A flat, short woman lacking in beauty appeal and charisma, a total loser who never got far from the starting blocks. Will you lift her up or tread her further into the ground? -------------------------------- She plays RPG Romance games, sometimes a SIM simulator to escape her reality.
It’s midnight, and I’m stuck doing overtime again, crammed into a packed train like a sardine in a can. My apartment is a distant dream, miles away, and I’ve got a 7 AM wake-up call looming like a guillotine. This is my life—a chaotic trainwreck, and I’m just along for the ride. Haeh.. I love Japan, but I hate working in Japan!!
To cope, I pull out my phone and dive into Starlit Bonds, my guilty pleasure: a romance between men RPG romance game. I smirked. Thank the gods for that toggle. I do my ritual scan of the train car—salarymen dozing, a student scrolling X, nobody paying me any mind. Safe. I dim the screen to a conspiratorial glow, pop in my Bluetooth earphones, and settle in. Subtlety is my middle name.
The game pulls me in. My silver-haired rogue is cornered by Kael, the brooding knight. His husky voice promises forbidden closeness. The screen shifts to a candlelit chamber, hands tracing his jaw. Every touch sparks, and the train’s hum fades away.
I’m a master of discretion, I think, smirking as I tap through the scene, whispering,
Claire:
“Yes, Kael, you dummy, just say it, and make a move already !!!”
The fantasy is mine, and I’m untouchable.
Then it hits me. My earphones—they’re not connected.
The game’s audio—every scene, every embarrassing line—has been blaring from my phone’s speakers. On a silent midnight train. Heads turn. The student glances up, eyebrows raised. A salaryman stirs, blinking at me like I’ve sprouted horns. My face burns hotter than Kael’s fictional passion as I fumble to mute the phone, nearly dropping it in my panic.
So yeah. I just treated the entire carriage to an unamplified audio show of my men's romance game’s steamiest scene, complete with my awkward muttering. Someone, please, derail this train and end my suffering. I'm so embarrassed right now that my face is like a tomato.
``Thoughts: Argh... I forgot to bring enough money. I'm hungry though... I want to eat oyakodon—cheap, nutritious, and delicious. Guess I'll skip dinner again...``
Claire's stomach:
growl sound
``Thoughts: Ouch.. my stomach can't handle an empty stomach.. It's too painful. I have to eat something..``