A Senior's Hidden Intentions
Jinwoo wanted to act innocent. 'A reward, huh.'
Jinwoo fell into thought for a moment. If this had been before he met his senior, he wouldn't have given it much thought. But now he knew that the famous star writer sitting right in front of him loved teasing people. Depending on what he asked for, he might end up becoming perfect prey.
'Still, she did say she'd grant anything, so I guess it really could be anything.'
Of course, all sorts of wild fantasies had flashed through his mind in that instant. But saying them out loud felt a little... embarrassing. No, if he made a weird wish instead, he'd just be handing her more material to tease him with. It would be like giving a cat a ball of yarn. Sure, that sight would be adorable, but from the perspective of Jinwoo, who would become the yarn ball, it was something that required careful consideration.
'Besides, I'm not asking for that much anyway.'
Rather, as long as he could spend time with Eunbyul, anything was fine. For Jinwoo, that alone would be the most enjoyable time of all. Because of that mindset, his deliberation didn't last long.
“Um, then...”
“Yeah! Yeah! What is it?”
Eunbyul asked with unexpected eagerness. She even leaned her head forward a little while still seated, staring at him intently. Seeing those sparkling eyes, Jinwoo ended up flustered instead. Then, with a slightly awkward expression, he said,
“Would you like to go to a PC bang together?”
“......A PC bang?”
For a moment, Eunbyul blinked. It was as if she'd heard something incredibly strange. Of course, from the perspective of the woman who had offered to grant his wish, it was a sufficiently bizarre request.
“I thought it would be fun if the two of us played games together.”
“Ah....... I see.”
Jinwoo flinched involuntarily. Eunbyul's voice, speaking with an icy expression, was incredibly cold.
'Wait, why? It's not even a weird request. It's a perfectly normal favor.'
I'm a male otaku too, so of course there are tons of things I want to say! I do want to see her cosplaying as the Princess Temptation heroine! But there's no way I have the courage to say that as my actual wish.
“......Alright. Let's go. To the PC bang.”
Watching Eunbyul speak with that still-frosty face, Jinwoo somehow felt like a criminal.
......After chatting a bit longer, Jinwoo left. He wore the expression of someone who had just received a priceless treasure, all because of their promise to meet at the PC bang.
“Hmm.”
Eunbyul sat on the bed with her legs crossed. Jinwoo was already gone, but her mind was completely filled with thoughts of him. More precisely, it was because of the wish Jinwoo had mentioned earlier.
“He wants me to go to a PC bang with him? That's his wish?”
It was such a pure request that it was almost ridiculous. On one hand, she thought it was just like him, but the silly words made her burst into a small laugh anyway.
She felt happy that he was being considerate and cherishing her. At the same time, as a woman, it stung her pride just a little.
'......I'm dressed pretty revealingly, you know.'
A white cotton t-shirt and pink dolphin shorts. It was ordinary enough, but for Eunbyul, it was quite a bold outfit to wear in front of a guy. And as a writer of erotic novels, she prided herself on knowing men's tastes very well. Dolphin shorts, needless to say, were something every man loved.
......And yet, seeing me like this, he doesn't have any thoughts at all?
Of course, if he had made a truly perverted wish, that would have been problematic. But wasn't this a little too pure?
“Ugh~ This is tricky. So difficult.”
For starters, Eunbyul was Jinwoo's senior. In other words, Jinwoo was what people commonly called a younger guy to her. Even though Jinwoo had a much larger and firmer build than her, as her junior, he still looked cute in her eyes. He might even be far more innocent than she was, despite writing erotic stories.
That was probably why she found it confusing—what his kind words and actions truly meant. Was it simply because Jinwoo was a genuinely good guy who felt sympathy for her? Or if not...
“Haa!”
Eunbyul flopped backward onto the bed without finishing her train of thought. The bigger problem was that even she herself couldn't clearly identify what her own feelings were. If she could just be certain about that, she would be able to push forward more aggressively.
'Isn't it too much if I'm just being a nuisance all the time?'
Ever since last time, she'd had the feeling that she was only receiving help from Jinwoo. Still, as his senior, she didn't want to leave that kind of impression. To prevent that, the first thing to do was to properly grant the wish he had spoken. Even if that wish was simply going to a PC bang together...
“A PC bang, huh? I wonder if Jinwoo is good at games?”
The expression on Eunbyul's face as she spoke grew rather subtle.
The next day, at the PC bang near their homes.
Jinwoo and Eunbyul walked in side by side.
“Now that I think about it, are you good at games, sunbae?”
“Huh? Uh?”
