Chapter 65: Gumiho

「Shoobie-doo-be-doo-ba~ Doo-be-doo-be-doo-be-doo-be-doo-be doo-be-doo-ba~」A girl with protruding pink hair, just like horns, was dancing.

It was the kind of hairstyle that was impossible to have in reality.

But here, it was possible.

Within this flat, 2D monitor that generated the metaverse, nothing was impossible.

「Hehe. What are you doing Luka unnie? Teehee!」

Fumurin burst out into laughter at the sight of Luka’s dancing.

「You guys aren’t swinging at all.」

While doing her best imitation of someone swing dancing, Luka shook her petite index finger from side to side.

「We’re redoing the recording because of you Fumurin.」

「Ah seriously! Luka unnie, your recording wasn’t good enough either, so why are you treating me like this!?」

Upon hearing Fumurin’s protest, the Pink Army spammed the chat with laughter.

[Ah jeez, Luka’s taunting her, right?]

[It seems like she’s teasing the other members because she’s closer with them now.]

[ahahahhahaha someone please clip it]

[so cute…]

Watching the sight unfold on my monitor, I couldn’t help but smile.

Ahh…so cute…

The collab only got better as time went on.

Compared to the awkward time when they were being more polite with each other during the first week, nowadays they really felt like they had become close friends.

Luka especially had good chemistry with Clover and Fumurin.

Well, she had a good relationship with Clover prior to this, so this was a given, while with Fumurin, their banters became more enjoyable as time went on.

Their back and forth teasing was almost electrifying to watch, especially when they toed the line.

Sometimes their jokes went so far to the point that the viewers would wonder if they were really an idol group, and the YM manager would step in.

But, it seemed like she was still struggling to get along with Jennifer.

Just by watching the stream, I could tell that they didn’t really have much chemistry.

If Jennifer’s stream had many foreigners and super popular normies, Luka’s stream consisted almost entirely of Korean otakus.

Still, the member she had the least chemistry with was undoubtedly Leah.

I hadn’t watched Leah’s stream myself, but whenever she appeared on Luka’s stream, she was usually far too quiet.

Maybe it was because her avatar made her seem like a dignified lady?

It really felt like she came out of a manhwa.

She had quite reserved reactions compared to other members, which led to her laughing clips raking up a lot of views and even earning her new subscribers.

That fact didn’t change that there was this awkward atmosphere between the two of them whenever they were alone… S~ᴇaʀᴄh the N0vᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

This might sound mean, but I wished that they wouldn’t get too close in the future.

I mean, the way Luka was sweating nervously while desperately attempting to muster up the courage to talk to her was just too cute to pass.

「Now! CLOSER members! We’re going to be playing the One Voice Game!」

At the host’s call, the rest of the CLOSER members took their seats.

「Everyone knows what the One Voice Game is right?」

「Yes!」

It was a rather famous yet simple game.

They would be presented with two options and all they needed to do was to pick one.

「I’ll call out the options, so make sure to submit your answer within 5 seconds. Alright?」

「Yes~」

Luka then whispered something to the Pink Army.

「You guys should play too. I actually want to see how much we have in common.」

The Pink Army flooded the chat with PArmyOkay, holding up a sign to show that they understood.

「Alright! Then let’s begin! We will now see how much our CLOSER members have in common~ The options will be shown~ NOW!」

The monitor display split exactly in half, showing the two options.

「Do you like jjamppong, or jajangmyeon?」

「5. 4. 3. 2. 1!」

「Please submit your answers!」

This was something that the Pink Army would particularly care about, so each of them enthusiastically advocated their choice.

[jjamppong!]

[jajangmyun]

[Def jjamppong!]

[A million times jajangmyeon!]

While everyone else was typing out their answers, I was doing something else.

I was writing my answer on a piece of paper.

The reason was simple.

After the stream ended, I wanted to brag to Doah about how many I got right.

As for which was better between jajangmyeon and jjamppong…?

Well, it depends on the day, I guess.

I’d just go with the one I ate recently, so jajangmyeon.

Soon after, the answers were revealed.

