Ch.201196 – Birthday Party (3)

“Phewww.”

All eight candles went out.

Yet no one got up to turn on the hospital room light.

“…”

A chilling silence descended, making the previous lively atmosphere feel like a lie.

“Why is… everyone like this…?”

I blinked several times in confusion.

“Uh…”

“NoName, what the heck!”

“Hehehe!”

“How could you blow them out before we even sang the song!”

“She just wanted to eat the cake that badly.”

Ah, right.

I couldn’t even lift my head from embarrassment.

I mean, when they said “happy birthday,” I naturally assumed they had already finished singing.

No wonder I didn’t hear any singing, even though I wasn’t that lost in my memories.

“This is exactly why we always have two matches ready for such mishaps.”

Ji-hye’s father pulled out another match from the cake box.

“Don’t blow them out this time, NoName!”

“I told you it was an accident, okay?”

Just as everyone raised their hands to start clapping, the door slid open.

The room was a bit dark, but that massive silhouette was unmistakably Butler Park.

As the bodyguard who had stepped out earlier for some business reappeared, Ha-ru waved her hand to greet him cheerfully.

“Ah! The wax is going to drip on the cake!”

“Let’s start singing quickly!”

*Clap*

The song began with the sound of clapping.

“Happy birthday to you!”

Yu-na and Ha-ru had the loudest voices.

“Happy birthday to you.”

Professor Cheon’s deep voice joined in. Meanwhile, I caught that manager guy just mouthing the words without actually singing. I’ll deal with him later.

“Dear NoName!”

Yoon-sul, sitting next to me, leaned forward to look at my face illuminated by the small flame.

[What?]

[Nothing!]

I asked with my eyes why she was staring, but she just smiled and went back to focusing on the song.

“Happy birthday to you! Woooooo!”

“Happy birthday!”

Thunderous applause erupted. Now there was no chance for misunderstanding, so I confidently blew out the candles.

Unlike before, people moved quickly.

In reverse order of setup, they removed the candles from the cake, pulled the window curtains wide open, and turned on the white LED lights.

Wispy smoke rose toward the ceiling light.

As I was rubbing my eyes to adjust to the suddenly bright environment, Ha-ru’s voice loudly rang out beside me.

“What… what the!”

She pointed accusingly at someone sitting in the corner across from us. Butler Park? No, a bit more to the side.

Following her finger, I saw a girl about Yoon-sul’s age sitting primly with one leg crossed over the other.

A white off-shoulder blouse and cool sky-blue jeans. A Gucci chain bag pressing against the frills on her chest and sunglasses perched on her forehead.

Though not overly dressed up, every piece of clothing exuded luxury.

Her skin was even paler than Yoon-sul’s, who was already quite fair-skinned, perhaps due to poor circulation.

I tilted my head in confusion for a moment.

Ha-ru stomped across to the other side of the table, fuming.

“How did you find this place, sis? Did Butler Park bring you here? Why are you following me to my friend’s birthday party? Why are you doing this!”

Ha-ru trembled with anger as she yelled, but it seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

The girl’s emotionless eyes shifted to meet mine.

“I think my father’s daughter is misunderstanding something.”

She opened her small chain bag and pulled out a rectangular letter, holding it up to Ha-ru’s fuming face.

“I was invited here too, you know?”

Ha-ru’s hand trembled uncontrollably as she took the invitation.

“I’ll stay quiet and leave soon, so just ignore me.”

* * *

Sometimes it’s easy to forget the backgrounds of Academy students.

Age is the biggest factor.

I’d heard somewhere that truly wealthy families often raise their children normally to instill economic awareness from a young age.

That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re raised in deprivation, but from what I’d seen at the Academy, I could somewhat agree.

Lee Ha-ru, granddaughter of the vice chairman of Samyeon Group, ranked 16th in business hierarchy.

I’d learned this during her first self-introduction from her friends, but it was hard to see that image when watching Ha-ru interact so comfortably with classmates from other classes.

Meanwhile, her sister Lee Bo-reum exuded a “I’m rich” vibe from the start, which made for an interesting contrast.

“Manager.”

“…”

“ILikeCateMates—mmph!”

“Shh! What are you doing…! People haven’t even left yet and you’re trying to say that username…?”

“Pfft!”

Since our lunch meeting, Bo-reum’s eyes had been fixed on me.

Was she afraid I might spread her username around?

“Bye, Name! Get well soon and see you at the Academy!”

“Sure. Study hard for the finals.”

“Yes, this time I’ll definitely beat you! In at least one subject, hehe.”

Even after the birthday party ended, I had long chats with my friends.

They told me about Teacher Jackie’s condition while I was absent from school, and which parts of the final exams would be difficult.

Detective Ma took Ji-hye and Seo-ri home, saying keeping a patient occupied until evening might be too much.

This started the round of goodbyes with the other kids.

The stream had ended long ago.

The last ones remaining in the hospital room were my streaming managers.

“Why isn’t Dasal oppa leaving?”

Bo-reum threw a jab.

“Ah! Um, yeah, I should go. Yeah.”

