Chapter 98: Warning
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 98: Warning
I channeled my inner manga detective and put my brain to work.
This doll.
The fencing competition marked on the calendar.
It was clear that all these elements were intricately connected.
Perhaps the prize from the fencing competition was this shabby doll.
If so, why was the doll's eye missing?
That must be the key clue to escaping this place.
“Oppa. Did you think of anything?”
Standing beside me, Doah seemed curious about the contents of the box, so she picked it up and gently shook it.
The sound of a small piece of metal rattling inside.
It was obvious. The key had to be in there.
“Doah. Listen to this.”
I laid out my theory for her.
My deduction was that the theme was about a man and a woman having an affair, and this doll was meant for the woman's daughter, not the woman herself.
“Ooh... You're right. That could be it. Oppa, you're pretty amazing.”
My girlfriend's sincere praise made me puff out my chest.
Right. You need this level of deduction to get close to the answer.
“So, shouldn't we be able to find the clue by applying this?”
While we were talking, the Fumurin couple, who had been giggling amongst themselves, suddenly exclaimed.
“Oh...! It's open!”
“...What?”
The informal word slipped out unconsciously.
But even that wasn't enough to express how I felt.
What the. How did those idiots solve it?
The two of them, who had suddenly started talking about stars just because one was drawn there, had managed to unlock the lock.
“Unnie! We solved it!”
Having successfully cracked the safe's code, Fumurin happily grabbed Doah's hands.
“Huh? How did you solve it?”
“Well, it opened when we put in the page number where 'star' was written in English.”
No. Fuck. Wait a minute.
You're telling me it really opened just like that?
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak.
So you're saying the hint was really just that the star meant 'star'?
I picked up the smartphone we'd been given for hints, only to fall even deeper into despair.
[What is 'star' in English?]
This... is a hint...?
“My honey is so smart!”
“That's basic! You know I've got a sharp eye.”
No! You don't! You don't have anything like that!
How many of your mystery games have I watched!
Intricate foreshadowing and story.
A shocking truth and conclusion.
I couldn't believe this was happening, but the open safe and the hint on the smartphone were enough to make me despair.
“Ah! Let's hurry up and do the next one!”
The excited couple started fiddling with the postcard again, while Doah looked at me, melting into a puddle, with pity in her eyes.
“...Still, I think your explanation was a little more plausible, Oppa.”
Don't.
Don't comfort me, Doah.
Her pitying consolation just made my heart ache even more.
These motherfuckers. Look at this shit they made.
Don't you dare go around calling this a detective escape room!
You're getting a one-star rating, no matter what.
After that, the Fumurin couple continued to hit the mark on every answer.
In the end, we managed to escape the room in less than an hour.
“Ehehe. Ah. I guess we kind of did everything ourselves.”
“No, no. We had fun too.”
Doah forced a smile and linked her arm with mine.
“Right, Oppa?”
Doah dragged my soul, which was about to leave my body, back down to earth.
“Ah... It was great...”
“Haeng-nim! You look hungry, let's go get something to eat!”
Changjin seemed to notice I was in a bad mood and tried to be considerate, but you're barking up the wrong tree, you punk.
I'm not hungry at all.
It's because I'm completely disillusioned.
“Thank you!”
By the time we finished and came out, it was already past three o'clock.
A pretty awkward time for a meal.
As we were walking down the street, we ended up stopping at a coin karaoke.
“Wow! Isn't it great to be at a karaoke with idols?”
“Nooo~ Honey! What if other people hear you!”
...I want to go home.
Please let me go home.
I didn't think my resistance could take it anymore.
“Luka unnie! Do you want to sing a song first?”
Taking the remote, Doah blinked with a blank expression and pulled up the popular charts.
The pages scrolled down.
She must have had a song she sang often, because she immediately pressed the start button.
It was a calm love song, the kind you'd hear in spring.
“Haeng-nim, aren't you going to queue up a song?”
“Ah. I don't sing.”
“Come on, don't be shy, let's sing together!”
Doah. He's bothering me.
I wanted to send out an SOS, but there was no way my cry for help would reach my girlfriend, who was in the middle of singing the chorus.
“I'll go next!”
The relief pitcher, Miss Fumurin.
