TFCG 8

Chapter 8

Heh. Getting treated like this in reality doesn’t feel all that great.

Rena disliked the protagonist at first. With her prideful personality and the fact that she was a noble lady from a prestigious family, there was no way she’d like someone who skipped the entrance exam and got in as a “special recruit.”

Her cold attitude paired so well with her catlike appearance that, when I was playing the game, I just thought, “Look at her being all prim, cute,” and brushed it off. …But experiencing it to my face wasn’t very pleasant.

Still, later on, she acknowledges the protagonist as they adventure together. Even then she doesn’t get any friendlier—she continues being curt, treating the protagonist as her rival all the same.

“Rena, you’ll be sharing a room from now on, so don’t be like that…”

Leo’s effort to calm his sister was almost tear-jerking, but it didn’t seem to help. Rena still radiated icy hostility.

To be honest, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand her. If I had struggled my way into a job, only to have some parachute-hire suddenly plop in, I’d probably feel the same.

In reality, parachute hires usually have powerful backers, so you can’t glare at them directly; all you can do is fume in private.

And yet here I am—the one who couldn’t get a job in the real world, suddenly becoming a parachute hero in another world thanks to the goddess. Really, you never know what life has in store.

I’d been loafing around because I still liked playing, and now I’ve been forced into “employment” as a hero. No matter how I look at it, this feels like an unfair contract. I never agreed to this…

“This way to your room. I’ll guide you.”

It was supposed to be Rena’s job to show me around, but somehow it was her younger brother Leo making small talk while escorting me.

He tried to draw Rena into the conversation too, but she only brushed her hair back haughtily and walked ahead without a word.

“Neither my twin sister Rena nor I have had a roommate until now. When I heard someone new was joining, I thought, ‘Finally, I’ll get a roommate!’ But unfortunately, you’re a woman, so… Ah! I don’t mean I dislike you, Lady Elaine the Supreme Shooter, that’s not it, I just…”

“It’s fine. I get what you’re trying to say.”

Poor Leo, struggling all alone to cover for his unsociable sister.

“Thanks for understanding. Oh, and you can speak casually with me. You’re older than us.”

Leo smiled bashfully. The twins were twenty-two, two years younger than me.

“Alright, I’ll do that. Rena, was it? You too?”

There was no need to hold back. After all, I’d been talking down to them one-sidedly through the monitor this whole time.

Players even used to call them affectionately “Kim Rena” and “Kim Leo.” Their names fit so well with the Kim surname.

When I casually dropped the honorifics, Rena bristled as if about to snap at me. But when our eyes met, she just turned her head away with a frustrated “hmph.”

Consistent as always.

“Your room is on the third floor. The second floor is for the men.”

Since the third floor was off-limits to men, Leo only guided me up to the second floor.

Thanks to that, I entered the dorm room with my icy new roommate.

It was technically one room, but the layout had a shared living space with separate bedrooms.

“My room’s this one. You take the one across. The bathroom’s over there. From now on, as the senior, I’ll be using it first. But today, I’ll let you go first. You look terrible.”

Rena wrinkled her nose as she gave me a once-over, clicked her tongue, and shut herself into her room.

Geez, so prickly.

Still, since she let me use the bathroom first, I guess I should be grateful… maybe.

Sighing, I stepped into the bathroom.

I should have spare clothes in my inventory, right?

These weren’t items in the game, but conveniently, underwear and pajamas had been itemized. Things like [Fluffy Pajamas] and [Clean Underwear].

Looking around the bathroom, I was shocked.

The first thing I saw was a flush toilet. Beside it was a sink, and behind a waterproof shower curtain was a large bathtub with a faucet.

Apparently, this world had modern plumbing.

Delighted by the clean facilities, I hummed a tune as I headed toward the tub—then froze when I caught sight of the mirror above the sink.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t checked a mirror since arriving here.

I figured there were two possibilities.

One, my original face—Lee Ga-eun.

After all, my voice was the same as before I died, and the long black hair didn’t seem out of place.

Two, my character’s face—the custom avatar I’d created, “Supreme Shooter Elaine.”

And the answer was—

The latter.

The reflection in the mirror was none other than “Supreme Shooter Elaine.”

