I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 253: Is this the life of a celebrity…?

The scorching heat had passed, along with the confusing weather that made it unclear whether it was hot or cold.

Now, the weather was unmistakably winter, and the people walking the streets were busy pulling their coats tighter around themselves.

It was the same at the gym where Yuki was.

A sudden gust of cold air brushed against Yuki’s body.

—Flinch.

The chill that touched Yuki’s body, heated from intense exercise, made her freeze for a moment.

Naturally, the sword in Yuki’s hand also stopped moving.

A blade brimming with an icy, piercing aura.

Yuki blankly watched as the chill shattered against the blade’s edge, then suddenly frowned.

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“...Boring.”

—Clack.

Muttering to herself, Yuki slid the sword back into its sheath.

The way the long sword slipped in without the slightest resistance was something that would have drawn admiration—if there had been anyone watching.

Even in cold weather, moving the body intensely led to sweating—it was only natural.

Instead of the sword, Yuki grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat beading on her face.

Then, ignoring the cold air against her bare skin, she wiped the sweat off her body before carelessly tossing the towel aside.

“...”

Suddenly, she glanced around, her eyes subtly scanning her surroundings.

After carefully checking for a while, Yuki sighed in relief upon confirming that she was alone in the gym.

Thanks to her natural talent and years of consistent training since childhood, Yuki’s physical endurance surpassed even that of most professional athletes.

But being exceptional didn’t mean she was tireless.

After an intense workout, exhaustion set in, making everything feel tedious.

That was why throwing the towel carelessly had become a habit.

After all, she’d have to pick it up later anyway—why bother putting it down neatly? As long as it wasn’t in the way, that was enough.

That was how Yuki saw it, and she even justified it with a flimsy excuse—"If the floor gets wet, that’s just another form of training."

Yet, now, Yuki was carefully picking up the towel she had just tossed aside.

Because she realized that leaving a sweaty towel on the floor wasn’t hygienic?

...That wasn’t the reason at all.

It was simply because the memory of a recent incident was still fresh in her mind.

The day Kana and Daeun visited, Yuki had tossed her sweat-soaked towel just as she always did.

Usually, when she aimed for the laundry basket, the towel never went in cleanly, always fluttering outside.

But on that day, strangely enough, it flew with force.

And unfortunately, the towel’s landing spot happened to be... right on top of the drowsy Kana’s head.

“...”

“...”

“...”

The towel slid down, revealing a pair of drowsiness-cleared pink eyes.

For a brief moment, the gym was completely silent.

So silent that even breathing could be heard—until Yuki’s pained groans filled the air.

‘...This is unfair.’

Sure, it was her fault, but... wasn’t dozing off in a gym kind of weird too?

Who falls asleep near an active training area instead of against a wall?

“Sigh.”

Recalling the incident, Yuki pouted before letting out a sigh.

Dragging her tired legs, she walked to the laundry basket and threw in the towel.

Peeking inside, she noticed that there weren’t many clothes piled up.

“...”

Once, this sight was familiar.

But now, it felt ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) strangely foreign to Yuki.

Not long ago, the laundry piled up so quickly that she had to do it every two days—three at the latest.

Now, four days could pass before the machine needed to run.

What had changed?

The answer was simple.

Kana and Daeun, who used to visit the gym daily, had stopped coming since the dimensional creatures appeared in Seoul.

With fewer people making laundry, naturally, less laundry piled up.

Having fewer chores to do should have been a good thing.

Yet, Yuki didn’t feel particularly pleased about it.

“Training alone with my sword... is boring.”

They say that once a person experiences warmth, they can never fully return to the cold.

She had spent her days swinging her sword on instinct, only to finally meet a teacher who guided her onto the right path.

Being told to go back to training alone was something she simply couldn’t be satisfied with.

She understood why they weren’t coming, but by now, shouldn’t they have returned?

That was what Yuki truly felt inside.

“...Maybe something should happen?”

Nothing too big—just enough to be resolved without too much trouble.

Yuki immersed herself in thoughts that had strayed far from normalcy, a rather dangerous line of thinking.

—Ding!

Because of that, she failed to notice the phone she had left far away lighting up.

And later, when she finally checked her phone, she would regret wasting time on such unnecessary thoughts.

Daeun, who had been staring at her phone for a while, suddenly looked up.

“...Yuki’s not responding.”

—Munch.

—Crunch, crunch.

I swallowed a piece of cookie and responded indifferently.

“Guess she’s busy.”

“Should I call her?”

“Do you really need to?”

Even though she had decided to text because Yuki might be busy, now she wanted to call?

Besides, it wasn’t even an urgent matter, so a reply wasn’t necessary.

I just had a vague feeling that I hadn’t seen Yuki’s face in a while and thought it’d be nice to meet up and check on her training.

But if she was busy, that was that.

Just as I was about to shrug it off, I noticed Daeun smirking.

The kind of smirk that instantly sent a chill down my spine—playful, mischievous, and completely untrustworthy.

“Hmmm~ The way you’re talking makes it sound like you don’t want me to call Yuki. Am I right?”

“No. Completely wrong.”

“Aw, don’t be shy. Fine, I won’t call. Happy now? Even though you try to act mature, seeing you get jealous proves you’re still a kid.”

“I said you’re wrong. Didn’t you hear me?”

As expected.

Daeun, as always, spouted nonsense as if it were absolute truth.

If I ignored it, she’d probably get louder until I was forced to hear it.

So I glared at her, and she wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

“Huh? But....”

“But what?”

“Kana said before, ‘If you get distracted, I’ll kill you.’”

“Oh, that’s—”

I froze mid-sentence.

...She did say that.

Of course, it wasn’t serious.

It was just payback for all the pranks Daeun had pulled, a joke meant to make her experience the same.

But I never expected those words to come back like this.

“So you’re wary of me stealing Yuki away, huh?”

“...”

I opened my mouth, then closed it, then let myself slump into the sofa.

Pressing my face into the cushions, I soon felt Daeun’s hand approaching.

‘...’

It was warm.

As she gently patted my back, I lazily blinked.

“You know, I’ve always wondered—doesn’t it get stuffy when you do that? You bury yourself in blankets even when you sleep. Not that I’m complaining—it’s cute!”

“You don’t need to add that last part.”

“Still, I find it really uncomfortable when I cover myself up. And I don’t look cute like you do.”

—Roll.

I turned over to face her.

As expected, she was looking down at me with a curious expression.

‘Is this really such a big deal?’

I’d never really thought about it before.

But one thing was certain.

“It’s not stuffy. It’s cozy, and I like it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s so weird....”

“You’re the weird one.”

Daeun, who always kicked her blankets off in her sleep, found me strange?

Still, I let it slide.

I had no way of proving otherwise anyway.

And definitely not because I was avoiding the conversation due to a lack of social experience.