It had been a casual question without much thought behind it. If they were going to enjoy themselves together, knowing each other's skill level was important. Honestly, it was also simple curiosity. As a fan, he was curious whether a star writer played games and what kind she played.
'But why is she so flustered?'
She was sweating profusely and glancing around nervously. It was like a child who had done something wrong and was trying to hide it.
“I-I'm not that good. I just play a little with my friends?”
“Ah~ I see.”
But Jinwoo roughly accepted Eunbyul's reaction. He assumed it was probably because she wasn't very familiar with PC bangs.
“Then what game should we play?”
“Ah, I'm fine with anything. It's your wish, so pick whatever you want to play.”
“That wouldn't be any fun. It'd be better if we could enjoy something together.”
Jinwoo spoke with a fair amount of confidence. As a guy, he had spent his student days hanging out with friends and playing games every single day. Even now as an adult, he was one of those gamers who enjoyed a wide variety of titles. The slightly disappointing part was that he was mostly average at all of them.
“I can play pretty much anything, so just tell me what you're comfortable with.”
Even after Jinwoo's words, Eunbyul still seemed to be pondering. Then she pointed at a poster on the wall.
“How about that one?”
The poster showed a massive armored figure swinging a hammer. Beside it stood various characters holding guns in their own unique poses. It was an FPS game made by a famous gaming company. It wasn't just about shooting guns—players could choose from a variety of roles for different characters. It had been out for about seven years now. It had lost some popularity these days, but back when it launched, it had caused a massive sensation.
“Oh, you play this too, sunbae?”
“Y-yeah! They released Season 2, so I wanted to try it.”
It was such a well-known game that Jinwoo had played it quite a lot. His rank was only around Gold, though.
“Shall we go with this, then?”
The two sat down and immediately launched the game. After the loading screen, they added each other as friends. Eunbyul's level was 12. Since it wasn't a growth-based game, user level didn't mean much. It was probably just an indicator of how much someone had played. Level 12 was quite low.
“Looks like you haven't played much?”
“Ah... yeah! I played the first one a few times, but this is my first time with Season 2.”
It wasn't that strange a story. After Season 1 ended with harsh criticism, the company had remade and released Season 2. Quite a few people had dropped the game back then. The only thing that felt off was Eunbyul's strangely suspicious behavior ever since they arrived.
'She looks like someone with a guilty conscience.'
The thought crossed his mind for a second, but he quickly brushed it aside. There was no way Eunbyul would have anything to hide from him in a game like this.
“What position do you want to play, sunbae?”
“Hmm...... I'm not very good at shooting, so should I go with healer?”
“Sounds good.”
Eunbyul chose an angel-like healer character. Jinwoo picked a standard soldier character holding a gun. Even in this choice, their personalities showed, and he couldn't help but smile.
'It's been a while since I played this. I wonder if I'll still be any good.'
The two soon started the match.
“Sunbae, let's head this way first.”
“Okay, let's do that.”
The game was 5v5. The objective was to defend your base within the time limit or capture the enemy's base to win. Players could shoot each other down with guns, and when you died, you respawned after a few seconds but had to walk back to the base. It hadn't been long since the match started, but it was flowing fairly smoothly overall. Eunbyul played better than expected for a beginner, making crucial plays when needed and even saving Jinwoo several times. Fortunately, their team luck wasn't bad either, and they won quickly.
“Nice! You're pretty good, sunbae!”
“No way~ It's all thanks to you playing well, Jinwoo. I was just hanging back the whole time.”
Maybe it was because this was the wish he had personally asked for. Jinwoo's face was filled with unmistakable joy. Eunbyul looked at him with a warm, satisfied gaze. All while carefully making sure she didn't move her mouse too quickly.
The two continued playing without much trouble. But like most online games, it didn't stay pleasant forever. During one match, they ran into opponents who were blatantly playing in poor sportsmanship. If that had been all, they would have brushed it off. That kind of thing was common in games like this. The phrase “let's play together” could even be taken as a backhanded compliment.
The problem came after Jinwoo died. It was the all-chat message sent by the opponent.
Jinwoo frowned slightly, but that was all. As he'd said, he had experienced all kinds of games, and this was nothing to him. If anything, it was just part of everyday life when gaming. But apparently, it wasn't the same for Eunbyul.
“Hoo... These bastards.”
Eunbyul let out a low sigh, then tied her hair into a ponytail with a hair tie that seemed to appear from nowhere. Normally he would have thought she looked pretty first, but right now the impression that came to mind before anything else was cool.
“S-sunbae?”
Her face, which was slightly angry and full of fighting spirit unlike her usual self. With that exact expression, her hands moved rapidly. The character she selected was a burly one wielding a massive hammer.
And then the massacre began.