The drowsiness of sleep is not easily shaken off.
Especially in the monts just after waking up.
Lying in a soft bed, with a thick blanket covering you, indulging in that sluggish feeling is more comfortable than one could imagine.
However, people who have things to do must eventually get up from the cozy bed.
I was no different.
In the past, I used to indulge in laziness for longer, but lately, even if I fall asleep, I wake up quickly after reducing my sleep drastically.
Today too...
"Miss~ You should be waking up soon, right?"
[Kyaaaa]
I didn’t want to get up.
My will to get up was imdiately defeated by the mischievous voice from outside the blanket.
The sunlight filtered in through the window. The morning of the fourth day of the Birth Festival, the day of the drag queen contest, had arrived.
‘Mmmm...’
My legs, sticking out from the blanket, wiggled slightly. I pulled my shivering legs back, curled up my body, and wrapped the blanket around like armor.
The mischievous voice giggled.
"You still have so ti, but it's better to wake up, shake off the sleep, and get going, right?"
Her blue eyes curved into crescents. Baek Ah-rin didn’t hide her giggling and patted the gathered blanket.
"See? You're being so good~ Ti to wake up!"
Thud thud thud...
Just like last night, the rhythmic touch traveled across my body.
The gentle pats, aligned with the rhythm of my heartbeat, and her soothing voice helped settle my trembling body and mind.
‘...I’ll get up soon...’
"Of course, I know Ha-yul is purposely acting bratty and being cute~ But you need to wake up now!"
[Heeek!]
[Piercing]
[Shock]
[Denial...]
Just as I was steeling myself, the sudden sabotage caused my body to jolt up.
Startled, I stuck my head out from the blanket and saw Baek Ah-rin, smiling as if she had been waiting for this mont, reaching out her hand.
Her hand, which slipped into the blanket, grabbed by the armpits. Just like pulling a radish out of the ground, my body was yanked out of the blanket.
"I got you."
[Ah!]
Was this a psychological ga?
In the short mont of surprise, Baek Ah-rin, still giggling, pulled into her arms. I found myself leaning against her chest.
I was mostly awake by now. I adjusted my position, making myself comfortable while resting my head gently on Baek Ah-rin’s chest.
"Good, you’re listening well... You’re so good."
With a bright smile, Baek Ah-rin moved her hand. She tapped my lips lightly with her cool fingers, causing my mouth to reflexively open.
Blop
Water began to drip from her finger that was in my mouth. I had just woken up, and my mouth was dry. Although it was an instinctive action, I imdiately drank the water, delighted by the refreshnt.
"Are you acquainted with the person from the Tower of Growth event?"
The question ca without warning. I stopped sucking on her finger as I heard it.
Baek Ah-rin, still holding her finger in my mouth, looked down at with a mysterious smile.
I hesitated for a mont before mumbling sothing.
[We’re acquainted... but also not really.]
"What’s that supposed to an?"
Mu, eeh?
Baek Ah-rin tilted her head. Then, using the finger still in my mouth, she tapped my tongue repeatedly, pressing it down.
Eeeehh...
Her finger seed to be teasing . I gently bit her finger to hold it in place.
"Ah, that tickles."
Mmmhehehe...
Honestly, it was a strange thing to say, but roughly speaking, it was the right answer.
I know the 5th round from the ga, but I don’t really know the 5th round of real life.
To explain this in detail would require revealing many secrets, and I wasn’t quite ready to disclose everything yet.
Especially to Baek Ah-rin, there were still so things I had to hide.
"Well, I just thought you two seed to know each other, so I asked. Oh, by the way..."
While playing with my tongue, Baek Ah-rin shrugged. Then, as if she had just rembered sothing, she made a sound of realization and skillfully manipulated the hologram with one hand.
"Did you know? This picture got posted on the community. I guess Ha-yul doesn’t use the internet, so you wouldn’t know, right?"
A picture appeared on the hologram.
