171. It's Not That Special of a Place
171. It's Not That Special of a Place
***
After exchanging playful banter for a while, Serin eventually couldn't help but ask.
"You've been driving for quite a while now. Where exactly are we going?"
She'd figured Eunha would tell her on her own, or that they'd arrive soon, but before she knew it, quite a bit of time had passed.
12:13 PM.
When she checked the time, it had already slipped past lunch.
The car was worth billions of won, so riding in it for a long time wasn't uncomfortable, but honestly, it felt like they'd come too far.
Even the scenery outside the window now showed nothing but lush greenery, as if they'd left the area where she originally lived far behind.
It looked like they'd been on a mountain road for quite a while.
"I'm taking us somewhere nice where the two of us can spend time comfortably. And it's a place I'm sure you'll like once we arrive, Serin."
It wasn't like Eunha to be so roundabout, which made Serin wonder just where they could be going.
"So you're saying you have no intention of just telling me?"
When she asked directly, Eunha gave a faint smile and nodded.
"Yes. And we're almost there now, so you can really look forward to it."
Since she said she had no intention of telling me, I didn't ask again. Eunha wasn't the type to take me somewhere weird.
Instead, the promise that she could look forward to it made her wonder all the more where they were going.
Since Eunha was this confident, her curiosity only grew about what kind of place could warrant such talk.
"..."
She idly gazed out the window.
The densely packed greenery flaunted its uniform beauty of green, giving me a sense of freshness far removed from the world I used to live in.
2031.
In this world full of all sorts of unimaginable cutting-edge technology, this fresh scenery that felt like a forest drew her gaze all on its own.
She'd been holed up at home all this time, so seeing natural scenery like this in person stirred a strange sentiment, but it didn't feel bad.
'If it's related to a mountain, what could it be?'
Judging by the well-paved mountain road they were following, Eunha's destination was clearly somewhere in the mountains.
The first thing that came to mind with mountains was hiking.
But hiking's purpose was climbing the mountain, and since they were driving up a mountain road, that didn't seem to be it.
There were hikes that started partway up, sure. But if it were hiking, there'd be all sorts of things to prepare, and knowing Eunha's personality, she strongly felt that wasn't it.
Beep.
She pressed the button to roll down the window, and along with the crisp mountain air, the sweltering heat she hadn't felt until now hit her all at once.
The AC had been on inside the car, so she hadn't properly felt it, but it was midsummer right now.
The outside weather she confirmed by rolling down the window was midsummer heat at full force.
Feeling that anew, a thought came to mind.
'A valley?'
A place you'd find in the mountains. And in summer, it was the perfect spot to cool off or change your mood.
She felt like she'd stumbled onto the answer.
Nothing else really came to mind besides that.
But thinking about the nature of valleys, there would definitely be a lot of people. She wondered if Eunha would really choose a place like that.
Actually, even I couldn't deny that I had an appearance that drew attention, and Eunha was practically a celebrity with a well-known face.
Among Another World players, there was no one who didn't know Eunha.
So naturally, they had no choice but to avoid crowded places.
It had been that way since her first meeting with Eunha.
Renting out an entire cafe, or a department store VIP lounge with almost no people. And at the end, a reserved restaurant where any element of other people approaching was thoroughly excluded. Thinking about that, there was no way Eunha hadn't considered it.
With that thought, even a valley didn't seem like the answer.
"...Hmm."
As she wondered what it could be and stared blankly at Eunha, Eunha just gave a small smile.
......
Vrrrm.
The car, now clearly slowing down, felt as if it had arrived at its destination.
And at that moment, a wooden sign caught Serin's eye.
—Hoengseong Pleana Glamping.
"Pleana Glamping?"
Reading it aloud, Serin found all those words unfamiliar.
She figured it was probably a brand name, but she didn't know what the word "glamping" meant.
Eunha turned the wheel with a relaxed air and pulled into a spacious parking area as she spoke.
"Serin, have you ever been glamping?"
She didn't even know what glamping was, so there was no way she had experience with it. Serin naturally shook her head and asked curiously.
"No, I haven't, Eunha. What's glamping?"
