“Uu…”

My head still hurt from Evelyn’s hit.

While rubbing my head, I pondered how to close the portal that had opened to this world.

For years the portal had only spat out monsters, but this time it spat out me, a person.

Someone must have desperately wished for help, causing the portal to open before me.

Who could have wished for my help?

I decided to find out one person at a time.

“Excuse me…”

I tugged on the sleeve of the soldier next to me.

Their black uniform and gun carried an inexplicable authority.

“…?”

“Do you have anything you desperately wish for…?”

At my question, they looked at Evelyn.

Evelyn was talking to Gaeul, surrounded by many researchers.

“How can you move through space? The whole lab has restrictions…”

“Maybe it’s dimensional travel rather than spatial movement?”

“Could you show us one more time?”

The researchers were interested in Gaeul’s movement ability.

Receiving their attention, Gaeul wore a blank expression.

She looked cute with her round eyes and slightly stuck-out tongue.

“Um, Evelyn?”

“Yes?”

“MS… Gyeoul is trying to talk…”

The soldier asked Evelyn if they could talk to me.

Apparently, there was a rule against contacting beings from the portal without permission.

“You can talk.”

“Thank you.”

With Evelyn’s permission, the soldier turned back to me.

After thinking seriously for a moment, they slowly spoke:

“…I don’t particularly wish for anything. I’m satisfied with my current life.”

“So there’s nothing at all?”

“Hmm… well… if I had to say something, my shoulders are stiff?”

“Ah, then I’ll pat them for you.”

I grabbed a chair and moved behind the soldier.

I climbed on the chair and started patting their shoulders.

Pat pat-

People turned to look at the gentle sound.

Even Gaeul, who had been spacing out, ran over to me.

“Shuin hitty?”

“No, this isn’t hitting – it’s a massage. Patting like this makes it feel better.”

“Uing…?”

Was there something wrong with what I said?

Gaeul looked down at her hands with a confused expression.

Glancing between me and her hands, Gaeul clenched her fists.

Then she started attacking the soldier.

“Yak!”

Thump thump-

Gaeul threw clumsy punches.

She randomly attacked their stomach, sides, and thighs.

“Gaeul, that’s not right – you need to pat the tense muscles.”

“Nyeng?”

“Yes. Massage is different from hitting.”

“Heuk…?”

Gaeul tilted her head.

She didn’t seem to understand the difference between massage and punching.

“Gaeul, I’ll do the massage – could you go home and bring some dandelions and honey?”

“Nyeng!”

Gaeul smiled brightly and ran to the corner.

As Gaeul pulled the cloth over her head, the researchers’ attention focused on her.

“Oh…”

“She’s doing it.”

They reacted like watching a magic show.

One researcher even pulled out a camera.

As researchers who dealt with anomalies, they seemed to have strong curiosity about the unknown.

‘Well then…’

I thought while patting the soldier’s shoulders.

Helping everyone like this would be endless.

The facility was huge, with many permanent staff.

‘I should change my approach.’

Pat pat-

While continuing to pat their shoulders, I looked at Evelyn.

She was tapping her tablet while watching where Gaeul had disappeared.

“Evelyn.”

“Yes?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“…What kind of favor?”

“I need to ask everyone in the lab. Without missing anyone.”

If they had something they desperately wished for.

If I could just confirm that, maybe I could eliminate the portal troubling this world.

—

Ariel was preparing to move to another lab.

The child called Gyeoul who came through the portal was so docile that expendable staff weren’t needed.

“Haah…”

Letting out a long sigh, Ariel looked up at the sky.

Though her eyes were covered during transport, she still looked up.

‘I thought I was going to die this time.’

Thanks to that child Gyeoul, she could live a few more days.

Ariel felt grateful she could see such a cute and lovable child before dying.

‘But this is really the end now.’

Ariel was being urgently transferred to Laboratory 27.

The place with the MS that fused with test subjects and turned them into monsters.

She’d heard she would be used in destruction experiments on that MS.

‘They plant bombs in organs and then fuse them…’

How could they think of such horrible things?

Even though I…

“Haah…”

Ariel let out another long sigh at her criminal record she couldn’t even remember.

“Ariel, we’re moving.”

“Yes…”

I wonder what will happen to Gyeoul.

Her head and ears were so soft.

As Ariel thought about Gyeoul while moving, someone stopped her as she was boarding the transport vehicle.

“Ariel.”

“Yes?”

“This operation is canceled entirely. Please wait here for now.”

“C-canceled…?”

“Yes. The child who came through asked to see everyone.”

The child who came through.

It was Gyeoul.

That child had once again extended her life by several days.

Ariel felt like crying from happiness.

Gaeul returned home and came back with dandelions and honey tea.

