25: Chapter 5: I Can’t Stand This Dorm for Another Second!
(9/15) 25: Chapter 5: I Can’t Stand This Dorm for Another Second!
(9/15) Keiko was quick and efficient.
The cooking skills from her past life of living alone hadn’t degraded with her transmigration into this new body.
She handled the kitchen knife with ease, curling her fingers inward like a cat’s paw to hold down the green onions.
Her right hand moved like a flash of silver, the rapid tapping of the blade against the cutting board echoing in the kitchen.
In no time, the fresh green onions were chopped into even pieces, which she swept off the board into a small bowl.
“You’re very skilled with the knife.
Do you cook at home often?” Star O’s eyes lit up.
“This doesn’t look like the knife skills of a sixteen-year-old.” “It’s just a necessary skill from living alone.” Keiko humored her with a modest reply.
Back when she made instant noodles, she would occasionally snip some green onions from a small pot to add flavor.
Her knife skills had been built up that way.
Not just chopping green onions—as long as she had the ingredients, she could whip up a decent spread of home-cooked dishes anytime.
However, despite her skills, she lacked the patience to clean up the mess.
Every time she showed off her cooking, she was left staring at the pile of dirty dishes with a sigh.
“That’s already wonderful.
Most kids don’t even know how to cook.” Star O praised me with a smile.
“Alright, go sit down.
Tachyon and the others should be coming down soon.” Keiko nodded.
Sure enough, not long after she sat down, Gold Ship brought down an Umamusume in a white lab coat who looked highly annoyed.
Behind them followed two others who, though not as easily recognizable as the one in the lab coat, had their own distinct features.
Especially the one dressed completely in black.
Keiko’s first thought upon seeing her was: ‘Wow, I envy that hair volume.’ Then she remembered she was currently a sixteen-year-old girl in her prime.
“Oh my, sukiyaki.
Although I prefer oden from the convenience store, sukiyaki with a raw egg is indeed the best choice.
Did something good happen, Star-san?” The brown-haired Umamusume in the lab coat commented on the food like a food critic.
“While I can understand choosing a menu on a whim based on mood—since I am like that myself—interrupting my crucial experiment was highly annoying.
Sending Gold Ship, who has absolutely no concept of how important experiments are, was a miscalculation on your part, Star-san.” “Which means you were in your room doing a completely pointless experiment, got frustrated, and used Gold Ship as an excuse to vent your anger on someone, right, Tachyon?” Star O replied with a smile.
“That won’t do, Tachyon.
Even for experiments, you can’t skip meals.
So forgive Gold Ship, she’ll reflect on it.” “You brushed yourself off so easily with just a few words…
as expected of Star O-san.” Agnes Tachyon nodded.
“So, what’s the occasion for such a feast today?” “To welcome our newcomer, of course.
I told you this morning, Tachyon.” Sakura Star O replied.
“You always forget simple things, yet you remember complex data so well.
Truly impressive.” “Hahaha, most of my brain capacity is reserved for recording important matters.” Agnes Tachyon laughed.
“Ah, is this little white rabbit of a girl our newcomer?
How should I put it…
I don’t feel any wildness in her.” ‘…Wildness?’ Tachyon’s comment plunged Keiko into deep thought.
Did lacking wildness mean she wasn’t aggressive enough?
But before she could ponder further, Tachyon leaned in close to inspect her face, muttering under her breath.
“Indeed, even better than I imagined.
In terms of both capability and talent, combined with this slightly timid personality…
Did I really hit the jackpot?” “…Um…
Tachyon-san?” A crimson ‘Danger’ icon flashed in Keiko’s mind again.
For some reason, she had a terrible premonition that being targeted by this person would end badly.
The last time she felt like this was when she watched a livestream of Brother Huang wishing his viewers good health.
“Yes, I have high hopes for you!
Young lady, how about contributing your strength to the scientific endeavors of Umamusume?” Tachyon extended her hand, her eyes looking like a cult recruiter tempting an innocent victim.
Even without Star O’s warning looks, Keiko would never fall for such a trap.
“Sorry, I’m just an ordinary Umamusume.
I don’t have much interest in science.
Besides—academically, I belong to the literature department.” Keiko rejected her formally.
Tachyon wanted to press on, but the black-haired Umamusume behind her tapped Tachyon’s shoulder, stopping her recruitment pitch.
“I think I’m actually a very friendly person.” Tachyon complained to the Umamusume stopping her.
“And I really am short of test subjects.
It’s not like anything terrible will happen—” “Your selection criteria are far too strict.” The black-haired senior with impressive hair volume rationally pointed out.
“And if your lab keeps exploding, nobody in this dorm will get any peace.
It’s best to stop while you’re ahead.” “Ah, right.
Let me introduce her.
The Umamusume who can stop Agnes Tachyon is Manhattan Cafe.
She is your senior, and a very outstanding Umamusume.” Star O seized the moment to introduce her.
Now that Tachyon and Cafe had been introduced, the last Umamusume was staring at her with sparkling eyes…
had to be Agnes Digital, right?
‘The aura radiating from this girl is on par with Tachyon and Cafe.
She must be a weirdo too,’ Keiko deduced.
But to be polite, she raised her hand and gave a timid wave.
“Whoa—Heavenly bliss!” The Umamusume named Agnes Digital shuddered as if shot by a bullet.
Muttering gibberish, she fell backward onto the floor.
“Agnes Digital, ascending to heaven!” “…Eh?!” Thinking the girl was having a heart attack or some other medical emergency, Keiko was about to help when Orfevre stopped her.
