Chapter 60
"Raff!"
Whoosh-!
"Too slow, Lightro!"
Shooo-!
"No, you need to dodge there."
Thwack-.
"That was the perfect hook timing."
Swish-!
"You throw a jab, close the distance, and then go for the uppercut."
Hooosh!
"You need to work the body. The face isn't everything! Aim for the openings in the guard!"
Papapapak!
"It's too early for a flicker jab. Start with the basics and build up to the uppercut!"
Crack-!
"Your lower body, your lower body! You can't let it collapse! You're not kicking, you're bracing and holding your center! Even in boxing, the legs matter, okay? All right, straight from there!"
A month.
It had been a month since I started learning boxing in earnest.
I had been exercising steadily since I was young, so my stamina came back quickly, but the problem was that this was my first time learning combat sports themselves, so my skills were improving slowly.
"Seo-jun?"
"Ah, yes. Coach."
"You worked hard today too. I always say this, but you're a really unusual case, Seo-jun."
He said it sincerely.
"Your dynamic vision and reflexes are really no joke at this point. You're world-class."
"Is that really so?"
"Absolutely. If you'd come to me in your early twenties, I would have told you to seriously try being an athlete. Even now, if your stamina catches up, you could probably enter amateur competitions."
"Oh, that's a bit too much pressure for me. I'll just keep working hard at this pace."
"That's the spirit. Great. Let's keep fighting."
"Yes, sir!"
The results were better than I'd expected.
More than anything, boxing depended heavily on natural reflexes, and it felt like I was covering that weakness with my talent.
Thanks to that, exercise had become fun lately.
"Should I head off from work again today?"
After boxing, running all the way to the workshop had become part of my routine.
From Daehak-ro to Changsin-dong.
It wasn't a short distance, but I treated it like a run for conditioning as much as a commute.
Especially after charging up a hill, my thighs felt like they were about to split open.
Still, they said training the lower body was really good for a man, so even when it was hard, I clenched my teeth and pushed through.
Hooosh, hooosh- hooosh-!
I arrived at the workshop breathing hard, and then...
"Huh...?"
A familiar car was parked in the workshop lot.
One of those expensive cars I had seen at the Porampe Cafe.
And sure enough, I ran into the owner just as she was getting off the elevator.
"Yu So-ra?"
"Oh! Author. Hello!"
She bowed her head brightly.
"I just went upstairs a moment ago and you weren't there, so I was about to call you!"
"Ah, these days I start work a little later than usual because I'm exercising."
"Oh, that explains why you're drenched in sweat."
Yu So-ra grinned and asked,
"You said the cosplay outfit was finished, so I came as soon as I could."
Actually, I'd finished it the day before yesterday and called her to tell her to come try it on sometime soon.
And as soon as the weekend arrived, she showed up right away.
"I was wondering if today would work."
"Yes, of course it works. Shall we go up together?"
"Yep!"
***
"Wow, it's so pretty!"
Yu So-ra kept checking herself in the mirror with a blissful look on her face.
"And the size is perfect, and it's breathable too!"
The outfit she was wearing now was a naval uniform.
It was a perfect recreation of the clothes worn by the protagonist of an anime that aired from the 1990s into the 2000s, the one who traveled around on a battleship.
Apparently it had recently been re-released and become a hot topic, so she'd decided to cosplay it?
That was why I'd deliberately chosen fabric closer to what had been used back then rather than the materials popular now, so it would capture the feel of the era.
"It really brings out that old-school vibe!"
Fortunately, Yu So-ra seemed satisfied.
"Ah, I'm seriously so happy with it."
She came over to me with a bright smile.
"After trying on your outfits a few times, I can't wear anything else now."
"Haha, you're too kind."
"No, I'm serious! If you'd gone into this full-time, I would have sent you two hundred thousand love calls to be my dedicated tailor."
"I'm glad you're happy with it."
"Yeah. Seriously. I think this one is going to get an amazing reaction too. Hehe."
She clapped her hands and looked at me.
"Oh, have you eaten? Do you want to have lunch with me?"
"Not yet, but... I just came back from exercising, so I probably smell."
"I don't smell anything at all, even sitting right next to you."
She leaned in all at once and buried her nose in my arm, sniffing.
"Nothing."
"Ah, ah, that startled me..."
I flinched and stepped back.
"I've been sweating a lot..."
"Seriously, it's fine."
"Then let me at least change clothes first before we go."
"Okay, sounds good!"
***
A tendon-don place near the workshop.
"We could've gone somewhere more expensive."
