It was a bit fun seeing people surprised when we went house hunting.
I was slowly making a name for myself online, but the fandom wasn’t that big yet. I hadn’t run into anyone who recognized us on the street, not even once. Or maybe they did recognize us but just chose not to approach.
So, to strangers, we likely looked like foreigners.
When five white girls stormed into a real estate office, they were shocked, and when we opened our mouths to speak, they were shocked again.
Usually, they reacted like the grandmother who talked to me, Claire, and Alice when we first went to Yeouido Park: “You speak Korean well!”
And when we showed our resident registration cards, they momentarily lost their words.
As it’s quite racist to ask an Asian American if they speak English, the same question to a “Korean” would seem fairly racist too.
Besides, if we had our resident registration cards at this age, they’d probably think we were mixed-race.
Watching the other person sweat bullets was pretty amusing.
…Considering I enjoy situations like this, I guess I still have that twinkle from my days of causing chaos on sites back in my world.
“How about it? I think the price is quite reasonable.”
And this was the second time meeting this person.
Maybe they had relieved their nervous sweat last time because this time they looked pretty bright. We had called ahead before coming, essentially signaling that we meant business about buying a house.
We had checked quite a few places, but this one had the best conditions. It was relatively spacious compared to others, and the subway and bus stops were nearby. Plus, there was a market close by, making it convenient.
“Hmm…”
When I turned around, all the kids who would be living with me nodded their heads.
Well, I had already wrapped up our discussions before I came here, so it made sense.
After comparing the pictures we took last time, I cautiously selected this one. I mean, it’s not like we’d be living here for years, but it’d be nice to have a stress-free time, even if it’s just for a short while.
“Then, let’s sign the contract.”
And just like that, I succeeded in getting my own place.
*
The move didn’t take too much time.
No matter how much of an otaku you are, balancing work and personal collections can be tough.
Living alone meant that I had expenses piling up for various reasons, and I could only buy games or comics by saving on my living expenses.
Aside from various living appliances and clothes, most of my stuff was either books or games.
Well, even if I crammed things into my small studio, how much could there really be? With the movers and the five of us working together, we managed to finish the move by 2 PM after buying new furniture for Mia and Charlotte’s room and placing a couch and new TV in the living room.
“I think… this can go here.”
As I placed the last difficult-to-find item on display, I muttered to myself.
That was none other than my figures.
I was someone who liked these, but I didn’t exactly buy them often. I could cover the costs of books and games somehow within my living expenses, but figures—often more expensive than several full-priced games—were not items I could easily get.
In the end, a figure modeled after Alice and me ended up on the shelf in front of the living room TV.
“To be honest, looking at it is a bit… strange, isn’t it?”
“Huh? A bit strange? What do you mean?”
When Alice, who had been looking proudly at the figures, asked back, Charlotte fell into deep thought with a somewhat baffled expression.
“What I mean is… it’s not really a complete reflection of us, right? Strictly speaking, it’s a three-dimensional re-creation of our two-dimensional images… isn’t there a lot of suggestive stuff in that?”
Charlotte surprisingly hit the nail on the head.
…Although I couldn’t exactly explain to Alice, the original of the figure I purchased, that it’s quite common for figures to be designed to be “appealing.” Of course, there are neutral costume figures too. But just because they’re neutral doesn’t mean they aren’t designed to emphasize certain assets or that they are tamer than daily wear.
Even school uniforms are often depicted shorter than the typical ones worn daily, and characters with a more pronounced body type are usually designed as “well-endowed.”
And most importantly, you can’t declare a figure that fully implements what’s under the skirt as “totally wholesome.” Since I had taken apart the figure to prevent damage, I had wrapped it in bubble wrap and placed it in the leftover shoe box. So it made sense that Charlotte looked at the figures oddly.
Alice seems to think of them like the marble sculptures in the royal corridor, though.
“Hmm? Sylvia’s and my figures are kinda similar, right? Suggestive as it may be, our school uniforms weren’t that different!”
“…”
Charlotte was now at a loss for words.
She looked completely stumped on how to explain that.
…For a moment, I thought about telling Charlotte that there’s a lot of fan art that twists characters from games or comics in quite the peculiar ways but decided against it.
