A New Beginning Starts With Reality Shows
A peaceful morning.
“Hoeeeeeee....!”
Here she is. The tiny Sujin.
To someone who had lived her whole life as a hikikomori, real-world society was nothing but the enemy of survival.
“Hoeeeeeee!”
Social life simply did not exist for her.
All that remained was external life and internal life.
And the only rest she was ever allowed was internal life—home and her bed.
That was why Sujin preferred to spend most of her days at home, especially in bed, in order to survive and live.
Grumble grumble...
“........”
Here we go. She’s hungry.
The moment she had to leave the bed.
To get food, she had to abandon her safe nest.
“...Uuuu.”
Her eyes welled up with tears.
She looked so reluctant to go out.
But she had to.
If she didn’t, endless hunger would keep tormenting her.
Click.
“.......”
At last Sujin grabbed the door handle.
She pressed her ear quietly against the door and checked that no one was outside.
Once she confirmed that the coast was clear, she opened the door without a sound and stepped out into the world.
Moving toward death for the sake of life felt almost sacred.
Tap.
“Hyik?!”
Something was dangling right in front of the nest door.
A predator’s trap?
Panicked yet determined, her eyes locked onto the unidentified object.
“Ah....”
A small male figure inside a display case.
Blue-haired. A cool, handsome face that looked more like something from a manga than real life.
And
“Rihito-nim...♥”
This was Sujin’s most cherished item.
In truth, the item she cherished even more was hidden in a small cardboard box under the bed, but there was no denying that she was still a virgin and had never known men.
She had never known men, yet she knew pleasure.
Her hand moved steadily toward that pleasure.
“Huhim... huhihim....!”
Her pupils gradually dilated. Her breath grew stronger and heavier.
Excitement rose steadily.
Nothing else entered Sujin’s eyes anymore except this Rihito figure...
Grumble grumble!
“....Hiiyuueeee...!”
She hadn’t, because she had eaten nothing since yesterday’s three slices of pizza and was starving.
She would pass out before she could satisfy her mental pleasure.
Sujin was not a weak human who would ruin her own body just for mental pleasure.
Sujin was...
“Da-da-su-ya...!”
[Beep beep beep.....]
Sujin was a wise, intelligent animal that could think.
She wasn’t human.
So Sujin called for her friend.
Samdasu. Her loyal low-rank water spirit who guarded her side.
“M-my fridge, right? Bring me anything from there...!”
If Dasu, who always listened to Sujin, would still listen today.
Sujin’s earnest eyes looked straight at Dasu.
[................]
“...Dasu?”
Huh? Dasu’s behavior was off.
Instead of his usual calm, Dasu bared his teeth and thumped his tail on the floor.
“D-Dasu... why? U-um... did I do something wrong....??”
[Beep! Beep!]
Dasu was displeased.
He reached out and pressed the case of the Rihito figure.
Something was being said, but normal ears couldn’t understand it.
The conversation between them could only be understood by the two of them.
Beep. Beeep
Beep! Beep.
From the short exchange, what mystery could possibly be hidden?
“Yeah. I won’t open it first... yeah? Please...”
[.....Beep beeeeeep. Beep.]
Ah.
That was the figure-opening ceremony.
For Sujin and Dasu, opening a figure was a kind of sacred ritual.
The supreme moment of welcoming a new treasure.
Dasu, who had often been robbed of things this way, was slowly starting to suspect rationally.
Whatever. It didn’t matter anyway.
In the end Dasu went out to get food.
“...Ju-just a little. Just peeking is fine.”
A cat in front of a fish.
No, Rihito was in front of Sujin. Danger.
With her nails, Sujin carefully tore the case and pressed the figure.
A tiny gap.
Between that gap, the back view of the figure made Sujin’s blood pressure spike even higher.
“Haam... hauu, hiiuuueeee!”
Her grip grew tighter.
But she had to hold back. She had to wait until Dasu brought the food.
If she didn’t hold back, Dasu might stop listening to her.
[Beep beeeeeep.....]
“...He didn’t open it?”
In the end Dasu had returned with the food.
The figure case was slightly crumpled in places.
It looked normal from a distance, but Dasu was also a professional in this field, just like Sujin.
[Beepiiiieeee!!!]
“Au, I’m so sorryyyyyyy!!!”
In the end Sujin had angered Dasu.
After a few times of having his head bitten, Dasu finally calmed down, tore the tape with his nails, and opened the figure.
“Ho-e, hoeeeee.....!”
[Beep, beeepiii.....!”
The sight of a human and a sea otter staring at the figure with blissful eyes.
It was like the expression of a fanatic worshipping an idol.
Maybe today would end just by looking at this figure.
Of course
“It’s such a beautiful day.”
“!,...t-that voice....”
[Beep... beeepiii....!]
Before the predator, Kim Sunwoo, appeared.
“A new year has dawned, and there’s plenty of work.”
“...........”
[...........]
