I Became a Raid Boss

Da-eun, who was helping me walk, suddenly spoke up.

“Kana doesn’t like cumbersome things, right?”

“Are you self-reflecting?”

Finally, you’ve opened your eyes. How touching to be able to judge yourself objectively…

“It’s okay. Even if Da-eun annoys me, I can understand a little bit.”

“…I’m talking about clothes.”

“Wasn’t it self-reflection?”

“Do you really want to get hit?”

Da-eun raised her hand. She looked ready to thump my head, but knowing she would never genuinely hit me, I stood there blankly watching her.

In the end, it would just be a pinch on the cheek, so since I teased her, I might as well accept that much.

“Oh my!”

“I can’t believe you’re trying to hit such a small child… tsk tsk.”

“She seems like a kid who’s also a little unwell…”

“…”

However, the people passing by had no idea about this situation.

With a playful gesture of raising her hand, Da-eun glanced around at the whispers nearby and gently lowered her hand.

If she had been confident, I would have just thought she was joking, but now it felt even more awkward since she was being so cautious.

With the weight of everyone’s gaze on her, Da-eun mumbled with her head down as if she couldn’t understand.

“Isn’t it me who has to take hits? Why am I the one being treated like this…?”

“Who’s taking hits?”

“You hit me yesterday!”

“That was because Da-eun did something wrong.”

If you grease someone’s head, you should naturally pay the price.

I grabbed her long hair and pretended to sniff it, and Da-eun made a hurt expression.

“I still think it smells like chicken…”

“Liar! That can’t be!”

“But if I smell like chicken, I don’t think it’s that bad.”

“No. I can’t accept that! Polluting Kana’s fragrance with chicken smell is nothing short of blasphemy!”

“…You sound like a pervert.”

Seriously.

“Anyway, what do you think?”

“About clothes? I like them comfortable. I figured you would ask this.”

“I thought you might say that, but you never know. Maybe you had to dress like that in the other world. Come on, be honest!”

“I already told you!”

“Hey, liking pretty clothes isn’t something to be embarrassed about. So, come on? Confess your true feelings!”

“…Isn’t it that I’m saying what you want instead of my true feelings?”

“Hehe, caught me?”

“You never had any intention of hiding it in the first place…”

Da-eun grinned.

Well, clothes…

Of course, I prefer neat clothes over scruffy ones, but I wasn’t specifically looking for anything special beyond that.

“Kana, look at that! Isn’t it super pretty?”

Even if Da-eun was making a fuss like now.

“Yeah. It’s really pretty.”

“…There’s no sincerity at all.”

It just didn’t impress me. I could tell it looked different from other clothes, but I didn’t understand what was pretty about it.

“When that happens, just imagine how it would look when you wear it. If you picture yourself in a dress like that, it’ll look pretty!”

“Hmm…”

Imagining myself in a flowing dress, I tilted my head.

“I still don’t get it.”

“Really? Then, it’d be easier to just try it on. How about it?”

“Not… no, I don’t want to.”

She was clearly aiming for this from the beginning.

Her subtle guiding was quite skillful, and I almost fell for her scheme.

Shaking my head in realization, Da-eun licked her lips and retreated.

“I’ll buy a few tracksuits, maybe some pajamas… I guess I should focus on casual clothes.”

As she mumbled those words, Da-eun led me to stores selling mostly comfortable clothes.

We browsed around, tried some on, and after hopping between various stores, I asked her why we needed to shop like this.

Can’t we just buy everything in one place?

Da-eun looked at me with wide eyes, as if to say what was I talking about.

“You have to look around and decide when you buy clothes.”

I wondered if someone who whipped out her card each time a cute outfit caught her eye really had the right to say that.

But whatever, that’s what she said.

It was when I was dragged around by Da-eun that I felt something was off—when I realized I had more than three shopping bags hanging from my arms.

Huh?

‘Doesn’t it feel like I have no willpower?’

Da-eun’s process of buying clothes went like this.

She’d find a piece she liked and then insist I try it on.

When I’d come out in it, she’d smile happily and give me a thumbs up.

And then the payment.

