Chapter 202

“I’m going to put up a villa in Seoul.”

“Your tone.”

“…I’m going to put up a building in Seoul, meow.”

“Hey! Can’t you be a bit more cat-like? Just adding ‘meow’ at the end doesn’t make you a cat!”

“Do you want to die?”

“Please refrain from using cheat codes.”

I really want to kill him. Of course, the penalty time is just about one round. Just one round, but let’s think carefully.

This game was the fourth round. That meant… there could very well be a fifth, sixth, and so on. And additionally, I was in a dangerous situation in this round as well.

“…Why is this happening? Isn’t it supposed to be an automatic win if I just put it up in Seoul?”

“Well, I did say that, but if you keep playing dirty, the penalties in the next round will be upgraded.”

“If I win, you better be prepared.”

“Even if you win, I don’t think I’ll come in last.”

Ugh, it’s frustrating but she’s right. Eun-a was only eating and just playing Monopoly, but she was always making the right strategic decisions. Considering how smart she was to begin with, it wasn’t strange, but the problem was that Eun-a’s skills were good too.

The game was basically based on luck. It meant that with good luck, anyone could win. But Eun-a had an uncommonly good streak of luck.

Of course, at some point, bad luck might strike, but at least for this round, it wasn’t happening. Even Ji Kang-hyeon seemed to have escaped from bad luck; unlike previous rounds, he was having quite a decent run of luck.

Currently, Eun-a was in first place, Ji Kang-hyeon in second, Mira in third, and I was in last. To escape from last place, I had no choice but to target Mira. While it wasn’t a game where you could outright target someone, there were times when you could specify a target when drawing cards.

If all went well, I could take Mira out and escape from last place.

Sorry, Mira…! I’ll bet everything on this card!

~

First place Eun-a, second place Mira, third place Ji Kang-hyeon, and I was last.

…Huh?

“I forgot that using cat language means it becomes an automatic loss in Korean. So, I won’t make that mistake again this time.”

Eun-a smiled at me. No, I was sure I had a chance of escaping last place, but I targeted Mira awkwardly and she ended up hitting a jackpot.

And just like that, I was completely ruined.

“Shouldn’t we think about the time limit for this penalty?”

“Wait a minute, Eun-a.”

“We implicitly agreed on the next round… but we didn’t set any rules.”

“Eun-a, let’s just talk about it.”

“Of course, we should talk.”

It sounded like a statement that wouldn’t end with mere words. Eun-a was looking at me with the most entertaining expression in the world. And soon, my sentence was pronounced.

“For today, you have to use honorifics with me and Mira and call us older sisters.”

“Hey!!!!!”

It’s spring.

~

“Mira, unnie…? Can you please just let me off this one time? If I target you now, I’ll be bankrupt.”

“Sorry, Seol-a. The world of competition is a harsh one, you know?”

Again, last place.

I felt like I was losing my mind. It couldn’t get more humiliating than this. Having to refer to Eun-a and Mira as older sisters was horrifying. If it were about half a year ago, I would have flipped the board and kicked them all out, telling them not to come back.

But rules are rules. At my age now, it was too late to ruin the atmosphere by sulking and refusing. All three of them were nice, so they would listen to me (though I don’t know about Ji Kang-hyeon), but that was truly a tantrum only an elementary schooler would throw. My actions to protect my dignity ultimately ended up undermining it instead.

For that reason, I had no choice but to reluctantly follow the penalty.

I could have just kept my mouth shut and said nothing, but that would be too petty. Besides, Ji Kang-hyeon and Eun-a were chattering beside me and I couldn’t stand it.

Still, this round had Mira in first place, so she probably wouldn’t do anything weird like Eun-a, right?

“Well then, what kind of penalty should we give to Seol?”

“Mira, I have a good idea.”

“Seo Eun-a, stop!”

“Did you just call me Seo Eun-a?”

“…Eun-a unnie. Can you please stop?”

“Because you asked like that, I’ll let you off this time.”

Eun-a was smiling for some reason. Anyway, to regain my dignity, I blocked Eun-a’s intervention. Please, Eun-a, let’s keep it normal. There are still reasonable penalties, right? I don’t know what they are, but still.

“Ah, I have a great idea.”

Please.

“The only one at risk of being sent on an errand outside is Ji Kang-hyeon, right?”

An errand? I’m saved. Truly, it’s only you, Mira. But when did you stop speaking formally to Ji Kang-hyeon?

“So, I’m getting thirsty from talking, go buy drinks for four people.”

“Wow, what is this? Boring.”

Eun-a’s complaints were none of my concern. I was just grateful that I wouldn’t have to do something weird. I was saved. Really saved.

“Indeed, Mira knows what she’s doing…!”

“Mira?”

“…Indeed, unnie Mira knows something.”

Anyway, just stepping outside for a bit is no big deal. Sure, I’ll call them unnie a few times. It’s much better than calling them unnie for the next round…, I thought.

Before Mira could say anything next.

“Instead, you need to wear that pink outfit before you go.”

“I was counting on you, unnie!!”

“Wow, that’s brutal.”

If it’s brutal, stop it, Seo Eun-a!

