Chapter 2.3
CHAPTER 2 . 3
I finally managed to press the power button, but it wouldn’t turn on, like it had completely run out of battery.
What the heck?
Did it break even more?
Panicked, I plugged it in right away and saw the battery was almost at zero.
“Phew…”
I can’t even describe how much I panicked.
Relieved, I unlocked the phone, only to see a mountain of text messages piled up.
Did I even do anything to get this many people contacting me…?
[Youngha, are you doing well? It’s your aunt. I’m sorry I’ve been so distant…]
[Hello, Ms. Baek. I’m with the HR team at Spanner Guild…]
Messages like that filled my inbox.
New ones kept coming in nonstop.
I’ve never seen a battery drain this fast while charging.
My phone was buzzing so much I couldn’t even turn off the notifications properly, let alone play a game or make a call.
If my phone’s like this, what would happen if I went outside?
I could just stay in, but of all days, I had class today.
I’d already missed it yesterday. I couldn’t afford to skip again.
But there’s no way I could show up to a lecture where they’d definitely take attendance. So I tried to come up with a decent excuse.
Should I say that I suddenly became a Hunter yesterday and the attention’s been too much, so I can’t go?
…No, that’s not it.
There’s no way a professor like that exists in this world. The kind who’d say, ‘Oh, sure, skip class.’
This is South Korea. Even in disaster situations, you’re still expected to go to school. No way they’d let this slide.
It felt lacking as an excuse for being absent.
Then what about the safest, yet hardest-to-use excuse? Being sick.
I figured I could bluff my way through it, but I’d need a doctor’s note to have it excused.
Even if I wrapped my whole face up, I’d still have to give them my name at the desk, and probably my birthdate too…
What if someone recognized me?
Since people aren’t as interested in others as you’d think, maybe they won’t know who I am
Besides, the only place where my info got leaked was on some forums.
No way the entire world knows about me yet.
Thinking that way, it felt like I could just go outside.
To get a doctor’s note without trouble, I needed to look sick.
All I had to do was fake some believable symptoms and a convincing sick face.
If I said I’d had diarrhea for three days, they’d probably just give me meds for enteritis.
My face already looked sick, so I didn’t need to prepare anything else.
I had plenty of experience faking illness in high school.
Now I just had to get out of the house safely.
I peeked through the curtain and checked outside. There were still people swarming around.
Luckily, since it was still morning, it wasn’t as crowded as last night.
This was my chance to slip out.
I threw on whatever clothes I’d left on the floor, pulled on a disposable mask and a black cap.
After checking that my wallet and phone were in my coat pocket, I tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to make them creak.
I scanned my surroundings like I was in a spy movie.
Fortunately, the emergency exit I’d planned to sneak out through was completely clear.
Before anyone could show up, I darted out the door and climbed over the wall.
“Huff, huff…”
Dragging my depleted body and adjusting my disheveled clothes, I crawled my way to the hospital
“Patient name, please.”
“…Baek… Youngha.”
I barely managed to get the words out between gasps, but maybe they couldn’t hear me because of the mask
“Sorry?”
“Baek, Youngha…”
“Could you say that a little louder, please?”
“Baek Youngha!”
Frustrated, I pulled my mask down a bit and shouted. Immediately drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
Getting flustered, I rolled my eyes around nervously and pulled my cap low.
Please, don’t let anyone recognize me…
As I clasped my hands together tightly, some of the stares started to fade.
I really was just being overly self-conscious.
People probably didn’t care about me. It had been a pointless worry.
As I was wiping my nose trying to calm down, the desk clerk asked in a flat voice,
“Date of birth?”
“March 4, 1998.”
“Please wait a moment.”
“Um, do you know how long the wait time is?”
I just really want to go home soon.
“Since you didn’t make a reservation, the wait time will be about an hour.”
“Okay…”
I sat quietly on a nearby couch and brushed my fingers across my cracked phone.
Should I get it fixed? Or not?
I was trying to calculate how much money I had left when a pair of unfamiliar shoes approached.
“Um, excuse me.”
“Yes?”
“Are you… Ms. Baek Youngha by any chance?”
I opened my mouth in surprise, and the person’s eyes lit up.
“I’m a fan…!”
When did you even see me…?
A lifeform has been detected nearby.
Calculating Affection Level…
[ ??? – Affection Level: 20 ]
The closest entity is displayed first.
I was startled for a second by the system window that popped up, but seeing that the number was higher than the high school student from before, I subtly scooted to the side.
“Ah! Sorry, I probably made you uncomfortable, talking like that out of nowhere…”
Their voice wilted, and I instinctively waved my hand.
“Ah, no! It’s not like that…”
“Um, could I maybe get your autograph?”
“Huh? An autograph?”
The only time I’d ever signed anything in my life was for credit card payments.
“I don’t… have one.”
Being asked for an autograph even though I wasn’t a celebrity, I bit my tongue by mistake.
Tears welled up.
“Even if it’s just a messy scribble, I’d really appreciate it. Would that be okay?”
They were asking so sincerely, I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
I scribbled something on the paper they handed over. Whether it was letters or just lines, even I couldn’t tell. They lit up with joy.
What did I even do to deserve such a high affection score?
Why did the system window suddenly pop up like that?
Does it only appear when someone talks to me directly or expresses clear interest?
While I was trying to figure out how the system worked, I exchanged a brief goodbye with the person who got my autograph.
“Please keep up the great work! I’ll be cheering you on!”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
What great work had I even done?
Still, I went along with it, breaking into a cold sweat.
“Ms. Baek Youngha, please come into the exam room.”
Just as the curious stares were beginning to grow, my name was finally called.
I hurried into the exam room, pulled my mask and hat down even lower, and started mumbling about stomach flu symptoms.
It was a bit of a struggle pretending to be sick in front of a doctor who kept asking detailed questions, but I managed to get diagnosed with enteritis and prescribed some meds.
“Um, I need a document to submit to my school…”
“Sure, I’ll get that ready for you.”
I made sure to grab the medical certificate too.
While waiting for the prescription, I sent my professor a text, and they immediately asked me to call.
It was a hassle, but I was still a college student, and when a professor tells you to call, you have to. So I called, reluctantly.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.