After quickly sending the monsters away on the spaceship through death, I returned home.
Even as I stared at the phone screen, there were still no missed calls, and I lay on the sofa blankly gazing at my smartphone.
“Uh? Oh.”
At that moment, Gomtaengi was floating in the living room air.
As if having a phone call with someone, its fluffy cottony arms covered its ears to block out the surrounding sounds.
Is that some sort of communication method between mascots?
Anyway, it was a bodily structure I couldn’t understand at all.
After a moment, Gomtaengi removed its arms from its ears, looked at me, and said.
“I’ve arrived at the accommodation, and the smartphone is charging there.”
“Okay, thanks for letting me know.”
I let out a big sigh of relief after hearing Gomtaengi’s report related to the sea serpent.
I wondered how much fun it must have had to not even think about finding the accommodation until this late hour.
Maybe I should have packed my portable battery as well, swalloing my regret as I rummaged through the fridge.
A container of kimchi that I had no use for at home.
Come to think of it, I forgot to return the empty container.
Fortunately, it wasn’t yet midnight.
Thinking it would be nice to return it before I forgot, I opened my smartphone and entered the group chat.
It was more effective to have a one-on-one conversation through an app for the kids these days than going through the hassle of finding phone numbers and leaving messages.
While scrolling through the screen, I found a familiar profile: Taehyun.
His main screen showed a picture of him looking stylishly cool with sunglasses, complemented by some nonsense phrase.
I pressed the round part to create a one-on-one chat room and sent a message without a second thought.
[Hey]
[Are you sleeping?]
The number 1, which didn’t disappear immediately, lingered on the screen.
I thought a vigorous middle schooler wouldn’t be asleep before midnight, and just then.
About 10 seconds later? The yellow number finally disappeared.
Not long after, messages started to pour in rapidly.
[No No]
[Why?]
[Are you coming?]
Along with the flurry of messages, my fingers moved quickly.
[Yes]
[The food container]
[Returning it]
[I forgot]
[Okay]
The conversations via messages were short and to the point.
I quickly threw on a short-sleeve T-shirt and sweatpants, grabbed the empty container, and headed for the front door…
Gomtaengi, who had been silently observing the conversation and my actions from the side.
“Feels like you have a live-in boyfriend.”
“Come on, do you really want to start with that all of a sudden?”
Unable to hold back, I started making a fuss.
Feeling uncomfortable from the few words Gomtaengi had casually blurted out, I turned my gaze toward it instead of continuing to the front door.
In the brief moment as I was putting on my slippers.
Gomtaengi didn’t stop there; it brought its hand to its chin, closed its eyes, and bobbed its head while mumbling.
“Well, we’ve known each other since elementary school, you know… the childhood friend trope you often see in Japanese manga… ugh!”
Having no idea what it had found on the internet, I punched it.
The fist landed right on its face, and it bounced up from the floor while stretching out.
Those few words it added on the end were definitely asking for a punch.
I thought, surely no monster would appear in such a short time… and casually dismissed the thought.
Leaving Gomtaengi at home, I stepped out the front door with the empty kimchi container.
Since I owed a lot to the lady’s cooking, it felt a bit rude to return empty-handed.
I stopped by a nearby mart, bought two boxes of energy drinks, stacked them inside the kimchi container, and headed back to the apartment.
“Ah, you’re here?”
As I pressed the button for the 17th floor in the elevator and knocked on Taehyun’s door, the only one who appeared from inside was Taehyun himself.
The lights in the kitchen and the parents’ room were off, and the atmosphere of the house felt strangely empty, making me tilt my head in confusion.
“Where are your mom and dad?”
“They went on a trip. I told them I had academy, so I’d stay home.”
“Oh, I see?”
Upon hearing the reason for the lack of presence, I let out a short sigh of understanding.
It turned out that his household was also in a situation where only a home security guard was left behind while everyone else went on a trip.
If you’re going to travel, wouldn’t it be better if you all went together?
Taehyun, who had decided to stay home for the sake of vacation or to keep up with academy progress, was the only one missing out.
Later on, he might even want to go but won’t be able to, so he should go while he can.
“I’ve got two boxes of Park X’s inside the kimchi container, put them in the fridge.”
