[Nurturing!]
"......"
I was utterly speechless at the notification floating on my smartphone screen. I'd never even imagined that this game had an achievement system too.
Can't see the other achievements? With a faint hope, I tapped no and immediately checked the achievement list.
Hair Removal
"Hmm....... Looks like that's all I can see."
If I'd known about this in advance, I could've unlocked every achievement with Minseo. Clicking my tongue in regret, I exited the achievement list and claimed the random item box.
◈ Effect: Reduces the breast size of a woman saved in your list.
"......This."
This was a truly unprecedented concept. Shrinking a woman's breast size....... It was an item too tempting to resist.
"A treasure of the world!"
Letting out exclamations of awe, I examined the Breast-Reduction Pill before tapping confirm.
I should save this for when it's really needed.
Grinning ear to ear, I stood up in high spirits, headed to the bathroom, and took a quick shower.
After finishing up and stepping out, I set a pot on the gas stove to handle lunch.
"Let's see."
Opening the drawer, I spotted a single pack of ramen inside. Relieved that I wouldn't have to go out to buy more, I pulled out the last one with a sigh of contentment.
"......Can't have ramen without an egg."
The fridge thankfully had plenty of eggs left. Grabbing one, I tore open the ramen pack and dumped the solid bits into the pot first.
Putting them in early made them softer and more chewy by the time it was ready to eat.
Anyway, once the water with the solids started bubbling away, I quickly added the noodles and spice powder, boiling it for about two minutes.
"Perfect."
Confirming the noodles weren't fully cooked yet, I cracked the egg in right away. Stirring it a few times with chopsticks to scramble it well, I let it boil for another minute.
"......Ugh, I can't resist this smell."
The moment I saw the ramen perfectly ready to eat, my mouth watered uncontrollably. Swallowing hard, I hurriedly carried the pot to my computer desk.
Nothing beat eating ramen in front of the PC, after all.
"What should I watch while I eat today?"
Powering on the computer, I slurped away at my ramen while browsing the internet for something good.
Maybe check out some volleyball?
Then the thought of volleyball crossed my mind.
......Yeah, I should watch some at least once.
With that in mind, I logged into a video community site and searched for volleyball clips.
"More than I expected."
Fortunately, there were plenty of volleyball videos uploaded.
Here we go.
Scrolling through the list of matches, I soon found one featuring Hyundai Construction, Minseo's team.
Of course, since she'd just joined yesterday, there were no games with her playing yet. Still, gauging the other players' skill levels wasn't without value.
"Hyundai Construction Hillstate, the giants in height, versus Hwanim Saengmyeong Pink Spiders, masters of teamwork! This matchup is truly one to watch."
"Yes, indeed. Hyundai Construction can be called the team with the tallest centers. With players like Yoo Eunjin and Lee Taeyoung holding the line, their center is the most solid in the league. That's why they're leading in blocks. On the flip side, Hwanim Saengmyeong's centers aren't as tall, but they make up for it with varied tactics and unique organization. They'll need to leverage that, especially by shaking up the opponent's blockers with coordinated plays."
As the video started, the casters' rapid-fire commentary poured from the speakers, building hype for the game. The camera occasionally panned to the female volleyball players waiting on the court...... and every one of them was stunning enough to draw gasps.
Guess that's what playing volleyball does—everyone's so tall.
I paused my chopsticks for a moment, then realized my ramen was getting soggy and shoveled it in hastily.
"This is the second matchup of the season between Hyundai Construction Hillstate and Hwanim Saengmyeong Pink Spiders."
"Yes. What's on screen now is the cumulative attack distribution. As you can see, both teams attempt a lot of open attacks. Hyundai Construction mixes in tempo delays, quick sets, and quick opens. Hwanim Saengmyeong favors tempo delays and quick opens over straight quick sets."
"Right. The ref just blew the whistle. Attack starts with Yoo Ijeong's serve."
The casters were explaining something, but as a total volleyball newbie, most of it went over my head. I could follow basics like quick sets or tempo delays, but quick opens and back-row stuff? No clue.
Whatever, I'll figure it out as I watch.
Slurping my ramen with a slurp, I focused on the video.
"Yoo Ijeong serves, but it goes wide."
"Yoo Ijeong the setter has killer serves. She's ranked third league-wide in that category."
Even with the serve error, the casters spun it positively, praising her.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Construction was prepping their serve.
"Kim Yuri's serve. Great one! Shook up the receive. Follow-up underhand toss. Hwanim Saengmyeong's first attack! Oh, wide!"
"Hwanim Saengmyeong with errors early on. Serve error, attack error. They've given up two points on mistakes alone."
Whether it was a strong opposing serve or low morale from the early error, they botched the defense, leading to a sloppy attack. Even I could spot that mistake a mile away.
So early game momentum is key, huh?
First blood in any match carried huge weight. In soccer, where scoring was tough, they even said the first goal decided the game.
Humming thoughtfully, I kept watching.
"Kim Yuri serves again in a row! Another beauty. Hwanim Saengmyeong receives, but it doesn't connect to the setter. 3-0 now. Coach Kim Hyunwook claps 'it's fine, it's fine,' but the players' faces aren't easing up."
Sure enough, after serve error, attack error, and now defensive error, the players' morale visibly plummeted.
They're done for.
I clicked my tongue at the sight.
"Kim Yuri steps up once more. Serve! A bit high. Lee Seulgi digs it! Quick set follows! Ball rockets in. Perfect spike!"
But that didn't last. Lee Seulgi received Kim Yuri's serve, passed to the setter, and they fired off a quick attack. Hyundai Construction couldn't even think about blocking in time.
A true quick set.
Whoa......
Forgetting my ramen entirely, I let out a gasp. And thanks to that quick set landing perfectly, Hwanim Saengmyeong's slumped players seemed to regain their fire.
......One player's spark can flip the momentum like that.
Could Minseo pull off a role like that? I pictured her in Lee Seulgi's shoes from that receive.
Hard to say.
I'd probably need to see Minseo actually playing to know. So I watched the first set, then searched for "Kim Minseo."
But since she wasn't famous yet, no personal highlights came up.
......Guess I'll have to watch live tomorrow and boost her stats myself?
Groaning, I went back to the video and finished the rest of the match.
Almost had a heart attack watching those volleyball videos lol.