The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

“[You went to the beach but didn’t wear swimsuits?]”

“...Alright, I’ll block this person for now.”

Honestly, the guts it takes to get yourself blocked after donating money... impressive.

[Paid ban, lmao]

[That guy has no line, lololol]

I glanced at the chat and was relieved to see that kind of reaction.

“Even if we had worn swimsuits, whether or not we’d show the photos is a different matter. Unless everyone agrees, we don’t plan on showing them.”

[But you wore them in-game tho]

“In that case, please be satisfied with figures or something. Do you want to get banned?”

The chat was suddenly filled with bowing emotes. So that kind of emoticon exists too, huh? Maybe it’s exclusive to streaming chats?

“I don’t know if I’ll edit and upload the video, but I can at least show the photos we took.”

With that, I put the photo up on the screen.

The first one was a photo from a rest stop.

We hadn’t taken pictures from the very start of the trip in case people figured out where we lived, so we began with photos taken on the way.

Truthfully, we were a group that stood out. If someone nearby happened to watch our stream, they could probably guess where we lived. But so far, no one had come looking for us, and I hadn’t seen any chatter online about our neighborhood either—at least not in the circles I checked.

Thankfully, we live in an apartment building, so even if someone did figure out the address, they probably couldn’t make it right to the door. Of course, if the stalker lives in the same complex, that’d be a different story.

Well, no point worrying about things that haven’t happened yet.

Either way, better safe than sorry—so we chose the photos with that in mind.

[LMAO]

[Y’all ate a lot huh]

[Didn’t you feel bloated afterwards?]

“It was still just an hour or so away from here, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.”

“And besides, we played more when we got there.”

Claire chimed in with a laugh, explaining further.

The photo showed the table absolutely covered with rest stop food. Because of how we looked, the whole scene kinda gave off the vibe of one of those Korean cable reality shows. You know, the “foreigners obsessed with Korean rest stop food” type.

If it ends up on a major site, I’ll have to milk it for content again.

Then there’ll probably be another post like, “Koreans are so discriminatory,” and that, too, could become stream fodder. It’s basically infinite fuel.

[Did the food suit your tastes?]

“We’re Korean, so yes, it suited our tastes.”

My response made the room break into a wave °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of light laughter.

[Uh oh lol]

[Are you mocking foreigners now?? lolol]

[Wow, what garbage behavior]

[Sorryㅠㅠ]

Ding. A donation popped up—an apology, no less. A whopping ten thousand won.

“Well, technically we came from another world, so in a way, we are foreigners.”

The chat exploded again at my reply. Most of it was just people joking around. This time the jokes were about me selling out my nationality for money, but they were more meme-y than malicious, so I left it alone.

“After eating there, we headed back out...”

I pressed the keyboard’s arrow key, and the screen moved to the next photo.

[Ooh]

[That’s beautiful]

It really was a pretty place to see with the naked eye, but the photo made it look even more vivid. The usual melancholic feeling of autumn was a bit dulled, but the deep blue sea and sky looked stunning.

“We got to stay at a great campsite. Since we had a car, we brought a bunch of stuff too.”

And the next photo—

...Huh?

I had thought it’d be the photo of our dinner, but it wasn’t.

It was a shot of Claire hitting me square in the head with a ball she’d thrown.

The photo was taken in broad daylight, and it came out crystal clear without any blur.

When I turned my head, every girl in the room did the same. Even Mia.

...Well, whatever. It’s my fault for not double-checking at the end.

“We had fun too.”

I shrugged as I said that.

There were videos of us playing with a beach ball, but since those were clips, I skipped past them for now.

The next photo was of Mia and me slouched in our camping chairs. Then there was one of us prepping the barbecue, then one where we were all eating together, a shot of Mia hugging the galbijjim as she devoured it, one of Alice crying while watching a movie...

I couldn’t believe how many photos there were.

Thank god we all had smartphones. Otherwise, these moments might’ve slipped by unnoticed and become forgotten memories.

