City ​​of Witches 774

Chapter 774 – #163_Seoul And The Witch

#768

1.
The light novel corner of Kyobo Bookstore’s Gwanghwamun branch.

Two men headed to the bookstore to buy new light novels.

In this day and age, you can buy a book or two just by tapping on your smartphone at home.
The meddling in other people’s tastes and the contempt and hatred poured upon subculture have turned otaku who loiter around offline bookstores into something of a living national treasure.

Now, it’s a bleak world where you can’t see a ‘fellow’ unless it’s an event like Seoul Comics.
A young man, A, whose long bangs covered his eyes, muttered.

“Certainly, it takes a fair amount of courage to face a cashier with a book that has a scantily clad young girl on the cover. Especially if you’re going to use a discount coupon and accumulate points.”
“Ah, isn’t that something we can only do because there are two of us?”

B smiled at A’s mutterings.
In his hand, he held the light novels that were both of their favorites.

“Even so, it’s a promotional event where they give out bromides and you can even buy limited edition figures, but there are so few people.”
“Isn’t it just that the number of trash who care more about what others think than love has increased? They’re all pathetic. If I had a divine power, I’d rebuild this world from scratch.”

As usual, A muttered and waited for his close friend and comrade B’s response.
He always added appropriate interjections to these useless mutterings.

“B?”
“……”

However, B was just standing there, stiff as a board, with his mouth open, without any response.
The light novel he was holding fell weakly to the floor.

“What, did you suddenly remember a past life or something?”

Thinking he was playing another silly prank, A chuckled.
But B spoke in a trembling voice that was hard to believe was a prank.

“She’s so, so, pretty.”
“What?”

A’s face crumpled at B’s response.

“Hey B, do you want to go back to reality now? Where did our resolve and determination go?”
“…You should look too.”
“I refuse to look. I can’t understand why you’d be eyeing a 3D woman now.”
“Hey, hey, stop with the act and just take one look, really?”
“What is it? Is she that pretty?”

At B’s urging, A turned his gaze, annoyed.
But no matter how much he looked around, he couldn’t find the pretty woman his friend was talking about.

“I don’t see her? Where is she?”
“Can’t you see the twins over there?”

Only after focusing his eyes on the spot B was pointing at did A realize why B was so shocked.

Two mysterious women were browsing the economics section.

They were, literally, of an otherworldly beauty.

Their black hair was styled in elegant curls, and their eyes shone like shimmering amethysts.
Moreover, they were so identical in their features that it added to their mysterious aura.

Their outfits themselves were ordinary.
A navy skirt, a white shirt, and a black cardigan.

However, the elegance that emanated from every single one of their actions gave off an aristocratic air that made you feel like you should kneel and pay your respects.

“This is crazy. It’s like they’re nobly cute.”
“Right? It’s a relief they were born as twins. It would be too sad if such beauty existed only once in the world.”
“No matter how you look at it, they’re not ordinary people, right?”
“Aren’t they nobles or royalty or something? There are still some in some countries.”

A and B were mesmerized as they observed them.
They were flipping through the books and talking animatedly.

They were quite far away, so they couldn’t hear what they were saying, but the twins, who were talking with appropriate gestures, exuded a passionate energy.

“They’re debating something.”
“They must have already read the books. They’re probably sharing high-level commentary from different perspectives.”
“I want to talk to them.”
“I’d die happy if I could just shake their hands once.”

But even though they looked so cute, they couldn’t easily approach them.

The other party was a beauty who could make you shrink just by making eye contact.
The noble aura they wore like a shawl was asserting that they were ‘humans from a different world.’

They were not beings that super-cowards who had given up on relationships with 3D women in this life could approach.

Someone naturally stepped in between the twins.
What was surprising was that this woman was also beautiful enough to be compared to the twins.

Her deep, dark blue eyes shone like a jewel in the deep sea.
Her long hair, reaching down to her waist, rippled like gentle waves whenever she moved.

The two men had the same thought at the same time.

“An empress…. There’s an empress.”
“She’s kind of scary….”

Unlike the twins, who had a cute and petite vibe, she had cool eyes and a dignified, closed mouth.

The knit dress that subtly revealed her figure was like a queen’s dress.
The white headband that contrasted with her hair was a charisma that made you mistake it for a crown.

This was so threatening that it shot down the ‘let’s talk to them’ option that the two men had managed to squeeze out.
If they stood before that queen, they would freeze solid just by being in her line of sight.

When she stepped in, the nature of the conversation changed.
The twins took sides against the queen, and the queen scoffed and shook her head.
The debate became even more intense.

“What’s going on there?”
“They seem to be a group, and if I were to guess from their lip movements… they’re roughly discussing the limitations of behavioral economics.”
“I agree with that opinion.”

