Chapter 176

In the dark center of the room, a small light was leaking out.

Yoonseul lay on the bed, checking the main news articles from various media outlets on her phone.

There was no strength in her scrolling fingers.

Yoonseul merely looked at the rapidly passing screen with a dry, expressionless gaze.

The news that France and the UK were intervening in a civil war in Africa, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths; the news that a politician in South Korea was involved in a stock manipulation scandal worth 5 trillion won; and the news that the global economy was shaking due to a series of failures of regional banks in the United States.

These were all significant incidents without exception.

She had no desire to turn her eyes to the world; there was already enough happening in South Korea.

What she found on the last page when sorted by popularity was an article about an intruder breaking into an apartment in Dogok-dong.

No one was killed, there was no fire in the apartment, there were neither dead nor injured, and the perpetrator was caught quickly.

Good news cannot become news. Bad news is.

There were ten comments cursing the mentally ill and two wishing for the victim’s safety.

In the end, this was reality.

Unable to properly express the overwhelming emotions rising within her, Yoonseul pulled the blanket over her head.

“Already going to sleep? It’s only 9 o’clock?”

Ding—

Nameya entered the room and turned on the light switch.

In an instant, the room brightened, and Yoonseul peeked out from under the blanket, rubbing her eyes.

“Nameyaaaa…!”

Yoonseul jumped up and ran to embrace Name, who was still in her outdoor clothes.

When feeling down, nothing was as effective as this.

“Of course, there’s no one but our Name. What did you buy from the convenience store? Something delicious?”

“Beef jerky, squid snack, grape juice… Can you move a bit away, unni?”

Name pushed Yoonseul’s cheek away as Yoonseul leaned in.

“Wow, every food name has ‘po’ in it? Was that intentional?”

“Not really… I didn’t know that even non-alcoholic beer was banned from being sold to minors.”

Name recounted how she was stopped from buying beer at the counter.

“I never thought it would violate the special law for children’s dietary safety.”

“Hey, you’re too young. You should drink when you grow up like me!”

“But you’re also a minor. Here.”

While Name changed clothes, Yoonseul unwrapped the snacks and laid them out neatly on the floor.

Suddenly stopping after starting to take off her clothes, Name gestured to Yoonseul.

“Unni, turn around.”

“What? Are you shy? We’re both girls, what’s there to be shy about?”

“You’re staring too much, though! It’s impolite to the owner of this room, even if you’re not the landlord.”

“Okay! I’ll turn around!”

The two girls, now in pajamas, sat facing each other with the snacks in between.

Yoonseul tore off a piece of the squid snack and handed it to Name.

“No, not with your hands. Use your mouth.”

“You have a lot of demands, don’t you?”

One bite of the squid snack, then one bite of the beef jerky.

Seeing Name munching on the snacks, Yoonseul burst into laughter.

“Your front teeth are missing, aren’t they? Isn’t that too cute?”

There were two lower teeth still growing, and one at the top was also missing, making Name’s mouth look a bit empty.

Pouting, Name shoved a piece of squid into her mouth.

“Yum yum. It’s all because Name is cute, heh. It’s not strange at all!”

Yoonseul just found Name to be fascinating.

She wasn’t oblivious to the challenges Name had faced to reach this point; she knew exactly how extraordinary her achievements were.

In the League of Legends tournament, she consistently delivered top performances, and in the World of Overwatch, she was a key figure.

What about her story mode? She claimed to have ranked first, surpassing everyone globally!

Especially the swordsmanship and advanced magic that Name displayed lingered in Yoonseul’s mind even with her eyes open.

Moreover, recently, for some reason, Name had proven multiple complex mathematics problems, making headlines in South Korea.

As Name quietly savored the snacks, she suddenly spoke with an empty mouth.

“You shouldn’t tease kids. And when a person smiles, it’s not like how you’re smiling now.”

“Huh?”

“Right now, only your mouth is smiling.”

Name pointed out as she distorted her face.

“No, I’m really laughing.”

Yoonseul finally managed a smile.

“Look right now. When a person smiles, their mouth and eyes move at different times. You’re doing both at the same time.”

…

Yoonseul found herself at a loss for words at Name’s sharp observation.

Then Name suddenly jumped up from her seat and headed to the kitchen.

What she brought back with her was somewhat unexpected.

A large glass jar, sugar, a container with mysterious granules, and even paper cups.

“What are you doing?”

“Just wait a little bit.”

Name replied with a nonchalant expression despite Yoonseul’s question.

She poured grape juice into the jar.

Then she tilted the sugar bag and poured generously.

Yoonseul thought, “Is it okay to add this much?”

‘Does Name like her food sweet?’

She added the granules into a paper cup filled with hot water.

“What’s that?”

“Dry yeast.”

“Yeast?”

Yoonseul stared blankly at the suddenly mentioned word.

Soon, a smile spread across Name’s face.

She placed the now brown hot water in the container and closed the lid tightly.

“If I make it this quickly, it’ll only taste cheap, though.”

Name set the container down and drew a magic circle with one hand.

In her other hand was Professor Cheon’s portable alchemical circle writer.

[Cast: Ethanol Fermentation]

“Still, it’ll at least create a good atmosphere.”

The grape juice inside the container swayed as it absorbed magic for a moment, but that was all.

