[What's life anyway, you just live as you live]
[What's life anyway, you just live as you live]
After having a drink with Hyungsik, I decided to go in a bit early today to visit Hyungsik's father in the hospital.
"Ah, Baek-ri-ssi. I need to visit someone in the hospital today, so I have to leave a bit early. Is that okay?"
"Visiting someone in the hospital?"
"Yeah, the father of a friend who's treated me like family for a long time has been hospitalized with Liver Cancer. I heard the news yesterday, so I'm going to pay a visit."
"Oh my, then you have to go. Don't worry about the shop and go. I even watched the shop when you went on your honeymoon, can't I handle it for just one day?"
"You bastard, thanks. Let's grab a meal sometime."
"Chicken again?"
"No, beef."
"Leave it to me, Hyung-nim. Loyalty, loyalty!"
"I was in the 27th Division, so my salute phrase was I-Gija!"
"Whoa, I heard different units have different salute phrases, but I didn't know I-Gija was one."
"It'd be nice if they just unified it, but they're doing useless stuff in weird places."
"That's the military for you."
"You've become a real veteran, you bastard."
"I've always been a veteran?! I'm a 1st-year Reserve Forces just like you, Hyung!"
I watched the shop until the morning, then prepared to go to the hospital in the afternoon.
I needed a gift, so I went with fruit. I went to the department store, and the fruit baskets packaged for gifts were 100,000 won.
I wasn't short on money anyway, so I bought that. Carrying a fruit gift set that filled a basket about the size of an adult man's torso, I took a taxi to the hospital where Hyungsik's father was admitted.
The fruit basket was big, so it would've been hard to take the bus or subway, so I caught a taxi. It wasn't that far, so I arrived quickly.
I had told them to switch to a single-occupancy room, but I didn't know which room it was, so I called Hyungsik first. He's returning to base the day after tomorrow, so he'd be either at the hospital or at home.
"Oh, hey. It's me. Did you switch the room for the old man?"
[Ah, just switched it. I'm at the hospital right now.]
"That's good. I'm here for a visit. Tell me the room number."
[Really? Come to room 1106 on the 11th floor.]
I can feel that hospitals have good facilities these days. Even though it's the hospital basement, there's a restaurant area like a department store, so people visiting can grab a meal.
I hadn't been to a hospital recently, so I didn't know things had changed like this. If it's a minor illness, I don't catch it, and if it's a major illness, it would mean getting a limb cut off or getting stabbed, but I don't do things that would cause those kinds of wounds.
I took the elevator up to the room Hyungsik mentioned. The distinct smell of hospital disinfectant hits me.
Arriving on the 11th floor, as the doors opened, a hallway that looked a bit more decorated than other wards caught my eye. Maybe because single-occupancy rooms are for guests who get treated well, it was clean and nice.
"6... 6... Ah, here it is."
I walked down the hall and went inside. Seeing the familiar name on the nameplate next to the door confirmed I was in the right place. Opening the door and entering, Hyungsik's father was lying on the bed, and Hyungsik was sitting in a chair next to him.
"Oh my, has our second son arrived!"
"You're saying that again. My birthday is earlier, so why am I the second?"
"Still, it's a bit much to call you the first when your own son is right there, isn't it?"
Hyungsik's father, who welcomed me with a kind smile, looked bright despite lying on the hospital bed. The moment I saw him, I grasped his physical condition to some extent, but it was an illness that could be cured with surgery, just as Hyungsik said. Of course, he'd have to manage his health.
"Ahjussi, I bought some fruit, eat it later."
"No, why did you buy all this without coming empty-handed? It looks expensive. Are you wasting money for no reason?"
"I have a lot of money now. So don't worry about surgery costs or anything like that."
I put the fruit gift set on the table next to us for a moment and pulled up another chair to sit in front of the bed. Seeing him look a bit thinner than I remembered, I thought illness is truly scary.
"I heard from Hyungsik. You paid for all the hospital bills, right? And you got married too."
"Yes."
"You rascal. If you got married, you should've at least made a phone call. You didn't even tell me, so Ahjussi is upset."
"I didn't even hold a wedding ceremony. We just submitted the paperwork, so I didn't send out invitations. I was busy with married life and starting the business, so I couldn't contact you."
"Are you doing well?"
"Yes, I'm making good money and everything is great."
"Then that's enough. I was more worried about you than Hyungsik, so I'm relieved to hear you're doing well."
"Ah, Dad!"
"You have me and your mom, but this kid has no one to lean on, right?"
I took an apple out of the fruit gift set and peeled it. Since it was a single-occupancy room, basic living supplies were provided, so there were plates and a paring knife. It wasn't from a cold place, so the apple was a bit lukewarm, but it was quite sweet and delicious.
"Can you come with the person you married later? I want to see her face once."
