Chapter 72: Night of Equivalent Exchange

“Why the long face?”Bit by bit, I slowly got to know Doah.

The face she made when she was in a good mood.

Her expression when she ate something tasty.

The things she randomly blurted out whenever she was hungry.

And this current expression of hers, the same one that she always made when something was weighing on her mind.

“...What do you mean?”

“Is something wrong?”

I grabbed her soft, rice cake-like cheeks and squished them.

See? Usually, when I did this, she’d let out a giggle, but she wasn’t now. That meant, something was up.

“...No.”

She shook her head to brush off my hand before turning around to turn off whatever it was that was playing behind her.

“What were you watching?”

“Leah’s stream.”

“Really?”

After tidying the shoes I took off, I went and sat next to her on the bed.

“But, why are you in a bad mood?”

“I never said I’m in a bad mood.”

“You sound like you are, though.”

You see, Doah wasn’t the type to nitpick a word and dwell on it like this.

Luka had the tendency to do that whenever she was scolding one of her chatters, but Doah specifically didn’t do that.

“Tell me.”

There was one thing for sure. If I were to try and force her to play a game in this state, she’d definitely kick me out of her house.

For now, let’s just wait and see. I needed to figure out the reason why she was acting this way.

She kept biting her lips, seemingly having something to say.

After fidgeting while lightly biting her lower lip for a while, she finally said what she had in mind.

“Oppa.”

“Yes?”

“What are your thoughts on CLOSER?”

Huh? CLOSER?

I couldn’t hide my surprise, thinking it would be something irl.

“Uh... Won’t it be a big hit?”

CLOSER’s reputation was already well-known in the online streaming industry.

If the overwhelming capital power of a large corporation was invested in it now, their success was pretty much guaranteed.

“...I guess so?”

“Of course! Why are you even worrying about that! Each of your streams are doing really well, you know?”

Huh? Was that it?

That was a pointless worry, if anything.

Their fanbase was way too big for it to fall.

I casually placed my hand on her shoulder.

“That’s why I’m worried.”

Doah, who had been hanging her head down, looked up at me.

Her brown eyes were filled with anxiety.

“I’ll end up being compared… I don’t like it…”

“Being compared?”

“You said it before too, Oppa. Leah is a better singer than me.”

So that was what it was.

I kinda guessed that this was related to their singing skills.

“After the song is released, it seems we’ll have to sing more...”

She rested her elbow on her knee and her chin on her hand before letting out a sigh.

“Whenever I hear her sing, it feels like I have an inferiority complex toward her. I don’t want to get hated for being bad…”

“Hmm...”

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with what she said.

But, I genuinely didn’t think that she needed to lose heart because of that.

After pondering for a moment, I opened my mouth.

“You know, the thing about idols is…”

I wasn’t sure if this would help her, but I brought up what I was thinking.

“While they aren’t virtuals, the many, many real life idols…

“Only the main vocals got overwhelming singing skills, you know?

“You should know this too, right?”

Doah nodded. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“In every group the best singer isn’t always the most popular.”

While I only knew the 2D side of things as an otaku, I pretty much knew the basics.

“It could be because they’re pretty, or they made some witty jokes on variety shows and went viral, or something like that.”

“Yes.”

“It should be the same for your group.”

The more I spoke, the more I felt my emotions flared up.

This was because as a Pink Army, I couldn’t stand seeing Luka shrinking down!

How could our leader get cold feet when things barely even started?

“Luka, you will definitely be popular.”

“How do you know that, Oppa?”

As she showed me a bitter smile, I quickly grabbed her hand.

“Of course I know!”

If I didn’t know, who would?

I’ve been watching you longer than anyone else.

“Do I need to explain how cute you are for you to understand?”

It was a sincere plea…

But what followed was...

“Pfft.”

A sound close to a snicker came out from her lips.

“Ah. Wait a moment.”

Doah, covering her mouth and giggling for a bit, controlled her expression before looking at me.

“Wait, Oppa.”

...What? This was so fucking embarrassing.

What the hell?

