More Important Than the Tournament

Back in the hotel room, I spilled everything I’d felt just now to everyone.

The emotions I experienced in that short time, and the thoughts I had now.

“So. What does Hayeon-i want to do?”

I…

I shut my mouth at Sohee’s words.

I felt bad, wondering if my actions were stealing opportunities from others.

To be honest, I felt like dropping out of the competition right now.

But I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“Do you… maybe want to forfeit the next match?”

A bullseye.

I avoided Sohee’s gaze.

“Well, I was thinking that making it to the round of 16 isn’t a bad result…”

Silence descended upon my hesitant words.

Ellie, who was munching on snacks while dozing off, Seongshin-sunbae, who was sitting on the bed with her phone, and Sohee, who was sitting in front of me.

Everyone fell silent.

Cold sweat ran down my back.

I wondered if I’d made a mistake, and after watching Sohee’s expression for a while, she opened her mouth.

“Haa…”

A low sigh escaped her lips.

Then, she said with a small smile.

“If Hayeon-i wants to, then let’s do that.”

“Re-really?”

“Yeah. I have no complaints.”

Sohee gave her permission. I cast a glance at the others, seeking their agreement as well.

Seongshin-sunbae, who had been staring blankly, nodded.

Now, there’s only one person left.

Only Ellie.

I looked at Ellie.

“Hayeon. Is that your true heart?”

“Umm… I feel bad… Everyone must have worked so hard for this tournament.”

The moment those words left my mouth, Ellie’s expression crumpled.

“Hayeon. Do you respect all the players who have entered this tournament?”

“Ah, uh… I basically respect all gamers.”

“Then!”

Kong!

The moment I finished answering, Ellie jumped up from her seat.

She slammed the bag of snacks she was holding onto the table with a Kong!

Thanks to that, the contents of the snack bag spilled out.

“Heok…”

Ellie’s eyes widened as if she was surprised by her own actions.

She immediately reached out with both hands and began picking up the scattered snacks.

After cleaning up the table she had messed up, Ellie took a breath and continued speaking.

“Then I hope you won’t mention giving up.”

“Why?”

“Have you thought about how the teams that lost to us and were eliminated will feel if we give up now?”

“That’s…”

“Every team except us must have put in a lot of effort to participate in this tournament. We are the ones who trampled on that effort and climbed up. And we’re suddenly giving up?”

Poljjak.

Ellie jumped off the chair she was sitting on and approached me.

Her gaze was unwavering, and the faint image of a knight appeared and disappeared behind Ellie.

“Didn’t you say you respected them?”

“So…”

“Don’t deceive them, Blood Demon King. Act like you always do. Overwhelm everyone with your confident and arrogant self. Make everyone accept it.”

Ellie left those words behind and crawled onto the bed.

As I blankly watched her crawling, Ellie’s faint voice continued.

“Can I borrow the bed…”

I pursed my lips at Ellie’s words.

She’s right. I brought up giving up just to make myself feel better.

I didn’t think about how the other teams that lost to our team would feel.

Is it because I haven’t been sleeping? I feel like I’m having a late-night emotional outburst.

I smiled awkwardly and looked up at Sohee.

Sohee, who was always giving me a faint smile.

She would nod and follow whatever I said.

“What are you going to do?”

Even though she just heard Ellie’s words, she’s asking me this question.

I smiled slightly and shook my head.

“It’s okay.”

“You’re not going to give up?”

“Yeah. I’m not. I’m going to win.”

“You’ve thought it through well.”

Was she satisfied with my answer?

Sohee smiled even brighter than before and stroked my hair.

I was being stroked so naturally that I turned my gaze away.

“Sunbae.”

“Ah, yeah?”

“I’m sorry. Sunbae also practiced hard for this tournament…”

“Ah, no… I can’t do VRS, so I didn’t want to be a nuisance…”

But it’s true that she tried.

I bowed my head to Seongshin-sunbae.

Seongshin-sunbae, who had a flustered expression, cleared her throat and avoided my gaze, as if my appearance made her uncomfortable.

My stuffy and complicated head felt refreshed.

Of course, that didn’t mean the uncomfortable feelings had disappeared.

A small discomfort, like a thorn stuck somewhere in my throat every time I breathed.

“Hmm…”

Anyway, the withdrawal is canceled.

I’m going to do my best in this tournament, just like Ellie said.

I’m going to show off my skills to the point where everyone is convinced and make everyone accept it.

To do that, I need to recover my condition.

I rubbed my eyes and went up to the bed where Ellie was lying.

This room is used by me and Sohee.

Of course, that means the owners of the bed are me and Sohee.

But the one occupying the center of the bed was Ellie, lying down with her white hair spread out wide.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded at Sohee’s question and lay down next to Ellie.

Ellie’s breathing was quiet and steady, so it seemed like she had already fallen asleep.

Since I share the same bed with Sohee, I was used to the sound of her breathing next to me.

