Mandu (3)
With 30,000 views and over 40 comments, the guesthouse promo video featuring Mandu had left its mark overnight.
Aqua's eyes sparkled as she bolted upright. She was glued to the phone screen, eyes wide with excitement.
[Whoa... Whoa! So many!]
Aqua scrolled through the comments frantically. I sat beside her, reading along. Mandu peeked out from her shoulder.
[Ooooh!]
Aqua was trembling with emotion, even her hands shaking. To keep the joy going, I tapped the next video right away.
"Wanna check the comments on the other one too?"
The second video on the Haynaru Guesthouse channel, "Mermaid Princess Aqua", had even more views and comments.
100,000 views and 300 comments? Even I couldn't believe it. And it was still morning.
Aqua eagerly scrolled down, devouring the comments.
Even foreign-language comments were piling up. Aqua stared at me with her mouth agape. Slowly, a happy smile spread across her face.
[Eeeee!]
Aqua lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her joyful voice whispered in my ear, making even me feel happy.
[Comments! Tons of them! Everyone loves me!]
"Of course. No one on this planet could hate Aqua."
I gently hugged her back.
[Yeeees!]
Aqua bounced with excitement.
"Hahaha. You like the comments that much?"
[Of course! They're talking to me, trying to connect! In this vast human world!]
Aqua's joy was contagious. A smile crept onto my face too.
[Should I reply to them all? Would that be annoying? Am I overdoing it? Eeee! What do I do?!]
Aqua chattered on in high spirits. Just the comments alone had her this purely happy. Hearing her voice made last night's work feel fully rewarded.
Then, Mandu on her shoulder leaned close to her ear.
[Hm?]
[Sisit! Sisisi-sit.]
Aqua's expression slowly changed as she listened. It wasn't her usual innocent grin—it was full of affection.
[It was you!]
Aqua jumped again, clinging to my neck even harder this time.
"Whoa."
I wrapped my arms around her gently, supporting her comfortably. She looked up at me with a sparkling smile.
[You promoted these videos all night?!]
I glanced at Mandu, who was grinning cheekily. Looks like the little guy had stayed up late.
"Busted, huh?"
[Keeping such a kind deed a secret from me!]
Aqua tried to sound mad, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
"No secrets. Making spirits happy is just a spirit user's duty."
[Our spirit user even speaks beautifully!]
Aqua beamed and leaned in close.
Mwah!
She planted a kiss on my cheek. I looked at her in surprise.
[Heeheehee! Thank you so much!]
Slowly, a bright smile spread on my face too.
Mwah!
I kissed her cheek back.
[Heeheeheehee!]
Her face lit up like the sun—could she smile any brighter?
[Siit!]
Mandu stuck out his tongue, licking both our cheeks. His version of a kiss.
"Ahahaha!"
[Heeheehee!]
[Sisisit!]
Amid the happy laughter, a small notification chimed.
Unforgettable Memories Quest Completed
* * *
By noon, the two videos had surpassed 200,000 views combined. Reservations were flooding in.
"Sorry, we're fully booked. Reservations are solid through next month."
Mom and Dad were swamped with calls.
"Uh... no, we don't have a water play program with Aqua ready."
To not disturb them, I gave Aqua a piggyback ride and headed to the hallway. Mandu perched on her head.
Feeling Aqua's cool body like a summer breeze, I strolled the corridor.
"Our videos blew up, so Mom and Dad are super busy now."
Aqua, who'd been replying to comments since breakfast, grinned proudly.
[The promo worked perfectly!]
She kicked her feet excitedly. Crossing the hall to our room, a guest called out.
"Excuse me."
"Yes? How can I help?"
I smiled quickly.
"Um... I heard there's a spirit named Aqua here?"
He showed me his phone screen—a video of Aqua.
[Right here!]
Before I could speak, Aqua materialized.
"Gah!"
The startled guest nearly dropped his phone.
[Eek?!]
Aqua yelped too, gripping my hair tight. It was a funny, painful mess—I just chuckled awkwardly.
"W-Woah! A real spirit!"
A familiar reaction by now.
"Mind if I take a photo?"
This was new.
"Of Aqua?"
"Yes!"
My lips curved up. Plenty had snapped Aqua's pic before, but few asked permission. Most treated her like a tourist statue or stray cat.
I liked his manners. Aqua did too.
[Of course! Wanna join?]
"Together? I can be in it?"
[Naturally!]
Aqua hopped off my shoulder, stepping on water platforms in midair—a trick only she could pull among water spirits—and lightly landed on his shoulder.
"O-Ohhh!"
His eyes bulged in awe and delight.
Aqua grinned.
[Service for our guesthouse guests!]
Mandu slid down to his shoulder too, tongue flicking.
"Whoa, both are insanely cute!"
The guy fumbled, thrusting his phone at me urgently.
"H-Here, phone!"
Like Aqua might vanish any second.
I snapped a pic of the three: grinning Aqua, head-tilted Mandu, and the blushing, ecstatic guest.
"Thank you!"
He bowed, barely checking the photo.
"I'll hype it up on SNS!"
Business was booming anyway, but no reason to turn down goodwill.
"Thanks. Enjoy your stay."
"Yes!"
As I turned away, more guests stood there.
"Um..."
"Can we get a photo too?"
Aqua beamed.
[Of course!]
* * *
Reading YouTube comments all day flew by into the afternoon.
"Oh yeah, that quest finished earlier."
[Ooh! Really?!]
Aqua flipped over from lounging with her phone and scooted close. I opened the Spirit Shop.
Unforgettable Memories Quest Completed
Spirit User's Growth. Spirit's Growth.
🎁 Receive Rewards?
I tapped yes.
Spirit Growth
Aqua's spirit status window popped up. Like last time, noise flickered at the bottom, adding one word.
[Destructive Power!]
Aqua mouthed it with an "ooh" of admiration.
[Sounds strong!]
It did. Destructive Power. She glanced around, itching to test it.
"No."
[No?]
"Later outside. Dangerous indoors."
[Aha, got it!]
I patted her back with a smile and checked the Spirit Shop. One reward left.
Spirit Magic Random Box Acquired
Another familiar shop item as a reward. In the corner labeled Possessed Items, it glowed. Tapping it revealed the Spirit Magic Random Box.
Contains one random Spirit Magic.
Spirit Magic: Spells (skills) usable by spirit users.
More skills were great, almost as good as trait evolution.
But why a random box?
Like most people, I'd never pulled anything good from one. I stared at it, deep in thought.