How to Get on the Main Character’s Flower Path

 

Strangely enough, when the corruption of the director was revealed, the government seemed to be considering whether to maintain the project being carried out there.

 

They were only interested in the success of the project, not the welfare of mixed-race orphans, and as a result, subsidies were drastically reduced.

 

And…

 

“Gate expansion?”

 

To make matters worse, there was news that monster gates would appear near this village.

 

Fox asked.

 

“You know, why are we the only ones who know this?”

 

“Not sure.”

 

I sighed.

 

We leaned side by side against the director’s office door. Inside, the teacher was talking to someone on the phone and speaking in a harsh voice.

 

“Pardon? Can’t move? What do you mean a lack of budget!”

 

On rare occasions when the teacher got spirited, she fought fiercely with the person on the other end of the phone.

 

“What do you mean the project is scheduled to be discontinued! You must be responsible until the end! What, just worry about Nahyun? Are you out of your mind?”

 

I poked Fox’s cheek, looking at the distant mountains. He pursed his lips and slapped my arm with his tail. Then he asked me.

 

“Do you have money?”

 

“Do I?”

 

“But it seems like you also know a famous hunter.”

 

“Mmhm. So, I’m going to try to say something there.”

 

I was planning to tell Choi Garam, who still hadn’t come to me, to give me some money if she wasn’t going to come.

 

“If I just bother her, she’ll give me anything. She has a lot of money, but she’s a busy person.”

 

Then the kids will all be able to move to another place.

 

“If we have money, can we buy a citizenship card?”

 

He shook his head at my words.

 

“You can’t buy a citizenship card. If you get caught, you’ll be kicked out. You should be granted citizenship.”

 

Then he muttered.

 

“Even though I was holding out here to get citizenship.”

 

“Then, even if you have money, the only places you can move are ultimately… illegal settlements.”

 

“I guess so.”

 

“Isn’t there a way to somehow obtain citizenship?”

 

“Pay bribes to high-ranking people and make deals?”

 

“Ah, so that’s impossible. Alright.”

 

We leaned against the door and listened to the phone call, and when it was about to end, we returned to the bedroom together. Fox seemed to have complicated feelings again.

 

I asked him.

 

“Are you leaving?”

 

He answered.

 

“No. It’s gotten better here.”

 

“I see. So am I.”

 

And then silence continued. It was a long night.

 

Next day. I knocked on the door of the director’s office.

 

“Teacher, I’m going in.”

 

“It’s Nahyun! Come in!”

 

I opened the door and went in. The director’s office was a bit empty compared to before.

 

The teacher quickly hid some papers with her body.

 

As soon as I entered the director’s office, I spoke.

 

“Teacher. You don’t have money for the orphanage, do you?”

 

“W-Where did you hear that!”

 

“I knew it just by intuition.”

 

The teacher started talking gibberish at my words.

 

“No, no! The government here provides support, and there are people who donate…”

 

I quietly kept my mouth shut. As I did so, the teacher seemed to understand me and said with a smile.

 

“That’s why, hmm? Money? Don’t worry about that.”

 

I pushed the protruding poster, although she had hidden it with her body earlier, with my hand and put it behind her back.

 

“Teacher, I will do something.”

 

Regardless of what the teacher said, I was shocked to see the letters on the poster I had just seen.

 

<Long-term Trading>

 

Is she crazy?

 

Is she crazy??

 

Is she crazy???

 

I spoke urgently.

 

“If I tell someone we know, I might be able to get some money.”

 

“…Are you talking about that person named Choi Garam?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“That person is just someone you know, she’s not a donor to the orphanage. and… More than anything, she’s the one who left you here.”

 

The teacher shook her head, and it felt like my insides were going to explode

 

Since I’m here, the chances of Choi Garam donating to the orphanage will also increase!

 

She neglected me, that’s right, I can’t accept it either, but isn’t it time to separate the hot from the cold? Why can’t you think of using me like this?

 

The moment I was about to say something, the teacher opened her mouth.

 

“Nahyun.”

 

Teacher was looking at me with those kind brown eyes. I paused. She smiled softly at me.

 

“I received a call from someone named Choi Garam who claims to be your guardian. I will let her meet you if you want. But if you don’t want to, I will do whatever it takes to prevent you from meeting her.”

 

It was a firm yet friendly smile.

 

“Even if she were to pay me to let herself meet you, I wouldn’t do it.”

 

Only then did I understand why she said that.

 

“Teachers are adults. I have the ability to resolve this situation without that person’s power.”

 

She wants to protect me. So that I don’t feel pressured. Not by money or other conditions to meet Choi Garam.

 

“That’s why, Teacher wants Nahyun to do whatever she wants.”

 

Sharp words rose up to my throat at the bluff.

 

You don’t have the ability to do that. You’re bluffing.

 

Then, it subsided.

 

And those sharp words melt away in the warmth spreading somewhere in my chest.

 

In the end, I couldn’t say anything, only barely opening and closing my mouth.

 

“Does Nahyun want to meet that person?”

 

No. In fact, I don’t even want to see the person who left me in a place like this.

 

Only when I came here did I realize that I was lonely.

 

I hate that person who made me feel lonely. But I liked her.

