Just Eat Alone
“Suddenly?”
Truth be told, it wasn’t all that sudden. She said things like this all the time.
‘Hey, you filthy Westerner, I grilled a ton of meat. Want some?’
‘Got any plans tonight? How about we—’
‘It’s nothing special. You patched me up with that expensive elixir, so this is the least I can do.’
Eating with someone who accused Koreans of poisoning wells was about as natural as breathing. Still, I wasn’t an idiot. My danger radar, honed by years of dealing with Cheon Mari, was screaming at me. What if she’d actually slipped something in?
—An American poisoned the ramen! WEE-OO WEE-OO.
Yeah. That was one scenario I had to avoid at all costs.
“It’s not sudden at all. Let’s just grab a meal together.”
“That’s exactly what makes it sudden.”
I’d already told her I wasn’t eating with her. She could go eat with her friends or whatever acquaintances she had. But Ines’s eyes were full of longing and desperation.
So I pulled out the most reliable way to shut her down.
“Besides, I already have plans.”
I quickly pulled up a message on my phone that looked like a prior engagement.
“W-who?”
“An older sister I’ve known since I was a kid.”
There was only one person here who fit that description: Sua noona. Though calling her “grandma” would’ve been more accurate, she hated that, so “noona” it was. The message I showed was the one where she’d asked to meet today.
Honestly, it was a little weird. We’d already met this morning after I finished the exam. If it had been anyone else, I would’ve been suspicious. Plus, I was still a bit tired from the morning’s events.
“Noona…?”
“Yeah, noona.”
“Um… then the messages written here…”
“Just asking to meet up.”
Thanks to the timestamp, it was clear this was from this morning. Fortunately, the messages were in Korean. There was no way a Portuguese idiot who couldn’t even speak Portuguese would understand Korean.
Ines’s face twisted after hearing my explanation.
“…Do you take me for a fool? That’s obviously not what this is!”
“What do you mean?”
I flipped the phone around to check the messages myself.
Wait. That wasn’t the right chat.
I hurriedly closed the messages with Cheon Mari and glanced at Ines.
“Uh… that’s not who I meant. She’s just a female friend I know…”
“A girlfriend?!”
Why was she so shocked by the words “female friend”?
“A female friend I know. Just a girl who’s a friend.”
“No, why would a girl send stuff like that to a guy?”
Good question. I was wondering the same thing.
“Her mental state is… pretty messed up.”
“From the pictures, I can see that.”
At least she was understanding about it. Not that the person in question was normal either.
“Anyway, looks like she wants to meet up tonight too.”
It wasn’t a prior engagement, but it took priority. This was more than enough reason to turn down Ines’s invitation.
When I looked at her face, she was lightly biting her lip. The pitiful, anxious look in her eyes was starting to make me feel guilty. Especially after I’d shoved those gross pictures in her face. If this had been a blind date or someone I was seeing, I probably would’ve gotten slapped already.
“Haah, hold on.”
I had no choice. I called the troublemaker who’d started all this.
— “Oh, Kang Si~ It’s raining, wanna eat on the rooftop tonight—”
“You sent that and you’re still acting calm?”
— “Come on, what’s the big deal between us? How could I not mess with my childhood friend like that?”
“Just eat alone.”
— “Eh? Kang Si?! Si-an! I’m sorry lol—”
Click.
Some people only learn after tasting whether it’s shit or soybean paste. I let out a long sigh and looked at Ines.
“I canceled the plans with the weirdo.”
“Oh… so you’ll eat dinner with me?”
“Yeah. I feel bad, so I might as well.”
The discriminator’s eyes sparkled like stars.
“Then what about the prior engagement you mentioned?”
“I’ll just say something came up. She’s not the type to not understand.”
I explained it that way instead of admitting it was a lie. Ines looked even more flustered, clearly moved by my attitude. Whether it was excitement or nervousness, either way it was dangerous for me. So I narrowed my eyes coldly.
“Just in case—don’t put poison in the ramen.”
“Wh-what! I would never do something so shameless!”
She’d already been plenty shameless just by arguing with me this whole time.
As soon as Ines got home, she started boiling ramen with a huge grin. She was so eager to feed it to me that her hips were wiggling a little.
“Ramen that a filthy Westerner with elf ears would like…”
“I told you not to call me that.”
While she focused on making the ramen taste good, I got the chance to look around her house. She hadn’t exactly given permission, but she wasn’t in a position to stop me either, so I boldly explored.
The first stop was her personal room.
“……”
The sight of the Confederate flag and double-barrel shotgun hanging on the wall was dizzying. I felt zero desire to look any further and immediately turned back.
The second stop was… well, there wasn’t anywhere else to look besides her room. So I returned to the living room and started examining every corner. Out of sheer boredom, I even peeked into the trash can. Not that I was digging through it with my hands—being a pervert was one thing, but I wasn’t the kind of pervert who’d go that far in a girl’s house.
“Huh? What’s this?”
There was a crumpled poster in the trash. Figuring one peek wouldn’t hurt, I pulled it out and unfolded it.
🏛 Event: A competition to determine the academy’s greatest hunter, open only to freshmen!
⚔ Location: Destroyed Arecibo Campus
📍 Duration: One day
💀 Goal: Catch the best prey
“A hunting competition limited to freshmen, huh.”
The illustration of monsters and people fighting made it even more obvious. I read the text below the picture one line at a time.
[Exams are over—aren’t you bored?]
[Tired of just drinking and rotting at home?]
[Stressed out from studying and assignments?]
“Not really.”
[That’s why the Furry Love Student Council, together with the Artifact Union equipment exchange, has prepared an event just for you freshmen!]
[A competition to find the academy’s number one hunter—open only to freshmen!]
[The event will take place at the destroyed Arecibo campus. Your goal is to catch the best prey in a single day!]
“Not the most prey, but the best prey…”
The criteria were pretty vague. If it was just about quantity, you could just cut off as many monster heads as possible. But “best prey” was subjective. Even though monsters had ranks, that wasn’t a precise enough metric. If multiple teams brought back B-class monsters, the final judgment would come down to human opinion. Aiming for first place was bound to be stressful.
“Might as well just go and have some fun.”
Still, as long as I didn’t aim for first, it seemed pretty good. Perfect for enjoying youth and making memories. If I went with Cheon Mari and Shannon, it would definitely become a fun memory. Sure, some people might say “what kind of memories are there at the academy,” but honestly, if not now, when would I ever enjoy myself? I was only twenty. Burying myself in studying and worrying about the future just made me feel sorry for myself.
With that thought, my heart moved quickly. I figured it wouldn’t be so bad and flipped the poster over.
“Let’s see what’s on the back… prizes and precautions.”
What surprised me was how many prizes there were. Maybe it was because the academy had so many students, but even placing in the middle ranks looked like it would be worth it. I stopped looking at the mid-tier prizes and moved straight to the top ranks.
Soon, some rather unique magical items caught my eye.
“First place prizes are… the Magic Conch Shell and the Mysterious Fursuit… Second place is a talking sword… Third place is… huh?”
Wait. Hold on. Why was this here?