Chapter 42
<Notice> Payment is pending.
A few days passed.
The system mercilessly kept prompting me for payment.
The system mercilessly hounded me into paying the subscription fee.
I pulled the blanket over my head to avoid the system’s nagging.
“What am I supposed to do? I worked really hard, you know.”
It’s not like I didn’t even try—I had attempted to enter the ‘Knights of the Round Table’ dimension fitting for slicing and dicing, but the suspended payment made it impossible.
If I could at least move between dimensions, I would have tracked down Johan with a steel face, no matter what.
Customers stopped coming once the payment lapsed, as it affected access to the door too.
‘Last time, Johan appeared and helped me out.’
But that was before the free trial ended, so the situation was different now.
I shouldn’t expect miracles like that to happen…
Knock knock.
Someone was at the door.
Startled, I decided to ignore it. A customer or two wouldn’t be enough to make up the missing amount anyway.
‘Just leave it be.’
My motivation was completely drained, like ashes remaining after a fire. Whoever was knocking, I didn’t want to pay them any mind.
After a while, the knocking abruptly stopped.
The silence brought a sense of peace.
‘They left.’
Just as I thought that…
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Whoever it was, they were persistent.
I opened the window upstairs and looked down.
A blond boy came into view.
Hearing the window open, the boy looked up at me.
His wavy golden hair shone brilliantly in the soft sunlight. His jewel-toned pink eyes were dazzling.
The cute-looking boy, or young man, beamed up at me.
“Hello there!”
“We’re not open. Come back another time.”
Speaking for the first time in a while, my voice came out hoarse.
The boy tilted his head at my words.
“I’m not a customer though?”
“Then leave. I don’t deal with solicitors.”
I curtly dismissed him, and the boy’s expression turned sullen.
Whether due to his young age or personality, his emotions showed clearly on his face.
“Well then.”
“Wait!”
As I moved to close the window, the boy waved his arms frantically.
“Why?”
“Is that any way to treat me? I came to see you, Noona.”
“I don’t have a brother like you.”
What’s with the familiarity from a total stranger? I closed the window anyway.
At that moment…
<Notice> A special guest has arrived.
A special guest? So that blond boy?
I ignored the notice and tried to burrow back under the covers, but dozens of duplicate pop-ups blocked my view, repeating the same message.
“Oh, come on.”
I ended up reopening the window.
“What business does this ‘special guest’ have?”
“I came to collect money!”
Money? So, this kid must be a messenger sent by the system to force me to work.
Anger welled up inside me. I kicked off the blankets and rushed out of bed.
As the door opened, the boy smiled brightly at me. But face-to-face, my rage had nowhere to go and dissipated.
The system was the true target of my anger, not him.
“Hello there…..”
“Get lost.”
That didn’t mean I welcomed his presence either.
Up close, he seemed closer to a young man than a boy.
Taller than me with a deceptively large build.
But one thing was clear—he wasn’t an adult yet.
His pretty pink eyes blinked a few times.
“I can’t do that. Not until I get the money.”
“The shameless system is audacious enough to send you, thinking I wouldn’t argue?”
“But I’m all grown up!”
The boy protested.
“Anyway, the real deadline is really, really, really today. You agreed to the quest initially, right? You remember, Noona?”
“Whether I remember or not, who was it that changed ‘N’ to ‘Y’ to force my consent? I bet you remember that too?”
My blatant sarcasm made the boy groan loudly.
“Is that important right now? If you don’t pay the subscription fee……”
“You said I’d fall into hell.”
“Exactly. If payment is delayed further, this world will disappear.”
The boy had a serious expression, but it didn’t faze me much.
I wasn’t attached to this world to begin with. Nothing here to make me feel sentimental about it.
“Then I’ll just move to another dimension.”
Ending the membership didn’t completely cut off my means of traveling to other dimensions, just severely limited the options.
“Your soul is the foundation of this world.”
“So?”
“If it disappears, you die, Noona.”
Die?
Having died once before, the idea of death was admittedly a bit scary.
But just a bit.
“Hold on.”
I went back to the bar and stood in front of the display case.
“They say well-drunk ghosts look good.”
