12. My Sister Really Likes Spicy Food...
12. My Sister Really Likes Spicy Food...
***
The table Seoyun had set was even more surprising than I expected.
From the sundubu-jjigae that looked delicious at a glance, to the beef, to all the seasoned vegetables. The dishes laid out on the table were proper Korean food, the kind you'd expect from a high-end hansik restaurant.
To someone who'd been getting by on delivery food for days, just looking at it was enough to draw out an involuntary gasp of admiration.
"...Seoyun, you're seriously good at cooking. You could open a restaurant."
"I put in a little extra effort today. What do you think, sis? Does it look good?"
"Yeah, it looks really good."
"Ahem. Hm! The taste is even more impressive?"
The way Seoyun said it, putting on airs with a confident expression, was... honestly adorable. That small frame, that cute face, bragging about her own cooking skills with her own mouth—I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
Serin slowly picked up her spoon. Seoyun, without even thinking of picking up her own utensils, just stared at her.
With Seoyun watching her so intently, as if demanding she hurry up and evaluate the food, Serin awkwardly lifted her spoon and reached first for the sundubu-jjigae.
"..."
"...Hahm."
The moment the spoon entered her mouth, she nearly coughed, and Serin hastily clamped her mouth shut.
Seoyun's gaze was so intense it felt like it might bore a hole through her face, so she'd hurried to meet her expectations and gone for the stew—but the taste far exceeded anything she'd imagined.
'What the hell... this insane spiciness?'
If she hadn't quickly shut her mouth, she would have let out a huge cough and nearly ruined the food her sister had so carefully prepared.
Her hand almost instinctively went for the cup of water, but she held it back with every ounce of willpower she had.
No matter what, drinking water right away seemed like bad manners.
The sundubu-jjigae was so spicy she could feel her face flushing red in real time, beyond words.
She forced herself to swallow and opened her mouth.
"It's... good..."
Even though she'd deliberately opened her mouth wide, her mouth stung so much she couldn't even speak properly.
For a moment, Serin even wondered if Seoyun was deliberately messing with her.
"I made it spicy this time, since that's what you like, Serin. Phew, I'm glad. That it suits your taste."
But contrary to her expectations, Seoyun smiled contentedly at her answer, picked up her own spoon, and said that.
There wasn't the slightest hint of malice or teasing in her manner.
Then Seoyun slowly began eating as well.
"Ahh... this sundubu-jjigae is a bit spicy for me."
After taking a bite of the stew, Seoyun suddenly said that.
Seeing that, Serin could only conclude that the food really had been made to suit her own taste.
Watching that, Serin quickly moved her chopsticks to the vegetables and other dishes to cool her mouth, but confusion came first.
Even now... she could feel her face burning from the sundubu-jjigae so vividly.
'Someone like me liked spicy food?'
Clink.
Tap.
The meal continued quietly for a while after that.
"...Sis, should I scoop some sundubu-jjigae into a separate bowl for you? It seems far from where you're sitting."
As if she had noticed that I hadn’t touched the stew at all since that first taste, Seoyun suddenly spoke up.
"Ah, no, it's fine. The other dishes are just so good."
She quickly waved her hand in firm denial.
Her mouth was still stinging even now, and even knowing Seoyun would be disappointed, she absolutely could not eat more of that.
'That stuff is literally food designed to kill me.'
She was a lightweight even among people who couldn’t handle spicy food.
Back in her original world, even the famous S-brand ramyun known for measuring spice levels was barely edible for her.
But had the original "me" of this world actually liked spicy food? The question lingered throughout the meal.
Judging by her body's reaction, that didn't seem to be the case either.
"Serin, why is your face so red?"
"Ah, I'm just... a little hot."
"Really? Should I turn on the AC?"
Since her mouth was full and it was hard to speak, she gave a small nod instead of answering.
And aside from the insanely spicy sundubu-jjigae, the other dishes suited her taste perfectly.
After eating nothing but delivery food, having homemade Korean food prepared by her sister—it wasn't that it lacked strong flavor. No, more precisely, it wasn't that it was bland, but every dish seemed to settle comfortably in her stomach.
Seeing Serin like that, Seoyun watched her contentedly, then got up from her seat, picked up the remote on the cabinet, and started pressing buttons.
Click click. Click.
Soon the sound of the living room air conditioner turning on could be heard.
"Come to think of it, Serin, you're eating really well today."
"...Oh? Am I?"
She tilted her head.
The food Seoyun had made was all so delicious that she figured anyone would wolf it down.
"Yeah, before, even when I made you food, you'd barely eat half a bowl of rice."
...At those words, her hand stopped involuntarily.
It was something she'd felt during the short time she'd spent talking with her sister.
"I" was too strange.
What kind of life had she lived for Seoyun to keep reacting with such disbelief?
