“Why are you looking at another article about Deep Sea Pearl?”
“Huh? Ah… just because?”
I smiled awkwardly at Seonrim as she suddenly stuck her head into my line of sight.
On my electronic notebook was an article about Deep Sea Pearl, the developer that had become embroiled in an enormous scandal almost immediately after the game's release.
“It's just… they're the people who remade a game that used to be part of my memories, you know? And then things ended up like this, so I guess it feels a little… disappointing. Or maybe bitter. Something like that.”
“…I guess that makes sense.”
Seonrim sat on the sofa, specifically in the seat beside me.
Her expression clearly said that while her head understood why I might feel regretful about it, her heart did not particularly agree.
“You're thinking I'm acting like a sucker again, aren't you?”
“Mm… a little?”
“Knew it.”
I burst out laughing.
The part I actually regretted was somewhere else entirely, but I could roughly imagine how it must have sounded to a friend who did not know the full truth.
“Don't worry. I'm not planning on forgiving them.”
“I'm not worried about that part. Surprisingly, you're pretty decisive about things like that. It's just… I don't want you getting hurt. Like you said, your memories have basically been… overwritten by something unpleasant.”
Still, the ending remained the same: this whole incident had warped those…