From when she picked the clothes to when they were neatly packed in my shopping bags, the process was incredibly smooth.

The issue was that everything proceeded so seamlessly without me saying a word.

But that didn’t mean Da-eun was picking clothes entirely on her own, either.

“Oh, this one isn’t bad either.”

All the clothes she chose were ones that fit my taste.

No wonder I didn’t feel the need to question why she wasn’t asking for my opinion.

I had expected her to pick out something random and then mumble some reasoning.

Honestly, it surprised me a bit.

“Well… it’s a shame, but the clothes we’re buying now are for Kana. So of course we have to follow Kana’s opinion.”

“…You’re not Da-eun, are you?”

“That’s rude!”

Thanks to that, a time I thought would be noisy ended up peaceful instead.

“…Isn’t this too short?”

“Who cares? I’ll only be wearing it at home anyway. Since I’m wearing it at home, comfort is key, right?”

“That does seem comfortable….”

There were a few clothes I was slightly put off by, but they were within the acceptable range.

As Da-eun said, they did look comfortable.

After sending the clothes needing alterations away, I took a moment to sit on a bench and catch my breath.

Getting tired after roaming around for this long…

‘I need to recover quickly.’

In my frustration, I unknowingly pressed down on the ground with my heels.

Crack.

“Oops.”

The floor tiles cracked around where my heel landed.

…Not my problem.

As I absentmindedly rubbed the cracked tile with my foot, I suddenly noticed Da-eun was missing.

“…?”

She said she’d pay and why had she wandered off already?

As I looked around, I spotted Da-eun in front of a clothing store.

Da-eun didn’t seem to notice me approaching as she peered into a shopping bag.

Finally, I reached right up to her back and tapped.

“Da-eun?”

“…Eek?!”

Da-eun jumped up.

No joke, she really leaped off her seat and looked back, placing a hand on her chest.

“Whew, it’s just Kana…”

“Why were you so surprised? Like you were doing something you shouldn’t.”

“I-I wouldn’t do anything like that!”

“Hmm…”

Something’s off.

As I opened my mouth to question her suspicious behavior—

“By the way, aren’t you hungry? This food court has a great reputation for being delicious. It’s around lunch now, so how about we eat while resting a bit?”

“…Okay.”

She nodded without saying a word.

Well, it’s not like it was unusual for Da-eun to do something strange, so it wasn’t too surprising.

*

“How was it? Was it good?”

“Well… yeah, kinda.”

Da-eun’s boastful assurance was not in vain; the food was quite tasty.

Of course, even if Earth had a more developed food culture than Silia, the food sold here couldn’t compare to what I used to eat during lavish banquets.

You can’t expect food made in a world where getting it wrong could cost you your head to taste better than what’s made with life on the line.

Still, it had its own unique flavor, and it wasn’t bad at all.

“Why do you eat something like this?”

Just because I didn’t understand the food Da-eun ordered.

“Why else? If Kana had taken a bite, you’d understand….”

“Ugh… I’m good.”

I shuddered at the thought of the bright red food Da-eun was happily devouring. Just thinking about it made my tongue tingle.

As I was trembling at the thought, Da-eun suddenly looked at me and burst into laughter.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Why? Because Kana is cute. …And it also reminds me of old times.”

“Old times?”

“When you first told me your name.”

“Oh….”

That food, I couldn’t tell if it was either food or a torture device.

“To be honest, I thought I’d die bringing that to you. ‘Are you seriously telling me to eat this? Get lost!’ … That kind of feeling.”

“Knowing that and still doing it is really infuriating.”

“But back then, Kana was over the top! You wouldn’t even answer me when I spoke to you….”

“So basically, you confessed you were trying to mess with me?”

“…Uh. Does that lead to that?”

Criminal Da-eun.

Charge: Playing with food.

Verdict: Death penalty.

“That’s a little too harsh, don’t you think?!”

“Murder attempts are usually dealt with seriously.”

If I hadn’t lost my past memories, I might have really ended her.

It was that intense.

“…Thanks for sparing me?”

“Now that you know, do better from now on.”

“Do I even have a choice?!”

