Chapter 417

There is a moment when the once noisy classroom suddenly falls silent.

Some students tremble, saying that a ghost who successfully fixed its position in the coordinate system has visited the class, while others shout phrases like, “Let’s go to the Digimon world” or “Open the dimensional door.”

Usually, everyone would just laugh it off, but this time the silence continued for quite a while.

“No Name?”

“Whose younger sibling is NaeMe?”

“What’s going on? I didn’t hear, let me know.”

“Someone just mentioned NaeMe or something.”

Saetbyeol and Bae Dahui could only be flustered at the same time.

The tiny voice that was barely audible to Saetbyeol quickly spread throughout the room.

“Ah, I need to go to the bathroom. Want to come with me?”

“Uh, yeah…!”

Saetbyeol, well aware of her lack of skill in lying, left her seat for the moment.

Saetbyeol awkwardly cleared her throat as she settled in a corner of the hallway.

“Sorry. I just wanted to quietly ask you.”

“Dahui, who did you hear that from?”

“I heard it from the kids in Class 4 after my biology exam ended.”

Saetbyeol’s family relationships were unknown to anyone except the teacher.

She barged into Class 4, where students were busy studying, to figure out the source of the rumor.

Despite there being less than 15 minutes remaining in the exam, Class 4 was just as noisy as Class 3.

Cast under attention, Saetbyeol raised her voice.

“Who’s the one spreading rumors behind the scenes? I heard everything, so confess quickly!”

Following the arrows of students’ gazes, Saetbyeol’s eyes moved.

‘This one seems to have heard it from that one. And that one from this one.’

Those who avoid eye contact are the culprits.

Saetbyeol approached a group of girls without hesitation.

“Hey, it’s you guys, right?”

One girl flinched.

She revealed her teeth because the top predator of the school’s hierarchy had bared her fangs.

Saetbyeol had it all: physical attractiveness, wealth, confidence, assertion capabilities, verbal skills, social skills, and extraordinary athletic abilities.

She dominated above the so-called delinquents.

Nonetheless, students who knew her kind nature confessed the truth.

“I just happened to hear it from someone else.”

“From whom?”

“I’m not quite sure who that someone is.”

“Not sure?”

“It’s not a lie, I really don’t know…! I was using the teachers’ bathroom and heard the teachers talking. They said you and NaeMe live in the same house as family.”

Saetbyeol stared intently at the girl.

According to NaeMe, one could determine whether someone is lying by looking into their eyes.

‘Hmm. I can’t tell at all.’

Unfortunately, Saetbyeol didn’t possess such a skill.

After finishing her interrogation, she looked around at the buzzing atmosphere and let out a deep sigh.

Since the rumor had already reached her ears, it must have spread far and wide.

‘No matter how hard I try to stop it, more strange rumors are just going to circulate.’

It was only a matter of time before she got caught since they lived near the high school.

Lying wouldn’t help.

Beyond simply resigning herself to understand, she thoughtfully considered the aftermath.

Saetbyeol rummaged through her pocket and pulled out her phone.

The girl who feared she might be bullied clung to Saetbyeol’s wrist.

“Ouch. Let go of this.”

“I’m really sorry…! I made a mistake. Just forgive me this once.”

“Here, take a look at this.”

It wasn’t the scary older brothers’ contact information.

Saetbyeol flipped the phone to show a short GIF.

Friends around her craned their necks to check the phone and began to gather quickly.

“Wow, this is amazing! Saetbyeol, what’s your secret!”

“No way.”

“Is it real? But how? The last name is different.”

“What is it? Don’t push; I can’t see!”

“Whoa, that’s enough.”

Saetbyeol swiftly snatched her phone back.

Students who had seen the GIF all gasped in admiration.

“Who was that?”

“No Name.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But it’s super cute. Totally a fairy.”

“Please, let me see it too…!”

Except for about ten students, the rest protested vigorously.

