The Goal is the Ending Fairy - Episode 30

Choice screens appearing during conversations between characters – this is what made them so dangerous.

 

Once a choice sets the flow in motion, the conversation barrels forward until that flow ends.

 

A conversation completely beyond the player’s control.

 

“…You always have a problem with speaking without thinking. You know that?”

 

My words spilled out until I no longer recognized them as my own.

 

I wanted to clamp my hands over my mouth, but my actions were beyond my control.

 

Like a puppet of the system.

 

And that puppet’s mouth ran on and on.

 

“Everything has to be known your way, and we can only believe what you see, right?”

 

“You’re really the funny one here.”

 

Chae Seonha had been listening silently, but her patience had run out.

 

“Then those things you said to me – what? Are you saying someone else said them?”

 

“What things?”

 

Seriously. What had I said?

 

‘Someone tell me too.’

 

Eventually, I surrendered my reason and watched the fight unfold like a spectator. I felt like reaching for popcorn.

 

Fortunately, their clash didn’t escalate as far as expected.

 

Just typical teenage drama? I let myself relax slightly.

 

“You said you didn’t want to be with me.”

 

The situation grew more intriguing by the second.

 

“And then you ran your mouth saying you’d never debut with me. Remember that?”

 

Oh, I’d said that? That was harsh.

 

“I got heated because someone kept prying.”

 

“Hey. Shouldn’t you know what you can and can’t say? How could you say that to me…!”

 

“Aren’t you thinking about your actions that made me say those things first?”

 

“Girls, um…”

 

“Besides, if someone can’t tell you something, wouldn’t there be a reason?”

 

Ah.

 

Well, that shifted the conversation.

 

The focus had gradually changed.

 

From ‘whether I sincerely wanted to debut’ to ‘why I didn’t explain my circumstances.’

 

“Why should I tell you my circumstances when I can’t even trust you?”

 

“…Huh.”

 

Moreover, piecing this all together, it definitely involved those false rumors…

 

It’s maddening how the information trickles out in fragments.

 

More pressing – when would this fight end?

 

“…So. You couldn’t trust me, is that it?”

 

“No matter how nicely I try to say it, you just don’t get it.”

 

Hey, hey. Mouth!

 

My heart clenched as my mouth suddenly accelerated.

 

“Everyone has their circumstances. Is it right to pry into them so persistently?”

 

“…”

 

Please shut up…

 

After my eyes locked unwillingly on Chae Seonha, I could only resign myself to what came next.

 

‘I’m screwed.’

 

Just look at her face. She seemed ready to throw a punch.

 

“…Fine, I get it.”

 

A sound – sigh or exhale, unclear which – filled the silence.

 

Chae Seonha briefly fixed her gaze on some distant point. She appeared to be containing her anger.

 

“…I’m asking just in case. So you think I went around telling everyone what I saw back then?”

 

“…What?”

 

“Why? That’s right. In the end, you didn’t tell me anything because you were worried I’d spread it around, right?”

 

“…”

 

“Right. You doubted me then too.”

 

What’s this about ‘back then’?

 

No, wait – answer properly first. Then this argument can finally end…

 

“What if I did?”

 

Hey!

 

‘This is maddening. Don’t say it so bluntly…’

 

I’d lost count of how many times I’d tried to stop my character from antagonizing her.

 

But despite my desperation, the system poured fuel on the fire.

 

—– —–

>Grab her hair

>(Free response)

—– —–

 

…And it was a massive amount of fuel at that.

 

Where was this heading? We wouldn’t end up in a hair-pulling brawl and get caught, would we?

 

Various scenarios flashed through my mind before I forced them away.

 

Now wasn’t the time to imagine outcomes – I needed to focus on the present.

 

‘Free response… will it work?’

 

It was my last hope.

 

>(You don’t have enough cash to purchase this option…. (๑>؂•̀๑))

 

But hope? Pointless, as expected.

 

This was a paid system requiring cash to unlock.

 

‘Damn it…’

 

I tried clicking anyway, but it was too ambitious for someone broke.

 

But then.

 

>(Life force will be reduced by 1% due to excessive attempt….)

 

This seller clearly had no moral compass.

 

Worse still, the arrow began moving on its own toward the only real choice.

 

‘No! Don’t take it…!’

 

But there was no escape. No other options remained.

 

Ugh.

 

Well then… let’s grab gently…

 

>Grab her hair (◁Selected!)

 

“What?”

 

As soon as I inevitably chose that option, my hand reached for Chae Seonha.

 

Grab

 

“!”

 

I seized the end of her hair and pulled it toward me.

 

Thankfully, my grip wasn’t as harsh as I’d feared, nor did I clutch as tightly as imagined.

 

My will must have had some small effect.

 

“Don’t act like you’re something special.”

 

Despite the childish words, my voice cut like steel. Once again, I had to swallow my frustration.

 

“Even if I told you. Could you have done anything to help?”

 

Even if it’s true, please hold back…

 

“If you’re thinking it would have at least been comforting, forget it. I don’t want that from you, of all people.”

 

“…Why?”

 

A single word from my opponent.

 

The brief question caught me off guard. Her voice had softened slightly.

 

There was even a hint of hurt in it.

 

“Don’t know. Maybe because we’re nothing to each other now.”

 

My tone remained ice cold in contrast to Chae Seonha’s.

 

“It’s not like I have to tell you every little thing.”

 

“…Right. That’s true.”

 

With those words, Chae Seonha lowered her gaze.

 

My character’s eyes traveled up along the hair in my hand. What I saw was an expression I’d never witnessed on her face before.

 

It lasted only a moment before she looked up again…

 

“I’m done with this too.”

