Chapter 3: Korea’s top 3 delicacies, PC room ramen (2)

[It happens. Some days are just like that.]

– Ranking #100 / Kills 0 / Rewards 0

Less than a minute after expecting great things, the female customer Jin Yuna’s monitor displayed a gray screen.

Her flashy looting and game settings must’ve just been for show.

She played a few more rounds, then slumped over the keyboard.
Her looting was fast and flashy, but dying without firing a single shot was consistent every match.

‘Well, it happens.’

In a PC bang full of guys, it’s natural for a girl starting a game to draw attention.
And if she enjoys the spotlight, it’s only natural she’d want to show off some skill.

‘Guess it’s just about a girl playing an FPS, whatever.’

Losing interest in Jin Yuna, Kim Suho let his focus blur and stared blankly past the counter.

Then, a sudden thought hit him.

‘…Why is she listening through speakers when she’s wearing a headset?’

A primal question arose.

The PC bang was filled with the sound of her game.
Being an FPS, it was especially jarring.

‘Does she not know the speakers and headset are playing sound at the same time?’

Given her awful gameplay, it seemed plausible.

– A message has arrived at the counter.

As if agreeing with him, a message came from a nearby customer.

Message – [The game sound next to me is too loud]

It might seem like a simple complaint, but Kim Suho, a six-month PC bang veteran, could read between the lines.

‘They want me to tell her to quiet down.’

Curious about her face and maybe hoping to strike up a conversation, he got up and approached Jin Yuna.

“Excuse me…”

Maybe because of the headset, she didn’t budge even when called from right beside her.

“Hey, excuse me.”

With no choice, he lightly tapped her shoulder.
Even with a gentle touch, he could feel her delicate shoulder bones.

“Y-Yes… yes?”

Flustered, Jin Yuna took off her headset and looked up at Kim Suho.

Her large, round eyes met his.
His heart skipped a beat.

“…”

Her droopy, puppy-like eyes.
Her eye color was unusual.

Even her voice was cute.

Unfortunately, she wore a mask, so he couldn’t see the rest of her face.

‘…Could be a mask fraud.’

Kim Suho thought, trying to stay calm.

Work, focus on work.

“Some people nearby said the sound is too loud.”

“…Oh…!”

Jin Yuna, who had been dazed even after removing her headset, finally seemed to grasp the situation and jumped up, fumbling.

She clearly had no idea the speakers and headset were both outputting sound.

She stood on her tiptoes, peering behind the monitor at the PC, fiddling with things, and plugging and unplugging the green audio cable, trying her best.
But the Kill the Grounds background music kept leaking from the speakers.

Of course.
She needed to press the speaker’s mute button, not mess with the PC.

She must only game at home or hasn’t been to a PC bang in ages.

“Need some help?”

Unable to watch any longer, Kim Suho smiled and spoke kindly to avoid startling her.

“Oh, if you could… th-thank…”
“Huh? You’re saying go Marlene Dietrich?”

But her response was,

“Th-Thanks… I’d appreciate it…”

A stammered “thanks” and some unintelligible informal speech.

I always thought I was perfectly fine with socializing.

No one ever gave me dirty looks or talked behind my back.
I even had a few friends, including Jihoon, my childhood buddy.

‘But… I was wrong.’

I’m terrible at talking to strangers.
I just never noticed because no one ever approached me…

‘Come to think of it, except for Jihoon, all my friends are online.’

Realizing this made me a little sad.

‘No, wait.’

If I were truly bad at socializing, I would’ve failed all those part-time job interviews.

Right. It’s specifically people showing me kindness that I have no immunity to.

In my entire life, the PC bang worker who just approached me with a smile was the first to do so.

As a result, my brain got jammed with thoughts like, ‘How do I handle someone being nice?’ and I ended up blurting out informal speech to the first person who showed me kindness, causing a total disaster.

But it didn’t end there.

‘I just want to bite my tongue and die…’

When I took off the headset after the worker’s warning, I heard the booming Kill the Grounds music blaring through the speakers.

From my seat.

Given how Koreans check out loud noises, all eyes must’ve been on me, witnessing my pathetic gaming skills in full display.

So embarrassing.

My ears were still burning with shame.
If I had to pick the most humiliating day of my life, it’d be today.

‘And to top it all off.’

An oversized hoodie, bare legs sticking out.
My shoes, loose like I stole my dad’s.

My outfit screamed “weird person.”

The reason? I usually wear oversized clothes.

The hoodie, already big on my old body, was twice too large for my smaller frame now.
I could pass the top off as fashion, but pants were hopeless—they’d just slide off my waist.

The only long coat I had dragged on the floor, so I couldn’t wear it.

All I could manage was this giant hoodie and some boxer briefs.

So here I was, in the middle of December, wearing just a hoodie.
I thought it’d be fine for a quick trip, but drawing everyone’s attention like this…

‘…If they think I’m weird, so be it.’

I’ll just sleep it off and forget by tomorrow.
Right now, I had bigger problems than looking strange.

I focused on the immediate issue.

For my streaming debut, I planned to play Kill the Grounds.

With competitive mode just released, it seemed perfect for practice, so I ran a one-person squad.

[It happens. Some days are just like that.]

Ranking #100, Kills 0, Rewards 0

I died the moment the game started.
Last place, harder than first.

“Why? What’s going on?”

I hurriedly queued for the next match.

[It happens. Some days are just like that.]

Ranking #95, Kills 0, Rewards 0

Same result.

Is it because my hands are smaller?
Or maybe my eye level is lower now?
Or the PC bang mouse?

– Swoosh,
– Argh! Ugh!

‘What? When did they get me?’

Even my best skill, sound-based play, was completely off.

The next game, the one after, and the one after that—all the same.
Not a single kill before I was out.

I played countless games after that.
League, Blanc Survival, Overwars, Steam games…

All of them were too pathetic for streaming.

‘My gaming skills have regressed.’

This wasn’t part of the plan.

Gaming was my one talent.
I was always in the top 10% at any game, but now it’s like I’ve never been good at them.

‘Is this punishment for wanting to live too easy a life…?’

I had to conclude that becoming a ‘pro-gamer beauty,’ like being a ‘frail, tragic beauty,’ was not just difficult but impossible.

Click.

I’m sad.

Click.

I’m depressed.

Click.

I could cry.

Click.

I sent a message to my friend Jihoon on Discord, saying I was down, and he replied, ‘What do you want me to do, you b*stard?’ and ‘Go eat something.’

Click. Click.

Then it hit me.
The PC bang ramen was 1,000 won.

[Order Complete]

I decided to heal my sad, frustrated heart with delicious PC bang ramen.
It was already working—I felt better.

My order:
Two bowls of ramen, two bowls of rice.

My hunger had reached an indescribable level.

I’d never eaten two bowls of ramen and rice in one sitting, but I felt like I could now.

Even if I couldn’t finish it, that’d be fine too.
This kind of luxury is only possible during a half-price ramen sale.

“Sigh…”

But I’m starting to worry.

As a pretty girl, I have to find a way to live an easy life.
What else is there?

“Your food is here.”

Two bowls of ramen and two bowls of rice were placed in front of me.

Gulp.

Let’s eat first, then think.