“I’ll just go and look at the tree for a moment.”

“Are you going to talk to yourself again?”

“Yes.”

Jamon, as if he didn’t care whether I stayed or left, kept playing with the cat toy.

Taking the previous mistake as a lesson, I moved a bit further into a corner and whispered.

“What exactly happened?”

[Popopo: He smiled.]

All this fuss over just a smile? I didn’t get it.

[Stress: You should have seen it, really.]

[OnlyFinley: I think I’m in love now.]

[AsparagusCharm: Honestly, that was a smile that could only come from love.]

So that’s why everyone was making such a fuss. These angels go crazy over romance, jumping to conclusions and getting overly excited.

“I thought you guys would think we kissed or something.”

[Manager: Hey.]

[Gold2: If that happened, the manager would have stormed off already lol.]

A smiling face, wouldn’t it be just like Irmin’s? I’ve seen Irmin’s smiling face so often that it didn’t move me.

‘But, the massive amount of points is a good thing.’

There were points shot to wake me up and points shot in the frenzy over Jamon’s actions. These people’s generosity only seemed to grow, accumulating a tremendous amount of points in just a short while.

‘Jamon does have quite a demand.’

Before, I only wanted to finish things with Jamon as quickly as possible, but now, I realized he was quite good material.

‘Maybe I should exploit this a bit more.’

Wouldn’t dragging it out as long as possible be fine? Once again, my brain started to revolve around points.

I sneakily glanced towards Jamon. He was still playing with the cat, waving the cat toy around.

A person who always maintains a poker face even when looking at his pet cat smiled at me.

“……”

I started to understand a bit why the viewers made such a fuss.

* * *

“That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.”

I ended the broadcast.

No matter how much I enjoy broadcasting, I can’t help feeling drained once it’s over. It’s like I’ve poured out all the energy I had.

And so, after turning off the broadcast, I find myself lying down on the bed.

I stared blankly at the monitoring screen. As expected, Hans was still in the viewers’ list.

“Hans, there’s something I’m curious about.”

[Manager: What is it?]

I hesitated for a moment.

I had planned to ask this question someday, but when the moment came, I couldn’t help but waver.

“How many points do you have saved up?”

I asked nonchalantly, trying to sound casual. It was a sensitive topic, after all.

However, Hans’s response was rather blunt.

[Manager: I don’t know, didn’t check.]

“You can check now.”

[Manager: Can’t be bothered.]

The excuses felt like just that, excuses. It wouldn’t take long, and there was no way he hadn’t checked his points after all this time.

“Are you saying you don’t want to send me points?”

[Manager: Goodnight.]

“Avoiding the question, huh?”

When I confronted him directly, Hans just ran away. I stared vacantly at the empty viewers’ list window.

I always thought confronting issues head-on was the best approach, but it seems there are people whom this doesn’t work with. Sadly, one of them is my boyfriend.

‘Well, if he doesn’t want to send points, what can I do.’

No matter how much I longed for reincarnation, forcing others isn’t right.

Even if I tried to persuade Hans, it wouldn’t work. He’s hundreds of times better with words than me. If I tried to resolve it through discussion, I’d probably end up being convinced by him and come back empty-handed.

‘It will work out somehow.’

I decided to let it be. Even without Hans’s help, I felt I could gather ten million points within a year if I saved up slowly.

With that thought, I comfortably drifted to sleep.

* * *

Strange. I was sure I fell asleep, but somehow Gabriela was in front of me.

“……”

I almost cursed. My 640,000 points. The next was 1,280,000 points. The escalating cost of resurrection tickets made my head spin.

Whose doing was it this time? Ian’s? Or was it someone from Irmin’s faction?

Even if Irmin was on my side, those who supported him weren’t. My existence must have been quite an annoyance to them.

In this, I had to admit my negligence. Just when I thought I was doing well with points, it was back to square one.

Seeing my expression, Gabriela hurriedly spoke.

“Don’t be scared. This time it’s not a game over.”

“It’s not?”

My face lit up with a smile. I was worried for nothing.

Gabriela smiled awkwardly.

“Just a mid-check, called you for a moment.”

“Mid-check?”

