episode_0026

“Oh, it suits you so well! Yes, yes, it’s beautiful…!”

Fortunately, Gong Jeong-hoon’s reaction was completely different from when he had faced me before.

He wasn’t looking at me with disgust or cursing in his mind, but genuinely admiring.

It’s hard to believe how I can tell that just by words, but I have the unique imprint ‘Poisonous Heart’ in my status window, and thanks to that, I could hear the voice of Gong Jeong-hoon’s heart in my head.

“Wow… I-it’s really amazing… Prada-nim is here… Wow… My heart… Wow, it’s really Lurica….”

Okay, I want to kill him, but I can endure this. It’s actually a bit rewarding.

My behavior towards pretty women has been completely different from before. It seems like I see women I like and those I don’t like in a completely different light.

“Wow… Where should we have the wedding? I think I’d like to have four kids… Four daughters… Oh, Prada-nim… I should propose while driving a car on the beach….”

“Ugh….”

I barely held back a scream. Wait, what am I imagining right now? Marriage? Babies?

“At the end, when I die, if Prada-nim cries and says it was nice to be with you… Ha….”

Damn it, the imprint ‘Poisonous Heart’ that was supposed to help me is canceled. It’s a horrible mental torture imprint that even transmits disgusting thoughts directly to my head.

It has never been so difficult to fake a smile. This is mental torture.

But I have to endure… One thing is for sure, this is the first and last chance to capture Gong Jeong-hoon. This weird guy has a strange defense mechanism where if a woman does something he doesn’t like, he explodes mentally and constantly curses the woman in his mind to maintain his self-esteem.

I have to endure. Even if it feels like a waste of effort, I endure.

“S-should we go then…?”

“Oh, yes….”

And so, the meeting began, and a total of 8 people, including me, started walking on the streets of Hongdae.

The first place to go was an underground comic book store… I didn’t even know such a place existed, but it seemed familiar to these guys.

It was still a cold day, but… unlike when I came alone earlier, the street now felt warm.

“P-Prada-nim… Do you, do you know who I am?”

“M-me?”

“Oh, your clothes are so pretty… Haha….”

“I, I thought from the chat room that Prada-nim would be pretty….”

Wow… I’m so popular.

Seven otakus are surrounding me like a wall, protecting me as we walk.

The downside of moving like this is that it’s very embarrassing… but the upside is that thanks to them, I don’t feel as weird as before because the attention of people around me is limited.

I didn’t ask for this, it just happened naturally. Before I knew it, I was walking as if I were the center, surrounded like a princess or queen, and they were guiding me and taking care of me unnecessarily.

“Here… be careful, Prada-nim, the sidewalk is a bit high.”

“Oh, be careful here….”

“Oh, thank you….”

I don’t understand how they expect me to trip over a sidewalk block they point to with their hands.

It’s unbelievable every time. Are they trying to say this is an escort? With seven people?

“Um, your skin is so pale… don’t listen to those kinds of comments.”

“What… comments?”

“Like you’re Snow White…? Haha!”

“Oh, then we happen to be exactly seven… are we the seven dwarfs?”

“Haha! Prada-nim, you’re much smaller and cuter than us.”

“Oh, h-haha… that’s a… funny… joke!”

I want to kill them all.

Seven dwarfs… more like seven monsters…

No, to be precise, it’s closer to six monsters. One of them seems to be paying more attention to me than I expected.

“Hmm… cough.”

“Uh, um….”

Because my chest is big… I never thought about this, but when I walk down the street, I keep bumping into strangers.

The problem is, sometimes these otaku guys, who weren’t like that from the beginning, really accidentally touch my chest with their arms and then pretend to bump into me on purpose to touch my chest.

Every time I feel that way, a big guy like a wrestler slightly glares at me and blocks my side with his arm.

He blocks me even when I’m just walking down the street and might bump into ordinary people.

…The problem is, there’s really no words, but I can feel their gaze constantly on my chest.

Well, I guess they want to see it because my chest is so big. I understand that feeling in men.

[R-Rurika-chan’s… Prada’s chest like that… E-even if it’s a mistake… Ugh… Should I say it? No… I’ll endure it… If I say it… everyone will be scared and tense around me.]

Blushing, Fairness seemed reluctant to speak, but his constant unnecessary thoughts made him not seem quiet at all. This guy’s thoughts are strangely creepy.

Surprisingly, once I arrived at the bookstore, I hardly felt any eyes on me.

No… actually, I felt it for a brief moment after arriving.

…The fact that there is a bookstore itself is surprising to me, but my gaze was focused on the strange female character figure in front of the bookstore entrance that leads underground.

