The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

If you ask me, the person around me who knows how to enjoy life the most is definitely Claire.

I mean, just the fact that she remembers and celebrates foreign holidays that most people wouldn’t even bother with says it all.

Sure, some Koreans dress up for Halloween or enjoy themed parties. But unless you’re seriously enthusiastic, you wouldn’t go out of your way like this.

Now that I think about it, Claire is, in some sense, what you’d call a "social butterfly." If she’d been born in this world, she probably would’ve had a contact list on her phone longer than most people’s entire friend groups combined.

Though for someone like that, she didn’t seem to have many friends back in Azerna...

...Was that my fault?

Maybe she didn’t get the chance to make friends by the dozens because she stuck around someone like me, who’s about as introverted as it gets.

Was her impulse to wear Halloween costumes after Halloween some kind of suppressed extrovert energy finally bursting out?

“What do you think?”

Claire was grinning ear to ear, holding up a costume, and we all fell briefly silent.

No one had tried it on yet, but it was clearly something a witch would wear.

Did you know? Even in Azerna, where magic actually exists, no one wears that stereotypical "witch" outfit. So this whole look—the pointed hat, the black dress—is something Claire must’ve learned here, in this world.

A frightening level of adaptability.

“It’s cute. I think it’ll suit you really well, Claire.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, sis? Obviously, we’re all wearing it!”

Yeah. Of course.

“You know that video of us working out the other day? It’s been getting way more views than usual. Cosplaying as game characters is cool and all, but people get bored. You’ve gotta switch things up depending on the time and place!”

"Time and place"—Halloween already passed, and we’re not exactly streaming out in public.

Still, there was no point in arguing with someone this enthusiastic.

I glanced at the other three. All of them looked a little baffled, but weirdly enough, they didn’t seem opposed.

...As I mentioned earlier, this "witch in a black dress and pointed hat" image doesn’t even exist in Azerna.

So maybe that’s why Claire’s outfit didn’t strike them as odd—just fresh. A new kind of design.

Alice didn’t seem too bothered the last time she wore a hanbok either. I didn’t mind it then, either.

I started wondering how I could explain that witch costumes were different from hanbok, then gave up.

*

[What is this? Is it Halloween? Didn’t it already pass?]

“Well, they do seem aware that it passed.”

In the end, we all dressed up as witches and started the stream.

Not all the costumes were identical. Claire and I wore what you’d call "gothic-style" witch outfits. Honestly, if it weren’t for the hats, people probably wouldn’t even realize they were supposed to be witch costumes.

Alice and Charlotte’s outfits were a little more modest in terms of design, but they had slightly plunging necklines.

Alice was a bit embarrassed putting hers on, while Charlotte looked surprisingly unbothered. According to her, dresses at balls or formal events often had even more exposure than this. And well, these didn’t exactly have open backs.

Mia’s outfit was... hmm.

Honestly, it looked more like something a magical girl would wear than a witch. And unlike the rest of us, who were in mostly black, hers was bright violet.

It suited her, but if someone asked me to choose one of the five outfits to wear in public, I’d pick literally anything else.

But hey—we weren’t going anywhere today.

“Halloween may be over, but we didn’t get to ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) celebrate it properly. So today is our belated Halloween special!”

Should I be relieved this wasn’t a "Christmas special" already?

She’s definitely going to bring out Santa costumes once December rolls around.

“And!”

Claire leaned forward and grabbed the mouse. I scooted back to make room for her.

She’d asked to handle today’s stream content herself, and I let her. We hadn’t planned anything major anyway.

As long as she didn’t make us exercise in these outfits, I could deal.

“Today’s content is this!”

“...What is that?”

The game Claire had pulled up was one I’d never heard of or seen before.

“A voice-activated game!”

Oh—now that rang a bell.

Some mainstream games have voice recognition features, but they’re usually just a gimmick. Most people only try it once or twice before getting bored. It feels awkward to play a game by yourself where you have to talk to it.

Also, "voice recognition" in gaming often just means measuring sound volume. True voice processing is complicated. And if the game uses a different language, the system has to be tailored for that too. Usually, the mic just registers how loud you are—like blowing into it or staying silent to avoid detection.

One of the weirdest indie games I’d seen involved controlling the character by adjusting the pitch of your voice.

“Ta-da!”

But the game Claire loaded was a little different.

A vertical scrolling shooter, it seemed.

“This one isn’t officially released yet. It’s an in-development shooter by an indie developer in the U.S.”

Claire, now a seasoned streamer, explained the game with ease.

From what she said, the game was notoriously hard—just a bullet hell shooter on its own.

But what made it unique was the bomb mechanic.

Usually, in shooters, you get a few screen-clearing bombs per life—get-out-of-jail cards that wipe the screen of enemies and bullets.

But this game let you use bombs as much as you want. Because the magical girl faces her enemies bravely—with courage!

The catch?

“You have to say the designated line to activate the bomb!”

“...Claire.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“Can a solo dev game really have accurate voice recognition?”

“Of course not! That’s why the dev literally said, ‘This system runs on the magical girl’s honor.’”

“...”

“Technically, as long as you make some sound for a certain duration, the bomb goes off. You could play a recording or just blow into the mic. But!”

She pointed to the chat.

We had witnesses—our viewers.

A perfect game for streamers.

“We’ll take turns playing. There’s only one stage since it’s still in development, but the difficulty’s up there with full bullet hell games. There’s no balancing yet, so you might get hit with unavoidable bullet patterns. You’ll want to bomb often, just in case.”

[LMAO where did you find this garbage game] [I can’t stop laughing] [Someone clear the stage before stream ends]

Ding.

A donation mission came in. 100,000 won.

[Loser has to do a 3-part dance time]

Ding.

Another mission, same amount.

I mean... it’s free money, but why does it feel so unsettling?

“Alrighty!”

Claire beamed, looking around at us.

I looked too.

Alice and Charlotte wore the same expression I probably had—not thrilled. But they both had a weird sort of confidence.

They had good reflexes, after all. When it came to non-turn-based games, they were surprisingly competent. Once they got the hang of controls, their performance was solid.

So what about Mia, whose physical skills were weaker than mine—

“Wooow!”

Her eyes sparkled as Claire explained.

Ah, right.

She still watches magical girl anime.

And she was, without a doubt, the one among us whose outfit looked most like an actual magical girl’s.

[Mia is adorable] [Sooo cute]

Chat lit up in response to her excitement.

Looks like... I have no choice.

I let out a long, silent sigh.

“Oh, and no copying each other’s lines! Every magical girl has her own unique identity!”

Wait—Claire, do you watch magical girl shows too?

She met my gaze and grinned.

Was all that Halloween buildup just a setup for this stream?

What a terrifying girl.

For a split second... I felt like I was looking at the game version of Claire.