"No way. I love fried food."
Yu So-ra was being completely sincere as she dipped a sweet potato fritter in soy sauce and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Mm, delicious!"
Following her lead, I took a piece of tempura and bit into it too.
It does taste good, but... it's a little disappointing.
Not long ago, I would have eaten happily here and thought it was delicious.
But today I felt a sharp sense of disappointment.
The chef hasn't changed. And the ingredients aren't any less fresh, either.
Then there was only one thing that had changed.
My taste has changed.
The taste of the tempura here was the same as ever.
My eyes got way too high after making and eating fried food myself with the talent.
And because I'd even developed a taste for it outdoors once, the tempura from ordinary restaurants just didn't satisfy me anymore.
Fortunately, Yu So-ra seemed content and was eating happily, so that was something.
I should invite her separately sometime and make it for her.
She had already trusted me with this outfit, which made her the first client I'd ever had for one of my side jobs twice over. It wouldn't be too much to treat her to that much.
"But, author."
"Have you maybe lost weight?"
"...Pardon?"
"Your cheeks look slimmer, and your shoulders have a much more defined line."
"Ah, really? I did start exercising recently..."
"Oh, really? Can I touch?"
She looked like she was about to jab at my arm.
"Ah, no. You can't."
I shrank back, startled.
My reaction must have amused her, because Yu So-ra burst out laughing.
"You're really different."
"Huh?"
"Other people are always flexing after they say they worked out, begging people to touch their muscles, but you're the one who freaks out instead."
"Ah... I just feel a little uncomfortable with that."
"That's why I think you're more comfortable to be around."
"Pardon?"
"You don't put any pressure on people. It makes me want to tease you instead."
"...That's not a bad thing, is it?"
"It's my way of saying it's good."
"I see..."
Crunch, crunch-.
By the time we'd polished off the tendon rice bowls, Yu So-ra was looking at me with shining eyes.
"Author. Can I ask you one really serious question?"
"Yes, of course."
"What do you think about cosplay?"
"It's a good culture, isn't it...?"
"No, not some canned answer."
This time, she stripped all the playfulness out of her expression.
"I want to know what you personally think about cosplay."
Hmm.
I didn't know why she was asking, but it wasn't an easy question to answer.
"Well, on a cosplay day, you get to become a character you love, right? In that sense, it must feel like a dream day, so as a way to live vicariously it's probably the best. Older people might look at it with prejudice, but personally, I think it's a great hobby. And in your case, So-ra, you're even making a living from your hobby, so I think that's even more impressive."
"...Really?"
"Yes. I think it's really not easy to make a career out of something you genuinely love. It's admirable. And kind of enviable, too."
"Mm-hmm?"
"But why are you asking?"
"The first reason was that I was personally curious about what you think of this field."
She grinned and added,
"The second was because I wondered whether we should cosplay together."
"...Pardon?"
"There's another cosplay commission I got after this outfit, you know? It's for a character from a game company. The character I'll be playing always carries around a bear on their shoulder."
"...."
"But I thought it would be fun if you did it."
"T-that might be a little much... It feels odd for me to ride around on someone's shoulder."
"'Carry around' is just a turn of phrase. We'd just be going together. That character can transform into a human form too."
Still, it didn't really appeal to me.
"But the important part is, the pay is pretty high."
"...Pardon?"
"If I go out for a day, I get 15 million won. If I make the costume myself, including clothing costs, it's 20 million total."
The rate was brutal.
No wonder she was one of the country's top cosplayers.
"But if you accompany me, it's a team gig, so you can get up to 50 percent of what I get paid."
"Then..."
"Yes. You'd cosplay for a day and get ten million won."
"...!"
That snapped my ears wide open.
Ten million a day? Not a month?
That was three months of my salary.
Cosplay...
Honestly, before I made Yu So-ra's outfit, I had thought it was a world I had nothing to do with at all.
And even while making her clothes, I never imagined I'd end up cosplaying myself.
But the amount is way too tempting...
Besides, the fact that it wasn't a continuous job was another plus for me.
It wouldn't interfere with my main work, and as a kind of side job, it sounded like the perfect thing to try once?
Try something fun for a day and get ten million won?
That was incredibly tempting.
"By when do I need to decide?"
"It's not urgent. There's still quite a bit of time left on the schedule. Think it over slowly and let me know."
"Okay, I'll seriously think about it. Thanks for the good offer."
"I think it'd be fun if we did it together!"
Yu So-ra smiled brightly.
On the way out of the restaurant, Yu So-ra naturally drifted right up beside me.
