Ch.119Equipment Shutdown (2)

“…Gasp!”

A strange ceiling.

No, actually, it was a familiar ceiling.

I’ve seen it in Maruko and Doraemon.

That wooden-looking ceiling.

‘No matter how I look at it, this feels like a scene from an old Japanese anime. The floor is tatami too.’

While various thoughts were running through my head,

my entire body felt heavy as if paralyzed, making it difficult to move.

‘My voice isn’t coming out properly…’

The terribly low, subdued voice didn’t sound like Ban Doyoung’s voice at all.

Since I couldn’t move my body to check what state I was in, I rolled my eyes—the only part I could control—around to first figure out where I was.

A Japanese-style wooden building with a different atmosphere from the lodging where I had been staying.

I could see what appeared to be an aged tatami floor right in front of me.

‘A room where I’m lying alone… a body that doesn’t feel like mine and a strange voice… could it be?’

For a moment, a dizzying thought crossed my mind.

Could it be that I died in an accident during the school trip in the world of “Half of Half-Island,” and just as I was first possessed into the world of “Half of Half-Island,” I’ve now been possessed into another world?

‘That’s absurd, a possession within a possession!’

It sounds ridiculous, but then again,

getting possessed into a romance webtoon world after just sampling it was equally absurd.

I wonder if the gap between different worlds should be this loose, like a virgin named Ahn Seongkyung.

‘Damn… I did watch that Doraemon movie on the lodging TV before going to sleep.’

Could it be that instead of a youth romance webtoon,

I’ve now been possessed into a long-running Japanese slice-of-life animation?

Then what happens to the world of “Half of Half-Island” now?

An ending where the main heroine dies by falling into a lake right after receiving a confession and getting off the Ferris wheel?

That’s the worst, Ban-no-kuni!

-Thump thump

-Creeak

“Ugh…”

Just then, the sound of footsteps walking on the old wooden floor came from outside.

Could it be that a nagging mother is about to appear beyond that sliding door, yelling about being late?

Ah, that kind of scene was already used when the “Half of Half-Island” world began.

“…Ah.”

As the door opened with a sliding sound, my eyes met with a woman wearing a kimono.

Is this person my mother in this world?

This is trouble; I don’t know how to speak conversational Japanese.

“O… Okasan? 5 minutes more kokonen ne surune?”

“先生方！倒れていた生徒が目を覚ましました！”

(Teachers! The student who collapsed has woken up!)

“…Huh? Sensei?”

-Pitter-patter

The sound of footsteps running at a speed Koreans would appreciate echoed throughout the corridor.

“Student Ban Doyoung! You’re awake!”

“Doyoung! Are you okay?”

“Hey, Ban Doyoung! Why did you go into the lake when you can’t even swim! Do you really want to see someone die?”

‘…Ah, so I’m still in “Half of Half-Island.”‘

Thanks to the familiar faces rushing in through the door,

I realized I was still alive as Ban Doyoung.

.

.

.

I remembered quite clearly what happened right before I lost consciousness.

A strong wind from the lakeside.

Do Hamin’s glasses flying away.

Leaping forward with momentum but diving straight into the lake after grabbing the glasses.

That was roughly how it went.

Of course, in my mind, the flow was supposed to continue with me coming out laughing heartily.

Incidentally, also showing off Mom’s black defense-only bra hidden under my clothes with a see-through effect to kill the virgin (Hamin).

But an accident happened in a completely unexpected way.

Ban Doyoung, who had been showing off plenty of healthy skin,

turned out to be someone who couldn’t swim at all.

“Was she really a Virgin-Virgin Fruit ability user?”

Since there were quite a few photos in the gallery and family albums taken at swimming pools and beaches,

I never thought she would be someone who couldn’t swim at all.

Being born male, I don’t know for sure, but honestly, with an upper body like this,

it’s practically like having a biological life vest permanently attached.

Shouldn’t that naturally make you float?

“This is the old building behind the one we’re using as our lodging. They say it’s now used as an infirmary for emergency medicine and to care for sudden patients.”

“No wonder it looked like Doraemon’s house.”

“How are you feeling, Doyoung? Can you manage to move a bit?”

“…Just a moment, oof.”

“Making sounds like an old man. Don’t push yourself, we’ll help you.”

With the help of Sahyang, Hyerang,

and Teacher Miso, I slowly raised my body from where I was lying.

The gloomy, suppressed voice that made me think I wasn’t Ban Doyoung gradually returned to normal.

“Phew. Now that I know I’m not dead, I can move a little better. Or wait, maybe I am dead and I’m being supported by three beautiful angel girls who look exactly like you three?”

“Dead? Don’t say such terrible things, even as a joke!”

“Tea… Teacher?”

Teacher Miso shouted angrily as soon as she heard my casually thrown joke.

“If you say something like that one more time, I won’t put up with your jokes anymore! Do you know how worried everyone here was about what might have happened to you?!”

