· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
Translated by BiasNil
· · ────── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ────── · ·
It's been a while since we had dinner.
After walking around excitedly in Busan for a day, we came into the hotel to rest.
The most expensive five-star hotel in Busan, "The Signature" Hotel.
Personally, I don't like that Busan's iconic hotel name is in English. Let's just say it in Korean. There's a perfectly good Korean word for "sign" instead of "signature," though.
…Come to think of it, "autograph" isn't Korean either. No, isn't that basically what "signature" means? I don't know. Let's just go in.
The lobby inside was huge and antique—like a space that could fit hundreds of people. Su-bin said she'd hold onto our luggage for now, and Seo-eun and I headed to the front desk to check in. Since the reservation was under her name, she came with me.
"Welcome. What's the name on the reservation?"
"Oh, it should be Han Seo-eun."
"Yes, confirmed. I'll give you the key to 2708."
"…Is there only one room?"
"Yes, you reserved only one room."
"Oh… right."
I trudged out of the lobby with the key card and asked the Seo-eun next to me,
"Seo-eun, why did you choose one room?"
Under my suspicious gaze, she averted her eyes and said,
"Well, it's good to save money…"
"Why do we have to save money? Between you and me we're overflowing with cash."
"The bed is super-king. Just come sleep!"
"Seo-eun? And there's only one bed?"
When I looked at her in a hurry, Su-bin came up, hugged Seo-eun, and said,
"It'll be nice if the three of us sleep together for once. Woo-hoo, I'm looking forward to it."
"Uh… we've never slept together before…"
They ignored me and headed for the elevator.
My authority as head of the household…
***
"Wow, the room is so big!"
As soon as we entered, Seo-eun ran around, eyes sparkling.
It's nice to see her like this after she spends all day in front of a computer.
As expected, students should go out and play a little.
"Wow, there's a warm bath."
Su-bin, peeking into the bathroom, widened her eyes.
Maybe it's because it's a five-star hotel?
It was the largest, most spacious hotel room I've ever been in.
Every piece of furniture looked like wood so expensive that if you accidentally burned it, it'd cost tens of millions of won. We should never play with fire in this hotel. Oh, right—we just shouldn't play with fire, period.
"The night view is wonderful."
I opened the curtains. Since we were on a high floor, the view looked out over downtown Busan's nightscape. Far away, I could even see the waves on the dark sea.
"Wow, the TV is really big."
I gaped at the TV in the bedroom. Even the one back at our base isn't this big—should we upgrade?
But yeah, there really was only one bed. Of course, it was so huge it looked like four beds stuck together… but still, did she have to book a single-bed room?
I turned to the two who were still fussing with the luggage.
"Let's unpack first, wash up, have some fun, and then sleep."
I was tired from walking around all day.
***
We washed up and flopped onto the bed.
Seo-eun lay in the middle, with Su-bin and me on either side.
We decided to lie down and watch TV and relax.
As I flipped through channels to find something fun, Seo-eun—still on her phone—spoke up.
"Da-in, bring me some water."
Huh? What?
Did I mishear?
"Water."
She said it again, totally casual.
No, Seo-eun. Do you not have hands or feet?
"Seo-eun… I can't believe you're trying to boss me around now. I raised you wrong. I should've been stricter. Oh my."
When I mock-whined, she flapped her hands, flustered.
"No, it's not like that! You have telekinesis. Can't you just take it out with that? You only have to lift a hand."
Oh, that's what she meant?
I thought she was just being spoiled.
"Well, unfortunately, Seo-eun, get up and grab it yourself."
"Hmph… fine."
"No, listen—it's because I have to save my energy."
"Energy? What do you mean?"
"Well… did I not explain this? Let's see… You know how in RPGs there's MP, right? Mana? The number a wizard spends to use magic."
"Oh, that? The blue bar under HP?"
"Yeah, that. My telekinesis is like that. If I use it too often, it gets weaker—like a claw machine. But if I don't use it and just keep still—how should I put it—focus? Then it gets stronger. That's why I need to save it for crises."
Honestly, the last time I used it was months ago with that crocodile, but now it feels pretty strong. Endurance is victory…!!
