Chapter 32
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 32: Touching Reunion (2)
The bathroom door closed, and soon the sound of pouring water was heard.
*Chwaaa—*
Taking that gap, I finished ordering chicken through the delivery app. Arrival within 40 minutes. If we shoot the breeze (No-ga-ri) appropriately after Ji-hye finishes washing up and comes out, the timing will be perfect.
"Phew..."
Got nothing to do, should I check the Talk I turned off notifications for earlier. First I pressed that secret room created by the horn-rimmed glasses, Park Hyun-woo.
"Huh......"
[ Clean Male Student Room (5) ]
As soon as I entered the chat room, felt like I could hear screams beyond the text.
[Kim Min-soo] (19:43)
: Please save me...
[Choi Jun-young] (19:55)
: Older sisters won't let me go home... Want to see Mom...
[Lee Do-hyun] (20:08)
: Ran away saying I'm going to the restroom and got caught ㅠㅠ Going to 2nd round crazy
[Park Hyun-woo] (20:15)
: @Seol Jin-hyuk Jin-hyuk-ah... Please come back...
: After you left my table got completely surrounded...
: @Seol Jin-hyuk Jin-hyuk-ah... Please come back...
: After you left my table got completely surrounded...
: I'm cleaning up the sh*t you dumped ㅠㅠ
"......"
Sorry. But if you're going to die, die among yourselves. I have to live. Originally there is no freedom without sacrifice.
Putting in a shred of conscience, I left one text to grasp the situation.
[Me] (20:21)
: Hyun-woo-ya, how is the atmosphere there
Reply came in 1 second. Obvious the guy was holding his phone sending rescue requests too.
[Park Hyun-woo] (20:21)
: (Photo)
The photo Hyun-woo sent was shaky and blurry, but enough to grasp the situation.
A crowd of female students surrounding the table in layers, no, watertight. Like a swarm of ants surrounding candy, or a zombie horde surrounding a survivor camp, it was hell itself.
[Park Hyun-woo] (20:22)
: I can't even go to the restroom... Everyone's eyes are weird...
Sad but there is nothing I can do. Sorry Hyun-woo-ya. That excessive love and interest, I decline. You take it all.
I quietly pressed back. And after taking a deep breath, clicked the epicenter of the problem.
[ Class of '20 Computer Engineering Freshman Group Chat (107) ]
As soon as I pressed the chat room, the scroll poured down like a waterfall. Speed hard to follow even with eyes.
"Wow..."
I just turned it off. Mashed the home button and escaped to the desktop. Didn't see anything. I don't know anything.
The department group chat I checked again was burning more fiercely with firewood than earlier.
Sacrificed the giant bait named Hyun-woo, but far from dispersing the aggro, mystical attributes were added and it was splashing to me more.
The contents were... at a level hard to even bring out of my mouth.
"Crazy..."
It was then.
*Click.*
The bathroom door opened, and Ji-hye walked out along with thick steam.
"Older Brother, I finished washing up."
I turned my head inadvertently, then paused for a moment.
"......"
My XL size t-shirt was way too big for the punk.
A white t-shirt coming down to mid-thigh, beyond just covering the hips. A strangely dangerous outfit, looking as if she wasn't wearing any bottoms.
*Drip*, water drops fell from wet hair and soaked the collarbone.
What bothered me most was the loose neckline.
Every time the punk raised her arm, the collar slipped down smoothly, revealing her pale shoulder and collarbone as is. Heat was soaked red into the freshly washed skin.
If it wasn't for the filter of being a biological younger sister, it was a visual dangerous enough to not know where to put my eyes.
I hurriedly cleared my throat and twisted my gaze slightly.
"Uh, yeah. Lotion and hair dryer are over there."
"Yeah."
Ji-hye flapped her sleeves and walked briskly towards the dressing table.
I watched the punk's back, then slyly turned my gaze to the bed.
One double-size bed placed alone in the middle of the room. And one blanket covering it.
'Ha... Sh*t.'
Didn't think of it beforehand. Need to stock up on blankets next time.
Bought a big bed to sprawl out alone and use widely, but having only one blanket to cover. Obvious miscalculation.
The only fortunate thing amidst misfortune is that there are two pillows.
Usually sleep with one to lay head on and one to hug with legs, so I kept two, didn't know it would be used like this.
'...Means we end up having to sleep covering one blanket.'
Not like I have a guest mattress, can't make younger sister sleep on the bare floor. But if I sleep on the floor my precious spine feels like it'll be smashed.
'Should I just stay up all night gaming today?'
Pondered it, but dismissed it immediately. The sh*tty things I experienced today aren't just one or two.
Hunting, escaping, disciplining... my physical and mental stamina already hit bottom. An all-night gaming session in my current state is no different from suicide.
'Should I feed her chicken and put her in a taxi...'
No, I was the one who caught her telling her to sleep over because it might be dangerous in the first place. Kicking her out now doesn't add up. Pride is hurt to take it back.
"I don't know..."
Gave up thinking. Whatever happens, happens.
*Whirrr- Click.*
The hair dryer sound stopped. A moment later, Ji-hye, who dried her hair completely, approached hesitantly. Holding the hem of the loose t-shirt and gauging my mood, the sight was quite bothersome.
I pointed to the bed with my chin and opened my mouth.
"Hey, grasp the situation a bit."
"...Huh?"
"Look at the state of this room. Only that one blanket."
Ji-hye's gaze turned to the bed. Spacious double bed. But only one thing to cover.
"No mattress on the floor either, and heating hasn't run fully yet so it's cold. If I sleep on the floor my back goes out tomorrow."
"...Yeah."
"Can't roll you, a guest, on the bare floor either."
