Riding the flow, our class achieved a noticeable rise in rankings through our impressive performances in individual events.
In fact, due to the classes that were high-ranking in team events bombing out in individual events, our class, which aimed simply to avoid coming in last, remarkably secured 3rd place.
Even the teacher, who didn’t expect much, was bewildered when we climbed to 4th place.
With that, our class ended up taking 3rd place without any major surprises, resulting in an outcome that exceeded expectations.
Seeing such results, the teacher seemed surprised too, approaching the kids who performed unexpectedly well in individual events, patting their shoulders with a proud expression.
“Oh dear, you all worked hard.”
“Hey, we got 3rd place! Don’t we get anything?”
Usually, when it’s a sporting event with rankings, there are rewards appropriately on the line.
In a competition that splits rankings, there are medals for gold, silver, and bronze.
That means there’s something left over at least for 3rd place.
The teacher seemed to recall this a bit late, bringing a finger to their chin as they spoke.
“Hmm, 3rd place usually gets some money from the school, right? When should we order hamburgers?”
“Hamburgers!”
It seems there’s a prize distributed at the school level.
When the teacher mentioned hamburgers, a food that’s easy to order for delivery, the classmates cheered.
The teacher, flustered, tapped their raised index finger on their lips, telling everyone to be quiet.
“Quiet, quiet….”
It was like we had won 1st place, the cheers of class 3.
What seemed like it would end boringly, the sports day suddenly began to shine with the personalities of the classmates, making it unexpectedly enjoyable.
Thus, the sports day ended prematurely, finishing up tens of minutes earlier than scheduled.
Although the school was set to provide lunch, teachers were only urging us to eat without any real control.
However, with no other strict supervision, there weren’t many students willing to stay an extra hour for lunch.
Dressed in casual clothes, groups of friends headed out to enjoy the PC bang during a weekday afternoon.
Meanwhile, with lunch approaching, other students headed out of school with the mindset that they just didn’t want school lunch.
Having chatted and played with my PC bang buddies regularly, I was suddenly offered a suggestion.
“Hey, Mari, wanna go to the PC bang today?”
“Pass, it’s been kinda boring lately.”
Lightly refusing that offer, I chose to head home with Siyeon instead.
Though it was merely an excuse, I genuinely hadn’t found gaming enjoyable lately.
Even when I did play, it felt like a chore, like doing homework.
Not that the characters were particularly cute or the cash-to-value ratio was good.
Just that I had played a lot before, and now I couldn’t get into different games.
“Why doesn’t this guy realize that the defender got nerfed?”
What Sunhyuk said added to the feeling that the games were losing their fun.
As if keeping an eye on the gameplay, despite carrying numerous penalties, they still deemed it as “excessive performance” and suddenly reduced its strength.
Given how much love I had poured into playing that character, I realized my game access had dwindled since that nerf.
“If it gets buffed again, I’ll come back… Adios.”
With just my index and middle fingers sticking out, I waved goodbye to the group heading to the PC bang.
The school day finished early, and on a weekday, we had plenty of time.
We’d likely go to the art academy in the afternoon, so we decided to take a slightly different route.
“How about we hang out in the city?”
“Where should we go?”
“Hmm… How about Rodeo Street? It’s been a while.”
Rodeo Street, that name just reflexively spouted from my mouth.
Thinking back, I hadn’t considered going there unless it was to fight monsters.
Besides the attractions, there were street stalls and plenty of restaurants.
If I was looking for a place to fill my stomach while also having fun, it seemed the most reasonable option.
“Okay!”
Siyeon seemed satisfied with the choice, nodding in agreement.
Now that we had a place to go, I casually tossed out a question as we walked toward it.
“What should we have for lunch?”
“Um, anything?”
“Anything” has always been a troublesome answer, both then and now.
Feeling hungry yet not specifically wanting anything, I figured anything was good since we were eating out.
If someone else had said that, I might have smacked them, but I couldn’t do that to Siyeon.
‘Anything, huh…’
Maybe something like unicorn belly fried rice or sasquatch thigh roast?
Despite my disdain for the response “anything,” I realized that I too didn’t care if it was “anything.”
Still, thinking about Siyeon’s preferences, I casually mentioned, “If you see something you want on the way, just say it.”
“Okay!”
Rodeo Street—hearing that name, it evokes images of riding horses.
I wasn’t interested in why it’s called Rodeo, but generally, it’s a vibrant area lined with big buildings.
With all sorts of signs plastered across the walls of the towering structures.
From meat restaurants to mobile phone shops, hair salons, skincare clinics, pilates and cosmetics stores.
Not to mention PC bangs, billiard halls, and countless other places to mention.
Even on a weekday afternoon, many people were bustling about in every nook and cranny.
