Chapter 17: How can a person’s name be ?(1)

“So, have you been living alone all this time?”

“Exactly! I am a noble and aloof being, one who drifts across the sea! A human, yes!”

Her face was full of pride.

Her case of “middle-schooler syndrome” is more serious than I thought. Like, seriously advanced.

I tried to poke holes in her made-up story to make her realize how cringey she sounded, but she had added so much

detailed lore that I failed.

Somehow, there were no gaps or inconsistencies in what she said.

“It’s like she really experienced it. No way… right?”

Even when I questioned her in detail, she answered everything right away, which was surprising.

She was so serious about it that I almost got drawn in without realizing it.

I shook my head to drive away the cringe of her “dark phase” pulling me down with her.

I’m over 20 if you count both my past life and current one. Falling into middle-school syndrome now would be a disaster.

At this age, that’d be embarrassing.

But still…

I sighed softly and looked toward the place I had been trying to ignore.

People lying on the ground in weird clothes, flailing around.

 Team Leader. I-I think I’ve reached my limit… It seems I’ve entered the domain of a concept…”

“Go! Leave me behind! Just go on without me… guh—”

These guys are seriously ridiculous.

I thought they were just homeless people, but the things they’re mumbling in their sleep are unbelievable.

They’re really stuck in their childhoods—so pure and naive.

As I walked back along the road with the rabbit-eared girl, my face turned bright red from embarrassment.

There were more adults lying around sleeping at every turn.

I was afraid the girl might get the wrong idea about this town.

The saddest part? She wouldn’t be wrong.

I tried to deny it the first few times, but after it kept happening again and again…

“Guh—How could the answer be wrong?! That makes no sense—Noooo!”

I couldn’t hold it in anymore after hearing a grown man scream like that.

“…Our neighborhood isn’t usually like this. Really, it’s a beautiful and peaceful place… Please believe me.”

Just then, a woman lying beside the man interrupted, shouting:

“Team Leader Kim Sera… I’m going to die… as a scholar—”

So that ‘Team Leader’ everyone keeps mentioning… must be their leader. Kim Sera, huh? I’ll have to tell my sister later.

“You shouldn’t look at things like that. That’s dirty. Dirty!”

I quickly covered the rabbit-eared girl’s red eyes and walked past the “homeless” people.

“…I shouldn’t eat it?”

She tilted her head at my words, but once she understood what I meant, I saw her nod.

“Right. If food falls on the ground, it becomes dirty.”

“Dirty?”

“Yeah… Like, really bad stuff lives on the floor. When food falls, that bad stuff gets all over it! And if you eat it, it hurts a

lot, and you won’t even be able to eat candy!”

Finally, the last stretch before home.

The little trail opened up to show the yard in front of the house.

Since I couldn’t just keep calling her ‘rabbit-eared girl,’ I stopped in front of the door to ask for her name.

She said it was ‘Fog.’

Others apparently call her ‘Mist.’

“How can someone’s name be Fog?”

And Mist is just the English word for fog, isn’t it?

Disappointed by how lazy her name sounded, I decided to name her myself.

“You’re going to be my little sister now, so I’ll give you a proper name.”

“…Huh? Human! I’m the little sister?”

I nodded confidently.

I’m taller, and obviously I’ve lived longer. So I’m the older sister.

Perfect logic.

“Of course. I’m taller than you.”

“…Human! That’s unfair logic! I know the basics too! Isn’t age based on how long you’ve lived?!”

All her earlier cluelessness disappeared, replaced with a logical counterattack.

My eyes went wide in shock.

“You were that good at arguing all along?”

“Of course! Human! I’m the older one! I’ve lived…”

She ignored me and started counting on her fingers, then raised her head proudly.

“I was born in 2006! Human!”

She looked defiant, like she was sure she couldn’t lose.

Her eyes were full of challenge now.

This was a real battle of pride.

And I wasn’t about to accept being the younger one either.

So, just like she had done earlier, I stuck out my chest—and subtly rose onto my tiptoes.

This isn’t cheating. Nope.

She started this war. She was the one who said she was born in 2006 and added some huge number like 2000 to it.

Anyone could tell that was just bragging. A smart kid like me wouldn’t fall for that.

