Stop Overthinking, Yuppippi
Stop Overthinking, Yuppippi
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
What are you even saying?
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼, ⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
No, seriously, what are you saying?
First, I chewed and swallowed the hamburger I had been holding in my mouth before slowly speaking to the voice echoing inside my head.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“Can’t you speak properly?”
It was a little strange for me to say something like that, but the voice in my head sounded absolutely nothing like Korean.
It sounded like some language from another world, something that could hardly be considered one of Earth's languages.
I could hear exactly what it was muttering.
I just couldn't understand any of it.
If it had been a language I was somewhat familiar with, like English or Japanese, I could at least have thought, “Ah! This is English!”
But if someone suddenly started blasting Sanskrit straight into your face, you'd naturally react with something like, “What the hell does that mean...?”
That was exactly my current situation.
The voice of a beautiful girl suddenly spouting a language even more incomprehensible than Sanskrit.
At least the Russian woman sitting next to me had been understood by the protagonist.
I couldn't even begin to guess what country this language came from.
The pitch and tone were calm enough, but not understanding a single word she was saying was driving me crazy.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“Korean. Can you speak Korean?”
This is Korea. If you want me to understand you, use the language King Sejong created.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼….]
Had she understood me?
The voice in my head let out a sound as though she were thinking.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼.”
Oh.
She had just greeted me.
Her pronunciation was awkward, like a foreigner speaking Korean for the first time, but it was unmistakably Korean.
But how?
The voice that had been mumbling in that incomprehensible language had somehow understood Korean and begun speaking it naturally in a matter of seconds.
There had to be a limit to learning a language just by listening to the Korean spoken around her, so there was a high chance she had peeked into my memories.
Shit.
A monster.
It was probably a parasitic creature that devoured the mind, supposedly the most troublesome type of monster there was.
When a parasitic creature invaded someone's brain, you had to seize the initiative immediately and stop the infestation before it could spread.
I immediately possessed the mindset of the mute Lee Yumin and spat out a barrage of thorny words.
Get out of my head right now! You filthy creature of darkness! Are you not afraid of the light of the Church of Bright Light?! If you leave my body right now, I'll let you live. But do you really think my super shotgun will let you live?!
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
What do you mean you're not a parasitic monster?
Just because I don't have any mana doesn't mean I'm an idiot! My knowledge is way beyond that of an Ayuda!
Trying to lure me by impersonating my own cute voice?!
I absolutely cannot die! There are hundreds of hamburgers I haven't eaten yet!
Tap, tap.
Just as I was busy bombarding the monster in my head with venomous words and trying to seize the initiative, someone tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned my head to see the culprit who was interfering with my struggle for control over my own body.
The person who had tapped my shoulder was a kind-looking man.
Have I seen him somewhere before? Where was it?
His face looked familiar, but there wasn't any particularly distinctive feature that made him immediately recognizable.
So I couldn't remember who he was at all.
But more importantly...
He was holding ten 10,000-won bills.
What's he planning?
Is he trying to buy me?
One hundred thousand won.
That was enough money for roughly sixteen hamburgers. A huge sum that could cover sixteen meals.
For someone like me, who had to worry about where tomorrow's hamburger money was coming from, it was a rather tempting amount.
Ah... This is a tough decision.
No.
If I wavered here, my life was over.
...But that was an awful lot of money.
Think, Yumin.
Am I really only worth about sixteen hamburgers?
Am I a man worth a mere 100,000 won?
No...
If someone wanted to buy me, they should at least give me an apartment in Seoul.
And thanks to the Transference Phenomenon, I had also acquired world-class beauty.
In that case, one house wouldn't even come close.
They'd at least need to bring me a penthouse in Seoul to buy me.
I reached out to push away the man's money.
I firmly pushed against the man's approaching hand.
But the kind-looking man instead put more strength into his hand and pushed mine back.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“Did you want to say something?”
Then again, maybe he wasn't trying to buy me.
Maybe he'd fallen for me and simply wanted to make a donation.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
Well, even I had to admit I was pretty damn beautiful.
Even compared to the most renowned S-Rank mages, I didn't lose out in the slightest.
The kind-looking man wore a determined expression, placed the 100,000 won in my palm, and gently clasped my hand.
He's giving me money without asking for anything in return? Really? Can I trust this guy?
I stared blankly at the palm holding the money.
The kind-looking man gave me a faint smile before opening his mouth.
“I don't know how difficult your life must have been, but I hope the money I gave you today can be of some help.”
“⎼⎼?”
Huh?
“It's just... seeing you eating a hamburger while crying was so heartbreaking. I hope you can use the money I gave you to eat something delicious today.”
The man firmly clasped both of my hands, said, “Fighting!” and ran out of the hamburger restaurant.
It was almost as though he were desperately trying to make it clear that I shouldn't follow him.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
What the hell was wrong with that crazy guy?
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
You're asking if people on Earth are normally like this?
I'm pretty damn confused myself!
A mage gives money to a mute just because they feel sorry for her?
Even an S-Rank mage with more money than they knew what to do with wouldn't do something like this.
This feels suspicious...
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
You're saying I'm too distrustful of humans?
In human society, this kind of thing is normal.
It's already lucky enough that they don't cast a spell at a mute while going, “Oops! My mistake!”
Mages are a bunch of people with ridiculously inflated pride who aren't very good at considering others.
“Ahem.”
Just then, someone in the distance gave an extremely obvious cough.
That was aimed at me, wasn't it?
It wasn't an overactive imagination.
Even though I was pretending to look out the window now, that person had been staring at me until just a moment ago.
From the moment that crazy man had shoved the money into my hands, everyone inside the hamburger restaurant had been sneaking glances at me.
