In the dark room, a small light was seeping out.
Yoon-seul was lying on her bed, checking the main page news articles from various media outlets on her phone.
Her finger, scrolling across the screen, held no strength at all.
Yoon-seul merely stared at the rapidly passing screen with a bland expression.
News that France and England had joined civil war efforts in Africa, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties, news about a Korean politician involved in a 5 trillion won stock manipulation scandal, and news that the global economy was wobbling due to a chain of bank failures in the United States.
All significant incidents, none left out.
She didn’t bother to turn her eyes to the world; there were enough problems just in Korea.
When sorted by popularity, the last article she found was about an intruder who unlawfully entered a Dogok-dong apartment.
No one was killed, there was no fire in the apartment, and there were no casualties; the culprit was quickly caught.
Good news can’t become news; bad news is news.
Ten comments cursing the mentally ill, two wishing for the victim’s safety.
This was reality.
Unable to find the words to explain the surge of emotions bubbling inside her, Yoon-seul pulled the blanket over her head.
“Are you already going to bed? It’s only 9 o’clock?”
Ding—
Na-me entered the room and switched on the light.
In an instant, the room brightened, Yoon-seul poked her head out of the blanket and rubbed her eyes.
“Na-meee…!”
Yoon-seul jumped up and rushed into Na-me, who was still dressed to go out.
Nothing worked better than this when she was feeling down.
“Of course, it’s only you, Na-me. What did you bring from the convenience store? Something delicious?”
“Jerky, dried fish, grape juice… Can you back off a little, unnie?”
Na-me pushed away Yoon-seul’s cheek that was getting too close.
“Wow, all the food names have ‘po’ in them? Was that intentional?”
“Not really… I didn’t know that even non-alcoholic beer was banned for minors.”
Na-me shared her story about being denied beer at the counter.
“I never thought I’d violate the Children’s Dietary Security Management Act.”
“Eh, Na-me, you’re still too young. You’ll have to wait until you grow up to drink like unnie!”
“But you’re a minor too. Here you go.”
While Na-me changed her clothes, Yoon-seul unwrapped the packaging and laid it neatly on the floor.
Suddenly stopping in the middle of taking off her clothes, Na-me gestured to Yoon-seul.
“Unnie, turn around.”
“Eh? Are you shy? We’re both girls, what’s the big deal?”
“Considering how you’re staring, it’s rude to the room’s owner… not that it’s entirely my room, anyway.”
“Got it! I’ll turn around.”
The two girls in their pajamas sat across from each other with snacks in the middle.
Yoon-seul tore off a piece of dried fish and handed it to Na-me.
“No, not with your hands. Use your mouth.”
“Wow, you sure have a lot of demands.”
A piece of dried fish, then a piece of jerky.
Yoon-seul burst into laughter watching Na-me munch on her snacks.
“Look at you, missing a tooth in front! Isn’t that adorable?”
She had two baby teeth still growing below, and another one missing above, making Na-me’s mouth look a little vacant.
Frowning, Na-me shoved a piece of dried fish into Yoon-seul’s mouth.
“Mmm! It’s because Na-me is cute that I’m saying this, heh. It’s not weird at all!”
Yoon-seul just found Na-me fascinating.
She wasn’t unaware of everything Na-me had accomplished or how incredible it was.
In the League of Legends tournaments, she had continuously set the record for the best performance, and in Wagal, she was a key figure.
And what about Story Mode? She had outperformed everyone claiming to be the best in the world!
Especially Na-me’s swordsmanship and high-level magic remained vividly in her mind.
Recently, for some reason, she even proved multiple difficult math problems, stirring up a frenzy in Korea.
While Na-me was quietly enjoying her snacks, she finished and remarked, “You can’t tease kids. And when a person laughs, that’s not how they do it.”
“Eh?”
“Right now, your mouth is smiling, but your eyes aren’t.”
Na-me pointed out with a distorted face.
“No, I’m really laughing.”
Yoon-seul smiled late, her eyes now squinting.
“Look, when someone laughs, the mouth and eyes don’t move at the same time; you’re doing both at once.”
“…”
At Na-me’s sharp observation, Yoon-seul had nothing to say.
Then Na-me suddenly jumped up and headed to the kitchen.
What she brought back was quite unexpected.
A large glass jar, sugar, a container with some mysterious grains, and even paper cups.
“What are you doing?”
“Just wait a bit.”
Ignoring Yoon-seul’s question, Na-me replied coolly.
She poured grape juice into the glass jar.
Then she tilted the sugar bag and dumped it without restraint.
Yoon-seul thought about stopping her, wondering if that was too much to add.
‘Does Na-me like things sweet?’
She poured the mysterious grains into a paper cup filled with hot water.
“What’s that?”
“Dried yeast.”
“Yeast?”
Yoon-seul blinked in confusion at the unexpectedly introduced word.
Soon, laughter danced on Na-me’s lips.
She placed the brownish hot water into the container and tightly closed the lid.
“If I make it this quickly, it won’t taste good, though.”
Na-me placed the container on the floor and drew a magic circle with one hand.
In her other hand was Professor Chun’s Light Transmutation Circle Inscriber.
[Cast: Ethanol Fermentation]
“Still, it should create a good atmosphere.”
The grape juice inside the container rippled briefly as it absorbed mana, but that was all it did.
“Hey, Na-me, won’t it be too sweet if you add so much sugar to the juice?”
