WARNING!
MC is extremely petty in the first chapter. To alleviate frustration, fill free to roll eyes.
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A dim lit room. The glassed windows were covered with thick curtains, as if afraid that sunlight will enter.
Despite the lack of light, the room looked lively. Numerous anime posters were pasted in almost every corner of the walls. The anime characters: All Males. Husbando Materials. Each of them has their own charms.
Scattered on the room's tiled floors were all sorts of garbage. Empty wrappers of potato chips, chocolate bars and other unresistable foods. There were also food crumbs, not just on the floor but also on the unkept bed. One should not be surprised to see a few soft drink bottles in the more inconspicuous spots. Only a brave or disgusting person can enter and survive in this apocalyptic world.
Among the pile of garbage scattered on the bed, one particularly stood out. It was a pale humanoid garbage with wavy hair and eyebags.
"Scumbag who's tired of living!"
A sound of keyboard being typed energetically was heard. The light from the laptop illuminated the face of a creature lying down on her stomach, her body covered with a thick blanket.
"@CoconutInTheCity Why pursue Danté's route? He is a mere servant with nothing to back him up but his looks. Hohoho~"
Her veins popped as she read the reply on her latest post on OtomeHub Forum.
"How dare you bash my husband! Ha-ha. I'm going to kill your social life."
A crazy laughter echoed, followed by the sound of chips being crunched. The creature ate handfuls of potato chips as she type on her laptop.
"@OtomeLadyGamer You have shit eyes who cannot see Danté's charm." Account 1.
"@OtomeLadyGamer Only fake players who can't progress in the game say that." Account 2.
"@OtomeLadyGamer How talented of you! Can't even play an otome game1 properly. What are you doing here?" Account 3.
"@OtomeHub A petition to remove @OtomeLadyGamer in the forum for starting a malicious remark," Account 4.
...
"@OtomeLadyGamer You can delete your post but this screenshot will forever remain on the internet," Account 143. Attached on the reply is a screenshot of OtomeLadyGamer's reply.
"Thanks for putting the scumbag in her place, everyone~" Main Account.
Her fingers were already sore. But with satisfaction, Coco laughed to herself as she lie on her bed.
"I did not make so many accounts over the years for nothing."
Initially, she made that many accounts because she barely has any followers on OtomeHub. That's right. She's an unpopular person. Her desperation for online attention is on the extreme side as well.
She made a list of all her accounts so she won't forget it. The passwords are the same: 123456. So simple. However, liking her posts will be tiresome if she logged in each account everytime. She's using an app to automatically like the posts of her main account, CoconutInTheCity.
"I thought I won't be using these accounts again."
'I have many followers now, after all.'
She laughed to herself again. Her superficial happiness has yet to die when her phone rang. On the screen flashed a familiar name.
"Eva~ Just in time. I have something to tell you. You see—"
"Shut up. I know of the mess you made on OtomeHub."
"Hehehe. Don't say that. I never knew that I'm so famous that all of my online activities can reach a superstar like you."
"Since you can't see me right now, I am telling you that I'm rolling my eyes at you."
"You can roll them forever if you want. I always knew that you have some eye problems."
"..."
"But you're my friend. And I love you even if you're like that."
'Yes. This is how friendships should be.'
On the other line, a lady wore an ashen face.
"Open the door in your apartment. Right. Now."
"You're visiting me? Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"..."
"I'll be there in a moment."
Still holding her phone in her ears, Coco shoved the most noticeable garbages to the corner. A certain softdrink bottle in an inconspicuous spot got pushed further back.
"It's all clean now."
Pleased, she made her way to her apartment's door and opened it with a bright smile.
"Eva, I missed yo—"
"Pest control. Men, enter!"
Five buff men entered her room. They were all equipped with fancy paraphernalia from head to toe. Their shirts are printed with bold letters at the back. Pest Control.
'Eh? What in the world?'
Her phone was almost released from her grip. She stared blankly at the men who just entered her apartment. The windows were pried open. They took out equipments of unknown purpose and started using it expertly. She stared at her phone in her hands. The call was still ongoing.
"Uhm... What's going on?"
