[The worst heatwave that swept across the country for four days has finally subsided, and the monsoon front is once again intensifying. The rain will start again this evening around 7 p.m. and will be concentrated overnight.
Today, the maximum temperature in the capital region is expected to be 34 degrees Celsius, with the minimum temperature at 24 degrees Celsius. Due to the ongoing monsoon front, the atmosphere is saturated with moisture, so a sticky heat is expected during the day. Meanwhile….]

“...Ugh, the weather these days is just the worst...”

August in South Korea always forced its inhabitants into a cruel choice.

Would you rather endure the suffocating, skin-searing heat, or the endless rain that leaves you soaked, with watermarks that never dry and sweat that never seems to evaporate?

For Koreans, the four seasons were never pleasant. Just as the saying goes, “too much of anything is bad,” summer was extremely hot and humid, while winter was brutally cold and dry.

Harmony was no exception to this.

The monsoon front, which had crept in since last night, unleashed a torrential downpour while she slept, and the clear view outside before she fell asleep was now shattered by a gloomy, dreary mess.

Fortunately, Harmony was one of the few high-income earners in modern society who could afford to let her electric bill soar into the hundreds of thousands of won without worrying too much, even if it meant cursing under her breath.

In other words, this meant that she could run her air conditioner 24/7 for weeks without a care, and as a result, her home was a haven of dryness, free from the dampness that plagued the outside world.

But that didn’t change the fact that she would have to step outside soon.

It was 9 a.m. With two and a half hours left until her appointment, it didn’t seem like much time when considering showering, getting ready, and the time needed to reach her destination.

After neatly folding her clothes and standing under the waterfall-like shower from the ceiling, three minutes of random thoughts passed. Thirty minutes flew by as she went through all her shower products in the basket.

After drying her hair and cleansing, she put on the outfit she had picked out since yesterday. First, her underwear, then the denim shorts she had recently bought, and finally a thin, striped T-shirt.

With the outfit complete, she applied light makeup, mindful of the forecasted humidity levels of 95-100%, which meant anything too heavy would clump or melt.

Before she knew it, an hour and forty minutes had passed.

She quickly calculated the time in her head. The navigation app said it would take 30 minutes to reach her destination, but living in the traffic-congested Seoul meant nothing was certain.

Moreover, the aftermath of last night’s 170mm downpour had left the city in chaos. Even though the rain had stopped, the effects lingered.

In short, she needed to leave earlier than the navigation app suggested. Besides, she was heading to the most expensive buffet at a hotel, which meant there would be plenty of places to relax or kill time even if she arrived early.

With this in mind, Harmony spent the remaining 10 minutes carefully adding volume to her hair before reluctantly opening the front door.

“Ugh.”

The weather was oppressive.

Breathing was difficult, as if someone had placed a couple of humidifiers next to her mouth.

The only silver lining was the fact that there was an entrance to the Doknipmun Station just a few minutes away. Since she often had to go out, her transit card was well loaded—specifically with a six-figure balance.

It didn’t take long for the subway to arrive, and the refreshing coolness hit her as soon as the screen doors and train doors opened simultaneously. However, she only had to travel five stops before transferring to Line 2 for just one more stop.

The outside was still gloomy, and the high-end department store nearby looked dull under the relentless rain. Despite the weather, the streets were crowded, and the lanes were filled with cars like the clogged arteries of someone with high cholesterol.

With about 10 minutes left before her appointment, Harmony turned right at the corner of the department store. Ahead was a hotel that looked like a Baumkuchen cake standing on its side.

She hadn’t been here often, but it wasn’t her first time either. After all, people should learn to spend according to their earnings, and this place was a reflection of that.

-[Harmony: I’m almost there!! Where are you??
-Yujin: I’m walking from the City Hall Station direction (^▽^)/
-Harmony: Ah, you’re on the opposite side!! (･∀･)ﾉｼ
-Harmony: I’ll wait for you inside!
-Harmony: But what if we can’t find each other… (´⌒`)
-Yujin: Just wait inside the hotel and when you hear some whispers, head towards them. You’ll most likely find me there.
-Harmony: Hahahahahahaha
-Harmony: You really do draw a crowd!! ㅎㅎ]

And with that, curiosity began to stir.

Was she really an Awakened? Or was it just a photo she picked up somewhere? Logic dictated that it couldn’t be, but humans are creatures that can’t help but imagine the worst.

However, Harmony decided not to dwell on the "what ifs," forcefully redirecting her thoughts away from such speculative fantasies.

Before she knew it, she was at the hotel entrance.

Marble and sculptures, sleek and luxurious interiors. The building’s sloping design allowed for views of the outside even from the lower floors, but the buffet was underground.

Might as well wait by the entrance.