「It’s jajangmyeon! Jajangmyeon is the win…. Now it’s jjamppong! Now jajangmyeon! Ah… it’s back and forth from the start!」

It seemed clear that the CLOSER members had their own preferences as well.

Well, this was quite a controversial topic.

By the way, my girlfriend picked jjamppong.

「Seriously! Isn’t it clearly jjamppong!?」

Luka angrily questioned the chat.

「Luka… Jajangmyeon is the essence of Chinese food.」

Clover shook her head.

「What are you talking about! The reason why a dish made of both of those combined is called jjam‘jja’myeon instead of jja‘jjam’myeon is because jjamppong is more original!」1

Luka’s flawed logic prompted more laughter spam from the chat.

「Isn’t it just a coincidence they called it jiangmyeon?」

「It’s not a coincidence! Ugh… these ignorant people.」

After their brief period of talking ended, the next question appeared.

「Please choose between~」

Oh. This was a bit difficult.

「Dogs or cats. Which do you prefer?」

I wrote down cats.

Ever since I was young, I had always wanted to raise a cat, so I didn’t even hesitate putting down that answer.

「Please reveal your answers!」

「Dogs! Dogs! Dogs! Dogs! Cats! Ah~ how unfortunate. Leah-ssi, you were the only person to choose cats. Can you share the reason for your choice?」

Leah’s avatar glanced at the others before elegantly replying.

「...They’re cute.」

Huh, now I understood why she had a lot of fans.

Her chat must be going ballistic right now.

「Hahaha~ Cats are cute indeed! Let’s move on to the next question!」

One, two, three, four… fifteen.

Based on the number of responses that had been displayed, it seemed like we were on the last question.

Still, we were way too far off.

Doah and I only chose the same answer twice, it felt embarrassing.

Were we not a good fit?

It wasn’t a good feeling.

「Alright. That’s all the questions I had prepared. As a special event, I’ll be asking one last question!」

Maybe they needed to fill more time, so the host asked another question.

「Since this is just for fun, please don’t be nervous!」

What kind of question was he going to ask?

「In the far future, I want my husband to be an otaku! Use O for yes and X for no!」

Ah, so that was why he gave out that warning.

If the chat thought that this was real, they might cough up blood.

While it was really unlikely that a scandal would arise from this, the number of lunatics on the internet was increasing by the day.

「O! O! X! X! O!」

Three said O! Two said X.

「I feel like many are wondering about your answer Jennifer-ssi. Why did you choose O?」

「I have too much merchandise at my house but I don’t think I’ll be able to throw all of it away.」

Her blonde avatar smiled brightly.

I too couldn’t help but smirk.

That made sense. If your partner didn’t share the same hobby, they’d probably tell you to throw those things away.

「Then Fumurin-ssi, why did you choose X?」

「Oh. For me, I’m the type that can’t stop once I get going, so I need someone there to stop me.」

「Leah-ssi! Why did you choose O?」

「I just like that kind of thing.」

「I thought Clover-ssi would choose O, so this was a surprise. Would you not like an otaku as a husband?」

「Ah…I…」

Clover’s laughter was filled with embarrassment.

「I feel like if my husband knew too much about what I did, he would get in the way of my work?」

…I couldn’t help but flinch.

She didn’t direct those words at me, but jeez, that hit home really bad.

S-Surely Doah didn’t think that way about me, right?

I mean, we decided to go out, after all…

「Ah. Such stories are incredibly common. People who know each other too well or are in the same industry tend to fight, yes.」

「Finally, Luka-ssi chose O! What was your reasoning?」

「Hmm… to be honest…」

The camera zoomed into Luka’s violet eyes.

「I really wasn’t a fan of having an otaku husband. Really.」

「But recently, my thoughts have changed a bit.」

「It’s a bit awkward for me to have to explain my hobbies to someone I like.」

Doah was completely different from how she was at school.

Her calm voice exuded confidence.

It felt like she was an idol who had appeared on Golden Bell.2

「That’s why I want to go out with someone who can support my hobbies.」

At the same time, the cheeks of Luka’s avatar flared red.

Knowing exactly who that final comment was directed to, my heart wouldn’t stop racing.

Ah. Kim Doah, seriously.

You must’ve been a gumiho in your previous life.

***

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