Chapter 200

“Then, Edu, we’ll be stepping out. Please let us know if anything comes up.”

“Yes, thank you.”

A polite bow towards the two who were excusing themselves.

With a gentle smile, the Dean and Freya left the room, leaving just me and the alien who goes by the name of Bogeoni alone.

“Hooook! This spicy kick…! Salty-sweet! Yeah! This is what I wanted to eat!”

The one-eyed alien in front was uttering exclamations of awe while savoring each dish placed before them.

Tears were even streaming down their face, making the act almost pitiful to watch. But after waiting in vain for what seemed like forever, I cautiously opened my mouth to speak.

“Bogeoni.”

“Hnggg, it’s delicious….”

“Bogeoni? Didn’t you hear me?”

“Ah, sorry.”

Only now reacting, Bogeoni.

The source of information. They weren’t intentional, but they were the ones who, my friend from Earth, indirectly caused me to be reincarnated into this world called AOE.

“Over the past few decades, I’ve been called by another name, so the name ‘Bogeoni’ feels strange now.”

“What? Few decades? What are you talking about?”

“Ah, I should’ve told you from the start. I’ve been in this world for a few decades already.”

As they said this, Bogeoni raised their fingers one by one, counting off the years.

“It’s been about 40 years now.”

“What? 40 years?!”

My eyes widened involuntarily at the staggering number.

As for Bogeoni, who had just said this, they simply nodded their head, reacting as though it wasn’t a big deal.

“What exactly happened?”

“Curious? Well, let me tell you…”

With a grin, Bogeoni opened their mouth and suddenly struck an exaggerated pose, lifting their arms and flexing as if showing off strength, trying various poses.

It was like they were setting the stage for a grand speech.

After continuing these incomprehensible actions, they returned to their seat and spoke.

“To put it simply, I’ve been enduring hardships for 40 years.”

“…What? You didn’t say anything!”

“Oi, catch on, Jeong Eun-woo! Ah, here, I mean Edu! Catch on Edu!”

“??? ”

Bogeoni, now with a serious look on their face.

“You see, people are nothing but random extras. Especially the stories about ugly male characters, they don’t get any attention.”

“Hey, I asked because I was curious.”

“Oi, why keep putting me in dangerous situations? I’m going to live a life as a great supporting character, slim and long-lasting!”

“…Hm, okay.”

They remain stubborn in strange areas, but it’s still the same old person.

“By the way, why did you become an alien?”

“Ah, this? When you stopped responding to KakaoTalk, I thought you must’ve done something big, so I followed the link you sent me.”

“You too?”

“Yeah, problem was, as you know, I’m clumsy. Without the confidence to carve it neatly, I ended up making an exaggerated comedic character.”

Suddenly, tears streamed down Bogeoni’s face, like chicken droppings.

“Hell… If I’d known this was the body I was going to reincarnate into, there’s no way I would have made it look like this… Nungnng! Ngeu-a-a!”

Even while moaning mournfully, their hands were busy grabbing food and eating.

“By the way, Edu, I have something I’m curious about.”

“What is it?”

“Why is the North Pole still intact?”

“The North Pole? What do you mean by that, suddenly?”

“The North Pole, don’t you know? If you’re reincarnated into TS, it’s common sense to go crazy and destroy the North Pole!”

“Huh? What are you talking about shaking?”

Instead of answering my question, Bogeoni pointed somewhere with their finger.

Following that finger, I saw…

“Damn you! What are you saying?!”

“Why are you so surprised? There are curvy, bouncy sisters around, and even those aggressively flirting with the ‘Nungnng’ charm, and they’re all pretty too. That sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“That doesn’t matter when it comes to those two!”

“Eh? You look like you don’t get it.”

Even as they spoke, Bogeoni shook their head. But I caught a strange sense of inappropriateness in their words.

“By the way, what do you mean curvy and bouncy? Aren’t you supposed to be into younger ones?”

Surely this was not a word Bogeoni would ever dare to say back when we’d joke about “buns” and they’d always respond with an “Eh-hei”.

A playful smile spread across Bogeoni’s face after hearing my question.

“Hahaha, Edu, I have come to an enlightenment while floating in the distant universe: without the buns, ‘Nungnng’ doesn’t exist! Nungnng becomes the buns, and the buns create more Nungnng for me! This is the virtuous cycle of Nungnng!”