Well, I should’ve guessed from the moment my name wasn’t Lee Ga-eun but something like “Supreme…” whatever.

A long black ponytail, light green eyes.

And most importantly, breathtaking beauty. The kind of face that would make people stop and stare in the street, thinking, “Whoa, unbelievable. Is that even human?”

No—that level of beauty wasn’t even something you’d encounter in everyday life. It was the kind you’d only see on TV.

A round head, a sharp jawline, large defined eyes, long lashes. Each feature was beautiful on its own, but together they harmonized into perfection.

There were still scorch marks left from the explosion, but they weren’t enough to mar that face.

Strictly speaking, beauty standards differ from person to person. But this face? It was exactly my type.

Naturally—it was my creation.

I wasn’t talented at games, but there was one thing I could confidently say I was good at: character customization.

No matter the game, I could always sculpt a face that matched my aesthetic standards.

It sounds boastful, but even strangers in-game would sometimes say, “Wow, your character customization is amazing.”

In middle school, my aptitude test scored me in the 99th percentile for “aesthetic sense.” In other words, top 1% in loving beauty among my peers.

With that eye for aesthetics, of course the face I made turned out pretty.

Even though I made it, it really is gorgeous.

I thought that as I scrubbed myself clean.

There were toiletries, too—not as specialized as modern ones, but a sticky jasmine-scented liquid that foamed when rubbed. Pretty decent.

After a refreshing shower, I changed into pajamas from my inventory and dried my long hair with a towel as I stepped out.

Though labeled pajamas, it was more like a comfy dress with a cardigan, not embarrassing to wear outside nearby.

I was just about to enter my room when I found Rena standing in front of my door.

“W-what? Why are you here? Isn’t this my room?”

Did I remember wrong? No, Rena herself had coldly pointed to this door earlier, saying, “That one’s yours.”

“It’s dinner time. You don’t know where the cafeteria is. Should I have just left you? Aren’t you hungry?”

“…Ah. Now that you mention it, I am.”

My stomach growled.

In Edaphosia, food existed as consumable items granting buffs. They didn’t fill you up, nor did you get hungry without them.

But right now, I was starving.

So this isn’t just some fantasy illusion—I’m actually alive here.

I suddenly remembered the airplane meal I’d missed earlier. A perfectly roasted chicken…

After being rescued, I’d eaten some bread scraps on the rescue ship, but that was long digested.

“So let’s go. To dinner.”

Rena said, arms crossed and head turned away haughtily.

…Huh, that’s unexpectedly kind of her.

She’d gone out of her way to fetch me for dinner. Not so bad, after all.

In the game, she only ever snapped at the protagonist—what’s with this change?

“Thanks, Rena.”

I scratched my cheek awkwardly as I thanked her. She only shrugged and walked off. She’d remind me about dinner, but it seemed she still didn’t like me much.

Well, whatever.

It’d be nice if she warmed up to me since we were sharing a room, but I knew that was just my wishful thinking.

To her, Rena Clarus, I was nothing but an impurity unfit for the Hagion Order.

Sighing, I hurried after her.

The dorm cafeteria was in the basement, looking very much like the school lunchroom I’d gone to as a student.

And tonight’s menu was—fried rice.

“Oh my, who’s this young lady?”

The kitchen staff member about to scoop golden fried rice onto my tray widened her eyes.

“She’s the new recruit.”

The curt reply came from Rena, standing in front of me.

“Ah, so this is the famous Goddess’s Hero. I’m Beth. We pack lunches, too, so come by anytime you need food.”

“Th-thank you.”

The woman, introducing herself as Beth, heaped my plate so full it made me worry whether I could finish it all.

Tray in hand, I followed Rena to where she’d already sat.

Part of me worried she’d dislike it, but I figured it would feel rude to sit elsewhere after she’d gone out of her way to bring me along.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind, and soon Darren and Leo joined us as well, sparing me the awkwardness of dining one-on-one with my prickly roommate.

Wow, this feels just like real Korean food.

Unlike European risotto, this was unmistakably Korean fried rice.

But this was a fusion fantasy world. Nothing was too strange. After all, the game itself had food items like gimbap and bibimbap.