“...And that’s about everything that happened at the campsite.”

We wrapped up with a group photo taken in front of the car. That was the end of the photo set.

[That was awesome]

[Can’t wait for the video]

[I wanna go camping too...]

“Right? I kind of want to go again myself.”

Charlotte agreed with one of the comments she’d just read.

“We just got back though?”

“Still, it’d be nice to go again. And it’s not like we’re short on time.”

Oh?

It was a little surprising to hear that kind of comment from Charlotte.

“...Why are you saying that?”

I stared at her, and Charlotte looked a bit flustered.

“It’s nothing.”

“No, something’s definitely up. What is it? Why the weird face?”

“My face looks exactly the same as usual, thank you very much.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

Alice laughed and backed me up.

Hmm.

I have been working on my facial expressions lately, but if even Charlotte noticed, then I must not have been hiding them well at all.

Charlotte kept glancing at me suspiciously afterward, but honestly, it wasn’t fair.

I seriously hadn’t been thinking anything.

*

“So should we leave this one here?”

“Yeah, looks good. From here, we can just fill it out sideways.”

Claire looked pleased as she said that, and I found myself glancing at her face.

We were at the very end of the drawer under the TV.

On the way home, we’d stopped at a photo shop to print out that last picture from the campsite. Not on a big sheet—just a photo about the size of a palm. We also picked up a matching frame at the general store on the way back.

I placed it on the far-left side of the drawer, and judging from Claire’s comment, she probably intended to fill the top of this drawer with pictures. Arranged like this, it seemed like we could fit over ten.

“It’s not like I have to fill it completely, and it doesn’t have to be only camping pictures.”

Claire added that as if to reassure me.

“You can take pictures anywhere, right? Just pick the good ones. And when it’s time to part ways, we can split them up.”

“You’re not thinking of printing one per person?”

“We could do that...”

Claire paused for a second, then grinned brightly.

“But wouldn’t it be better if each of us had different pictures? That way, you’d actually want to meet up again. To relive every memory, we’d have to meet. That reason alone might push us to reconnect. Otherwise, we’d just stick them in an album and mope around, flipping through them every few hours.”

...Huh.

“That does make sense.”

Charlotte replied.

And once again, I stared at Charlotte.

“You’ve been making those weird faces since earlier. Something’s definitely going on. Are you plotting again?”

“...I don’t think I’ve plotted all that often.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened in disbelief at my accusation.

“Says the girl who’s been weaving a grand scheme since childhood to oust the goddess.”

“Exactly! And even rewound time multiple times to pull it off!”

Mia, who had been listening, chimed in loudly.

Well, yeah, I could rewind time back then, so I did. And it wasn’t until much later that I learned the real truth behind the world.

“......”

But since I once used that ability to make a low blow against Mia, I couldn’t bring myself to argue with her now.

“Still, it’d be nice to make plans like that.”

Alice stepped in like a mediator.

“No matter how busy we get, if we’re determined, we can make time. I know it’s weird to hear this from me, but after living like this... if we don’t spend at least a day or two like that each year, life might just get too boring.”

“...I agree completely.”

Charlotte said.

“Until now, I lived only thinking about my country and my crown... But yes. We’ve got a long future ahead of us. Life needs its own kind of pleasure.”

Mia nodded enthusiastically.

“Exactly, Sis. Don’t you think so too?”

Claire asked with a bright expression, and I simply shrugged.

“You know... I’ve always lived with that mindset.”

At my response, Alice let out a little snort, Charlotte held her forehead, and Mia blinked.

“You really didn’t seem like it.”

“Is that so?”

I said, and before I realized it, I was patting Mia’s head.

The other three followed suit immediately. Mia tried to resist, but she couldn’t fully escape the hands of four taller girls.

Yeah.

The reason I run around like this is all for that happy ending.

And if that’s not what you call a selfish kind of “joy in life,” then what is?

Just thinking about it made me smile for no reason.