I paused for a moment, then said as if tossing it.
"So just crush yourself next to me and sleep. Since bed is wide."
"......!"
Ji-hye's eyes grew big.
"Instead, if you cross the line I'll kick you so know that. Just sleep quietly."
"...Uh, okay."
Ji-hye bowed her head low and answered. Voice crawling in, what kind of imagination she's having alone, the tips of her ears were red.
Well, none of my business. Since I become a biting dog if touched while sleeping, she'll be careful on her own.
Just then, the doorbell rang with good timing.
*Ding dong—*
"Chicken must be here."
I jumped up from the seat. Nothing beats chicken to ventilate this awkward air.
We received the delivery, and tore the chicken wordlessly. Ji-hye ate quietly gauging my mood, and since I was hungry too I hurriedly oiled my stomach.
When the meal roughly finished, I sat in front of the computer to digest too.
"Should play a few rounds of Rel (LoL) before sleeping."
Turned on the client familiarly. But the more I played the game, far from relieving stress, it only piled up more like stomach acid reflux.
Reason is simple.
Because my All-Champ account flew away.
My precious account cultivated with blood, sweat, and cash in the original world. That evaporated. What's in my hand right now is an empty can account that needs to be leveled up from 1 again, with only basic given characters for champions.
"Do I only have Tryndamere..."
Since I don't have Blue Essence, I'm just spamming the 675 won cost-effective champion over and over. Skin? Such crap is a luxury. Seeing the basic skin Tryndamere swinging a sword clumsily only brought tears to my eyes.
Just then, felt a presence behind my back. Ji-hye got up from the bed, approached behind my chair, and peeked.
"Older Brother, is this Rel? I saw friends playing it a few times too..."
"Yeah. It's Rel."
I answered indifferently and ate the big wave in the top lane. Not wanting to miss even one CS, mouse clicking sound rang loudly.
"Wanna watch from the side once?"
"Yeah! Wanna watch."
Ji-hye dragged a chair next to me and sat. Sparkling eyes fixed on the monitor. As an older brother need to show something. Like flashy physicals, overwhelming carry ability.
But reality was cruel.
[ Ally has been slain. ]
[ Ally has been slain. ]
Screams burst out from all over the rift. Our team Mid was already shouting "Jng Diff (Jg gap)" and started throwing, and Bottom Duo went afk in the fountain.
Typical 15-minute surrender angle.
Ji-hye looked at the scoreboard and tilted her head.
"...Are we losing? Kill score is 1 to 12..."
Question that hurts the bones more because it's innocent. Honestly speaking, no hope for this game. Enemy Top already has 3 core items, and I don't even have 1 core.
However, in front of younger sister, and 15 minutes into the game at that, can't just admit "Yeah, f*cked up". Got a man's pride (Gao) after all.
I gripped the mouse tight and said firmly.
"We win."
"...Really? Inhibitor is being pushed?"
"Yeah. I will carry. Watch closely. This is exactly the power of a late-game carry (Wang-gwi) champion."
I turned on Ghost grimly. Enemy is preparing for a team fight in front of Baron. Now is the chance.
'Going! Real man's suicide squad not looking back!'
E - Spinning Slash!
I dug into the middle of the enemy camp. Target is the well-grown enemy ADC, if I just cut that plague rat bastard there is hope.
But.
[ Feared! ]
[ Rooted! ]
As soon as I entered, got hit by that scarecrow's fear and fallen angel's root. My character spun round and round on the spot like an idiot.
"Ah! CC chain f*ck! Hey! Ult! Ult!"
R – Undying Rage.
Doesn't die for 5 seconds. Have to risk everything in these 5 seconds. I clicked the right mouse button crazily.
"Die! Die you rat bastard!"
Auto attack, auto attack, auto attack! Crit needs to pop but doesn't pop. Luck-dependent f*cked up game.
Meanwhile enemy plague rat was massacring our team spraying poison.
[ Double Kill! ]
[ Triple Kill! ]
[ Quadra Kill! ]
As soon as my Undying Rage ended, the screen turned gray from one auto attack of the plague rat.
[F*ckingStrongHighSchoolGirl(Plague Rat)]: Guys give Penta plz
[F*ckingStrongHighSchoolGirl(Plague Rat)]: Penta penta penta
Enemy's plea came up in the chat window. Pentakill. Gamer's romance. Situation where our team members are all dead and only low HP Meister is left. Mostly atmosphere to give it out of courtesy.
But that moment.
Q – Alpha Strike.
[YeonseongHighFistKing(Meister)]: F*ck off
Our team Jungle, without tact, no, very maliciously scratched Omega Strike on the low HP plague rat.
*Slash-!*
[ Shutdown! ]
Pentakill was thwarted. Enemy team ADC raged, our team Jungle flashed thumbs up emote, and our Nexus exploded.
[ Defeat ]
Red letters appeared on the screen.
Silence.
Inside the room, only the reverberation of my typing sound slamming the keyboard, and the sound of the computer cooler spinning were loud.
I took off the headset slowly. And very calmly, hiding shaking pupils, looked back at Ji-hye.
"...Saw that?"
"Uh? Y, yeah... Lost...?"
"No. Didn't lose this. It's education."
"Education?"
"Showed that if team luck is bad even a ranker can't win, and that Pentakills shouldn't be given carelessly. A kind of negative example."
"...Ah."
Ji-hye nodded blankly.
"...Yes. Learned well."
Whether what dwelt in the punk's eyes was respect, or pity saying 'Older Brother is having a hard time'. I didn't bother checking and quietly turned off the client.
"...Sleep. Turning off lights."
Today is definitely not my day.
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