“Oppa, seriously, you watched too much anime!”

“...Huh?”

“Say that again.”

What? You expected me to say that again?!

Recalling what I just said, I could feel my ears burning up.

“C’mon, say it again~! It isn’t hard, is it?”

Fucking hell, Doah!

This was too much!

Yes, she was my girlfriend, but fuck, I wanted to go ham at her.

Seriously, I told her all that to cheer her up!

Feeling like a Pink Army whose chat logs had been exposed, I inwardly shed tears.

“Sorry.”

I’m sorry for everything, Doah-tan.

So please stop.

My head went blank and I closed my eyes tightly, but Doah’s arms wrapped around my waist.

“Why are you apologizing?”

When I opened my eyes slightly, I could see her bright smile as she clung to me.

“You were cheering me up, weren’t you?”

“Y-Yeah.”

So you knew…!

Phew… At least she was just trying to let my guard down, not teasing me to hell with that.

“But, what about me is so cute?”

“...Just kill me.”

The price for not being able to distinguish between online chats and reality wasn’t light.

“C’mon~ Tell me~”

“No way! Won’t do it! I refuse!”

Ugh, I wanted to go home...

Doah clung to me, while I was looking for a place to hide.

After bickering for a while like that, her smile finally returned.

“Ahh… I feel better after seeing you.”

Then, she placed her hand on top of my head.

“Thank you, Boyfriend-nim.”

“...Look at you little prick, being all cocky.”

Despite being over 20 cm shorter than me, Doah treated me like a pet.

Still, it didn’t make me feel bad because she seemed to have cheered up a bit.

The shadow that was casted on her face seemed to disappear.

However, there was this thing called equivalent exchange.

Since I gave the depressed Luka-tan a carrot, it was time to hand over the Pink Army’s stick.

I spread my arms towards her and swiftly inserted them under her armpits.

“O-Oppa?”

Doah stuttered, surprised by my action.

But it was too early to be surprised.

I lifted her up and dragged her to the gaming chair, before sitting her down.

“...What?”

As she looked at me with a puzzled face, I spun the chair around and brought her in front of the computer.

“It’s time to do what I’m here for.”

Look, I rushed my assignment and came here, so there was no way I’d let you go.

“...The horror game?”

“Yeah. Weren’t we supposed to do something together today?”

Doah’s face rapidly turned pale.

Her eyes widened, as if begging me not to do it.

“Now then~ Let’s go to the game site~”

“Ah~ Oppa~ Can’t we just talk and hang out instead?”

Her aegyo, mixed with a whiny tone made me melt for a moment, but unfortunately for her, my will was steadfast and unconquerable.

I swore that I wouldn’t go home today until we decided on this.

“No. We have to do this.”

Seeing that Doah had no intention of moving, I grabbed the mouse myself.

The cute pink mouse perfectly reflected Doah’s hand size.

I really wondered if she could play games for hours with this, but I immediately accessed the site to buy games.

“Alright, Doah.”

She was still sitting in the gaming chair, but she pushed it far away from the desk.

So I pulled her back.

“Oppa... Please... I really can’t sleep if I see it.”

The PArmyCry looked just like her at this moment.

But I knew.

If I didn’t succumb to this temptation, an even sweeter fruit awaited me.

I reached out and placed my hand on top of Doah’s, moving her right arm like a puppeteer controlling a puppet.

“Don’t worry, Doah.”

Even to me, who spoke those words, my voice sounded like the whispers of the devil.

“You aren’t alone right now.”

Doah’s arm was getting weaker and weaker.

I was the one currently in control of the mouse.

As the horror tab filled with creepy images unfolded, I felt her body tremble.

“Oppa... What if... I... really get a heart attack…?”

I knew this was perverted even for my standard, but seeing her shaking made me elated.

“Don’t worry. If that happens, I’ll call the hospital right away.”

Since there was no point in dragging it out any longer, I clicked on the main image in the recommendation tab as is.

“KYAAAAHHHHHH!”

My girlfriend's scream wasn’t only cute, but it also sounded lovely.

***

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