Chapter 12
We wrapped up our quick self-intros, and next up was Cain's turn.
"Well, I'm sure you all know this already, but my name's Kim Do-yoon, second-year in Computer Engineering. Long time no see, everyone."
As expected, he really was the club president. It made sense he'd start a club like this—after all, who else could walk around with a massive print of Haruru, the heroine from the super popular romcom manhwa Lupco Yanglip, plastered on their chest?
"But I've got a question."
"What is it?"
"If my computer's busted, can I call you to fix it?"
"...Please don't say that to any other comp sci majors out there. But yeah, I can handle most things."
Oh, a capable guy. Lee Seo-yeon's eyes sparkled for a second before she moved on to another question.
"And can I just call you Kim Do-yoon? You were Cain back there anyway."
I'd been pondering the name thing myself. No way was I using formal speech, but we needed some kind of title.
The president looked a bit flustered. "Nah, I'm not some old fogey or anything, but Kim Do-yoon feels off. I'm older, after all."
"...Do-yoon-ah, just to check—are you actually hoping for 'sunbae' or 'oppa' or something?"
I'd figured Kim Do-yoon, but jumping straight to 'Do-yoon-ie'? And hey, this was our party's leader, the Hero Cain. No way he was fishing for 'oppa' from girls.
Sure enough, the Hero responded with total confidence. "Isn't that obvious?"
"......"
"......That hurts my feelings."
Even the great Lee Seo-yeon was left a bit stunned by our president. And he even drew out Yoo Seol-ah's signature cold whip—talk about a public service.
Her voice had that low, icy edge, perfect for cutting deep, and sure enough, it hit right in the feels.
"No, but seriously—you guys aced that quiz I gave last time without missing a single one. Otakus at that level? Totally understandable."
I'd never heard complaints like that before, but since my little sister Sia called me 'oppa' when she was a kid, it didn't faze me. Seol-ah and I were pretty much the same personality in Astasia and here on Earth, but these two? Huge gap.
The vibe was similar, but here they both seemed more laid-back, like a screw was loose somewhere.
"I get it, though. I've always envied those fantasy parties where they just use names and casual speech with each other."
"See, Seo-yeon gets it. Lately, all these saintesses and heroes in stories are total trash personalities, so I went full rebel mode just to spite 'em."
Come to think of it, our party had slipped into names and casual speech pretty naturally not long after forming up. Most isekai stuff I'd seen did the same, so I'd assumed it was normal here... but nope, it was because we were all steeped in that trope.
These two had dialed up the role-playing way more than us—sticking to their fave Hero and Saintess character archetypes.
I'd never seen otakus this hardcore. I shot Seol-ah a look of solidarity, but the second our eyes met, she whipped her gaze away at lightspeed.
Still hung up on earlier, huh?
"Truth is, I was always good at cosplaying as a normie."
Hard to buy with that massive character print on her chest, but totally believable. Subculture fans had exploded in numbers lately, and tons kept it secret, enjoying solo.
The odds that someone who never talks about it is secretly an otaku? Not low at all.
"But after all that grind over there and coming back, I just wanna do whatever and live free."
"I wasn't big on daily cosplay before either, but post-return? Yeah, I wanna laze and mooch."
"That's why you started this place?"
The president shrugged lightly at Seol-ah's question. "Pretty much."
But if my theory was right, that wasn't all. Back when I first got summoned, the Astasians explained they'd optimized for combat talent, Earth adaptability—everything. It wasn't just brute strength; cognition often measured power there.
And staying cool after dropping into another world? Key. Isekai was otaku 101, so we adapted fine, no breakdowns.
Bet being hardcore otakus was a big factor in our selection. Plus, Korea University is top-tier—no slouching brains here.
Smart otakus? Prime summon material. Our party's brainiac Hero, the lowest combatant, had to have thought the same.
"You started this place partly hoping to run into us, right?"
His eyes lit up with emotion as he looked at me. "Damn, Sion, you're the only one. Unlike these walking demon pulverizers, you actually get strategy..."
Thanks for the praise, but maybe skip the useless labels? Our girls were the smash-first types, but saying it out loud? Different story.
This guy's begging for it.
"You want us to pulverize you too? Right?"
"......Rise up."
Honestly, Seol-ah quietly gathering mana was way scarier than Seo-yeon's instant clapback—like ten, twenty times worse. Heroes wielded anti-demon mana, but he could still read normal flows.
He called out to me desperately. "Sion, reel 'em in! You agree with me, right?"
You dug your own grave—why me? Seol-ah had a spark of mana at her fingertips, priming for max firepower next spell. One hit, and pain wouldn't cover it.
"Heal him if he gets hurt, Seo-yeon."
"As long as it's not instant death, go wild."
Probably jokes, but still terrifying. No way they'd actually cast, right?
I piped up anyway, a bit worried. "If you do cast for real, make sure there's no damage to the building."
"Compressed, no worries."
The president yelled, looking super wronged. "Worry about me! And Sion, you know I wasn't wrong. C'mon? You're the only one who gets it—back me up!"
Why's he clinging like a drowned rat? And I don't need that from another dude.
"Dunno. Anyway, I've got a wife—cut the 'you're the only one' crap."
The mana at Seol-ah's fingertips vanished instantly. The other three's eyes flicked to her, and I spotted her ears turning pink.
Seo-yeon and the president exchanged glances, then switched targets in a flash.
"Isn't the romcom meta these days wholesome guy x sassy girl?"
"Seol-ah as sassy? Nah, one word from Baek Sion and she blushes like that—total tsundere with cool vibes."
"...You guys can't tell real life from fiction anymore?"
Even I, who rarely butts in, had to call that out. Writing a romcom with real people? Serious levels.
"Kinda pissing me off now. She loves it but keeps denying the couple thing."
"I was shocked at the wedding. Right in front of us, too. Denying it now, though..."
Seol-ah couldn't take the duo's barrage, shot up, and stormed out of the party room.
Guess I should fetch her. But as I lifted off the sofa, they stood at the same time.
"I'll bring her back—you stay."
"Fine, but I gotta run out anyway. No booze."
"Mart run together then. Grab snacks too. Oh, kitchen gear here's good—I'll cook. I'm great at it."
Outside, Seol-ah was cooling off in the breeze.
"What do you wanna eat, Seol-ah? I'll make anything."
"......"
What, a puppy? Bribing with food?
"......Shabu shabu."
"Shabu shabu it is! I'll even do fried rice with the leftover broth."
...Shabu shabu fixed it? Not a dog after all—a cat, personality-wise.