 

Simultaneously, something crashed against the wall behind me.

 

– BANG!

 

The impact of something striking hard.

 

When I saw her hand twitch, I’d anxiously wondered if she meant to slap me.

 

But for better or worse, what came flying was her foot.

 

It struck the wall behind me with precise force.

 

“I get it perfectly. Because I’m so dense, I couldn’t understand your profound meaning. I’m so f*cking sorry?”

 

…The unreadable expression from before had vanished, replaced by unmistakable emotion.

 

Pure rage.

 

I could confirm it now – Chae Seonha was absolutely livid.

 

As if to demonstrate, she finally shook off my hand still holding her hair.

 

She adjusted her stance completely, now standing at an angle compared to before.

 

“I’m the idiot for thinking you might have changed.”

 

“Did you just figure that out?”

 

The following exchange devolved into curses, twice as childish as before.

 

‘Both of them are so frustrating.’

 

Of course, I was the most frustrated, forced to watch it all unfold.

 

“With you… I can’t have any kind of conversation, no matter what I try.”

 

“Then get lost. You think I enjoy listening to you?”

 

“Yeah. That’s what I was planning to do anyway.”

 

Could this childish, naive fight finally be ending?

 

After her sarcastic parting shot, Chae Seonha pulled away.

 

As she turned to enter the company building, she paused for one final glare. Her anger clearly hadn’t subsided.

 

“…And Cha Sihyun.”

 

Surprisingly, her rage wasn’t directed at me but at the person beside me.

 

Cha Sihyun had deflated after being repeatedly ignored while trying to stop us.

 

Chae Seonha fixed her with a cold stare.

 

“Stop meddling in other people’s business and mind your own. Who are you to try to make us make up or not?”

 

I agree completely.

 

At Chae Seonha’s valid point, I nodded vigorously in my mind.

 

“See? This is what kind of relationship we have. Now that you know, don’t ever privately call me and her to the same place again.”

 

With those final words, Chae Seonha turned to leave, not forgetting one last glare before walking away.

 

A sharp energy seemed to trail in her wake.

 

Hmm.

 

‘Is this right…?’

 

What in the world was all this about?

 

I watched helplessly as she stalked off. The storm that had passed so suddenly left only emptiness behind.

 

I stood there, dumbfounded.

 

“…”

 

How does this game expect me to understand such a chaotic mess of developments?

 

The sudden situation, moreover one controlled by the system, felt completely surreal.

 

“She left.”

 

Now only two of us remained.

 

After staring blankly at the speaker, I leaned weakly against the wall.

 

Having endured the effects of the choice screen, my body was finally free.

 

And boy, had I endured it thoroughly.

 

“Still, Seonha went easy on you. Maybe because it was you?”

 

“That looked like going easy to you?”

 

“She just hit the wall once and that was it. Ah, maybe because she used to be an athlete, she knows better than to fight carelessly.”

 

“…Athlete?”

 

My eyes widened at this new information.

 

She nodded toward where Chae Seonha had disappeared, as if it were nothing special.

 

“Seonha’s family is totally athletic. She’s also quite skilled in martial arts as a hobby…”

 

I was already letting Cha Sihyun’s words drift past me.

 

‘I really could have gotten beaten up.’

 

I nodded seriously, arms crossed. No wonder her kicking form had looked so proper.

 

For a while, I could only think that I should avoid provoking Chae Seonha.

 

“…what should I do? I shouldn’t have called you both…”

 

“…”

 

“Dan-ah, are you listening?”

 

I snapped out of my distracted thoughts.

 

Cha Sihyun had drooped her eyebrows, apparently blaming herself.

 

‘Wow.’

 

What’s the use of that? It was obvious who she was trying to fool.

 

“You seem to be enjoying this.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You’re smiling.”

 

My words to Cha Sihyun were cold.

 

Despite her sympathetic tone, her fist was pressed against her mouth.

 

“You caught me.”

 

Only then did Cha Sihyun lower her hand. My gaze grew colder at her upturned lips.

 

It was the same earlier when she pretended to stop me by grabbing my shoulder.

 

What was with that subtle expression while others fought around her…

 

Her seemingly smiling face made me more wary.

 

“What exactly are you trying to do?”

 

The question had been nagging at me. Cha Sihyun responded with surprising cunning.

 

“You’re really not very perceptive, Dan-ah.”

 

“What?”

 

“You should have played along. How could you suddenly pretend not to know?”

 

I immediately understood her meaning.

 

 “Dan-ah, you said it yourself. That you wanted to make up with Seonha.”

 

That’s how brazenly she had spoken earlier. So convincing that even I wondered if I had actually said it.

 

But what was she so proud of? This wasn’t pretending – I genuinely knew nothing about it.

 

“Still, I didn’t expect you two to fight back and forth like that.”

 

“Fight back and…”

 

I started to say ‘it wasn’t just that’ but quickly closed my mouth. Even I had to admit it was more than that, not less.

 

“Don’t change the subject.”

 

This wasn’t the important part.

 

“Why did you call me and her? Suddenly at this point?”

 

“Hmm.”

 

I glared at her evasive behavior. My patience was wearing thin.

 

Cha Sihyun must have noticed, as she finally spoke after a long silence.

 

“Well. Wouldn’t it be good if you two made up, whatever the reason?”

 

“That’s for me and her to figure out.”

 

“What if your bad relationship shows on broadcast?”

 

“Again, that’s…”

 

“Because you weren’t figuring it out.”

 

Her tone shifted slightly.

 

My gaze turned automatically. Despite her lowered voice, Cha Sihyun was still smiling.

 

Though I couldn’t be certain her eyes matched that expression.