I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 40: Myrian (3)

Ha, this wasn’t the plan at all.

After parting ways with Ellen Marshall on the way home from school, I got into my car and sighed.

‘This really messes with my leverage.’

The original plan was to meet him in elementary school, then have some 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 times 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 some 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 something I kept secret from Si-hyun... so of course, she was making innocent comments 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 me in shock right now...

Alright, let’s think positive.

Whether Ellen stays in Korea or goes to the US, who cares? In the original timeline, 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 becomes 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 me, that’s all.

‘Babysitting a kid is such a pain.’

Someone like me, with the mental 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 games. Today’s game? 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 game 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 me.

“That was an accident! I didn’t mean to! You didn’t even get hit!”

Ellen whined, trying to claim a rematch.

“Don’t give me 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 game now?”

When I bought it, I thought it was Street Fighter II, but turns out it was the first one. The disappointment 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 games of all time. This is why it pays to have connections.

“Yeah, no thanks. Also, I’m older than you, remember? Why do you talk to me 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 me 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 time.’

He kept staring at me and throwing off my concentration. Ever since becoming a girl, I’ve gotten a bit more sensitive to people’s stares, and it threw me 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 me.

People looking at me, whether with joy or fear... I loved that feeling. Call me an attention seeker, but I won’t deny it.

Beep beep.

I glanced at Ellen as he started the game, 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 something. But he was just... meh. 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 someday.”

“...No one’s gonna get that. Why the hell ‘X’? Sounds like a porn site.”

“Because it’s cool.”

Seriously, only someone who’s been kicked out of his own company multiple times would think like that.

I noticed it in my past life too, but I still don’t get where that sense of taste comes 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 time to get to work.

“Hey, I’ve got some stuff to do today, so you should head out. You can take that as a gift.”

Ellen, who was totally immersed in the game, tilted his head.

“Huh, really?”

“Yup, I’ve got an important guest.”

He usually listened pretty well at times 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, time 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 me those pervy looks. Not that it really bothered me, 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, time to smile. Time 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 time 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 me, 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 someone represent me in meetings with outsiders.

Normally, I wouldn’t show up at all... but this time, I had to see this person with my own eyes.

Even if he looked at me 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 agreement 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 meeting.

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“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 stemmed from this. Haha, welcome 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 me.

Bill Gates.

A favorite target of conspiracy theorists.

The symbol of wealth, the world’s richest man for two whole decades before Ellen even came close.

A genius of computer science.

The devil of Silicon Valley, founder of Microsoft, the man who launched the age of software giants.

He came to Korea.

To meet me.