“Brother, can’t we just take the KTX (Korea Train Express) even though it’s last minute?”
Seo Eun, who was sitting in the backseat, grumbled.
“Seo Eun, do you see the bag in the trunk? That’s filled with guns and stuff. How can we possibly take the train with all that?”
“Geez… How much stuff do you need to bring? It’s just a 2 nights and 3 days trip, why did you pack so much?”
Seo Eun turned her head and began to inspect the contents of the bag in the back.
That child, always doing dangerous things while I’m driving.
“Brother, what’s this mask for? I haven’t seen this one before.”
Seo Eun took out a mask from the bag.
Unlike the half-face mask I usually wore, this one covered the entire face.
“You never know what might happen there. In case there’s trouble, we should bring something to cover our face.”
Hearing this, Subin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked with a curious look.
“Didn’t you go under recognition impairment before coming?”
“Oh, I didn’t. Neither Seo Eun nor I have had our faces exposed to the public yet.”
“Ah…”
Subin trailed off.
Wait a minute, now that I think about it, Subin is the only one who went under recognition impairment for this trip.
And it was me who broadcasted Subin’s face to the public.
Hmm.
Let’s drop this conversation. I feel sorry for bringing it up…
Meanwhile, Seo Eun was absentmindedly playing with her phone in the back seat. Must be nice not having a care in the world.
With that, we continued our drive to Busan.
Driving for 5 hours is seriously exhausting…
***
“The ocean!”
We had arrived at Haeundae.
Seo Eun seemed happy; that’s good to see.
The kid could play all they wanted, while I spread out a mat and sat down under the parasol.
It’s even exhausting to stay standing. I needed to sit for a bit.
Subin, who came to sit next to me, bought two drinks and handed one to me.
The sun was shining, and the beach was not too crowded. Perfect.
This is why you should go on trips on weekdays.
The person sitting next to me took a sip from the drink with a straw, swept her hair behind her ear, and said to me,
“I haven’t seen the ocean in so long… not since I was very young.”
“Same here, it’s been a while for me.”
It seems like the first time since I’ve been dropped into this world.
Sure, the ocean is just the ocean… but when you see it, there’s something about it that just clears your mind.
Since coming to this world, I’ve…
Taken care of 4 villains.
Been involved in 3 terrorist acts.
Life has been too busy.
Amidst all the chaos, it’s necessary to take a break like this once in a while.
“… I’m always thankful to you, Dain.”
While I was… how should I put it? Staring blankly at the ocean, zoned out?
Subin quietly spoke up next to me.
“Thankful? For what?”
“Just… for everything. I’m grateful you didn’t kill me at first, and for treating me well…”
“Haha, what are you talking about? If anything, I’m more grateful to you. You’ve taken care of all the household chores, even aiding Seo Eun.”
“It makes me happy to hear you say that.”
Subin said, smiling gently.
What’s with this atmosphere?
Is this some kind of flag?
In comics, anyone who says something like that usually ends up dead or betrays someone in the next volume, right?
It scares me!
Before I could ask why she was saying that, Seo Eun, who had run off by herself to see the sea, returned.
“Back already? You’ve seen enough?”
“Yeah. Well, looking at it over and over, it’s not much different from the sea I’ve seen in games. It feels familiar, somehow.”
My word.
To say that her first real view of the ocean feels familiar because she’s seen it so much in games.
Is this a positive influence of gaming or a negative one?
I’m not sure, but it seems like we need to limit your gaming when we get back.
“Still, walking barefoot on the sand was refreshing. Star rating? Maybe 3 out of 5?”
… I’ve never seen someone rate a beach before.
And she’s stingy too! At least give it 4 stars!
“Should we go have lunch then?”
Let’s.
***
We found ourselves at a gukbap (rice soup) restaurant.
When in Busan, you’ve got to have gukbap.
“Brother, it says here that we should pour the radish kimchi broth into the gukbap, is that really true?”
“Hmm… If you really want to try it that way, go ahead.”
Not for me, though.
Regardless, Seo Eun proceeded to pour the radish kimchi broth into her gukbap.
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
