Want to be human, but cube-like

With her beautiful eyes wide open, Su Shi stared at the three messages on the screen that had suddenly become read.

[You guys can check out the newly opened Ring in Ikebukuro. I'm currently working there, and I get employee discounts.]

The second text message was sent after a long delay, seemingly because no one had responded yet, and the sender hesitated. However, the sender still shared a location address in the group chat.

"Su Shi...?"

The blue-haired girl, who had been silently following Su Shi for some time, finally spoke up.

"Ah...! Mumu... are we going to rehearse with everyone from Crychic today?"

Startled by the call, Su Shi immediately put on a gentle smile and said softly.

Okay~ Xiao Mu and I will be right there~!

She also sent a message on her phone.

"Um... there are no classes today."

Nodding slightly, Mu seemed to sense Su Shi's unusual behavior. His gaze lingered on her fingertips for a moment, a barely perceptible hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Let's go there now!"

The smile on her face seemed exceptionally genuine, and Su Shi's heart became somewhat excited. Suppressing her joy, she spoke softly.

My wish... has indeed come true!

…………

P.S. Ugh~ It's so cold today, I don't even want to move.

Volume 2: Chapter 201 I'm really... so tired...

In the afternoon, at a hamburger shop that had temporarily closed, a silver-haired girl was leaning on the counter, holding a ballpoint pen, and slowly writing something.

"Ink ink burger buns... oatmeal burger buns... ink ink burgers seem to be quite popular... and this baked button mushroom cap, a lot of people want to try it too..."

However, because it costs extra to replace the regular hamburger top with this baked button mushroom top, which is quite expensive, most customers give up on it.

"...Should we lower the price a bit?"

She muttered to herself, the pen nib pausing slightly, the upright pen resting against her cheek, the cap at the end pressing lightly against her soft face, creating a small indentation.

"Well……"

Stuck in a dilemma, Alex rested her head on the table, her chin pressing down on the paper in front of her, obscuring some of the words she had just written.

If Xiangzi were here, she could make the decisions...

Sure enough, it's still hard to get used to, with Xiangzi going to school and not being around.

Normally, even if Xiangzi isn't around, Aine will...

Her thoughts suddenly paused.

"Mother……"

Alex murmured to herself, her mind drifting back to the pink-haired girl.

"no!"

Then, biting her lip, she straightened up again, shook her head violently, and tried to shake off those troubles.

We can't let ourselves get stuck in those lingering emotions again, like we did yesterday.

Last night, after talking with Xiangzi, Alex regained some of the energy she had when she was running the burger shop.

With nothing to do, she focused all her energy on running the hamburger shop well, and at that time, she actually had a pretty fulfilling life.

As long as she keeps herself busy, Alex won't be constantly immersed in those thoughts.

艾莉

After piqued a bit of her interest yesterday, Kess chatted with Xiangzi about her accidental discovery of using coins to upgrade the reputation level of the counters on the Sky Island.

So the two of them carried a bunch of coins over and ran them across the counter, as if completing a formality, and finally raised Alex's reputation level to ten.

The reputation required for this level alone is 3,300 reputation points, which translates to nearly four million yen in coins.

Fortunately, during the period when Alex was in a slump, Xiangzi continued to replenish the Sky Island with the coins she had exchanged at the bank; otherwise, the quantity might not have been enough.

Therefore, Alex was finally able to obtain the most crucial item mentioned in the Skyblock World quest book: the business license.

Unlike the document placed in the burger shop, which is for dealing with modern society, this is an important item that can be used to synthesize and upgrade ingredients based on the reputation level of the burger shop, and to unlock higher-level ingredients.

With it, Alex can craft the villager's profession block needed for later chapters of the quest book.

A reputation level of ten is just enough to upgrade this business license to a bronze license and then an iron license.

The profession blocks needed by the fisherman and the cartographer, namely the barrel and the cartography table, can then be crafted.

The new ingredients provided by the fishermen are various kinds of fish, shrimp, crabs and shellfish. Some of these can actually be obtained by fishing, but it is too inefficient for just the two of them to fish slowly, so they have not been added to the menu.

The ingredients sold by the cartographer are rare and precious in Minecraft. Putting aside foods like cucumbers and peppers that are easy to buy outside, turtle eggs, button mushrooms, and dark purple berries are special ingredients that cannot be purchased outside.

"Let's ignore this for now..."

Alex put aside the question of whether or not to adjust the price of the baked button mushroom caps for the time being, planning to ask Xiangzi for her opinion when she returned, and continued to write down the other ingredients.