It was a screenshot from an internet post, and the post contained a photo of and Baek Ah-rin together.
It was from the first day of the Birth Festival, when I used Fire of Fear on Baek Ah-rin in the street.
Baek Ah-rin, resting her chin on my head, looked at the picture and chuckled.
"Look at this. It’s a great shot, right? After this photo got out, my profile subscribers increased quite a bit."
[Profile...?]
"Yeah, my SNS account. Although my family manages most of the things, you haven’t created one yet, right?"
[No.]
"Since it’s the Birth Festival and all, you should make one, don’t you think?"
[Uh... that’s a bit... ]
I awkwardly pushed her finger away from my mouth.
[Ah.]
And suddenly, I opened my mouth absentmindedly.
The picture had caused a stir in the community. The drones had been flying around, capturing and broadcasting the events of the Birth Festival.
Would today’s events also be captured by the drones, broadcasted, and spread as photos and videos across the community...?
Would this information forever drift in the sea of data...?
......
Suddenly, my stomach churned.
The fourth day of the Birth Festival is filled with a lot of smaller events.
With the Tower of Growth event from the third day over, the only remaining activities are the closing ceremony of the Birth Festival and the upcoming winter break ceremony.
What one does during the break is up to personal circumstances. According to the academic schedule, the students are effectively free until the new sester next year.
In that sense, the fourth day is filled with light, enjoyable events that are ant to be relaxed and fun.
Commonly called entertainnt events, they involve students participating in activities that get them moving.
Among the most popular entertainnt events are cosplay and cross-dressing competitions.
"Why are there so many people...?"
As the sun began to set in the sky, I entered the event hall and suddenly felt my face go pale.
The audience seats, already packed to the brim, were pouring out gazes in my direction.
There were so many people—many of them not students or residents of Siyoram, but outsiders who had co to watch.
It was quite overwhelming, but I had long since stopped making a fuss about being stared at.
However, my complexion remained unchanged.
In addition to the onlookers, there were also participants in the hall.
These were the male students who were participating in the cross-dressing event.
"Everyone’s just here to have fun, so no need to feel burdened. Just participate comfortably."
"The rewards are nothing special, and the qualifications for entry are simple. Even if you get rejected, it's no big deal."
Elia and Yeon-hwa, who had followed , chuckled as they answered.
I couldn't agree with that.
Saying "just participate and have fun" sounded easy, but most of the participants had pale or crumpled faces.
I rembered how, just as we entered the event hall, I had felt like a pig being pushed into a slaughterhouse, forced to go in on my own accord.
I, too, was one of those many pigs...
[Baize?]
"...Ha-yul?"
Among the pigs, there was Baize. He was staring at the ceiling with a dull expression when he turned his gaze toward .
I tilted my head with a similarly dull expression.
[Why are you here...?]
Baize, looking awkward, turned his gaze away.
"Ah, well... I lost a bet..."
[Ah.]
So he was another pig dragged here by force. Sympathy imdiately arose in my expression, but I quickly wiped it away as I realized we were in the sa situation.
[Hang in there.]
"...Ha-yul, you hang in there too."
He nodded his head and awkwardly backed away.
"It's almost ti to prepare. I'll go ahead?"
"Mm-mm."
Yeon-hwa, who had been patting my head, and Baek Ah-rin, who was next to , also turned away.
In this event hall, both the n's and won's cross-dressing competitions are happening simultaneously.
Yeon-hwa, who didn’t want to participate in the won’s cross-dressing contest alone, joined the n’s contest. Baek Ah-rin, finding it fun, also decided to join.
'......'
But honestly, I thought both of them would look great in n's clothes, so I wondered if their outfits would be that different from mine...
"Hmm."
However, as I saw Yeon-hwa’s excited face, I nodded in agreent. With her looking forward to it, my little embarrassnt didn’t matter much.
"...I’ll see you in a bit."
Finally, I walked with the other participants toward the waiting room.
