What

What

 

Chae-a seems to want to emphasize that she won’t give me up no matter what.

Whenever Seo-rin tries to take me.

She pouts and shakes her head quickly.

“No! Ha-eun is going to live here…!”

As I’m being dragged along by Chae-a, I stare blankly at the junkyard that’s about to become (or not) my new home.

It might be a bit difficult, but I think I can endure it if Chae-a and Seo-rin are with me, so I steel myself.

Seo-rin picks up both Chae-a and me, and says.

“I’m sorry, so… please calm down.”

At those words, Chae-a glances at Seo-rin, blinking her eyes.

Then she nods and says triumphantly.

“Okay!”

I wonder if she really understood?

I’m not sure, but I don’t think so, I thought as I was patting Chae-a’s head.

The suspicious viewer sent us a new message.

[RichAndSuspicious – Since you’ll have to decorate the lair anyway, it might be better to take what you want.]

Indeed, as they said, since there’s nothing to decorate the lair with, it would be good to take things from here.

As I was thinking that and about to pick up the desk I had seen earlier.

“Meong!”

The little black ones that had disappeared suddenly jump out of Seo-rin’s arms.

As I look at the little black ones, wondering when they got there, I pat each of their heads.

The little black ones easily lift the desk I had been eyeing earlier and start following me.

‘Could they be trying to carry it for me?’

A bit surprised by this behavior, I look at the little black ones.

The little black ones bounced their bodies as if telling us to trust them, responding to my gaze.

Grateful for the little black ones, I bowed in thanks, then went behind to push the desk, struggling.

‘It’s a shame to leave it all to the little black ones. I should help too.’

As I’m using all my strength to push the desk, Seo-rin easily lifts it and says to me.

“I’ll carry things like this, unnie. Is there anything else you want to take?”

“… It’s okay! I can do it too.”

“No, adults should do this kind of thing. I’ll do it, unnie!”

Aren’t I the adult here, not Seo-rin…?

I thought she would consider me an adult since I often showed mature behavior, but…

The truth is, I couldn’t help but be shocked when I realized I was being treated like a baby.

‘… Why?’

Don’t I look like an adult to anyone…?

Not understanding, I stared blankly at Seo-rin, and she smiled as if finding me cute and said.

“Then let’s go. Chae-a, bring your favorite plastic bottle if you have one.”

“Yeah! Got it!”

Unable to shake off my confusion, I grabbed Seo-rin’s pant leg and trudged along.

*

“Woah! It’s sparkling! It’s so pretty, like stars!”

When we returned to the place where we were going to create the lair, what we saw was a crystal floating in the air, emitting a bright white light.

The crystal was sparkling so much that anyone could tell it was fully activated.

As I approached, it shone even brighter and swayed from side to side.

‘It seems alive.’

While I was giggling, thinking it looked like a small bird despite being in the shape of a crystal.

As if reading my mind, the crystal snuggled into my arms and said something.

 

[Would you like to create a lair?]

I nodded in response, meaning ‘of course’.

The crystal flashed brightly and instantly created walls made of wooden planks around us.

“Woah!”

Chae-a, who was watching this, looked around with sparkling eyes.

Then, smiling brightly, she ran over to me and whispered in a small voice.

“I like it because it seems to be in the middle of the mountain…!”

In the middle of the mountain?

Was there such a thing?

While I was pondering what it could be, a shocking thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘… A bathroom?’

I blinked as I realized there are bathrooms in the middle of mountains for hikers.

‘Plus, they’re often built like small cabins.’

Could the place Chae-a mentioned be a bathroom?

I tried to deny it, thinking it couldn’t be.

“There are lots of bugs too, so it’s a place Chae-a likes!”

I couldn’t help but flinch as Chae-a delivered the final blow.

As I looked at Chae-a awkwardly smiling.

Chae-a starts stacking plastic bottles in a line while giggling.

“It’s pretty.”

I pat Chae-a’s head to show approval.

Then I looked around the lair, lost in thought.

‘So how should I decorate it?’

Since it’s cabin-style, should I make it cozy? Or since the lair is inside a building, should I match the building’s atmosphere?

Thinking it would be fun either way, I try to calm my swaying tail.

The crystal in my arms sparkles and gives me advice.

[If you want to expand or reduce the size of the lair, please let me know. I’ll take care of it quickly.]

Is that possible?

Thinking it was amazing, I nodded and then pointed to the hallway area, asking for it to be expanded.

[Ta-da!]

The lair was instantly expanded to where I had pointed.

I patted the incredibly impressive crystal on the head to show that it did a good job.

The crystal started to wiggle excitedly.

‘Then shall we start decorating in earnest…!’

Thinking that the work would become easier, I rolled up the sleeves of my animal pajamas and steeled my resolve.

*

Decorating the lair was incredibly fun.

Of course, since there wasn’t much furniture, it was impossible to decorate densely.

