Which Agency Are You With? (1)
There was a massive pile of notifications waiting for me. From the looks of them, the Food God must have been seriously pissed off at me. It probably came from a place where spicy food like that didn't exist, so it must have felt even more intense pain than I did.
It had sent a barrage of protest-filled notifications in a fit of rage, and reading through them one by one made me feel a little guilty. There were easily over 30 of them—it was almost pitiful. The silver lining was that, even in the midst of all that anger, there were no penalties against me.
I'd checked every single one meticulously, half-worried there might be some penalty if it harmed the seal's master, but fortunately, nothing like that popped up.
Food God has opened its eyes to a new taste.
Food God is beginning to feel the ecstasy of pain.
You've given the Food God an unforgettable new taste.
Hidden Condition 3) Give the Food God an unforgettable new taste (SUCCESS)
Food God is curiously addicted to the lingering sensation and wonders if there's anything milder.
"?"
What the hell was this? The early notifications were full of complaints, bordering on outright fury, but as they went on, it started looking like the Food God was corrupting or something. Plus, out of the four conditions needed for the next level-up, two were hidden ones—and I'd just cleared one of them.
Whoa... It hadn't triggered during that dessert frenzy where it was going nuts about how delicious it was, but it popped now? Kinda funny, but looking at these notifications, it wasn't that hard to understand. Since the Food God had probably never experienced spicy before, hitting it with that ultra-spicy yeol-jjim as its first taste probably did make it "unforgettable."
Wait, was that why no penalty showed up? Because it actually liked it more than expected? Anyway, with this, only one hidden condition was left. Mana Level 3, which had seemed impossible with two hidden ones—I might actually reach it sooner than I thought.
Nice. Nice. Alright, time to hit the hay? I'd watched the Food God's pitiful fall from grace and gotten all hyped over this unexpected gain, so I drifted off to sleep in high spirits.
And the next day...
My phone had a dreaded text from Mom, along with a missed call.
It had finally arrived. I'd thought I could avoid family until Chuseok, but nope—wedding time.
A few months before this body swap, I'd vaguely heard my cousin Jae-hwan was getting married this year, but I'd totally forgotten it was next week.
And "oppa"? Who knew that word could hit like a death sentence... The perception alteration was no joke—I'd kinda known from the app description, but seeing it confirmed like this really drove it home.
The problem was how that alteration had played out... Terrifying.
I'd bought the glasses after getting my ID, so it probably recognized my ears in their current state. But if it altered people to see me as a normal human, they might still freak at the elf ears. Guess I'd have to test it.
Mom must be super busy. Timestamp said 11 a.m.—probably cutting hair or doing perms for customers. She'd text back once she had time, right? Might as well do the laundry that's piled up.
As I stuffed clothes into the laundry bag from the nearby coin laundry, I noticed most of my wardrobe had shifted to women's stuff. The old guy clothes were a shame to toss, but they didn't fit anymore and were useless anyway, so out they went. All I had left were hoodies, zip-ups, and boxy tees. Pants from my guy days didn't fit at all, so I ditched them for women's bottoms only.
I'd hesitated since they were fine clothes—maybe lounge around in them at home?—but that soldier dude warned me about misunderstandings if guy clothes turned up on stream or whatever, so I trashed them all.
Soldier dude. Hope you're doing good over there. He was thrilled my streams were blowing up and bragging to his unit that he knew me personally. Then he sent this long, groveling text slyly asking me to visit sometime—I laughed my ass off at that.
Eh, I'll make time eventually. A real man like Im Gyeong-guk never forgets a favor.
I grabbed the bulging laundry bag and headed out. The weather felt perfectly spring-like now—warm and cozy. Mmm~ Mid-morning on a weekday, almost lunchtime, everyone else slaving away while I trudged to the laundromat like the king of NEETs.
-Screeech.
I pushed open the glass door to the coin laundry and spotted a woman in sunglasses and a mask. One washer was running—probably hers, so I avoided eye contact and headed to the kiosk.
Familiar spot, so I operated it on autopilot, loaded the machine, and plopped down at an empty table to scroll my phone. Felt like that shady woman kept staring, but I ignored it and focused on my screen—her gaze wouldn't quit.
I was used to stares whenever I went out, but after a lifetime of blending in, adaptation was slow. Still, today felt extra intense. Hadn't taken my eyes off me since I walked in. Pretending to look outside, I turned toward her.
Pink hoodie zip-up, white tee, pink track pants—cute and casual. But the oversized sunglasses and half-face mask? Sketchy as hell.
Quick glance while faking an outside look: small face, delicate features. Ditch the coverings, and she'd be pretty cute.
Hmm... Come to think of it, back at the PC bang, I'd seen girls hiding their faces like that. Usually post-plastic surgery types. Yeah, they'd rock comfy clothes but slap on shades and masks anyway.
Other times, it was no-shower days or no-makeup. PC bang girls hated showing bare faces. But no-shower types had messy hair—this one was neat. So, options: surgery girl or bare-faced.
"Excuse me."
"Kuhok! Yes?"
Spacing out on my phone, her sudden voice startled me into a cough. Looked up—she'd moved from the entrance bench to right in front of me.
"Which agency?"
"Ahem. Huh? What?"
Out of nowhere: "Which agency?" No context—I blinked blankly, and she sighed deeply, removing her sunglasses and mask.
"I mean, which agency are you with?"
Whoa. Tiny face with perfectly placed features. Delicate yet sharp cat-like eyes that made you wanna avert your gaze—she was ridiculously cute and pretty.
At the laundromat mid-morning? Not a student, but her fresh vibe screamed early 20s. Or maybe she'd given up on school...
Agency out of the blue? What?
"Agency? Like what?"
"You live around here? Sunwoo?"
"Sunwoo?"
"Sunwoo's the closest company from here, right?"
Sunwoo? Agency... Sunwoo Entertainment? That celeb agency? Was it nearby? No clue.
Ah, piecing it together with my puny brain: my killer looks must've made her think I was some agency idol. Right?
"Sunwoo as in Sunwoo Entertainment? The one with celebrities?"
"Yeah. Not that one? Then where..."
"Hold up. Hold up. I think there's a misunderstanding—I'm not a celebrity."
"Oh~ Model then?"
"No no. Not celeb, not model, just... nothing."
She tilted her head like a confused puppy—adorably. But... had I seen her before? Nah, probably not.
"Huh? Why?"
"Well, 'why' makes it hard to answer."
She tilted again, stared at the ceiling, pondered deeply, then looked back: "Why tho?"
How was I supposed to respond to that?
"So you don't have an agency yet?"
"No, it's not that I don't—I'm just nothing."
"That's what no agency means."
"If that's the case, then..."
"Ah, are you worried I'm some weirdo? Hmm... Now that you mention it, my face is heating up."
"What are you..."
Now scratching her cheek, blushing—the pretty girl suddenly bowed and shouted:
"Two, three! In your heart! Hello! We're HeartCat!"
"......"
Context? Zero. Shameless? Max. Her sudden weirdness startled me. Super cute double-pistol pose, classic idol greeting—hit me instantly.
"Ah! O Gwang-hyeon the commentator's daughter!"
"......"
My confident guess flipped her bubbly puppy vibe to venomous cat in a flash.