"Oh, now I get it. I thought you could just use it whenever. I'll be right back."
With that, Seo-eun trudged over to the mini-fridge.
I kept flipping channels.
Variety show… news…
I left it on the news.
To be honest, in this world the news is more fun than variety shows.
When B-class villains pop up on the news—how could it not be entertaining?
On screen was a blonde woman and another with long, sky-blue hair. Uh, left is Stardust. Right is her—North Sea Ice Girl.
The anchor's voice came through.
[After reports that A-class hero Shadow Walker fell into a coma, A-class hero Stardust and the Association's Icicle addressed public concerns. The two said they will operate on 24-hour emergency duty. As usual, Stardust will cover Seoul and the metro area, while Icicle will cover North and South Gyeongsang Provinces and Busan.]
Well, Stardust originally covered Seoul and North Sea Ice Girl covered Busan, so this just means they're actually on duty 24/7. I feel a bit sorry for them.
North Sea Ice Girl was introduced by her official hero name, "Icicle," now. Well, it makes sense that the nickname stuck after that later arc.
While I was recalling the original for a moment, the anchor continued:
[When the public worried, "How big is Korea anyway? Can two people cover all of it?" the Association advised, "Keep a baseball bat next to your bed in case of danger."]
…The Association is still like that.
They've always been like that, so it's not even surprising. From what I remember, the Association president was a bit off.
But security might be unstable for a while. Should I prepare something?
"Da-in, are you watching the news again? You sound like a real old man at times like this."
Seo-eun came back to bed with an armful of snacks. No, this is unfair. Maybe this is your everyday life, but for me it's like watching a movie.
"Oh? That's not water. It's Coke. Where'd you get that?"
"Coke? From the mini-bar."
I nearly screamed.
"Seo-eun! You can't drink that! Do you know how expensive hotel mini-bar snacks are? That can you're drinking is probably 5,000 won."
When I yelped, she just shrugged, like what's the big deal.
"It doesn't matter if a drink is 5,000 won or 50,000 won. We have plenty of money."
I was at a loss for words.
Right. We do have a lot of money.
Between what I made using foreknowledge since I landed in this world and what Seo-eun already had, it's a lot.
Maybe I've been living like an ordinary citizen for too long—I keep forgetting.
"How much is this hotel anyway? It's probably the most expensive building in all of Busan. The only five-star one here."
"Well, yeah. Drink up. Then brush your teeth."
"Oh my, am I a kid?"
She puffed her cheeks at me. Honestly, she looked exactly like a kid right then.
Su-bin just smiled quietly at us.
*
"Oh man… I'm sleepy now. Let's all go to bed."
If we want to get up early tomorrow and play more, we should sleep early.
We brushed our teeth, turned off the lights, and lay down in our spots.
Even though we were all under one blanket, the bed was so big it wasn't uncomfortable.
Still, it felt a bit weird to share the same blanket.
It hadn't been long when I heard soft whispering from the other side—maybe Su-bin? Already asleep? She knocks out the second she lies down.
With my eyes closed, trying to drift off, I heard Seo-eun next to me murmur, still awake:
"Today was fun…"
"Hm? Yeah? What did you like most?"
"It was nice seeing the sea, and the market was fun… I think it'd be good to hang out like this sometimes."
"Okay. Let's come out again sometime."
If we can actually take time off to play.
First, I need to finish all the terror plans and the Stardust growth project I've laid out in my head.
"Let's sleep if we want to have fun tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm…"
She yawned once and buried her face into the blanket.
I was about to doze off, too.
The hotel was so quiet I felt sleep coming fast.
And just like that, a few minutes later I fell into a deep sleep.
When I wake up tomorrow, the sun will be up, right?
***
But late that night, while the moon still shone over the dark city—the hotel.
Thump.
Boom, boom, boom.
Heavy footsteps from all sides.
Thump—
The sound of something bursting somewhere.
Aaaaaaaaaah—
Someone's scream. Something breaking.
Bang.
A pounding on our door. Noise bleeding through the floor.
"FBI, OPEN UP!!!!"
Shouting right outside.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
I jolted awake and muttered.
Why is this happening to me?