A Day Off, a Bowl of Jjajangmyeon
It seems I've realized something rather important. So then, what should I do now...
"Perhaps it would be best to do it next time."
Setting aside the fact that I, too, am a person who needs rest every now and then, listening to the whole thing without an audience would simply make for a dull time.
Perhaps this time it won't be a fanaticism but a revolution.
"Grant the viewers their rights...! — or so I might say."
I have no idea why one would need human rights while watching a broadcast, but... I must be tired.
As I lay in bed staring blankly at the ceiling, a hologram floated into view, asking whether I would like to skip.
"No."
If one is to rest, one should rest outside, no? If I pressed skip right now...
"Something terrible would likely happen again."
This Abyss truly refuses to grant me any time to rest. Well, that is precisely why I rest separately.
"This time, I should venture out into the city."
It had been a while — I could buy some food and eat out, seeing the sights I'd longed for.
When I exited the game and stepped out of the device, the crisp air greeted me.
"It seems it was a bit warm in there."
The outside air felt pleasantly cool against my skin. It needed ventilation, to be sure.
It was around eleven in the evening — a touch early for bed, but today alone, I decided to sleep early.
I closed my eyes and slowly let my consciousness sink beneath the surface... and the moment I opened them, morning had already come.
"How strange not to need breathing exercises — I feel as though time simply pools in my hands now."
It was around five o'clock. I had slept quite a long while. That day, when I'd stayed up all night keeping company with the spiders, was the first time I'd slept in since coming here. It was the first — and only — day I ever skipped my morning circulation training. As I slowly loosened my body, purging the wastes that had accumulated and stimulating my trained flesh so it would not rust, thoughts of Murim drifted through my mind.
And yet, come to think of it, time had been abundant in Murim as well. Thinking back now, those days were spent simply savoring the peace, hoping nothing dangerous would come to pass.
Wars between the orthodox and unorthodox sects, necromancers raising corpses of the faithful, the resurrection of ancient yao-guai, the Heavenly Demon. With none of those things, how beautiful the world appeared.
"But now that I've come to this modern age..."
Need it only be information gathering and self-discipline, as it has been until now? Could I not enjoy the fruits of advanced industry as well? Such thoughts crept over my body. But one preparation was needed for that.
Riiing riiing— Riiing riiing—
Had I called too early? ...She isn't picking up.
"Teach...?"
Goodness. A voice steeped in sleep.
"I seem to have woken you. My apologies."
"Ah, no... it's fine..."
Your voice sounds nothing like fine... Well, she claims she's fine, so.
"I called to ask whether you were free tomorrow. Is that all right?"
"Huh...? Huh? Yes! Yes! It's fime! F-, it's fine!"
Fine — just whose dialect is that supposed to be...? Woken mid-sleep, her wits clearly not about her yet. Better to call back later.
"Mm... I shall call again later. Sleep more."
"Huh? Teach! Teach—!"
It seems I've broken something again... She'll be fine once she sleeps it off, won't she?
"I'll call around ten o'clock."
I hung up and decided to watch the recording of Aso's broadcast — the one I'd missed because of my own.
"Emerald Chase?"
Hardly a Diamond Chase, whatever it is — a peculiar title. Mm... it appears to be an ordinary business simulation game.
"But knowing Aso, what will it become?"
The woman who turns a serious RPG into farce, a horror game into a heart-pounding comedy, and business management into a gag as well... Ah. It'll end up a comedy in the end regardless.
After watching roughly four hours of the broadcast, the recording ended, and the appointed time arrived.
"It is time, then."
Riiing riiing— Riiing riiing—
Beyond the meaningless, monotonous ringtone, Aso's urgent voice came through.
"You called, ma'am!"
A voice as though she'd been waiting for something with her whole heart on the line. Even her tongue had tripped. I can guess what she was waiting for... but with a voice so steeped in sleep and exhaustion, where exactly does she intend to go?
"When did you wake up?"
"Uh... an hour ago...?"
She's lying. Judging by that voice — that otherworldly, as-if-she-lives-alone voice — she hasn't slept at all since then. The foolish thing...
"Haah... Had I known it would come to this, I would never have placed that call."
"What?! You can't do that!"
But her protest far exceeds anything I imagined. As though she'd burst into tears on the spot if I didn't take her... like a child.
"Very well. You win."
"Yes! So where should we go?"
Was that not the very reason I contacted you?
"Pick a suitable restaurant from among the good places you know and send me the address. Ah — and bring your streaming equipment."
"Streaming... okay..."
Whatever thoughts were running through her head, her voice had gone utterly deflated.
"Then let us meet around one o'clock."
Mm...