Feeling self-conscious, I hunched my shoulders forward and began cleaning up the spot where I'd eaten my hamburger.
I was wearing nothing but a T-shirt on top.
I didn't want people to label me as some crazy woman, so for now, all I could do was quietly clean up.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼!”
“So who the hell are you?!”
We had several conversations on the way home, and this girl didn't seem like an ordinary parasitic creature.
For one thing, there wasn't even a plausible way I could have been infected by a parasite.
And she didn't display any of the characteristics that parasitic monsters were supposed to have.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼!”
“If you're Yumin, then what does that make me?!”
I'm Lee Yumin too!
...Wait.
For a moment, I felt a strange electric sensation run through me.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“Which world are you from?”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“The Twelfth World?”
If Earth was the First World, then the Twelfth World was eleven worlds ahead of it.
If what this girl was saying was true, that meant the original owner of this transformed body was her.
In that case, I needed a test to prove that she really was the Lee Yumin of the Twelfth World.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“What's my unique magic?”
If she and I were fundamentally the same person, then naturally, our unique magic should be identical.
If she answered correctly, then she really was Lee Yumin from the Twelfth World.
If not, I'd visit a psychiatrist tomorrow.
She let out a scoffing laugh, as though I had just asked something incredibly obvious, and answered.
[⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼.”
Huh.
She understood my unique magic even more precisely than I did.
She knew all the difficulties and minute details that couldn't possibly be known without actually using the magic herself. Her understanding was so complete that it felt as though she had personally used it.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“I believe you. You really are Lee Yumin.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼? ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“Really? Then do you know how to use magic?”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼!]
Yumin answered in an extremely excited voice.
We were both mute, so how exactly was she supposed to use magic?
I'd been a little intimidated after seeing her master Korean earlier, but now that I thought about it, maybe she was just a complete amateur.
“⎼⎼... ⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“How... exactly?”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
Yumin answered as though it were nothing special.
“Just use magic without an incantation.”
She really wasn't just mute.
Her brain must have been broken too.
She's me, after all.
Still, we were in this together, so I had no choice but to accept her.
I nodded, took some water from the refrigerator, and drank a sip.
My body had gotten smaller, so I'd thought a single hamburger would fill me up, but I was still hungry.
Still, I had only eaten a hamburger a short while ago. I couldn't eat something else again so soon.
So I was filling my stomach with water instead.
I lay down on the bed and started wondering how I was going to survive starting Monday, but Yumin kept talking to me.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“Refrigerator.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“That's a TV.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“That's a smartphone.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼? ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“The thing we ate earlier? A hamburger.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“The naming office.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼….]
“‘Ooooooh’? What's with that?”
What the hell kind of world is the Twelfth World, anyway?
Is it some medieval world with no technological development whatsoever?
Why does she not know so many things?
I answered Yumin's questions while rolling a water bottle around in my hand.
Then Yumin asked an irritating question.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?]
“⎼⎼?”
“Rank?”
Didn't she know it was rude to casually ask someone about their rank?
Or did people in the Twelfth World just go around announcing their ranks?
Then again, if I were Upper Realm, I might want to brag about it too.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“What a shameless little lady, trying to pry into someone else's rank.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼-⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“You can't say that. Now you've left me with nothing to say.”
Are you really going to take advantage of the fact that Yumin and I are fundamentally the same person?
You cunning little brat.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.”
“Ayuda. I'm Ayuda.”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
What? “Ew, that's low”?
Ew, that's low?!
What the hell is wrong with this girl?
I mean, how high was her rank that she could make fun of Ayuda?
Ayuda is still pretty good!
Since she and I were fundamentally the same person anyway, she couldn't be all that different from me.
At most, she'd probably be Binbara or something.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼?”
“What?”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
Asankhya?
Not Upper Realm, but Celestial Realm?
Lee Yumin?
You've got to be kidding me.
You have to make your lies at least somewhat believable. Why the hell are you pretending to be Celestial Realm?
Did Buddha himself descend from the heavens and smack me on the head or something?
Of all the mages on Earth, there wasn't a single one who had reached the Celestial Realm.
And you're telling me my past self had reached Celestial Realm?
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
I glared into empty space with eyes full of suspicion.
But Yumin continued speaking confidently.
[⎼⎼⎼⎼. ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼.]
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼?”
“You want me to try using magic?”
I'm a mute who can't even recite an incantation. What magic could I possibly use?
Still, there was nothing to lose.
I had nothing else to do while I was at home anyway.
I narrowed my eyes and imagined a small flame burning inside my head.
“I beseech the spirit of fire. Lend me a flame to burn my enemy—”
[Incantations are a luxury.]
Yumin spoke in a voice clearer than it had ever been before.
The playful tone she had used until now had vanished, replaced by absolute seriousness.
Huh.
Strangely, there was an odd certainty in her words.
A deep conviction that I could cast magic without an incantation.
I imagined a tiny flame within me.
I stretched out my hand and slowly visualized the little flame flying forward.
Fireball.
Fwoosh.
A tiny sphere of flame formed in my delicate palm.
The small fire that had bloomed within my hand greedily devoured the mana flowing out of my body, steadily growing larger.
This is bad.
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼!!”
“How do I stop this?!!”
If it explodes, my house is going flying!
It's not like there's much in here that I'm attached to... But still! Still!
It'll be such a pain!
All the evidence will point straight to me!
I don't even have an identity right now! If I get caught, my life is over!
“⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼! ⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼!”
“Yumin, help! Yumin, help!”
[⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼⎼...?]
How am I supposed to understand you if you explain it like that?!
BOOOOOOM!!