Such a shameless little brat…

Mumbling softly…

It seemed she thought she was speaking quietly, but…

‘Heard it all.’

Moments later, Da-eun, clutching her side, and I continued to roam the shopping mall.

Now that our essentials were sorted, we needed to purchase other necessities.

Fluffy cotton blankets, soft pillows, a giant stuffed animal that would fit snugly in my arms…

Huh?

“…A stuffed animal? Why this?”

“Isn’t it cute? Doesn’t it resemble Kana?”

“Where’s the resemblance?”

“It’s the same bird! This one is a Canaria too!”

“…”

…Well, whatever.

We asked for the bigger items to be delivered and continued to shop, carrying what we could.

Clap!

“Ah! I almost forgot!”

Da-eun clapped her hands as if remembering something she had forgotten.

“I nearly forgot to buy the most important thing.”

Then she tightly wrapped her arms around mine and linked elbows.

“Is there still something left to buy? I want to go home now….”

“Hehe. You’re calling it home now. Let’s just get this one last thing and head home, okay?”

“Ugh.”

Honestly, I was seriously tired.

It wasn’t a quiet place, and with the crowd bustling, we often bumped into each other…

But hearing it was the last time…

…Though I felt like I’d heard the word last at least five times already, since she said it, I’d trust her one last time.

Da-eun led me to a store that exuded a modern vibe.

Other stores were similar, but maybe it was because there were more gadgets here that it felt even more so.

“You need a phone too, Kana. I normally don’t buy from places like this, but it’s urgent now, so we have no choice.”

“Urgent?”

It didn’t seem urgent.

Ignoring my small question, Da-eun pulled me along.

“Do you see anything you like?”

“Umm….”

I looked around.

And replied.

“No.”

There’s no way I’d find something I liked when I didn’t even know what anything was.

“Don’t you have anything you like just by looking at it?”

“Not really….”

So I could only continue giving the same answer when Da-eun asked again.

No matter how I looked, I really couldn’t tell.

Scratching my cheek, I pulled on Da-eun’s sleeve.

“I just want to buy the same one you have.”

It’s not like she has bad taste, so surely she won’t be buying anything awful.

Thinking that, Da-eun looked at me with such moved eyes that it felt odd.

“So you wanted the same as this sister, huh? Got it!”

What followed was a swift chain of events.

As soon as Da-eun told an employee to bring it, an item that looked exactly like the one Da-eun had was brought over.

Maybe the staff thought it was a good chance to boost sales because their faces were beaming.

The process was quick, and before long, payment was complete.

I didn’t know about the prices in Earth, but I had a feeling I had spent a decent amount of money today…

But seeing her buy without hesitation, it seemed it really was well-known.

“All done! Here’s your phone, Kana. …Wait a second.”

Just as I reached out to receive the phone Da-eun offered, she pulled it back, leaving my hand grasping at thin air.

Pulling it back like that was kind of low, but since she hadn’t given it yet, maybe it didn’t count.

As I sat there blankly thinking this, Da-eun, fiddling with the phone, handed it to me.

“This is my number!”

“Is that why you pulled it back?”

“I can’t let another person enjoy the honor of being the first saved number on Kana’s phone!”

“Really, you…”

What a fuss over something so trivial.

But still, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

“Thanks.”

As I slightly lifted my lips, Da-eun returned a smile and patted my head.

Feeling the touch over my hat, I tightly held the phone she had bought me.

Wondering why the number displayed on the phone screen felt so reassuring, I stared at it for a while until Da-eun helped me to my feet.

“I’m glad you seem to really like it. But now that we’ve finished everything we need to do, should we head home? You can check the phone back home. Right?”

Her words felt like she was coaxing me gently.

I nodded.

“Yeah. But…”

“Yeah?”

“How do you turn this off?”

…It’s not like I was looking at it just because I was curious.

As Da-eun stared at me blankly for a moment, she burst into laughter.

“Okay, this is a touch screen.”

Then she began to calmly explain each part one by one.

Her words naturally carried a hint of amusement at the end.

…Couldn’t help being clueless, it’s a bit much.
I pouted my lips.

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