She brought Levinas and Saebyeok too, with blankets covering their heads.

Perhaps dimensional travel was only possible when not looking with your eyes.

“Oh… my stiff shoulders…”

“Is it all better?!”

“Drink more.”

Levinas and Saebyeok ran around distributing dandelion honey tea to people.

The researchers’ eyes showed curiosity seeing the honey tea.

“This is…”

“A stimulant… an energizer?”

“Are there no physical side effects when it’s this potent?”

“Surprisingly, there are no side effects at all.”

Some researchers tapped on tablets while looking at the tea, others brought what looked like analysis machines.

Their enthusiasm for the tea really made them seem like proper researchers.

“Physical strength, concentration, and muscle strength all increased?”

“Oh… any after-effects?”

“No. All readings are normal.”

Tap tap-

Evelyn and the researchers quickly tapped their tablets.

What were they writing to tap so much?

Curious, I tugged on Evelyn’s coat.

“Evelyn, what are you doing?”

“Ah… recording our observations.”

“About the dandelion honey tea?”

“Yes. Gyeoul’s abilities are truly…”

“Truly…?”

I tilted my head, but Evelyn didn’t continue.

“Ah. Your request is being processed too, so please wait a bit?”

“Okay.”

Please find out if anyone has a desperate wish.

Though my request might seem strange, the researchers moved to help.

Thanks to their rule about cooperating with collaborative MS as much as possible.

“Hehe, Gyeoul’s an MS.”

“Yes. We’re all MS.”

Han Yeoreum and Gaeul, Levinas and Saebyeok too.

To people in this world, we were all considered anomalies.

It’s kind of funny since we’re pretty normal people in our world.

As we were giggling, a researcher in a coat approached us.

“Here’s the compiled list from Block C personnel.”

“Ah, thank you.”

[Want to be rich.]

[World peace.]

[I want to become an MS too!]

[Overseas travel.]

Though the wishes were desperate, they weren’t ones I could grant.

The portal opened before me because it judged I could solve the problem.

There must be a desperate wish I could help with…

“Hmm…”

As I was scanning through the wishes, a researcher tapped my shoulder.

“Ah, and there’s someone who seems to have something desperate but won’t speak up.”

“Who?”

“Ariel – the person you met when you first came here…”

“Ah. Ariel.”

She was a kind person with a gentle touch.

Why wouldn’t Ariel speak up?

Maybe it was so desperate that it was hard to say carelessly.

“Do you know Ariel?”

“Yes. Could I meet her?”

“Yes, you may.”

I followed the researcher’s guidance to meet Ariel.

At our destination, Ariel stood awkwardly in a tiny room.

“Ariel.”

“Gyeoul…?”

“Yes. It’s me, Gyeoul.”

I approached Ariel with small steps.

Looking up at her, I gently poked her stomach.

“Ariel, is there something you desperately want?”

“There is…”

“Won’t you tell me what it is?”

“That… you wouldn’t believe me even if I told you…”

Ariel hung her head low.

She looked so pitiful, like someone who had given up everything.

“I might not believe you. But nothing will change if you don’t speak up.”

“I’ve already tried telling people many times. But no one believed me.”

“You haven’t told me yet.”

“That’s…”

After standing quietly for a while, Ariel sat down heavily in a nearby chair.

Though I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was on the verge of tears.

“…Gyeoul, do you know why I’m here?”

“I wonder…?”

“…I killed… I killed people. As punishment, I’m being used to research MS.”

“Oh…”

Killed people.

But her touch had been so gentle?

My eyes went wide in surprise.

“But I’ve never committed any crimes. No, more precisely, I have no memory of committing crimes…”

“That’s…”

“If I had memories, I wouldn’t feel wronged thinking I’m trash…”

Haah.

From Ariel’s sigh, I could understand.

What Ariel desperately wished for.

To either remember her crimes or prove her innocence.

‘Was it Ariel…?’

Did Ariel’s desperation call me here?

But I had no way to prove her guilt or innocence.

‘There must be some way.’

Hmm.

As I crossed my arms in thought, Han Yeoreum, who had followed me, approached Ariel.

“Um, could I check your information?”

“Information?”

“Yes. Information.”

“Y-yes…?”

Though puzzled, Ariel agreed.

Han Yeoreum brought up an information window.

I’m not sure how, but even I could see the information.

“Can you see criminal records too?”

“No, we can’t see criminal records, but we can see this.”

Han Yeoreum pointed to one part of the information window.

[Murders: 0]

Huh.

Ariel said she killed people.

I looked up at Han Yeoreum with surprised eyes.

Han Yeoreum’s face was deeply furrowed looking at Ariel’s information.

“…You really are innocent.”

“What…?”

And seeing this, Ariel could only stare blankly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep