Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can - Chapter 41.2
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READ ONLY AT VANISHINTOFICTION.COM
We sat on the sofas in the hotel lobby, each holding something in our hands.
“So you’re saying that if we don’t focus on the current situation and think about something else for a certain amount of time, we won’t get caught up in anything strange?”
Kim Jihwan held a stiff hotel napkin.
“Yeah. Jihwan, you were distracted folding a paper crane when that person named J spoke to us.”
Cha Gwonhyeok held his phone.
“And Gwonhyeok, you said you kept writing something on your phone.”
And I….
“But will this really work for me?”
I held a huge buffet spoon I had found rolling around in a corner of the first floor with both hands. It was meant for scooping food onto plates, so it was closer in size to a ladle than a spoon.
“You said you came flying over here while thinking about bingsu.”
Kim Jihwan replied indifferently.
No, but did they really have to give me something this huge?
“I waited because I wondered whether anything would change if the three of us gathered together and each thought about something different.”
“This hotel is called Dongsangimong. I think there’s something to that.”
(T/N: Dongsangimong can be translated to ‘Same Place, Different Dreams,’ describing people who appear to be together or pursuing the same goal but secretly have different thoughts, motives, or intentions.)
Cha Gwonhyeok, who had disappeared first, had decided that carelessly going outside would be dangerous and waited for us. Kim Jihwan said he remembered the hotel’s name and waited for me, since I would be the last to arrive.
“…It’s worth trying.”
I admired Kim Jihwan and Cha Gwonhyeok’s reasonable explanations and convincing deduction. Unlike me, they weren’t even aware that the world’s setting had changed, yet they were still playing through it this intelligently and calmly. Main characters really were built differently.
“Then let’s try it. Start!”
The two lowered their gazes and tapped or folded the objects in their hands, stimulating their peripheral nerves. I also slowly stroked the spoon and thought about bingsu.
Bingsu. Insanely expensive gold bingsu. Apple mangoes approved by Grandfather Dangun. Price-wrecking truffles. Milk ice that melts softly on the tip of your tongue.
…I’m hungry.
“Huh?”
When I opened my eyes, everyone had somehow disappeared, and I had arrived inside a room alone. It was different from the luxurious room I had been in with Kim Jihwan just moments earlier. The walls, floor, and even the furniture were all pure white, enough to create an optical illusion.
“Is this a guest room on the first floor?”
You have reached the end of the creepypasta within the time limit.
The head smiles in satisfaction.
A reward will be granted.
“…?”
Then the silence continued for a long time without any response.
It said it would give me a reward, so why wasn’t anything happening? Did it give it to me and take it back?
“You said it was free anyway. Why are you pretending to choose?”
Kim Jihwan’s voice rang beside my ear. When I came to my senses, I was back in the hotel café from three hours ago. Kim Jihwan was finishing a paper crane he had folded from a napkin, and Cha Gwonhyeok was looking at his phone.
I’m back.
“Guys, order the bingsu for me. I’ll have apple juice!”
To check my reward, I clicked the system window and quickly headed toward the restroom.
1 Penalty Removal Ticket / Search History (1)
When I clicked the reward, I once again saw the inevitably offered Penalty Removal Ticket and another incomprehensible option called ‘Search History.’
“What could Search History be…?”
After thinking for a moment, I decided that this time, I really should obediently choose the Penalty Removal Ticket. The Affection Level Increase Coupons and System Update had given me things closer to punishments than rewards, so I had become cautious.
I had ignored it all this time, so let’s see just how good it was.
1 penalty will be removed.
Affection Level 40% (Slowdown Penalty x2)
Karma -159,215 (Acceleration Penalty x2)
The Karma Acceleration Penalty had definitely been x4, but this time it had become x2. It seemed that whether it was slowdown or acceleration, the penalties were applied twofold at a time. Come to think of it, the Karma score had changed too.
“It was definitely -159,937, but it went up by almost 700?”
I had guessed that it wouldn’t have dropped because I hadn’t killed myself recently, but I never imagined it would’ve risen this much.
“Does it go up when I do good deeds?”
But I couldn’t remember doing anything particularly good. Had I unconsciously done some good deeds?
Just in case, before the system window disappeared, I briskly wiped away the moisture around the restroom sink and rubbed away the dirty, hardened liquid soap and water stains with my hands until everything was clean.
“Oh, it really does seem to go up when I do something good.”
There was a saying that even hypocrisy was still goodness. Even if it looked performative, if there was a way to turn that ominous negative number into a positive one, wouldn’t it only be human nature to try?
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