"Serin, here, eat this too."
Seoyun deliberately picked up some meat with her own chopsticks and placed it on Serin's rice bowl. It was cute, but at the same time, Serin felt something like guilt.
Was it really right for "me" to exist as me?
The "self" that Seoyun remembered—wasn't that, in the truest sense, not actually her?
As she lifted her spoon, she eventually concluded that all of it was pointless thinking.
"...Still, it really was worth coming over, seeing you eat so well. I feel full just watching, you know?"
Watching Seoyun smile contentedly at her, Serin slowly sorted out her thoughts.
What was the point of agonizing over it now?
She already existed as "Han Serin."
She'd been sent to this world by some unknown existence, but she had no way to refuse it or do anything about it.
She truly had no choice at all.
'...'
A woman named Han Serin who looked so much like Rin, the character she'd created herself in the game called "Black Ark."
Using the unusual weapon called a Crescent-Moon Weight.
The trait of loving games, just like her.
Having a younger sister named Seoyun whose personality was so similar to her past sister's, even if the appearance was different...
The more she thought about it, the more overlap there was.
This world, ten years ahead of the world she'd originally lived in.
'...Another version of myself from a parallel world is the current "me."'
The current Han Serin was also "me."
That was how she accepted it.
Rationalization.
Acceptance.
No, it didn't matter what you called it.
She picked up some meat with her chopsticks and quietly placed it on her sister's rice as well.
"Serin...? What's this all of a sudden?"
The woman staring at her blankly—her current "younger sister," Han Seoyun.
Small frame, cute face. An appearance with a slightly exotic feel.
She still didn't know her parents' faces, but she wondered if they might be mixed-race.
Even as she was now, being good to her younger sister—she didn't question that.
"Just a whim."
Yeah, it was like a whim.
"Pfft. No, seriously, what's that supposed to mean all of a sudden?"
Seoyun laughed as if it was absurd, but she clearly didn't dislike it.
Should she start exercising, even in this body?
As she got up to scoop more rice into her now-empty bowl, the thought came naturally.
How unreliable had she seemed to her sister, for Seoyun to worry about her over every little thing like that? The thought weighed heavily on her.
"...?"
Seoyun paused mid-meal and stared blankly at her sister.
Her sister, who had never once finished a full bowl of rice no matter what food she made, was now voluntarily scooping more for herself.
"Serin really does like spicy food."
Seoyun herself couldn't eat spicy food, so she'd never cooked it before.
She'd have to make spicier things from now on, she thought, gazing at the sundubu-jjigae still steaming away.
***
[Hang in there!]
[I enjoyed the video.]
[I'll subscribe.]
A small-time NewTuber. Kim Hayoon was having a healing(?) moment, looking at the comments on her channel.
There were truly only a handful of comments on each video, so every single one was precious to her.
Subscriber count: 649.
Her NewTuber channel had gained only 6 subscribers since yesterday.
"Come to think of it, was today the day?"
She checked the date, and it was indeed today.
The day her Another World access device was arriving.
The anticipation of finally getting to experience this futuristic product called virtual reality. No, more than any of that, Hayoon was simply looking forward to her NewTuber channel blowing up.
"Another World" was an unprecedented hit. Even though the game access device was insanely, terrifyingly expensive, the number of users was absurdly high, and the game's market share was rewriting history in real time.
That was just from the articles Hayoon had casually glanced at.
If she could ride the coattails of such a popular game, couldn't she expect her own channel to blow up too?
Hayoon was brimming with that dream right now.
After unwinding as she read the NewTube comments, she went to the NewTuber homepage. Maybe because of NewTube’s algorithm, a video she hadn’t seen yet was already sitting in her recommendations.
Views: 4.26 million.
More than anything else, Hayoon's eyes went to that video's view count.
"...What the hell?"
Hayoon’s previously relaxed eyes suddenly flew wide open—so obviously that anyone could see it.
It was something she couldn't even dream of. No, even if she added up every video she'd ever uploaded to her channel, it wouldn't amount to a hundredth of that video's views.
As if possessed, Hayoon clicked on the video.
"No way..."
When she saw that the video had been uploaded less than 24 hours ago, Hayoon let out a sigh so heavy it felt like the ground might cave in.
"Still, let's study it."
She looked at the video, and it was "Another World" again.
And in it, she saw a famous streamer.
Hayoon had experience preparing for internet broadcasting while getting ready to become a NewTuber, so she recognized her immediately.
A female streamer whose recent rise was terrifying.
That female streamer was also an Another World player.
'Was her name Hana...?'
"No, how did she get a collab?"
The video showed the silver-haired character that had already become a massive topic of conversation.
Was this the tyranny of big-name streamers?
How on earth had she gotten that collab? Hayoon was so envious of that female streamer named Hana that her stomach started to ache for no reason.