Vol. 1 Chapter 11: Nightmare.

Translated and Edited by: ynlucca.

Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you’re close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it’s cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one’s older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.

IMPORTANT T/N
I mistakenly translated chapter 10 as chapter 9, so if you haven’t already, be sure to read it. The name of said chapter is “Friend.”
Link: https://soafp.com/cut-off/cutoff-v1c9/

It was the morning of the next day. Well, I say that but I woke up in the early afternoon due to me thinking a lot last night. I had just woken up and opened my messaging app to see if Yuta had sent me any messages. Although the store’s policy forbade me from asking his number, he always sends messages to my public store account. With faint hopes, I checked and saw many notifications.

For a moment, my heart raced as though he was the one who sent me a message. There were just so many of them. I pressed the little notification icon with a jitter, and what I saw was a barrage of slanderous messages from people I had no connection with.

“Eh… What is this…”

My mind couldn’t keep up with what was happening, and my thoughts inadvertently leaked from my mouth. What in the world was happening?! Did I do something bad?

Speechless and scared by the suddenness of the situation, I start reading the messages. My finger dragged across the screen, heavy as it’s never been.

“I think it’s horrible to call a customer a slave.”

“Even if you’re doing it for laughs, did you apologize properly afterward?”

“Her hair’s blue lmao. The only people that wear bright hair like that are weirdos lol.”

I checked back every single post I made to find nothing inflammatory. They were only selfies and info about the shop. Desperately clutching at straws, searching for whatever the source of this fire was, I found that my conversation with Yuta yesterday had been secretly photographed and published.

The video was uploaded by a throwaway, so I couldn’t identify the culprit on my own. Regardless, they were the catalyst for the constant barrage of blame I’m receiving. Honestly, I can understand the criticism of the character I’ve built. However, if people don’t know me, they’ll just think I’m a rude maid who loves to verbally abuse her customers.

But some of the comments were by people who had nothing to do with the whole situation, and they even started creating theories on what and why it all happened based solely on my appearance and the way I spoke. Of course, some people realized it was a character and defended me, but that minority was overwhelmed.

What do I do? What do I do?

Cold sweat rolled down my face as I witnessed malice from people I didn’t even know the faces of. As I stared dumbfounded into the void, the screen suddenly flashes. It was my manager calling me, and I shuddered by the thought of answering it. Still, if I don’t, I might be fired. With lead for fingers, I pressed the answer button.

“Yui-chan?! What are you doing?!”

“A girl at the store told me about the video, so I saw it. Don’t you think you went a bit overboard?!”

“That’s…”

It’s not that I didn’t agree with what she said. People were usually elated to have me say those things, so I was never exposed. Why yesterday of all days…

“Anyway, please don’t say that kind of thing again. If you do, I won’t be able to keep you in the store. Also, I’ll request a takedown of the video, ‘kay?”

“Yes… Thank you, manager…”

The manager checked the surveillance cameras and, thanks to that, they managed to figure things out and take the video down. Most people who were joining in and flaming me lost interest and left, but there were still those who persisted. Some even went out of their way to go to the store and complain.

At those times, thanks to the girl I worked with and customers who stood up to me, I managed to live my days i peace. However, the fear I might be attacked on the streets at night still lingered.

Despite me being the cause, the constant mental stress caused me to have a poor appetite and I could barely sleep. I didn’t notice it myself, but the clients were worried that I was getting thin. Even when I went shopping or to karaoke for a change of pace, anxiety choked me. I was so anxious someone might be following, I couldn’t concentrate well.

During these murky days, I sealed off that character I’ve created and was unable to say the things my customers enjoyed. Even when I tried to get the conversation going, I often dulled the atmosphere and they gradually shifted their interests to the other girls at the store.

I knew I was unattractive and bad at everything I did. Until now, no matter what the other person was talking about, if I couldn’t give a good response, I was allowed to just snicker and banter. That was a misunderstanding, and our conversations had no substance in the first place.

But why was Yuta angry? Even though summer vacation just ended, he never once walked into the store. I had no clue what suddenly changed his mind, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t find an answer to that question.

That’s why I decided to call my friend Riko and ask her. She’s a great friend of mine and we go to the same school. I’ve always consulted her when I was in trouble, and she had way more experience with relationships than I had. She’d probably be able to give me some good advice.