When I begged it to at least tell me the direction, the system really half-assedly told me like this [←←]. I don’t know if it really wants me to save this world or not. When I went in the direction the system indicated, all I saw was an endlessly stretching forest path.
“This is the right place?”
ㅇㅇ
Now it’s even using Korean-style expressions. How annoying. Though I’d been using Korean the whole time.
I used Korean at home, so I briefly forgot where this place was, but I realized it anew when I went to the shopping mall yesterday. This was America.
Since I’d received elite education from a young age, it wasn’t that I couldn’t speak English, but I expected there would be unnatural accents or expressions, and words I wouldn’t understand. But there was no difficulty in communication at all. I could speak as if I’d lived in America all along. It must be July’s original ability, right? Then can I just drive too? Still, driving is kind of scary……
“Hey, are you a student at our school?”
Suddenly a car stopped and someone asked as the window rolled down.
“……Why?”
“I’m on my way to school too.”
I must have looked at him with too much wariness. The person who had his arm on the car window pulled up the corners of his mouth in a nice smile. Slightly dark blond hair and blue eyes, a firm jaw, tanned skin. Anyone could see he was a handsome athlete.
In high-teen dramas, aren’t most athletes bullies? In Korea, the kids who studied well were the best, but American kids were the opposite, so I had to be careful. I didn’t know if July was good at studying like me, but his popularity was negative, so he was obviously rock bottom of rock bottom.
“Want a ride? The school bus doesn’t come here. If you keep going like that, you’ll be late. Ah, I’m not like an escaped murderer or anything, so don’t worry.”
The guy shrugged his shoulders. From his joking attitude, I could feel the unique ease of someone who occupied the highest position anywhere. I was originally a boring top student who studied silently at school without a single friend, so I didn’t like that style. But if I really kept going like this, it seemed I wouldn’t make it to school. I didn’t want to fail the quest for such a trivial reason and die.
“Ah, shouldn’t I be the one who’s scared? Almost no crazy person walks this road like this. You weren’t waiting to kill just anyone who came by, were you?”
“……No. Can I get in?”
“Of course.”
The guy shrugged his shoulders, and I got in the passenger seat. It was clearly quite an expensive car.
“New student?”
“12th grade.”
“……12th grade? I’ve never seen your face before? There’s no way there’s a face I don’t know. Especially one that looks like this.”
The guy who started driving again opened his eyes wide. He even blatantly looked me over from top to bottom.
“You didn’t transfer here, did you?”
“No. I’ve been here the whole time. ……Bluedale High School.”
I almost said the name of the school in Korea.
“Hmm, really? What’s your name?”
“July Baek. You?”
Right. I have to do the greeting 100 people quest! I smiled brightly toward the guy. Perhaps my suddenly changed expression was a bit ridiculous, as he raised his right eyebrow.
“I’m David Evans. I’m also called Dave. You can call me that too. I’ll call you July.”
“……David Evans?”
“Yeah. You already know my name, I see?”
His tone suggested it was natural I would know. It was really annoying, but I didn’t not know. How could I not know?
NEW!
Greet 100 students [1/100]
<Character Status Window>
◈ Name: David Evans
◈ Age: 16 (11th grade)
◈ Popularity: 97%
◈ Affection: ???♥
◈ Nickname: ???
◈ Special Notes: Quarterback of Bluedale High School’s football team the Savers, protagonist of the drama ‘Pizza Saver’
“If I could kiss David even just once, you can take everything I have!”
The male protagonist of this damn drama, Pizza Saver, I mean. Popularity of 97%? That’s a difference of 128 from me. I’m negative, he’s almost a hundred. I know it’s international age, but seeing the age of 16…… I suddenly found him kind of cute. In Korea, sixteen years old is middle school. A kid who’s only sixteen is driving. How adorable.
This young punk throwing jokes at his hyung that don’t even make sense. I’m letting it slide because it’s America, but in Korea there’d be no mercy. Dude. In Korea, do you know how much of a fuss people make over just a one or two year age difference, calling each other senior or hyung?
Not knowing I was being all old-fashioned inside, David smiled brightly at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Yeah, because you’re handsome.”
Well, he is handsome.
“……Is that flirting?”
“No!”
Right. This is America, America. Not Korea, America! I waved my hands in shock toward David, who had suddenly become serious. David chuckled.
“I’m kind of hurt that you’re so horrified? I’m actually pretty popular, you know.”
“I know.”
Your popularity is 97%. Someone’s willing to give up their life just to kiss you once.
“But why don’t I know you? Don’t like going to parties? No, even without parties…… you have a face that would’ve become famous enough.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re handsome too. Ah, this isn’t flirting. Just stating facts.”
