Chapter 12

Cough, cough.

“Did you catch a cold? It’s summer, you know?”

“Yeah.”

I caught a summer cold that even dogs wouldn’t get. And it happened on the day of the health check-up.

It was caused by staying too long in the air conditioning at the job experience fair.

“To think my immune system is so weak that I get sick from this little temperature difference…”

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot; I finally surpassed 120 cm! What about Name?”

“105.3 cm? Wow, you’ve grown a bit.”

If it’s about 2 cm taller in just two months, there shouldn’t be any problem with growth.

“Actually, Arin, aren’t you a bit too tall?”

“Well, I’m still small compared to the rest of the class…”

Have kids these days grown that much in average height? Even dogs and cows are often over 120 cm and 130 cm.

I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself, having to look up to these little kids all the time.

“Name, your weight is too low. You need to eat three good meals a day, okay?”

I hope the health teacher understands that gaining 1 kg is a struggle.

Without potions, I can’t eat properly. Moreover, this healing mana potion isn’t covered by insurance, so it costs a ridiculous amount.

Suddenly thinking about the potion made my height and weight feel trivial.

The cost of this potion isn’t all covered by the orphanage.

Detective Ma Beom-il paid 3 million won in advance out of his own pocket, which is why I’ve been able to take it until now.

Unknowingly, Name has been finishing three potions every day.

“I’m scared of the blood draw. Can you hold my hand?”

“I’m already holding it.”

“Don’t let go!”

It doesn’t even look like it hurts. Modern medical technology is amazing. Kids’ whimpering has been the same both then and now.

The children were returning to the classroom one by one, pressing their other arms to stop the bleeding.

After a while, Teacher Ha Seon-hwa skimmed through the list and called on several students.

“The students I just called need to do the test again because it didn’t go well, so when the bell rings for break, just go to the assembly hall.”

The kids who were called started murmuring. Could it be that they have to draw blood again? Worries kicked in already.

“And Name, I think you need to go to the hospital with the teacher now. I’ll buy lunch on the way, so let’s eat in the car today, okay?”

“Teacher, is Name sick?”

“No, Name just needs a slightly more detailed examination at a bigger hospital. You can be brave and go home alone today, right, Arin?”

“Yeah…”

And unexpectedly, Name ended up scheduling a date with Teacher Ha Seon-hwa.

“Name, let’s get your backpack and head downstairs.”

No matter how small Name’s body is, I had no intention of taking away the car seat used by Seon-hwa’s daughter, presumed to be 20 months old.

At Name’s mental age, that would be too much to allow.

She simply settled into the passenger seat and buckled up correctly.

“Do you like bacon sandwiches?”

She took a bite of the sandwich she handed over.

“Does Name have any pain right now? You need to explain it well to the doctor when we go to the hospital. If it’s hard to talk, can you at least tell the teacher now?”

Coughing from the cold causes my lungs to feel sore, right?

Name didn’t think it was much of an ailment, so she made an X with her fingers.

“What I’m saying because you act so mature, you know? I really appreciate your help with Arin adapting well to school.”

The common topic between Name and Seon-hwa was indeed about Arin.

Especially since she had a personality that couldn’t stand silence, it was only natural that Arin would be mentioned.

“You might not know, but Arin wasn’t this talkative from the start. She gets lonely easily, and the teacher tried to have group activities to help her make friends, but it didn’t work out well in the end.

Originally, students weren’t supposed to just drop into the teacher’s office, but I feel bad for Arin, so I couldn’t say anything when she kept visiting.”

“Is it because of her background?”

“Yeah. I just hope the kids in our class don’t want to discriminate against you.

Last year, something bad happened at our school.

Because of that incident, everyone has been avoiding you all. It’s unfortunate that you all are suffering from something you’re not involved in, isn’t it?”

Moreover, since the parents were the ones promoting this atmosphere, it was even harder to control, she added.

The kids at Merlin Orphanage combined from elementary, middle, and high school were about 30 in total.

They weren’t located in the city center, and since they were positioned at the outskirts, they all enrolled in the closest Arabel Foundation’s school.

But since there were kids disrupting the study atmosphere, the rumors of school violence occurring again and recently even ties to crime cartels arose, they became the top targets of avoidance.

Seon-hwa felt very sorry about this situation. The fact that innocent kids were bullied due to such prejudice.

And on the other hand, she worried whether these kids who had gone astray would end up harming others as well.

She couldn’t decide whose side to take during those times.

The children at Merlin Orphanage all carried deep wounds in their hearts.

Abandoned by their parents at birth, too busy because of work, or severing ties with their parents…

It was impossible for just two or three people to heal all of their wounds.

That’s why they always hoped to be adopted.

They endlessly waited for those who would need them.

But as the years passed, they realized there was an appropriate age for adoption and grew despondent.

Eventually, they gradually understood that they could only rely on friends from the orphanage and that there were no guardians to correct their straying.

After that, the conversation stopped for a while.

“We’re here for a detailed examination from Arabel Elementary School.”

“Yes, please sign here, guardian. There’s no reception process, so you can just sit back and wait.”

“Do you know how long it will take?”

