Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Arrival in Dubai
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I was stroking Snowy as she rolled around on the bed, then buried my face in her plush tummy.
"So soft. You smell just like me, Snowy."
"That tickles."
"Puhuhu."
I still had no idea what Snowy really was, but she felt like a sudden gift from the heavens.
A pure white snowflake, bringing joy like the first snowfall of the year.
"Snowy, thank you."
"I'm hungry."
"...Uh."
[Ding!] Snowy shattered my swelling emotions in an instant. If the viewers had seen it, they would've said the pet matches the owner.
Just then, as I was feeding Snowy.
—Knock, knock.
"Yes. Come in."
I headed to the entrance with the sofa at the sound of the knock, and three men came bustling in.
"Hello. I'm Esteban, the captain of this flight."
"I'm the co-pilot, Sulaiman."
A Latin-looking captain and what seemed like an Arab co-pilot. Plus the one man who'd been assigned as my attendant earlier.
The co-pilot's Korean sounded a bit awkward compared to the captain's.
"Yes, hello."
"Pleased to meet you, miss."
'...Damn, what the hell did they introduce me as? Why does "miss" keep popping up?'
I forced my twisted expression back to normal. While I struggled with my face, the man who'd introduced himself as the captain started rattling on smoothly.
"Our flight will cover 6,700 kilometers, with an estimated arrival in about 10 hours, at 5 p.m."
"Wow, that's far. But 5 p.m.?"
Grandpa Kamarr had definitely said it was a noon flight.
"Yes, there's a 5-hour time difference between Korea and Dubai."
"Oh, right, time zones. Thanks."
The captain's explanations continued nonstop.
"Thank you again for flying with us in Black Diamond Class. We hope you enjoy your trip."
"Yes, thanks for the info."
The two who had explained left, but the one man I'd thought would go with them stayed standing.
"It's lunchtime now. Shall I prepare a meal?"
"Yes, what do you have?"
At my question, the man handed over an elegant menu framed in gold.
"We can prepare anything on here."
"Oh..."
I'd never dreamed of sleeping in a bed on a plane, and now here I was picking food from a menu. It felt surreal.
"Then I'll have this, please."
I chose rib steak. There was everything from ramen to fancy dishes, but rib steak was the only meat that looked familiar.
"Yes. And for wine?"
"Wine? Hmm..."
I'd only ever had one glass of wine in my life. That one Grandpa Kamarr gave me today.
"Uh... Do you have Château Latour?"
"Yes, we do."
I'd just thrown out the only wine name I knew, and they had it. Guess the one Grandpa prepared was pretty famous.
"Yes, then the 1982 vintage, please."
"..."
He froze at my words. I thought maybe I'd messed up and he'd laugh, but his face turned pale, so that wasn't it.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. We don't have that."
He apologized excessively.
"No, no, it's fine. That was the only wine I know, so I just said it. Anything's good."
"I'll prepare it right away."
True to his word, minutes later he brought the steak and a glass of wine, then left the room.
He'd explained it was an ultra-rare vintage, hard to even see at auctions unless it was private stock.
"Snowy, let's eat together. Come here."
Snowy came running with a golden cockscomb flower in her mouth. I picked her up, set her on the table, and we started eating.
One bite of meat, and rich juices overflowed in my mouth.
"This is so good. All the beef I'd had before must've been crappy."
"Tasty."
"Eat up."
Snowy diligently dipped her petals in the steak sauce.
As we ate, I recalled that weird thing from earlier.
"Snowy, when I said that wine name earlier, some strange building popped into my head?"
"Dunno."
"Hmm... Feels like a skill, but I don't know."
After finishing with Snowy, I showered.
"Snowy, if you climb on my head while I wash my hair, I'll have to shampoo twice, okay?"
"Yay."
Watched a movie with Snowy.
"The protagonist's friend was kinda there, then dies."
—Squish, squish.
Snowy, who'd been intently watching like no spoilers allowed, poked my cheek with her tiny paws.
"Puhuhu."
Had snacks with Snowy.
"Snowy, try this dried banana."
—Crunch, crunch.
"Tasty?"
"Tasty."
Fell asleep with Snowy.
"...Sno...wy... Don't sleep on my face."
"...Hung...ry."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Miss."
"—"
"Miss, we're almost there."
"Ue?"
"Miss, it's the butler. We'll arrive in Dubai soon."
"Oh, already?"
"Yes, 10 p.m. Korea time."
"Right, right. What should I do?"
"Just wait."
"Ah..."
Still dazed, I mumbled back Grandpa Kamarr's words, and he replied with a chuckle.
Probably that one glass of wine had hit me, and I'd slept deeply.
"Snowy. We have to get off soon."
After playing all day for the first time in ages, she must be tired. She wasn't getting up on her own, just wiggling her front paws with her white belly up.
"What rabbit lies there sleeping like a person."
I waited a bit, then Grandpa Kamarr said he had to deplane first, so we needed to go early.
"Snowy."
She showed no sign of getting up, so I picked her up and followed Grandpa out of the plane.
