Ha, this wasn’t the plan at all.
After parting ways with Ellen Marshall on the way ho from school, I got into my car and sighed.
‘This really sses with my leverage.’
The original plan was to et him in elentary school, then have so dramatic reunion when we were in middle school.
You know, that classic stuff—a mysterious girl from childhood reappearing with a dramatic twist!
That kind of thing...
Originally, I was going to hang out with him a few tis over a couple months, then vanish.
Microsoft is setting up its Korean branch this November, and Pigmalion Soft is going to get busy, so I had plenty of excuses to distance myself from Ellen.
After that, I was planning to let him stew in so good ol’ school bullying, push him to his limits until he was almost broken, then swoop in last minute to “save” him before his personality went completely off the rails.
“It’s good though. I was actually surprised to see you finally got a friend your own age, Miss.”
Naturally, a plan this delicate was sothing I kept secret from Si-hyun... so of course, she was making innocent comnts like that, totally unaware.
We haven’t built that kind of trust yet.
‘...Well, this isn’t so bad either.’
Expecting to fully control Ellen Marshall was probably too ambitious anyway.
And honestly, the nanny will probably be happy about it. Even Si-hyun’s looking at in shock right now...
Alright, let’s think positive.
Whether Ellen stays in Korea or goes to the US, who cares? In the original tiline, he didn’t really make waves until the 21st century anyway, and by then, I’ll have already started rewriting history on a global scale.
Whether he becos that Ellen Marshall or not? Nobody knows. If anything, keeping him in Pigmalion Soft is probably the safest way to shape his value.
It’s just... a little annoying for , that’s all.
‘Babysitting a kid is such a pain.’
Soone like , with the ntal age of a grown adult, being told to hang out with a little kid? This is ridiculous.
I’m not a damn kid.
***
A few months later.
After school, we gathered as usual at Pigmalion Soft, lounging around and playing gas. Today’s ga? Street Fighter.
I was yelling at Ellen, scowling hard.
“Hey! That’s cheating! We said no special moves!”
He dared to use a Hadouken? Ugh, you’re hopeless.
I quickly entered a command and hit the buttons.
→ ↓ ↘ Punch
Thwack!
With a satisfying thud, my character launched a special move, sending Ellen’s avatar flying.
Oh yeah, that’s the Shoryuken. The ga balance is trash, so if you land a special move properly, it’s basically over.
K.O.
I crossed my arms and nodded proudly.
See that?
That’s .
“That was an accident! I didn’t an to! You didn’t even get hit!”
Ellen whined, trying to claim a rematch.
“Don’t give that crap. I saw you mashing the stick.”
“No, I swear! I don’t even know how to input commands properly yet. I’m not like you, tearing machines apart to figure out how they work.”
He pointed at the arcade machine I’d half disassembled and shouted.
I raised an eyebrow and shot back.
“Are you dissing this ga now?”
When I bought it, I thought it was Street Fighter II, but turns out it was the first one. The disappointnt hit hard. Not exactly garbage, but compared to the sequel? Yeah, big letdown.
I’d already bought quite a few, so I ended up using it as my command practice dummy. Controls were garbage.
I shook the box on my desk.
“Haa, I don’t know. Ellen, I had a special gift for you today, but maybe I won’t give it to you.”
“...What is it?”
“Super Ma-ri-o Three. Got it straight from the headquarters in Japan. It’s not out in Korea, and even in Japan it won’t release for another three months.”
I proudly waved the Famicom loaded with Super Mario 3.
It sold 17 million copies in the future, hailed as one of the greatest gas of all ti. This is why it pays to have connections.
“Yeah, no thanks. Also, I’m older than you, rember? Why do you talk to like that?”
“What? I don’t even use honorifics with adults. Like hell I’m gonna call you oppa.”
I only use that word for family, and there’s no way I’m calling him that.
The Ellen Marshall from my past life would be laughing at from hell if I did.
I shook my head, pulled out the Famicom, and started playing. It was way too fun to give to Ellen.
.
.
.
After about an hour of him just staring at the screen, Ellen finally tapped my shoulder, hesitant.
“...Hey, uh, noona? I was wrong, can I try now?”
“Sure.”
–Toss.
I’d just gotten killed by Bowser, so I smacked my lips and handed over the controller.
‘Ugh, I was gonna clear it that ti.’
He kept staring at and throwing off my concentration. Ever since becoming a girl, I’ve gotten a bit more sensitive to people’s stares, and it threw off.
