Chapter 38
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 38: Self-Reflection
"For what reason did Older Sister contact me first."
Come to think of it, haven't contacted Older Sister even once since coming to this world.
6 years apart. Even in the original world, Older Sister practically raised me carrying me on her back instead of busy parents.
Of course, after our heads grew thick we became dry reality siblings just doing "Food?", "Yeah" and that's it, but it didn't mean our relationship was bad.
Because I had a conscience too, I was thankful for Older Sister's tenacious sacrifice. So when I got part-time job money I'd prepare some gifts, and when Older Sister was having a hard time I lived doing the duty of silently being a drinking buddy.
Stared blankly at the dry text on the screen.
[ Ji-eun Noona ] (20:22)
: Jin-hyuk-ah
: Jin-hyuk-ah
: Doing well these days?
Ji-hye became completely different, but a baseless belief forms that this Older Sister at least wouldn't have changed much. Because she was a blunt and realistic person in the original world too.
But.
"...Poked her as a joke, but she really gave it."
To think she'd just plug in 500,000 won without asking or questioning at the words 'Some allowance' I just threw out once.
This is a bit... very bewildering. Originally it would be normal for a curse saying "Crazy? Just do a part-time job" to fly back.
Is Older Sister in this world weak to her younger brother, or does she just have a lot of money.
"Well, returned 470,000 won so it's fine."
Took exactly 30,000 won for chicken price out of conscience. This is a reasonable commission.
Should see her face sometime. Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since I saw Older Sister's face too. Just heard she got a studio apartment and moved out, didn't even ask where she lives here.
But wait. Older Sister is 26 now right... mm... mm...
Uh?
Paused suddenly.
They say women in this world go to the military. Then did Older Sister go too?
Calculating the age, she'd already be in her nth year of reserve forces. Don't tell me our Older Sister held a gun, rolled in individual combat, went into the CBRN room and squeezed out snot?
"......"
Then Mom too? Has Mom fulfilled military service too?
Can't imagine. Should ask her military serial number later when I see her face. Ask if she kicks Jokgu (foot volleyball) well in the military league.
"Haa..."
I let out a hollow laugh and turned my gaze out the window. True, not only the military flipped. Just looking at the state of the school I'll attend.
Seeing it at the Welcome Party before, Engineering College completely became a Women's University too.
If it was the original world, dull engineering students wearing plaid shirts, glasses, and having greasy hair would have occupied the campus. Here it's a fragrant flower garden everywhere.
But, shouldn't be fooled by appearances.
There's one thing men commonly misunderstand. The pink fantasy that 'If you go to a female-dominated department, it will be a harem'. The illusion that you'll live happily like a butterfly surrounded by a flower garden.
But that's a fantasy.
There's a story an older brother attending Nursing Department, who I knew in the original world, used to tell whenever he drank.
"Jin-hyuk-ah... female-dominated department isn't a flower garden. It's Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
"Isn't it good to be stuck between girls?"
"Bullsh*t. I have to carry everything heavy. Changing water purifier bottles, carrying practice tools, moving luggage during MT... I wasn't a student but a servant..."
A minority isn't treated well. They get worked like dogs. That older brother's blood-curdling scream is still vivid in my ears.
Moreover, what's scarier wasn't physical labor. It was exactly women's savage politics and battle of nerves.
According to that older brother's testimony, every day there was walking on thin ice.
The funny thing is, looking from afar among themselves they are the world's best friends without equal. Uploading photos on Instagram saying "Our friendship forever", pretending to be tight-knit putting Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei's Peach Garden Oath to shame.
But, just let one week pass. At some point Liu Bei backstabs Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei goes under Cao Cao.
Older and younger sisters who couldn't live without each other until yesterday, become sworn enemies today, chewing, tearing, tasting, and enjoying each other. Groups splitting, merging, Romance of the Three Kingdoms itself rampant with betrayal and secret feuds.
That older brother lived with gastritis from constantly gauging moods in that gap.
"......"
Anyway, that's their situation. The important thing is that this is a world with a gender ratio of 1 to 9.
A world swarming with women. To me who knows how to smack a woman's crown with a toy hammer but doesn't know how to converse smilingly with a woman, it's an environment too harsh.
Yet the funny thing is, a feeling of expectation asking 'By any chance?' squirms in a corner of my heart. A shallow and instinctive hope circuit that maybe my own green light could turn on even in this rough jungle.