“Now understand? If I hear any more rumors about my little sister, you’ll really be in trouble! If you keep quiet and don’t spread rumors, I’ll show you things like this once in a while. Though I know you probably won’t keep quiet anyway.”

At the very least, she hoped to prevent and suppress the absurd rumors.

Having left Class 4 in disarray, Saetbyeol returned to Class 3 of the first year.

“It’s noisy in here too.”

This time, she took action with the ‘No Name Unreleased GIF Prestige Edition’.

Wearing adorable blue bunny pajamas, with sparkling, jewel-like eyes wide open, and looking up while rubbing her palms together, NaeMe had students’ heart rates soaring into triple digits.

A hand appeared from outside the portrait, pinching her cheek, making her fair skin stretch like mochi.

“Whoa….”

“Seeing her like this, she really is a baby.”

“How did such a precious video come to be? Didn’t she hate showing off her cute side?”

“That’s absolutely a secret!”

Whether male or female, everyone’s mouths dropped open in awe.

In less than ten seconds, Saetbyeol turned off her phone.

Sighs of disappointment erupted all around, just like in the other class.

“Enough, enough! Time to prepare for the exam; stop showing more.”

“There’s still self-study time left!”

“Is No Name really your sister? Do you two live together?”

“Is that even a question? If they’re family, of course, they live together.”

“Please, just a photo… I feel like I need to see No Name’s face to do well on this math exam, wheeze…!”

“Is this a recent photo? Seems like things are going well. Thank goodness…!”

“There was such a commotion about her dropping out.”

“I heard she already dropped out.”

“Wow, really? That’s such a pity…”

“Saetbyeol, let’s talk in detail after the exam. Okay? I’ll buy you pasta today.”

Various enticements and lobbying came toward Saetbyeol.

Feeling a bit pleased, she collected her breath and spoke confidently.

“Hmm, later.”

“When later?”

“How eager are you? I’ll show one picture for every ten positive comments on our NaeMe’s VTube. By the way, I don’t take anything under five lines.”

“Ten is easy. If I leave a thousand comments, will you show a hundred?”

“Ehehe, I have hundreds. What do you want to see? But you all better not go around claiming I’m NaeMe’s older sister. If you do, I’ll seal this in the gallery forever.”

“Hey, did everyone hear that? Keep your fingers in check, everyone! We’re using good things just for ourselves.”

“Saetbyeol, don’t you have to get a hundred on the math exam today?”

“I’ve just seen an award-winning sister for the first time in my life.”

The last subject to conclude the year was math.

The students of Class 3, Year 1 at Gu Ryong High School seemed to have figured out Saetbyeol’s secret for soaring grades.

How could one possibly not study with No Name as a younger sibling?

Saetbyeol, who had struggled to keep up with classes at the beginning of the semester, was no longer a sight to behold.

When the math exam paper was distributed, Saetbyeol quickly finished the first page.

Shwip—

A student sitting behind Saetbyeol listened intently as her exam paper turned.

“Impressive. How can she be doing so well in less than a year? She must have put in a lot of effort.”

For just a moment, such thoughts crossed their mind.

Scritch—

From the second page, Saetbyeol encountered a wall and began to furiously roll her pen.

Math was still a challenge for her.

* * *

[Yoonseul, I’m asking you to do this despite disgrace. I’m not asking for wine or whiskey, can’t you just bring me a single can of beer? My brain is already fully developed; it’s fine, trust me! My digestive system has been trained with potions so it’ll hold up.]

[Uh, those eyes won’t work on me! NaeMe is still a baby; wait until she’s an adult to drink!]

As soon as her eyes closed, the sounds of past black history rang from the entrance door outside.

It seemed like they turned up the volume as much as possible on purpose.

“Fuhihi, I’m back! Today’s exam was tough.”

“Saetbyeol. Didn’t you delete that video? Delete it right now.”

“Oops, you have sharp hearing. I just got home; how did you know I popped out?”

“I told you to delete it.”

“Shut up.”

I jumped up to snatch the phone.

Saetbyeol also raised her hands up high in response.

