The University Trap and Late-Night Cooking Stream

"University?"

I was caught off guard by the unexpected suggestion. When I turned to look at Ha-im eating her side dishes, the suspect's body flinched.

"Was it you?"

"W-well? How would I know?"

She turned her head to avoid my gaze. Like hell she didn't know. It was obvious she'd been the one who said it. She was really pulling out every trick to get me enrolled as her junior.

"What university? I'm twenty-four years old."

If I took the college entrance exam now, I'd be twenty-five by the time I started school. The thought of being twenty-five among fresh-faced twenty-year-olds felt incredibly out of place.

"You don't have to take it seriously. Mom just means it would be good if you at least took the qualification exam."

The qualification exam, huh….

I definitely wanted to take it. In South Korea, people tended to look down on those who only finished middle school.

"Honey, say something too."

Mrs. Kim poked Manager Lee in the side. He made a face like he had no choice.

"Going to university would at least help your life a little."

When he put it like that, it was hard to immediately say no.

"Sigh, fine. I'll think about it."

After finishing the meal, I headed to my room to complete the mission the chairman had given me. That's when Ha-im poked her head into my doorway.

"Oppa, are you really not considering university?"

"……."

I stared at my little sister with a pitiful look. What was I supposed to do with this kid? I wished she'd just give up already.

"Give up? Even if I went, I couldn't get into S University with you."

It wasn't called Korea's top university for nothing. To get into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠S University, you needed perfect scores on every subject of the college entrance exam.

"You don't have to go through the regular exam! There's the Awakener admission track!"

"Awakener admission track?"

"Yeah, it's a brand new system!"

It was a new admission category created by universities to recruit promising future Awakeners. That's why they even established dedicated Awakener departments.

"I heard from the team leader that you got your Awakener license, oppa. With your abilities, you'd get in immediately if you took the test!"

"……."

So much had changed while I was gone. Even the Awakener admission track had been created. But my opinion remained unchanged.

"Rejected."

"Why?!"

"Why? Because officially I'm a C-Class Awakener. And if there was a C-Class who could predict anything perfectly? It would look suspicious as hell."

What if one of my classmates got suspicious and reported me? I didn't want to carry that kind of risk.

"But you could get perfect scores with your ability anyway!"

"That's true."

I shrugged. Honestly, getting a perfect score on the college entrance exam? It was nothing. I could just use fortune telling to learn all the answers in advance and memorize them.

"But that would be unfair."

Other people studied for one or three years, but I'd just snap my fingers and get perfect scores. It made me feel a little guilty.

"Tch, that's not like you at all, worrying about something like that."

"Anyway, I have no intention of going to university."

My philosophy was to use whatever I could, but I didn't want to beat kids younger than me with something this trivial.

"Get out already. I am thinking about taking the qualification exam at least."

"Hmph! Fine! Don't come crying to me later when you regret it!"

"Yeah, yeah. I got it, so hurry up and—"

Bang!

"This little…!"

Where the hell did she learn the habit of slamming doors like that? It was obvious that while I was gone, Mrs. Kim and Manager Lee hadn't taught her any manners.

After that, I spent the entire night clearing the mission the chairman had given me, and the day of the joint stream finally arrived.

Click.

"Unnie, you're here."

"Yeah. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Haaaawn~"

A yawn slipped out before I could stop it. Had I played the game for too long? Sleep was crashing over me like a wave. I should've moderated my gaming.

When I took off my shoes and stepped into the living room, the space felt especially large.

"This is only my second time here, but the place really is huge. Do you live alone?"

"Yes, my family home is in the countryside."

So she bought this house with her hunter earnings? Having her own place in Seoul at such a young age was impressive.

"The stream is already on, so say hello."

In the living room, broadcasting equipment and cameras were set up so that my face wouldn't be visible. I sat on the sofa and greeted the viewers.

"Long time no see, everyone."

Why was I so late? I greeted the viewers before starting to cook. It felt different from other streams I'd seen.

Was this one of Rona's viewers? Their tone was much more polite than our usual chat.

"Today's just a simple cooking stream. Rona's in charge of cooking, and I'm in charge of taste-testing."

"Come on, what do you mean, me cooking?"

It wasn't that I couldn't, but the whole process was too much of a hassle. I'd rather order delivery than deal with prep and dishes.

Rona rummaged through the fridge to start cooking.

"Unnie, you said you wanted pork stir-fry, pork cutlet, and pork soup, right?"

"Yep."