"Pufferfish slices and salmon slices are more popular... but many people have asked why pufferfish is so cheap, is there a problem? 6 copper coins... 720 yen, is that cheap?"

She continued to doodle on the paper, mainly to record the feedback she received from customers when she opened the shop alone at noon today, so that Xiangzi could see it when he came home from school and use it as a reference when adjusting the menu.

After all, Xiangzi was better at this kind of thing than her.

"Turtle meat and turtle omelets... it seems there are doubts about whether they're safe to eat. Hmm... let's wait until Xiangzi comes back before we talk about it."

Alex looked somewhat troubled, so she chose to skip the question.

"As for sauces, sea urchin sauce is a popular choice, but like baked button mushroom caps, it's been criticized for being too expensive, while other sauces are less popular."

The remaining fish, shellfish, and shrimp are not much different from other common meats, so there is no need to record them.

But as for vegetables...

"Cucumber noodles, kimchi, and fried tofu... it seems like people don't really like adding these to burgers?"

With puffed-out cheeks, Alex recalled the scene at noon when several young women looked at her with strange eyes, and asked in confusion.

However, the newly launched lime juice and lime cola are quite popular, with many people saying they are very refreshing and taste great with burgers.

After a short while, Alex finally put down her pen.

She took a deep breath, intending to relax for a while and gaze at the scenery outside the window.

But the momentary respite was quickly replaced by a jumble of emotions.

Many scenes she didn't want to recall would always creep into her mind uninvited.

Taking a deep breath, Alex pursed her lips, deciding to refocus her attention on the paper in front of her.

She had just picked up the paper to check if anything was missing when she heard the sound of the back door opening.

"I'm back……"

And Xiangzi's familiar voice.

"Welcome back."

Alex blinked slightly, turned her head, and whispered something.

Xiangzi, who seemed to be hiding something, frowned and walked in silently with his head down.

"Xiangzi, these are the customer reviews after we tried the new ingredients at noon today. Would you like to take a look?"

Alex, who hadn't noticed Xiangzi's odd behavior and wasn't in a much better mood herself, simply waved the paper in her hand and asked.

"Hmm, let me see..."

Forcing a smile, Xiangzi took the paper covered in writing before turning her gaze to Alex's face.

"Honestly, why did you get your face so dirty?"

But then she noticed a few light black ink marks on the other person's delicate chin, and helplessly turned around to go to the kitchen to get a wet wipe.

"……Um?"

Completely unaware of what was happening, Alex stared blankly at the other person, cupped her face in her hands, and gently wiped her chin.

As Xiangzi focused on wiping the ink off Alex, she was thinking back to the gray-haired girl who had almost been seen on the tram when she returned.

Why would she go to the ring?

Yes, there's a new band...?

Xiangzi was lost in thought.

"...Are you done yet, Xiangzi?"

It wasn't until Alex's voice woke her up.

"Ah...! Okay, okay..."

Xiangzi snapped out of her daze, her face slightly flushed. She realized that she had been holding Alex's face in her hands, lost in thought for too long.

However, when she saw the other person's dim eyes, she couldn't help but feel a slight pang of pain in her heart.

It seems like it's been a long time since we've seen Alex's truly genuine smile.

Unconsciously, Xiangzi placed his hands on either side of Alex's cheeks and gently tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"Alex...please smile more, okay?"

She said softly.

"..."

Alex, who was looking up at Xiangzi, fell silent upon hearing this. She forced herself to comply with the force of Xiangzi's fingertips and managed a not-so-good smile.

"Yes, this is how Alex looks. She's been working so hard all day, that's really impressive."

Xiangzi simply praised her beauty.

"...You must be very tired."

She asked again softly.

"...Yes, I want to forget those things..."

Alex's tightly pursed lips trembled slightly, and she kept her voice very low.

"But it's impossible..."

It was as if they were suppressing something.

"I'm so tired..."

Xiangzi let Alex, whose grievances were welling up again in his heart, rest his little head on her chest and sobbed softly.

In the afternoon at the hamburger shop, two young girls leaned against each other, inhaling each other's sweet scents and comforting each other's sorrowful hearts.

No one said anything more.

…………

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P.S. Happy April Fool's Day!

Alex is too well-behaved and has been suppressing her emotions. Xiangzi noticed this and wanted to let her vent a little under his comforting care.

Volume 2: Chapter 202 Can't you see me?

That's wonderful...!

Sitting on the tram, Su Shi struggled to suppress her excitement, glancing at Mu next to her every now and then.

Everyone at Crychic... is really back!

With a delighted smile on her lips, Su Shi began to think about what to say when she met the others later.