Eva spoke but she was not able to hear it clearly. All because of the second wave of people entering her apartment. They were holding cleaning materials and wore a gas mask each. Somehow, her apartment became crowded. Eva's voice woke her up from her temporary stupor.
"Can you hear me? As I was saying, your apartment is too dirty. It's not even an apartment. It's a pigsty! I can't bring myself to enter. I'm coming over later and I know you won't bother cleaning for me. Tch."
Coco did not hear the latter part of Eva's explanation. She only focused on one thing.
"PIGSTY? ARE YOU TELLING ME I'M A PIG?!"
"Don't insult the pig."
"Y-You!"
"Bye~"
"Toot. Toot. Toot."
Coco looked at her phone, frustrated, "She hung up on me? Unforgivable."
She stomped her feet. Her eyes squinted as she view the contact information of her friend who hung up on her. Hung up on her.
She dialed Eva's number. The latter picked up in less than three seconds.
"Wha—"
"Conversation over, biatch."
Then, she hung up. Like a boss.
'Nobody hangs up on me. I hung up on them.'
Her phone rang after she hung up. It was Eva. But she won't fall for a trap she authored. Feeling good, she observed her apartment underwent a makeover. She had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, her apartment was being cleaned for free. On the other hand...
"Am I really living a pig's life?" She doesn't want to hear the answer.
The people that Eva hired were rather efficient. In thirty minutes, her apartment was all sparkly. The air was fresh and there were no insects crawling all over. In Coco's apartment, a new era began. The dark era was burried in the annals of history.
"Reporting: We caught 5 cockroaches. No other pests were found in the vicinity," the leader of the pest control team spoke with confidence.
"That's good."
Although pleased, she knows that cleanliness was temporary. History repeats itself. No, rather, situations repeat. Her room may be clean now. But it will be dirty again. Dynasties rise and fall to give way to new ones. It was a vicious cycle.
'But I'm really thankful of Eva for sending these people to my apartment. She is a good friend.'
She waited for the people to leave. Contrary to expectations, they stayed standing in front of her. They stared at each other in long silence.
'This is awkward. What do these people need?'
The buff leader of pest control faked cough and rubbed his fingers. Coco stared at him with confused eyes. He coughed again and rubbed his fingers once more.
'Just tell me what you want me to do!'
She tapped her right foot on the floor repeatedly. Her patience was dwindling.
"Erm. Uhm."
He squirmed uncomfortably. His eyes wandered from corner to corner of the room. In silence, he stared at her from time to time. Every time her eyes met his, he averts his gaze. Coco thought that it looks weird how a buff and grown man can act like an otome game's capturable target. One who is about to confess for the first time.
'Why are you not speaking? Are you having a silent competition with me? Ha!'
She stared at him intently until he felt awkward. He faked cough again.
'This guy needs a doctor.' In her mind, she rolled her eyes at him.
"Uhh. Our payments?"
A bomb was dropped.
"Huh?"
"Our payments from our services, Ma'am."
It finally sunk in her head. She felt blood gush to her face. How embarrassing! So that was why they stared at her for so long. Yet, she just stared back at them.
'That witch Eva! I pull back my words. She's not a good friend. She is a scheming witch.'
After paying, she watched as the hired workers left with her money. With her money.
"They sucked up every single cent," her wallet is practically empty. As expected, excellent service requires more money.
She sulked as she typed her new post on OtomeHub, even though it has no connection with otome games at all.
"I was betrayed by the person I considered as my closest friend. What should I do? #AllMyMoneyGone"
"@CoconutInTheCity What happened?"
"Replying to @Nojojoe I got scammed. I am a poor person who can barely pay my rent. The traitor hired people to clean my apartment but I was the one who paid."
"@CoconutInTheCity It's your apartment though. You have a good friend."
Coco's face crumpled, "Ignorant bastard. What in 'I am poor' do you not understand?"
'Do you know how many people I have to pay? Do you know that they have really expensive services, huh? Huh?'
"You blocked Nojojoe. - OtomeHub"
A notification flashed on the screen. But it won't end just like that. With the support of her devoted followers, what followed is another round of CoconutInTheCity's shitposting and online harassment. Poor guy.