“As your points are accumulating, I became curious about your thoughts.”

Gabriela clasped her hands and rested her chin on the back of her hand, looking at me.

“How is it, still longing for reincarnation?”

Reincarnation was a given. That’s what I started all this for.

“Is there an alternative to reincarnation?”

“I’ve seen what you’ve been doing. And it made me want to offer you a new choice.”

I couldn’t understand what she was saying. I looked at Gabriela with a puzzled expression.

Gabriela was smiling as usual. I couldn’t guess what she was thinking.

“Jiha, I’m officially making you an offer.”

“…What are you proposing?”

“How about working with us, just like you’ve been doing so far?”

I was momentarily confused.

Then it hit me.

Is this what it feels like to be scouted for a full-time position after working as a temp? It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, it felt like my abilities were being recognized.

“I refuse.”

But I had no intention of accepting it.

Gabriela looked dumbfounded as I rejected the offer without a moment’s hesitation.

“…That’s unexpected.”

That surprise was short-lived. She soon wore a smile again.

“I thought you were satisfied with your current job.”

“I am. And I want to continue doing it.”

“Then why?”

I had answered this question before.

Why I didn’t want to continue living as ‘Anais.’

“It’s not my life.”

The reason was simple.

“I want to live as myself. Not borrowing someone else’s life.”

My mindset hadn’t changed. I wanted to live my own life.

“……”

Gabriela looked at me with an inscrutable expression.

Soon, she smiled brightly.

“There’s one way.”

* * *

Since I was here, I decided to take a break in the Celestial Realm. It was a good chance to meet the angels after a long time.

The first place I visited was, of course, Hans’s office.

“Ta-da.”

“……?”

As I confidently entered, Hans looked up from his work and stared at me in confusion.

“…Did you die again?”

“No, I didn’t.”

It was a situation prone to misunderstanding, and it felt unjust to be misconstrued.

Regardless of what Hans might think, I was just happy to see him after a long time. I naturally opened my arms.

“A hug of joy.”

“……”

Hans put down his paperwork and came over to hug me tightly. I giggled and hugged him back.

After a brief hug, Hans immediately asked,

“So what happened?”

“Gabriela called me for a mid-check.”

Hearing this, Hans seemed relieved.

“Worried that Ian might cause trouble again?”

“How can I not be?”

Indeed. Considering all that had happened to me. Hans might have reprimanded Ian sternly, but if Ian were that easy to tame, he wouldn’t have caused trouble in the first place.

‘Ian seems to be reflecting in his own way.’

He had offered to give me enough points for reincarnation. A simple apology would have sufficed, but he chose to resolve it with points. Looking back, it seemed rather funny.

“What did you talk about with Gabriela?”

“Nothing much.”

I said nonchalantly.

“I’ve decided to go through with reincarnation.”

The room fell silent at that moment.

Hans seemed taken aback. The news was sudden, after all.

“…You haven’t collected all the points yet.”

“No, I have.”

Regardless of Hans’s reaction, I continued with what I had to say.

“I’ll be doing my final broadcast soon.”

Hans was speechless. Perhaps it was too abrupt.

But it was a decision made after a serious conversation with Gabriela for an hour. It was something I had to inform my viewers about soon.

There was no need to rush, but there was also no reason to delay.

“Do you really have to do this?”

Hans’s voice trembled slightly.

Anticipating an argument, I decided to calm Hans down first.

“I understand how you feel, Hans. You don’t want me to reincarnate.”

“……”

Hans didn’t even attempt to argue.

The reason he hadn’t been sending me points became clear.

He simply wished for me to continue as I was.

As I stared at him, Hans hesitated before speaking.

“I… “

Without meeting my gaze, he said,

“I don’t want to be apart from you.”

I was a bit surprised. That usually stoic person could say such sweet words. It seems when people are desperate, they do things they wouldn’t normally do.

I sighed deeply.

“Really… Hans, you like me too much, that’s the problem.”

“Shouldn’t have said anything……”

Hans seemed to regret his words immediately as I grew smug.

Enough joking around. It was time to reassure Hans.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of parting ways with you.”

“…How is that possible?”

To Hans’s question, I just smiled mysteriously.