Big Trouble in My Room
Big trouble. I'm terrified. Where's my room? What's in it? My memories are all fuzzy.
What if I show Maru my room and there's something I don't even know about? I'm so anxious I can't move.
Worst case, she might get turned off by something I don't even remember... Because... one thing that pops into my head right now is that back when I was a guy in my old life, I had some naughty figures.
I bought them all because I wanted them so bad... Just thinking about her seeing them freaks me out.
"Seon-ah, let's go to your room. Don't just stand there."
"Uh... yeah. What about Dad?"
"Dad? He's gonna sleep. Gotta go to work tomorrow. Gotta make money."
"Ah... tomorrow's Saturday."
No choice, then. I lead Maru toward my room.
My heart's pounding. Thump-thump. Big trouble. What if there's stuff that'd make Maru uncomfortable?
I grab the doorknob to my room and slowly open it, peeking my face in first.
"You'll hurt yourself like that."
Maru puts her hand on my forehead and swings the door wide open with her other hand. Eek! Disaster! Emergency!
I squeeze my eyes shut. Then I slowly open my right eye first.
"Whoa, isn't your hobby a bit too classy?"
"...?"
"Wow. First time seeing real LP records. Waltz No. 2... Thus Spoke Zarathustra... Jim Knopf, The Nutcracker... Whoa, my first real classics."
Something's off. I don't listen to music. Why are there LP records? As I'm spacing out staring at them...
"I still need love... Animal Farm, The Art of Loving... The Old Man and the Sea, How to Love Yourself... Heroes of Wall Street... Freud's Chair, The Analects. Self-Esteem Class... Tao Te Ching, The Courage to Be Disliked... Nietzsche..."
Maru reads off the book titles on the shelf. The more I hear, the weirder it gets. I don't read books. My average reading is like half a book a year? And I don't keep books on shelves anyway. Something's wrong here.
"This is weird..."
I open the closet. Boxers and short-sleeve tees. Obviously guy's clothes. Huh? Did I go into the wrong room?
"Uh... Maru. Maru."
"Yeah?"
Maru, who was checking each book on the shelf, whips her head around to look at me.
"Wrong room! This is my little brother's room."
"Oh, yeah? Haha, that explains the CPA Level 2 prep books. Weird, right? There's no way you'd be studying for the CPA."
Hmm... Not sure what CPA is exactly, but I could do it. Why assume I couldn't? Anyone can be a test-prep student. If I buy books and read, boom, I'm prepping...!
Anyway. I guide her to my real room. This should've been it originally. For some reason, they'd switched.
This is my real room. I open the door and step in. Yep, definitely.
My guess was right.
"Wow."
Maru gasps in admiration at my room. Old game merch posters from a game I used to love—before it shut down—are plastered everywhere, and figures are on display. My bookshelf has Michael Hampton, anatomy books, illustration guides...
Do I read books...? I flip through one up close—they're all drawing books.
But more than that, seeing these figures after so long hits me hard. I loved them so much, I cried for three days straight when the service ended. My favorite game characters.
The wound never healed, so I quit mobile games entirely. I'd dumped so much cash in—good times, memories.
"This, this... that one, right? Mobile game?"
"Yeah! You know it?"
"The one coming out soon. Sequel."
"R-really?!"
"Yeah. They're hyping Unreal Engine 5. But whenever they brag about the engine, it's usually a flop."
For real? This time I'll believe it. I pull out my smartphone, search to confirm what Maru said.
It's true? Already 200k pre-registrations. I sign up right away.
"You gonna play it?"
"I love this. Just signed up."
"Ah, so you like these kinds of games."
"Yeah! Super love it. This character's the heroine here, see? She's a healer, as you know. Healer, but OP. Best basic one. Better than 5-stars, used her tons. And the costumes are so pretty. I got 'em all. Even the weapon's top-tier."
I take a deep breath and continue.
"Armor was the best too. There's this Arena mode, right? I hit #1 once. But never again after. Wanna know why? Rewards suck for the gems you spend. Stingy. But I wanted that #1, so I grinded a whole week non-stop!"
"Ah, got it. Must've felt great."
"So good. So, look here... where is it? One sec."
