The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

I had been an otaku since my teenage years too, so it’s not like I’d never had those kinds of conversations with friends.

You know, the kind of thing where you joke about wanting to be reborn as a beautiful girl in your next life.

Of course, it wasn’t like we were serious.

Just like people who aren’t otakus fool around saying random stuff, it was just another style of otaku banter.

At the very least, if I had been born handsome, maybe I could've done something about it — but since I wasn’t, I made half-hearted excuses about giving up on fashion or whatever, saying that if I'd been born as a beautiful girl, I would’ve made money doing internet streams or cosplay.

I was well aware that none of that would actually be easy.

Fashion requires study, and even if you’re good-looking, walking around in any random outfit would still get you weird looks.

I knew being born pretty wouldn’t magically make life easy.

Internet streaming or cosplay would just attract a bunch of creeps.

And yet, here I was — doing all of it.

Life is strange sometimes.

Well, it might be a bit much to call a Korean wearing a hanbok cosplay, but still, even if we were officially registered residents, in the eyes of others, we probably looked like foreign tourists — so maybe it would seem even more like cosplay.

Actual tourists wore hanboks as a kind of cosplay anyway.

Claire wore a hanbok dominated by a deep navy color.

If the top and bottom had been the same solid color, it might °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° have looked a bit tacky, but her top was a soft white, which matched her fair skin beautifully.

Alice’s hanbok had a similar color scheme — a white top, but with a pale sky-blue skirt.

Seeing that shade, I almost thought of the bunny girl outfit Alice had worn once, but I kept that to myself.

...Mainly because I had worn a bunny girl outfit too back then.

Come to think of it, I’d already done cosplay before.

Even our academy uniforms could be considered cosplay by this world's standards.

"Sis, it really suits you."

Claire said that with a genuinely serious expression after looking at me in my hanbok.

"It's a bit of a shame it’s on the darker side, but it suits your vibe really well."

Alice, who had helped me pick it out, nodded in satisfaction.

When people hear "black hanbok," they might immediately think of mourning clothes, but the one I wore wasn’t plain or grim at all.

The sleeves were made of fine mesh, showing some skin, and there were embroidered floral patterns stitched into the cuffs and the jacket.

The part of the skirt peeking out beneath the short jacket was a soft cream color, which kept the outfit from looking too heavy.

In short, it wasn’t a purely traditional hanbok.

Of course, if it had been a fully traditional one, there’s no way we could've rented it at this price.

Click

The camera on my smartphone, now in Claire’s hands, kept clicking nonstop.

It was great that she was taking so many photos...

but could I even bring them back with me?

Just in case, I’d have to print them out or develop them.

And then take them home when I returned.

All the time we spent here — it would be pure, precious memories shared between the three of us.

Watching Claire beam with laughter, that’s what I thought.

*

"People are staring at us."

"Is there something wrong with our outfits?"

Alice glanced down at herself worriedly when Claire said that, wondering if we had somehow messed up the traditional dress.

"It’s probably because you’re so pretty."

When I said that, Alice’s face turned a little red.

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I’m just stating facts."

At least, that’s what my instincts told me.

It was true that most of the passersby who kept glancing our way were men, not women.

There was no helping it.

Among the three of us — me, Alice, and even Claire — our appearances were striking.

Compared to them, I was more subdued with my black hair, but Alice had impeccably maintained, shimmering golden blonde hair, and Claire had vivid blue hair.

Plus, all three of us—

Though it feels a bit embarrassing to say it—

had rather prominent figures.

Even with the slightly bulky hanboks, it was obvious enough.

"Both of you, stay close to me."

Honestly, I’d never once gotten someone’s number nor had anyone ask for mine back when I was alive.

Not that it was surprising.

I wasn’t particularly handsome or famous.

If a beautiful woman had ever approached me out of nowhere to ask for my number, it would’ve been either a scam or a cult recruitment attempt.

As for me, the reason I never tried hitting on anyone was pretty much the same —

I didn’t have the confidence.