"Then you can just think of it as coming to a campsite."
When Eunha answered as if resolving all her previous questions, Serin's expression finally showed understanding.
"Ah, it's a campsite?"
When she said it as if it were just an ordinary campsite, Eunha found herself looking at Serin.
From the way she spoke as if she now understood, it was obvious that this was her first time with glamping.
That fact made Eunha happy for no particular reason.
Vrrrm.
Eunha parked the car and turned her head to look at Serin.
"Yes. Though you can think of it as a campsite where everything is already set up, with no need to prepare anything."
Serin unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out into the space as the car door slowly opened.
"...Wow."
An exclamation of admiration escaped her naturally.
The vast, almost overwhelmingly wide mountain landscape spread before her eyes.
The expansive land under the blazing midsummer sun seemed to brim with boundless vitality, and the natural space densely packed with green vegetation between it all was fresh beyond words.
But the broad open space between the greenery looked strikingly different.
***
Glamping.
A word combining "glamorous," meaning flashy, and "camping," meaning outdoor lodging. Interpreted literally, it meant glamorous camping.
The precise meaning used domestically was a "luxury campsite" equipped with various convenience facilities.
Of course, the environment differed slightly from glamping site to glamping site, but it was common for them to have various convenience spaces installed throughout.
The glamping site Eunha had come to now was one of the more expensive ones, a place so luxurious that reservations were backed up for weeks.
But Eunha, who had already made a reservation related to a VIP room, was able to complete a same-day reservation far too easily.
......
When she handed a pristine white card to the staff member at the glamping facility entrance, the staff member looked at Eunha with slightly surprised eyes.
"You're the one who reserved the VIP room. Confirmed."
The facility staff member gazed at Eunha with a brief look of envy, took the card to a special device to complete the authentication process, then immediately took out a key and handed it over.
Eunha accepted the key as casually as if this were an ordinary part of her daily life.
"..."
Standing right beside Eunha, Serin found her gaze drawn to Eunha's appearance once again.
The Eunha she'd been exchanging easy, playful conversation with just moments ago now seemed to have a different air about her.
The way she presented herself to other people had a distinctive atmosphere that made you feel exactly what "upper class" meant.
Handing over a pristine white card, the staff member showing a slightly surprised reaction. And Eunha accepting even that reaction with composure—it was like watching a woman with the kind of poise you'd only see in a drama or movie.
As Serin was lost in her own thoughts, Eunha looked at her and suddenly spoke.
"Ah, would you like to hold onto the key, Serin?"
When Eunha held out the key she'd received from the staff member, Serin took it before she knew it.
Then, realizing her mistake, she tried to hand it back.
"Um, I don't know much about this place."
Seeing Serin belatedly trying to return the key, Eunha made a face like she was looking at a cute animal and lightly shook her head.
"Don't feel too burdened. It's just the key to the facility we'll be using."
At those words, Serin had no choice but to nod, key in hand.
'It'll be fine... right?'
She figured Eunha had given it to her because it didn't really matter, and when she examined the key she'd received, even the key itself looked unusual. The golden ornament attached to it had clear white lettering on it.
—VIP 2.
......
Serin followed Eunha as she slowly walked toward the reserved space.
The sights of the glamping site within the vast area kept catching her eye.
Or rather, the reality before her was so different from what Serin had imagined—rows of tents, since she'd been told it was a campsite—that she was surprised.
Inside the glamping site, luxurious pension houses lined up one after another, each looking high-end from the outside alone.
'This is a campsite...?'
Though the pension houses were spaced out at regular intervals, there weren't that many, but quite a few people could be seen.
Families relaxing comfortably, or couples that looked like lovers.
People thoroughly enjoying their leisure time.
But was it just an illusion from Eunha's atmosphere earlier that even those people seemed to exude an air of affluence?
"Eunha... is this some kind of special place?"
Serin, who had been looking at those people, asked with a subtle expression.
"No. It's not that special of a place."
Eunha answered as if she truly meant it.
Among the glamping sites Eunha knew, this was merely one of the closer ones. The place she really wanted to take Serin was too far away, so she hadn't been able to bring herself to go there.