Even if these kids were technically adults according to their resident ID, they’re still minors in every sense of the word.
“…”
Mia was sprawled out on the couch, not moving at all. She must have been worn out from working hard earlier in the day.
Thank goodness my stamina was better than Mia’s. Next time, I’ll make sure Mia does some stamina training while streaming. That might help raise my own stamina’s evaluation a bit!
By the way, Claire had also been glaring at the figures nearby.
“…What’s going on here?”
Finally, Claire opened her mouth.
“Isn’t it just Alice and you who have figures?”
…
Well.
Truth be told, I wanted to buy a Claire figure too.
“But is that really okay?”
“Huh?”
Claire raised her head at my question.
“Is it okay? What do you mean?”
“The figure made based on your appearance would be from older versions, not the latest one.”
“…”
Well, it is possible for there to be a figure of Claire in a more modest outfit. But after searching, it seems there are no plans for it yet.
The Sylvia Fanggriffon figure had been planned for release even before the game’s launch.
Considering that it wasn’t very popular or widely seen, there’s very little variety among the released figures. The game series barely started producing figures for older versions.
Given the time generally taken in the figure market, which can be years from announcement to release, even a tame Claire figure won’t be coming out anytime soon.
“Thinking about it, maybe I could skip buying one.”
“What on earth kind of outfit would warrant such a reaction?”
“It was… a revealing outfit that showed the upper chest.”
“Alice!”
As Alice giggled, Claire shouted back, flustered.
“Well… since we finished things up sooner than expected, shall we start having a meal?”
The moment I said that, Mia’s eyes lit up.
Was she not just sleeping?
But then again, we hadn’t eaten while working, so I understood why she was so hungry. We were the ones who told her, “Just a little more, and we’re done.”
That “little more” had turned into two hours, so it was justifiable for her to be on the verge of collapsing from waiting.
“Since it’s troublesome to take out the plates, let’s just get delivery. I know a great food place that’s perfect for this kind of occasion.”
Indeed, after moving in, it had to be Jajangmyeon.
…Oh, um, is that still a thing these days? Not sure.
*
Watching my friends eat is always enjoyable.
Alice seemed keen to respect the culture, often asking me detailed questions about how to eat. She seemed to have gotten the hang of properly using chopsticks now.
Claire was a bit clumsy compared to Alice but was adapting her own way with the chopsticks. Likewise, her method may look a little odd, but she wasn’t missing any of the food.
Relatively late arrivals, Charlotte and Mia still used forks.
Well, they were both trying hard, but their previous etiquette appeared too ingrained in them; they seemed much more comfortable with forks.
However, seeing them twist their Jajangmyeon from a disposable container like spaghetti was something else entirely.
They were all enjoying their food quite well.
“…”
“What’s wrong, Mia?”
“Is it… good?”
When I asked Mia, who was staring intently at my bowl, she cautiously asked back.
She really was a curious little one when it came to food.
“…It looks spicy just by looking.”
Charlotte remarked seriously.
As a reference, I had chosen the menu after showing pictures on my smartphone and describing the tastes, so everyone knew my Jjamppong was spicy.
“If you’re really curious, I can give you a little.”
At my words, Mia’s eyes sparkled, and I chuckled while getting up.
I brought a small bowl from the kitchen and scooped a little of the noodles and seafood, along with some broth.
“Thank you!”
Even though she couldn’t handle spice well, it seemed she was still curious about the taste.
Alice, Claire, and Charlotte’s eyes all followed the bowl in Mia’s hands.
Mia quickly sucked the fork she was using to eat Jajangmyeon clean and carefully fished out some Jjamppong noodles.
And after putting it in her mouth—
“Ugh!”
Her face instantly turned red.
I did say it was spicy, didn’t I?
Even though it wasn’t super spicy Jjamppong, she still reacted like that.
But watching her finish it without leaving anything made me feel a bit proud.
“Cough.”
“Here.”
Charlotte, having predicted that, passed her a cup of water.
“…”
I don’t know how to describe it, but it felt very familial.
If I kept watching this scene, I might just burst out laughing, so I quickly bowed my head and focused on my food.
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