I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 45: The Improved Me

While staring blankly out the window of Hyesung’s car, Ayun suddenly remembered the white paper she had picked up at the abandoned school.

She dug through her pocket and pulled it out—still perfectly white, with nothing printed on it.

Even when she turned it this way and that, no hidden letters revealed themselves.

“What’s that, unnie?”

Hyeyeon, who had been watching her, asked with a puzzled voice.

After a moment of hesitation, Ayun figured it was probably nothing and handed the paper to Hyeyeon.

“It was lying where the statues were all smashed yesterday. Do you know what it is?”

“Ooh...”

Hyeyeon’s eyes sparkled as she began inspecting the card the same way Ayun had.

Ayun had hoped she’d notice something different, since Hyeyeon tended to know more about these things...

“It’s just a blank piece of paper, huh?”

But she came to the same conclusion Ayun had.

“Yeah...?”

“Well, you never know, right? Might as well hang onto it. Maybe the ink appears over time or something?”

“Wait... that kind of thing actually exists?”

Hyeyeon grinned. Her gaze shifted back to Ayun.

“There are moving statues—why wouldn’t there be ink like that?”

“...Okay, fair point.”

As Ayun tucked the returned paper back into her coat, Hyesung spoke up.

“Anyway, this is it for me. I’m done after today.”

“...Mm. Yeah.”

He glanced at Hyeyeon through the rearview mirror as he said it.

It was a little disappointing, but that had been the deal—there was no helping it.

Honestly, just dragging him around these past two days had already been a bit of a stretch. It wasn’t like Ayun could throw a tantrum and demand more.

Sighing inwardly, she looked toward the car window.

And saw “herself.”

‘...With this face, I guess even throwing a tantrum would probably look fine.’

The thought was so absurd even to herself that she let out a small laugh.

No matter how much her body had changed, there was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} no way she’d do something like that.

Her soul was still that of a blazing man.

Then, something came to mind, and she connected to the internet through Hyeyeon’s Wi-Fi.

She navigated to the donation platform Hyeyeon had saved for her—she wanted to check the donations she’d received that morning.

She hadn’t been able to keep track at the time, what with all the messages flooding in.

‘...How much came in, I wonder?’

After fumbling through the interface for a bit, she finally found the total amount of donations she had received.

Feeling strangely tense, she swallowed hard and looked.

...Over 100,000 won.

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She blinked, unable to process the number.

Even when she closed and reopened her eyes, the figure remained unchanged.

Her hands began trembling.

She had earned over 100,000 won in that short amount of time.

She could barely believe it herself—her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“...Unnie?”

“Ah, uh... yeah...”

She responded absentmindedly to Hyeyeon’s call. Hyeyeon giggled and said,

“You need to apply for payout at the start of the month to get the money at the end, so don’t forget.”

“W-What happens if I forget?”

“Uh... obviously it gets pushed to next month?”

“...Got it.”

Ayun made a mental note to never forget that.

She took a deep breath and repeated the numbers to herself... and felt something close to pure joy.

It wasn’t like getting crusty leftovers from a bakery, and it wasn’t the crumbs from Hyesung’s show.

It was money she had earned herself, from doing something with her own hands.

Even if she hadn’t applied for withdrawal yet, even if the cash wasn’t in her hands—the fact that it existed made her happy.

At that moment, she spotted a convenience store up ahead through the car window.

“Hyesung.”

“Yes?”

“Pull over up there, just for a second.”

“Huh? All of a sudden?”

“Hurry.”

“Oh—yeah, okay.”

Hyesung pulled over to the curb.

“Just wait a second.”

Ayun opened the door and headed toward the convenience store.

Her pace wasn’t hurried, but not slow either. Calm and purposeful.

“Welcome!”

It was a genuine greeting—not one of those annoyed ‘oh, it’s you again’ tones from part-time workers.

Nodding in satisfaction, Ayun grabbed a shopping basket and headed for the shelves.

She picked out a snack for each of them: potato chips for herself, chocolate stick snacks for Hyeyeon, and cone-shaped corn chips for Hyesung.

‘Gotta get a drink too.’

For her, who usually only drank bundled sodas from the discount mart, a convenience store cider was the height of luxury.

She chose the big PET bottle.

Setting everything on the counter, she casually asked the clerk to ring her up.

The clerk looked a little surprised.

Not that it mattered—Ayun waited calmly for the total.

“Would you like a trash bag?”

“Uh... yeah, a small one.”

The clerk packed the snacks and soda into a bag.

“That’ll be 9,250 won in total.”