Anyway, in a situation where the lady wasn’t around, I mentioned the contents of the kimchi container and told him to put it in the fridge while saying,
“Oh, okay. Is Shiyeon home?”
Taehyun seemed curious about my home situation too, as he peeked inside through the transparent kimchi container lid and asked nonchalantly.
Why is he suddenly interested in Shiyeon’s situation?
With no reason to hide it, I just casually mentioned the truth.
“Shiyeon went on a trip to Sokcho. I’m the only one home.”
“By herself? She didn’t go with anyone?”
Taehyun’s eyes widened in disbelief, raising his voice as he found it hard to believe that Shiyeon had gone on a trip alone.
Even after hearing the whole story, he added the habitual “I don’t know” while mumbling about some game involving walking or throwing on Earth.
“Who knows, something like Earth Work or whatever. She said she was going to play a game, so what’s the point of going together?”
“Oh, that? Isn’t it blocked in our country?”
Upon hearing the game’s name, Taehyun showed interest again.
After all, it seems that for boys, games are certainly a topic of interest.
“I heard Sokcho allows it.”
“Really? Why…?”
“Who knows? It was even reported in the news, and you don’t know?”
When I repeated what I heard, he looked surprised, as if he had never heard it before.
Why are you asking me why? I have no way of knowing.
Just because the news said it, that’s how it is. Why don’t you, a gamer, know a story that even I, who don’t know much about games, have heard?
For a moment, Taehyun seemed to be tapping on his smartphone to search for something and let out a short sigh as if confirming the news he just learned.
“Oh? It’s true.”
“Anyway, she went to Sokcho for that. I’m going now.”
“Oh, bye.”
After a cool farewell, I took the elevator to the 4th floor.
Anyway, it’s vacation time, and tomorrow will be a day without Shiyeon.
Sitting in front of the computer, I thought I might as well play games all night and be ready to go out if any monsters appeared from another region, stretching my intertwined fingers forward.
I started turning the queue, hoping that no monsters would show up during my gaming session.
‘Shiyeon said she would call, but there’s been no contact.’
Still, hearing that she made it to the accommodation from the sea serpent lightened my heart a bit.
I shrugged it off, thinking nothing would happen, and then diverted my focus to the keyboard and mouse.
At the same time, on the 4th floor of the motel, about 500 meters away from Sokcho Terminal.
Shiyeon lay on an unfamiliar bed, staring blankly at her charging smartphone.
‘Is Mary asleep?’
It was already past midnight.
Worried that Mary might be sleeping, she didn’t even dare to call.
Mary gets really scared when waking up in the middle of the night.
Thinking back, the monsters usually appeared for the longest time after midnight.
Her pondering fingers simply tapped on the glowing game screen.
The thrill of capturing characters had lasted perhaps just a few short hours.
She had shared screenshots in the group chat, boasting about her captures, but the joy had only lasted during that time.
The bedmate, Baemi, slowly crawled closer and asked.
“Did you have fun today?”
“Uh, yeah, but…”
After responding with a moment of agreement, she trailed off her words.
However, she couldn’t find the follow-up to the ‘but’.
It was fun, but there was a sense of something lacking.
Yet, unable to express that inadequacy in words, she simply tilted her head.
It was fun, yet not fun; what could that possibly mean?
After roaming around for hours, she had collected 43 characters, including duplicates.
In theory, she could still catch more if she went out again, but she felt no motivation at all.
“But?”
“I don’t know. Right now, it feels boring again.”
Her lips betrayed her with their fickleness as Baemi’s question caused Mary to pout and flop down on the bed.
It was a strange sentiment, but it was the only way she could express her feelings at that moment.
While shaking her calves up and down on the bed, she made a fluffy sound as the gathered air dispersed.
The blanket repeatedly crumpled and unfurled like a sponge.
When she came to Sokcho with Mary in the past, she remembered laughing a lot.
The spicy chicken was delicious, and she recalled laughing continuously while trying various snacks at the market.
She couldn’t quite remember what she said to Mary back in elementary school, but she surely laughed a lot.
Now, given the opportunity to play the games she wanted and roam freely, she still wore a grim expression instead of laughing.
Staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, her hand suddenly darted toward her smartphone.
[I’m going straight home tomorrow.]
In the end, she sent a timid message to Mary.