The waiting room was not a shared one but a private room.
One chair and a large full-length mirror placed in front of .
There were tables filled with costics and other materials needed for preparations.
On one wall, a variety of wigs and light, flowing clothes hung, causing my lips to tremble.
"Wow, there’s so much. There are all kinds of wigs here... though, no magical tools. And there doesn’t seem to be any mana in the materials, so it looks like everything is done with regular supplies?"
The cross-dressing contest mostly takes place with poor-quality preparations.
So events are held with professionally crafted and high-level costus, but most are simply thrown together with whatever materials are available.
It’s ant to be a fun and light-hearted event, where everyone laughs, jokes around, and teases each other, so there’s no need to make it too extravagant.
For that reason, magic and special abilities are excluded.
"...Why did you co here with ?"
As I fiddled with the chair, I turned my head, puzzled. Elia, who had been inspecting the wigs, tilted her head.
"Well, I ca to help you get ready!"
With that, she proudly patted her chest, showing a confidence that left more confused than reassured.
"Uhh... You don’t really need to help though..."
"Well, it’s true that Ha-yul could win even without much decoration, but it’ll be better if you make an effort, right?"
"Ugh... Stop teasing ..."
"No? I’m saying this seriously."
"That’s teasing ..."
"Ah, no, it’s not like that. Let’s quickly figure out your look while we wait."
The cross-dressing and n’s cross-dressing contests start imdiately after, with the students appearing on stage before their transformation.
In other words, it’s a cruel event where everyone gets to compare their before-and-after appearances.
With a wide smile, Elia gently pushed into a chair and patted my shoulder.
"Mm..."
She then stared at my reflection in the mirror with serious golden eyes.
"Honestly, there’s nothing much to do. Should we just go with this?"
"Ugh..."
"Even if we put makeup on, it might have the opposite effect... What about your hair?"
Elia tilted her head as she gently ran her fingers through my hair.
"If we put a wig on this hair, it’ll be too obvious... Your hair is so beautiful, putting sothing diocre on it would make it look like seaweed."
"......"
I closed my mouth at Elia’s serious murmuring. Seaweed? A wig? I didn’t really get it. I wondered if it would look similar if we just slapped sothing on...
‘A wig, huh?’
When cross-dressing cos to mind, most people think of long wigs.
‘Long hair...’
For a mont, I found myself lost in thought, almost as if I were avoiding reality.
A lot of people keep their hair long. Won commonly do, and even among n, many grow their hair long.
I had never thought about growing my hair long.
Aside from the appearance, I knew that long hair was a hassle to maintain.
If you browse the internet, there are so many posts complaining about the trouble of managing long hair.
I was an odd person whose hair and nails didn’t grow properly. So, having long hair wasn’t even sothing I’d considered.
I imagined what it would be like if my hair grew long.
...I felt nothing. It was just a thought—long hair would beco troubleso, I’d have to be careful during battles...
"Eh?"
Suddenly, Elia let out an exclamation. At the sound of her voice, filled with both curiosity and surprise, I opened my eyes.
"What’s wrong?"
Even as I asked, Elia blinked in surprise. Frowning slightly, I turned my head to look at her.
Srrr
"?"
Sothing brushed against my neck. I blinked, just like Elia did.
The power of observation. Sothing brushed against my neck. It wasn’t threatening...
"......"
The incoming information felt odd. With trembling hands, I gently reached to touch the thing that had brushed against my neck.
It was soft. It split and clumped together between my fingers. When I loosened my grip, it slipped out and hung down.
The information from my observation didn’t feel threatening, and I didn’t find it particularly odd.
Naturally.
It was just my hair that had grown.
[What the hell?]
My hair had grown longer.
This crazy body of mine.
[Player Adjustnts System: Exploration Degree]
[Sub-quest “Birth Festival: Day 3” completed]
[Sub-quest “Tower Entry: 5th Round” completed]
[Points accumulated]
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