Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Episode 9 The Heroines of the Yuri Game Encountered Each Other.
As I introduced the menu items one by one at the kiosk, the menu In Yuna chose was a café latte and a slice of lemon Malenka cake.
Meanwhile, I ordered a cold brew latte.
“I’ll pay.”
“You sure?”
“It’s repayment for the recommendation. So let me.”
As a man, I honestly wanted to pay for everything myself, but In Yuna was so firm about it that I ultimately had no choice but to give in.
‘No point stubbornly insisting over this.’
That’s what I told myself.
“Where should we wait?”
“There’s an upstairs too?”
“There’s a second floor. Want to go up?”
“I want to see it.”
Wanting to guide In Yuna, who seemed interested in this new place, I stepped ahead of her and led the way upstairs.
As we climbed the stairs, the second floor welcomed us with an atmosphere completely different from the first.
The first floor had been bright and lively, with strong lighting creating a warm mood.
The second floor, meanwhile, was dimmer, illuminated by soft yellow lights that gave off a relaxed and mysterious atmosphere.
“Waa.”
“I figured you’d like this place. It’s great for reading, and a lot of people come here to read books.”
“You considered even that before recommending it?”
If you’re going to recommend a place to someone, it’s obviously better to choose somewhere suited to them.
Once I’d decided to recommend somewhere, I couldn’t do it halfheartedly.
“Thanks. I like it.”
“I’m relieved to hear that. So are you not angry anymore?”
“……Haa.”
She sighed instead of answering, but the slight narrowing of her eyes made her response obvious enough.
‘Still, going to a café alone with a girl on the weekend.’
Wasn’t this basically a date?
The thoughts I’d been desperately trying not to think about began floating back to the surface, making me quickly shake my head to scatter them away.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. Ah, looks like the order’s ready, so I’ll go downstairs and grab it.”
“I’ll help too.”
“Stay here, In Yuna. At least let me handle something like this. It’s a man’s pride.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Men are a little complicated.”
Picking up the vibrating pager buzzing in my hand, I headed downstairs.
While descending the stairs, I could feel In Yuna’s gaze on my back, but I deliberately ignored it and continued down to the first floor.
After confirming the café latte, lemon Malenka cake, and cold brew latte waiting on the tray, I carried everything back upstairs.
“Where’d In Yuna go?”
I looked around trying to find where she had taken a seat, but I spotted her almost immediately.
The unique atmosphere surrounding her made her easy to find in situations like this.
However, In Yuna wasn’t alone.
“Honestly, if we’re talking about the best one, then it’s definitely the second series. That’s where Ferry’s growth and romantic storyline really start developing.”
“I agree with that. You could practically say Ferry’s character was completed there.”
“Right!? So you think so too, Unni!”
“But the newer series has its own unique charm too. Since the protagonist changed to Ferry’s older sister, readers became attached to her in a completely different way.”
“Even though they’re sisters, she’s totally different from Ferry. But she still has moments similar to her, so every time readers notice those similarities it feels both familiar and refreshing, which keeps people interested!”
……That familiar back view.
Surely it wasn’t my imagination that I’d seen it somewhere before.
While I was thinking that, the girl happily chatting with In Yuna turned around and our eyes met in midair.
“Taeyang Oppa!”
“Yo, Kang Yena.”
“Not ‘yo,’ Oppa! It’s been forever!”
Forever, huh.
“We saw each other four days ago though?”
“It’s been forever since we met at this café. Ah, were you with someone?”
“Yeah.”
The one who answered wasn’t me.
It was In Yuna.
For some reason, she answered with force, and despite having been chatting happily just moments ago, she now radiated enough heat to look like steam might start pouring out of her.
If this were a manga, the background behind her would probably be blazing flames.
The moment Kang Yena realized In Yuna was with me, her eyes sparkled brightly.
Like a cat overflowing with curiosity, she immediately asked—
“Is she your girlfriend, Taeyang Oppa?”
“No.”
“…….”
No, In Yuna.
Why are you looking depressed over there?
You’re making it really hard for me to know how I’m supposed to react.
‘They’re here!’
Hidden in a corner seat invisible from the staircase, I lowered my head and observed Geum Taeyang and In Yuna as they climbed upstairs.
Pretending not to care while fiddling with my phone so they wouldn’t notice me watching, I kept observing them until I noticed Geum Taeyang head back downstairs.
‘The pager probably went off, so he’s getting their drinks. Which means In Yuna’s alone right now.’
What should I do?
Should I approach her?
No.
There was absolutely no connection between me and In Yuna right now. If I approached her suddenly, she’d probably just reject me.
‘But if I stay still like this, nothing will change.’
What should I do?
Move or not?
If this were a game, a dialogue choice would’ve appeared already.
Why didn’t I get some kind of reincarnator-exclusive system!?
As I agonized bitterly over that, I noticed someone approaching In Yuna.
“Excuse me, but is that the latest volume of the Nightingale Adventure series you’re reading?”
‘Waa, she’s pretty.’
