Chapter 115
“Huh, that kid really fights well.”
“Is that really a golem...?”
Minyum’s Ultimate ‘I Really Believed It’ Jet Kick was blasting the monsters threatening the inspection team to bits.
“Wow, Eve! Looks like Minyum got a lot of upgrades!”
“Hehe, I’m not the old Minyum anymore.”
“That’s seriously amazing.”
Chaea unnie and Dohee unnie were nodding too, remembering the old Minyum. It made me think back to the time when the three of us went to a gate together. Back then, Ophelia wasn't around yet, Suri was still an eagle, and most of all, Minyum's outer shell? Its armor was still plastic.
I had a hair dryer, so I could still do jet kicks, but overall I was small and weak, so even against goblins I only won after a really hard fight.
ㅡKWA-A-A-AAANG!!
Things are completely different now. Instead of wind, I'm blasting flames out from behind me and kicking low-rank monsters to pieces as I go.
“At this point, they’re on par with the big tech companies.”
“You can say that again.”
“Eve’s abilities are definitely worth high praise.”
“Hehe.”
Combat power to the point that even Nova's veteran hunters acknowledged it. But I still hadn't even shown everything I can do..! Add Grandpa Galahad, mana-enhanced Bird Strike Suri, Fenrir the doggy, and Ophelia's sniper rifle, and I could become five times stronger than this.
Of course the inspection team is only going as far as the 5th floor, so we won't need that much there—but that's what I mean.
“Wow, as expected from people from Nova. This much should be enough to verify the mock battle.”
The supervisor was nodding too, saying it looked fine. After fighting a bit, we'd gotten a feel for things, and to be honest, all that was left was getting our coordination right. They were all hunters from Nova who'd already spent ten or twenty years grinding it out and had probably fought together at least once.
“Thanks for your hard work, everyone~ See you later.”
“Yep, thank you for your hard work.”
We finished checking the gate in half the time I'd expected. It was all thanks to Minyum's performance.
“Minyum, you did great! Why is your jet kick output so much stronger now?!”
ㅡClack!
The miscellaneous metal inside had been removed and replaced entirely with high-strength rare metal, so it seemed like it could move around however it wanted without worrying about breaking.
Come to think of it, the outer shell had already been replaced with rare metal, but inside there was still plenty of ordinary metal from the original engine, along with metal that was relatively weak.
Now it seemed like it could fight at full output without worrying about those parts breaking.
“Hehe, you cool little thing!”
* * * * *
“Ophelia... are you trying to sell me off..?”
“Then please take good care of the princess.”
“Eve, stop saying weird things and come over here. If someone heard you, they’d think I was the bad guy.”
“Sniff sniff.”
Chaea unnie’s casual “Should we go hang out on the weekend?” ended up coming true.
Honestly, when I'm at home, lying in bed all warm and cozy is the best, so I'm not really cut out for extrovert life. Chaea unnie is a total social butterfly, so fine, but an introvert like me shouldn't be doing that..!
On the gallery, I act like a fool with the gallery goofballs, and then go out and have fun like a social butterfly.
‘The gallery goofballs are pitiful..!’
But that was beside the point; right now, I was the pitiful one. My weekend had been stolen away.
“What spring clothes would suit Eve? Let’s try on a bunch of things.”
“Clothes..? I already have a lot of clothes….”
“They’re all winter clothes, though. Ophelia asked me to buy you some spring clothes that suit you~”
“Gasp….”
It turned out she was doing it at Ophelia's request to buy me clothes. Of course, with me not at home, Ophelia seemed to be working much faster. She can handle sending documents and drawing up contracts online and all that, but physically going out and doing it herself is impossible.
After I go to school, she apparently runs around busily taking care of those things.
In the end, Ophelia has her own hardships too. Who would complain to Ophelia about having too much work and being tired?
ㅡVrrrrm.
“Eve, do you want to eat first? Or should we go buy clothes first?”
“I don't really feel hungry right now.”
“Really? Then let’s go to the department store, buy clothes, put them on, and eat there.”
“Yep.”
ㅡBeep..!
As soon as we said we'd buy clothes first, Dangdang, who was next to us, started furiously wagging his butt and complaining.
“What are you saying? Then go eat on your own.”
“Huh? What did Dangdang say?”
“He says he's hungry and wants to eat first.”
“Pfft, you can understand everything Dangdang says?”
“W-well... more or less….”
We headed off in Dohee unnie’s Maxcruz to a huge department store in Gangnam. Since it was a day off and spring was almost here, there were tons of people.
“I-isn't this place super expensive..?”
“You’re the one saying that? That’s rich.”
“I mean, do I even have money...? I only get 300,000 won in allowance every month...”
“Eve, you get a really tiny allowance?”
“Waaah. Please tell Ophelia I want my allowance raised.”
The absurdly expensive luxury department store that always ranks number one in sales in Korea. Even the people walking around seem mostly like rich families.
“If we’re buying Eve clothes... we should go to the 10th floor.”
To the children's section, lined with ultra-high-end premium children's brands. Honestly, I really didn't like it, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. My actual body does need children's clothes and all that....
“Wow, there are so many cute clothes!”
“Ughhh….”
There were rows and rows of tiny mannequins wearing clothes that looked like they were meant for little grade-school kids, not for someone as grown-up as me.
