Chapter 13 : Mother-in-law, I’m all fired up (1)

After the tumultuous double papakatsu, I returned home.

‘The twins sure are generous!’

Just like last time, I checked my internet banking.

I was shocked at the amount deposited.

Double the base fee: 400,000 won.

Three rounds of the King’s Game option: 180,000 won.

Half-and-half chicken: 30,000 won.

I earned 610,000 won from just one papakatsu session.

That’s more than what my old company gave me as a holiday bonus.

Was making money always this easy?

What was the point of all that effort I put into my company work?

Feeling empty, I collapsed onto the bed.

‘What am I even doing?’

A substitute dad.

I tried to convince myself I did well enough.

If I were her real dad.

Would my heart have dropped when a daughter says things like, “Wanna touch my chest?” or “Let’s do it”?

If my daughter collapsed, I’d have saved her more skillfully.

Seems I’m lacking in fatherly affection.

Well, we’re not really family anyway.

‘Real family, huh…?’

I sat up in bed.

I’d been so busy trying to make ends meet.

Jobless and failing to get rehired.

I hadn’t reached out to my real family.

And yet here I was, lost in these useless thoughts.

I decided to go visit them after a long time.

Now that I had some extra cash, I figured I should bring them a gift.

I hadn’t been able to visit during New Year’s because of all-night overtime work.

What would be good?

Sewon-brand tuna cans?

The 1557 toothpaste & toothbrush set?

Or the ever-sold-out Baek-ham?

Ugh.

The only gift ideas I can think of are those mass-produced corporate leftovers.

I’ve lived poor for so long my very thoughts have become impoverished.

Ding.

The [Rental Papa] app just pinged.

[Try purchasing an item from the shop with your PPP Points!]

Just a standard feature recommendation notification.

I was about to close it but thought—maybe I’ll give it a shot.

The [Rental Papa] Point Shop feature.

It lets you buy items using PPP points.

PPP (not from papapa the author) accumulates based on the amount you earn through the app.

I earned 230,000 and 610,000 won through papakatsu,So I should have 840,000 PPP in total.

Suspicious SCP-style items or things like [Turn Back Time] or [Reincarnation].

Aside from the joke items the developer threw in for laughs.

Surprisingly, there were some ordinary foods and products listed at the top.

Among them, one item caught my eye:

[Power-Up Eel (110,000 PPP)]

□ A strange eel that boosts stamina when eaten. It also tastes great.

※ Warning

It’s an eel.

I considered fancy sets like premium beef or abalone too.

But in this gender-swapped world, nothing beats eel when it comes to stamina food for women.

For women, eel.

For men, pomegranate.

The roles have reversed.

Since it’s a house where only two women live, this seemed like a fitting gift.

Power-Up Eel.

110,000 points wasn’t exactly cheap,But considering I got the points for free, it was a pretty good deal.

[▽Would you like to order Power-Up Eel with your PPP?]

I took a deep breath and ordered the Power-Up Eel.

Then I sent a text saying I’d visit the family sometime next week.

Despite it being my first contact in a while, they replied with a cheerful OK.

‘Finally doing something proper as a son-in-law.’

I was stretching out my stiff body when—Tap tap.

Something tapped against my apartment window.

I figured it was just the wind, but the tapping continued persistently.

Maybe a crow?

But it was only early evening.

With no other choice, I opened the window.

And I almost stopped breathing.

Whirrrrr.

A propeller drone was flying outside.

“Wh-what the…?”

I’m not some Middle Eastern terrorist.

I hadn’t done anything to deserve a visit from an assassination drone.

Looking closer, I realized I was overreacting.

The drone had a goofy fake mustache attached to it.

Just like the AI Papa-bot character.

The drone greeted me in a robotic voice.

[User Joo Yeonho. I have arrived to deliver your ‘Power-Up Eel’.]

Sure enough, it was from the [Rental Papa] app.

Not even 30 minutes had passed since I placed the order, let alone an hour.

Is this supposed to be some high-tech delivery system?

Fast delivery is great and all, but this was unnerving.

Not knowing how to receive it, I awkwardly held out my hand.

Zzzzt.

The drone opened up, and something dropped into my hand with a plop.

A slick, slimy texture.

An unpleasant squirming.

Suppressing a creeping sense of dread, I looked at the “item” that landed in my hand.

[KIEEEEEEEEEE!!!]

It was the Power-Up Eel.

The Power-Up Eel let out a shriek and thrashed wildly.

It slapped the cheek I had been hit on earlier by Hayu with its tail.

It was like rubbing salt into a wound.

