Chapter 62

The act of becoming stronger. Typically, there are designated places where such efforts can be made.

Such as jogging in the park or renting a training facility. Kim Ha-neul thought that Erica would bring him somewhere like that since he had mentioned wanting to grow stronger.

But in this world, there were entities that defied both physical laws and common sense, and Erica was one of them—mainly in the sense of defying common sense.

Chooiiiiiiiingggg—

The fire rippling over the steel plate was turning the pale pink meat into a delectable hue. While the pink was no longer merely decorative but appetizing, Kim Ha-neul’s gaze remained fixed solely on Erica sitting directly in front of him.

After expressing his desire to grow stronger, he had been brought to a barbecue restaurant. While he wasn’t exactly upset to be here with Erica, he couldn’t help but find it odd that this was where she’d brought him with the promise of getting stronger.

Completely ignoring the boy’s questioning gaze, Erica’s attention was entirely focused on the meat. Cooking meat was an art.

Flipping it too often wastes the juices, but not flipping it at all can lead to it burning. Cutting into it too early makes it harder to flip later.

Despite this, the girl’s focus slipped for a moment when the boy’s chopsticks moved faster than hers to turn the meat.

“Why did you bring me here if you knew I wanted to get stronger? Eating meat won’t magically make me stronger, will it?”

A god-like dexterity.

When Erica’s attention turned from the meat to the boy’s chopsticks, Kim Ha-neul, who had been waiting for an explanation but received none, finally began to speak for himself.

Kim Ha-neul already knew what Erica was. He’d already suspected her supernatural abilities.

Because he knew this, Kim Ha-neul was confident—no matter how he thought about it, Erica had no logical reason to grow stronger by being here.

Though the boy harbored a commonsensical doubt, Erica had no intention of elaborating on the reason.

She was familiar with the cliché that the power of the protagonist enhances the strength of the heroine simply by proximity. While Kim Ha-neul might not understand how his presence could raise her awakening rate, she intended to take advantage of that regardless. Naturally, Kim Ha-neul would be curious about why.

Without explaining the system’s awakening rate, Erica needed a reasonable word to convince him, and that word had already been decided.

“Because I feel stronger when I’m with you.”

“Feel.”

That was the magic word Erica came up with to bypass detailed explanations. After all, few people question why they feel a certain way when it’s presented as mere “feelings.”

“Because of anger?”

The boy, narrowing his eyes, turned out to be one of those rare individuals who would dig deeper into the matter. His tone implied a certainty that Erica might be mad at him.

Had she been caught keeping distance from him after checking on Inna through the system? Or did he think she held a deep grudge over something significant?

The information gap between Kim Ha-neul and Erica was vast, even after two weeks, a timeframe far too short to bridge such a divide.

“What if it is?”

Then it would be enough to simply provoke her to talk.

Because sometimes, mere questions can still coax out information.

Erica’s chosen method of conversation with Kim Ha-neul, someone holding more information, was designed to subtly extract it from him.

“Well, if so, all I do is fear whatever anger you might unleash in the future. What could I possibly do against you? Oh, and thank you for the apron.”

The boy, who had been giving her a sardonic smile, turned around just in time to thank the aunt who had brought the apron, before putting it on.

Only then did Erica notice Kim Ha-neul’s clothing—a sense of being dressed up despite their busy schedules. Erica, who cared little for fashion whether male or female, might not have recognized the brand of the slightly pink shirt over his white t-shirt, but immediately sensed it wasn’t an ordinary expensive garment.

He could only have arrived at the café at the promised time after immediately leaving wherever he’d been texting just before coming.

That is, he had no extra time to dress up but had canceled an important appointment to come here instead.

In short, this meant Erica’s sudden plans were more important to him than whatever important schedule he’d been on.

“Why do you act this way if you’re actually sorry toward me?”

In every conversation with Kim Ha-neul, one couldn’t help but sense his underlying guilt toward Erica. So why, then, did he keep doing things that made him feel guilty?

