Starlink (3)

“Would this do?”

I couldn’t quite figure out what I should even send him.

Besides, Jutak had already reported a while ago that he was going to sleep in the command room—or rather, in the gallery notice board—so the timing was even worse.

Still, just in case, I decided to ask if he was asleep and wait for a reply. If it didn’t work out, I could always do it tomorrow. That was the mindset I went in with.

Ping-!

Was that... a relief?

Maybe I’d woken her up by sending three messages in a row. I smirked at the reply that came back so quickly.

Honestly, I didn’t even know what I was supposed to say.

I’d already filled up thirty-two of the required exchanges with what we’d just sent, so I only had eighteen more to go….

Maybe I’m coming off as weird?

Well, I had to try before I’d know.

I didn’t even know ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what kind of conversation to have, or how much distance I was supposed to keep.

In my head, Jutak was incredibly friendly—but maybe, from Jutak’s point of view, I was completely different.

I figured that if it was about the anomaly, or TP, or even Wiki itself, I’d answer whatever I could. After all, I had to rack up the conversation count anyway, and there wasn’t any censorship in place, so why not.

I didn’t know how many years Jutak had been here, but if she was Jutak, there was no way she wouldn’t know.

Besides, what else was there to do in the tower? The options were pretty much fixed.

Should I maybe not say things like that?

Was I being too sweet?

I’d said it without thinking because she seemed a little different from the usual Jutak, but I figured I should be careful.

That’s kind of embarrassing, actually.

So all the useless trash I dumped into the gallery was being seen…. It felt like my dirty laundry had been exposed. Of course I knew Jutak was even more of a gallery addict than I was, but still... my face grew hot for no reason.

Maybe it was because I’d seen Jutak’s photo.

“……Or do I?”

I let out a dry chuckle at the new message that arrived almost immediately.

So the cool, beautiful, ice-cold gallery goddess Jutak, with an S-rank body, was reading every single dumb post I made….

This is... actually kind of...

Not bad?

“……Anything I’m curious about.”

[49/50] [49/50] [49/100]

I’d reached forty-nine with the message Jutak had just sent.

So I’d already used up that many exchanges.

I’d rack them up a lot faster than I expected if I sent them in short bursts like this.

Once I hit fifty, I’d check what feature unlocked.

Even if I ended the conversation there, it wouldn’t really matter, but….

Well, whatever.

I still had to unlock everything up to one hundred anyway, so a little more conversation wouldn’t hurt.

[TP in possession: 17,206]

If I left around 10,000 TP as emergency funds, that’d be enough.

Rather than stopping here, maybe I should just go ahead and fill all one hundred today.

“……?”

What?

Wasn’t that the kind of thing I was supposed to ask?

I blinked at the immediate reply. I couldn’t really think of anything else to ask.

The only other things that came to mind were questions like how Jutak had ended up like this.

Ping-!

I was smiling wryly at Jutak’s quick reply when a notification popped up above the chat window.

I immediately tapped the [ + ] button below to check the feature that had been marked as [???].

Star Lounge?

The “Star” part at the front didn’t mean anything special. It was just a brand name or something.

I got the phone call part, but then what the hell was a lounge?

Ping-!

“Holy shit.”

I actually gasped out loud at Jutak’s reply.

One thousand five hundred years.

I never would’ve imagined Jutak had been trapped for that long without even obtaining an Irregular.

Wasn’t that more corrupted than most gallery regulars?

No, wait. Didn’t they say you had to obtain an Irregular to become Jutak?

I’d definitely seen that in the gallery before.

Since the average appearance rate was once every thousand years, Jutak must have gotten one too. Maybe she hadn’t used it to escape—maybe she’d become Jutak instead.

I still can’t understand why anyone would do that...

How obsessed with the gallery did you have to be to make that choice?

“……”

Star VoiceStar Lounge

I silently alternated my gaze between Jutak’s reply and the newly appeared features.

Should I test them directly?

I wasn’t sure if they would activate the moment I tapped them, or if there would be another confirmation first.

If it connected the instant I pressed it, that would be awkward in its own way.