Still, being able to place whatever I wanted wherever I wanted was quite thrilling.

‘And above all, I think I decorated it well!’

Confident that others would surely praise how great it looked, I turned to look at Seo-rin expectantly.

Seo-rin gave me a compliment with a very unenthusiastic expression.

“W-wow. Chae-a and Ha-eun’s artistic sense is… q-quite something?”

“……”

Could it be that it’s not good?

After seeing Seo-rin’s reaction, I glanced around my lair, but no matter how I looked at it, it seemed fine, so I could only tilt my head in confusion.

‘Is it not?’

Not sure, I brought my face close to the screen to ask the viewers for their opinion.

“How is it…?”

At my question, the chat window went quiet for a moment, then suddenly started scrolling up quickly.

[GradStudentRecruiting – You’re the prettiest in the world, Ha-eun hehehehe]

[DontWannaWork – Ahahahahahaha no way, that’s really cute hahaha]

[WantToWagTail – Hahahaha everyone shh!!! Ha-eun really decorates well!]

The reactions were a bit ambiguous, but.

Thinking that it’s good if it’s good, I grabbed my swaying tail and started prancing around proudly.

‘When I get new furniture later, I’ll decorate again.’

Thinking about how exciting it will be when it’s finished, I was giggling when.

Chae-a speaks to me with a very pleased expression.

“It’s just like the castle, I weally like it! It’s a treasure castle!”

“Huh?”

“It’s all sparkly…!”

Wasn’t the castle a garbage dump for Chae-a?

I froze for a moment, feeling like I had learned a truth I shouldn’t have known.

But deciding not to believe it, I shook my head quickly.

‘… There’s no way it could be a garbage dump when I decorated it so nicely!’

While I was nodding, thinking it couldn’t be true since other people said it was pretty and most importantly, I liked it.

Someone was walking towards us from behind, making a ‘haha’ laughing sound.

“Kids, Uncle is here.”

I heard the voice and it seems to be Spirit User Uncle.

To express gratitude to Spirit User Uncle who often helps us, I stepped out of the lair holding Chae-a and Seo-rin’s hands.

Spirit User Uncle, holding a black plastic bag full of ice cream, spoke to us.

“I heard you were making a lair, so I bought some snacks. Come on, everyone eat while you work.”

It was perfect timing as I was feeling hungry.

I was bowing deeply to Spirit User Uncle, feeling very grateful for the ice cream he bought.

Spirit User Uncle chuckled at my behavior and glanced at my lair.

Feeling proud, I looked at Spirit User Uncle with a ‘Isn’t it pretty?’ expression.

Spirit User Uncle patted the edge of the lair with his palm and said to me.

“Are you cleaning up trash to make a lair? Wait, I’m good at taking things apart.”

“……?”

“But still, making kids clean up trash doesn’t seem right. Hey Seo-rin, who’s in charge here? I think we need to have a word with them.”

At Spirit User Uncle’s words, Seo-rin flinched and quickly waved her hands, saying.

“T-trash? Isn’t it really pretty? I was amazed when I saw it.”

“This? Ah… I heard that gangster or industrial or whatever style is trendy these days.”

Shocked by this revelation, I stood there with my mouth open, staring blankly.

Seeing this, Seo-rin seemed to realize something was wrong and hurriedly approached Spirit User Uncle, saying.

“This isn’t a junkyard, it’s a lair that Ha-eun and Chae-a built.”

“… What.”

At those words, Spirit User Uncle closed his eyes tightly and turned his head away.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the Hunter community.

Recently, the community has been flooded with updates on the terrorist investigation and Ha-eun’s memes.

Amid rumors that this is more of a Ha-eun community than a hunter community, one post appeared.

—

[The Rare Destroyer Descends Again Today

– Today, as always, the Rare Destroyer teacher smashes Ha-eun’s rare items…

Last time, he at least had some conscience left and made excuses that it was a mistake.

Now it seems his conscience has completely disappeared, as he tries to destroy the rare item while teabagging and calling it a garbage dump (attempted)

]

ㄴ LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL You should say “here it comes” when Ha-eun brings a A-frame carrier later.

ㄴ I’m Ha-eun and this is true.

ㄴ Ha-eun doesn’t talk like this.

ㄴ What are you two doing? LOL LOL LOL But really, it does look a bit strange LOL.

ㄴ Is Ha-eun a stray cat? Why does she like such interior design? LOL LOL LOL

—

Recruiting graduate students… No, Han A-rin.

She shouldn’t laugh, but she kept covering her mouth with her hand as laughter kept bursting out.

It was both cute and funny, so she chuckled for a while.

Then she took a deep breath and shook her head.

‘Ah… I should buy the furniture separately.’

The current interior was truly disastrous, and she felt it couldn’t be left like this.

She nodded, deciding to start by changing the furniture.