Desiring to put an end to this circular question, she asked directly.

As a mere resident of this world with a system,

or an outsider seeking to return to [reality] rather than a romantic visual novel,

she believed that if not now, Kim Ha-neul would never open up to anyone else about his story.

While placing the cooked meat on Erica’s plate before it burned, Kim Ha-neul paused in thought before answering.

His black eyes flickered with numerous thoughts, resembling his sister’s in a way, as though holding many hidden colors.

“There’s nothing I can tell you right now.”

Much like his mysterious sister, Kim Ha-neul revealed nothing.

Yet Erica, who hadn’t eaten a single piece of the meat handed to her, waited silently for him to speak, though she harbored no major disappointment.

It had only been roughly two weeks.

Even if they had shared more time together in this body, the distance Kim Ha-neul felt from her was no greater than two weeks’ worth of interactions.

Erica wasn’t so petty as to expect to uncover his secrets so soon after knowing him for only two weeks.

Still, it was human nature to feel a little disappointed when something seemed close to being revealed.

“However, I’ll tell you everything after it’s all over. I won’t run away then.”

Kim Ha-neul stated his condition as though implying Erica was prematurely jumping to conclusions. He would only begin his story once “everything” was concluded.

Perhaps insufficient trust existed to believe his words, but doubting his sincerity meant doubting every word he said.

As Erica decided to let it go for now, a flash of red hair swayed into her peripheral vision.

Noticing her distraction, Kim Ha-neul turned his head to see a woman approaching.

Her stride was close to a model’s walk, though she was no trained model—it was simply her natural presence that drew people’s attention.

This woman, who had caught everyone’s gaze from Erica and Kim Ha-neul, approached their table and sat down without hesitation, specifically next to Erica.

In a manner as if they’d planned to eat together all along, no one at the table questioned her natural behavior.

Naturally enough, as she was someone close to both of them: Erica’s ex-partner and Kim Ha-neul’s current girlfriend.

Her identity was none other than the Student Council President, Lee Seo-ra. It was unsurprising no one would object to her sitting with them.

The present-day Erica merely appreciated her face, not love her, but allowing her to sit beside her wasn’t an issue.

“So, what were the two of you doing?”

“Just having a normal conversation. We haven’t seen each other over the weekend in a while.”

The Student Council President’s first move upon sitting was to wield her chopsticks. The cold, leftover meat from their conversation.

She wrapped it in lettuce and instead of eating it herself, fed Erica. Having been too focused on their talk to eat herself, Erica accepted without refusal.

“Were you really hungry?”

Activating supernatural abilities always came with a cost. Prior to meeting Kim Ha-neul, Erica had used plenty of her abilities during training with her “older sister,” thus being quite famished.

Watching the girl contentedly eat without a word, the Student Council President momentarily glanced at the boy conspiratorially during the time they had been meeting in secret.

Their secret meeting, which some might interpret as Kim Ha-neul cheating, was understood for what it truly was by Kim Ha-neul. It wasn’t infidelity that upset Lee Seo-ra; she was mad because she thought Kim Ha-neul was trying to steal the person she loved.

“For the record, I didn’t suggest meeting. She asked me first.”

The Student Council President, crucial to Kim Ha-neul’s plan, was someone whose relationship he needed to maintain. So he quickly fired off a sincere-sounding excuse.

Since Seo-ra would never be mad enough to confront Erica, whatever Erica did, she would handle herself. Seo-ra glanced briefly at Erica upon hearing this but promptly resumed wrapping more lettuce instead.

The sins Kim Ha-neul bore toward Erica for his purposes. And Seo-ra’s own sins toward Erica, all under the guise of protecting her.

Considering their past relationship and remembering those two wrongdoings, neither had the moral high ground to lash out at her for any grievances.

Erica, having expected them to talk during her look of anticipation, was instead left waiting as both parties, guilt-ridden, silently continued eating until the meal was done.