Just Buying Underwear? But It Ended Up This Hard...
It was supposed to be a simple errand—buying underwear. But for some reason, it ended up being way harder than I thought it would be.
I could tough it out physically, no problem. It was the mental exhaustion that wore me down.
Eventually, I just couldn't stand trying on any more. So I only bought the five sets of the black underwear set I picked out first.
The price wasn't bad at all. For Nobelpia Department Store, the set came to 23,700 won each. Of course, when you add up all five, it pushed past 100,000 won.
It was a fortune to someone like me, who had been scraping by on instant ramen not too long ago.
Since I couldn't let Gabi pay for it—after all, I was the one who had offered to help—I ended up paying myself.
It wasn't like I couldn't afford it. There was already some settlement money from before, so it didn't weigh on me too heavily.
Besides, it was the money I would have used to buy a wheelchair. Thanks to the sponsorships, I didn't feel bad spending a little here.
“Thanks for helping. While we're at it, let's pick out some for you too.”
I could return the favor to Gabi, who had jumped in to help me at the same time.
I probably would have gone to a secondhand market and grabbed some random panties if I hadn't been set on spending this money. This was what happened when you had something solid to spend on.
“Yeah? Fine. I wasn't trying to say anything bad, but... Noel, aren't you doing pretty rough these days? You told me you've been eating nothing but ramen for a while. I heard it all at the bungeoppang stand earlier.”
Gabi had remembered what she and Jae-min were talking about.
It was true that I had been scraping by not too long ago, so I couldn't just deny it.
But now I was living pretty comfortably.
I could stand a little taller, at least.
“Oh, because of the settlement money.”
“Settlement money? Did someone hit you? Who? Who beat up Noel!”
...Most people would think that when someone mentions settlement money, they're referring to something like that.
Right, if it happened to me, I probably would have asked how bad the beating was, whether I was okay, and so on.
I had actually been beaten up.
But the settlement money I was using now came from someone who read my League of Champions community post and then had a parent read it aloud to them.
...Saying it like that made it sound a bit weird.
There were some omissions, but it was still the truth, after all.
I didn't open the envelope or look at the money. It just sat untouched on the shoe rack by the front door.
“Um. This money wasn't from a beating.”
So I could say it confidently to Gabi.
It was the League of Champions tier that had jumped up dramatically in one month.
Because of that, I ended up being suspected of using unauthorized programs, and my in-game play got linked to it.
Bad people love to trash-talk, and the ones who went way too hard on me...
And then I met Jae-min and other streamers to explain myself.
And I filed a lawsuit against the ones who kept trashing me even after that.
And I had even had someone vandalize my house just to make the lawsuit collapse.
I only told her up to that point.
There wasn't a single lie in it. I didn't want to worry her by exaggerating that I had been the one beaten up.
...Now that I said it, it sounded a bit long and pathetic, but...
I wondered if, among all the things that had happened in the few months since I woke up in this female body, this one had been the most spectacular.
“Whoa. What a mess. I mean, if someone sued you, shouldn't you have proven you did nothing wrong or apologized if it was a mistake? What, you came here to vandalize?”
“Since I became a little kid, I guess I was supposed to be scared of that much. But there's even a professional here handling the lawsuit.”
“Still, it's good. Those people were really vicious; they might have been carrying a grudge.”
There really had been someone like that.
But since I had already decided not to mention it to Gabi, I didn't add anything more.
Instead, I told Gabi to take care of her own part.
“So don't worry about it and pick out your own.”
“Umm, but it's really fine. Huh? Wait, do you mean... you're curious about my underwear preferences? Hehe.”
“Oh, no. I wasn't saying that at all...!”
“Ahaha. Just kidding, just kidding. It's okay. I'll take it. I thought Noel was... well, not exactly fine, but healthy... not sure. But since you're alive, I'm grateful. Since I bought you lunch, it's settled.”
Even while joking, Gabi flinched as if she had been caught.
But I figured, since she's my friend, I let out a short laugh and followed her toward the elevator.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Ah, but Noel, you said you're Master now, right? Why don't you try that? Just a second, we'll get off.”
“Huh?”
I had thought we were about to part ways at the department store and head home separately.
Gabi had probably thought I was getting tired of the underwear store and leaving, too.
But the moment the elevator stopped on the third floor, Gabi stepped out first and waved at me.
She made some excuse to the others, then pushed my wheelchair out and got off.
I figured she was reacting to something she saw.
[The Nobelpia Department Store League of Champions Pop-Store Open! One-on-One Event! Beat a pro gamer and take home Leochamp goods!]
Pop-Store. The exact phrase I had seen on the League of Champions client main page.
It was an event for distributing and selling game goods.
Well, since it was a game company, they could do marketing and business like this.