How could you try to ask for a stranger’s number if you didn’t even have confidence in your looks?

...Still, even without direct experience, I knew such things happened.

Even if we looked like foreigners and that might add a layer of difficulty,

there would always be people with way too much self-confidence—

"Excuse me?"

—See, there they were.

I prided myself on having a decent combat sense, even if my physical abilities were lacking compared to the other two.

Marksmanship had been my specialty.

At the very least, I knew how to watch people from a distance and notice suspicious behavior. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

From earlier, I had noticed two young men — maybe college-aged — glancing this way, nudging each other and laughing.

They were decent-looking and dressed stylishly, all full of confidence.

Annoyingly so.

If either Claire or Alice had shown even the slightest interest, I would’ve at least considered responding properly.

But thankfully, neither of them seemed particularly impressed.

No — more precisely, they had the faces of people who didn’t even understand why they were being approached.

"We’re Korean."

I said that firmly.

If they could somehow understand our conversation, it would be obvious we were speaking Korean.

Pretending to speak English would have been pointless.

"Ah."

The two guys looked a little surprised, exchanging glances before turning back to us.

"Sorry, we misunderstood..."

"Would you mind telling us what you need?"

I deliberately used stiff, military-style honorifics, which visibly flustered the two of them.

"Uh, no, it’s just, if you had some free time—"

"Sorry, but we’re out here to spend time together as sisters.

We’d prefer not to spend our time with strangers."

I made sure to say it coldly and clearly.

The two guys looked even more awkward.

Well, at least they didn’t seem like the full-blown thug types you see in manga.

...If all the people who hit on strangers were criminals, this country’s crime rate would be through the roof.

"Ah, right.

If you’re out with your sisters... Yeah, have a good time."

As I stared at them without blinking, they seemed to realize they’d screwed up.

Or maybe they just got embarrassed seeing Claire and Alice’s confused expressions.

"Sis, why were you so harsh?

They seemed like nice people."

"They just wanted to hang out with us."

"Huh? Really?"

Even after I explained, Claire still looked puzzled.

Maybe because she grew up in a noble house, she didn’t realize that, in this world, when adults meet and "hang out," it can easily lead to certain things.

"Both of you, listen carefully."

I said seriously.

"Of course, as long as you’re in this world, I’ll try to stay close by as much as possible.

But just in case, you should know —

in this world, when adults spend time together, it often leads to sexual encounters."

Of course, I had no personal experience,

so I didn’t know exactly how fast things escalated.

But I knew well enough that once you got entangled, it would get ridiculously messy.

And plenty of misunderstandings could arise too.

Most importantly, Claire and Alice—

If something happened to them—

Sure, in the worst case, I could probably beat everyone up and escape,

but then we’d probably end up explaining ourselves to the police.

After hearing me out, the two of them finally seemed to understand the situation.

Even back in the Azernan Empire, commoners lived relatively freely when it came to sexuality,

and there were certainly promiscuous nobles too.

But generally, an unmarried woman who was promiscuous would be heavily stigmatized.

It wasn’t like that for widows, but for unmarried girls, definitely.

So even if they had received basic education about these matters, they probably never really imagined themselves in that kind of situation.

"So, to avoid any trouble, it’s important to cut things off clearly from the start."

For a moment, I thought about whether I should leave it up to them if they wanted—

but I decided against it.

Absolutely not.

Even if their IDs said they were adults,

their real ages were sixteen.

They were kids, no matter how mature they looked.

Of course they shouldn’t get involved in that kind of thing.

"Now that you understand, shall we go have some tea?"

When I said that with a smile, Claire and Alice’s faces finally brightened.

"Ah, sis, wait! The light here is so good!"

For a second, I wondered what she meant —

but she meant the lighting was perfect for selfies.

...The fact that Claire had picked that up without me even teaching her showed just how much she loved taking photos.

Maybe I should go ahead and help them get their phones properly set up too.