READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 267
After playing several rounds of games, only the remnants of convenience store food were left scattered around the room.
‘There was definitely a lot…?’
It was hard to believe how we managed to finish it all. From cup noodles to sandwiches, puddings, and the remains of various snacks, they were all just lying around the room.
The endless energy of my friends during the game.
Caught in that whirlwind of madness, it wasn’t until 3 AM that I finally made it back to the room.
Being the game host the whole time was exhausting.
At least there was plenty of time to munch on stuff…
“Haah.”
As I dragged myself down the hallway back to the room, I let out a long yawn and inserted the keycard into the door.
With the sound of the lock disengaging, the door clicked open.
Inside the dark room with all the lights off, I could hear faint breathing.
‘Seong-a must be asleep.’
After confirming that my roommate was asleep, I tiptoed to the bathroom, careful not to make any noise.
After a quick wash, I flopped onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
Maybe because it was so late, I didn’t have any random thoughts and just passed out.
When morning came, my eyes shot open to the sound of a generic notification tone.
Through the thin curtains, the bright white light of morning seeped in.
Probably because I stayed up so late, the morning felt especially exhausting.
With half-open eyes, I blinked a few times, and without exchanging a word, we finished getting ready and headed down for breakfast.
We gathered, received meal tickets from the teacher, and handed them to the staff as we entered.
And just like that, the morning buffet began.
Just by looking at the tired faces of my friends sitting expressionlessly in their chairs, you could tell who stayed up late and who went to bed early.
“Yaaawn…”
Even as they used tongs to place food on their empty plates, the students couldn’t stop yawning.
The plates here were different—instead of the round plates you’d find at Korean buffets, they used compartmentalized trays.
Near the food, walking alongside students from other classes I’d never met, a conversation started between two people as if they wanted everyone to hear.
“What time did you sleep last night?”
“2 AM…”
“What were you doing?”
“Mafia and Bang…”
Even though they were from a different class, the familiar game names caught my ear.
Mafia can be played without any tools, but apparently, someone even brought a board game.
I decided to tune out their conversation and started looking for food I liked on the buffet trays.
Still, after walking around a bit, my mind woke up, and I filled my plate with food.
Thinly sliced ham and a piece of salted grilled mackerel.
‘Deep-fried fish cake…? Oh, fried fish cake.’
Since there were no menu names in Korean, I roughly translated the English and filled my plate.
There were also meatballs, various breads, and even the famous natto.
While there were plenty of uniquely Japanese foods, most of the dishes were things you’d find at any buffet.
As I casually passed by the food, a certain spot caught my eye.
A corner that looked somewhat half-hearted, with only a long egg tray sitting in a basket.
A coated paper sign next to it revealed what it was.
A picture of white rice with an egg yolk on top, drizzled with soy sauce.
Turns out, it was a corner where you could make raw egg rice.
‘Oh ho.’
I’d heard about raw egg rice before.
The dish that, if you try to replicate it in Korea, might send you straight to the hospital with salmonella poisoning.
There was a small bowl next to it, just the right size for one egg, so I grabbed an egg and placed it in the bowl.
Since I had a raw egg, I naturally grabbed a bowl of white rice too.
I’d never tried it before, but since I wouldn’t be able to eat it back in Korea, I decided to give it a shot.
On the neatly arranged tray, the bowl of rice and the single egg looked out of place.
Seeing this, my classmates at the table asked,
“What’s with the egg?”
“It’s for raw egg rice.”
“Whoa, is that safe?”
As soon as they heard “raw egg rice,” my tablemates looked worried.
Honestly, I was a bit nervous too, so I pulled out my phone and looked up raw egg rice.
Turns out, Japanese egg farms are pretty strict with their management, so the eggs are processed to be safe for raw consumption.
In other words, eggs provided at most hotels are safe to eat raw.
After finishing my search, I put my phone back in my pocket and answered my friends.
“It’s fine.”
‘If I get food poisoning, I’ll just sue or something.’
As I answered, I tapped the eggshell on the edge of the rice bowl.
I made a small dent in the center of the rice and cracked the egg into it.
The yolk, almost orange in color, sat perfectly in the middle.
Just like in the picture, I drizzled soy sauce over it and, without any hesitation, mixed it all up with my spoon.
The sticky texture mixed with the rice, turning it a golden color.
My tablemates, who had been watching intently, suddenly stood up and said,
“I’m gonna get some too.”
“Me too!”
While two of them left the table, my raw egg rice was ready.
Without waiting for anyone, I took a big spoonful and took a bite.
My first impression of raw egg rice…
‘It tastes exactly how it looks.’
It was surprisingly similar to the egg rice I was used to, but a bit stickier and sweeter.
At least compared to Korean-style egg rice, where the whites are cooked, this was more viscous.
The subtle sweetness was probably from the soy sauce.
‘Well… it’s just egg, rice, and soy sauce.’
Even though we were in a country across the sea, the ingredients were the same.
The only difference was whether it was cooked or not.
Realizing that there couldn’t be that much of a difference, I started eating it my way from the next spoonful.
I grabbed a slice of ham with my chopsticks and wrapped it around the golden rice, eating it like a roll.
The cold processed meat contrasted with the warm, egg-coated rice.
The familiar comfort of a Japanese hotel breakfast.
Yeah, this is the taste.
“Today, we’re heading to Kyoto to see Kiyomizu-dera, do some sightseeing, have lunch there, then return to Osaka for dinner before coming back to the hotel. There’s almost no free time until we get back to the hotel, so stick together, okay?”
“Yeees!”
After a fun breakfast, we rested a bit at the accommodation before starting the day’s sightseeing.
As the teacher explained the day’s schedule, we responded enthusiastically.
Looking out the bus window at the streets of Japan.
Just as Korea has its own charm, Japan has its own too.
There were more standalone houses than apartments, and even the apartments looked a bit unfamiliar—not too tall, but spread out more horizontally.
It felt like stepping into the world of a manga.
Since most of the old animations I watched were Japanese, I always wondered if houses and apartments really looked like that. Now I was seeing it with my own eyes.
They say all that’s left from a trip are photos, so whenever I saw a nice view, I took pictures through the bus window with my phone.
After a long bus ride, we arrived at the tourist spot, Kiyomizu-dera.
I didn’t have any deep thoughts about it—it just felt like looking at a Korean temple.
Since I wasn’t really into history, I just treated it like visiting a Korean temple and followed the crowd of students.
The kids weren’t exactly excited, but they were busy taking lots of photos or chatting with friends, never letting go of their phones.
“Wow, I saw this in an anime!”
At one point, I heard a voice speaking Korean.
Probably a student from another class, but when they mentioned seeing something in an anime, I turned my head.
What caught my eye was a bamboo spout with water flowing out.
I also only remembered seeing this in Japanese media.
It had a certain charm, but when you think about it, it’s just a water spout, right?
Still, I pulled out my phone and snapped a photo.
I thought we’d just keep taking photos and casually pass the time until lunch, but then…
“Huh?”
“XX, XXXX XX!”
“XX! XX!”
Suddenly, a cheerful background music started playing, and the surroundings became noisy.
I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but the Japanese being spoken sounded excited.
Judging by the crowd gathering, maybe there was some event happening?
There were even police setting up barricades.
Swept up in the crowd, I had no choice but to head toward the center of the commotion, where…
“Pink! Pink! Pink!”
There, inside the barricades, was a familiar pink-haired girl with twin tails and a monster.
The loud cheers, repeating “Pink” in Japanese-accented English, echoed around.
It didn’t seem like just a filming—it looked like a real monster appearance.
‘Ah, so that’s what that noise was earlier…?’