episode_0053

Glance.

​

Narin looks away as soon as our eyes meet.

​

Yeah, I guess it has something to do with you too?

You didn’t even tell me?

​

I smiled brightly.

​

“Ms. Narin?”

​

“Why, why are you calling me, brother..?”

​

“So what is the Maker Challenge?”

​

You tell me?

​

“…That’s…”

​

Narin speaks while sweating profusely.

Her circumstances were summarized as follows:

​

At first, when this challenge started, it was said to be just a game for fans to enjoy.

​

-Isn’t this similar to the tentacles made by the maker?

​

-I tried to recreate Maker Oppa’s tentacles!

​

It’s just something that people with superpowers did to kill time in fan cafes and maker galleries.

The fan response in cafes and galleries, which are always short on bait, was good.

​

However, only a few people have the ability to follow this, and even though the response was good, it was just a rumor that was circulating only in galleries and cafes, so it seemed like it would disappear quickly.

​

“You mean you pushed it into the competition by adding the words ‘reproduced in various ways’ so that other people could easily participate?”

​

“Ugh…”

​

“……”

​

I pulled at Narin’s cheek.

​

“Eww!! Ewwww!!”

​

Narin waved her hands around, perhaps taken aback by my sudden actions.

​

“The intention is good.”

​

“Eubebebebe!!”

​

“The intention is good, but…”

​

Why did you do something I didn’t tell you to do??

​

Keep going, keep going.

​

“What do you mean even the villains use tentacles?”

​

“Oh my… This, this is also the grace of the Emperor… (This is also the grace of the Emperor…)”

​

“Don’t say anything weird.”

​

I took my hand off her cheek.

​

“Heeeek…”

​

Then, Narin rubbed her cheek with a look of resentment.

​

“What are the reactions of non-fans?”

​

“That, that’s it. People keep playing because it’s fun..”

​

“What about the hero side? Was there no movement from the association?”

​

“..There are rumors going around that the Maker Challenge will be regulated, but I don’t think there has been any real movement.”

​

That’s fortunate.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

​

‘I was so attracted to the aggro.’

​

Ordinary citizens follow me.

That alone is enough to make the association wary, and now even the villains are following me?

​

‘It’s brave that the association didn’t issue a death warrant or lynching.’

​

It would be good if the maker’s recognition increases.

But, in the current situation, increasing awareness is poisonous.

​

It’s true that Eclipse is strong, but honestly, it’s impossible to withstand the concentrated attacks of the Hero Association.

They might even make a deal by selling off the maker.

​

‘Even though I’m an executive, there’s a line. Even the leader could be in danger.’

​

And among the executives, I haven’t even met the ones who are actually in charge of military force.

​

Even if Astra and the trainer cover for me, if the other executives really decide to do it, I’ll be delivered to the Hero Association as is.

​

“Hoo..”

​

In the end, it is premature.

Not yet.

​

“Haa.. I wonder if I’ll end up with an A+ level in terms of popularity.”

​

“Oh, so cool.”

​

“I guess you’re still not completely awake.”

​

“No, honestly, that’s right!! How can you stand being measured as an A+ only in terms of recognition? Honestly, isn’t that cool?”

​

Well, it would be an achievement if you could become an A+ in terms of popularity, which is something that ordinary villains can’t even dream of.

I chuckled and took a sip of my coffee.

​

Narin frowns as she looks at me like that.

​

“It’s really sad, really sad… I’m trying so hard for my brother, but I’m just getting scolded…”

​

Suddenly.

Narin got up from her seat and strode towards me.

Then, he brought a chair and sat down next to me.

​

“I have to do the Maker Gallery, manage Mapi, work at Eclipse, and do personal favors for my brother~”

​

Narin glances at me while grumbling.

​

“I’m so busy I don’t even have time to open my eyes, I’m so busy~”

​

She soon started whining and trying to tease me naturally.

It was a surprise and quick action.

​

Tub.

​

I was able to block her advance lightly by pushing her head away.

​

“Eeee-! Why are you stopping me!”

​

“..What is a grown kid doing all of a sudden?”

​

Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?

When the surprise attack failed, Narin puffed up her cheeks and tried to cling to me.

​

“Me too, baby, baby! Oww!”

​

“……”

​

“..No matter how much of a country you are, that kind of expression hurts, right?”

​

You were the one who made me make that face first.

After a brief struggle, Narin gave up on hugging me.

​

“Sigh..”

​

Narin stretched out her arm and took the drink from her seat.

​

“Gayeon always hugs me well, but why do I…”

​

“Isn’t Ms. Gayeon still young?”

​

Narin took a sip of her drink.

She took her mouth off the cup and looked at me in bewilderment.

​

“Oh my, brother. If he went to school, he would be in middle school, right?”

​

“Isn’t a middle school student young enough?”