It wasn’t the weekend, so the crowd wasn’t overwhelming, but we were walking closely enough that our sneakers were nearly stepping on each other’s heels.
While I said anything, Siyeon was looking at the high signs so fast that she didn’t even see my face.
What could she possibly want to eat that made her eyes dart around so quickly?
Anyway, since I wasn’t choosing, the selection duty naturally fell on Siyeon.
After wandering the streets for a while, Siyeon suddenly let out a short exclamation.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
I halted my steps to match Siyeon, who had come to a sudden stop.
With her outstretched finger and a brief mention.
“That.”
“…Which one?”
There were so many overlapping signs that I couldn’t pinpoint a single restaurant.
Eventually, realizing how difficult it was for me to see what she was pointing at, Siyeon started explaining, one clear word at a time.
“That, spinning.”
“Spinning… oh, I found it.”
Amidst the colorful signs, there was an illustration of sushi and the clear four-character title.
In small text, it read “Conveyor Belt Sushi,” and I stared at this small sign for a while.
Conveyor belt sushi, a common element in Japanese anime and manga.
I could easily imagine how it would taste, but for some reason, I wanted to experience it at least once.
Is lunch going to be sushi? I usually hesitate in summer, though.
But since Siyeon is someone who often watches Japanese anime, wouldn’t she want to try it at least once?
With that thought in mind, I pointed towards the conveyor belt sushi place and boldly asked.
“Do you want to try the conveyor belt sushi?”
“…Yeah!”
After a moment of hesitation in her response, it seemed like she changed her mind and nodded in agreement.
Though she’d had plenty of delivered sushi and buffet sushi, this would be her first time at a sushi train.
As we entered the restaurant, the ambiance instantly shifted from the streets of Korea to a distinctly Japanese feel.
“Welcome! Just the two of you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll show you to your seats-”
With the friendly clerk’s guidance, we settled into a sufficiently sized booth for four, immediately drawn to the plates on the rail.
The price per plate ranged from 2000 to 3000 won.
Some plates had two pieces, while some only had one.
Spending 3000 won for a single piece sushi is a bit daunting.
Not to mention, there were even items that weren’t sushi on the plates.
A lonely plate had two shrimp tempura on it.
Another with a small dessert like a bread snack.
Piqued by the unfamiliar restaurant rules, Siyeon hesitated to reach for the rail.
With no such hesitation, I reached over and grabbed a few plates of decent sushi as they came nearby, setting them down on the table.
“Just grab whatever comes by.”
“Oh, okay.”
As I took the lead to demonstrate, Siyeon eventually joined in reaching for the rail to grab plates.
Salmon, eel, crab rolls, flounder, octopus—it was sushi I could pop into my mouth at will.
Curious about what Siyeon was choosing, I closely observed the plates across from her.
Shrimp sushi, inari sushi, egg sushi, shrimp tempura rolls, and squid, among others…
She didn’t seem focused on just one type; it looked like she was trying a bit of everything.
It was hard to believe the girl who hated wasabi on sushi years ago was now piling up plate after plate.
“Oh no.”
Worried I might end up paying 70-80 thousand won, just as that thought crossed my mind… thankfully, it wasn’t that bad.
As we surpassed 10 plates, my body started signaling me not to take in anymore.
Siyeon managed to have a plate or two more, but she seemed to have hit her limit as well.
Her eating pace slowed significantly, and I noticed hesitation with her chopsticks.
Still, they say there’s always room for dessert.
Once we emptied our sushi plates, we each picked up one of the small bread-like desserts and nibbled on those until we wrapped up the meal.
Lunchtime ended up being more than enough, filling us to the brim.
“That’ll be 51,000 won.”
“Wow, we ate a lot.”
“Right.”
Finishing our satisfying lunch and hitting the checkout, Siyeon’s teasing chuckle slipped through my ears at the hefty bill.
As I handed over my card and the clerk processed the payment, I stole a glance at Siyeon’s stomach.
It was slightly bulging, indicating how much we’d eaten.
“What’s up with that belly?”
“Eek, don’t do that…”
Playfully tapping her tummy, she seemed to take slight offense and shifted her bottom back to hide her belly.
But I couldn’t talk; I was also slightly squeezed by the post-meal influence.
“So, where to next?”
In the spirit of digestion, I asked Siyeon if she had a next destination in mind.
Her brief reply was clear.
“Um, home?”
The intent was obvious.
She was full and likely planned to head home to relax until class time.
Not ready to let her off that easy, I broke the short silence.
“Shall we walk?”
“Ew.”
“If you go home and lay down right after eating, you’ll get sleepy! Let’s walk to digest.”
“Pft…”
With a pout, Siyeon followed along.
We’d eaten so much that taking a taxi or bus would leave us with too much leftover calorie intake.
For the sake of health, let’s walk!
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