Though the foreign ghost’s trolling led to Ryuji’s embarrassing monts being recorded in real-ti, fortunately, people’s interest in him quickly faded.
This was because, from the start, the arm-wrestling was rely a ti-filler for the main vote tally, and the organizers announced that the tally was complete as soon as both the n’s and won’s arm-wrestling ended.
And finally, the announcent of the winner of the swimsuit contest with a total prize of 100,000 yen.
The honored winner was…
Not , nor Ryuji, nor the muscular man nad Yoshida, but the clumsy female participant from before.
“Eh? ? Yay! I hit the jackpot!”
An entirely unexpected twist.
Initially, it was thought that the n’s votes would be split, but the results turned out to be the complete opposite.
Instead, it was the won’s votes that were more scattered.
Thanks to my efforts in the preliminaries, I also received a fair number of votes, but a narrow margin flipped it, landing in second place.
Missing out on the first prize of 100,000 yen was disappointing, but the second prize wasn’t bad either.
Especially since the second prize was a Nintendo Switch, enjoyable for the whole family.
I had finally gotten my hands on a console ga system, sothing I had hesitated to buy, feeling it was sowhat unnecessary.
“That’s great. Now we can play gas together.”
“Yeah.”
Ryuji, who was with at the award ceremony, was happy for as if it were his own achievent.
As expected, he was a really nice guy.
If it weren’t for my prejudice about him being a love cody protagonist, we might have beco friends earlier in the sester.
Looking down at the 10,000 yen bill I received as the arm-wrestling prize money, I said,
“Let’s go. I’ll treat you on the way back to the lodging with this.”
Ryuji then whistled and asked,
“Can we eat sothing expensive?”
“You’ve worked hard, so I can let one slide.”
After the swimsuit contest was completely over, we joined the others who were waiting under the stage and headed to the lodging.
After returning to the lodging, we ate dinner in the yard of the guesthouse.
The dinner nu was a seafood barbecue, and it tasted absolutely delicious, perhaps because we were so hungry.
Especially after finishing the shrimp, the heads fried separately in butter were a delicacy.
Later, we chatted while eating snacks and drinks bought from a convenience store with the prize money from the arm-wrestling contest.
“It’s already this late.”
Rika, squatting in the guesthouse yard and staring blankly at a sparkler, one of the fireworks bought at the convenience store along with snacks, murmured this.
And Karen responded to her comnt.
“Yeah, it’s been a while since we lost track of ti having fun.”
The Class President, who had been listening quietly to their conversation, chid in.
“Isn’t this exactly the magic of sumr?”
“Indeed… It’s a plausible explanation.”
As Sasha nodded seriously, Satoru, who was eating ice cream, spoke up.
“So, what’s next? We’ve had dinner, snacks, and even fireworks. Are we done now?”
“Shouldn’t we? It’s getting quite late.”
I said this while checking the ti displayed on my phone.
10 p.m.
In the city, it would still be early, but in places like this remote beach, most stores close after 9 p.m.
“Phew.”
When the sparkler in her hand went out, the Class President was the first to brush it off and stand up.
“Let’s go in. If we want to play early tomorrow, we need to save our energy. Otherwise, we’ll all sleep in.”
Certainly, a valid point, so no one disagreed with her.
Eventually, even the firewood in the bonfire whitened, and the flas died down.
That served as a sort of signal, and one by one, we all got up.
“Let’s call it a day then. Everyone, have a good rest, and let’s et tomorrow morning with smiles.”
After concluding the situation like that, the Class President led the way into the lodging.
This created an awkward atmosphere to stay outside any longer, so, taking cues from each other, we, one by one, went inside the lodging.
Rika, who was the last to go in, caught my eye and waved at with her usual bright smile.
“Good night, Ryu-chan.”
“Yeah. You, too, sleep well.”
After saying that to Rika, I followed Satoru and Ryuji into the lodging.
The room we guys were using was a reasonably sized four-person room.
As we laid out our futons on the tatami and lay down, a flickering fluorescent light slowly blinking caught my eye.
“It feels like we’re visiting a grandmother’s house in the countryside.”
Ryuji, lying next to , muttered this, and Satoru chid in.
“Agreed. Especially this mosquito coil sll is no joke.”
Indeed, the musty sll of the mosquito coil provided by the guesthouse was strongly stimulating our nostrils.
If there were mosquito nets, it would have completely created that feeling.
