The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Well, it’s not like it matters. Things like this always happen without any logic anyway, right?

My mind, which had been a little blank at first, snapped back to normal in an instant.

"First place? We really got first place?"

Alice asked again.

"No matter how many times I check, it's definitely first place."

And not just once — we had two winning tickets. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

This time, the prize for first place was around 2 billion won.

Even if half of it went to taxes, since we had two tickets, it still came out to around 2 billion won.

With that much, couldn't we buy an apartment in Seoul? As long as we didn’t look for something ridiculously expensive, we should be able to afford it easily.

Especially around this area, we'd have plenty left over after buying one.

"Uh, uh, what should we do? What do we do?"

"There’s nothing much to do. First, we need to claim the prize."

Charlotte answered the slightly panicked Claire seriously.

"What could we do with this much money?"

Mia tilted her head and asked. Maybe because she’d never bought anything with her own money, she couldn’t really imagine it.

No, more accurately, she probably just didn’t realize how large this amount was. Even if both Azerna and this world operated on a currency economy, the cost of living was vastly different. Manufactured goods were likely cheaper and better quality here, and land prices were probably still cheaper in Azerna for now.

But that wasn’t the important thing right now.

"We can move into a nice apartment."

"..."

At my answer, everyone went silent for a moment.

It didn’t seem like they were shocked. More like they couldn’t quite grasp what my words actually meant.

At least Alice and Claire, who had lived here for over a month, seemed to understand somewhat. But Charlotte and Mia... their faces said, 'Is that really necessary?'

"It might be hard for each person to have their own room, but if two or three share, it would still give everyone something like a personal space. The living room alone would probably be bigger than this place. Sleeping would be much more comfortable."

"I [N O V E L I G H T] like living with you like this, though."

"...It’s not like we’d live separately just because we move."

"What do you think?"

Alice asked.

"Do you want to move? To somewhere bigger?"

"Rather than just going somewhere bigger..."

I paused for a moment to think.

"An apartment is simply the best living arrangement in this country."

People complain about noise between floors, but that's the same for villas too. You just have to hope your neighbors aren’t crazy.

Even aside from that, I really wanted an elevator in the building. It was exhausting carrying groceries back sometimes.

"..."

The kids stayed quiet, so I opened my mouth again.

"Is something wrong?"

At my question, they exchanged glances, then looked back at me.

Claire, looking a little sheepish, was the first to speak.

"Well... we were just wondering if we're depending on you too much."

"...I already answered that the last time, didn’t I?"

When I raised my eyebrows and said that, they all looked a bit embarrassed.

"What I meant is, this isn’t about escaping discomfort. It’s about wanting to live a little more comfortably while we're here. Since we’re staying anyway, why not enjoy a bigger space?"

I waved the lottery tickets lightly.

"And honestly, I can’t think of anything else I want to do with the money."

Exactly. What else am I supposed to do with 2 billion won?

Sure, we could buy some new things, replace the furniture, that sort of stuff. But 2 billion isn’t exactly pocket change, and the only thing worth spending a huge amount all at once is housing.

"Maybe enough left over for a car too."

Of course, the only new thing I had here was my ID card. All the licenses and certifications I had back then were gone.

I'd have to get a new driver’s license, but that wasn’t a big deal. With money and time, it’s easy.

"It's not like I'm planning to take the money back to Azerna. I intend to spend it here. Even after spending it, there'll still be enough left that we won't have to worry about living expenses."

Only after I explained everything did their expressions start to brighten a little.

Seriously, they worry way too much.

Since coming over here, everyone had definitely gotten more timid.

Maybe because they went from having so much to suddenly having so little?

*

The next Monday.

Never thought I’d see the day when billions of won would show up in my bank account.

Even when I saved up my first ten million won, it hadn’t felt real. Now that I had twenty times that amount, it felt even less real.

I heard that outside the lottery prize office, there were usually a lot of people begging for money. But maybe because we all looked so obviously like foreigners, no one approached us.

It’s not like foreigners can’t win or aren’t allowed to claim prizes legally, but... a bunch of young foreign-looking girls rushing in together probably didn’t look like first prize winners.

Good for me.

Whether it was coincidence or misunderstanding, I didn’t care. It was nice not having anyone bother us while we collected the money.

During yesterday’s stream, I tried so hard not to let my expression give anything away.

Still, none of the viewers asked if we had won the lottery. Probably didn’t even occur to them.

I wouldn't have thought it either.

"Should we eat something fancy today?"

With plenty of money in the bank, plus what we’d already earned, there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Ooh, really? Like what?"

Seeing me so cheerful, Alice smiled and asked.

"Well..."

Fancy food, huh.

Usually when people say "fancy food," the first thing that comes to mind is seafood.

Sure, there are high-end sushi restaurants, barbecue places, hotel restaurants too, but within the range of "let’s just go today!" seafood seemed the most realistic.

"How about crab?"

At my suggestion, the kids tilted their heads.

*

Thankfully, it seemed the food suited everyone's taste — no one was just picking at their plates.

Well, it’s crab. How could it not be good? I used to love imitation crab sticks as a kid. Though those probably weren’t real crab.

Even when I was working and earning my own money, crab was something I rarely treated myself to. Eating it now felt strangely emotional.

"First thing is, we need to find a place to move to."

While the kids were busy eating, I said, picking up a slice of sashimi from the side dishes with my chopsticks.

Apparently, they weren’t big on raw food — I was the only one touching the sashimi. Some of them tried it out of curiosity, but didn’t go back for more.

Which was a shame. It was delicious.

Maybe it was a good thing we didn’t go to a sushi place after all.

"But before that, we should decide how we’re going to live once we move."

At my words, two of the kids paused their eating.

Claire and Alice.

Mia and Charlotte slowed down too, glancing curiously between Claire, Alice, and me.

Why?

"I’m sharing a room with Sis."

Claire jumped in before Alice could say anything.

"Shouldn’t we think about how many rooms we have first?"

Alice scolded Claire.

"Doesn’t matter how many rooms there are. We won’t each get our own anyway. So I’m staying with Sis."

"It could have three rooms, though?"

"Then you can have a room by yourself. You’re the imperial princess, right?"

"...Sylvia’s a princess too. And she's the one buying the place. If anyone should have a room to themselves, it’s her."

"But I’m Sylvia’s little sister."

"I’m Sylvia’s big sister."

"Did Sylvia ever actually call you ‘big sister’?"

"..."

I gave up on getting involved and just decided to eat my meal.

I was hoping for a three-room place, but at this rate, one room would have to fit three people.

The spare room could be used as a streaming room or something.

I was never popular in the old world, but here, apparently, I was very loved.

Even if it was mostly by girls who were basically like blood sisters, it still felt kind of lucky.

...Is it normal for sisters to be this close? Honestly, Claire and Alice’s bickering felt way more like how real siblings act.

Oh, right. They actually are real sisters.

Satisfied with solving the little mystery in my head, I nodded to myself.

"Come on, Sis. Say something."

"Yeah, Sylvia. You’re the one who decides."

Hmm.

"Now that I think about it, there’s still plenty of time. Let’s think it over a bit more."

I’d already made up my mind inside, but since it was pretty fun watching the two of them argue, I decided to stay quiet for now.

"..."

Meanwhile, Charlotte, silently watching the three of us, turned her head slightly toward Mia.

"Mia, let’s share a room."

At Charlotte’s suggestion, Mia, with her mouth stuffed full of crab meat, nodded eagerly.