to Jin and get permission.”

“What? You want me to show them to him? Are you crazy?”

“Then there’s nothing I can do.”

Victor closed his mouth with those words.

As if he couldn’t solve it on his own, he looked away, took off his glasses, and cleaned up his desk.

Amy looked at us with a deep sigh.

It seemed like there were things she couldn’t do with her strength.

“Sorry, guys. I don’t think I can take the bracelets off right now.”

I raised my arms at Amy’s words.

Now, I had a light-feeling accessory that didn’t feel like handcuffs.

The thin white bracelets went well with my slender arms.

But it was okay.

It wasn’t inconvenient even if I didn’t take them off right away.

As Victor said, there were no dangerous factors here that would require me to use my powers.

As long as I didn’t go outside.

“Amy.”

“Huh?”

“Who is Jin?”

“Our leader.”

“Leader?”

Amy closed her mouth after that.

It seemed like she didn’t want to talk about that [Jin] anymore.

“Jeff.”

“Huh?”

“Do you want to know about Jin?”

I closed my mouth at Shine’s words.

Sometimes, she would say things like this that would embarrass me.

“Does Shine know?”

“No.”

I slowly shook my head.

Her eyes were gleaming dangerously.

“It’s okay, Shine.”

I got up from where I was sitting, I pushed the witch’s hat that I had taken off due to training onto my head.

“Does Jeff like it that much?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded at Shine’s question.

The first day I received a gift from Amy, she and I walked around wearing our hats side by side.

However, Shine quickly got tired of it, so she put her hat on the head of the big teddy bear that Victor had given me.

I really liked this hat.

There was a symbolic feeling of it being a first birthday present, but the design that hit my taste and the cozy fit made it impossible for me to take the hat off.

I regained some energy and jumped down from the chair.

“Amy.”

“Huh? You’re going back already?”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

When I turn my head to look at Shine, she seems to be thinking the same thing as I am.

Today’s training started quite late.

Victor and Amy’s argument was the main cause.

We were able to play ball until we were tired of waiting for them.

Now, I want to do something else.

Amy and I leave the gym.

As I walk down the long hallway, I remember something I had forgotten.

“Ah….”

A memory suddenly came to mind.

It was definitely something important, but why did I forget it?

I hurriedly run.

“Jeff?”

I hear Shine’s voice behind me.

But that wasn’t important right now.

I run down the hallway, moving my short legs hard.

The small sound of footsteps echoes repeatedly.

Shine’s footsteps, following closely behind, and Amy’s footsteps overlap hers.

I run with all my might.

I pull my fluttering hat down tightly and reach a wide shelter.

“Shelter?”

I hear Amy’s voice behind me.

But this wasn’t my destination.

I searched my memory and ran deeper.

I arrived at a PC room with several computers, catching my breath.

“What, you wanted to do a computer?”

I sat down without paying attention to Amy’s curious question.

The design of the chair, which was designed for adults, seemed too big for me.

I adjusted the height of the chair and turned on the computer.

“Jeff?”

“Ugh…”

“This isn’t fun.”

“Just wait a minute, Shine.”

It’s really, really important.

I reached out and placed my hand on the mouse.

However, right after that, I couldn’t help but stop moving.

That’s because I felt Amy’s gaze looking at me from behind.

The memories that came to my mind were jumbled and tangled.

I couldn’t show Amy the contents of the cloud chat I was trying to check just in case.

To her, I was a little girl who had been locked in a laboratory my whole life.

The brightly lit screen.

The mouse cursor on it moved around erratically.

What am I doing?

I slowly moved my gaze.

My eyes, which had been looking at the screen, turned to Shine’s face.

She was looking at me with a dissatisfied expression.

“Jeff.”

I swallowed hard.

“Ugh…”

“I don’t find this fun.”

“You two came here when I wasn’t here?”

Amy said, pulling out the chair next to her and sitting down.

She looked at me with her arms crossed.

Amy seemed curious about what I would do with my computer.

“Amy, is this fun?”

“You can do fun things.”

“What Jeff did wasn’t fun.”

“Should we see what Jeff does?”

Their eyes turned to me.

In this short moment, I started to have a lot of thoughts.

The heat from my head was not escaping because of the witch’s hat I was wearing.

I didn’t think long.

There was a clicking sound.

The mouse moved quickly and connected to YouTube.

I immediately searched for [The Little Witch’s Great Adventure].

Videos popped up under the search bar.

Among them, I clicked on the highlight compilation with the most views.

“You came here to watch this?”

“Yes…I suddenly wanted to watch it.”

Fortunately, I avoided suspicion.

I sighed in relief and looked at Amy.

She stroked my cheek with a small smile.

The hand behind my ear gently untangled my hair.

I flinch at the ticklish touch.

“I think I should put a computer in my room too.”

“Really?”

I smiled at Amy’s words and took her hand.

She added with a subtle smile, “But only if Jeff gets a perfect score on the essay test he’s taking today.”

“Ah…”

The hand that was holding Amy’s hand sagged weakly.

The math problems that I was always confident about.

When I think of that huge wall that now feels so unfamiliar, my body loses its strength.

As I let my hand sag weakly, the computer screen starts flashing.

A familiar song starts to play after the commercial ends.

My eyes move on their own and are fixed on the screen.

I can no longer hear Amy’s words next to me.

I hold my pounding heart and pull my hat down tightly.

The sight of [Lucy] flying through the sky with the brilliant stars twinkling is so dazzling.

“Shine. Has Jeff done this before?”

“Yes. But he did something different this time.”

“What?”

“Something boring.”

I can’t hear the two of them talking.

I am absorbed in the video without thinking.

The well-made video, with its advanced editing skills, makes even ordinary scenes feel magnificent.

The song that bursts out during the highlight part made my body shake.

“Is Jeff that fun?”

“Yes!”

I nod vigorously.

The video was rushing toward the end.

This is really great.

The heart-pounding video didn’t end there.

The owner of the channel that uploaded the video seemed to really like [The Little Witch’s Great Adventure], so he uploaded various mad movies.

I moved the mouse and played each video one by one.

“Jeff I’m not having fun.”

Shine’s voice whined next to me.

She grabbed my arm and shook it here and there.

“Ugh…. Wait a minute. I’ll just watch this.”

The noise in my head grew louder.

But I didn’t care.

This was more important right now.

While I was watching the video, the noise in my head changed into a high-pitched beep.

My eyes turned white and my body lost its balance.

My body fell over with a peek.

My mouth gaped open blankly, spitting out words I didn’t understand.

“This…”

When I came to my senses, I was face-first into the keyboard.

Shine was the same.

Shine, who had been stuck next to me, collapsed on top of me, unable to keep her body still.

Shine’s soft body sagged and tangled with mine.

“Guys!?”

Amy’s voice shouted urgently.

But I had no strength left to answer.

I moved my weak hands and grabbed the mouse.

I took in the cursor moving on the screen.

In my blurry vision, the cursor, which had been moving diligently, stopped at the “Like” button on the video.

Click-

I successfully pressed the “Like” button.

A small smile appeared on my lips.

I felt Amy’s hand through my fading consciousness.

Amy started to run hurriedly, holding Shine and me in her arms.