 

Complex emotions are tangled like threads. I don’t want to see her until I sort out these feelings.

 

“Yes.”

 

But I wasn’t young enough to show only my feelings,

 

Because I didn’t want to see the teacher cutting herself (not literally) or the children hurt and suffering,

 

“I want to meet her.”

 

I decided to meet Choi Garam.

 

***

 

After I told the hunters that I knew Choi Garam, I don’t know how it was relayed to the higher-ups, but security personnel were suddenly deployed around the orphanage.

 

In fact, it was almost a matter of luck that no major accident occurred to the children in the absence of any security personnel.

 

Or maybe it was because of the director who had colluded with a group of knuckleheads living in the orphanage’s illegal residence.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

I walked through the village, guided by the people who came to pick me up.

 

The hunters were only able to move quickly after going outside the village.

 

It was my first time walking through the village, so I just looked around.

 

This world was in a novel I was reading, yet I couldn’t directly encounter any of the elements from the original story, other than the tower and the gate.

 

As I absentmindedly played with my feet, I wondered if the illegal settlement had any elements from the original novel.

 

In illegal settlements… ‘Black Libra’ and ‘Gemini’ appeared.

 

Black Libra is a systematic being with the principle that if you give something, you will receive something of similar value.

 

I remember the scene where the main character of the novel goes to the illegal settlement and makes a deal with a black scale.

 

There was a lot of foreshadowing around that incident, so I remember reading it over and over again.

 

I also vividly remembered the description of the pattern engraved on the place where the Black Libra lives. There is clearly a scale in the circle…

 

Right. I think the main character entered with a pattern that looked exactly like that?

 

“Huh?”

 

I stopped when I saw the pattern engraved on the wall.

 

The strange shape, which geometrically engraved a scale inside a large circle, was exactly as described in the novel.

 

Why is this here?

 

Isn’t it graffiti?

 

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 

Could it be that this is really one of the places where you can meet Black Libra? I was confused.

 

“Why?”

 

When I stopped walking, the hunter I was walking with asked. I asked him a question to confirm.

 

“That… Since when has that pattern been around?”

 

“Hm? N-Not sure. Since when has something like that existed?”

 

The hunter seemed confused by my question.

 

“Can I touch it?”

 

“Sure.”

 

I walked in front of the black scale symbol and slowly placed my hand on the symbol. Then, an icy cold energy enveloped my entire body, starting from my fingertips.

 

…This is real.

 

I felt the corners of my lips rise.

 

“What’s the matter? Your body is trembling?”

 

“N-Nothing.”

 

I shook my head and racked my brain again, pretending to be calm.

 

Suddenly, a thought passed through my mind like a thunderbolt.

 

[Isn’t there a way to somehow obtain citizenship?]

[Pay bribes to high-ranking people and make deals?]

 

If it’s the Black Libra, maybe…

 

…This should be put on hold for now.

 

I pretended like nothing was wrong and ran forward, passing the hunter.

 

***

 

“You were busy, right? Seeing that you’ve just arrived now.”

 

Choi Garam lowered her head as if she had no honor hearing what I said.

 

I thought about blaming her, but stopped. Even this is a waste of time.

 

“Let’s put everything aside, there’s something I want to ask you.”

 

I decided to ask the questions I was curious about one by one.

 

“Before, I saw a filter made by Mom at the orphanage. The one made this during an experiment before.”

 

“Prototype?”

 

“Yes. Why was it in the illegal settlements?”

 

Choi Garam thought carefully about what I said, and then she answered slowly.

 

“Ahyeon probably spread it. At that time, actual data from the general public was needed, and illegal settlements are places where conflicts between the general public and monsters often occur.”

 

Our Mom, she really went out of her way to do anything.

 

“I see Mom really didn’t care about anything at all.”

 

Even if an ordinary person who knew nothing got seriously hurt while using an unstable prototype, it didn’t matter.

 

Thanks to this, I survived, but there was no particular inspiration. I realized that my affection for Momhad cooled to an alarming degree.

 

Maybe, it had been like that since that day when she smiled and said she was glad the gate was open.

 

I said weakly.

 

“I know it was Mom’s dream to fully develop and commercialize that filter. But…”

 

When it comes to GAH filters, I’m sick of it.

 

“I don’t want to see that filter being proudly introduced anymore.”

 

“…”

 

Choi Garam was silent as she put on her hat. There were times when she looked cool wearing that wide-brimmed hat.

 

I continued calmly.

 

“Then next question. I also ask you a favor. Can you grant citizenship to the children and teachers at our orphanage?”

 

To those words, Choi Garam responded immediately.

 

“It’s impossible.”

 

Granting citizenship is impossible.

 

“If it’s just one or two people, I can guarantee it will be possible. But it’s difficult to give citizenship to so many children.”

 

I felt a cold chill in my chest. It was a feeling of hope being extinguished.

 

Choi Garam looked at me and spoke carefully.

 

“Nahyun. Come with me.”

 

“…”

 

“As you know… I’m busy so I won’t be able to take good care of you. Still, I will let you live in a better place than your current environment.”

 

I smiled brightly.

 

Choi Garams face relaxed slightly at my smiling expression.

 

“Aunt. If I come with you… I will be lonely. So I don’t want to.”

 

And then it hardened again.