“I’m really curious—did you take the train all the way from Daejeon today just to see Name?”

“Of course I took the train. What, you think I walked?”

“Wow, so lame… such nerd talk…”

“I bet I have 10 times more friends than you.”

“I have 100 times more than that.”

“A billion times.”

“A trillion times.”

“Googolplex times.”

“Infinite times.”

“Actually, googolplex is way bigger, dummy.”

“Seriously, are you both this childish at your age? Even my friends don’t act like this.”

After sending off Dasal, who introduced himself as Cha Eun-woo and maintained a 100% laugh rate during every introduction, I was left alone with Bo-reum.

Bo-reum moved her lips as if wanting to say something but hesitated, seemingly nervous.

“Why didn’t you do anything at the birthday party when you came all this way?”

She had been sitting in the corner for hours without participating.

The only thing she did was help Professor Cheon a little when he was clearing the table.

She still showed no sign of answering my question.

After changing her position to scan my face from various angles, Bo-reum returned to the chair beside the bed and fell into deep thought.

“You don’t seem to get along well with your sister.”

“I guess it looks that way, huh?”

“It’s not just ‘looks that way’—you two seem like complete enemies.”

“You’re right. I don’t like her. And she hates me even more.”

“Then just say that.”

“But that makes her seem pitiful.”

“…?”

What’s this? Does she hate her or care for her?

Her complex expressions and mixed signals automatically raised question marks above my head.

“Would you like to tell me your story? I’m a good listener.”

“Wow… is this how our clan leader seduced Ha-ru?”

“What?”

“Nothing. And you can speak casually to me.”

“Okay, got it.”

It’s much more comfortable when she offers first.

It was tiring to use formal speech with such young kids anyway.

“Hah. Usually these kinds of stories are hard to tell without a cigarette.”

Bo-reum sat on the chair and put her legs up on my bed.

Her socks had large cat characters drawn on them.

Seemingly embarrassed that I noticed, she wiggled her feet and hid them under the blanket.

“Sis, want one?”

“Huh?”

“A cigarette. I’m asking if you want me to make you one.”

“…?”

Is this kid not good at understanding Korean?

She seems a bit slow despite her appearance.

Anyway, since she wanted a cigarette, I closed my eyes to concentrate on drawing in the surrounding mana.

Apple flavor should satisfy her, like before, right?

“W-wait! What are you doing! NoName—I mean Name—you might actually create something with your magic!”

“You asked for a cigarette.”

“I’m… I’m a high school sophomore! I’m not old enough to smoke! And this is a hospital!”

“Fine, I get it.”

“Haah… haah… something’s off. The clan leader I’ve been imagining all this time wasn’t like this…! It’s so confusing to find out you’re such a young kid.”

“It’s okay, it’s a natural reaction. Kariri went through it too, and everyone else is the same.”

It took a while longer for Bo-reum to become comfortable with me.

Talking with people like this, it was interesting to hear how they had imagined me.

“SaveMeFromGradSchool” Cha Eun-woo initially thought I was a young associate professor at a public university, while Kariri’s brother “HoYaMuYaHo” Seol Tae-yang thought I was an unemployed college student.

But Bo-reum’s mental image was beyond unique—it was radical.

She said she didn’t even realize I was female until much later.

Since she came from watching my World of Arsheria streams, she became a fan solely based on my gameplay.

She explained that becoming a manager afterward would never have happened without her sharp instincts and incredible luck.

“But Detective Ma Beom-il is a bit…”

“I’ve always been a bit of a UFC fan…”

She thought of me as a 40-year-old man like from a noir film, which made me think how people can be so free of preconceptions.

I did have a lot of hand-to-hand combat because I couldn’t use my sword due to that penalty, but still, doesn’t a female avatar create a certain impression?

“I really don’t smoke! Well, I’ve tried… okay, two or three times, but I swear I haven’t smoked since then!”

If Seol Tae-yang looked like a middle school delinquent, Bo-reum perfectly fit the description of a typical high school delinquent straight out of TikTok.

“So that cigarette thing was just a joke, right Name? Right?”

In the end, Bo-reum’s words were close to empty boasting—trying to act tough, or maybe “middle school syndrome.” Nothing more, nothing less.

I held back from telling her directly, afraid it might hurt her feelings too much.

“Hey, Bo-reum. I need to go now, but if you want to keep talking, want to come along?”

“Um… is that okay?”

“Of course. I’d appreciate the company.”

It was almost dinner time, but the summer sun was still hanging in the sky.

Looking intently out the window, the energy from the sun’s rays seemed undiminished.

With an unexpected companion, I set off toward my final schedule for the day.

* * *

“Traffic is heavy…”

Professor Cheon’s car was stuck in the middle of the main road during rush hour.

The professor was absorbed in listening to jazz music while admiring the distant mountains.

Bo-reum, sitting primly next to Name, quietly approached her and asked:

“By the way, where are we going?”

Bo-reum hadn’t been told the destination by Name.

“To see my mom.”

“Ah, we’re going to see your mother… Mom…? Wait, why are you only telling me this now…!”

Bo-reum felt like this moment was absolute hell.