As we walked the long jet bridge, the faint sounds grew louder.
"Whoa, it's foreign."
"Heh heh."
The noisy airport interior was huge, bigger than expected.
"Ooh."
"Lots of people."
"Awake now?"
"Yeah."
The noise must've woken Snowy; she scurried up to my head.
"Grandpa Kamarr, can we look around the airport a bit?"
"Of course."
So Snowy and I wandered, spotting a fruit juice stand.
"Uh, what was it again?"
As I approached to greet them, my head went black. Not a single word of the greeting the chairman taught me remained.
"Peace be upon you."
"Huh? Yes. Peace be upon you."
"Thank you for returning the greeting of God's will. Are you a tourist? Your Arabic is incredibly fluent."
"Yes, tourist."
My native tongue flowed in my mind, but after some invisible filter, weird words came out.
My head felt all twisted up.
"Dizzy."
"What does that mean?"
"Oh, sorry. I mumbled without thinking. One orange juice, please? What would you like, Grandpa?"
"Apple for me."
I'd thought Grandpa wouldn't eat, but he picked a drink to match me without hesitation.
"Whew—"
Steadying my breath, the disconnect between inside and out faded. As always, the skill was a skill for a reason—super effective. After just a few exchanges, it felt natural.
"Grandpa, here."
"Thank you, miss. Your Arabic is remarkably fluent. No trace of a foreigner—quite surprising."
"Is it?"
No words, so I brushed it off, but Grandpa, wise with age, sensed my discomfort and didn't pry.
"I'll help with payment."
"Miss, let me."
"No. Finally, time to use it."
I dramatically pulled out my Master Card.
The card I'd kept despite the fee, obsessed with cheap overseas payments for games.
"Pay... with this!! Please."
Sensing my resolve, the merchant's eyes changed as he carefully took the card.
"I'll make sure it goes through."
"Please..."
"Trust me."
We exchanged nonsense and finished paying.
"This is so good. Want some, Snowy?"
Sipping the drink, I poured a bit in my palm. Snowy slid down my wrist and lapped it with her tiny, barely visible tongue.
"Tasty."
"Right? Tastes better in a warm country."
Chatting and buying drinks abroad, it finally felt real—I was in Dubai.
"Grandpa, let's look around a bit more."
"Yes, miss. Plenty of time."
I explored the glamorously decorated Dubai airport.
"Miss, for easy phone use abroad, get a time-limited SIM."
"Really?"
Lots of surprisingly novel things. Wandering more, I spotted a crowd buzzing around somewhere.
"Grandpa, why are so many people there?"
"Not sure. Shall I check?"
"No, let's go see while sightseeing."
Approaching the crowd, one guy was yelling into a mic.
"A bit more! Only 10 seconds left!"
Next to the shouting host, a muscular man had his hand stuck somewhere.
Closer up, he was reaching into a round hole in a large acrylic box, pulling out something inside.
"Looks like the Gold Bar Challenge that's popular in Dubai lately."
"What's that?"
"They drill holes in a clear acrylic box, put gold bars inside. Shove your hand in and pull one out, it's yours. Simple game."
"Ooh... Dubai, alright. Just handing out gold."
Seizing the moment, I pulled out my mount and slotted my phone.
🔴 LIVE STREAM STARTED — Viewer [Ga-eul!!!] — LeaderFan Leader-nyeon!!!!!! Why show up now — MissYou Missed you so much I thought I'd die "Missed you guys too. Hey, kids, this is Dubai Airport?"
— Viewer [Oh really went lol] — SuccessKid Our leader's made it big, hitting Dubai lol "Guys, check that out. Gold bars in a drum—if you pull one out, it's yours? Dubai's wild, right?"
I didn't catch if it was real gold or fake toys, but I spiced it up for the viewers.
— Viewer [Not Dubai wild, you can't pull it out lololol] — PureSoul How innocent is our leader? Gotta protect her... Grandpa Kamarr, who'd been listening, spoke up.
"Miss, those gold bars are super heavy, designed to be hard to pull out."
"That heavy?"
— Viewer [No way?] — Skeptic [Lol look at that muscle guy struggling, they'd give it free?] Made sense on second thought. I'd been too caught up in the oil money image.
"The gentleman who just spoke is Grandpa Kamarr, the butler I mentioned last time. Say hi, everyone. Okay if he appears on stream, Grandpa?"
"Yes, fine."
I turned the phone toward Grandpa Kamarr.
— Viewer [Whoa cool beard] — Fan Butler hi — Shorty Butler "Heh heh, hello. I'm Kamarr, currently attending the miss."
— LOL He said miss, insane lol ⭐ Top Comment — GrowthWatch Leader... leaving us behind to level up like this — BeardLover Beard is legit cool "Miss, want to try it for fun?"
"How much do they give if you succeed?"
Grandpa Kamarr glanced at the sign by the host and spoke.
"Miss, it's a 20KG gold bar. Pull it out, and it's yours."
"What? Why'd I leave my gold bar here?"
— LOLMax Leader lololol bite it is it real?