The two predators slowly turned their heads.
“An idol who performs such a show on a day like today.”
A situation that should never have happened.
Since the door was tightly closed, entry by a predator should have been forbidden.
But
“Even if my parents come and drag me by the hair.”
“Kyaaaaaaaak!!”
[Beepkiiiiiiieeeee!!]
The leader’s command could not be disobeyed.
As long as she wasn’t creating a new nest and living here, this kind of thing would keep happening.
“I-I don’t want to! I’ll get eaten! We’ve been working so hard for you already....!”
Sujin’s scream.
But the predator had no intention of understanding the prey’s feelings.
“Today’s date isn’t it?”
“Yeah? That’s...
...huh?”
The reason was simple.
“You gave us two weeks of vacation, and now you want us to work one more week?”
“That’s... w-we didn’t know because the phone wasn’t ringing!”
“Then what’s spinning on the desk? A calculator?”
“Hyik?! Au, th-that’s....”
Because she had done something wrong.
“Sujin-ah.”
“............”
Sunwoo said.
“It’s correct. Just go.”
“.............”
A double bind from hell.
“...Can’t I just not go and not be correct♬”
“..........”
A full-hearted plea.
Aing aing—puu☆
With both arms wrapped around, like a cat begging, Sujin’s two “breast pockets” naturally pressed together in the middle and swayed.
Normally she used them for mental and physical pleasure, but the normal use was to attract males and provide nutrition to children.
Even though she had never used the technique, Sujin was talented enough to surpass other females.
The result of that full-hearted plea...
“...........You’re playing with me right now?!”
“Kyaaak?!”
It ended in failure.
Unfortunately, Sunwoo had already been the so-called leader male who had received the plea many times before.
“Now we should go.”
“Hueeeeeeng....”
In the end, the female’s plea had no effect at all.
“...Want chocolate?”
“Hue?”
...No. Nope.
It seemed like it hadn’t completely failed to work.
“I’ll give it to you, so just go.”
“....Nyaam.”
It was hidden behind a seat, so Sujin couldn’t see it.
What an unfortunate thing.
“....Haah.”
Her lower body looked unusually uncomfortable.
Her waist was pulled back as if hiding something.
If Sujin’s eyes had caught it, she might have tried something else, but
“Drink it...♬”
For Sujin right now, the chocolate that had entered her mouth was the only valuable thing.
*****
“It’s been a while, Instructor!”
“Hello, Instructor!”
“I want to go home... Instructor.”
Three people gathered after a long time.
Normally, at the beginning of the year, they would have been pulled around everywhere.
But after performing at the venue for the first three days, they received two weeks of vacation.
Unlike last time, they had resolved not to be pushed too hard.
Thanks to that, the appearance of Nature who had returned after a long rest was, really, what could I say....
‘...Is it really atrial fibrillation?’
Same as when Sujin brought them earlier.
Things that used to feel completely normal now felt strangely stimulating.
Yeonhwa’s voluptuous style.
Harin’s fresh college-girl look.
Especially the way Sujin’s breasts squished in various shapes every time she sighed...
“....Nox?”
[It would be bad if I get caught....Can’t I?]
“No. Good job.”
The pants that had been tight suddenly felt comfortable.
She didn’t want to know what was happening under them.
I lightly cleared my throat and gathered the three around me.
“Everyone, pay attention.”
“Mission has been assigned from the CEO.”
The beginning of the year.
The new year that Nature was facing.
And as if to announce a new beginning──one entertainment program had been secured.
“Dungeon Cleaner. A reality show where low-rank awakened enter dungeons.”
“Ah. That trash they gathered?”
Yeonhwa’s comment.
It was strong, but half-right.
It was an entertainment show about low-rank awakened who either had grudges or were complete beginners, cared for by their seniors.
But last time they would bring literally brand-new awakened, now they used juniors from famous parties or low-rank awakened idol groups to show their faces.
The feeling that we, who are awakened but close to normal humans, are fulfilling our duty as awakened for humanity!
“We’re on TV, right?”
“Of course it’s TV. YouTube and other places too.”
“....Hmm!”
Harin clenched her fist tightly, looking happy about something.
The atmosphere overall didn’t look that bad.
“I-Instructor... Instructor?!”
“Why, Sujin-ah.”
Only one person.
Only Sujin raised her hand and asked.
“That means.... more... more more... dungeon?!!”
The question of whether they were going into the dungeon.
I quietly asked Sujin.
“It’s an entertainment show where you go into dungeons, so of course we’re going.”
“.............”
[................]
“O.”
I hugged the spirit and let my mind go blank.
As expected, years of accumulated experience in escaping reality.
“You will receive special treatment.”
“I don’t want to... this future is so unfair! (It’s a lie!)”
However, the future wasn’t changing soon.
By the way.
“Failure...?”
“You said it was fine, didn’t you?”
“......”
The raid of the Hero Party hadn’t even started yet.