Going outside requires more effort than I thought.

Not in terms of mental preparation or anything like that, but first I need to wash my face, wash my hair, and put on underwear and clothes.

For ordinary people, these are more than trivial—they're just normal things. But for me, each step was exhausting.

Still, I couldn't go out looking filthy, so what could I do? I had to do those exhausting tasks.

But I'm not giving up.

Practice, more practice.

*Hyun can't keep bathing me forever...*

I couldn't rely on Hyun forever, and more than anything, I could feel how uncomfortable he was whenever he had to wash me, so I needed to learn how to bathe myself as quickly as possible.

I'm not an idiot. I'm not completely oblivious.

I know Hyun feels uncomfortable every time he has to wash me.

It's probably because of my body.

When my body was truly like an infant's, he probably washed me without thinking much about it, but after molting, I developed some feminine characteristics, even if just a little.

If I can notice it, how could Hyun, an S-Class Hero, not?

His frequent bathroom trips lately, the bleach smell when he comes out, how strangely long he takes—all of it...

"...Haah."

This... let's not think about it.

I've been careful lately too, so there's no point in bringing it up.

Anyway, that's why I need to learn to bathe myself quickly.

Even if I can't help with my hair because of my claws, I should at least practice washing my body by myself.

"Alright."

I steeled myself, twisted my body to take off the dress and underwear I was wearing, and entered the bathroom.

Of course, by underwear I mean dolphin shorts, not panties.

So am I not wearing underwear? That's right. I don't.

This is all I can take off by myself. My body is fine, but regular underwear can't handle it...

After entering the bathroom, I paused for a moment to silently mourn the broken wall tiles, then turned on the water and wet my body.

Dragon scales, or reactive armor as they call it, meant I realized I could touch my skin with my claws to some extent, so I very gently rubbed my body with my hands to wash.

Just as I grabbed the body wash bottle to squeeze some onto my palm.

Crack...

"Oh."

Looking at the bottle after that ominous sound, I saw my claw stuck in it.

The milky white body wash flowed down like blood.

I realized the body wash bottle doesn't have reactive armor.

The punctured bottle seemed to be saying, "How unfortunate..."

"...Hmm."

I scrubbed my body with the body wash that got on my claws while occasionally glancing at the bottle.

The blood—no, the body wash—leaking from the bottle had stopped.

*The hole is pretty big, but it should be fine, right?*

It should... be fine.

Thinking that, I carefully picked up the cleansing foam bottle.

Remembering the body wash bottle that had just died, I lifted it as gently as possible and squeezed some onto my palm.

Oh, I forgot to open the cap.

I carefully hooked my teeth into the groove of the cap to open it and squeezed.

With a splurt, a huge glob of cleansing foam poured onto my palm.

"Ah."

I barely squeezed it...

Why is this so weak?

Grumbling, I closed the cleansing foam cap and gently rubbed the foam on my face.

It's nice that my hands are big enough to wash my face with just one hand.

"Pwehung!!"

Ah, cleansing foam got in my nose.

No, wait! It stings so much!!

"Krungh! Nuueh... Prung!! Unguah..."

I blew my nose and rubbed it with my forearm.

Fortunately, it hadn't gone too deep into my nose, so the pain subsided quickly after rubbing it a few times.

I've washed my face and body. I turned off the water and got out of the tub, shaking myself off.

My wet hair was disgustingly heavy, and I almost pulled a muscle in my neck while shaking like a dog, but fortunately I managed to shake off the water without major injury.

After finishing my chaotic shower, I came out, wrapped myself in a towel, and wiped off the remaining moisture.

I went to the balcony and flapped my wings hard to dry my body.

A hair dryer would be nice, but you need to use your hands with a dryer, and I can't do that, so I dry myself this way.

And this way is faster. Why?

Flap flap flap!

"Ah, I almost flew away again."

When you can create wind strong enough to make a person fly, drying your hair is no big deal.

Anyway, after drying my body and hair, I put the dress and dolphin shorts I'd taken off into the laundry basket and took out fresh clothes.

The fresh clothes were another dress and dolphin shorts.

What? Why? These are the only clothes I can put on by myself.

"Ah, it got caught on my horn again."

Damn, those horns again.

After repeating the process of taking off and putting on the dress two or three times because of surprise snags, I finally managed to get fully dressed.

"My hair's still a bit damp, but it should be fine."

It'll dry naturally as I walk around.

I've got the card Hyun gave me for lunch, and my wings are well hidden inside the dress...

"Got everything."

Good, let's go out.

I went to the entrance, put on my slippers, opened the door, and stepped outside.

