Chapter 36: That’s not how you do it.

From the past, PC cafes had always been an unfamiliar realm for me.

“Rainbow: Ah, I’m at a PC bang lol. I gotta go now.”

“3MinuteTopChurchHonorStudent: Oh, my PC bang time is almost up. Recharge me, please.”

I was always curious about that place.

From my perspective, which could only observe from afar, it wasn’t just a gaming room with computers.

“Rainbow: Oh sorry, my friend was messing around.”

“Rainbow: hfsjkaldf@#$%hsfjeubvzcx%^!”

“Rainbow: Wait a second, I’m going to go deal with them.”

For someone like me, who was always alone and would continue to be alone, the thought of sitting side by side with someone and gaming was quite shocking.

“Rainbow: I’m heading off now.”

Perhaps that’s why.

At some point, a PC cafe became a place of longing for me.

Of course, this was just a story of the past.

Nowadays, I’ve learned much more about PC cafes through platforms like YouTube, but going there myself was still a different matter entirely.

As I trailed along with the group, a few PC cafe signs came into view.

They were the signs I had noticed as we passed earlier.

However, for some reason, neither my younger sibling nor their friend stopped walking.

“…Can’t we just go to any of these places?”

“The ventilation in the smoking rooms there isn’t great, so it smells like cigarettes. The bathroom isn’t good either.”

I don’t like the smell of cigarettes either.

Thanks to our mother’s strict rules, I rarely encountered cigarette smoke, but on the rare occasions I did, the headache would last all day.

“Are all the other places like that too?”

“More or less. Some have bad computers too.”

“I see…”

I thought I knew enough about the world.

I told myself it was just unfamiliarity, and I’d adjust eventually.

I admit it—I was arrogant.

Once I stepped out into the real world, I realized just how little I knew.

The building we arrived at was an ordinary shopping center you could see anywhere.

The interior was just as ordinary.

Honestly, I’d expected it to be darker and gloomier.

…That too was my prejudice.

The PC cafe was on the fifth floor.

Of course, we couldn’t climb up there on foot, so we took the elevator.

Though it wasn’t sparkling clean, it wasn’t dirty enough to feel unpleasant.

Inside the elevator, the first thing I noticed was the mirrors on both sides.

Silver hair peeked out messily from under my cap.

Cheeks slightly flushed from the cold.

A faint, small smile drawn below them.

So this is what my face looked like.

It was undoubtedly my own face, but the sight of myself smiling felt oddly unfamiliar.

“You’re really pretty…”

“Huh, what?”

Had someone noticed?

My younger sibling’s friend’s voice suddenly broke the silence, catching me off guard.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“No, it’s fine.”

At this, my younger sibling butted in.

“Yeah, my sister is pretty, isn’t she?”

It was a mischievous voice, clearly teasing, but the friend enthusiastically agreed.

“I wish I had a sister like this. I’d never get tired of seeing her.”

“Right?”

As they giggled and chattered among themselves, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being treated like a decorative doll.

‘It kind of feels like I’ve become a display piece.’

I didn’t know for sure, but I figured my guess wasn’t entirely off the mark.

Meanwhile, even one of the male friends seemed to find the situation awkward, focusing intently on his smartphone, avoiding eye contact.

For some reason, I felt a strange sense of camaraderie.

“Oh, we’re here.”

At that moment, the elevator reached its destination.

“Welcome~”

As the elevator doors opened and we entered the PC cafe, the first thing to greet us was the cheerful voice of an employee.

‘Hmm.’

The interior wasn’t much different from the countless franchise PC cafes I’d seen on YouTube.

Even so, since it was my first time inside a PC cafe, I couldn’t tear my eyes away, standing in a daze for quite a while.

“Sis?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Come on in.”

Even at this hour, the cafe was surprisingly crowded.

Then again, being near a university, I supposed it was normal for it to be busy.

‘I don’t know.’

Since it was pointless to ponder, I didn’t dwell on it for long.

My sibling’s friend and the male friend naturally went their separate ways—one to the kiosk, the other to a seat.

Caught off guard by how effortlessly they moved, I froze for a moment, unsure of whom to follow.

“You don’t have an ID, right? Go to a seat first, create an account, and you can recharge from there.”

“…Sign up?”

The familiar term made me pause.

Signing up often meant providing personal information, and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Should I feel relieved?

When I followed my sibling to the seat and clicked the registration button, the requirements were simple: name, date of birth, and phone number.

Fortunately, they didn’t seem to ask for a social security number.

[Male Female ○]

‘Hmm.’

I hesitated for a moment before finally clicking on the gender option.

[Male ○ Female ●]

It felt strangely peculiar.

To label myself as a woman…

“Is it okay if I use your phone number?”

For some reason, it felt uncomfortable to input my phone number as it was tied to my identity as a “Prisoner.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

After gaining my sibling’s permission, I naturally pulled out my phone to check the contacts list.

Seeing this, my sibling squinted their eyes.

“…Wait, do you seriously not know my number?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, forget it.”

After completing the registration process, I stood up, but my sibling didn’t seem to have any intention of moving.

“Yuri?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

…Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple.

But this was a hurdle I’d have to overcome eventually, so I steeled myself and walked over.

Standing in front of the kiosk at last.