“I’m… I’m sorry, Teacher.”

“From now on, never, ever say such things carelessly, even as a joke!”

“…Yes, I won’t. Really. I’m sorry.”

I kept bowing my head and apologizing to Teacher Miso.

Feeling the lump of genuine concern wrapped in anger, no other response came out after that.

“Is it hard for you to get up? You didn’t break or hurt anything after falling into the water, did you?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m just a bit stiff from the shock. Just that much, I’m not injured anywhere. But… what about the clothes I was wearing?”

Ban Doyoung, who had risen from under the blanket, was wearing only a yukata provided by the lodging,

without any underwear.

“Oh, those were all wet, so we threw them in the washing machine at the lodging.”

“No wonder I feel the breeze coming through between my legs.”

“You fell into a lake, after all. Of course we stripped you completely from head to toe. There was pond weed and moss stuck all over. The fishy smell was no joke either.”

“Yeah, they must be completely ruined. And they were clothes you cherished.”

At this rate, if I ever meet the ‘real’ Ban Doyoung, I might get severely scolded.

Well, I’ve ruined the precious clothes she had been saving for the most important event, never worn before,

all because the fake me wanted to preserve the impression left on Do Hamin.

I have nothing to say even if I get an earful.

“It’s all your own fault. Do you even think at all? You who can’t swim and only go waist-deep at beaches and pools, throwing yourself into a lake where a Ferris wheel pillar is submerged. And in a place where hardly anyone was watching?”

“…Sorry, Yu Hyerang. I just… I didn’t want to see those glasses I bought for him sink into the lake.”

“You could have bought new glasses, but I hate that Ban Doyoung almost died for something like that!”

“Eek!”

Naturally, Hyerang was just as angry as Teacher Miso.

The two of them already knew that Ban Doyoung couldn’t swim.

They knew better than I did how dangerous it was for Ban Doyoung to jump into deep water.

“Hye, Hyerang… calm down. At least she came back alive. The doctor also said there’s no danger to her life.”

“Haah… really. Why do you become more immature as time passes?”

“…”

“Don’t ever do something like that again. Understand?”

“I know, I won’t. Not anymore. You won’t have to suffer because of me again.”

Because he’s growing into someone who properly pulls his weight.

That virgin thief who will live with Ban Doyoung in the future.

If I keep him firmly by her side, things like this won’t happen again.

Only after Sahyang’s mediation and my firm answer did Hyerang

cool her heated feelings with a deep sigh.

“But… what’s this about a doctor? Did I go to the hospital while I was unconscious?”

“No… not the hospital, but fortunately there was a doctor on vacation in the amusement park. After emergency treatment, he came to the lodging with us and examined you before leaving.”

“Ah… so that’s why adults say you should always have someone with medical credentials in the family.”

“Don’t thank the doctor, thank Do Hamin.”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

I raised my head in surprise at Hyerang’s words.

“Doyoung must not know since she fainted as soon as she fell into the water. Hamin pulled you out from the lakeside. By swimming himself.”

“…Do Hamin knows how to swim?”

“Why shouldn’t Hamin know how to swim?”

So he’s good at something besides studying, that guy.

It was as shocking as finding out that Nobita is the best shooter in space.

“Do Hamin pulled Ban Doyoung out of the water and immediately performed first aid, which is why she’s safe. He also actively asked people around to call for a doctor or an ambulance. It was all Do Hamin.”

“…”

“Doyoung, what’s wrong?”

“…Where is that guy Do Hamin right now?”

.

.

.

“Hey, what are you doing there?”

“Do, Doyoung…?”

I called out to Do Hamin, who was sitting alone in a gazebo-like structure outside the building, unable to come inside.

“Did, did you just wake up? Is it okay for you to move around already? You should rest more…”

“Why are you waiting outside when you worked the hardest to save me?”

“Well, that’s…”

Do Hamin carefully avoided my gaze as he spoke.

“You, you’re only wearing a yukata without any underwear right now. If I were to go in there carelessly…”

“It’s fine, come in. You’re Ban Doyoung’s boyfriend now.”

“…Still.”

“Are you really not coming in? Then I’ll come out.”

“Wait.”

I sat down on the gazebo bench where Do Hamin had been sitting.

“…Did you know how to swim?”

“Yeah… I learned a little. When I visited my mom’s relatives.”

“I heard you also performed first aid. CPR and artificial respiration.”

“I, I just followed what I learned in middle school first aid training…”

“Hooo…. So in the end, you touched my chest and kissed me too? You scored big time.”

“Wha, what! If you take it that way…!”

-Thud

“You touched me first, so it’s self-defense?”

“Eek…!”

“Stay still, boyfriend.”

I gently placed my hand on Do Hamin’s pants beside me.

“Oh, ohh….”

On the first day that Do Hamin and Ban Doyoung officially became a couple,

for the first time before returning to my original world,

I grasped [Hamin’s High Rise] in my hand.