The game was so famous, and there were world tournaments, so it made sense they held events like this in department stores.
But hosting one-on-one matches with actual pro gamers didn't sound that reliable.
Pro gamers weren't exactly laid-back people, and they probably wouldn't be doing these events.
They were probably scrimming or grinding solo ranks instead of preparing for tournaments.
When not playing, they were busy with other things.
I, on the other hand, had nothing else to do but game all day at home.
Pros had a much wider range of choices.
They had friends, or they could go out looking for something fun.
“Um, Gabi, this kind of thing is just viral marketing...”
“That little Porolong doll is so cute, right? Wow, check out that T-MO hat. Noel would look perfect in it.”
But Gabi was already obsessed with the game goods on display.
The round, fuzzy mascots were cute, no doubt.
T-MO was also a cute champion in League of Champions.
I knew it was a fuzzy dwarf race that always smiled, and I knew women liked that a lot.
“I don't use that kind of stuff. They don't even match me.”
“Hey. They're just cute. Wouldn't it be great if we went to the event, got the hat and doll as a reward for buying underwear?”
“Umm... well, if that's the case.”
I wasn't exactly thrilled about joining the event.
But since Gabi was so excited, I had no choice but to line up behind everyone.
Thankfully, the wheelchair made it easy.
Everyone else stood in line, but I could just sit and wait.
It also gave me more personal space.
“Since you'll probably be waiting a long time, go find somewhere to rest.”
“Huh? If I take my eyes off you, how am I supposed to see you playing? I'll wait right here.”
“...Do as you like.”
Gabi even invaded my personal space and stood right next to me, but...
We had been living without much distance between us anyway, so it wasn't uncomfortable.
Even after that, she kept running off because she was obsessed with League of Champions goods.
She ignored the nice figures of the beautiful champions and was browsing phone cases or mouse pads.
I guess she really planned to carry them around in real life.
It wasn't like her tier and affection were proportional, but it was still surprising that Gabi, a Silver-tier player, was so interested.
I briefly looked away and watched the two gamers running the event.
Two computers faced each other, with a grade-school kid on one side and a player in a team jersey on the other.
It was weird to think they were real pros.
If they had really put an active pro there on purpose, they probably wouldn't give out goods.
I wasn't even in the highest tier.
But I had met some pros who had slipped down from above or were climbing again after tournaments.
They were monsters by nature.
The moment we faced them in lane, our breath would choke up.
Their movement, engagement timing, and skill shots were impossible to predict.
Well, I couldn't say about other lanes.
For top lane, those were the people I had faced.
At that time, I had to play without using my brain.
I just relied on instinct and fought like an animal.
How many normal people could beat them?
Well, sometimes Silver players who beat Grandmaster showed up on YouTube, sure.
There were people with that kind of beast-like sense in lower tiers.
But even so, some people couldn't climb because they couldn't play properly or because their mentality was bad.
Anyway, whether it was the department store or the League of Champions company, they wouldn't deliberately send a pro out just to not give out goods.
Otherwise, they would be opening the event and eating insults.
They would probably let you win a little and lose a little.
So if they sent a pro out, they were probably a backup player.
Or maybe a coach or manager.
Look, if they were letting a grade-school kid play openly, it was clearly for the big screen.
I didn't know if the TV was sponsored or just advertising, but...
Right now, the pro gamer was flipping the kid's kill with a perfectly timed dive.
I didn't know if he was really a pro, but just from that play, I could tell he was skilled.
“Ah, if I had hit him one more time, I could have gotten the kill!”
“Haha, sorry. Little friend, you worked hard. Here, the Beast-O case is yours.”
“Really? Thank you so much!”
After the one-on-one ended, when the kid stood up and the gamer offered a handshake, it seemed they weren't actually trying to avoid giving out goods.
Well, if an adult sat down, they might go all out.
Anyway, the face in front of me was someone I didn't know.
No matter how much I didn't watch pro games, I knew the famous pros like Joker.
He didn't seem like a publicly famous player.
And he was handsome.
Usually, people who are pretty and good-looking don't play games much.
They were probably dating instead.
Gabi was the strange one. Because of the expectations at home, she studied too hard and never dated.
And even after going to university, she still hadn't.
That was really weird.
Had there been no attractive guys around?
Anyway, there were quite a few people in line ahead of me.
The games were mostly over in 5 minutes or less, up to 10 at most.
The line was shortening quickly.
Well, it would probably take about 30 minutes.
It made me a bit embarrassed to see everyone else clutching League of Champions goods while I just held a bag full of underwear.
I stealthily folded the top part so the contents wouldn't show.
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[The Nobelpia Department Store League of Champions Pop-Store Open! One-on-One Event! Beat a pro gamer and take home Leochamp goods!]