NOVEL NEXT Chapter 448
“Maybe it was because we broadcasted at the last moment.”
Claire speculated.
“People might have thought it was CGI, but the fact remains that we haven’t broadcasted since then. And when I looked into it, that scene made it onto the news from our broadcasting station. If I hadn’t called the station, it might have escalated to a police investigation.”
Clears throat, Claire puffed out her chest, and Rena next to her asked.
“What does CGI mean?”
“Com, computer graphics,” Mia answered the question.
“It means overlaying detailed images on top of video to create things that don’t actually exist.”
“I see…”
Rena replied, a bit dazed.
“But then, since Rena fell over, did she also get an ID? Like ours just magically generated?”
“Here!”
Claire answered immediately, placing an ID card on the table.
“…It seems being a goddess comes with lots of challenges.”
Charlotte responded, looking incredulous.
“I really don’t know what to say.”
At Sophia’s words, Charlotte nodded seriously.
“Right. If one maintained their faith from birth to adulthood—”
“Why is there such blasphemous ‘fruit’ on top of the pizza?”
“…….”
Sophia’s serious anger left Charlotte speechless.
I’m not sure if she was scared or just didn’t know what to say.
“What is this fruit anyway? Why would you put something sweet on pizza?”
“I heard it’s Hawaiian pizza. Pineapple is originally a sour fruit, but when cooked, it becomes sweet.”
Claire replied casually, taking a slice and munching on it while talking.
“So the people of Hawaii are the problem.”
“Actually, it was made in Canada.”
“……Why does a dish made in Canada have a name from another country?”
If I started nitpicking, I’d have to explain the madness of the imperial era, but I kept my mouth shut.
“Oh, and this.”
Claire seemed to be getting even more malicious as she handed Sophia a can of coffee.
“What is this?”
“It’s Americano.”
“Americano?”
“Espresso with water added.”
“…….”
Sophia froze.
“Well, this one is pretty tasty! It’s similar to what I had back in Roti’s hometown!”
“Really? It brings back memories.”
“That’s because this was ordered from the real Indian uncle’s curry shop…”
I sighed, addressing Jake and Roti while raising my hand to my forehead.
Seriously, this is insane.
I thought something like this would happen right after Claire discovered her powers, but I never expected she’d bring friends over for the weekend.
Well, at least she didn’t bring the teacher and Sword Saint with her; that’s a relief.
By now, the goddess might be crying tears of blood. Perhaps she regrets ever sending me to this world.
But that’s not really my problem.
Someone carefully poked my back with a finger, and when I turned around, Roti and my classmate Lily were pointing at the TV.
“Can I ask how much those things cost?”
Is it boiling inside her as the daughter of a significant person?
“…First, we need to secure electricity, so buying just one of those won’t be very useful.”
“How can we generate that electricity!”
“Oh, you’re right. We might actually collaborate with bakers to actively introduce electricity.”
Another technological revolution might take place.
I left Lily, who was seriously discussing business with Alice, and thought about just eating pizza.
“Are you really planning to eat that blasphemous food!?”
Ah, come on.
*
After a chaotic moment passed,
I looked at the ten people gathered in the room.
It feels a bit like a family reunion during a holiday. Thankfully, I managed to rent a pretty expensive apartment.
“Is everyone a bit calm now?”
At my words, everyone nodded.
At least Roti and Jake were quietly enjoying themselves from the start, and Rena was too busy exploring the house to say anything.
“Claire.”
“Yeah?”
“Apologize to Sophia.”
“I’m sorry.”
No, apologizing with such a bright smile isn’t really an apology.
Honestly, I didn’t expect Claire to enjoy it that much.
…Could it be she deliberately did that knowing Sophia likes Leo?
Like a sister-in-law mode or something?
“…I’ll forgive you.”
Fortunately, Claire also ordered a traditional pizza separately. They even properly prepared espresso.
It’s not that she’s just tormenting, but she probably just wanted to see Charlotte’s reaction from last time again.
“…Charlotte.”
When Charlotte raised her hand quietly while watching Claire apologize to Sophia, I gave her the floor.
“I’d also like to be apologized for the atrocities against macarons, waffles, and croissants.”
I rubbed my face with my hands.
“…Are you serious?”
“I’m sorry. It was just too amusing to see Sylvia sitting on the sofa deep in thought.”
Charlotte stuck out her tongue slightly.
She seems to have become somewhat more optimistic.
I let out a small sigh and said,
“Anyway, everyone sitting here oddly doesn’t seem to want to go back today.”
No one immediately responded, but their eyes clearly showed a longing for adventure.
“I’ll arrange the rooms, but since the gender ratio doesn’t match, most of you will have to sleep on the floor.”
“That much I can handle.”
“I brought a sleeping bag.”
Leo and Jake responded in turns.
That… can’t we just skip this ‘courtesy’?
After all, there are nine girls in this house and only two guys… yeah, they’d want to sleep, huh.
Of course, I know neither of them would do anything inappropriate to us. Leo is extremely gentlemanly, and Jake, despite his looks, only has eyes for Roti.
Still, they shouldn’t be on a broadcast together. It’s a point of concern for various reasons.
…In the game, Leo was a harem master, after all.
However.
“I’d like for the two of you to use the broadcasting room. I believe there will be enough space for sleeping if we remove the chairs.”
“Sure, of course.”
“Even getting a room is a bonus.”
Leo and Jake nodded again.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at Jake while saying,
“If you cause any disturbances in this house with excessive public displays of affection, I will send you back to your original world immediately.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Roti’s face turned slightly red, but I pretended not to notice.
“The rest of you…”
After thinking for a moment, I continued.
“Change your clothes in the room, and the five of us who originally lived here will sleep in the living room.”
“The Crown Princesses?”
When Rena was surprised and asked again, I nodded.
“We haven’t been using the beds we made. Even if you go into the room to sleep, I don’t think it will be a major problem… Although we’ll need to clean a bit.”
It’s been a while since it was left untouched, and it’s a bit dusty.
“Would this be okay?”
As I spoke, everyone nodded again.
I know deep down they wouldn’t do anything if asked not to… so why do I feel like sighing just by looking at them?
“For now… let’s all go and take a look around nearby.”
At my words, everyone’s eyes sparkled.
All together, eleven people.
What is this, a group tour package?
Or is it really not different at all?
*
I was quite confident that I knew the ‘protagonist party’ pretty well.
I had seen them several times in the game and even talked to them in person.
But the more I see of real people, the deeper and deeper it gets.
Whether positively or negatively, many aspects I didn’t know were pouring out.
Sophia liked ice cream much more than I expected, and Rena loved character goods more than I thought.
Jake and Roti seemed to care little about their surroundings as long as they were together, while shy Lily turned out to have quite ambitions as a businesswoman.
“Having a tough time?”
And Leo turned out to be more mature than I thought.
“Whoa.”
But before I could respond, Claire quickly interjected between me and Leo.
“You’re my younger brother, and my sister is my sister. So you both are just siblings. I absolutely oppose you two dating.”
“…….”
Though it seems she didn’t react that strongly when she had no idea before.
It looks like the game we played instilled a new sense of caution in Claire.
Seoul, a street near our apartment.
As I looked around at the crowd of foreigners congested together, I felt a bit dismal.
…Well.
Still, there’s a slight chance, maybe… it’s a bit fun?