Redo of a Romanceless Author’s Life Devoid of Love; Another Chance at Youth

Chapter 126.

Chapter 126. Preparations to Destroy a Scumbag’s Life. (7/8)

Huh? What's with this? This isn’t funny. Nobody’s going to seriously read this sort of web novel, right?

Should I pass? It sounds like it’d be a bore. Who writes an observation diary about their co-worker anyway? Are they some sort of stalker? Or just that bored and have nothing better to write about?

I read the synopsis and frowned.

Working at a convenience store as a part-timer, I was paired up with a strange gloomy guy. There’s something strange about him, but I just can’t put my finger on it. Something just feels off. This story serves as a compilation of both my observations of him and a record of my daily life at work. If I ever stop posting, I either quit… or I died.

What the hell! Are you kidding me? Die? Of natural causes, or are you implying you would be killed by someone? Who? Your co-worker? Don’t screw with me! Who do you think you are?

As someone who worked in a convenience store and coincidentally matched the description of gloomy, I felt the story was stupidly relatable to me on a personal level. 

Was the site tracking my location and figured out I worked at a convenience store so it gave me such a recommendation when I selected the random series option? Screw you! What happened to privacy? I’ll seriously sue.

Though somehow, I still fell for the bait, I’d inadvertently gotten hooked and read it anyway.

Today is my first day of work, yes, my first day on the job, and I was paired with a strange gloomy guy. He apparently started here a few months before me. I’m currently in my third year of high school right now. Next year, I will embark on a journey and start my new life as a university student.

I’d like to major in literature and acquire an arts degree. To one day become a successful author. I’ve been reading and writing for as long as I could remember. I’ve never shown anyone anything I’ve written before though. It’s embarrassing to have my thoughts out in the open.

I put up a cool composed exterior, but I don’t know if that sort of image suits me too well. My long straight black hair makes me feel like I’m a rather plain and boring girl, but guys still seem to talk to me anyway. Maybe I should try changing my hair up in the future.

Forget that for now though, what I should be more concerned about is the guy beside me right now. He hardly ever opens his mouth to talk. His expression is always neutral. His eyes were unusual, they were blue, but I felt like they were a bit off and didn’t match his black hair. I’m not too sure why I felt that way though. Perhaps it was a woman's instinct.

Huh? Uh… it’s just a coincidence… yeah, a coincidence…

Like hell it is! Is this girl not just Yuna? Meaning… I’m the strange, gloomy co-worker with the neutral expression.

I read a bit further to confirm my suspicions. Each day had a new chapter released. Only Sundays didn’t have one. It was her day off.

I was fully convinced, my co-worker, a first-year university student studying literature, was the author of this web novel. She’d likely written many others as well based upon the contents of this observation diary I glossed over.

There were chapters for this observation diary released up to just yesterday. There were a few days missing that coincided with the days she’d been sick over winter break. Even a recollection of what transpired over those missing days. There weren’t very many readers, but those that read were quite invested and active in the comments. I could only imagine it being a bunch of dudes who caught onto the fact that she was a woman and they were convinced it wasn’t a fictional story.

Everything lined up perfectly. There was no room for it to be a simple coincidence.

“Hey, Yuna, how was it today? Was it busy?” My focus was pulled back to reality when I heard a man suddenly ask that. I looked up and discovered our coworker who’d take over at 9:00 PM had already arrived. 

I checked the time on my phone and only now realized our shift was almost over. There were only five minutes left.

“It’s been pretty slow today. I had a lot of time to read.”

“Oh? Is that so? It sucks that you’re moving over to the other store. We won’t get to see each other anymore like this.”

Yuna had a cool smile on her face while talking to him. It was a smile that had even deceived me. Her true thoughts toward this person were quite different from my impression of their relationship. If I took her words in what I skimmed through as fact, she despised this business student with a passion and found him annoying to an unbearable degree. He was someone who was always interrupting her peace and quiet when reading.

If he ever read that story, I’m quite curious how his face would look.

I could go and snitch her out… but… as a fellow author, keeping his own work a secret, I wouldn’t do that. She had the ambition to seriously pursue writing as a career, that much was clear by her majoring in literature.

From the bit I read through, it was obvious she wanted to make a name for herself one day so she wouldn’t feel embarrassed or feel the need to hide her work. 

I respected it. She was definitely better than me too. The fact that I couldn’t see through her deceptive nature was proof she would be a natural at writing stories. She could deceive others and put on a mask that looked 100% convincing.

She was a liar.

A big liar at that.

I was sure someone like her could make it as an author.

When the clock struck nine I headed to the back. The two of them stuck around for a while.

When I left the store, I didn’t immediately leave. She always liked to mess with me, so I figured I’d tease her a bit. It was embarrassing when someone knew about your writing. This was a small bit of petty payback in a way. I was a petty person after all. I naturally remembered all those times her stupid woman’s instinct annoyed me.

When she eventually exited the building she walked right past me. I was hidden around the corner and she hadn’t noticed me.

I opened my mouth and muttered to myself, “Co-worker Observation Diary? What’s this story? Let’s see here, working at a convenience store as a part-timer, I was paired up with a strange, gloomy guy.”

When she heard those words from behind, her body froze in place as she stopped in her tracks.

After ten seconds she stiffly turned her head toward me. I looked up from my phone to meet her eyes.

“Yo. Did you need something?”

“Not at all. I was just a bit surprised when I heard your voice from behind. You never stick around and are always first out the door between us. Why’d you suddenly decide to stick around out of the blue? Are you waiting for someone to pick you up?”

As expected her mask was flawless. I was impressed. She didn’t show a single crack in it.

“No, I’m not waiting for anyone. I just got a bit interested in a story. It seems a bit interesting based on the synopsis.”

“Oh? Is that so? Have you read anything more than the synopsis?”

“No, not yet. Why are you interested in it?”

“A little… do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“Sure.” I handed my phone over to her.

She fiddled with it a bit before her finger froze in place.

Yes, she’d definitely checked my search history.

“You… know everything already, don’t you? Even if I immediately deleted the entire story it would do nothing. The damage has already been done, it seems. No matter what I do it seems my secret is exposed.”

“That certainly seems to be the case.”

“Why lie then show me your phone if you knew I’d check your history?”

“Why not? It was more fun to watch your reaction. You’re always messing with me with that stupid woman’s instinct. It was just a bit of petty payback.”

“Aren’t you disgusted by what you read?”

“Disgusted? By what? You simply wrote your embarrassing thoughts out.”

“About the things I said about you, customers, and other coworkers. I’m getting along with them on the surface but completely bashing them behind their backs.”

“So what? I see nothing wrong with using writing as a means to vent. In fact, I think you’d make quite a good author in the future. You’re able to deceive others seamlessly. I think such ability is a wonderful thing to be proud of. It will definitely take you far.”