"Of course I should visit. I'll come with my wife next time."
It's not strange to introduce my wife to people like parents, but even though Sion is older than me, her appearance looks much younger, so if I don't tell them beforehand, I'll be treated like a pervert.
Even as a Reincarnator, and according to this country's family register, she is older than me.
After talking for a while, when the nurse came in to change the IV drip, I stepped out of the room with Hyungsik for a moment. Neither Hyungsik nor I smoke, so we talked in the hospital hallway for a bit.
"When is the surgery date?"
"The second Tuesday of next month. That's when I'm on my final leave."
"Won't the unit say anything? If it's a transplant surgery, you have to get cut open too."
"Usually, our unit has a maximum leave of 15 days. If I'm out for a month, I have to go back to the unit once, but they said I don't have to come back as a special exception. I didn't even do the discharge report, so once I'm on leave, it's basically the same as being discharged."
"They seem to have made some accommodations."
Back in the day, during the New Flu or MERS, there was a story that Sergeants on their final leave before discharge were just discharged without returning to the unit. It's better to just process the discharge than to have someone who had transplant surgery return to the unit and have an accident, because that's their loss.
"Did you pay for the hospital bills and everything?"
"Paid it right away. The single-occupancy room cost and surgery fees and everything came out to nearly 100 million won..."
"Don't worry about it. Did you forget that my wife put in 1 billion won last time? Use the remaining money for living expenses and buy everything that's good for Ahjussi's body. Ah, tell him to quit smoking."
"Got it. Even if I have to throw away every cigarette in the house, I'll make him quit."
"Tell him to drink only a little alcohol. And make sure he takes vitamins."
"Aren't you more of a son to our family than I am?"
"That's why Ahjussi calls me the second son."
Actually, Hyungsik's father once quietly asked me about adoption. But I refused.
I don't even know what my own life holds a step ahead, so I refused because I didn't know what kind of harm I might cause. Even without Sion, when a person gets angry to the point of boiling over, they lose sight of everything. If a rude customer at the convenience store says something disrespectful about my parents, I'd have to destroy them.
"Hey, little brother, go buy some drinks."
"This bastard is trying to act like a Hyung just because he calls me the second son. You know my birthday is earlier, right?"
"It's only a one-month difference!"
"Even twins have a hierarchy based on a 1-minute difference, let alone a month, so there's nothing to discuss."
"You bastard, you never lose an argument."
The biggest problem was solved, so I felt relieved. In a materialistic world, money solves most things. That's why it's comfortable sometimes, and sometimes it's shitty.
But for this time, it was good.
"I'm going now. I'll come with my wife next time."
"Yeah, you have to show your wife's face."
"Ah, I told you to call her Hyung-su-nim!"
"Je-su-ssi!"
"Hyung-su-nim!"
We fought over the title for a while.
A passing nurse told us to be quiet.
After helping close up the shop and coming home, Sion came out to greet me. We ate dinner together while talking about Hyungsik's situation.
"Since they said he'll be fine after surgery, you don't need to worry."
"If he's that kind of person, I will visit the hospital with you next time."
"I can already see the look you'll give me, like I'm a pervert."
"Then should I go in Growth Form?"
"Don't do that unless you're making an alibi. I don't care about myself, but you have to hide the fact that you're an alien."
In this world with Force Users, the difference in impact between me being super strong and Sion being an alien is huge.
Being strong doesn't deviate from the framework of a Force User, but being a different species might not be accepted by humanity.
"There has never been a humanity that dislikes a loli beautiful alien."
"Don't talk as if all humans are lolicons and perverts."
"Don't you like it too?"
"I have a preference for flat chests, not lolis."
"You know that making excuses is a sin, Doctor!"
"If you had given me more time and budget... Ah, that's not it."
To be honest, my type isn't Sion. It's just that Sion changes her appearance so well, but my real type is a woman with three attributes: blonde, flat chest, and an eyepatch.
If I told Sion, she would change her appearance immediately, but I don't think it's right to do that out of my own greed.
Suddenly, I noticed Sion had an even more expressionless face than usual.
".......Why are you pouting?"
"We've been together for thousands of years, and I'm sulking that your type is still not me."
"Of course my wife is the best."
"What if a blonde, flat-chested, eyepatch beauty seduces you?"
"Of course it's my wife, damn it."
"I'll give you a passing grade for answering without hesitation."
I have a wife who can transform into any beautiful girl right now, so what's a blonde, flat-chested, eyepatch beauty to me!
Even though I responded well, Sion's sulking didn't go away. Her expression, which only I could read, still looked pouty.
"Are you angry?"
"I am not angry."
"You're totally angry."
After finishing dinner, we cleaned up the table, and I hugged Sion from behind and lifted her up. She has a small frame and doesn't weigh much, so it feels like she's barely there.