​

“But you’re at an age where you know everything, right?”

​

“Mental age is young.”

​

As you can see from the way Gayeon acts, she has a younger side than her peers.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t receive any education from a young age.

​

“Does he grow up in an instant? In two more years, he’ll be a high school student. In five years, he’ll be an adult.”

​

“But still young, right?”

​

“Then treat me like a child too! Ouch!”

​

“High school students?”

​

“Since I’m not that much older than Gayeon, I’m a kid too!”

​

Why on earth do you want to hug me so much..

Honestly, I could have just hugged her like I wanted, but seeing Narin’s desperate appearance made me want to be playful.

​

“You’re a high school student now, so you should act like an adult.”

​

“Fatal.”

​

For a moment, she puffed out her cheeks again, feeling frustrated that I wasn’t hugging her.

Narin’s eyes sparkled and she smiled faintly as if she had had a good idea.

​

“Or, unlike baby Gayeon, if you hug me, do you think it will feel strange? Like I’ll suddenly feel rational emotions?”

​

Narin said that and covered her mouth with a smirk.

She stood up with her drink in hand, smiled, and shook her head.

​

“Well~ I can’t help it. Isn’t it my fault for shaking your heart?”

​

“Is that so?”

​

I snickered at her confident appearance.

This makes me want to come here for no reason.

​

More precisely, I felt like joking around a little more.

​

Whoa!

​

“..Who hugs whom and their hearts waver?”

​

I grabbed Narin’s wrist and pulled her to the ground, causing her to lose her balance.

Then he quickly grabbed my waist and made me sit on top of his thighs.

​

“……”

​

“Huh? Do you want to tell me?”

​

As I hugged Narin’s waist tighter and held her close, Narin suddenly held her breath.

​

I looked at Narin, whose breathing was getting increasingly faster, along with the sound of her pounding heart.

​

“Ah, ah..that, that…”

​

Her face gradually turned red, and she stuttered as if she didn’t understand the situation.

I lightly pressed my hand to her red lips.

​

“Eek!”

​

Then, she was so surprised that her body froze.

Although the sudden change in atmosphere was disconcerting, she didn’t avoid my touch, perhaps because she didn’t hate it.

​

“Who feels weird?”

​

“..uh,uh.”

​

“The one whose face is turning red is actually Na-rin.”

​

“Brother..”

​

I continued to stroke her lips with my thumb and caressed her cheek with my other hand.

​

“I can see why you’re so confident.”

​

Narin is objectively beautiful.

Her high self-confidence may largely come from this part.

​

“But when I actually tried to do it, this was the reaction…”

​

Well, I thought those parts were cute.

Because it seems like the child is being cocky without knowing anything.

​

“!!”

​

I smiled and hugged Narin even closer.

As if they were about to kiss.

​

“Oh, brother..?”

​

Her face becomes even redder and her body becomes stiff.

​

‘I’ll do the fan service properly.’

​

I slowly got closer to her, gently stroking the nape of her neck with one hand.

​

Little by little. Little by little.

​

So that only I can be seen in both eyes.

Enough for their breath to brush against each other’s skin.

​

Before we knew it, we had reached a distance that could be said to be right in front of our noses.

A gap just big enough to fit one or two fingers.

​

That moment when the gap between us became narrower.

​

Ding-!

​

“Sazan! I’m here..!!”

​

“Ah.”

​

“..Huh?”

​

Why is the timing of the guests arriving so unbelievable today?

​

““……””

​

An odd silence fell over the cafe.

​

Narin’s thoughts stopped as she was struck by the new guest, and Chise’s mind also stopped as he was struck by the love scene before his eyes.

​

And in the meantime, I was left feeling embarrassed.

​

‘hmm…’

​

“…Are you here, Tsukino-san?”

​

“Uh, uh uh..yeah…”

​

I greeted Chise, who had a blank expression on her face, at the door.

​

***

​

“I hate that young man.”

​

Time passes again and it is night.

I shrugged my shoulders, looking at Uchi, who was seen grumbling beyond the escape.

​

“You even hired someone to take care of your sick ‘colleague’, right?”

​

“What are you doing, colleague! Isn’t this just a side job!”

​

“You’re injured, so you need someone to take care of you. And there’s someone you need to keep a close eye on, so if you stick together, it’s killing two birds with one stone.”

​

It wasn’t because I absolutely didn’t want to be that drug dealer.

​

“So, was there anything else you heard from the drug dealer besides what we heard yesterday?”

​

Anyway, this isn’t what we came here to talk about, right?

Any further information you’ve gotten?

​

“…Phew. There are a few more new things I just heard.”

​

Uchi took a moment to catch his breath after seeing me.

He continued speaking in a more serious tone than before.

​

“These drug sellers, it seems, aren’t just trying to make money, they’re trying to experiment with something.”

​

And that too in this slum.