Chapter 39

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 39

Chapter Title: Anyway, It's Not Me (2)

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So, you're saying one of the residents in the building brought someone home in the dead of night and they were getting it on?

Of course, it wasn't me. And none of the households near mine seemed like the culprits either.

Because if any of them had done it, there's no way I—with my completely messed-up sleep schedule—wouldn't have heard the noise.

'Hmm.'

But in the midst of all that, who the hell pointed the finger at me? Sure, it was understandable enough as a misunderstanding... but I hadn't been coming and going from the apartment that frequently.

"......"

I desperately tried to plead my innocence, but the landlord didn't seem to buy it at all.

From the outside, it looked like some guy living alone had a strange woman crashing at his place, so maybe more than one or two people had given statements pointing that way.

'...Am I screwed?'

Honestly, at this point, whether I was innocent or not wasn't the big issue anymore.

The old me no longer existed in this world. Forget proving my innocence—I had to worry about how to keep my secret hidden.

'Argh.'

Anyway, if you're gonna cause trouble, at least do it quietly.

The soundproofing in this building sucks as it is. Don't they have any sense?

I want to do that too, but the problem is I can't meet anyone.

I agonized over it for a while, then decided to ask Joo-on Ha—the one person who knew my situation—for help.

"You call that a solution?"

If this dragged on, the landlord might start reviewing the CCTV footage in earnest to hunt down the offending household.

That would be game over. No way the landlord was dumb enough not to notice something fishy, and inevitably, my disappearance would come to light.

'Should I bolt?'

Was it time to put that Cha Se-ra freeloading-at-her-place plan into action—something I'd only imagined until now?

I was starting to give up on resolving the situation and think about escape routes when Joo-on, after some thought, cautiously shared her idea.

"...You think it'll go that smoothly?"

I was skeptical at first, but it started to make sense as I listened.

No matter who else, the households right next door would have a harder time not knowing the real culprit.

'Hmm.'

In the end, I put off executing the plan and chose to maintain the status quo. The next day, a text poll came in asking for yes/no on holding a residents' meeting.

"Nope, not resolved."

"......"

Argh, Joo-on, you little...

I'd thought she was some Seoul elite, but she turned out to be more useless than expected—a total dud.

"...Dunno."

Attend the residents' meeting and hope for a reversal? Absurd.

Thanks to being careful so far, my face wasn't on CCTV, but if it got out, a new link would form between human Ji-an Choi and Clam star wldks_08.

'Hmm.'

No matter how I thought about it, sneaking out at night was the only answer.

I was packing the necessities and writing a letter to minimize confusion when a group message from the landlord announced the culprit had been caught, abruptly ending the fiasco.

What the actual hell was it...?

#

Surprisingly, there was no resident in the officetel who had brought someone home and made noise.

In short, imagined noise—or more bluntly, hallucinations from mental issues.

The original reporter who complained to the landlord first was basically the hidden culprit behind it all.

"Phew."

No wonder no one nearby had directly heard any noise in this rundown officetel.

It had resolved somehow, but the situation wasn't optimistic.

Thanks to this mess, the landlord had started eyeing me as a person of interest.

'...Gotta lay low on going out for a while.'

I'd cover up properly, but there was no upside to showing my face on CCTV too often.

In the end, I dove into full hikikomori mode. I bought a microbial waste processor and decided to use a proxy service for household trash too.

Click!

The cooldown was up, so I snapped a photo for Clam, sent a rain over Gangneung, then trained the body reinforcement technique Baek Is-seo had taught me.

Such a constructive, fulfilling day.

Mix in some Action & Fighter and Archive, and that completed my weekly routine. Staying inside accelerated the pattern of my life.

In other words, time started melting away incredibly fast.

Like the Skilla incident last time, does a big crowd mean big problems?

I was spacing out and rolling around on the bed when a notification rang— a private message from Baek Is-seo.

Ding!

What now? I punched the link into my smartphone, and up popped some unknown person's Clam profile.

Lan Mei? A Chinese Hunter...?

The moment I checked the details, I instantly understood why Baek Is-seo was making such a fuss.

'Hmm.'

Selcas uploaded in a fancy room, taken by herself.

But the key point? The poses and outfits were eerily similar to the ones I'd posted before.

Hmm... even the order was the same?

Ding!

Even if it was, honestly, I didn't feel much about it.

Fashion trends get copied, poses can be referenced... but why so many followers?

12 million? Gotta admit, that stung a bit.

Ding!

What the hell was with this guy all of a sudden?

China's massive population was common knowledge, and this Lan Mei girl was a once-in-a-generation rookie Hunter blowing up with her insane talent lately.

Of course she'd have more followers than me.

Ding!

"......"

To waste the time of the great pharaoh me on this pointless crap—she must be bored out of her mind with nothing to do.

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For me—who couldn't reveal to the world that I was a super-genius Weathermancer—Clam followers were basically my pride.

Wait, how did she even know that?

It was something I'd been quietly worried about, so this hit me right where it hurt.

'Hmm.'

Sure enough... were the fans starting to get bored of similar photos?

The voice message last time got great reactions, but maybe it wasn't enough.

After pacing the room in anguish for a while, swept up in impulse, I started picturing one of those plans I'd only fantasized about.

"......"

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