Celesti's advice would have been effective in most situations.
A gift certificate is something you can use online just by entering the gift code. You can pay with it when checking out, or even order from home using the gift certificate.
Having this feature in Cocoa Talk, which is just a messenger app, seemed like a real stroke of luck for me. I could eat all that food without even going outside. With what I received today, if I used it sparingly, I could survive for months.
But my happiness was short-lived.
"Oh, I can't use gift certificates on the computer version of Cocoa Talk."
"Really? I've never used them on the computer version either, so I didn't know. You can't use them there. Wait, does that mean you can't use the gift certificates at all, Noel? Your phone is broken."
"...Yes."
"Oh no, then you can't even verify if the codes people sent you are real or fake."
She always said the right things.
Still, I don't think the gift certificate codes people sent me are fake.
Or maybe I just want to believe that.
At least people are posting verification on the community.
Surely no one would tell a lie that could be exposed immediately just to avoid a momentary crisis. They'd rather abandon their account altogether.
For a brief moment, I thought how pathetic it was to receive gift certificates like this.
Well, considering my current situation, denying it would be even more ridiculous.
Anyway, after collecting gift certificate codes from people currently viewing the community, I copied them all into a notepad and fell into thought.
To use these, I'd need to fix my phone. But I don't have that much money on hand.
Are hamburgers, chicken, and pizza worth that much?
Of course, I do want to eat them.
It's not like I enjoyed living on ramen every day.
Sometimes the taste of flour makes me nauseous, and other times I get tired of the spicy, salty flavor and end up diluting it with lots of water.
But considering the cost, wouldn't it be a loss? If I were to throw away these gift certificate codes right now, I wouldn't gain or lose anything.
It would be a shame to waste what I've received, but since I got them all for free, the correct calculation is zero won.
However, to use them all, I'd need to fix my phone.
I could guess that the screen repair wouldn't be cheap.
It was the latest phone my mother bought me when I entered university.
A transaction disguised as encouragement, saying I worked hard studying and should continue doing well.
...I had an unpleasant thought just now, but anyway.
I looked up whether free repairs were possible, but as expected, the repair cost was set at hundreds of thousands of won.
So, I'd have to pay hundreds of thousands of won to eat this food.
The math doesn't add up.
So what should I do with this...
My head knows the answer. I just need to give up on eating these things.
But for someone who's been eating only ramen for a month, those greasy foods were an enormous temptation.
If only I could register the gift certificates, I could go directly to the store and order with them.
If only my phone hadn't broken on the bus...
After contemplating for a while, I postponed my decision and got up from my seat.
The woman stood up with me and asked in an expectant voice:
"Oh, did you come up with a good idea?"
"Not really, but I want to send some meat to the downstairs neighbors as thanks. Their phones probably aren't broken."
"Ah, that's true. Even if one person's phone is broken, both husband and wife wouldn't have broken phones. Oh, but Noel, why don't you just ask the downstairs lady to order chicken or pizza for you?"
"...I've thought about that too, but it seems like an imposition. And if I order that way, we'd have to eat together."
"Aha, so Noel is greedy? You wanted to eat it all by yourself?"
So this is the kind of thing I'd hear.
Of course, judging by her upturned lips, it seemed like she was just joking.
But I didn't want this kind of misunderstanding, even as a joke, so I answered firmly.
"I do want to eat alone, but not in the way you're thinking. It's just that I'm uncomfortable eating with others. If I ask the downstairs lady to order delivery for me, we'd naturally have to share it. I can't just take half and come back upstairs."
"Hmm, that could be the case. Oh, were you uncomfortable when I watched you eat?"
"...You're fine."
"Hahaha. That's a relief. Well, let's give the downstairs lady a meat gift certificate and think about it afterward. Ah, I have an appointment soon, so I should get going. Should I help you talk to her?"
"No, I'll be fine. Have a good day."
Fortunately, the woman didn't seem to find my aversion to other people strange.
...Though I suppose I look exactly like someone who would just stay cooped up at home.
I don't care what others think of me.
It just hurt a little, just a tiny bit, that she saw me that way.
But it's not like I can change who I am.
If anything, she could have easily lost interest in someone like me.
I was just grateful that she was being so kind.
I memorized the code I had noted down, but in case I forgot, I wrote it on paper.
Then I left the house with the woman.
Having lost my cane, I was reluctant to go outside.
But enduring the inconvenience of hopping around without a cane was better than carrying the lead weight the downstairs neighbors had thrown into my chest.
The woman who came out with me just watched without doing anything.
As a result, I had to open the door and press the elevator button myself.
But that didn't feel so bad.
She said she had an appointment too.
She should hurry down in the elevator.
Yet there she was, waiting for me, smiling proudly at everything I did.
It felt like silent encouragement.
After a brief wait, we got on the elevator and went down one floor.
As I was getting off the elevator, I glanced back at the woman, and she gently raised her fist to me.
This time she was really cheering me on.
With my hand against the wall, I nodded back to her.
Then I headed toward the downstairs apartment.
I hadn't heard the address specifically, but since it was the apartment below mine, the unit number would be the same, just on a different floor.
Besides, there were only two units per floor anyway.
I hopped along, steadying myself against the wall, and pressed the doorbell.
The apartment must have poor soundproofing because I could hear light footsteps from behind the door.
"Who is it? Oh, it's the student from upstairs. What brings you here?"
"Um, I feel bad for always just receiving food from you. I have something to give you. Could you come out with your phone for a moment?"
"Oh, I'll be right out. Just wait a moment."
From what I've observed recently, the downstairs lady is a full-time housewife.
Just like me, she stays at home unless she has something to do.
But when she opened the door, she looked impeccable even though she didn't seem to have prepared for anything. Her hair was neat, and she was properly dressed, just without makeup.
...It was such a stark contrast to me with my disheveled hair and shabby clothes even after going out, that I felt momentarily diminished.
But today I came to repay the lady, so I shouldn't feel intimidated.
However, seeing the lady flinch when she saw me, I did feel intimidated after all.
I must have looked quite miserable.
"Um... student. I hope you won't take this the wrong way. Don't you use crutches or a wheelchair? Did you come like this just because it's close?"
"Ah. I usually use a cane, but it broke."
"A cane...? Not crutches, but a cane?"
"Crutches are expensive. Canes are just tree branches lying around on the street, so I can just pick up a suitable one and use it."
"T-tree branches?"
I'm not sure at which point she became so flustered.
Well, I suppose seeing someone without a foot isn't an everyday occurrence.
I somewhat understood, but I didn't appreciate that kind of gaze.
So I just held out my hand, and the lady, looking a bit dazed, unlocked her phone and handed it to me.
"I received a Cocoa Talk gift certificate. I thought it would be good for both of you."
"Oh, is it food? Oh my, that's not necessary. You should eat it, student. We have plenty to eat."
"Still, I feel bad for always receiving."
"Well... alright then. Thank you, we'll enjoy it."
"Yes."
With this, I'm debt-free now.
Well, unless the lady comes up to give me more food in the future.
Since the meat is supposedly worth hundreds of thousands of won, I should be fine for a while.
The lady seemed to hesitate, as if she had something more to say.
But I ignored her demeanor, gave a quick bow, and returned home.
Now, what to do with the remaining gift certificates.
...But these became my property the moment I received them as gifts.
So I can do whatever I want with them, right?
So I'll just sell them to other people.
I quickly posted on the League of Champions community:
[Selling received gift certificates cheap] - NoelNongreu
My phone is broken so I can't register these
I appreciate the kind words when you gave them... but they're meaningless if I can't eat
I'll use the money to buy lots of ramen, so don't feel too bad