The girl wore a simple blouse and jeans, not flashy but not plain either, perfectly complementing her slender figure.
She looked around my age, yet somehow gave off a mature vibe.
Seeing the snowflake-shaped hairpin pulling back her bangs and revealing her smooth forehead, I felt like I recognized her somehow.
If a cute girl like that had appeared in 【Yuri Garden】, there was no way I wouldn’t know her.
Who was I?
A veteran multi-playthrough expert of 【Yuri Garden】.
‘Still, she’s seriously gorgeous. She’s basically heroine-level.’
Maybe because this was the world of a yuri game, every girl here was beautiful and stylish enough to constantly make me feel inferior.
Forget voluptuous beauties like In Yuna or Yu Arin—even compared to Jeong Misook, the famously slender black panther, my chest was way too small.
If I was going to reincarnate, I wanted some curves too.
While grumbling internally about my inferiority complex, I noticed that In Yuna and the girl were already sitting together chatting happily.
They discussed books I knew nothing about, almost like they were debating opinions, and the atmosphere between them overflowed with joy, understanding, and sympathy.
‘Looking at her now, In Yuna really is different from the In Yuna I knew in 【Yuri Garden】.’
The In Yuna I remembered—the hidden heroine from 【Yuri Garden】—gave off such icy coldness that nobody could approach her, and she never allowed anyone to sit beside her.
She even felt distant, like someone existing in an entirely separate world.
And somehow, that had seemed lonely.
‘The current In Yuna feels happy. She’s completely different from the frozen ice princess.’
She was still expressionless, but she no longer rejected people.
She was noble, but not lonely.
What exactly had happened to her?
‘Geum Taeyang!’
At that moment, I spotted Geum Taeyang coming upstairs and instinctively lowered my head, my heart pounding anxiously.
I ducked down, terrified our eyes might meet.
Geum Taeyang had returned.
But the In Yuna who was supposed to become Geum Taeyang’s prey was currently chatting happily with some mysterious beauty.
How would Geum Taeyang react to this?
My heart pounded excitedly like I was watching a movie.
“Taeyang Oppa!”
Eh?
“Yo, Kang Yena.”
‘W-What did he just say!?’
Kang Yena!!!
Did he just say Kang Yena!?
Could it be someone with the same name?
No, impossible.
Don’t tell me that cheerful extrovert-looking girl was really Kang Yena!?
‘What the hell is going on!?’
The Kang Yena I knew was nothing like this!
The gloomy, timid introvert heroine beloved by players for those very traits—where did she go!?
Sure, her face had almost never been fully shown because she always hid behind her bangs, and lots of players said the glimpses of her eyes between them were cute and gave strong gap moe appeal.
I agreed with that too.
But to think such an adorable face had been hidden behind those bangs all along was shocking in its own way.
‘Why did Kang Yena become an extrovert!? She originally had such severe social anxiety she couldn’t even speak properly to strangers! So why is Kang Yena the one approaching In Yuna first so brightly and confidently!?’
What caused this!?
“Not ‘yo,’ Oppa! It’s been forever!”
“We saw each other four days ago though?”
You again!
Was it you!?
Were you the source of every problem!?
‘T-The story’s completely tangled up…….’
If even the third heroine, Kang Yena, had changed this much, then all the game knowledge and story information I knew had become completely useless.
Thrown straight into the trash.
Overwhelmed by despair, frustration, and hopelessness all at once, I wanted to collapse onto the table right then and there.
Even the smooth texture of the wooden tabletop beneath my forehead felt distant.
Originally, Geum Taeyang was the public enemy of all 【Yuri Garden】 fans.
A hopeless villain who viewed women entirely as trophies and outlets for lust.
Aside from a few twisted players who liked watching heroines fall into his evil hands, nobody could possibly like him.
Even Jeong Misook and Kang Yena feared him deeply.
There was no way they’d speak to him so warmly or call him Oppa.
‘In Yuna, Jeong Misook…… and now even Kang Yena. Just how far ahead are you planning, exactly?’
At that moment, what gripped my chest was pure fear.
Geum Taeyang was definitely a reincarnator.
And not just any reincarnator—probably an absurd veteran with far more playthroughs than me.
Otherwise, there was absolutely no way to explain this situation.
Could someone completely ignorant of the game create a situation like this?
Impossible.
He had to be some monstrous veteran player who repeated the game countless times and memorized every detail and character setting!
‘He’s trying to max out every heroine’s affection and achieve the harem ending!!!’
Though never confirmed, there had always been rumors among fans about a hidden harem ending thanks to mysterious comments from the director and certain suspicious scenes throughout the game.
Some even theorized that conquering every heroine and creating a literal “Yuri Garden” was the true ending.
But nobody had ever actually achieved the harem ending.
It was treated as little more than an urban legend.
‘But if Geum Taeyang is a reincarnator, then everything makes sense!’
Geum Taeyang was aiming for something nobody had ever achieved before.
He was trying to steal the protagonist’s position in 【Yuri Garden】 and personally conquer every heroine to build a harem himself!