Every store was a different brand, and every single one of them was a high-end luxury label with a big name.
“Oh, Eve. Weren’t you a model over there?”
“Huh? Wow, it really is.”
And there was also a name that felt strangely familiar, like I hadn't seen it in a while. A softly glowing sign that stylishly read “Mayfair Kids” in English.
Chaea unnie and Dohee unnie were all excited, hurrying me along as they checked this and that.
“Look at this, Eve! Aren't you in this magazine?!”
“W-well, yes, but....”
Since March had begun, Mayfair Kids' magazine—packed with spring outfits—was also placed on one side of the display stand. Chaea unnie grabbed one of the open magazines, flipped through it in a flash, and turned to the page I was on.
“Wow, Eve, you look so cool?”
“Heheh....”
“Wow, you look so different from what I saw on the gallery?”
“T-that....”
While they were going 'wahaha' over the magazine, a manager lady who looked kind of impressive (she was wearing glasses. She looked like she'd shoot you if you acted up) came over and gave me a quick glance.
“Oh my, oh my. Isn't that Ms. Eve?”
“Y-yes, that's me....”
“I saw your magazine modeling—great job~ Oh my! So you really were Korean!”
The lady came over too and we all looked through the magazine, chatting away and all kinds of things.
“Ms. Eve, by any chance didn't you receive the card for your modeling work? Mayfair would have sent it to you.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, wait? I had a pouch that Ophelia had prepared for me.”
I rummaged through Chaea unnie's bag. A small black leather pouch came out, and inside were some papers and a few cards. It seemed like the card Ophelia had given me to buy clothes, and one of them was the Mayfair card.
“That's right, that's right! It's the one they gave you to use at Mayfair stores!”
“R-really..?”
Some kind of black-card vibe? You can't just spend it that casually, but apparently it's the kind of thing that gives off VIP vibes.
“Come on in and look around!”
So we went inside the Mayfair Kids store, and the manager lady introduced me all over again to the staff there too. She unfolded the magazine and showed them, saying I was the model in it and all that.
When I showed them the card, they said they'd never seen the actual thing before and went on and on.
‘Oh my gosh. My head's spinning.’
After that, I tried on like five hundred million recommended outfits, and Chaea unnie, Dohee unnie, the manager lady, and a hundred million staff members came over saying I looked good in everything and pampered me like crazy.
“Eve, sit over here for a sec. Those shoes are totally killing the look right now.”
“Sniff sniff... don't do this to me...”
They even took away the sneakers I’d been wearing comfortably and sat me down in a chair; with no shoes on I was trapped listening to five hundred compliments. Pure torture for an introvert.
‘I feel like I'm going to die...’
After about ten minutes of being completely trapped, Chaea unnie and Dohee unnie went somewhere and came back with shoes too.
“Eve, try these on. Hurry.”
“Y-yes....”
I was completely resigned, and after another two hours of looking through clothes I was finally able to escape.
* * * * *
“Nom nom.”
“Eve, is it tasty? You must have been starving.”
“I-it's delicious....”
The 11th floor had lots of expensive food with the feel of an Osung Group hotel. They said it was French food, and it was insanely delicious. Dangdang was munching on the meat Dohee unnie kept tossing him from the side, too.
ㅡBleep..!!
“What..? If you're going to eat that stuff every day, you better make a lot of money....”
ㅡBleep-bleep!! Bleep!
“Hey, we use expensive feed at our house, you know..?”
Dangdang was making weird noises, saying the feed he'd always eaten had become something his body could no longer eat or something. After finishing our meal and walking around a little, Chaea unnie and Dohee unnie glanced at the floor directory and said we should go back down to the 10th floor.
“T-the 10th floor..? Don't tell me we're buying more clothes..?”
“Huh? Do you need more clothes, Eve?”
“N-no! I think we can go home now!”
“Pfft, really? But your unnies want to buy something too. Can't you stay with us a little longer?”
“Sniff sniff.”
“There's a lingerie shop on the 10th floor. Let's go there.”
“Eh.”
No, why are a children's clothing store and a lingerie shop on the same floor? That doesn't feel right at all, educationally speaking.
In the end, after eating on the 11th floor and going back down to the 10th, when we moved to a different place from where we'd originally gone, there really was a lingerie shop.
But unlike the sort of 'lingerie...' vibe I'd imagined, it just felt like a regular underwear store.
‘I thought they were selling that kind of stuff after all.’
Chaea unnie and Dohee unnie kept dragging me around, looking at this and that. To be honest, I had no idea what was going on and was just staring at the floor the whole time.
‘This floor doesn't have any pattern....’
It was just a clean tiled floor, so there wasn't anything to analyze. It was so boring, sob sob.
“Kim Chaea, I'm going to the bathroom.”
“Ohh~ Go ahead~”
After Dohee unnie went to the bathroom and I was sitting in a chair during a little break, playing a phone game, Chaea unnie called me softly.
“Eve..! Eve?”
“Chaea unnie? Where are you?”
“Look over here. How do I look?”
“Hooeeek!!!”
“Hehe, pretty? What do you think?”
“Y-you can't show me things like this..! Hurry and go back inside..!!”
“What, why? There are only women here anyway.”
“N-no... that's not the point....”
“Oh my gosh.”