I Became a Raid Boss-Chapter 146: A New World, A New Daily Life (4)

Daeun hadn’t put the chocolates on the high shelf for any particular reason.

‘Snacks... should go in the cupboard.’

Her habit—no, tendency—was to place snacks in hard-to-reach spots. This way, they wouldn’t be easily snacked on while passing by. Today’s grocery shopping was no exception; it was simply the result of her usual routine.

The only difference was that now she had a housemate, and that housemate had been quietly observing her tidy up.

Here’s how the incident unfolded:

After Daeun left for her stream, Kana, now alone, browsed her phone. She soon felt the urge to munch on something. Remembering where Daeun had stored the snacks, she went to check the cupboard.

Would Kana have listened even if she’d been told not to eat them? Doubtful. But since no such prohibition had been issued, she headed straight to the cupboard.

‘Huh?’

Kana’s hands couldn’t reach the shelf. Of course, they couldn’t. Even Daeun, who was taller than the average Korean woman, found it a stretch, so Kana—much shorter than her peers—had no chance.

Though once capable of leaping across the skies like solid ground, Kana wasn’t about to try such a stunt indoors, especially with her weakened body. Even if she managed to pull it off, it would undoubtedly slow her already sluggish recovery.

Jumping repeatedly to no avail, Kana glared at the cupboard in frustration. Why was it so unnecessarily high, tormenting her like this? A contraption made for human convenience was ironically inconveniencing her.

In the end, Kana dragged over a chair from the kitchen. Standing on it, she stretched up on her tiptoes, and finally, her hand brushed the coveted chocolate.

‘...Oh.’

Perhaps she’d overexerted herself shopping earlier. A sudden wave of exhaustion caused her to lose balance momentarily. Instinctively, she grabbed onto whatever was nearby.

The result?

Crash! Smash!

As Daeun had seen upon rushing in, it was a catastrophe. Though Kana hadn’t fallen, her flailing arms had knocked over several plates, which shattered into pieces on the floor.

‘...I’m screwed.’

Kana muttered under her breath, staring at the wreckage without even picking up the chocolate her fingers had grazed.

That was how the disaster began.

Hearing Kana haltingly admit her guilt, Daeun sighed, glancing at the mess with a heavy heart.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“...No.”

Daeun had half-expected Kana to indignantly reject the idea of her getting injured, but her meek reply caught her off guard.

‘She must’ve been really shaken.’

The usually bold Kana seemed unusually subdued. Seeing this rare childlike side of her, Daeun’s initial thought of scolding her melted away. Protective instincts and a wave of pity replaced her irritation.

‘Poor thing. She must’ve really wanted the snack, despite feeling unwell.’

Falling victim to Kana’s unintentional charm, Daeun’s stern expression softened.

“It’s good you didn’t get hurt. The plates... well, I’ll just buy new ones. For now, just stay there.”

Worried Kana might step on invisible shards, Daeun added the instruction to avoid any misunderstanding. She left to retrieve a broom, sweeping up the larger shards and vacuuming the smaller ones. She even used tape to pick up the tiniest pieces.

When the cleanup was done, Daeun lifted Kana, who was still standing on the chair. Kana’s petite frame and warm body felt light in her arms.

Kana, now dangling and staring up at Daeun, lowered her gaze.

“...Sorry.”

“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. I know you didn’t mean to. Besides, I’m partly to blame for putting it there in the first place. Let’s just say we both made mistakes, okay?”

“...Okay.”

‘Wow, that was mature of me. Good job, Shin Daeun...!’

Had Kana heard Daeun’s smug internal monologue, her rising affection from the incident would’ve likely plummeted.

But oblivious to Daeun’s thoughts, Kana remained silent.

“I finally understand why homes with kids use plastic dishes.”

“I’m not a kid.”

Kana, catching the context, grumbled in protest.

“Hm~? If you’re not a kid, then you should be punished for breaking the plates.”

“....”

“Oh no, did you freeze up?”

Kana stiffened, caught in Daeun’s teasing trap.

“...Put me down.”

Stiff as a board, Kana swayed slightly as Daeun playfully moved her arms. Only when Kana’s glare sharpened did Daeun finally set her down. Any more teasing, and she might actually get scratched.