“Leave her be.
Don’t stimulate her further.
She just fainted from happiness.
Before you arrived, she was already gathering information on you.
She’s a huge fan of yours.
Getting a greeting from you probably made her too happy, so she fainted.” “Eh?
Why do I have fans?” Keiko blinked.
“And even so, fainting is…” “That’s just Digital’s style.
Rather than an Umamusume, she’s more like a fanatic fan who became an Umamusume just to observe others up close.
When it comes to obsession with Umamusume, she is world-class.
It looks like you’re her current favorite.
It’s just like meeting her favorite idol.” “…I see.” Keiko nodded half-understandingly as she watched Gold Ship drag the blissfully unconscious Digital off the floor and plop her into a chair to “respawn.” The scene was surreal.
But Keiko had a feeling she would see this often, so she resolved to shatter her old common sense and adapt.
‘Agnes Tachyon, Manhattan Cafe, Agnes Digital…
none of the residents in this Dorm are normal.’ Keiko lamented.
Had Rudolf thrown her into some home for troubled Umamusume?
She hadn’t insulted Rudolf to her face, only grumbled a few times in her head.
Talk about petty.
‘At least my only ally, Orfevre, is normal.
If even she were a weirdo, I’d pack my bags and leave immediately.’ Keiko sighed to herself.
Dinner passed quickly.
Although it was meant to welcome Keiko, Tachyon and Cafe were distracted and paid little attention to her.
After eating, Keiko used organizing her room and making her bed as an excuse to decline Gold Ship’s challenge.
Once back in her small single room, she finally felt a sense of independent life.
In her past life, she would have opened two cans of beer to celebrate, but she was underage in this body.
Still, a non-alcoholic pineapple beer should be fine, right?
With that thought, she slipped out of her room and headed to the quiet kitchen.
She opened the fridge.
It was packed with food—sausages, luncheon meat, cola, Dr Pepper.
The double-door fridge had everything.
There were even expensive fruits.
Keiko eyed a box of strawberries.
She had wanted to buy some earlier but had been deterred by the price.
Although Brian said she could eat whatever she wanted, Keiko withdrew her hand.
She felt too guilty to eat something so expensive.
She grabbed a can of pineapple beer instead and closed the door.
‘Thud—’ ‘Eh?’ Keiko heard a strange sound like something hitting the wooden floor.
She twitched her ears and looked down the dark hallway.
To be honest, the darkness made her uneasy.
But there were seven Umamusume living in this building.
Even if a thief broke in, they had nothing to fear—in fact, the thief should be the one terrified.
Still, she felt a bit scared.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t fight off a thief, but her old habit of being cautious as a woman living alone kicked in.
Calming her breathing, she assumed it was just another resident.
“Who’s there?” “…” No reply came from the dark hallway, but a blurry figure appeared.
Keiko swallowed, looking at the outline in the faint light of the streetlamp outside.
She could faintly make out Cafe.
Sighing in relief, she spoke.
“Oh, it’s Cafe-senpai.
Don’t scare me like that…
And why did you change into white clothes?” “…” The figure stared at Keiko, a creepy smile playing on its lips.
The golden eyes were lifeless, vacantly reflecting Keiko’s figure.
It seemed to float as it slowly approached.
Keiko’s heart leaped—she hadn’t seen a shadow under Cafe’s feet.
‘Oh my god!
A ghost!’ Keiko wanted to scream.
Sharing a house with weirdos was one thing, but a haunted house was too much!
She only had a can of pineapple beer, hardly a weapon.
But before she could scream, she was cut off.
A figure had appeared behind her.
“I knew it.
You can see it too.” The one behind her was the real Cafe.
Compared to the floating entity in front of her, Keiko felt the warmth of the girl beside her and calmed down slightly.
“Um…
Senpai, is that…?” “Just an ordinary vengeful spirit.” “You can’t describe a vengeful spirit as ‘ordinary,’ Senpai!” Cafe’s calm tone made Keiko forget her fear, her inner comedy straight man taking over.
“What should we do then?” “Nothing.” Cafe shook her head.
“You can just see them, that’s all.
And these friends mean no harm.” “No harm?!
It was literally trying to grab me!” Keiko protested.
How could she believe that?
The scene was straight out of a horror movie.
Saying spirits meant no harm was ridiculous.
“You said I can see them too.
Does that mean only the two of us can see this?” “Yes.
Tachyon can’t see them.” Cafe stepped forward and whispered something.
The figure that looked exactly like the Cafe vanished.
“I told her not to scare you.
The spirits really mean no harm.” “…Cafe-senpai, just who are you?” Keiko swallowed.
“And shouldn’t we call an exorcist to deal with this?!” “I’ve seen them since I was small.
Most of them are quite friendly.” Cafe explained.
“They were already here when I moved into the Dorm.
They are the original residents, not us.
It would be rude to kick them out.
They don’t disturb us anyway, and sometimes they even help out.” “…If…
if that’s the case, I guess I can accept it.” Although still uneasy, Keiko calmed down.
“Um, Senpai, they won’t actually do anything to us, right?” “I promise they won’t.” Cafe nodded.
“Any evil spirits that would actually cause harm have already been driven away by me.” Perhaps from standing in the hallway too long, Keiko felt a chill.
Ever since she found out the Dorm was haunted, she felt like eyes were watching her from every corner.
Her determination to leave the Dorm grew stronger.
‘Manhattan Cafe-senpai is truly a remarkable person…’ —