Ping-!

So she can see it too.

Well, I’d directly received a photo from Jutak, so it made sense that she’d have the same functions on her side too.

Of course, if Jutak connected to me first or sent a request, it would still be my money that disappeared.

The Philosopher’s Stone had said that, when it came to my abilities, it was best to make sure of everything.

From the beginning, the existence of the Irregular itself was abnormal, and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ability I’d gained was even more abnormal.

I hadn’t revealed everything, but since I was the only person who could currently get close to the tower’s secrets, I’d been told not to let even the smallest thing slip past me.

Okay.

Star Voice

Press.

After getting Jutak’s confirmation first, I immediately tapped Star Voice.

I was more curious about the Star Lounge beside it, but I figured I should check everything one step at a time.

10 TP per second.

At least it didn’t connect right away.

Looking at the notification window that floated up, I frowned slightly.

That came out to roughly 600 TP per minute.

It seemed expensive. It also somehow seemed cheap.

One message cost 100 TP. And since that also burned TP on the other side too, maybe this was actually more efficient.

That’s probably why there’s a limit.

Once a day, ten-minute cap.

The “day” was probably handled by the tower’s own timer. Ten minutes meant 6,000 TP... 600,000 won.

Scratch that. It’s not efficient at all.

It was fucking insanely expensive.

International calls wouldn’t even cost 600,000 won for ten minutes. No way. They definitely wouldn’t charge that much even if you dialed into space.

I pressed X on the notification that appeared first.

I should check Star Lounge first and then test it after that.

Star Lounge

Press.

“A subspace...?”

It turned us into holograms and moved us somewhere else.

Was it some place full of translucent blue blocks, like something out of a movie or game? Something like that, maybe.

This time, it could even be used multiple times on the same target.

5,000 TP per use. Since it said it lasted 5 minutes, that meant 1,000 TP per minute.

The phone call was 6,000 TP for 10 minutes, so this was about twice as expensive.

“……”

I pressed X again at the new notification.

If I moved suddenly, she’d be startled. I should probably do the call first.

We’d only just seen each other today for the first time anyway, and even if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it was a hologram, facing her directly felt strangely intimate.

Ping-!

I’d forgotten to reply for a moment.

I’d been checking Star Voice and Star Lounge, and it had slipped my mind.

There was a message up there asking what she should show me, looking almost excited, and since I hadn’t said anything, she must have taken it the wrong way.

Ha... let’s just call first.

She’d already given me permission, after all.

I’d just make the call briefly first, apologize to her out loud, and then ask about Star Lounge.

“Hoo... ah, ahh-.”

My mouth had gone bone dry.

This was my first time messaging a woman... or even just another person one-on-one, really. I’d never imagined I’d end up making a phone call too.

I cleared my throat as best I could and rinsed my mouth with lukewarm water, trying to loosen up my tense body.

“She’s seriously so nice.”

And shy, too.

If I dragged this out any longer, she’d probably get hurt, so I needed to call quickly and apologize.

Press.

[ O ]

“Did I get too excited...?”

My mouth dropped at the sight of Wiki suddenly going silent.

Just a moment ago, I’d been feeling so happy, but then it seemed to cool off all at once.

When he’d seen my message asking if I was asleep, or said he wanted to talk, or that he’d spend money for me.

Even when he called me cute or said he wanted to figure things out together, I’d been smiling nonstop.

But Wiki doesn’t seem very interested in me...

Calling me cute. Calling me pretty. Saying he wants to get to know me.

None of that meant much.

Anybody could say those things.

What mattered was how they used the words.

The things Wiki was curious about were probably just my regression count... or why I became Jutak... stuff like that.

It seemed like he was interested in Jutak the gallery manager, not me as a person.

I turned off the terminal, berating myself for suddenly making things too burdensome, and squeezed my eyes shut tight.

“Aaaah...”

With regret and happiness existing side by side, I made strange little noises and pressed my palms against my eyelids.

Still, I’d had enough fun, so I should just go to sleep now.

If he messaged me again later, I should be more careful then.