'How the hell is the brain structure of women in this world made.'
Can't know. To hunt a beast, one must grasp its habits first. Although half the posts floating on the internet are lies, should try searching at least with the feeling of grasping at straws.
I grabbed the mouse again.
[ Search: Average dating rate and marriage form of men ]
My eyes narrowed as I scrolled down.
"...Huh."
The dating map of this world far exceeded my common sense.
[ Real-time Best: Worries of unmarried women in their 30s (Comments 482) ]
● Did everyone find a partner? I just gave up and decided to combine households with a like-minded female friend.
⤷ No no that's wise. Men are fantasy species. Wait and die of old age.
● Did everyone find a partner? I just gave up and decided to combine households with a like-minded female friend.
⤷ No no that's wise. Men are fantasy species. Wait and die of old age.
⤷ I'm also in my 5th year of marriage with my wife and satisfied. Thinking of going to the bank next year to have a kid.
[ Mom Cafe HOT Post ]
● My daughter asked what a 'Dad' is at kindergarten, what should I answer? ㅠㅠ
● My daughter asked what a 'Dad' is at kindergarten, what should I answer? ㅠㅠ
⤷ Just say it's like a fairy appearing in old fairy tale books.
First, there are many cases of women living with women. Since there are so few men, women exhausted from waiting form families among themselves.
Just receiving genes from a sperm bank to give birth to a child, becoming 'Mom' and 'Mama' and living happily together. Like Sol's family I saw at the park today.
Then what about men?
[ Anonymous Board: Honestly my boyfriend... face (wa-kku) is smashed but just dating ㅠㅠ ]
Personality is a mess and doesn't even wash. But what can I do? If I break up with him I have to hold hands and live with only women for life.
[Comments]
Anonymous: Saying full-bellied sounds. I want to enter as a concubine even for that Orc-like man. Around me are all just lesbian couples.
This was it. It's not that he looks pretty because she's blinded by love. She's holding on because 'it won't do without at least this'.
Like the feeling of forcing oneself to ride a completely dented compact car, because it's better than having no car at all.
Men here are broadly divided into two categories.
1. Room-corner shut-in type: Case of hiding because excessive interest is scary. (Fake Jin-hyuk)
2. Harem royalty type: Case of abusing power (Gap-jil) using scarcity as a weapon and collecting women. (Those bastards at the Welcome Party)
Many women line up to enter as 3rd wife, 4th wife to the 2nd type of man. Pride or whatever, because they need the trophy of possessing a 'Man' first.
"Wow... Really going crazy."
Even a person who is ugly, fat, and has a ruined personality receives king treatment for the single reason of having a d*ck attached.
Not love, it was a monster-like reality created by the strict law of supply and demand.
"If so... me, Seol Jin-hyuk?"
I spun the chair and stared blankly at my face reflected in the mirror.
"Hmph..."
Resting my chin, I scrutinized this and that. Let's make an estimate coolly.
"Hmmmmmm..."
First, height. Putting aside specific numbers, learned that for a man historically passing is just over 170cm. Looking in the mirror, seems I comfortably passed that cutline. Passed for now.
Next is appearance. This is a bit ambiguous. There's a saying my childhood friend bastards in the original world used to say to me whenever they drank.
—Jin-hyuk-ah, please just keep your mouth shut. Why do you use a perfectly fine face like that?
Thought it was an insult, but thinking about it now it was a compliment. Meaning software is the problem but hardware isn't bad. With this much... pass... I guess?
Lastly, personality. Mm... honestly this is the biggest problem though.
"Well, if I didn't commit murder I'm a normal person."
Drastically lowered the standard. Dealing with women is a bit difficult (annoying), and lacking social skills slightly, but here if criminal record is clean isn't it No. 1 husband material.
There's proof too.
When that President lady cast male student crucifixion (Go-ro-si) at the Welcome Party. I genuinely wanted to jump onto the podium, fly a middle finger, and shout into the mic "Hey, you f*cking b*tch! Are you human!".
But I didn't. I endured. Just left quietly.
"With this level of patience... practically a saint."
Character is a pass too.
Let's sum it up. Appropriate height. Face not bad. Possesses character (?).
"...Me, might have been quite a decent property originally?"
Won't starve to death in this harsh world. Felt that level of small relief.