The price made her hand tremble a bit. Even when Hyesung had bought stuff before, she’d thought the cost of living had gone up way too much.

Even so... she was now a woman who had earned 100,000 won in a single day.

She pulled a crumpled 10,000-won bill from her pocket and held it out.

“...P-Please use this to pay.”

The clerk gave her a slightly odd look, maybe sensing something was off—but Ayun didn’t mind.

‘...Do they think I stole it or something?’

No way.

She was now a 100,000-won-a-day kind of person.

Transaction complete, she left the store with her snacks, drink, and change in a government-issue trash bag.

She marched back to the curb where Hyesung’s car was parked and climbed in again.

Immediately, she felt their curious stares on her.

“Noona, why’d you go to the convenience store all of a sudden?”

“Unnie...?”

In response, she handed each of them a snack.

Cone chips for Hyesung, chocolate sticks for Hyeyeon.

Potato chips for herself.

The sudden gift left both of them stunned.

To clear up their confusion, Ayun spoke.

“...It’s a treat. To say thanks.”

“...Huh?”

Hyesung blinked, still stunned. Hyeyeon seemed to catch on and burst out laughing.

...What’s so funny?

Ayun gave her a sharp look, and Hyeyeon replied with an awkward smile,

“You know it’s not really your money yet, right? You didn’t have to go this far.”

“...Ah, did you just check your donation amount and get so happy you decided to buy us snacks?”

Hyesung still looked a bit dazed, as if being treated by Ayun didn’t quite compute for him.

He exchanged a glance with Hyeyeon, then laughed heartily.

“Haha, thanks for the snack, noona. But... I’m still not tagging along for any more, okay?”

Scratching her cheek in embarrassment at the good reaction, Ayun replied,

“Ehem... It’s no big deal. Just let me know if you change your mind later.”

He didn’t answer—just opened the snack bag. Hyeyeon did the same, smiling.

“Thanks, unnie.”

“Y-Yeah...”

Watching them eat the snacks she had bought... Ayun hadn’t eaten anything yet, but she felt full.

So this is what it feels like to give something to others... It wasn’t bad at all.

In Entera, giving meant losing your life half the time—so she’d always lived hard and tight.

Maybe that’s why she’d never had many chances to offer anything to others.

It felt... kind of good.

Even if she had blown 10,000 won on it, there were no regrets.

She hoped that someday she’d be able to buy them a whole box of those big round chocolate cookies.

With that thought in mind, she forgot everything else for a moment and simply enjoyed the snacks and soda.

Not long after the broadcast ended, one online community began buzzing again.

The reasons for the commotion were varied.

(Something’s sus this time.real)

Feels like they cleaned up fast to cover for some fake shit;

They need to explain this fr ㅇㅇ;

Are you seriously saying that?

Bruh lol you think they faked a whole demolition to cover up some stream stunt?

Touch grass

(But something is weird)

Even if you ignore the “they demolished it to hide evidence” nonsense, it’s still odd.

That place had been abandoned for ages. Why demolish it now?

Doesn’t feel natural ㅇㅇ

I looked into it and apparently it was scheduled in advance └ fr? └ yeah I found the plan after the broadcast └ y’all jumped the gun lol

☆ (Isn’t there a bigger issue than all that?)

Ayun <<< she’s the real problem ㅇㅇ

Last night’s stream and this morning’s too, she always rage-quits mid-broadcast WTF

I was literally watching and then boom, she ends it AAGH!!!

Breathe dude lol

Came here to hate but he’s spitting facts

for real lmaooo

She ended it right when I was boiling ramen

THAT’S the controversy lmao

Yo how can you talk about noona like that??

☆ (Don’t tell me there’s actually a Foundation?)

They say the demolition was pre-planned but how do we know that’s not fake...

I’m telling you, there’s a real Foundation and they just panicked and covered it up

Watch—Ayun’s gonna disappear mysteriously real soon

bruh shut up

if that’s true it’d be kinda hype though

if you’re right I’m finding you └ lol

(Anyway forget all that)

What’s the next stream about?

This one was actually good, hope she keeps going...

It’s too short.

And where the hell did Ayun <<< even come from?

Like, is she some sleeper agent or something lmao

If she was, they wouldn’t have let her get this far └ true

The YouTube channel’s taking submissions now, go check └ why tf didn’t you say that earlier └ bro chill I did

Aside from a few who didn’t like her, most people seemed to be waiting for her next broadcast.

And at that very moment, Ayun...

“Nice, it doesn’t squeak anymore.”

Was happily opening and closing her now-repaired front door.