Thank you.
Fumurin grabbed the mic and belted out a Japanese song without any hesitation.
Don't popular people usually not sing this kind of stuff?
Since it was a song I also knew, I diligently shook the tambourine for her.
“Does your boyfriend like Japanese songs too?”
Doah asked Changjin.
“Ah, of course! We're total otakus!”
“Our concept is kind of like, 'outsider otaku'~”
Have they stolen the word 'outsider' now too?
Or maybe... I'm just old and the definition of 'outsider' has changed.
I did think there was a significant age gap between twenty-year-olds and a twenty-four-year-old like me.
“Ahaha... I see...”
Doah nodded as if she understood.
“Then I'll pick a song!”
The song Changjin chose was a hip-hop track that seemed to be popular lately.
Murin's boyfriend, rapping coolly with a deep voice.
Hey. How is that an 'outsider'?
Outsiders can't do that, you punk.
“Say Yeah~"
The guy suddenly shouted 'Yeah' and shoved the mic in my face.
My pupils started shaking as I stammered, responding to his song a beat too late.
“Riding the beat off-kilter like that has a certain vibe, you know?”
I don't need your commentary, just please finish the song.
And so, the three of them—Fumurin, Luka, and Changjin—took turns singing, and we spent about two hours at the karaoke.
“Now for our last song!”
The last remaining coin.
The song the couple chose was a famous male-female duet that I also knew.
“Don't stay out so late~”
Watching the two of them, Doah's lips twitched.
She seemed a little envious.
It's not a crime to not sing because you're bad at it, but in this moment, I felt a little sorry.
“Hoo!”
The song ended with Fumurin's chorus.
I could finally be free from my fate as a tambourine robot.
“Ah~ I'm so glad we hung out with you, Unnie!”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I think we totally click, don't you?”
How did you even reach that conclusion, Fumurin?
The one who clicks with Doah isn't you, it's me! Me!
Doah doesn't like that kind of stuff!
Truthfully, while Doah had been putting up with them, I could see she was gradually getting tired.
“I guess so.”
“It'd be great to hang out again! Gasp! Or maybe we should go on a trip together?”
No. If you're going, just go with the Closer members and leave me out of it.
“We'll see.”
Even Doah couldn't bring herself to give a definite answer to that, her words trailing off.
“We were thinking of getting dinner soon, and I know a really good pork back rib place nearby. How about it, Unnie!”
“Haeng-nim! That place is killer! Seriously, you have to try it!”
Even setting aside the fact that they had a habit of exaggerating, the way they were talking about it did make me curious.
“Should we go there?”
When I asked Doah for her agreement, she didn't seem to have any objections either.
“Okay. It sounds like it'd be delicious.”
“Ah, a wise choice! Haeng-nim! Noonim! There are people who've never tried it, but no one who's only had it once.”
“Unnie, it's seriously fucking good. Here. The pictures come out great, too!”
Fumurin showed us her Instagram screen.
The color of the marinade did look gorgeous.
“We'll have to wait in line if we go late, so let's hurry!”
And so we arrived inside the galbi restaurant.
It was clear that if we hadn't gotten in right then, we would have had to wait outside for a while.
“Is it okay if we order the combination we recommend?”
“Ah~ Sure! It's better to let the people who've been here before decide.”
“Sir! We'll have four servings of pork back ribs with extra cheese and...”
After we ordered, a staff member brought out a table full of vegetables and side dishes.
“Haeng-nim! A happy occasion like this wouldn't be complete without some alcohol, right?”
“Right, right! Unnie has to drink too!”
Actually, drinking wasn't part of the plan today.
And I didn't want to.
I wasn't a big fan of alcohol, and I was worried I'd cause trouble again if I drank.
I was about to talk to Doah about what to do, but...
“No.”
Her reply was as sharp and firm as a knife.
Fumurin, flustered by Doah's cold reaction, tried to coax her again with a smile.
“Aww~ Unnie! Don't be like that, just a little.”
“Gahee.”
She was the type to smile and accept whatever anyone said, but...
Her eyes were ice-cold.
Her gaze sent a powerful message, telling her not to say another word.
“Oppa can't drink, so let's hold back today, okay?”
Doah was no longer a baby.