***

Warm warmth and a soft, squishy texture.

And a scent that felt familiar yet unfamiliar.

Awakened from my sleep, I looked around with blurry vision.

The room was dark, as if the lights were turned off.

Thanks to the moonlight and neon lights coming in from outside the window, I could only vaguely distinguish the outline of the room.

Malang-

The sensation on my fingertips is soft.

Tilting my head, I continued to move my hand.

A warm and soft sensation.

Sohee? No. Sohee’s skin didn’t feel like this.

Sitting up in bed, I looked down to confirm what I was touching.

A wide spread of pure white hair.

A cute mouth wide open, and drool flowing down the side.

The short-sleeved shirt she was wearing was halfway up, revealing her pure white belly.

Ellie.

The one lying next to me was Ellie, and what I was touching was Ellie’s belly.

“Oh…”

Ellie’s belly was this soft.

I couldn’t feel a single bit of muscle.

It was a completely different feeling from Sohee, so I felt quite curious.

As if possessed by something, I kept poking and prodding Ellie’s belly.

Malangmalang-

Where did Sohee and Seongshin-sunbae go?

I kept touching Ellie’s belly fat and looked around.

“Sohee-ya? Seongshin-sunbae?”

Everyone was definitely in this room before I fell asleep, so what happened?

I stopped touching Ellie’s belly fat and took out my phone from my pocket.

The current time is 10:50 PM.

There were no messages or texts from Sohee.

“Hmm…”

That’s when it happened. Ellie, who was lying next to me, woke up and raised her body with a dazed expression.

Ellie naturally looked around.

Because she raised her body, the shirt that was up came down and covered her pure white belly.

I smacked my lips while looking at that.

“Hayeon…”

“Yeah.”

“Sohee and Seongshin-sunbae are not visible.”

“They weren’t there since I woke up.”

“Was there a text or something?”

“There wasn’t?”

“Hmm…”

Ellie nodded at my words and jumped off the bed.

I also got out of bed following Ellie.

“Should we call them?”

“That would be good.”

Without either of us saying anything, we took out our phones and started making calls.

I naturally called Sohee, and Ellie called Seongshin-sunbae.

After about 30 seconds, my phone call was connected.

“Sohee-ya?”

[Ah, you’re awake?]

“Where are you? The lights in the room are off.”

[I came out with Seongshin-sunbae for a bit.]

“Are you coming back soon?”

[Yeah. I’ll be back soon.]

“Are you buying snacks?”

[…Do you want to eat snacks?]

“I want to eat potato chips. We ate all the ones we bought yesterday.”

[Okay…]

The call ended there.

I nodded and sat on the bed.

“Seongshin-sunbae and Sohee are on their way back.”

“I see…”

Ellie nodded at my words and sat next to me, putting her phone in her pocket.

Since we were both sitting on the bed, our feet didn’t touch the floor.

I brought my leg next to Ellie’s leg and compared the length.

And as expected, my leg was slightly longer.

A subtle sense of victory.

I feel good.

Ellie and I sat blankly, letting time pass.

Because there was nothing special to do until Seongshin-sunbae and Sohee returned.

Ellie couldn’t stand the boredom and took out her phone to start Deron Gallery, but I became interested in something else.

That was Ellie’s belly.

I only touched it in my sleep earlier, so I couldn’t fully appreciate the texture.

But now. Now that all my senses and mind are clear, I felt like I could properly enjoy that soft, squishy texture.

I secretly moved behind Ellie and started to get into position.

Ellie’s phone screen visible over her shoulder.

She was having a keyboard battle in the Deron Gallery.

It seemed like she got into an argument in that short time.

Now is the chance, while Ellie is deeply focused on something.

I reached out and hugged Ellie from behind.

“Ha, Hayeon…?”

“Just stay like this for a bit.”

“Th, this is…!”

There’s no particular purpose.

I just wanted to poke and prod Ellie’s belly fat with both hands.

I slipped my hand under Ellie’s shirt and grabbed her soft belly fat.

“Hieeek!”

Ellie twisted her body when I grabbed her belly fat.

A high-pitched scream burst from Ellie’s mouth.

“Stay still…!”

“St, stop it!”

Malangmalang-

A soft and warm sensation.

The more I touched it, the more I felt like I was falling into it.

It’s not just the belly. The sides are also a similar texture.

“Hiek! Hiek! Hweik!”

“Oh…”

“Hieeek!”

Malangmalang-

No matter how much Ellie struggled, she couldn’t escape my embrace since I had her from behind.

I went ahead and stretched out my legs to hug her waist.

“Stay still…! I’m not hurting you!”

“HIEEEEK!!!”

Is Ellie even the same human as me?

Could she be an alien from a planet called Malangbyul?

It was a completely different sensation from Sohee’s belly, which I had touched once before.

Malangmalang-

“Hieeek!”

I released Ellie after Seongshin-sunbae and Sohee arrived.

Ellie was completely limp.

Like a melted mochi.