Transmigrated as the Side Top used as an Emotional Trash Can - Chapter 59.2
The kids and I sat in a circle in the living room. Since it would be easy to get confused, we agreed to speak in the order of me, Kim Jihwan 1, Kim Jihwan 2, Cha Gwonhyeok 1, and Cha Gwonhyeok 2.
Q. Your thoughts on the word.
“It’s nice to have.”
That was how I felt about ‘friends.’
“I don’t think much about it.”
“What am I supposed to do with it?”
Those were the Kim Jihwans’ thoughts.
“Another person.”
“An outsider.”
Those were the Cha Gwonhyeoks’ thoughts.
I wondered whether we had spoken too abstractly, but the Liar was hiding cleverly and aiming for victory. If we became more detailed and obvious, we would clearly lose, so this was the best we could do.
Q. If there is a person who best suits the word?
“Kim Jihwan.”
“Baek Hanrim.”
“Baek Hanrim.”
“Baek Hanrim.”
“Baek Hanrim.”
My mind went blank for a moment when everyone except me answered Baek Hanrim.
If their keyword was ‘friend,’ it was natural for my name to come up. But what kind of prompt word had the Liar received that still made them say my name? Surely it wasn’t side top?
Q. Then, what is the reason?
“Jihwan and I are from the same kids’ café cohort, so from what I’ve learned about him over the years, I thought he fit the word best.”
I wasn’t sure whether ‘cohort’ was the right word to use in a situation like this, but in any case, aside from my parents, he was the person I had known the longest in this world.
“Baek Hanrim is famous for that, you know.”
“He’s been the same since elementary school.”
The Kim Jihwans spoke.
“Because he’s Hanrim.”
“I thought it was the obvious answer.”
The Cha Gwonhyeoks spoke.
I still had no idea. This wasn’t easy.
Q. If there is a person who least suits the word?
“Hmm, I don’t think anyone here does.”
I answered honestly because I didn’t necessarily have to choose someone.
“Cha Gwonhyeok.”
“Me.”
The Kim Jihwans answered.
“Kim Jihwan.”
“Me.”
Then came the Cha Gwonhyeoks’ answers.
This time, Kim Jihwan 2 and Cha Gwonhyeok 2 chose themselves. I couldn’t tell whether they had interpreted the question differently from the 1s, or whether the degree to which the answers didn’t suit the word was so close that their opinions split.
More importantly, they thought they themselves didn’t suit the word ‘friend’?
They had stronger outsider tendencies than I expected.
Q. Then, what is the reason?
“Because I like all of you.”
So there was no reason to exclude any of them from the category of friends.
“He doesn’t seem related to the word.”
“I picked myself because I didn’t really know.”
It seemed the Kim Jihwans had merely chosen someone other than ‘Baek Hanrim’ because they had no one else to pick.
“That’s what I’ve observed.”
“It gets tiring sometimes.”
Cha Gwonhyeok 1 seemed to be referring to Kim Jihwan’s tendency to voluntarily isolate himself, while Cha Gwonhyeok 2 looked weary.
Right, there was no law saying characters in a novel couldn’t feel exhaustion from human relationships. I could understand that.
As I diligently nodded along and analyzed Kim Jihwan and Cha Gwonhyeok’s characters, a status window appeared with the sound of a whistle.
The time limit has elapsed.
“Huh…?”
This is bad.
Just as I thought that, a thought-provoking status window appeared.
The Liar has won without telling a lie.
The Liar’s prompt word will be revealed.
“Huh…?”
I blinked and stared blankly with my mouth open at the Liar’s prompt word.
“‘A person from another world’…?”
Did one of them realize that I had come from outside the novel? Either Kim Jihwan or Cha Gwonhyeok?
“Maybe it’s just… an idiomatic expression…?”
It could have meant that I did so many unusual things that I seemed otherworldly. After all, there hadn’t been the slightest hint anywhere in the conversation that they thought I was strange.
“That… must be it, right?”
It was a keyword I could rationalize if I wanted to, but if I viewed it suspiciously, I could become endlessly suspicious of it. I fell into thought for a moment. Then the silence was easily broken by the system window that appeared next.
Penalty – Bad Liar: You cannot lie for one day.
“Huh?”
I was surprised by the unusual penalty. To begin with, this was the first time the system had actually revealed what the penalty was. It always said it would give me one, but it had never explained exactly what it would do.
“More importantly, I can’t lie? What happens if I do?”
The system being unhelpful and refusing to explain things was nothing new. Wouldn’t I find out if I experienced it myself? I immediately said something that was obviously a lie.
“I am a Tyrannosaurus rex.”
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