Just as I tried to step away a little, she moved close again.
"Author."
She suddenly called out to me.
"You just changed clothes earlier, right? You didn't shower?"
"Yes. Do I smell that bad?"
"You have this really pleasant scent."
"...Huh?"
In case I could cover up the sweat smell, I'd sprayed on the handmade perfume I'd made for the pop-up store before coming out.
Sniff, sniff-.
Yu So-ra kept leaning in closer with her nose.
This perfume might be pretty dangerous.
If I kept spraying it carelessly, it might become a real problem.
I should hold off on it for a while.
***
[Side-Hustling Teddy Bear's Workshop]
- Subscriber count: 11,561.
"Still climbing steadily."
It wasn't explosive growth like before, but dozens of new subscribers were still coming in every day.
Lately, I'd uploaded a video of myself making Yu So-ra's outfit.
That had gotten a pretty good response too.
It had pulled around 300,000 views, and the conversion into new subscribers was going well.
Let's keep this going, just like this.
I closed the window with a relaxed hand.
"Looks like the busy work is starting to wrap up."
The novel I was serializing on Munstopia had finally reached its last episode.
At the latest, it would be finished next week.
The publisher wanted me to keep writing a little longer, but it was my first work, and rather than drag it out and make a mistake, I thought it would be better to wrap it up cleanly, so I went ahead with that.
Once the novel ends, my weekends will open up too.
Handicrafts were still the best thing for taking on outside work, but the scale got too big, which made it stressful.
Especially since I had to keep breaking things down because of that blasted craftsman's spirit, I was in a period where I still needed some mental rest.
In that sense, won't a new talent appear soon?
The driving talent was broader in direction than I'd expected, but when it came down to it, there wasn't much I could actually do with it as an ordinary person.
It would probably be useful in an emergency, though...
Like if a pilot went into shock, or the helmsman fainted on a ship.
But how often did that kind of thing happen in life?
It was probably better to think of it as insurance.
Even just being able to apply my dynamic vision and reflexes to real life was already a huge gain.
[Auxiliary Talent Keywords]
(1) Fragrance: Unlocked.
(2) Coffee.
(3) Cocktail.
(4) Fried Food: Unlocked.
(5) Fermentation.
"Should I open up a new auxiliary talent?"
With the machine now in the workshop, I was enjoying draft beer to my heart's content.
But after drinking it all the time, I had started getting curious about other drinks too.
I was starting to get tired of somaek.
Cocktails do seem pretty nice...
Especially since I'd been satisfied the few times I had gin and tonic in a hotel lounge, I was interested in other drinks too.
Bzzzzt-!
My phone rang.
"Assistant Manager Han Su-a...?"
She wasn't the type to call on the weekend unless it was important.
"Ahem, ahem!"
I cleared my throat and answered.
"Yes, this is Kang Seo-jun."
- Hello, Deputy Manager. Is this a bad time to talk?
"No, go ahead."
- First, sorry to call on the weekend. I was going to tell you on Monday, but I happened to get tickets.
"...Pardon?"
- You know that competition ad our company got last week, right?
"Yes. But it was only shared with section heads and above, so I don't know what kind of ad it was."
- You know F1, right?
"You mean Formula 1? The car racing competition?"
- Yes, that's right. What actually came in to us was Formula 2. So, F2. It's basically the second tier of F1, and they've confirmed that the race will be held on a circuit in our country.
"Oh... really?"
- Yes, though only for this year. Apparently there was a problem with the Japan round, so they're using Yeongam. And while they're at it, there was talk of trying to increase interest in the Formula series in Korea too. That's why we got assigned the ad.
I had guessed it was a big deal since it was confidential enough not to be shared even with deputy managers, but I never imagined it would be F2.
"Then the tickets are for..."
- F4, being held in France. The company provided them and told us to go see it in person and use it as reference.
Assistant Manager Han Su-a asked cautiously,
- Honestly, I should be talking about this at the office, but if you factor in flying out to attend the competition, the schedule gets pretty tight. Sorry for contacting you on the weekend.
"Ah, no, not at all. It's no problem."
- So here's the thing. If it's okay with you, would you like to take on this assignment with me and handle it together?
F2...
It was a completely unexpected field.
This could be interesting.
More than anything, thinking about my driving talent made me even more interested.
If I get some indirect experience, maybe I'll discover an angle I never even considered.
I had no reason to refuse.
No, on the contrary, it felt good to finally be doing my real job again after such a long time.
"Sounds good. What should I prepare first?"