I distinctly told her to pick a reasonably good restaurant.
"So it's... a Chinese restaurant."
Why, of all things, a Chinese eatery?
"Y-you said to pick from the good restaurants I knew! But I don't really know that many..."
"Is that so..."
Yes — perhaps expecting anything of you was my mistake. It would have been better to trust the internet...
"No help for it. Then, I shall have one jajangmyeon and one jjampong."
"You eat that much?!"
"This body eats much, as bodies go. Ah — sweet and sour pork goes without saying, I trust?"
"Tangsuyuk's the best. Their jjampong here is amazing, that's why. So I'll have the seafood jjampong."
When seafood jjampong is jjampong in its entirety, why insist on calling it seafood jjampong?
"You did get permission to stream, I trust?"
"Of course. I filmed a mukbang here once before."
A mukbang, too... surely even she didn't turn eating into a gag.
"Miss! One jajangmyeon, two seafood jjampong, and a small tangsuyuk!"
"Make it large."
"Got it! One large!"
Aso turned on her stream and began filming her intro as she always did. Her viewers gathered at quite a clip, and she soon started her greeting.
"Hiiya! Today we have a guest with us."
"Greetings, all. As for myself, I would be hard-pressed to say I am well."
Certain individuals caused quite an uproar yesterday, after all.
"What happened to you?"
Perhaps you ought to mind the chat in chaos before asking after me.
One might get knifed walking down the street like that. And by Aso, no less — you, I mean.
Our? I have never belonged to anyone, I'll have you know. And a date, of all things?
"Yesterday there were, shall we say, individuals who crossed certain lines. And a date — hardly. I wished to enjoy some leisure time, but knew of no places to go, and scarcely any people either. So I called upon Aso."
"Ah..."
"Why ask something so obvious? Obviously you dip it. Right, Teach?"
"I smash it in and eat it all together."
What's with this pouring-versus-dipping debate anyway.
"I... see..."
"Ah, the food has arrived."
Glossy jajangmyeon glistening with sheen, jjampong piled high with seafood, and crisp tangsuyuk with its sauce served on the side.
I'd been disappointed at it being a mere Chinese restaurant, but seeing this spread, perhaps it was a good choice after all. At the very least, it was not the sort of dish dripping head to toe in oil, one that would fill the entire body with grease.
"Now I see why they emphasize the seafood so."
The seafood is plump, and there's so much of it.
"Right?"
One word of approval, and her pride threatens to pierce the ceiling.
"My thanks."
Taking the chopsticks Aso handed me, I stirred the jajangmyeon until evenly coated and took a bite.
A measured sweetness, the salted savor of chunjang black bean paste, and a sauce rich with the umami of vegetable stock and seasonings — the thickened starch clinging to it all, coating the noodles until they're swept along with every slurp.
"This is... genuinely delicious..."
"I told you it's a great place!"
Yes — I was wrong. I distinctly remember eating jajangmyeon back in Murim as well. And yet, the taste is entirely different. Truly delicious.
"But this place is famous for its jjampong."
Hearing that only now, it truly strikes home.
"This body eats much, as bodies go. It's simply how it is."
"Cross the line and it's a ban."
Taking a bite of the jjampong as well, I find a deep, rich broth carrying the heat of chili flakes, the aroma of seafood — not the least bit fishy — lingering to fill the mouth.
"This too is delicious."
"It's a jjampong place, I told you!"
"But I find I prefer the jajangmyeon."
"Eck."
A sauce crisp and sweet with a whisper of tartness threading through it — dipping the tangsuyuk, ladling sauce over the pork, even pouring it over and eating it that way — and at last, the meal drew to its close.
"You really do eat so much..."
"If one is eating anyway, is it not best to eat well?"
It truly was delicious, after all.
"Now then, let me tell you the reason I borrowed Aso's broadcast to appear here today."
"Eck..."
"I've no wish to sour the mood needlessly, so I shall keep it brief. I dislike fanatics. To a degree beyond all explanation."
"I understand that one or two might exist as a bit of a concept, a bit of fun. But I would ask that they not stand out so conspicuously. Yes — change the concept, if you would."
I could tell it had been done, in its way, for the sake of amusement. But if it brings harm to one side, then it is no longer amusement at all.
"Well then — where shall we go next?"
When I spoke to her, Aso — sullen-faced for some reason — turned back to me with a look brimming over with question marks.
"Huh? It wasn't over?"
Over? Don't tell me she thought I'd merely used her for an announcement...
How many times must I tell her — do not make me out to be a villain?
"Did I not say today was a day for leisure?"
"Waa...!"
Her smile stretches practically from ear to ear.