“It’s fine. The more sugar, the higher the alcohol content, actually. It’s better that way.”
“Eh?”
When she opened the lid, the distinct pungent aroma of grapes spread throughout the room.
Na-me took out another clean paper cup and poured grape juice for Yoon-seul.
With a still suspicious look, Yoon-seul took a sip of the juice.
“…!”
“How is it?”
“Cough! Are you crazy…? No, this is grape wine!”
Yoon-seul protested as she felt the bubbling taste in her throat.
Even without ever drinking, she clearly recognized it as alcohol.
“I was fine with non-alcoholic beer. It’s society’s fault!”
“Stop! No, wait!”
Yoon-seul barely managed to prevent Na-me from pouring the entire container into her mouth.
No, she couldn’t stop her.
“As long as you take a sip, you’re an accomplice too. If you try to stop me, I’ll tell Professor Chun.”
Na-me’s eyes widened.
Seeing that look on Na-me’s face made Yoon-seul’s heart sink.
The whole process of turning grape juice into wine had all been in Na-me’s hands, but age was a tough opponent.
Yoon-seul even felt that maybe she was just now receiving the karma of Kariri.
*
“See? Just keep going, sippin’ it down. What’s wrong? You’re drinking just fine!”
“Hmm. Surprisingly nice? I don’t feel drunk at all!”
With Na-me’s persistent requests, Yoon-seul had no choice but to sip the liquid.
The ambiguous taste between grape juice and wine lowered her psychological resistance.
“Alcohol doesn’t hit immediately, you know? And here’s a tip for when you do drink wine, Yoon-seul unnie. It’s a paper cup now, but you should only touch one side of your mouth to the glass. Otherwise, when you eat seafood, it might coat the glass with fishy flavors. If it’s everywhere, it messes with the aroma, you know? So just one side, and you have to smell from the other side to savor the wine fully.”
Na-me raised the paper cup high, explaining.
The light glimmering off the room’s ceiling had a slightly relaxed look in her eyes.
“Uh, Na-me…?”
“To be honest, our country has too much of a taboo culture surrounding alcohol. Back where I lived before, even seven-year-olds could order drinks. I understand the reasons for regulations, but I can’t hide my gloomy feelings about it.”
“Na-me, stop! You seriously need to stop drinking now!”
She had to stop Na-me desperately not for Professor Chun’s sake but for her health.
Now, Na-me’s gaze shifted towards Yoon-seul’s phone.
“Unnie, look! I’ll show you something funny.”
Na-me launched the V-tube app with her little hands.
After a few errors in typing, deleting, and trying again, she finally succeeded in playing the video she wanted.
– The reason why Taiwan, sneering down on Korea, exploded with inferiority complex upon the emergence of a genius who shocked the world. “Throughout history, all geniuses have been Koreans! Taiwan doesn’t even reach that level.”
– The statement of a math genius that turned all of America upside down! “Your level is here.” Japan’s response was dismay!
– “I will never look down on Korea again,” begging too late, but it was already too late! The French president, who criticized the Korean education system, wrung his hands in regret, ultimately issuing a ‘public apology.’
– The world is still stuck in 2051, but Korea is living in 4051? “Korea’s math gap has widened too much.” The U.S. is in fear while China has bowed down to Korean resilience!
– The real reason why Fields Medal winners were shocked to their core! “For the past 300 years, all mathematicians have been worse than NoName. What’s the point of studying math if they’re just taking taxes?”
Titles that were hard to read at a glance rolled out in succession.
Na-me giggled as she continued to watch the video.
“Isn’t it funny? I never said anything like that!”
The first video that Na-me played had nothing related to the title from start to finish.
Yet, countless people wrote comments praising Na-me and celebrating the greatness of Korea.
“Honestly, it’s not really untrue. You are amazing…”
Yoon-seul quietly responded.
“Why do you think videos like this are popular?”
“Because it’s tough… Everyone’s struggling to get by, so I think folks want comfort and recognition through these.”
“Unnie’s right. That’s why these kinds of videos get high views. Honestly, QBS should reflect a bit. They reported it first, but what’s a 1 million view count? Just a day later, they got 150 million views already.”
Na-me stretched wide and sprawled over the blanket.
“It seems like people only live by watching what they want to see. Don’t you think, unnie?”
“Maybe…?”
“Yeah. People are wasting energy on trivial things that don’t matter. Meanwhile, no one notices where they should be focusing. Unnie, want to lie down here for a sec?”
At times like this, Na-me emanated a mysterious aura.
Each time, Yoon-seul found herself unconsciously following her words.
As Yoon-seul lay next to Na-me, she closed her eyes and spoke as if she had been waiting.
“Unnie asked earlier how I could play games before I turned seven, right?”
“Yeah.”
When Yoon-seul shifted her body slightly, their hands brushed against each other.
A child’s body temperature was slightly higher than average, making Na-me’s hand feel extremely warm to Yoon-seul.
Then Na-me clasped her hand with her small fingers.
And she continued speaking calmly.
“I was trapped in a capsule since I was born. In one capsule was one newborn, and in the neighboring capsule was a girl slightly older than you.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?”
“Just what I said.”
Na-me turned her head toward Yoon-seul.
Their faces were so close that even their breathing could be heard.
“I wished people would recognize me, just like you wish, Yoon-seul unnie. That I was here. That I was very much alive.”
In a world where living was often harder than dying, Na-me managed to survive.
And as long as she had this story to tell Yoon-seul, the night still felt long.