After a full two weeks.

The outside world after two weeks was really... exactly the same as usual.

But that familiar feeling was nice.

But what was this strange emptiness?

"Did I forget something...?"

Ah. Right, I didn't bring my doll.

I quickly turned around, opened the front door with my foot, went in and grabbed my tuna doll, hugging it to my chest.

Now I really have everything.

If I've forgotten anything else, then I'm either a complete idiot or the world is out to get me.

After checking my belongings one final time, I left the house.

Now where should I go? I was thinking about that as I opened the firmly closed yard gate.

"Ah."

"?"

I made eye contact with a red-haired woman who was lingering in front of the doorbell.

Right, it was Ryu Hwa.

"Um..."

Ryu Hwa?

Why?

"Piyaaaaa!!"

"No, wait—!!"

Bang! I slammed the door shut and ran back into the house.

Why...! Why is that person here!! What did I do wrong!

"Tuna!! You said you'd ward off bad luck!! You said I'd be fine with you!!"

I gripped the tuna doll tightly as I shouted, but its black eyes seemed to say, "When did I ever say that, you crazy woman?"

It's my fault for believing... damn it! Right, I shouldn't have believed in such superstitions!!

"Outside is dangerous... outside is dangerous..."

The world is out to get me...

I took off my slippers, went in, and collapsed on the sofa, clutching the doll.

I'll just stay home and do nothing...

Right, what business do I have going outside? I'll just watch TV and eat pineapple pineapple Hawaiian pizza...

Sighing deeply, I got up from the sofa to call the pizza place and laid the house phone receiver on its side with my foot.

I have to do this because I can't hold it in my hand due to my claws.

I pressed the buttons with my foot to call the pizza place and switched it to speaker mode.

After a few rings, there was a click and the call connected.

[Hello, Cheese-il-jjang speaking.]

This guy still hasn't changed his store name...

I order from him because the pizza is delicious, otherwise he would have gone out of business long ago with a name like that. What kind of name is "Hemorrhoid Champion"...

"Hi, I'd like to place an order."

[Yes~]

"Hawaiian pizza with double extra pineapple topping, please."

[...Huh? Oh, yes. Got it.]

"Thank you."

Just as I was about to hang up by grabbing the receiver with my foot:

[Um... ahem, are you perhaps that student who used to order Hawaiian pizza with triple extra pineapple topping?]

"What? Oh, uh..."

Is it okay to answer truthfully...?

After hesitating briefly, I nodded. Oh right, this is a phone call.

"Yes, that's me. I ordered that a really long time ago. I'm surprised you remember."

[Of course I remember. There's no other customer who puts that much pineapple on their pizza.]

"No one else eats it like that?"

[Nope. At least not in the last 10 years. Anyway, that's fine. I'll throw in some extra service items for you.]

"Thanks, please make it delicious."

Click. I hung up and went back to the sofa to lie down.

By the way, I stashed the traitorous doll that scammed me in a corner.

"I was finally going to go outside after so long..."

So annoying...

I lay sprawled on the bed, sighing deeply for a long time.

Ding-dong—at the sound of the doorbell, I got up from the sofa, roughly fixed my messy hair with the back of my hand, and went outside.

I worried it might be that Ryu Hwa woman or whatever, but the pizza smell wafting from beyond the gate reassured me.

Right, she wouldn't still be waiting all this time. I'll just eat pizza and feel better.

Thinking that, I opened the yard gate.

"Um..."

And as soon as I opened the door, what appeared was Ryu Hwa holding a pizza box.

Why are you holding my pizza? And you still haven't gone home? Don't you have anything better to do?

And I thought you didn't like me, so why did you buy pizza?

I had a mountain of things I wanted to say, but my throat, too shocked, couldn't make any sound.

As I alternated between looking at the pizza and Ryu Hwa's face while swallowing dry saliva, Ryu Hwa slightly raised her hand.

For a moment, remembering the paper bomb that had flown at my face before, I flinched and covered my face with both hands.

"Heek...!"

"I'm not going to hit you, so don't be so scared..."

At those words, I cautiously lowered my hands, and Ryu Hwa slightly opened the lid of the pizza box to show me.

It was Hawaiian pizza with double extra pineapple—my favorite pizza.

"I heard you like this pizza. Want to eat?"

....

"...Are you stalking me?"

"It's not like that!"

Ryu Hwa shouted, but honestly, it was hard to believe.

How did she know to buy this when the pizza guy said no one else eats it this way...

"...Come in, I guess."

...Still, she was holding my pizza, so I had no choice but to let her in.

Taking my pizza hostage... she's really not like a Hero at all...