“Oh… this character… that’s it.”

“It’s the I-cup high school girl character figure of ‘Heal Me Today’.”

“They’re releasing it officially this time… I should buy it.”

“Come to think of it… does this character resemble Prada?”

“…Huh? Oh, no… right?”

I was so surprised that I made a face, then quickly covered my mouth and tried to smile innocently.

Do I resemble this kind of character? Where?

My chest is bigger, my waist is slimmer, and my hips are wider.

“Prada’s figure is amazing… right?”

“Oh, you’d look good in a ‘Heal Me Today’ cosplay.”

“Will you come for the cosplay event next time…?”

The eyes and words directed at my chest were so absurd that I didn’t respond, so more and more men approached. Of course, not everyone approached… those who introduced themselves as GND7 and Snowman8 in the chat room were standing separately and talking with Fairness.

So, it was a story that people who were not Fairness were approaching me too much and talking to me unnecessarily.

It’s annoying. And Fairness, who kept glancing at me while seemingly talking to other guys, made me even more annoyed with his inner thoughts.

[Ugh…! Prada…! Talking so much with other guys…! B-beautiful women are… good as long as they have a lot of men around them, right?!]

Damn it….

What do you want me to do? Come and talk to me.

I wish you would come and talk to me. But… besides greeting me when we first met, Fairness hasn’t said a word to me.

I keep thinking, should I talk to him now? From his glances and hesitations, it doesn’t seem like he dislikes or avoids me… so what’s the problem?

“P-Prada! If you have a manga you want to buy… can I give you one as a gift to commemorate our meeting?”

“Oh…! That’s a good idea… one book might not be enough, so I’ll buy one too….”

“Ah, no… I mean… thank you, but…”

In order to escape from the conversation with these useless and unnecessary people, I spoke openly to Gong Jeong-hoon, making sure my voice carried enough for them to hear.

“Well, I came here today because I wanted to talk about Lurica…”

“L-Lurica…?”

“If it’s L-Lurica, I would have found it interesting too, but… the Korean version hasn’t been released yet…”

Even though I said this, the otaku guys, who seemed to be Lurica otaku themselves, including Chofu Chofu, glanced at Gong Jeong-hoon as if longing for him.

But Gong Jeong-hoon seemed to be completely oblivious to the situation, either ignoring or selling or burning his awareness somewhere… He continued talking with the others without understanding the meaning of my words.

…If I were really the magical girl Lurica, I would have used the Forbidden Magic Aging Blade right here and turned Gong Jeong-hoon into an old man and killed him.

“Then… can I talk to Chofu-nim?”

“Huh? Y-yes, of course…”

“Prada-nim is a real angel… You don’t have to ask for permission for these things from me…”

“No… Why would you need permission from me? You just needed to get consent from all of us.”

Finally, after speaking directly, I was able to escape from the otaku guys.

From the very first meeting, I could sense that this group was clearly divided into two groups.

Gong Jeong-hoon, GND7, Snowman8… and the others. They were the ones who responded well to Gong Jeong-hoon’s words in the chat room.

I approached the three of them, shaking hands and greeting them.

“Hello… um, can I join the conversation?”

“Huh?! Y-yes! Of course, Prada-nim!”

[Yes, of course! Prada-nim…! Rather than those guys, I…! Ahh…!]

Oh, it seems like it’s becoming a habit, but I really want to kill them.

I covered my mouth with one hand and clenched my fist tightly behind my back, trying to suppress my anger as I observed the two unfamiliar people.

GND7 was wearing a checkered shirt and looked even thinner than Gong Jeong-hoon… but he was tall and didn’t look too bad… He wore glasses and had a country-style haircut. His face… was ordinary.

Gong Jeong-hoon had a gloomy appearance, thin, and looked like a nerd. He was actually a nerd.

And Snowman8… he was a big, chubby guy who had been strangely attentive since earlier. He had a bulky, sumo wrestler-like impression.

“Um… should we introduce ourselves?”

“Um… yes, let’s do that… I-I’m… Snowman8. I got my nickname because my friends said I look like a snowman. I’m 23 years old… a college student majoring in car design.”

“Wow, you really look like a snowman~ Do you like cars since you’re majoring in car design?”

“I do… right? All guys do.”

“I-I! I’m GND7, and my nickname is based on my major in electronic engineering. Oh, GND stands for ground, which is the reference point for electricity… Oh, is this a boring story… I’m 23 years old.”

“You work with electricity? Wow, that must be dangerous…”

“It’s not dangerous at all! Soldering is difficult but…”

“Wow, soldering sounds dangerous… but cool!”

