Transmigrated into a World of Reversed Roles
Chap 34

It was midday when I sent a message to Yuri.

I wanted to ask about the game she was working on. But after waiting, her reply never came.

"She's not turning into Yona number two, is she?"

For a moment, I became worried. But it had only been a few minutes, so maybe I should be a little patient. Besides, it was lunch break. She was probably eating and couldn't check her phone.

Still, since I was also bored, I decided to go to her classroom.

But when I arrived, instead of being greeted by that shy girl, I was welcomed by the gal who used to be Yuri's friend.

Raising an eyebrow, she flashed a smile that gave me a bad feeling.

"Isn't this our handsome upperclassman Ren? What brings you all the way here? Looking for Yuri?"

Keeping a two-meter distance, I nodded.

"... Yeah. Where is she?"

"Where could she be? I don't know, maybe she's having lunch somewhere? Probably alone, since she doesn't have any friends anymore LOL."

My brow furrowed, suspicious.

"You're not bullying her again, are you?"

"Bullying? Did I hear that right? You're such a joker. Since when did I ever bully her?"

"Every day."

"You know you could be sued for defamation, right?"

"I don't care about your nonsense. Where is she?"

She chuckled.

"Didn't I just say I don't know? But if you're that desperate to find her, maybe check the trash can. That's her natural habitat LOL."

"You..."

Honestly, I wanted to punch her in the face. But knowing it would be useless, I held back. Besides, experience had already taught me not to overthink. It was better to look for Yuri directly than listen to her.

So I left. Though, since I didn’t know where Yuri usually went, all I could do was search the whole school.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long before I found her—in a place I never expected her to be.

"... You're seriously having lunch here, Yuri?"

"R-Ren!?"

The girl with long bangs jumped when she saw me. She was sitting next to the school’s incinerator, holding a piece of bread with both hands.

"I was just wandering around, but I didn’t think you’d really be here..."

"U-Um, it’s just that there was no space left in the cafeteria! S-So I ate here..."

"Why not eat in your classroom?"

"My desk got taken over by some guys hanging out..."

Why not just tell him to move? That’s what I thought. But in this world, maybe it’s like having a popular girl loot your seat. You’re too embarrassed to say anything or even speak up.

I scratched my head.

"I'm sorry. Because of me, you don't even have anyone to have lunch with. It must be hard to make new friends when you're working on a game..."

For some reason, Yuri clutched her chest with a pained expression after hearing what I said. Her smile looked stiff.

"I-It’s fine! I-It’s really not anyone’s fault! I don’t regret them leaving me at all. Because at least... I still have Ren."

"Yuri..."

My heart felt warm. I didn’t expect Yuri to think of me as someone so important. It made me a little embarrassed.

"By the way, why didn’t you reply to my message earlier? I sent a bunch of stickers."

Yuri was just eating bread, she should’ve been able to reply if her phone had a notification.

"About that..."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out something that looked like her phone. The reason I wasn’t sure it was her phone was because of how terrible its condition was.

The screen was shattered, the back cover was off, the battery was missing. There was no way to save a phone in that condition.

She continued.

"My phone fell from the third floor... when I was trying to take a picture of a bird."

"Rest in peace, Yuri’s phone. May your soul find peace in the afterlife."

Putting my hands together, I offered a heartfelt prayer. Her phone was from a well-known brand. Her luck must be really bad for it to end up this broken.

"But what were you even doing on the third floor? Hardly anyone goes there. Just thinking about how serious the senior-year students are is kind of scary."

"T-There was an art class earlier."

That explained everything.

After finishing the last bite of her cafeteria bread, Yuri spoke again.

"Um... I’m sorry I can’t share a gameplay video of my game today."

"That’s unfortunate, but there’s no other choice. Maybe next time. Or... how about sending the video from your computer?"

Yuri shook her head, making her shoulder-length hair sway with her movement.

"I-I want to hear Ren’s reaction to the game directly."

"Then the only choice left is to wait until you get a new phone."

I shrugged. I didn’t have any other ideas. This was all due to bad luck. Nothing I could do about it.

But Yuri didn’t seem ready to give up. She touched the tip of her chin, looking like she was thinking. After a few seconds, she looked at me again through her long bangs.

Maybe because of today’s heat, her cheeks looked slightly red.

"... If you don’t mind, Ren, would you... like to come over to my house instead? I-I mean, to see the game directly! That way... you won’t just watch the video, y-you can actually play it too!"

"Let’s go now."

"H-Huh?"

I grabbed her shoulder and leaned my face closer.

Seeing the game Yuri made and even becoming its beta tester? Isn’t that a huge honor!? I didn’t even know what kind of game she made, but just thinking about it made my heart race.

"Ah, but I still have a part-time job after school... since I already took a day off on Monday, it feels bad to ask again... Should I just bite the bullet?"

"Tomorrow! L-Let’s do it tomorrow instead! You’re off on Friday, right? I-I’m not in that much of a rush right now."

You might not be, but I am, Yuri.

Resigned, I let go of Yuri and leaned against the wall. Looks like I’ll just have to be patient for one more day. It’d be bad if I kept skipping work. My pay might get docked.

"But... don’t expect too much from what I made."

"Can’t help it. My expectations are already sky-high now for your game."

"Eh..."