And then, another super-class beauty appeared.
Bright green hair that was hard to match and mint-colored eyes that were refreshing to the chest.

She appeared with a bright smile and stepped between the twins and the queen who were in conflict.

“An elf…?”
“A fairy.”
“Come on, that outfit is cheating.”
“Calm down, B, that’s a very ordinary outfit. It’s her figure that’s extraordinary.”

Her outfit was leggings that revealed her round hips, pelvis, and shapely legs.
An oversized hoodie that barely covered her Y-zone stimulated the imagination.

To make matters worse, the midriff that was asserting itself by pulling up the loose hood was a size that shouldn’t be on such a slender figure.

She was also exceptionally beautiful, but her vibe was a little different from the beauties so far.

Of course, even though she had a slightly assertive personality, she was somehow approachable?
It was like she would answer anything you asked her honestly.

“Don’t you think now is the chance?”
“Yeah.”

The two men, who had regained their courage thanks to her approachable nature, which didn’t seem like she would look at them with contempt and drive them away, nodded.

“Fortune favors the bold.”
“Let’s go, friend.”

To have a conversation with such beauties.
It was worth risking their lives for.

With the last bit of courage they could muster.
The two men shared a fist bump as they always did and moved forward to achieve their goal.

“U-u-um, e-excuse me….”
“Yes?”
“H-h-hi, hello?”
“Yes, what brings you here?”
“Unnie, they can see us.”
“Even an orrery isn’t omnipotent.”

Was it because they were all girls?
As soon as they spoke, four pairs of wary eyes turned to A.

It had been over ten years since A had talked to a woman other than a part-time worker or his mother, and it was a breathtaking sight.
His body temperature rose, his heart beat faster, and his hands were sweaty.

B stepped forward to help his friend in trouble.

In fact, B was more used to this kind of situation than A, due to the nature of his preferred genre.
Hadn’t he watched thousands of romantic comedies so far?
In this kind of situation, being perceived as a unique person would leave a deep impression.

“I followed you as if I had encountered a cute kitten.”

But after his confident line, there was a chilling silence.
The fairy unnie’s mouth was slightly open, the queen was looking at him with a bored expression, and the twins were tilting their heads in unison.

When he saw that even his friend, who he thought would cheer him on for his boldness, was making a face that said, ‘Is this guy crazy?’, B realized the gap between reality and fiction.

But the die had already been cast.

B felt a crushing fear, but he still didn’t give in and uttered the rest of his words.
It wasn’t an easy excuse to talk to them, but an impulse he had felt since he saw them, and he blurted it out with a ‘whatever’ attitude.

“Your numbers…! It would be an honor if I could get them.”

Maybe they would laugh at him.
Maybe they would look at him with contempt.

A phrase he had heard somewhere belatedly came to mind.
That women in real life get frustrated when a man who isn’t their level asks for their number, thinking, ‘Do I look like I’m that low?’

“Oh, this is a pickup.”
“Wow…. Sharon unnie was right. They really ask like this in the real world.”

But unexpectedly, in a friendly atmosphere, the queen stepped forward.

“It was quite a romantic line, but I cannot grant your request.”

It was indeed a tone befitting the queen’s charisma.
The elf unnie, who was standing at the front, covered her mouth and chuckled.

“We all have boyfriends.”
“Ah… Yes! Of course, you would!”
“I’m sorry. I hope we meet again as good acquaintances next time.”
“No, it’s okay! Excuse us!”
“Bye!”
“See you next time!”

Receiving a strange welcome, B grabbed A’s wrist and retreated with trembling legs.

It was strange that beauties like that didn’t have boyfriends.
And even if they didn’t have boyfriends, he knew that they were people of a different level, with whom he had almost no chance of getting together.

But what was this feeling of relief, even though he had been rejected?

“Are you crazy? Wow, but you actually asked for it. I was so nervous just watching.”

It was a feeling of great success despite the failure.
B pressed down on his still-throbbing heart and put the light novel he had chosen back on the shelf.

“A, I think I’m going to quit being an otaku.”
“Well… I think I know how you feel.”
“Ah, yes, this feeling is….”

A feeling of having surpassed the limits he had set for himself.
A feeling of facing a problem he had been avoiding for the first time.

In the world he had shunned as ugly, there were beautiful beings that could not be captured by even the most elaborate deformation.
The moment he realized this, he had a feeling that it was time for him to be reborn from a boy to a man.

“Will you follow me, A?”
“Of course, B.”
“I’m thinking of at least starting to exercise. Do you want to join me?”
“Ah, my brother was already nagging me to exercise with him.”

The two men left their boyhood treasures in the bookstore and walked forward without looking back.
Such was the beauty of a witch, that it could even change one’s view of life.