David’s words really seemed to have no ulterior motive. It might sound a bit annoying, but it was a fact I also knew. My mom had light pigmentation, with brown almond-colored eyes and brown hair, so she often got asked if she was mixed race. She was over 170cm, so she was tall too. I inherited those traits from Mom. Being male, my height was 183cm though.
I received quite a few offers to debut as an idol or actor, but each time my parents tore up all the business cards. They told me not to have useless thoughts and to quietly go to school. Moreover, I attended all-boys middle and high schools, so my appearance rarely had any value.
It was just that I met the objective standard of being handsome, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was positive. I hated my face. They said I looked too sharp, and looked inappropriate no matter what I did. Even though I’d only studied without ever dating once.
When I was very young or at the start of new semesters, I was sometimes labeled as a troublemaker for no reason. I also received countless misunderstandings that I dyed my hair and wore contacts. Even when I studied hard, teachers and students secretly guarded against me.
In middle school, I was hit on the back of the head because they thought I was smoking when I was eating a lollipop, and even when I wore my uniform with the shirt buttons fastened all the way up, I was told I looked like a delinquent. I envied hyung’s strong and sturdy yet neat and trustworthy impression.
“But is that a piercing?”
“What?”
“Your tongue.”
I stuck out my tongue following David, then quickly put it back in, thinking I’d made a mistake.
“Hmm, it is a piercing. Why’d you get it?”
“J-just……!”
How would I know that guy’s weird taste! But that guy was me now.
“I was curious what it would be like to kiss people with tongue piercings.”
What? Kiss? At the too-sudden topic, I opened my eyes wide and looked at him, and David shrugged.
“Aren’t you curious? I’m curious about everything I haven’t tried.”
This punk who’s only sixteen acting all precocious! A kiss that even this hyung hasn’t tried……! But I couldn’t shout that old-fashioned comment, so I quietly shut my mouth.
***
“Who’s that?”
“Don’t know. Who is it?”
When I got out of David’s car, I heard murmuring sounds. It made sense. A -31% popularity person got a ride in a 97% popularity person’s car.
“July.”
“……How tall are you?”
I stepped back in surprise at David’s large stature as he suddenly approached closely. He looked big even when I saw him in the car, and of course he’d be big since he’s an athlete, but it was surprising to confirm with my eyes. Even at 183cm, I wasn’t someone who fell behind in height anywhere, but that was by Korean standards. America was indeed different.
“Height? 6.3 feet.”
What feet? American people, really. Feet, they say, feet. Just use the convenient metric system. The only one who noticed my dissatisfied insides was the system.
6.3 feet = approximately 192cm
Sorry for thinking I wanted to hit you.
ㅋ
Even though it’s annoying, I have to look good to it, so I thought words I didn’t mean in my head.
……You with comprehensive knowledge of even old Korean expressions are very, very…… intelligent, system……
^^
I really, please, wish you had a body. Please, just……
“July, aren’t you going in?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
I followed David toward the school in a daze. I was nervous. This was finally the proper start of this damn drama. As we walked down the hallway lined with lockers, everyone’s gazes went to David, then landed on me.
“Who’s that?”
“He’s handsome. New student? Why’s he coming in with David?”
“Is he David’s relative?”
Murmur murmur, murmur murmur. July Baek must have low recognition like his low popularity. I was walking blankly following David when I turned my body in the direction the system pointed [↗!!!!!]. Then I saw a locker with the name July Baek written on it.
What’s the password?
0724
It was July’s and my birthday. When I turned the lock to 0724 with a click click, the door opened, and inside the door…… there was a poster with a skull drawn on it, so I tore it off.
“Um, that’s someone’s locker.”
Someone tapped my shoulder, so I turned around and some girl was standing there. I nodded.
“Yeah, I know. I’m July Baek. What’s your name?”
I held out my hand to perform the greeting quest. But the girl opened her eyes as wide as saucers and just alternated looking between me and my hand.
“Y-you’re…… that gloomy…… goth person?”
“……To be precise, not goth but EMO……?”
Though I don’t really know the difference between the two either.
“So your name is……”
“Kyaaaaaaah! He says he’s July Baek! That gloomy goth Japanese person is him! Him! He says he’s July Baek! That July Baek!”
That girl turned and ran away like she’d seen a ghost. I greeted her first but she didn’t even accept it. Is it because my popularity is -31? At this rate, when will I greet 99 more people?
I let out a sigh that came naturally without holding back, when I felt something strange and looked around. Someone glanced at me, and someone was blatantly staring at me while whispering with another person. Just as I wondered why, status windows started appearing.
NEW!
Popularity has increased by 1!
NEW!
Popularity has increased by 1!
NEW!
Popularity has increased by 1!
NEW!
Popularity has increased by 1!
NEW!
Popularity has increased by 1!
NEW!
Popularity has increased by 1!
.
.
.
……What’s this?