“Um, Name… won’t it be too sweet with that much sugar in the juice?”

“It’s fine. The more sugar, the higher the alcohol content. It’s actually better.”

“Eh?”

When the lid was opened, the distinctive sharp scent of grapes spread throughout the room.

Name took out another clean paper cup and poured grape juice for Yoonseul.

Yoonseul tasted the juice with a skeptical look.

“…!”

“How is it?”

“Cough! Hey, this is crazy…! No, this is grape wine!”

You could feel the fizzy taste in her throat despite never having drunk alcohol before.

“I was okay with just non-alcoholic beer. The problem is society.”

“Stop! Don’t!”

Yoonseul managed to stop Name, who was about to pour the entire container into her mouth.

No, she couldn’t stop her.

“Once you’ve had even a sip, Unni is an accomplice too. If you try to stop me, I’ll tell Professor Cheon.”

Name’s eyes widened.

Seeing that look on Name’s face, Yoonseul’s expression turned grim.

The entire process of turning grape juice into grape wine had been in Name’s hands, but age was indeed a tyrant.

It seemed to Yoonseul that she was finally paying for the sins of Kariri.

* * *

“Just like that, keep going. Wow, you’re drinking it well, aren’t you?”

“Hmm. Surprisingly not bad? I don’t feel like I’m getting drunk.”

Faced with Name’s relentless requests, Yoonseul had no choice but to drink the liquid.

The ambiguous taste between grape juice and wine lowered her psychological resistance.

“Alcohol doesn’t immediately get you drunk. And Yoonseul Unni, I have a tip for when you drink wine later that I want you to remember. Even though this is a paper cup, you should only touch your lips to one side of the glass. If you don’t, when you eat seafood, the fishy taste can stick to the glass. If it’s all over, it can interfere with the scent when you smell it. So you only touch one side and smell from the other side to enjoy the wine fully.”

Name explained while holding the paper cup high.

The light in her eyes, looking at the room’s light, seemed slightly relaxed.

“By the way, Name…?”

“To be honest, our country has a culture that tabooes alcohol too much. When I lived in another place, even at seven years old, everyone could order in pubs. I understand the purpose of regulations, but personally, I can’t hide my gloomy feelings.”

“Name, stop! You really have to stop drinking now!”

She had no choice but to desperately stop Name for the sake of her health.

This time, Name’s gaze turned towards Yoonseul’s phone.

“Unni, look! I’ll show you something fun.”

Name opened the Vtube app with her tiny hands.

Though she mistyped and erased it several times, she eventually played the video she wanted.

– The reason why Taiwan, which looked down on Korea, exploded with inferiority complex at the emergence of a genius that astonished the world. “Geniuses have always been Koreans! Taiwan isn’t even at a level to compete.”

– The remark of a math genius that turned the entire US upside down! “Your level is only this high.” Japan’s reaction in despair!

– “I will never underestimate Korea again,” a delayed plea, but it was already too late! The President of France, having harshly criticized Korean education, regretted and ended up with a ‘public apology.’

– The world is still stuck in 2051, but Korea is living in 4051? “The math gap in Korea has widened too much.” America’s panic and China’s subversion in the face of Korean prowess!

– The truly shocking reason that left Fields Medal winners in shock! “For the last 300 years, every mathematician is not even as good as No Name. What’s the point of studying math while receiving taxes?”

The videos, where the titles were even hard to read at a glance, kept playing.

Name giggled and continued watching the videos.

“Isn’t it fun? I’ve never said anything like that, though.”

From start to finish, there was no relevant content in the video Name played.

Still, many people wrote comments praising Name and extolling Korea’s greatness.

“To be honest, it’s not really wrong. You’re exceptional…”

Yoonseul replied softly.

“Why do you think such videos are popular?”

“Because people are struggling… They want comfort and recognition through things like this because life is hard…”

“Unni is right. That’s why these kinds of videos have high view counts. Honestly, QBS needs to reflect a bit. They were the first to report, yet 100,000 views? This one was posted a day later, and it’s already at 1.5 million.”

Name stretched widely and lay down on the blanket.

“I think people mostly live seeing only what they want to see. Don’t you think so, Unni?”

“Is that so…?”

“Yeah. Everyone spends unnecessary energy on trivial things. But the places where they should actually pay attention go unnoticed. Unni, want to lie down here for a second?”

At times like this, Name exuded a mysterious aura.

And every time, Yoonseul found herself following her words without even realizing it.

When Yoonseul lay down next to Name, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth as if waiting.

“You asked earlier how I could play games before I turned seven. You were curious about that.”

“Yeah.”

As Yoonseul shifted slightly, their hands brushed against each other.

Since a child’s body temperature is slightly higher than average, Name’s hand felt incredibly warm to Yoonseul.

Then Name intertwined her fingers with Yoonseul’s.

And calmly continued speaking.

“I was trapped inside a capsule since I was born. In one capsule, there was a newborn baby, and in the adjacent capsule, there was a girl a bit older than you, Unni.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“I mean it literally.”

Name turned her head towards Yoonseul.

The distance between their faces was so close that they could hear each other’s breathing clearly.

“I also wished, just like you, that people would recognize me. That I was here. That I was so vividly alive.”

In a world where living was harder than dying, Name managed to survive.

And until she conveyed all of that story to Yoonseul, the night was still long.