episode_0046

“Heh. So you didn’t even greet me, and you just left me alone in the courtyard.”

It goes without saying, but time continued to flow regardless of whether I wanted it to or not.

The festival where the B-rank or lower hunters who declared their participation would compete to showcase their skills was just around the corner, until tomorrow. Feeling like I didn’t have much time left, I brought some snacks and had a match with Juhwareon….

As a result, I was able to face her, looking very angry with her arms crossed.

“Heh. You call yourself a friend, yet you leave me lying around on the cold ground like that.”

Well, I knew why she was angry.

Listening to her, it seemed like when she was summoned back to her world, it was in the courtyard instead of the house where she lived.

She must have misunderstood that I left her lying on the ground after she slept at someone else’s house first.

“No, it’s not like that…. I mean….”

Of course, it was just a misunderstanding, so it wasn’t that difficult to calm her down.

…Well, it was inevitable that her feelings would be hurt a little, but there were other ways to soothe her.

“….Even if that’s the case, are you just going to send me back without saying anything?”

“Well, that’s not it.”

“Heh.”

Anyway, how could I calm her down when she was upset? Thinking about it, I took out a snack gift set that I had brought for her.

“Um…. These are just some ordinary things, but please take them.”

She seemed slightly interested.

“….What is this?”

“It’s snacks.”

At the mention of snacks, her attention seemed to be drawn halfway towards me.

“Snacks…. Like pastries?”

“Yes.”

Her gaze didn’t leave the snack gift set I was holding.

When I moved the snack gift set to the right, her eyes followed, and when I moved it to the left, her eyes followed as well.

‘She’s like a cat fixated on a treat.’

Typical cats who act aloof and don’t pay attention to people until they have a treat in their hands, then they come running for a pat or a scratch, only caring about the treat in their hands.

I approached her quietly and offered her the snack gift set.

“My hand hurts, will you take it?”

“….Fine, as I said, I won’t refuse.”

“Okay. But will you forgive me in return?”

She fell silent for a moment, seemingly hurt by her pride, but soon accepted the snack gift set and continued speaking.

“….I’ll forgive you this time for your sincerity.”

Quite easy to be forgiven.

But it seemed like her apology was already forgotten in front of the snacks, as she began to open the package and take out a few snacks.

“So, how do you eat this stuff?”

I immediately showed her how to open a snack package.

“Like this.”

As she followed my lead and opened the snack package, she seemed disappointed with its contents.

“No, why is this packaged so awkwardly? This way, you won’t get much to eat for its size. I’ve never seen food packaged like this before. If someone were in front of me selling food like this, playing around with the size, I would definitely give them a piece of my mind.”

It seemed like overpackaging was an unforgivable act in her eyes.

Truly a discerning eater.

“…That’s why I bought so many.”

So, thinking about her appetite, I deliberately chose to buy dozens of cookies bundled together at the mart, so that I could barely carry them with both hands.

“….But still. When you see it packaged like this, you naturally wouldn’t think there would be this many cookies….”

Crunch.

As she took a bite of the cookie and said…

“Hmm…. But the taste is worth the excessive packaging.”

“Is it delicious?”

“….It is.”

And then, she started devouring the just-opened pack of cookie snacks in her seat.

Crunch crunch crunch crunch.

She sat there inhaling the cookie snacks as if she couldn’t tell if she was properly tasting the cookie.

Unconsciously, I gently stroked her head.

And she opened her eyes and asked, while eating the cookie.

“….What are you doing?”

“Just because you’re cute.”

It felt like watching a stray cat eating tuna from a can for the first time on YouTube, not knowing it’s getting all messy around its mouth and sticking its nose in.

“C-cute….”

Of course, she was just embarrassed because she didn’t know what sentiment I was petting her with.

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– User’s match partner’s emotional state:

[Shyness 26%, Embarrassment 25%, Joy 17%, Bewilderment 15%, Irritation 10%, Happiness 7%]

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Looking at her emotional state bar after a long time, it felt like a mix of negative and positive emotions.

Blushing, she asked, “How can contact with a grown woman be so natural?”

Well.

It wasn’t like that before, but ever since meeting Alia, I unknowingly became less awkward with physical contact with women.

When I thought I might have done something rude and took my hand off her head, her facial expression changed awkwardly.

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– User’s match partner’s emotional state:

[Regret 21%, Negativity 20%, Embarrassment 17%, Bewilderment 15%, Annoyance 10%, Confusion 10%, Disappointment 7%]

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And looking at her emotional state bar, she seemed to be going through a lot of confusion.

When I gently stroked her head….

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– User’s match partner’s emotional state:

[Regret 20%, Negativity 20%, Embarrassment 17%, Bewilderment 15%, Annoyance 10%, Confusion 10%, Disappointment 7%, Joy 1%]

=========

=========

– User’s match partner’s emotional state:

[Regret 20%, Negativity 19%, Embarrassment 17%, Bewilderment 15%, Annoyance 10%, Confusion 10%, Disappointment 7%, Joy 2%]

=========

=========

– User’s match partner’s emotional state:

[Regret 20%, Negativity 19%, Embarrassment 16%, Bewilderment 15%, Annoyance 10%, Confusion 10%, Disappointment 7%, Joy 3%]

=========

.

.

.

As the joy gradually overtook other emotions, it felt like a cat doing a mysterious dance.

Feeling somewhat unpleasant, somewhat happy, and somewhat hesitant, her behavior was like a cat that would scratch if not properly petted.

“….How long will you keep petting my head?”

“I’ll just pet it a little longer.”

Watching her changing emotions, I let go of her head at the right moment, and her face showed a subtle change.

Clearly, she seemed disappointed when I stopped, but couldn’t say anything, and just let it go, looking unfairly wronged.

“Hmph. Allowing you to pet my head was a one-time thing.”

With that, she chose to pout.

Crunch crunch crunch crunch.

As I sat there silently, the sound of her eating cookies filled the room like the tiles of an old house.

I had already finished one pack and she was opening the second pack when I told her.

“I might not be able to come by for a while this time.”

“Hmph. You talk as if you used to come and go frequently.”

Well…. isn’t that true?

“I’ll bring something even more delicious next time.”

Even though she seemed subtly disappointed, when I said that, she replied frankly.

“Promise…. has been made.”

“Yes.”

And then she resumed eating the snacks.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

After a while of carrying the snacks to her mouth, she asked.

“But, you know.”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you not going?”

“Haha. It’s not like this is my choice….”

“Huh. Truly a strange ability. I don’t know what principle this ability operates on, but if you can’t do it as you please, is that really an ability?”

Indeed. That’s how it is.

“If at some point it becomes impossible to use, what will you do? Do you have a plan for that?”

Um….

“I don’t really have one?”

It was truly a mysterious coincidence that this app just fell into my hands at some point, I don’t even know why.

Anyway, when I said I didn’t have a plan, she suddenly started getting angry.

“Have you seen such a planless thing? If that ability disappears, I’ll be stuck here waiting for you all day! What should I do if that happens….!”

“What? No, I mean….”

“It seems like it won’t work. I….”

And right at that moment.

Her angry face suddenly disappeared, and she returned to the original world.

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– Matching time has ended. Returning to the original world.

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Oh well.

Did I lose again….

Why does it always seem like this app is doing a good job of matching, but always seems to cut it close at important moments….