We sat together on the sofa in front of the TV and I sat her on my lap. As I lightly kneaded her shoulders, I felt Sion's body relax little by little.
"Are we doing it today?"
"We are not."
"What, are you still sulking?"
"Didn't you say you'd sleep in separate rooms until I spent all the money you sent last time?"
"That's just an excuse. You're actually sulking about earlier, right?"
"I will exercise my right to remain silent."
"I don't think an alien should be citing Earth laws."
"I am a citizen of the Republic of Korea on the family register."
"With a family register registered by hacking?"
I hugged her from behind and smelled her hair. It's the same shampoo we use at home, but strangely, I thought it smelled even more fragrant.
"We are not doing it today."
"Huh?"
Sion's hair became shorter. It was long hair that originally reached her shoulder blades, but it changed into a bob cut that barely reached her shoulders.
I had a hunch, so I put my hand between Sion's legs.
There was something that shouldn't be there for a woman; it was small like a child's for a man, but it was bulging and definitely had a presence.
"Why are you suddenly in Shota Form?"
"I said we are not doing it."
Sion is an alien. Furthermore, she is a species of energy form where gender has no meaning. Taking a female form is entirely for her own convenience as a female, and if she wants to change it, she can change her gender.
If she was a young girl 5 minutes ago, now she is a boy.
However, there was almost no change in appearance. In the first place, even for humans, it's hard to distinguish between boys and girls when they are young. It only changes when puberty hits. For example, many Western child actors are delicate and have pretty lines, but undergo drastic changes when puberty hits.
The soft flesh also gained a little muscle, and the breasts that had swelled up also became flat.
"Well, unless I'm homosexual, doing it in this state would be impossible."
"I won."
"But I'm bisexual."
"Ah."
If there are a few things I've lost as a Reincarnator, one of them is sexual identity.
You didn't think I'd only reincarnate as a man for my whole life, did you? Of course, I've reincarnated as a woman too.
At first, I tried to maintain my mentality as a man, but after reincarnating several times, gender had no meaning.
If you like it, you like it; what's the big deal about being heterosexual or homosexual?
"I, I am a man right now."
"Possible."
"I don't even have breasts."
"Fucking possible!"
"I only have a butt hole!"
"Fucking! Possible!!"
"Uwaaaaah!!!"
I hugged Sion and rubbed against her, but at some point, she returned to being a woman. The soft sensation of her breasts proved it.
"Ah......"
"Why are you making an expression of regret?"
"I thought it would have been fine if I tried it once when you were a man."
"Can't you do it with your butt when you're a woman anyway?"
"Doing it when you're a woman and doing it when you're a man are very different. Just like how the most masculine act a man can do is cross-dressing."
"Why is cross-dressing a masculine act?"
"Because women can't cross-dress."
"You pervert... but I liked it too."
Sion watched TV, and I took out my phone to run the auto-battle of the mobile game I was playing for a while. These days, games just put in too many gacha elements, but there are no other games worth playing.
"Don't you have plenty of money to roll the gacha? You can dump a building into the gacha."
"I don't spend money on gacha even if I spend money on playing. I'd rather go to a casino; if I spend as much money as a building on gacha, I won't be able to sleep at night."
I have no choice but to play for free as much as I can. The game I play is a game that you can enjoy to some extent if you just put in time even if you play for free, so it's better than that. It just takes time to nurture, but you can get all the characters themselves as long as they aren't originally paid characters.
"I liked the old games. I liked playing normal mobile RPG games the best. Like the Hero's Record series."
"Ah, that's a masterpiece."
"If they optimized the whole series for smartphones and re-released it, I'd be willing to buy it even if it's 10,000 won per episode."
"There's nothing that can be done with the heart of one consumer."
"True, they buried the series in a coffin after going online. I don't not understand wanting to make money, but if they paid as much attention to the work, more people would flock to it."
If we're talking about name-value mobile games, there's Fate/Grand Order. The game quality itself isn't that great, but it's a game that contributed greatly to reviving the Fate fandom.
So when is the Tsukihime remake coming out (resignation)?
"Do you want to play Hero's Record again?"
"Ah...... can you optimize it?"
"It is possible. But wouldn't it be better to play the next series?"
"Huh?"
How many games did I play back in the day that were fun? Even if it's not specifically an RPG game, if you ask me to pick games that were fun among puzzle, comic, horror, and arcade types, I could talk about it all day.
Among them, the RPG game that is my type....... The masterpiece games that remain in my head even now after repeated reincarnations are not easily forgotten.
Games that you could enjoy sufficiently because there were no gacha-like things even if there were paid items. I have memories of feeling like I was flying that day if a rare item popped up while hunting.
"Understood. Then I will prepare it."
"What?"
"Making a mobile game company is easy."
Sion smiled with a look that said I could look forward to it.