For my final drink before death, I chose an extra anejo grade tequila—the highest quality, aged over 3 years in oak barrels. Until now, my shaky hands hadn’t dared open this precious bottle carelessly.
“Since I’m going to die anyway, I’ll finish it all.”
I drank the tequila straight. A burning sensation traveled down my throat as warmth spread through my body.
As I poured another glass of tequila, an oddly chilling breeze blew past me.
“Ugh.”
Even though I hadn’t opened the door, the boy had let himself into the bar.
Stopping in front of the counter, he looked me up and down and clicked his tongue.
“Drinking in this situation?”
“Alright, take me to hell already.”
The alcohol was kicking in, so I felt tumbling into hell wouldn’t be so bad.
Perhaps I wanted everything to simply end. Like when I wished to get hit by a car on my way to work once.
For my weary life to just be swept away, since I lacked the courage to give up myself.
After glancing around the bar, the boy approached me, staring intently.
“For someone with a couldn’t-care-less face, you did maintain this place diligently. Look at this—not a speck of dust on the liquor bottles.”
“That’s because I keep drinking them periodically.”
“Um, Noona. Did something happen? Things seemed to be going smoothly, so why did you fall behind on the subscription fee?”
The boy took the half-empty glass from me as he asked.
“I don’t have money. Someone left counterfeit money. Since I can’t afford the subscription fee anyway, I’ll drink it all before I die, so hand it over.”
I grumbled irritably as the boy took the glass away from me again.
We struggled for a moment over the glass.
“Who was the bastard that did that?”
“Some random bastard. But you better be more alert when collecting payments.”
Recalling the scammer made my anger flare, sharpening my tone.
Ultimately losing the glass, I gave up on the tequila and grabbed a bottle of rum instead.
As I chugged straight from the bottle, the boy let out a deep sigh.
In the novels I’ve read, the female leads desperately try to survive by any means necessary, whether it’s possession, regression, or reincarnation stories.
Even babies in raising sims suffer from that young age.
‘I don’t want that.’
It’s too bothersome. I’m exhausted. I just want to coast through life.
‘I don’t want to struggle that hard.’
The belief that effort leads to success is long gone.
Passion is a precious resource like coins—use it all up and only ashes remain.
“Ugh, what do I do…”
The boy ruffled his hair, muttering, then suddenly clasped his hands and gazed at me with sparkling eyes.
Somehow, that look made me feel strangely relaxed and warm…
“Get a grip!”
I slapped my own cheek. I couldn’t fall for the puppy dog eyes of someone younger than me.
No matter how cute he was, I didn’t have a thing for younger guys.
“Ah, charm doesn’t work on you, huh?”
“Cut it out.”
“Noona, this is serious. Even after seeing such a cute guy, you still have no will to live.”
“You’re just overconfident.”
When I coldly dismissed him, the boy stuck out his lip in a pout.
“This won’t do. Come with me.”
Ding!
<Notice> Quest has occurred!
Special service for the boss who couldn’t afford the subscription fee! You are invited to a one-day part-time job.
You won’t be able to return until you gather 9,800 coins.
Will you accept the quest?
[Y] [N]
This is like being invited onto a fishing trawler, isn’t it?
No, wait. Before that.
“Don’t tell me you sent that notification window?”
“The notification window? Yes.”
The boy smiled slyly as he precisely pointed to where the window appeared with his index finger.
“So you’re the System itself?”
“Huh? Yes, that’s right.”
The anger that had subsided came surging back. He’s not just a messenger, he’s the one behind it all?
“You’re forcing labor on me…?!”
Like anyone would work after this treatment! I tried to select ‘N’ but today it dodged me infuriatingly again.
Rage flared up inside me in an instant.
“Why did you bring me here!”
If I ever met the System, I desperately wanted to ask.
I was originally unlucky. You should have just left me to die after getting hit by that motorcycle. Call someone who actually wants to survive, not me. What’s the point…?
“Your premise is wrong.”
The smile vanished from the boy’s face. The cute image disappeared, his expression shifting drastically—so much that I doubted this was the same person I had just conversed with.
“I didn’t bring you here. You came to this place entirely by your own power. I just happened to find you.”
🥂
Thank you for reading! ♡