A strong sense of betrayal echoed in my chest. Mira, I really trusted you, but how could you! But no matter how much I despair, reality doesn’t change. All I had left was the fact that Mira had betrayed me, and now I had to go dressed in that ridiculous outfit to a convenience store.

Even Seo Eun-a was grinning, seemingly without any guilt about this cruel penalty.

“Why? It’s cute.”

“The lack of malice is scarier.”

For Eun-a, who was unbothered by this penalty, this is really…

“No way….”

And meanwhile, Ji Kang-hyeon was also being a nuisance next to me.

“Hehe, seeing you in last place earlier was such a sight, and now it’s a whole different level.”

“Do you want to die?”

“Eh-heh-heh, give it a try.”

There was something I forgot. This kid was basically a natural-born elementary schooler. A first-year high schooler, he was truly just a child. He had the perfect talent for irritating others and was the age of an infant.

And that Ji Kang-hyeon targeted me.

“Ah, am I supposed to call someone who refers to others as unnie, ‘brother’? Isn’t that a bit strange? From now on, how about you just call me older brother instead? What do you say?”

“Shut up, you guys.”

Losing sight of the penalty, my body instinctively lunged out. If I didn’t crush that kid’s shins right now, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hold back. The problem was, why was that kid so fast?

“Stop, you punk!”

“If I stop, you’ll hit me, right? A high school boy getting beaten by a little girl wouldn’t be manly at all!”

“I’ll kill you!”

Ji Kang-hyeon was really agile. The house wasn’t that big, so playing tag wouldn’t really work, but I couldn’t catch him no matter how hard I tried; was I too slow, or was he just too fast?

Eventually, while I was gasping for air, Mira came up to me.

“Okay, let’s stop playing around and do the penalty now, shall we?”

Ah.

“Um… I don’t think I can go outside right now, Mira.”

“If you had called me ‘unnie’ just now, I might have forgiven you once.”

“…Mira unnie, please save me.”

“It’s too late.”

Mira was smiling. I was dragged into the room, and since I was completely worn out, Mira changed my clothes under the pretense of helping me. It was humiliating.

“It’s dirty….”

“What did you even do?”

“I’ll be back…”

In the end, all I could leave was one self-deprecating joke. Stepping outside in a landmine-style full set of clothing made me feel like I wanted to die. Even I knew I shouldn’t be going outside dressed like this. There’s no doubt I’d be photographed within five minutes of stepping out.

Should I prepare for a lawsuit in advance…?

…Let’s think positively. After all, I’ve accepted my changes, so I should gradually get used to wearing this kind of outfit. It might not be something that only I don’t know about; it could very well be a common outfit. I knew of gothic lolita fashion, and this was somewhat similar; perhaps…

No, there’s no way someone would be wearing something like this anyway.

Even gothic lolita wasn’t something most people wore regularly.

I might have been slightly losing my mind from being ridiculed. When I made it to the busy street with the convenience store, I could feel all the eyes around me turning towards me. Ugh… I could easily predict what kind of post would be made about me online today.

I was so embarrassed I felt heat rising to my face. My face was probably bright red. I walked with my head down, avoiding the gazes around me. Of course, just because I wasn’t looking didn’t mean that others couldn’t see me.

“Welcome.”

As I entered the convenience store, I was greeted with unenthusiastic, lifeless greeting. I didn’t usually bother recalling individual faces of part-timers, so I couldn’t tell if this was someone I had seen before. However, the shock on the part-timer’s face upon seeing me was enough for me to remember it.

I deliberately ignored the part-timer’s shocked gaze and made my way to the drinks section to pick something out. They hadn’t said what to buy, so I should be able to pick whatever I like. For starters, soda and… was there anything else terrible? I hoped to find a drink potent enough to crush my soul. I pondered for a bit, but there really was nothing better than the steady sellers. I chose Deja Wa and Mecca Cola.

I picked one normal cola for myself. Pepsi. Personally, I preferred Pepsi, as Coca-Cola’s flavor was too strong for me.

After selecting everything, I brought my choices to the counter. But why was that guy on his phone?

“Please give me a bag.”

“Oh, yes!”

He wasn’t out of it at least. He managed to ring me up fine. Should I at least give him a warning?

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Can you please be reasonable?”

“…Yes.”

Good, good. As long as he keeps it reasonable, I won’t go as far as suing him. Let’s keep it civil.

After finishing my purchase and stepping out of the convenience store, suddenly all the gazes of the people around me were on me. Holding back my embarrassment, I lowered my head and tried to go home. Actually, someone even approached me in the middle of it.

“Excuse me… are you Seol-guk, the writer…?”

“I’m not that person.”

I left those words behind and quickly walked away. Fortunately, it seemed like the other person was uncertain, so if I said that, they probably wouldn’t think it was me…?

Thinking it through, it was unlikely that I would ever wear something like this. People might think I was cosplaying someone. I hoped so.

Anyway, it wasn’t that long a distance, so getting home didn’t take too long. Relieved to see my house from afar, I slowed down. As I slowly returned home, suddenly a car pulled up in front of my house. It was a car I didn’t recognize.

Wondering who it was, I approached to check, and at that moment I froze as I saw someone getting out of the car—someone I definitely shouldn’t be seeing here.

“…Are you really wearing that outfit?”

Gang Hwa-won, what are you doing out here?