My sudden height boost let me see the top of her head. Even from above, her rabbit ears looked so natural—I couldn’t see

any kind of mechanism.

This isn’t working.

“Can you see the difference between us now?”

With a 3cm height lead, her face clearly tensed up.

She was shaken by my dominance.

“…Wha? You got taller? Human! Just a second ago we were the same height!”

“Th-that’s, uh… Sometimes I just grow. Also, I—uh—I was born in 2007!”

This wasn’t immature. This was the big sister title match.

Hearing that I was born in 2007 hit her even harder than the height thing.

Her eyes wobbled. Then:

“…I lost. Human! I really am the little sister!”

She accepted defeat quickly.

“Then I’ll give you a name.”

As soon as I said it, she went pfft! and scoffed—like I was an idiot who didn’t know something obvious.

“Dummy! For a concept like me, a True Name is everything I’ve accomplished! Foolish human! That’s not something you can just change easily! Idiot, idiot!”

I had originally planned to give her a really pretty name—like Elizabeth or Barbie the 12th.

But now?

• User [Han Yerin] is currently in non-visible state.

• The system is temporarily allowing limited visibility functions for the concept [Fog].

• System activating…

• Attempting correction of ‘True Name’ based on satisfaction level!

• User [Han Yerin] has had 241 conversations and 31 physical interactions with concept ‘Fog’.

• Satisfaction request retrieved…

• Calculating satisfaction level…

• Out of 272 interactions, 102 were critical hits.

• Satisfaction level: [-298,243 → 31,002]

• Attempting True Name correction based on satisfaction level…

• Success chance: 99.999%

• [Fog] resisting…

• Resistance failed.
  📟 Ding!

• The True Name of [Fog] can now be changed.

• Please state the new True Name.

📟 The concept’s True Name has been changed from [Embrace That Gently Wraps Around] to [Puppy].

“…Huh?”

Like déjà vu, the candy wrapper in her hand dropped to the floor.

After the whole name change mess, I entered the house and blinked once—

It was already dark outside.

I realized I had fallen asleep to the sound of something boiling.

I was originally planning to wait by the door, kneel, and beg Mom and Sis when they came home, but that plan was toast.

Dad was still out at sea, so not everyone was home yet—

But I couldn’t just leave Puppy standing outside all alone.

So I dragged the sulking Puppy to stand in front of my family.

The moment the door opened, my sister, who had been watching, was clearly shocked to see the girl bouncing behind me.

So was Mom, who was wiping her hands on her apron while setting the table.

They stared at her.

“I have to pull this off.”

I turned around.

Puppy was awkwardly glancing around like she didn’t know where to look.

It’s just a normal house, but she looked fascinated.

Probably trying to distract herself because she felt uncomfortable.

Like a rabbit hiding in a burrow.

Seeing that made me more determined.

“I can’t let this go wrong. As her big sister, I have to protect Puppy!”

I raised my voice.

“I went outside, and I met her there.”

“Yerin? You went outside?”

Right after I said that, my sister’s expression turned scary.

“Should I back down?”

“No, I can’t.”

I forced out courage I didn’t have and spoke clearly. Or at least, I tried to.

“But… I made a friend, Sis…”

At the end, I shut my eyes tight like a guy accepting his fate.

After a moment of silence, I peeked to see how Mom and Sis were reacting.

Their expressions had softened. Maybe they wanted to hear more.

I realized this was a critical moment. If I didn’t say the right things now, it would all fall apart.

I let out a breath to clear my nerves.

I’d never spoken in front of people before.

I was always the delicate, overprotected kind of kid who’d fall apart without care.

But sometimes, even someone like me gets bold.

Sometimes, I imagine standing confidently and speaking like everyone else.

Just a normal conversation in front of others.

Smiling casually while everyone listens.

That dream used to stay a dream.

But after meeting that concept girl, I’d started to feel a bit of a change in my body.

Like something inside me was pushing out the bad and keeping me safe.

I took another deep breath. My body felt fine.

And somehow, I just knew—

“I can handle this.”

Maybe I’ll mess it up. Maybe I’ll stutter.

But c’mon, would I really get stage fright just like the kids at school?

I squeezed Puppy’s hand.

Let’s do this with confidence.

In all the imaginary presentations I’ve done in my head, I never once lost.