1. I wasn't born with all these memories.
2. When I was little, vague fragments of memories would occasionally surface. I thought they were just strange dreams.
3. It wasn't until I grew older and remembered everything that I realized they were from my past life.
4. My family in that life wasn't a happy one. My parents separated when I was little, and my mother sued for custody after the divorce. From then on, I lived with her.
Naglo-load…Naglo-load…
1. My mom's job was never stable, so I spent my childhood moving around from place to place, constantly switching schools.
2. Just when I'd finally learned my classmates' names, it was time to say goodbye again. Over time, I stopped trying to get to know anyone, and as a result, I never really had any friends.
3. Fortunately, my grades were pretty good. I always ranked among the top ten in my grade.
1. My mother, who rarely smiled, only showed a hint of pride when she saw my report card.
2. I knew my mother had high expectations, so I never dared to slack off.
3. Maybe because I seemed like a hard worker, my homeroom teacher appointed me class president when I started high school.
4. Honestly, I didn't like it at all. Besides studying, I had to handle lots of extra chores every day, which was even more of a hassle. My classmates didn't like me either because of my personality. They called me rigid, inflexible, a tattletale, and the teacher's pet.
5. But I had long been used to being alone, so I didn't mind that much.
1. Then, in the spring of eleventh grade, I went to the neighboring class for an inspection and met that girl.
2. During a spot check for banned items, her classmates had pushed her, a small, skinny girl, to the front. They were laughing and jeering at her.
3. I found several newly bought comics in her bag. She looked up at me with tearful puppy-dog eyes, silently pleading for me to let it slide.
4. "Confiscated."
5. Even then, I didn't soften and confiscated all of her comics. In an instant, she just looked despondent, like a kicked puppy.
1. However, on a strange impulse, I did not turn the comics in. Instead, I took them home.
2. One had a beautiful cover, so I flipped it open and started reading.
3. It was a fascinating isekai adventure comic.
4. The story was thrilling, and the art was so vivid. No wonder she brought it to school, even at the risk of having it confiscated.
5. I returned all the comics to her the next day after school.
1. She really was such an odd girl. When she heard I'd read them, it made her even more excited than getting them back.
2. And just like that, we became friends.
3. She began introducing me to all the things she liked: comics, games, anime...
4. She was always chattering nonstop, telling the fantastical stories she thought up and talking about her dreams...
5. Her world was vivid and full of color, completely unlike my gray, monotonous life. Whenever she talked about the things she loved, her eyes sparkled like stars.
6. She said that one day she would make an incredible game. Its story would end at the most brilliant, most heart-stirring moment, so everyone who played it would remember her and that feeling forever.
1. Half-jokingly, I told her that when that day came, I'd be her very first player.
2. In those lonely, boring days, she was a ray of light in my closed and gray world.
3. I still treasure those beautiful memories to this day.
1. But those good days were short-lived. Gradually, her behavior became somewhat off.
2. Whenever we met, she would always have strange bruises, and her clothes would somehow be dirty or wet...
3. It dawned on me later just how terrible the things she was enduring were.
4. At first, it was silent exclusion, but over time, that turned into overt malice:
14. Torn-up books, a desk covered in slurs and stuffed with trash, nasty nicknames and curses, sneers and slanders, and even physical harm.
1. That malice coiled around her again and again, like a cold, damp vine.
2. I should've noticed much earlier...
3. I should have seen it that very first time I went to her class for a spot check. Those snickers and contemptuous looks said it all.
4. That kind, optimistic girl slowly lost her smile, and the sparkle in her eyes went out.
5. I didn't understand. She hadn't done anything wrong, so why was she being treated this way?
6. I wanted to help, so I went to the teacher, hoping she'd rein in those students. Instead, she stopped me in a flat, matter-of-fact tone.
1. The ringleader was a second-generation kid from an influential local family. The teacher told me not to get involved any further, as the entrance exams were just around the corner, and I should focus on my studies. Picking a fight with them would be unwise.
2. Her earnest, well-meaning tone made my heart go cold.
3. I couldn't accept that. I wanted to stop them myself.
4. But the videos I posted were quickly taken down. My exposé posts were hidden, and the reports I sent were intercepted...
5. The ringleader sought me out, smirking, and told me to mind my own business. She told me that she could get my mother fired with just a single word.
1. Realizing how powerless I was, I backed down.
2. I wanted to keep helping her, but going any further could've dragged me under, too.
3. As I thought of my mother's expectations and my teacher's advice, I made the coward's choice. I chose to do nothing and became a bystander.
1. That summer, right before the exams, I heard the girl had taken a leave of absence.
2. That made me relieved. I figured that if she was at least away from school, she wouldn't run into that awful crowd.
3. Once the exams were over, we could be like before, chatting about our favorite comics and games, helping her forget unhappy matters...
4. But... I was never able to see that day.
5. I'll never forgive myself for running away and for being a coward, not even until the day I die.
6. The helplessness of being unable to do anything... Torments me more than any punishment.
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