Earth Needs the Useless - 4
The bell rang. Ria let out a long yawn before sluggishly opening her phone.
"Ugh... Roje?"
"You called, huh..."
"Whaaat?"
Ria felt her sleepiness evaporate in an instant.
"What, what! Why tell me now!"
"Ah, overseas number got blocked, probably. But... seeing Mom might be awkward, so-"
"Y-yeah! Heading out right now!"
"O-okay!"
Ria scrambled to her feet and straightened her clothes.
"Three hours... I can call a cab."
There was no shower here. Factoring in rushing home for one, she couldn't waste a single minute.
"P-party... means I need an outfit too!"
Her aunt ran a fashion empire, just like her mother—smaller than Maison Etoual, sure, but nothing to take lightly.
"Everyone's gonna be dressed to the nines..."
She knew her place. No need for overly pretty or flashy clothes. But showing up in casualwear would draw stares—for all the wrong reasons.
"Ugh..."
Truth be told, a bad impression on her wouldn't be the end of the world. She wasn't working with them or seeing them often anyway.
But this was Roje's party too. Any negative attention on her sister would hurt Roje.
"Need something decent..."
Nothing like that at her place. No time for shopping now, and even grabbing something from a department store wouldn't cut it.
"There is one, though..."
She thought of the outfit in the wardrobe. Less a party dress, more a uniform—but its beauty and elegance were unmatched.
"C-can I borrow it? It's company property..."
After a moment's hesitation, she texted Jeong Isu.
"Please, quick. Quick..."
Every second counted. Ria trembled as she waited for his reply.
Four minutes later, it came.
"Yes!"
She hurriedly packed the outfit. It was so sleek and soft, it seemed ready to slip through her fingers.
"Hoo... whew..."
Grateful she could even wear it, Ria handled it with utmost care. Her heart pounded.
An Roje scanned the banquet hall, eyeing the guests.
Man, they must've worked hard.
Just imagining the agony poured into their outfits nearly drew a wry chuckle. Everyone desperate to outshine the rest—to steal the spotlight as the fairest woman or most superior man.
But no heavy, imposing ensembles or flashy dresses that screamed for attention. At least outwardly, these parties were always "casual gatherings of like-minded folks."
Flashing desire or status consciousness here was tacky.
So their attire stayed relatively light—almost everyday casual, comfortably relaxed.
Yet within those constraints, they'd crammed every trick of technique and fashion.
...Ex-model, huh.
Of course, An Roje wasn't above the snark herself. She was dressed similarly.
Still, kinda boring—wait, what is that?
A woman entered the hall. In an outfit unlike anything Roje had ever seen.
Material unidentified. Plant fiber from some region? Factory synth? No clue.
The design? Avant-garde. It mocked the "normality" everyone else chased, sending shivers just by existing.
Unique. Unnatural. Abnormal. Beautiful like the moon in the night sky—equally unreal.
It clashed with the "modest" outfits filling the hall.
But...!
Had it just screamed "more refined than thou," it'd earn sneers. These people weren't fools. They could afford far pricier, flashier jewels—but chose not to.
A merely elegant, beautiful, or quirky dress wouldn't impress.
But this was different.
How...?
The gaze it drew was unique. The sensation was otherworldly. A whole new paradigm for perceiving clothing.
From another dimension entirely. Less human garb, more vague cloud from someone's imagination.
Mockery seeped through. Intent pulsed.
It transcended the others' gritted-teeth "hidden specialness amid normalcy," declaring, "I'm special by default. Got a problem?"
Yet something was missing. As if proclaiming, "I haven't even tapped this beauty's full potential."
What is it?
She'd hoped for inspiration at the party—that was the point. But not like this. Not at a casual gathering, sans runway.
And...
The wearer? Someone Roje knew well.
An Ria was there.
This has more skin showing than I thought...
It hadn't seemed like it, but the uniform exposed more bare flesh than expected.
Also... standing out a lot.
Everyone else was way more casually dressed than she'd imagined. The full-force uniform snatched every gaze instantly.
"Ria! You made it?"
"Y-yes!"
French felt awkward on her tongue. Ria mustered an uneasy smile at her approaching aunt.
"Haven't seen your face lately—worried sick. Our little Ria's even prettier than when you were a kid? Got a boyfriend?"
"N-no..."
Her environment made meeting anyone tough, let alone a guy.
"Aigoo, gotta enjoy your youth! That skin won't stay this plump forever... Then again, your mom's still in her prime looks, right? Ugh, hate hunters for this!"
"Y-yeah..."
Sweat beaded on her forehead. She didn't dislike her aunt, but the discomfort was real.
"What do you do? Still taking a break?"
"No. Well, started something..."
"Really? Fashion?"
"No. Just... selling stuff. At this company..."
Come to think of it, she couldn't pin down his exact business. Containers filled with goods would mysteriously empty later. She knew about the Gremlin Pistol sales, but no idea where they came from. Smuggling artifacts that big should've left traces, yet they just... appeared.
"So where'd you get that outfit?"
"Company storage... Boss approved-"
"In the storage, huh?"
Her aunt nodded with a faint smile.
"What's the boss like? Young? Company size?"
"Uh, it's... just me and him..."
"Ah, startup? That's the fun of it. Age?"
"Not sure exactly. Maybe... a few years older than me?"
"Handsome?"
"N-not like that! Just..."
Face flushing, Ria shook her head vigorously.
"So what do you do there?"
"Just move stuff around. Boss sells... toy pistols and such, so I handle sales..."
"Toy pistols?"
For a split second, mockery flickered across her aunt's face—subtle, undetectable to the insensitive.
Ria couldn't let it slide.
"N-not toys... artifacts! Used to sell great, slumping lately but-"
"Selling artifacts as toys?"
"Y-yes..."
Her aunt smiled thinly.
"Fascinating. Fun company you landed in. Knew our Ria had it in her."
"Uh..."
"So this outfit's an artifact too?"
"Huh? N-not sure..."
But Ria suspected as much. Unknown seller, material, origin. Artifact or not, it screamed "rare on Earth."
"Your aunt hasn't done much for you—always felt bad."
"N-nooo..."
"But this company... land one deal, and you could get cozy with the boss. Sound good?"
"A deal?"
"I'm interested. Can you introduce me?"
"Huh?"
Ria pondered.
Because of the outfit? But Boss doesn't know how much he can supply...
She was his employee, but knew little. Plenty of shady bits too.
Her aunt was good to her. But not to everyone. Whispers abounded—mostly rumors, but Ria couldn't ignore them all.
But refusing...
She'd half-expected this. Why he'd hired her.
Connections. My family, parents...
Maybe this was the opportunity he'd wanted. Why he'd hired her.
Halting it on her own? Huge call.
"Y-yeah... I'll give you his number..."
In the end, Ria nodded. Her aunt beamed.