The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"How is it?"

"Uh... it’s... tasty?"

Mia chewed diligently, glancing at me nervously as if my gaze was making her uncomfortable.

If I said she reminded me of a small rodent, it would probably be rude.

"Am I weird?"

"No, you're not weird."

Maybe because I was staring at Mia's face too intently, Charlotte gave me a sideways glance and said,

"Sis, be honest. You're plotting something, aren't you?"

"Your face looks exactly like when you're up to something."

Claire and Alice each threw in a comment.

It wasn’t surprising coming from Alice, who could almost perfectly read my expressions, but the fact that even Claire could now see through my poker face was a bit of a shock.

Right now, we were at a toast shop.

It wasn’t some hidden gem kind of place. It was a franchise toast shop with several branches across the country, and honestly, it was closer to a sandwich place using toast.

They cut a thick slice of bread open, stuffed it with filling, and placed a half-cooked egg yolk on top—basically a sandwich. It was actually my first time trying this kind of sandwich. There were so many foods sold in this country, and of course, I hadn’t tried them all. I mean, I didn’t even have pho until after I graduated from college.

I had known it existed but had never thought about trying it. We just happened to pass by and went in.

There were quite a few people around, but barely anyone paid attention to us. Naturally, since it was a place to eat.

"Well, I am thinking about something."

I said, calmly looking at Mia’s face.

"Ah, I think I know."

Claire raised her hand and said,

"A mukbang, right?"

"...Claire, you really need to cut down your smartphone usage a little."

Even though it hadn't been that long since we crossed over here, Claire's rate of adaptation was terrifying. Especially her ability to absorb knowledge about these kinds of things.

Come to think of it, the whole idea of starting a broadcast in the first place came from Claire’s reaction.

"I move around way more actively than you normally, you know?"

"..."

I didn’t have a comeback for that.

"Claire’s right."

I tried to steer the conversation away.

"What exactly is right? That you’re too lazy to move compared to Claire?"

It felt like I stepped into a trap.

"What I mean is—"

"If you ask a girl who’s only been here for less than a week to do something on a broadcast, that’s a problem, isn’t it? You should at least give her some time to adjust."

At Alice’s words, Mia nodded vigorously.

I mean, you probably don’t even know what a mukbang is, right?

Well, thinking about it, making a girl who doesn’t even know what a mukbang is do a mukbang would be a bit inhumane.

"More importantly,"

Alice poked me in the side.

"...What are you doing?"

"Mm, considering how much you eat and laze around, you haven’t really gained weight."

"For your information, I do my best to keep up with you all."

That’s right.

I made efforts to catch up with Claire and Alice’s active lifestyle. Whether it was biking around Yeouido Park or crazily running along the Han River.

It’s not like I want to gain weight either.

In my previous life, I was old enough to be called an uncle, and even if I lost weight, it wouldn't have made a dramatic difference to my looks. So I only ever tried to maintain basic health.

But now that I had a naturally good-looking body, I was putting in the effort to maintain it.

I mean, it would be a waste if I didn’t.

Not that I bothered with makeup or anything.

By the way, Claire and Alice had started to take an interest in this world’s cosmetics. They even said, "I’m going to buy a ton before we go back," sounding exactly like Japanese tourists in Korea.

"But still, isn’t your side a little too soft?"

"That's because I have relatively less muscle mass, not because I gained fat."

"Exactly. That’s the problem."

Alice nodded with her arms crossed, and Claire's face brightened.

"Yeah! That’s what you’re thinking!"

"...What exactly are you thinking?"

"Exercise! You're thinking of exercise videos, right?"

"Over my dead body."

"You hate exercise that much?"

Charlotte said incredulously, and I nodded firmly.

"I’ll do the bare minimum to stay alive, but I refuse to exercise to build muscle."

"Why?"

This time, Alice frowned.

"Because exercise is hard."

"..."

For a moment, silence fell around me.

It almost felt like the entire store went quiet, not just our table.

...Surely they weren’t all eavesdropping while pretending not to be interested?

Well, honestly, even I would find this pretty amusing.

If they knew we were legally Korean citizens, they’d be even more surprised.

By the way, Mia and Charlotte’s national IDs had been found just before we left. They were tucked together in the very bottom drawer of the desk, for some reason.

"Sis, back in Azerna, you did way harder things, didn’t you?"

"That and this are different. Back then, I had to do those things whether I liked it or not to get what I wanted. Exercise is something I would have to choose to do myself. Isn’t that right, Mia?"

"Y-yes!?"

Suddenly dragged into the conversation, Mia panicked.

By the way, while we were talking, Mia had been calmly munching her sandwich, and now she had almost finished.

Only the very bottom slice of bread was left, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Just as she was about to pop that last piece into her mouth, she froze and looked at me.

"Did you know? Human joints have a lifespan. To use them longer, it’s safer to minimize stress on them. But exercise puts strain on joints."

"I looked it up online, and there are ways to work out without hurting your joints."

"Yeah, sis. Things like stair climbing or running apparently don’t put that much strain."

"So what are you going to do?"

Charlotte slyly chimed in with a smile.

"...If a total beginner like me uploads a workout video, no one will watch it."

"Isn’t the whole point of those videos to watch an amateur suffer?"

"Alice, maybe you should cut down your smartphone time too."

I said seriously.

I had only been impressed with Claire’s fast adaptation, but apparently Alice had picked up quite a bit too.

"Well, fine."

When I stubbornly refused, Alice shrugged.

Seeing that, the tense Mia relaxed a little and stuffed the last piece of bread into her mouth.

So it does fit in.

Well, judging by how her cheeks puffed up, it wasn’t exactly effortless.

"Still, since you at least try to follow our workouts, we won’t push you into anything hardcore. As long as your health isn’t at risk, it's just a hobby."

"I’m glad we’re on the same page."

I let out a little sigh of relief too.

"But still, I’m buying this game."

Alice grinned and showed me her smartphone screen.

"..."

I glanced at the screen she held up and said cautiously,

"It looks like you already bought it?"

"Exactly. I said I was going to buy it. And by the way, I used my own money, so don’t worry too much."

"...If you bought it with your own money, then I guess I have no reason to use it."

"Not unless you turn it on yourself."

"..."

She said it so smoothly that I had to wonder if there was some hidden trap behind °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° those words.

But Alice just kept smiling sweetly at me.

"What did you buy?"

"This."

Alice handed the phone to Charlotte, and Mia, sitting next to her, craned her neck to look at it.

Then she tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it?"

"It’s nothing big. Just a game."

It’s not just a game.

It’s a motion-based game.

But hey, she said I wouldn’t have to do anything unless I turned it on.

Even if the device had the game running in sleep mode, as long as I didn’t touch it, I was safe.

"Then, since we’re at it, should we buy some workout clothes? It’d be nice to have outfits that look good for the viewers."

"Is that really necessary? You’re the one who’s mostly going to be playing."

"Are you sure about that?"

Are you really sure?

*

[ Sylvia plays ● Fit Adventure until the end of stream ]

With a cheerful sound, that mission popped up on the monitor.

And the starting bid was a whopping 100,000 won.

"..."

"Not going to do it?"

Alice smiled brightly as she met my gaze.

So this was her plan all along.

I buried my face in both hands.