‘So, I press this, and for payment… wait, this isn’t it? Maybe the payment method is…’

At that moment, a voice came from behind me.

“Is there a problem?”

“Oh, no. It’s fine.”

Flustered, I quickly managed to recharge and hurried back to my seat, almost fleeing.

“…I’m back.”

It was only the beginning, yet I already felt completely drained.

“You’re late.”

Judging by the slightly relaxed expression on my sibling’s face, they must have enjoyed watching me struggle.

Sigh, this is my life.

Either way, having successfully logged in, the first thing that caught my attention was the flashy, almost chaotic desktop.

‘What’s with this desktop…?’

None of the PC cafe vlogs I’d seen had shown anything like this, so it felt entirely unfamiliar.

‘Order?’

Now that I thought about it, I’d heard that modern PC cafes allowed food orders.

Moreover, the quality was said to be decent, so trying it out once might not be a bad idea.

While mulling over various thoughts, my fingers instinctively launched the League of Legends client.

[Login]

The power of habit was terrifying.

“Oh.”

I quickly snapped out of it.

I didn’t have a secondary account.

Even if I did, I had no intention of carelessly logging into an account under my name in this situation and location.

No one could ever know that I was “Prisoner.”

Creating a new account also felt wrong, especially if it involved using Yujin’s social security number.

I knew how much effort my parents had put into supporting me, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that through a trivial mistake.

‘I shouldn’t do this.’

Using my sibling’s social security number to create an account was out of the question as well.

That would count as account sharing and was a serious violation for a professional, one that could lead to disqualification.

The reasons were different, but either way, I didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

“Unnie?”

“Huh? Yeah?”

“You’re not going to play? Want to join me for Survival Grounds?”

Survival Grounds.

A battle royale FPS game that was wildly popular back in the day.

At one point, it even overtook League of Legends in PC cafe usage rates. I used to play it quite often too.

I didn’t know my sibling played it, though…

Considering how popular the game was with women, it wasn’t entirely surprising.

“No, you play by yourself.”

“Why? Let’s play together.”

“…I’m just not feeling it right now.”

Hearing that, my sibling seemed to understand and didn’t push further.

“Ah, okay. Next time then.”

The reason I refused was simple.

I just didn’t feel like logging into an account tied to Yujin’s social security number.

Because you never know—just in case something, anything, happened.

Of course, I could have used my sibling’s account for a game other than League of Legends, but… somehow, that idea also felt unsettling.

“Professional League of Legends Player E Suspected of Account Boosting in Another Game!”

I could already imagine an article like that popping up on the news homepage someday.

‘I can play games at home all I want. Or I can wait until my identity is fully sorted out. For now, I should just hold back.’

In the end, all I could do was aimlessly browse the internet.

‘I might as well order some food.’

Resolving to console myself with food, I started ordering various items from the menu.

Most of the food was greasy and indulgent—things my mother usually wouldn’t let me eat.

“Your order is ready.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, can I have some too?” my sibling asked.

“Here.”

Their friend, who was busy with an assignment, also chimed in.

“Huh? Can I have one too?”

“Here you go.”

“Thanks!”

While the three of us ate, I briefly considered offering some to the male friend—my sibling’s classmate—but my limited social skills stopped me.

Similarly, the male friend didn’t seem comfortable enough to ask for a share, so a subtle, unspoken barrier formed between him and the rest of us.

‘Why did they arrange the seats like this?’

The current seating arrangement looked like this:

[Sibling’s Friend, Sibling, Me, Male Friend]

It seemed like the friend’s intention was to distance herself since she couldn’t join in due to her assignment, but this resulted in an awkward setup.

‘Well, never mind.’

The male friend didn’t seem too bothered by it either.

With the situation as it was, I naturally started eating, and my wandering gaze soon landed on the male friend’s screen to my right.

The reason I didn’t look at my sibling’s screen was simple.

My sibling was playing Survival Grounds, but the male friend was playing none other than League of Legends.

League of Legends dominates over 50% of PC cafe usage in Korea. It’s not surprising; in fact, more people play it than don’t.

Crunch. Crunch.

‘This is good.’

As I took a bite of my hotdog, the male friend’s game began.

When the loading screen appeared, he instinctively opened a stats-checking website to review all the players’ records—a commendable habit for a ranked warrior.

‘His rank is… Diamond 4.’

Diamond 4.

Though it’s often mocked as “D4 trash” in jest, it’s still an impressive rank for an average player.

While eating, I began secretly watching his gameplay, much like how I’d watch an internet stream.

‘You shouldn’t be going Blue from there…’

Naturally, since his rank was what it was, I noticed a lot of areas where he could improve.

Still, I had no intention of commenting, so I simply observed quietly while enjoying my food.

‘Ah, close call. He missed dodging that.’

‘He shouldn’t be pushing mid—there’s probably Flash up… Oh, I knew it.’

‘Hmm? No, don’t start the dragon fight now. Everyone’s going to die. I told you not to take it.’

Perhaps I’d become too engrossed in the game.

“You shouldn’t go bot right now,” I muttered out loud without realizing it.

“Huh?”

“Ah.”

Our eyes met immediately.

His face clearly showed confusion and surprise.

‘Oh no.’

I’ve done it now.