“Well… it will probably take about 20 to 30 minutes. Shall our friend go with that nurse over there?”

With that, Name was led away by the nurse.

The series of procedures were conducted just like before at the hospital.

A machine emitting subtle mana waves was circling around Name’s body, and eventually, the time to talk to the doctor arrived.

To Name’s view, the doctor was quite a young man, but perhaps due to high astigmatism, his thick glasses made him squint, which appeared somewhat comical.

Of course, this conversation dealt with Teacher Ha Seon-hwa accompanying as the guardian.

The first to speak was Seon-hwa.

“Is the condition very serious?”

“I’m not sure how to explain this… First, the diagnosis is Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy.

It is a hereditary disease, but in this case, it’s presumed to be an acquired mutation caused by prolonged high exposure to mana.”

“Muscular dystrophy means the muscles contract…?”

“It could eventually progress to muscle atrophy.

Initially, it tends to progress gradually as you can see and is often undetected until adulthood. Should I say it’s fortunate that it was discovered at a young age…

However, you should consider that Name will likely never be able to engage in physical activities for the rest of her life.”

Like most genetic diseases, there is still no fully curable medication developed, he added.

The doctor prescribed medication to alleviate symptoms and nutritional supplements, and also increased the dosage of the mana potion Name was currently taking by three times.

To survive, she desperately took the potions, which resulted in hastening the consequences for her lifespan.

“There’s no comparison to this absurdity.”

“Don’t you think it’s hard for the child to drink so much potion daily when they can hardly manage to drink 3 liters of water…?”

“That’s the best option available for now.”

* * *

Round and round, money becomes an issue once again.

For such a small body, it eats money like crazy.

Who knows, I might get kicked out of the orphanage. As far as I know, Merlin Orphanage has reached its operational limits as well.

Should I be thankful to have my functions intact… Regardless, the financial problems ahead seem to loom larger than health.

Do I pay now and preserve my body, or do I save money and risk full-body paralysis?

The balance doesn’t add up. Without a doubt, it’s the former.

Chatty Teacher Ha didn’t say a word until we were dropped off near the orphanage.

I suppose she needs some time to think herself.

There’s no way they teach in teacher’s college how to comfort a student with an incurable disease.

I didn’t go directly into the orphanage and wandered around the nearby alley.

Maybe it’s because I’m in a girl’s body, or perhaps it’s my nature, but sometimes emotions could wash over me.

When I get inside, Arin would rush in like a retriever to comfort me, but right now, it felt nice to be alone.

In novels from the early 2000s, the main characters woke up as adults after they died, but I don’t understand why I always have to start from the beginning.

If I were an adult, I could use my knowledge from my past life to tutor the little kids, but I’m just a child who barely surpassed 1 meter.

At least until I don’t look like a child…

[Guild PC Room]

[Twish, VTubing, and the best resolution streaming software provided free]

“Shall we play for a bit before heading back?”

“It’s 3,000 won per hour here.”

“Members pay 2,500 won.”

“Still too expensive.”

“I’ll cover it today. There’s hardly anywhere else to play around here anyway.”

I overheard two male students who looked like friends talking.

Right, why didn’t I think of that?

If I don’t have an appropriate body, I could just make do with virtual reality.

There were even people who would play games with personal cameras attached when they were trapped in the capsules.

They all chatted non-stop. I didn’t have to be like that.

The dimly lit PC (Personal Capsule) room I stumbled into was overall dark.

The owner was nowhere to be seen. Is it an unmanned operating system?

According to the students, the prices were slightly higher than those I knew of in the previous world.

But this was the only PC room on my route to and from school. This was due to the ambiguous child protection zone designation.

Right, I thought about how I felt it was a waste to spend time at school.

Sleeping in a capsule with cleaning magic at night and sleeping at school during the day.

What a perfect plan.

At any rate, it was tiresome to deal with the annoyances from kids at Merlin Orphanage who sometimes picked fights.

The total amount of pocket money I received this month was only 5,000 won. I paid for 1 hour and 30 minutes and entered the capsule.

The familiar and cozy feeling wrapped around me…

It was truly disgusting.

[Muon SⅡ Service Terms of Use]

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[Skipping avatar creation.]

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[Scan completed.]

[Connecting to Void Space. Duplicate data conflict.]

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[User Name: Welcome, No Name.]

“Eventually, I’ve returned. But now, Mom is gone.”

Six partitions of walls were set up in the empty space, transforming it into a single room.

It was a familiar space I knew.

White wallpaper, a bed, a table, and a chair, one of each. But there was no trace of Seol-a anywhere.

“I wish we could play games together; I wonder if Mom hates games?”

Leaning against the bed she once lay on.

“I made a friend named Arin. She’s nicer than I expected.”

I thought I would be living alone in this life too, but I’m always receiving more love than I deserve.

“They say I’m very sick. Mom would have worried so much if she knew?”

Even in the game, she would block attacks and take hits for me every time.

“How funny. I was supposed to take the role of dying in place of Mom.”

What would happen if Mom died instead of me?

Really…

That would make the game strange…

We always played an unwinnable game, but I feel like this lifetime was the happiest time I ever had.