Chapter 4: My Roommate is Not Human

After thanking the boss, Ree Shil left the Association Headquarters with 100 Cube coins.

He walked briskly along the street, and it was already approaching dusk.

After passing two crossroads, he arrived at the public bus station.

There were two old men playing cards in the small pavilion next to the bus station.

He watched for 5 minutes before a hoverbus approached in the distance.

Getting on the bus, he took out his Card Player Identity Card and swiped it.

[Respected card player, welcome to Route 168 bus]

"The days of paying for public transportation are gone."

Listening to the electronic announcement, he grinned.

The autonomous public bus had no driver, but there were quite a few passengers.

There were cat-faced people with human bodies and animal heads, sitting in their seats, licking the backs of their hands.

Mechanical life made of metal components continuously emitted beeping electronic sounds.

Members of the Ethereal Clan, with their lower bodies floating, didn't even need seats.

There was even a little skeleton and a Zombie Beast snuggling together, seemingly a cross-species love couple.

In short, the bus was full of strangely shaped beings, and Ree Shil was the only human among them.

Humans weren't the majority in this world, and pure humans accounted for probably less than 1/10.

Over the course of three months, he'd grown accustomed to the oddities.

The hoverbus was fast, and in 30 minutes, it dropped him off at the entrance of the neighborhood.

It was a vast residential area, with neatly arranged three-story villas.

One of the advantages of this new world for Ree Shil was the relatively low cost of living.

If he were still on Blue Star before traversing here, he wouldn't be able to afford such a neighborhood.

"Hello, Coach Shil."

As he approached his doorstep, he ran into the neighborhood Uncle Brown who was watering flowers and lawns.

"Hello, Uncle Brown."

Ree Shil smiled and greeted him with a nod.

Because the other party was also human, there was a sense of affinity.

"Could you give my son a lesson one of these days? He's almost of the age to play cards."

"No problem, just come find me at the Card Club."

Ree Shil worked as a sparring partner at the Card Club.

It was a skilled job where he accompanied members in playing cards on the virtual card tables at the Card Club.

He shared the villa with two of his colleagues from the Card Club.

"This guy, sunbathing again."

Through the courtyard fence, Ree Shil saw one of his roommates.

A green figure lay on a hammock tied between two trees.

It was a human-shaped thing woven entirely from grass.

Next to the hammock was a small stool with a cup of milk tea on it.

Under the sunlight, lovely little water droplets formed on the milk tea, slid down the cup wall, leaving traces behind.

Its name was Straw Man.

Its hobby was—drinking milk tea.

Hearing the sound of speech, Straw Man turned its head.

It had no nose or ears on its head, only three sunken, dark holes, which were its eyes and mouth.

"You're back, Straw."

Seeing Ree Shil in the courtyard, it waved its hand.

Then it took a sip of the milk tea and enjoyed it.

"Yep, I'm back."

Ree Shil didn't chat with it and went straight inside the house.

"Damn Straw Man, I'm so pissed!"

"This is every day! Blocking the toilet again!"

"Cute Mushroom!"

Upon entering the house, he heard an agitated voice.

Soon, a wet Mossy Mushroom stormed out of the bathroom with rage.

It had short arms and legs, a short, stocky build, and was only slightly taller than Ree Shil's waist.

This guy was called Mossy Mushroom, another one of his roommates.

"Huh? Why are you back?"

"Didn't go into the rookie instance? Or did the mission fail?"

Seeing Ree Shil, Mossy Mushroom looked surprised.

The novice missions were extremely simple and practically only required having hands.

Unless you were crazy, it'd be tough to fail the mission.

"What are you talking about?"

Ree Shil smiled and waved his Card Player Identity Card.

"Huh? So soon?!"

"This is worth celebrating! I'll cook dinner tonight!"

Mossy Mushroom grinned.

"Uh... No need for that."

Ree Shil leaned back tactically, looking uncomfortable.

This guy's cooking wasn't bad, but…

"No big deal! It's not troublesome! Just a few dishes! Cute Mushroom!"

Mossy Mushroom turned and went into the kitchen.

Eventually, under his arrangements, one human, one grass, and one mushroom were soon seated around the dining table.

"Sorry for the wait, three dishes and one soup."

"Come on, taste my mushroom soup, pan-fried mushrooms, braised mushrooms, and small mushrooms stewed with big mushrooms."

Mossy Mushroom handed over the chopsticks and bowl.

"Sigh."

Ree Shil sighed.

The fact that Mushroom People's favorite food was mushrooms was quite shocking to him at first.

However, according to Mossy Mushroom, it was a person, not a mushroom, and there was no reason why it couldn't eat mushrooms.

Moreover, mushrooms suited its taste the most.

"Start eating, Straw!"

Straw Man's dinner was a big bowl of specially made mushroom pearl milk tea.

As a plant, it only needed to drink fluids to survive.

It drank milk, but what came out was grass.

It was this guy who caused the toilet to be blocked every day.

It held the bowl and gulped down a big mouthful, seemingly enjoying itself.{@code.translation}."