“Well, at least it wasn’t something serious. For a moment, I thought we had a burglar.”

Thinking back, Daeun realized that with a capable "guard cat" like Kana, she probably didn’t need to worry about burglars. But in the moment, she’d been genuinely frightened.

As she ruffled Kana’s soft hair, a thought suddenly struck her.

“Oh no, the stream...!”

She had completely forgotten she’d left mid-broadcast! Without her phone, she couldn’t check the chat, but she could imagine the chaos awaiting her. Compared to the mess Kana made, the chatroom was likely a disaster.

Suppressing a sigh, Daeun stood up.

“I’m heading back to work now, so don’t cause any more trouble.”

Peeling the wrapper off a piece of chocolate, she popped it into Kana’s mouth before dusting off her knees and returning to her soundproof booth.

‘It’d be so nice to just nap with Kana right now.’

But reality was harsh.

Cuddling up with Kana might feel good in the moment, but it could lead to her ending up on the cold streets—and apart from Kana—for good.

‘That can’t happen!’

Steeling her resolve, Daeun sat back down in her chair and returned to the stream.

“I’m back.”

As expected, the chat was a mess of concern, trolling, and wild speculation. Skimming past the chaos, Daeun addressed them:

“What happened? Some plates fell and broke. Cleaning them up took a bit longer than expected.”

-Oh.

-Why’d the plates fall?

-Was there an earthquake?

-Doesn’t the streamer live in Seoul? No alerts went off.

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-Did you move to Japan or something?

“Uh... maybe I didn’t stack them properly after washing. Anyway, it was a complete mess.”

-Oh, my plates fell yesterday too...

-Glad it happened during the stream and not while you were cooking.

-Would’ve been a concussion waiting to happen.

-Lol, dodged a bullet there.

-This guy, lmao.

-Haha, so funny.

“...Pfft! Are you seriously laughing about me almost getting hit on the head?!”

-Yeah?

-???

-You laughed first; why blame us?

-Isn’t it fine as long as nothing broke?

The chat quickly reverted to its usual antics, though a few skeptical comments began to emerge:

-Am I the only one who finds it weird? Why would plates just fall out of nowhere?

-She said they weren’t stacked properly.

-If that were true, wouldn’t they have fallen earlier? Why during the stream?

-It’s ‘would’ve,’ not ‘would.’

-Why not?

-So what’s your point?

Suspicious comments spread like ripples, sparking debates and conspiracies.

-Was it a boyfriend?

-Boyfriend? That’s a stretch; stop speculating.

-Isn’t it weird she took several days off out of nowhere?

-The streamer doesn’t even do fan service; why do these people keep popping up?

Sighing, Daeun marveled at their ability to stir chaos over something so trivial. Though their boyfriend theory was false, she couldn’t outright deny the presence of her housemate.

Eventually, she decided to clear things up.

“Alright, calm down. Actually, my cousin’s staying over. That noise earlier was them messing around.”

-Huh?

-What?

-So it was your cousin who caused it?

-What, you lied?

-Of course. Plates don’t just fall for no reason.

“It’s true! They came over because they were worried about me.”

-If it’s just a cousin, why lie?

-Right? Why make it a secret?

-Because you guys would overreact, duh. Look at the chat!”

Daeun pointed out a comment asking to bring her cousin onto the stream.

“See? Would you want to deal with this?”

-Lol, fair.

-Hahaha, caught red-handed.

-Are they a girl?

-Why would that matter?

-If they’re related, they might look like the streamer—meaning, cute.

-Oh... that actually makes sense?!

-Now I want to see them too.

“Keep dreaming. You’ll never see them. Besides, it’s not just up to me; they’d have to agree.”

Despite her firm stance, the chat continued to buzz, even placing donations as “missions” to see her cousin.

At first, the amounts were laughably small, but they soon piled up into a significant sum.

“Yeah, no. Cancelled.”

-Oh.

-Lame.

-Well, if they’re a private citizen, it makes sense.

-Darn it.

Daeun canceled the mission without hesitation. Though it might’ve cost her goodwill, family was non-negotiable.

After sharing updates and chatting for a while, Daeun ended the stream.

Her broadcast, derailed by Kana’s antics, had taken an unexpected turn but eventually calmed down.

For now, at least.