It was unwise to react to such jests as it only fueled Saetbyeol’s excitement.

I crossed my arms and tapped one foot, waiting patiently.

“Hey, how hard can it be to wait nine years? I’m also a first-year high school student, living without drinking.”

“You drank with your friends on the school trip, remember?”

“Ugh…!”

“Fine. Don’t ask again. What was I thinking trusting Yoonseul?”

“Should I play the beginning part too? Wait a moment.”

[Now, repeat after me. NaeMe is]

[NaeMe is.]

[Beer]

[Beer]

[I want to drink!]

[I want to drink!]

[No, that’s not it! It’s I want to drink!]

[Haah…]

I couldn’t hold back any longer.

[Spell Casting: Arabesque Knot – Water]

From the palm of my hand, a golden stream shot out in a straight line.

In an instant, the viscous and elastic line wrapped around Saetbyeol’s phone.

“Ah, my phone!”

I yanked the line tightly, snatching the sticky phone.

A six-digit password?

It’s obviously her birthday.

[360409]

Is she really crazy enough to set her birthday as the password?

[510409]

Or maybe the day Adella first emerged from the game?

[510315]

Just a fool?

[111111]

“Stop it, sister! If I get it wrong again, the phone will be locked for a minute!”

[430611]

“Ah, got it.”

“Oh?”

I immediately entered the gallery.

Saetbyeol gasped and rushed toward me.

“Even couples don’t inspect each other’s phones! Respect privacy!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t delete it. But why do you have so many photos of me? How many did you take of me while sleeping?”

Saetbyeol had taken selfies with filters, trying to look deadly attractive, but they didn’t catch my eye.

Being civilized, I knew that deleting photos from someone’s phone wouldn’t make much sense.

After all, there must be a backup somewhere.

I just wanted to clearly see what types of photos were there.

As the spell casting time ended, the sticky cobwebs dissolved into particles.

“Don’t set your password to your birthday. What will you do if it gets exposed?”

“That’s the thing…”

Saetbyeol clammed up.

I continued to browse through the gallery and spoke.

“You’re already exposed. So, what can we do?”

“Uh, are you okay, sister?”

“What difference would it make for me? It’s only you who would suffer. Was there nothing serious at school?”

“Why do you think I’d be the one to suffer?”

Saetbyeol cut me off coldly.

With the sudden shift in atmosphere, I switched off the phone and locked eyes with her.

“Whatever.”

“I’m really asking out of genuine curiosity. Why would I be the one suffering?”

“I just thought that could happen. There are those who lump everyone together with family and speak ill.”

“No, that’s not true. And you’re seriously mistaken. My friends and people don’t dislike you.”

“Then, I’m relieved.”

“Listen to me carefully. In fact, I wish for you to come back even more. You seem to have a strong sense of pride, but an extremely low self-esteem?”

That one phrase from Saetbyeol hit like a dagger.

Though she might’ve intended to compliment me and make me feel special, the jarring remark still stung.

“I’ll say it plainly. You’re cute, and all my friends agree. I think something just got out today or yesterday? So I freely shared everything. I showed them pictures of me with you, and they all loved them.”

“What if I weren’t cute? Then?”

“Hypothesizing like that has no meaning! People should see you for who you are, so why twist it around? Your fans like you for you being cute, and even if they do, what’s the problem? That’s why idols exist, and that’s why cats exist.”

“Here’s the phone.”

“Okay. Anyway, I genuinely respect and like you a lot, so please don’t say that kind of stuff. I feel like I’ve become so gloomy from being stuck at home lately.”

“Should we go out then?”

“Where to?”

“Anywhere.”

*D+53*

Excluding the time last week when Professor Cheon drove me to the academy, this was practically my first outing in 53 days.

* * *

[No Name Minor Gallery]

[I now understand why No Name desperately tried to save Adella ㄷㄷ][45]

I came to know No Name’s older sister through certain channels, and she looked incredibly exotic, resembling Adella so much.

Actually, was No Name suffering from severe sis-com?