Not that it felt bad or anything—if anything, it was... exciting?
Positive looks, negative ones, even ones full of desire... none of them really bothered .
People looking at , whether with joy or fear... I loved that feeling. Call an attention seeker, but I won’t deny it.
Beep beep.
I glanced at Ellen as he started the ga, acting like it was nothing, and asked casually:
“You’re not interested in finance or anything like that? I even told you I own Daehwa Securities, and your reaction was so flat.”
I thought we were close enough now that he’d be impressed, so I’d let that slip, expecting sothing. But he was just... h. Honestly, it hurt my pride a bit.
Do you even know how much money I’m making [N O V E L I G H T] with the Alpha Fund these days...?
“You live your life just for attention or what? It’s just a boring topic, that’s all. I’m more into space, rockets... that kind of stuff. Girls probably don’t get that, huh? I wanna start a company like X-Space soday.”
“...No one’s gonna get that. Why the hell ‘X’? Sounds like a porn site.”
“Because it’s cool.”
Seriously, only soone who’s been kicked out of his own company multiple tis would think like that.
I noticed it in my past life too, but I still don’t get where that sense of taste cos from. Even after turning into a full-blown otaku, I just can’t wrap my head around that naming sense.
As I quietly watched Ellen playing around, I glanced at the clock and closed my eyes.
It was ti to get to work.
“Hey, I’ve got so stuff to do today, so you should head out. You can take that as a gift.”
Ellen, who was totally imrsed in the ga, tilted his head.
“Huh, really?”
“Yup, I’ve got an important guest.”
He usually listened pretty well at tis like this, so without saying anything else, Ellen packed his things. He probably didn’t want to see his dad anyway, so I appreciated that at least.
Alright, ti to greet my guest.
***
After hanging out with Ellen for a bit, I headed to Pigmalion Soft’s president.
I glanced at the mirror and saw a girl’s expressionless face looking back. My chest was starting to fill out, my hips were widening, and my whole body was starting to show more of those typically feminine curves.
So yeah... overall, I was quite the looker.
Enough that I could understand why the boys at school were giving those pervy looks. Not that it really bothered , like I said. I wasn’t about to go out of my way to hide it.
It’s just... I couldn’t help but notice how much I’d changed.
“Ahaha.”
I let out a soft laugh. In the mirror, a girl smiled faintly back.
‘Alright, ti to smile. Ti to work.’
With a perfectly natural business smile, I walked into the president’s office. Inside were Pigmalion Soft’s president, Song Hyun-jae... and Ha Yeong-il, the fund manager of Alpha Fund.
“Ha Yeong-il, this is your first ti here, right? How’s it feel to be back in Korea?”
“Hmm, honestly? Not as great as I thought it’d be. Haha, I guess I’ve gotten too used to the States. But seeing your face makes it worth it.”
“We’ve got an important guest, so I figured we should treat him properly. If it’s just , he might not take it seriously, so I called you for appearances. Since Alpha Fund’s tied into this too.”
Since I’m still a minor, I always have soone represent in etings with outsiders.
Normally, I wouldn’t show up at all... but this ti, I had to see this person with my own eyes.
Even if he looked at weird, whatever. This was a chance I couldn’t pass up. That’s why I called in Ha Yeong-il too.
“President, everything’s legally ready, right?”
Song Hyun-jae, looking pretty tense, nodded slowly.
“Yes. We’ve got full approval for setting up the corporation, and the equity agreent with headquarters is finalized. This visit is just for confirmation.”
About thirty minutes passed as we waited silently for one man.
The real star of today’s eting.
“Ah, I think he’s here.”
–Creak.
The door opened, and in walked a white man with a very, very familiar face.
He smiled naturally as he glanced between Song Hyun-jae and Ha Yeong-il.
“Oh, I’d heard about it, but this is surprising. I didn’t expect one of our major shareholders to be involved with the new subsidiary we’re establishing here in Korea.”
Ha Yeong-il smiled as he shook the man’s hand.
“It’s no coincidence. My interest in IT companies all stemd from this. Haha, welco to Korea, Mr. Bill Gates.”
And with those words, a sharp, electric thrill shot through my whole body. Unlike Ellen, who’s a future legend, this was a living legend standing right in front of .
Bill Gates.
A favorite target of conspiracy theorists.
The symbol of wealth, the world’s richest man for two whole decades before Ellen even ca close.
A genius of computer science.
The devil of Silicon Valley, founder of Microsoft, the man who launched the age of software giants.
He ca to Korea.
To et .
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