Arena resets weekly. To snag #1, I pulled all-nighters, dumped every saved gem and free ones—went all-in, barely hit deadline. Right at cutoff, #1. I printed that proof and wanted to show her.
"Hold on. Gotta be here somewhere."
Ten minutes hunting for that paper. Phew, human victory. Found the laminated #1 proof.
"H-here it is. Check this out."
"Ooh, #1."
"Yup! I got #1. So nerve-wracking that whole week. Brutal. Wow, memories."
All my allowance went into that game back then. Hope the sequel drops soon. Maru picks up a gift card hidden in the drawer.
"Wait, all this game's stuff? Microtransactions?"
"Uh... yeah!"
"This much okay?"
"Yeah, well."
Mom gave allowance for clothes, hanging with friends, saving for gadgets, good food.
School days? Uniform only. Friends? School buddies only—I went straight home. Gadgets? Had a PC, hand-me-down phone from parents.
So I dumped it all in games. Honestly, games are fun. That growth rush. Grades? 10s, 15s—worse than failing. Games? Endless progress. So addictive.
Proxy satisfaction, hooked on growth, I went harder. Started trembling at 10k won, ended up clicking 100k without blinking.
Then incident. Mom cleaned my room unannounced, found the gift cards. Should've scratched and tossed 'em, but collecting used ones was weirdly fun, so drawer stash.
That careless move? Mom started controlling clothes, food, friend money, gadgets... 90% of allowance gone.
But I got my side. Allowance's my money to spend, right? I skipped clothes, books, gadgets, friends, fancy food... saved it for games. Why's it my fault? Sigh, whatever, pointless now. Ancient history.
"So I got scolded..."
"Hahahaha. For real? You deserved it. Student days, right?"
"Yeah."
"I couldn't whale as a student, but damn, you went huge?"
"With my allowance!"
Maru tilts her head, eyeing me.
"They gave you that much?"
"Ah~ I saved up!"
Feels like she'd nag if I spilled the truth.
After that day, I became a low-spender buying only value packs, graphs tanked, service ended.
After dinner and snacks with Maru, suddenly Mom and Maru are chatting about dramas, movies... now the house.
Feels like nagging incoming if I stick around, so I retreat to my room.
My room, but so much I don't know. For starters, never worn makeup—total dude. Mom nagged, but no way.
Now a vanity with tons of skincare. Sticky notes on each with instructions.
"Cleanse, soak cotton in toner, wipe gently... essence... hmm. Messy."
Over ten lines—I'm impressed. All this effort... amazing. Mirror shows super clean skin. Feels bad seeing the work. Hmm... I'll try.
Next, desk. Obvious heavy drawing practice.
But notebook characters? All girls, big boobs. Next page: only colored one, maid outfit. Drawing this stuff? Parents see, what then? Geez, gotta get scolded.
Close notebook, grab random shelf book—all drawing books.
Bored of pics, scan room wide.
Huh? Wooden doll catches eye. I bend joints. Legs split, arms stretch, poses I can't do—twist this way, that... wildly.
Heehee... fun? So fun, kept creaking away.
Realized 10 minutes gone. Time sink. Careful next time.
Next, closet. No way. Seon-ah loved fashion. Tons. Pull 'em out.
Brown plaid blouse, black tank top, pink top, white tee with blue stripes long-sleeve, jeans, dolphin pants. Truly hideous stuff crammed in. Shock. Explains the dresses and weird clothes in my one-room.
Was Seon-ah popular? No way! I scratch my head.
"What do I do. What is this."
Ponder 5+ minutes, no answer—give up. Not my turf. How'd she wear that? Beats me. Flop on bed, check my YouTube.
No editor consult—total freedom like I said on stream. Upload if want, or not.
Check just in case—no upload yet. Next, fan cafe. Viewers hunting me, game requests galore, humor posters, brags.
Heart all read ones. Hearting, accidentally hit camera. Face fills screen—looks decent. Sucked into center button, snap photo.
Click, pic in left circle. Tap it—past photos. Shocking amount.
Swipe forever, no end. Gallery check.
Whoa. Insane.
Tons of pics. Me in those weird outfits. Cute, pretty, familiar poses.
"Cuter than I thought! Heehee."
Officially, I scroll pics till dreamland. Adorbs. Hehe.