Listening quietly to their conversation, I asked Satoru,
“Ah, by the way, Satoru, are you still upset?”
Satoru replied with a look of disbelief,
“Do people usually ask that outright?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know if I didn’t ask.”
Then, Satoru said,
“It’s fine, man. After all, I was the one who overdid it earlier.”
Surprisingly, Satoru readily admitted his fault.
After hearing Satoru’s answer and pondering for a mont, I spoke up.
“Let’s definitely hang out, just the three of us later. I’ll join in, whether it’s hunting or whatever.”
Satoru chuckled and replied,
“Yeah, let’s plan a guys’ trip next ti.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
Ryuji agreed, and Satoru, perhaps feeling sleepy as he lay down, yawned and said,
“Let’s get so sleep. If we’re moving around tomorrow, it’s better to go to bed early, just like the Class President said.”
“Yeah. Good night.”
After saying that, I slightly sat up and turned off the light, the only illumination in the room.
As the room darkened, only the sound of quiet breathing could be heard.
Then, as soone began to snore, I slowly closed my eyes.
I had a dream for the first ti in a while.
And the dream wasn’t about , but the mories of ‘Kim Yu-seong.’
In the faded mory, Kim Yu-seong was raised by his grandmother when his parents were busy working, before his grandmother passed away.
In the mory, his grandmother’s face was wrinkled.
With hands that had weathered the passage of ti, she gently stroked Kim Yu-seong’s head and told him old stories.
It seed Kim Yu-seong was very fond of his grandmother.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to feel such sadness indirectly in the dream.
Perhaps the sll of the mosquito coil, which he hadn’t slled in a long ti, triggered ‘Kim Yu-seong’s’ mories.
At this stage, it was just a speculation, though.
I opened my eyes in the darkness.
Rubbing my eyes, a tear fell.
Probably, the content of the dream caused a physiological reaction.
Quietly getting up, I left the room alone to wash my face.
The hallway was silent as a mouse.
Each step forward in the creaking hallway created a strange atmosphere.
After washing my face at the sink in the nearest bathroom, I intended to return to my room to try to sleep again.
But on the way, I unexpectedly ran into soone.
“Eh? Ryu-chan?”
It was Rika, unusually dressed in pajamas.
Since we had already run into each other, we decided to take a short walk outside.
We were both up anyway, having woken up to use the bathroom, and it didn’t seem like we’d be able to fall asleep again right away.
We walked along the white sandy beach, stretching alongside the night sea.
The grains of sand between our sandals and toes spread around, giving a soft sensation.
Even though it was sumr, the sea breeze blowing from the night sea was quite cold.
Noticing I wasn’t the only one who felt it, Rika, walking beside , slightly hunched her body.
It turned out to be a good idea to bring a cardigan, just in case sothing like this happened.
“Here, wear this.”
“Oh, thanks.”
When I offered her the cardigan I was holding in my right hand, Rika accepted and put it on without hesitation.
Then, a subtle silence followed.
We often hung out together, but it was rare to feel this way.
To break the mood, I looked up at the moon in the sky.
“The moon is beautiful tonight.”
“Eh?”
Rika then looked at with a surprised expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Rika mumbled that, then quickened her pace a bit.
Following her, I asked,
“Why are you walking so fast?”
Then Rika replied,
“I just felt like getting a bit of exercise.”
Honestly, it sounded like an excuse to anyone listening.
But I decided to play along as if I didn’t notice.
“Thinking about exercising at this hour, that’s impressive.”
“Hehe, I got praised.”
Rika said that, turned around slightly, and asked with a bright smile,
“So, Ryu-chan, why did you co out?”
“? I was just, you know, in a bit of a complicated state of mind.”
Walking in such situations was a great help in organizing my thoughts.
Occasional mories of Kim Yu-seong made feel as though I was making a big mistake.
In reality, I was just caught up in the situation.
Living soone else’s life—their existence—was never easy.
Perhaps anyone else in my place would feel the sa.
I looked at the dark night sea and said,
“It’s nice and quiet.”
“Right?”
We walked along the quiet beach, exchanging small talk.
Then suddenly, Rika looked at with a serious expression.
“Ryu-chan, I have sothing to tell you.”
“You have sothing to tell ?”
“Yeah. Sothing I’ve wanted to say for a while.”
Rika said this and then paused for a mont.
And then…
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