In reality, wasn't just swatting flies (doing nothing) myself either.
Experienced street hunting a few times not long after coming to this world. Because I had my number taken in the confusion, though I regret it a bit now. Anyway, it means 'demand' itself exists for me too by this world's standards.
But this small self-satisfaction didn't last 3 seconds.
'Wait.'
The [Doubt Circuit] installed in my brain sounded a loud warning. My reason slapped my cheek.
'...Isn't this just my own hope circuit?'
Let's calculate coolly. People of this world have eyes too. Have brains. Means just because men are precious, doesn't mean they can't distinguish sh*t and piss and just pick up and eat anything.
No matter how much of a 'Boy Crazy (Nam-mi-sae)' blinded by sexual desire, they'd rather make another choice than date a domestic violence offender or personality-ruined person.
They'd just choose to burn hotly with a like-minded woman, accelerating global warming and making polar bears extinct. Meaning they wouldn't bother getting stressed meeting a flawed bastard.
In other words, not everything is forgiven for the sole reason of being a 'Man'. Unless the face is heavenly tier, if not must have basic common sense, manners, and 'Charm'.
In the original world, if the face was heavenly tier good-looking, women took care of everything on their own. Because narratives complete just by breathing, and bullsh*t becomes famous quotes.
But what if not? If just an 'Average' or 'Decent' level like me?
In the end, the key is 'Software', namely personality. Means one must have eloquence, have sense, or have minimum social skills for a relationship to be established.
Why was a perpetually single (Mo-sol) perpetually single. Because appearance was smashed? No. Looking perfectly fine but killing the mood as soon as opening mouth, or being a timid weirdo unable to even make eye contact with women, was mostly the case.
Honestly speaking openly, I also almost got drunk on narcissism thinking 'If it's me? Objectively excellent property no?'... but.
I know my place. I'm a person who experienced to the bone what a miserable ending this 'Baseless Confidence' brings.
Middle school days, the dark history of catching that damn 'Axe Disease (thinking someone likes you)', drinking kimchi soup alone (getting ahead of oneself) and plunging into a confession.
Result was instant elimination. Turns out the f*cking girl even had a boyfriend.
Would have just been embarrassed and moved on if it ended there. The boyfriend bastard who found out about it brought friends to act tough and struck first.
In the end, possessed by Lee Eul-yong of the 2003 East Asian Cup on the spot, I cast a reverse-tour by smacking the back of the heads of the cheeky bastards with Eul-yong Ta (slap) and laying them all on the floor.
But even winning the fight, came back with social pride smashed.
Because rumors spread in school as 'the crazy bastard who confessed to a girl with a boyfriend, got dumped, got pissed and beat up the boyfriend'. The gaze I thought was flirting, was just fishing playing with me. F*cking sh*tty even thinking about it now.
Therefore, this situation I'm experiencing right now. Street hunting or whatever.
High probability that what pours onto me for the sole reason of being an endangered species is not 'Popularity' but 'Curiosity' and 'Possessiveness'.
To be exact, whether I get my number taken or get hunted, from the other party's perspective it's just a 'mindless Gacha' trying it out first. Good if it works, just a shame if it doesn't.
Moreover, what's scarier is.
Even assuming there are that many women who truly like me, it's a problem.
There's an old saying 'Playing with your d*ck however you want gets you truly f*cked'. This is a crazy 1 to 9 world.
The women rushing in saying they like me, of course I'm not a person of that caliber either but... if I manage them roughly thinking I'm something... or manage a fish tank (lead them on) and get caught wrong?
[ Boat Ending (Nice Boat) ]
Perfect to end up like that. I mean the ending where they come finding me holding a kitchen knife saying "Older Brother... I liked you first... why are you smiling with that b*tch?".
Spine chilled just imagining it. Could really get chopped up if entangled wrong.
"...Don't know yet."
Whether the gazes pouring now are true 'Popularity', or 'Simple curiosity' looking at an endangered species. Whether there will be someone who truly has a crush on the person called me, or just needs a trophy.
I don't know the physiology of this reversed world well yet.
What to do when you don't know? Laying low is the correct answer.
"...Let's lay low."
Dating or whatever, keeping my life first is the priority. I quietly pulled the blanket to the top of my head.
A stone bridge isn't crossed after tapping it. Must check if it doesn't break by smashing it with a sledgehammer before crossing.
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