“…”

“Will you stop looking at me like a bird watching a madman? I’m not crazy.”

That’s an unconvincing persuasion from Bogeoni.

“Hmph. Well, it seems you’ve suffered a lot, so I’ll let it slide, but don’t say things like that in the future. Don’t look at the people around me with weird eyes.”

“What are you talking about? I know my place, alright? I wouldn’t do something like hypnosis or things like Kim Tae-yang. In fact, I just want to watch others have a go, and I have no intention of getting involved myself.”

Bogeoni answered with a remarkably serious expression.

“Eh? Well…”

When I see this, it’s definitely them, but their appearance looks like it’s screaming “I’m an alien,” making me feel just a little peculiar.

“So, stop worrying unnecessarily. How about it, are you enjoying being Nungnng? Are you spoiled and getting cute attention?”

“Hey, how could I possibly do something so embarrassing.”

While I’ve grown quite familiar with physical contact, willingly seeking attention is a whole other matter.

I’ve half-accidentally acted like that in similar ways before, but I have no intention of actively seeking attention.

“WHAT?!”

Whether genuinely surprised or not, Bogeoni stopped eating food non-stop.

With an incredibly serious face, Bogeoni crossed their arms and stared at me.

“Did you really mean that?”

“B, But why are you getting so serious, it’s scary.”

“GOAL!”

“Ugh!?”

My body instinctively shrank back at the thunderous roar.

“Truly, forgetting how to act cute and adorable means death for one who used to be Nungnng!”

“You don’t need to use that line.”

“Eh-hei, let me indulge in an old routine once in a while. But seriously, why do you bother?”

“Why what?”

“You know, your actions. It seems like you’re doing it because of your gender from Earth. Aren’t you a small, cute girl now? Why tie yourself to your gender from Earth? Is your gender stamped into your soul or something?”

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, Bogeoni transformed into a wise elder, fully equipped with convincing arguments.

“Isn’t that right?”

“Right…”

“Exactly. There is no need to build a steel wall, is there? Enjoy opportunities when they arise. To be honest, it’s not so easy for people to change genders. There are plenty of people who spend their money in Thailand traveling.”

“Hmm, I’ve heard that too, but…”

“Hey, this isn’t just about a change in form, but also about becoming a cute girl who has also become younger! That’s something money can’t buy! And you aren’t enjoying it? Tsk tsk…”

Bogeoni clicked their tongue and sighed.

Listening to all this made me feel, for some reason, like I was missing out on something.

“Is that right?”

“Right, I tell you. If I were you, I’d go mad with indulging in my Nungnng life, basking in all the cuteness and attention. Truly enviable….”

“Isn’t that just because you’re shameless?”

“Oi, I will sue you for defamation by pointing out the truth.”

“You’re an alien, so that probably doesn’t apply, right?”

“Damn it! That’s alien discrimination!”

Silly talk continued.

“Anyway, what was on your mind when you surrendered? It wasn’t just to eat, was it?”

“Don’t even say it. You only say that because you don’t know the dietary preferences of aliens. What about their aesthetic sensibilities? Ugh, they’re so hideous…”

Bogeoni shivered all over.

“But anyway, like you said, it’s not entirely the reason. Even though I was faced with an uncertain situation, I couldn’t participate in killing people. That’s why I decided to betray them.”

Saying this, Bogeoni pulled something out from within their robes.

A small chip-like object was visible.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a chip full of classified information about the aliens. I think you probably know most of it, but it contains everything from trivial details like the location of the transit point to the Empire’s hidden secrets.”

“Wow? How did you manage to get that?”

“I gathered it myself. There wasn’t much else for me to do. As I said earlier, their forms of entertainment were torture due to differing aesthetic senses…”

Bogeoni sighed deeply.

Just then, Bogeoni seemed to recall something and lifted their head with an “Ah.”

“Right, there was something else I wanted to tell you.”

“Something to tell?”

“Yeah, didn’t you hear about the guard fleet that’s been allocated?”

“Yeah, I know about that.”

“In relation to that, there were rumors circling in the Imperial Army, though the supply unit I worked at didn’t hear much, but the fact that it reached me means it’s almost certainly true.”

“What rumors?”

“You know the Crown Prince, right? Ah, now the Emperor. They say that kid is leading the fleet himself to make up for this failure.”

“What? The Emperor already?”

“What?”