READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 265
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
A little while later, a rock-paper-scissors game started at the table to decide who would fetch the meat.
As if it were the most natural thing, all three threw out rock.
I threw out scissors and, without the game dragging on, lost in a single round.
“Mari wins!”
As if it were the obvious outcome, the three clapped like seals, clearly thrilled.
The way they clapped like seals seemed suspicious, so I furrowed my brow and asked them, “You guys rigged it, didn’t you?”
“Correct!”
Without even trying to hide it, my tablemates proudly declared the truth, raising their voices.
Rock-paper-scissors among high school girls is a battlefield of schemes.
The clumsy don’t survive.
I wish I had lost this cleanly during the vice-class president election too.
Though I made my displeasure obvious, I accepted the result and set off to get the meat.
“Ah, Mari!”
As if it were inevitable, I ran into Siyeon at the meat corner.
With a bowl in one hand and a meat tong in the other, Siyeon greeted me with a smile. I gave her a pitiful look and asked, “…Did you lose too?”
“Lose? To what?”
Siyeon tilted her head, confused.
The moment I saw her with the bowl, the thought popped into my head, and I just blurted it out.
“Did you lose rock-paper-scissors and have to come get the meat?”
“Nope, we all came together to get it.”
Siyeon gestured around with the tongs, introducing her tablemates.
How heartwarming. What a bunch.
Anyway, I busily moved the tongs, picking out meat.
The corner was mostly filled with thin frozen cuts, with hardly any thick pieces.
After grabbing a small amount of side dishes like sushi, salad, and curry, I filled a bowl with various meats and headed back.
My tablemates were shocked at the mountain of meat in my bowl.
“Whoa, you got this much?”
“If you take a little at a time, there won’t be any left later.”
I casually explained my reasoning to them, then sat down, smoothing my skirt like a habit.
At a crowded meat buffet, you have to grab enough to eat comfortably without waiting.
The tongs were as flimsy as the thin meat, barely good for flipping wraps.
And the grill was ridiculously small to match.
At this size, you’d be lucky to fit ten slices of frozen pork belly.
Luckily, the meat was thin and the heat strong, so it cooked quickly.
Everyone seemed awkward just sitting there, so they started poking at the meat with the tongs.
Clearly, they weren’t used to grilling meat.
“Hey, put the tongs down.”
Seeing them flip the still-pink meat, I scolded them to put the tongs down.
It’s better to grill alone than have amateurs mess it up.
The well-grilled meat from the expert’s hands went to the edges of the grill.
As I moved a few pieces to my bowl, I said, as if giving permission, “You can eat the ones on the edge.”
“Mari, I’ll eat well!”
“I’ll eat well too!”
The meat on the edge of the grill disappeared in an instant.
If we kept cooking like this, I’d turn black inside before the meat did, so for the second round, I piled a bunch of meat onto the grill and spread it out.
The meat sizzled, white smoke rising as I flipped it around on the perforated grill.
While the second batch cooked, I took a bite of the sushi I’d brought as a side.
It tasted like the kind you’d find at a large supermarket sushi corner.
Even though this is the home of sushi, you can’t expect high-quality sushi at an all-you-can-eat place.
Still, the satisfyingly grilled meat filled me up for lunch.
After that, the plan was to head to Deer Park, which required about an hour on the bus.
The bus was filled with the vibe of a trip.
I turned on the X translation app and even practiced how to snag a Japanese X Instagram ID.
“Xstagramuno ID to nandeskaa~”
My clumsy Japanese would probably make locals cringe.
But at least I looked confident.
After an hour-long drive, we arrived at Deer Park.
The deer, a rare sight in the wild, were just casually walking on the pavement.
Some people walked past them like it was normal, while students seeing this for the first time reacted with over-the-top excitement.
“Wow, they’re so cute~”
“Hey, it even bowed! Hehehe.”
Some deer bowed their heads, while others sniffed around people.
“Kieeeeng~”
“Uhohohok!”
I always wondered how deer sounded, and now I had my answer.
The unexpected sound made my friends burst into laughter.
It was nothing like the barking of a dog or a large animal.
Before heading deeper into the deer park, I noticed a sign.
The warning was written in Chinese, Japanese, English, and Korean.
Since I couldn’t read Chinese or English, I just skimmed the Korean and pictures.
[Caution]
[The deer in Nara Park are wild animals. They may sometimes attack people, so please be careful.]
Below the text were pictures: a deer biting a person’s bag, a deer hitting a person with its front legs, a deer headbutting someone with its antlers, and a deer charging at a person’s back.
[Bites] [Hits] [Headbutts] [Charges]
Usually, signs at animal facilities say things like “Do not feed the animals” or “Do not harm the animals.”
But this one was warning us to be careful.
Are deer scarier than I thought?
Well, in some winter survival games, if you mess with a moose, your ribs are done for.
Deer and moose are a bit different, but they’re in the same family.
Then, at the park entrance, there was a snack stand.
The sign said 200 yen, about 2,000 won, for a bundle of deer snacks.
“Should we buy that?”
“Not really…”
I’d rather not spend money on animal snacks when I could use it for human snacks.
Unlike me, my tablemates seemed enthusiastic.
They even used their allowance money to buy snacks for the deer.
And not long after… it didn’t take much time.
“Kyahaah~!”
“Uhyahat~!”
As soon as they bought the snacks, the deer aggressively swarmed them.
One friend, holding a wallet in one hand, tried to put it in their pocket, but the deer rushed in, causing them to drop the snacks immediately.
Laughter and screams erupted from all around.
A baby deer nearby sniffed around, checking if I had any snacks.
This little one’s already got a mischievous streak.
One deer came close, and others followed, thinking there was food.
“Nothing here, man, go away.”
I pushed the deer’s neck, which was trying to nudge me with its antlers, and shouted briefly. Realizing I wasn’t an easy target, it backed off with the baby deer.
If they’re this aggressive with someone without snacks, imagine how they are with those who have them.
“Ahhh…”
The short screams and sighs around me answered my earlier question.
“By the way…”
If they’re this intense over a small snack, are the sellers okay?
Do they distinguish between what’s for sale and what’s already sold?
I glanced at the stand where my friends had bought the senbei.
The baby deer that had been pestering me earlier was now sniffing around the unsold senbei.
The auntie running the stand casually swatted it with a broom, and it quickly ran off.
Her expression didn’t change, as if this was just part of the routine.
“Ah, I see.”
Violence and action are the only ways to communicate with speechless animals.
The deer here have learned that too.
The aunties with mountains of snacks aren’t easy targets.
After years of learning, the deer only swarm the tourists.
After an impressive wrestling match with the animals, we checked out the familiar-looking Buddha statue.
Seeing a round, tapioca-haired Buddha statue in Japan gave me a new sense of awe.
And so, I spent the day in Japan, smelling deer poop.
After another long bus ride, the free seating began, costing around 20,000 won.
Of course, the school only provided 2,000 yen, but…
“Should I flex like an adult…?”
With a stack of 1,000 yen bills from my wallet, the adult shopping spree began.