That was the thought I was having as I tried to drift off, for a moment.

Ping-!

“……!”

FWOOSH—!!

At the sound, I shot upright like lightning and checked the terminal.

“……The thing I saw earlier?”

I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but something like this had appeared in the chat window before.

At the message asking for my permission, I didn’t really understand it, but I pressed the O button anyway.

“Aaah— can you hear me?”

“!!!!!!!!”

A voice.

A man’s voice.

“Can’t hear me?”

A fairly high voice for a man, though not soft or delicate.

Gulp.

──Probably Wiki's voice.

“……”

It wasn’t as though I’d never heard another person’s voice before.

I’d naturally talked to people in my original world, and in the gallery I’d spent more than 1,500 years watching countless videos other people had posted.

And yet, and yet somehow...

Thump!

Why was my face getting so hot?

Why was my heart fluttering like I was nervous?

“I-it’s not cutting out, Wiki.”

“That’s good.”

Th-that’s good...

His voice, almost laughing, came through at my carefully forced reply.

Why was that good?

What exactly was good about it?

I didn’t know. I really didn’t know, but for some reason I was smiling too.

I couldn’t keep my hands or feet still.

I kept staring at the terminal where Wiki's voice was flowing out, and over and over I moistened my dry lips with the tip of my tongue.

“Sorry, I was checking something for a second and couldn’t reply.”

“I-I see...!”

“So... did a notification pop up? Jutak gave you permission, right?”

“Yes...!”

“I see. Saying ‘Jutak’ out loud feels a little awkward, though.”

“I-it’s okay, Wiki...!”

“Heh... being called Wiki feels kind of fresh too.”

I didn’t really understand why, but he laughed.

I was just so relieved that we were actually managing to talk properly.

“Is this also one of Wiki’s abilities?”

“Hmm... it’s a little different from what I’d call my own ability, but you can think of it that way.”

“Understood...!”

“Just speak casually. You don’t need to be so formal.”

“No way!!”

After everything he’d given me, of course I should be this polite.

More than that, I was too tense in this very moment to speak casually anyway.

“Sorry, but do you remember what you said earlier?”

“Huh? What was that...?”

“The part where I said we’d test things together. That I wanted to figure things out with you.”

“……!”

What could there be to figure out by hearing his voice directly?

What was it? What was there? No, that couldn’t be right—Wiki definitely wouldn’t be interested in me like that.

“If it’s uncomfortable, you can say so anyti—”

“It’s not uncomfortable at all!!”

Before I knew it, I’d raised my voice.

I’d cut him off and blurted the words out in a rush.

“……Okay, then I’ll hang up for now.”

“Huh? Hang up? What do you mean—”

Beep. Beep.

“……”

I had clearly said I wasn’t uncomfortable at all, yet Star Voice had ended.

I stared at the terminal, now giving off only cold, lifeless beeps instead of his voice, and bit my lip.

Did he not hear me...?

I answered right away. He’d said okay, hadn’t he?

Was he uncomfortable after all and planning to continue by message instead?

Of course, I wouldn’t mind if he wanted to message me instead... but still...

That’s disappointing...

For some reason, it felt a little disappointing.

Swish—

With no message coming back, I scrolled up through the conversation window.

Wiki's messages sitting under the photo I’d sent.

He’d said thank you. Said I’d given him energy.

Said I was pretty, and that he’d have to do even better from now on.

Looking at it now, it was just a simple note of thanks, but I still stared at it foolishly for a long while.

“……”

I glanced once at the cola I’d carefully set down in a corner of the hideout, then secretly peeked at Wiki's photo in my album.

“Huu...”

I lightly slapped my cheeks, which were somehow getting hot.

At the exact moment I tried to send a message—Wiki's, maybe I should be the one to do something?—

“Star... Lounge...?”

At the message that appeared in the chat window just like before, I hit O without hesitation.

And at the same moment—

Buuuuummmm──.

Chwrrr-rrrrrrk!!

“W-wait...?! ”

My body, suddenly floating in the air, began to break apart piece by piece like scattered fragments.