It was 11:28 a.m., and the buffet opened at 11:30 a.m. There were obvious advantages to arriving at opening time, one of which was getting freshly made food.

She hadn’t had breakfast, so she was really hungry.

Aside from that, numerous questions began to bubble up inside her. Would she really look exactly like her avatar? Or would there be some differences?

To be honest, Harmony had never actually spoken to Yujin in person before. Specifically, not in a way that would reveal various aspects of the other person, like during a phone call. Not all communication through a phone was the same.

Yujin was a matryoshka doll full of secrets, with the key held only by herself.

As she thought about this, her heart started to race. She checked her phone, put it away, and then anxiously pulled it out again, wondering if any more messages had come. It was like she had won a meal with a celebrity.

How much time had passed?

“Harmony, right?”

“Oh, yes... Wow!”

At that moment, Harmony’s emotions were like a seesaw, swinging wildly.

The voice came at an unexpected moment—but she had heard it so often in VR that she instantly relaxed, as if in a collab stream, before snapping back to her senses.

The voice was identical to the avatar’s.

Her head turned quickly, and her brown pupils took in the figure of a person.

Of course, what she saw was a sight she could hardly believe.

“This is real?!”

“…This is not at all the reaction I expected. You’re remarkable.”

She had a lot to say, but what should she say?

Simply put,

She looked exactly like her avatar.

Harmony almost fell backward in shock.

Human nature is often driven more by curiosity than by restraint, and reason usually loses to instinct.

So...

“Wow, oh wow, this is amazing…”

“Are you satisfied?”

“You’re even prettier than I imagined!”

...Touching the tail was an irresistible act.

But, still.

She was much prettier and more fascinating than she had imagined. The texture was smooth and elastic, and as she concentrated on touching it, the tail naturally wrapped around her hand.

The color was a soft light brown, not overwhelming, with intricate patterns. Even though she wasn’t particularly fond of reptiles, this was just too fascinating.

Slide, slide.

If it were a real anaconda, she might have been terrified, but they say fear comes from the unknown. In that sense, Yujin was someone she could trust, so... well, she rationalized that it was okay to touch it freely.

“Stop touching it. My tail will wear out.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“How is it that everyone reacts the same way?”

Yujin’s words indicated she had experienced this several times before.

Feeling like she had done something she shouldn’t have, Harmony carefully glanced around, even though they were in an elevator.

Before she knew it, the screen above showed that they had reached the LL floor.

As the doors opened, the marble and dark wood-paneled interior was revealed, and the scent of food filled her nose.

They chatted as they passed by the area lined with wine bottles.

“What kind of food do you like? They have good seafood here, and there’s lobster, so feel free to get as much as you want.”

“Do you come here often?”

“Ah... sometimes?”

“Then I guess I should follow the advice of someone who knows the place.”

“Oh, let’s go together.”

Fizz.

She hadn’t eaten anything on the way here, so she decided to start by cleansing her palate. She held the sparkling water in her mouth for a moment, letting it tingle and clean her taste buds, then carefully pushed her chair back and stood up.

“I’m going to the Japanese section first, would you like to come along?”

“Sure. Do you recommend anything?”

“Well, I always find the tuna here to be really good.”

“Haha, so should I expect great things?”

“No, no, don’t blame me if it’s not good, really.”

“Of course.”

What should she say?

Despite her serious demeanor, the occasional jokes she threw in were strangely likable—not annoying, in fact, quite the opposite. This was always the case. If there had been any ulterior motives, it might have felt burdensome, but she wasn’t like that then or now.

If she had been greedy, constantly clinging on or demanding appearances on stream, I would have pushed her away, but she didn’t.

In a way, even I, a streamer with a job that required me to be more cautious than most influencers, thought it was okay.

Anyway, the Japanese section.

Red snapper, tuna, salmon, shrimp. In the sashimi section: octopus, salmon, tuna belly.

As always, even though I knew I couldn’t eat everything, I felt an inexplicable greed at the buffet. Yujin, too, had somehow managed to fill her plate to the brim.

And then... the freshly replenished lobster and scallop section caught my eye.

“Oh, it just came out. I need to get some of that too, but I don’t have any room left. And neither does Yujin….”

“Would you like to use this?”

“…Huh?”

Then Yujin… coiled her tail to create a space where a plastic dish could be placed.

As I placed the plate on her tail with a peculiar expression, everyone—from the incoming guests to the working chefs and servers—was staring at us.

“Haha, in all my years working here, I’ve never seen anything like this. Would you like me to serve you some?”

“…Oh, yes. Thank you.”

The expression of the employee who had ended up placing food on Yujin’s tail was no different from mine just a few minutes earlier.

Anyway, the food we returned to eat was delicious.