“How is it?”
“Uh… it’s delicious… right?”
Mia darted glances at me, as if feeling the pressure of my gaze, while furiously chewing.
If I mentioned it reminded me of some small rodent, that would be rude, right?
“Is something wrong with me?”
“No, you’re not weird.”
After my intense staring at Mia’s face, Charlotte shot me a glare and said,
“Come on, sis, just be honest. You have something on your mind, right?”
“Your face looks like you’re plotting something.”
Claire and Alice chimed in too.
While Alice could read my face almost perfectly, I was a bit shocked that my poker face wasn’t working on Claire anymore.
Right now, we were at a toast shop.
It wasn’t exactly a local gem. It was a franchise toast shop with quite a few branches across the country, and it was more like a sandwich place that used toast.
It was a sandwich with thick bread filled with stuff and topped with a perfectly runny egg yolk, but honestly, it was my first time trying it. There are plenty of foods sold in this country, and I certainly hadn’t tried everything—after all, I only had Vietnamese pho for the first time after graduating college.
I knew it existed but hadn’t thought to try it until we stumbled upon it while passing by.
There were quite a few people around, but no one was really paying us any mind. I guess it was natural in a place meant for eating.
“Truth is, I do have something on my mind.”
I said while quietly gazing at Mia’s face.
“Oh, I think I know.”
Claire raised her hand enthusiastically.
“It’s an eating show, isn’t it?”
“… Claire, I think you need to cut down on your smartphone usage.”
Even though it’s been a little while since we came here, Claire’s speed of adapting was absurd. Especially her grasp on this kind of knowledge was scary.
Now that I think about it, that idea to start streaming came from Claire’s reaction as well.
“I move way more actively than you do on a regular basis!”
“…”
I had no rebuttal to that.
“Claire has a point.”
I tried to redirect the conversation by saying that, but—
“What do you mean she has a point? Are you saying you find it annoying that she’s more active than you?”
It felt like I’d somehow stepped in it.
“What I mean to say is—”
“Isn’t it a bit much to ask someone who’s only been here less than a week to do something on a show? At the very least, you should give her an adjustment period.”
Alice interjected, and Mia nodded vigorously. Um, you don’t even know what an eating show is, do you?
Thinking about it again, it did feel a bit inhumane to make someone who doesn’t even know what an eating show is participate in one.
“Speaking of which,”
Alice said while poking me in the side.
“… What are you doing?”
“Well, I haven’t really gained any weight despite just munching.”
“Even if I look like this, I’m still trying to keep up with you guys.”
It’s true.
I have been trying to keep up with Claire and Alice’s active lifestyle. Bicycling in Yeouido Park, going around the Han River like a madman.
I don’t want to gain weight.
If it were the ‘me’ from my previous life, I’d probably be called an uncle by now, and I know losing weight wouldn’t have a drastic impact on my appearance, so I did just enough exercise to stay healthy. But since I’ve developed this fine body, I’ve been making an effort to maintain it.
It would be such a waste if I let it go.
Not that I do anything like makeup, mind you.
As a side note, Claire and Alice had slowly started to take an interest in the cosmetics of this world. They even talked about how they should buy a lot when they go back, sounding like Japanese tourists in Korea.
“But your sides are way too soft, aren’t they?”
“That’s not because I’m gaining weight; it’s because I have relatively less muscle.”
“And that’s the problem.”
Alice crossed her arms and nodded, and Claire’s face lit up.
“Yeah! That’s the thought!”
“… What thought are you talking about?”
“Exercise! You’re thinking about exercise videos, right?”
“No way in hell.”
“Do you hate exercising that much?”
Charlotte said, looking incredulous. I nodded firmly.
“I’ll do the minimum exercise necessary to live, but I won’t work out for aesthetics.”
“Why not?”
This time Alice frowned.
“Because exercise is hard work.”
“…”
For a moment, silence enveloped our group.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it felt like the entire shop fell silent too.
… They’re not pretending to be disinterested while secretly listening, right?
Well, to be honest, I’d find it fascinating too. Knowing we are legally considered Koreans would probably raise even more eyebrows. By the way, I found Mia and Charlotte’s IDs before coming out earlier—they were sitting neatly in the bottom drawer of the desk for some reason.
“Sis, didn’t we do even tougher things back in Azernar?”
“That was different. That was something I had to do, whether I liked it or not, while exercise is something I can choose. Isn’t that right, Mia?”
“Y-yes!?”
Mia was startled as I suddenly pulled her into the conversation.
By the way, she was calmly eating her sandwich while we talked, so she was almost done by now. She had awkwardly eaten down from the top to the bottom and was just about to put the last piece of crust in her mouth, but now she froze up and stared at me.
“Do you know this? Every human joint has a lifespan. To use them for a long time, it’s safer to use them as little as possible. But exercising puts a strain on those joints.”
“I read on a site that there are many ways to shape up without stressing the joints.”
“Right, sis. They say even things like stair climbing or running don’t actually put much strain on them.”
“Since that’s the case, what will you do?”
Charlotte chimed in with a grin.
“… If someone like me who’s a beginner at exercising suddenly tries to post exercise videos, no one’s going to watch.”
“Isn’t the point of those videos to see inexperienced people struggle?”
“Alice, how about you try reducing your smartphone usage a bit?”
I asked seriously.
I was impressed enough by Claire’s quick adaptation, but it seemed like Alice had also picked up quite a bit along those lines.
“Well, okay.”
When I chunkily rejected her, Alice shrugged. After seeing that, a tense Mia relaxed her shoulders and shoved the remaining piece of bread into her mouth in one go.
So that fits in there, huh? Although, judging by her bulging cheeks, it seems like it actually does.
“Still, since you’re trying to at least keep up with us in some way, I won’t push you into serious training. Just as long as it doesn’t become a health issue, anything beyond that is a hobby.”
“I’m glad we could communicate.”
I relaxed my shoulders a bit too.
“But this game is happening.”
Alice grinned at me while showing her smartphone screen.
“…….”
I briefly checked the smartphone screen that Alice held out and carefully asked,
“Looks like you already bought something though?”
“That’s why I said I’m going to buy it. Just so you know, I bought it with my money, so you don’t need to worry too much.”
“… Then since you bought it with your own money, I really have no use for it.”
“Unless you don’t touch it yourself, that’s pretty much true.”
“…….”
The way she said that so easily made me suspicious of her underlying motives.
But Alice just kept looking at me with a bright smile on her face.
“What did you buy?”
“This.”
Alice handed her smartphone to Charlotte, and Mia, who was sitting next to her, peered at the screen. Then she tilted her head.
“What’s this?”
“Oh, it’s nothing special, just a game.”
Not just any game.
It’s a realistic game.
But well, I said I wouldn’t do anything as long as I didn’t touch it myself.
Even if the device was running a game in sleep mode, I just had to avoid touching it.
“So, since it turned out this way, should we go buy some clothes to wear while exercising? Wouldn’t it be good to get something nice for viewers to see?”
“Do I need to bother with that? You’ll mostly be the one using it.”
“Is that so?”
Is it really so?
*
[Sylvia’s stream until it ends●Play Fit Adventure]
With a cheerful sound, that mission popped up on the monitor.
And the mission start amount was a whopping 100,000 won.
“…….”
“Not gonna do it?”
As our eyes met, Alice looked at me and smiled playfully.
So, this was her plan all along.
I rubbed my face with both hands.
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