Whether or not eels are supposed to be able to scream is beside the point.

‘What the hell—wasn’t this supposed to come in a gift set?’

I thought it would come nicely marinated and neatly packaged.

I didn’t expect a raw eel.

Let alone one that was still alive.

Everything went dark before my eyes.

***

A few days later.

Ding dong, ding dong.

I pressed the doorbell of a modest household.

It was an old-style corridor apartment—not fancy, but better off than my villa.

Clunk.

The door opened, and a woman greeted me warmly.

“ Mr. Joo . Come on in.”

She had dark brown hair braided to one side.

A mature and graceful beauty.

Hard to believe she was actually □□ years old.

Even in this world, where aging is slower for women, she was unusually youthful.

“Mr. Joo ? Come on, please call me like you used to.”

This woman was my wife’s mother.

In other words, my mother-in-law.

But to me, she always felt more like “my childhood friend’s mom.”

Even after all this time, that impression hadn’t changed.

“You call me ‘Mother-in-law’ and want me to call you by your first name?”

“Huh?”

“I’m just teasing. Alright then, Yeonho, come in. Thanks for coming.”

With smiling eyes, she opened the door wider.

The reason I habitually add ~“yang” (a polite suffix) to names of people younger than me was largely because of her influence.

She always made you feel respected, no matter your age.

She was the person I modeled my idea of a “good adult” after.

I followed her and sat at the low dining table.

She brought out instant coffee and some sweet monaka wafers.

We were both at an age where blood sugar mattered, but—Might as well eat and die early, I thought.

I bit into a monaka.

So sweet it made my tongue tingle—just how I liked it.

“You said work’s been busy?”

“I haven’t had a moment to breathe lately.”

I mumbled while chewing.

I didn’t tell her I’d actually been fired.

If I had, she would’ve tried to help in every way despite her own struggles.

I wasn’t shameless enough to take money from my in-laws.

If she knew I was making money doing papa-katsu in a reversed-gender world, she’d definitely try to stop me.

I smirked bitterly to myself.

Papa-katsu in a world where women are dominant.

Mother-in-law must never find out.

I glanced around the house.

A family photo of the three in-laws and me hanging in the living room.

A kitchen filled with signs of daily life.

The now-empty room that used to belong to my wife.

And finally, the one room that never opens when I’m around… my sister-in-law’s.

It was silent, like a mouse, but I saw a pair of trendy sneakers at the entrance.

She was definitely hiding in her room.

“I’ve made things uncomfortable for her.”

My sister-in-law resented me deeply.

She believed what happened to my wife was my fault.

I hadn’t denied it.

Nor had I tried to defend myself.

Because deep down—I agreed with her.

Since that day, we hadn’t seen each other again.

I didn’t even know what she looked like anymore.

My mother-in-law wore a bittersweet smile.

“Yeonho, dear, please understand. She’s just a teenager. What’s that you’ve got there?”

My mother-in-law tilted her head as she looked at the bucket I brought.

Splash.

Water had been splashing from the bucket for a while now.

I couldn’t even count how many dirty looks I got on the subway.

But it couldn’t be helped!

Right before coming here, I barely managed to trap the eel in the bathtub.

I tried to clean it myself, but it put up a fierce fight.

All I got from wielding a sashimi knife around was a soaking wet body.

Losing a battle against a creature like that—it was clear I lacked stamina.

Even managing to get it into the bucket had been a stroke of luck.

I did wonder if giving it as a gift was really appropriate.

But I handed the bucket to my mother-in-law.

“Oh my, oh my. What is this…?”

Just as she peered into the bottom of the bucket.

[KIEEEEEEEEK!!!]

The eel suddenly leaped up with vigor.

I thought it would be weak after days in the bathtub.

But it was very much alive.

The eel, flopping high into the air—landed right between my mother-in-law’s cleavage.

Apparently, eels have a tendency to hide in holes.

Upon discovering a “hole,” it instinctively thrashed its tail and dove right in.

It was an unexpected disaster.

I’d finally done something proper as a son-in-law, and this happened.

“Mother-in-law, let me get it out. Just hold still.”

“When did you become such a thoughtful man? I appreciate the sentiment. It’s so lively. Did you catch it yourself?”

My mother-in-law gave an awkward chuckle and firmly pressed her chest with both arms.

The eel stopped wriggling under her clothes.

She grabbed its tail and, with a practiced motion, pulled it out.

Shlup.

The eel, still twitching moments ago, had fainted.

That was some incredible breast pressure.

“Hold on. I’ll cook it up deliciously for you.”

Said my mother-in-law.