"This is a problem."

"What is?"

"We're out of ingredients. Should we go buy them together?"

'Night stream?' It was a term I'd never heard before.

"What's a night stream?"

"……!"

Rona jumped in surprise and whipped around at my single question. What? Did I say something wrong?

"Unnie, you don't know what 'night stream' means?"

"A lewd broadcast?"

"……."

Rona stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. I wondered what the viewers' reactions were like.

"They say it's right? Should we do a lewd broadcast?"

At my question, Rona let out a deep sigh.

"It's obviously the viewers teasing you. 'Night stream' means outdoor broadcast."

"Oh, really?"

I felt both that everything was being abbreviated these days and that I was a bit behind the times. It made me feel like I'd become a grandma.

"Ahem, so we're doing an outdoor broadcast?"

"Looks like we have to."

We turned on the stream through our phones and headed to the mart.

"First, we need to buy meat, onions, blood sausage, beef bone broth, frying powder, and flour. That should be about it."

"Let's buy it quick and start cooking. I'm starving."

We bought the cooking ingredients one by one. So far, everything was normal. After getting everything, as we were heading back to the checkout, a delicious smell tempted my nose. The source was the sampling corner grilling golden-brown frozen dumplings.

My feet naturally drifted toward the sampling area.

"Oh my, what a pretty young lady. Eat as much as you want."

The sampling lady greeted me warmly, and before I knew it, my hand reached for the dumplings.

Om nom nom.

They really were delicious. At home, Mrs. Kim wouldn't let me eat frozen or delivery food comfortably, so I should enjoy it here.

"Unnie, do you want some frozen dumplings?"

"……!"

My body flinched without thinking. It felt like I'd been caught doing something wrong.

"N-no, of course not! Let's go quickly!"

I felt embarrassed that I couldn't control my appetite in front of my younger sister.

"It's fine if you buy some, you know?"

"…Really?"

I immediately snatched the cart and loaded it with dumplings, fried items, chicken, chicken feet, pizza, corn dogs—everything I wanted.

"U-unnie, are you going to eat all of this?"

"…Haha, is it too much?"

I'd lost my mind for a moment and thrown in everything I desired.

I scratched my head.

"Mom never lets me eat stuff like this."

"Well, it's fine, right? Shall we go cook now? I'll make it for you."

We quickly returned home and started preparing to cook. But there was a problem.

"Aaaagh! Why is the oil splattering so much!"

Right now, Rona was standing far away from the frying pan because of all the oil flying everywhere.

I agreed. She'd been so confident that I thought she was good at cooking, but she was just a complete beginner. Moreover, judging by the viewers' reactions, this seemed to be her first-ever cooking stream.

"You can't cook?"

"N-no! Just wait a little! I'll make something delicious soon… Aaaagh! The stir-fry is burning!"

Her words and actions were completely different. What should I do about this?

Ah, that's not how you do that…

Advice was boiling up from deep inside me. No, you shouldn't add the blood sausage at that timing!

My body moved on autopilot. I adjusted the camera, put on one of the spare aprons, and stepped into the kitchen.

"Move aside. I'll cook."

"Huh?"

I immediately started prepping the ingredients. She really had just hacked at the vegetables.

"Don't just stand there. Can you put the frozen food in the microwave?"

"Y-yes!"

I quickly finished prepping the ingredients and fixed the messed-up seasoning. After spending about two hours, I produced a decent pork soup, stir-fried pork, and pork cutlet, while the table was filled with various frozen foods.

"Unnie, you're really good at cooking…."

"Well, isn't this level pretty basic?"

"…When you say that, what does that make me?"

Everyone seemed shocked by my cooking skills. When I had transferred into a young girl's body, there were no adults around, so I had no choice but to cook for myself. Naturally, my skills had improved.

"Whoa, damn! This is insanely good!"

Rona covered her mouth with her hand after accidentally letting a curse slip. That's how delicious this food was—it was the best thing she'd eaten in her entire life.

"Here, try this too."

"……?"

I picked up some stir-fried pork and fed it to her. Rona hesitated for a moment out of embarrassment but eventually opened her mouth obediently.

Rona chewed the pork while glancing at me.

"…You'll grant my request, right?"

"……."

She must have been bothered that I ended up cooking instead ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of her. She really worried about the most pointless things.

"Don't worry. I'll help you. When is it?"

"…You won't get mad?"

"……?"

What was she about to say that made her worry I'd get angry?

"…Tonight."

What?