[…Complimenting another guy.]

I could hear the voice in my head as I glanced at Gong Jeong-hoon, who was completely annoyed and looking away.

Ah… it’s really irritating.

I pretended to look slightly embarrassed, turning my eyes here and there, and started introducing myself as ‘Prada.’

“Um… I’m Prada… my nickname is from a brand I like! Um, my age is…”

But… as I continued my introduction, I suddenly felt uneasy.

How old is Gong Jeong-hoon?

I really don’t want to hear the word “nuna” or say the word “oppa.”

After pondering for a moment, I noticed that the three of us seemed friendly, and as we walked, I remembered that they were speaking informally to each other, so I revealed my age based on theirs.

“…I’m 23 years old. My favorite is the magical girl Lurica, and I came to this gathering because I wanted to talk more with Chofu-nim.”

[She wants to talk more with me…? Is this a complete public confession?]

No way…this bastard.

As soon as the introductions were over, a really unpleasant sound echoed in my head, draining all my energy.

“Oh…you’re 23? Wow, what a coincidence.”

“Yeah, Spal-nim, we’re all 23. That’s how we became friends.”

“Spal-nim…?”

“Oh, it’s short for Snowman8. And GND7-nim is Jichil-nim.”

After the three finished their introductions and looked at Gong Jeong-hoon, he finally blushed and started introducing himself, meeting my eyes.

“I, I’m Chofu Chofu…I’m 23 years old…and, I, I want to draw illustrations…so I’m studying art at a game academy.”

“Wow! I’d love to see your drawings!”

“Oh, no! I’m not that good at drawing to show you…”

“Chofu-nim is good at drawing.”

“Spal-nim?!”

“Wow, I’m curious. Can you show me later?”

“Oh…but Chofu-nim’s drawings…are mostly for adults.”

“Jichil-nim, you didn’t have to mention that…”

Adult drawings? Could she be drawing that kind of stuff?

Since she said she’s studying, she must be drawing more than just animations, maybe drawing nude figures or something a bit more graphic.

I used to enjoy games with a lot of those kinds of drawings. Female characters with a slightly revealing armor, like a celebrity.

“I like those kinds of drawings. Since you’re studying at a game academy…are you drawing illustrations like the ones in ‘Black Desert’?”

“Well…that’s an adult game, but the reasons for being adult might be a bit different…”

“Jichil-nim…stop.”

Seeing GND7’s reaction to my question, Snowman8 suddenly interrupted the conversation, stopping the dialogue.

What’s going on? I looked and noticed that Gong Jeong-hoon’s face was also turning red for some reason.

I couldn’t figure out what the problem was, so I decided to continue the conversation with a smile, asking Gong Jeong-hoon.

“But…what does Chofu Chofu mean?”

“What?!”

“Everyone explained the meaning behind their nicknames, but it seems like Chofu-nim didn’t. I’m curious…what does it mean?”

But…I just wanted to keep the conversation going, yet Gong Jeong-hoon’s expression worsened.

What’s the problem now? I silently wondered, and I could hear Gong Jeong-hoon’s thoughts in my head.

[I, I can’t say…I changed it because I got a warning for using the sound effect “zuruzuru” from Hitomi…]

Hitomi…? Zuruzuru? What is that exactly?

Even though I heard Gong Jeong-hoon’s thoughts, I couldn’t understand.

At that moment, Snowman8 intervened in the conversation and explained the meaning instead.

“Um…Chofu-nim’s nickname comes from a sound in a Japanese manga…like the sound of picking something up with chopsticks. Chofu-nim likes Japanese cuisine…so, like this, chupchupchup.”

“Yes, that’s right! That sound…but it really doesn’t have any meaning…!”

“Oh? That’s what it meant? That…?”

“Jichil-nim, let’s go pick out some manga together.”

“Huh? Yes, let’s.”

[Snowman8!! Thank you!! Ah!! I really…need to buy something for you next time….]

…I couldn’t understand what was going on, but Snowman8 took GND7 away, leaving only Gong Jeong-hoon and me.

Gong Jeong-hoon doesn’t know what he should be grateful to Snowman8 for.

I may not understand, but… I can’t miss this opportunity to be alone with him.

Now that it’s just the two of us, there’s only one inevitable outcome in this situation. We both disappear just like that.

It seems like things will end faster than I thought.

I quickly recalled the contents of the magical girl Lyrica in my head, intentionally making my voice sound tense and shaking my head slightly like Lyrica as I spoke.

“Um… then should we… go out separately for a moment…”

“S-should we pick out manga?!”

“Uh… yes.”

This nerd…