Metal Ragner (Eng version from Kor)

Ragner was asked to live in Skadi’s dorm for about 48 hours.

"Why?"

"Just."

It was such a trivial reason and normally, Ragnar wouldn't have been convinced.

Not because of Skadi’s tone, it had succeeded in piquing his interest in the last 48 hours of boredom.

"Okay."

"You're not going to ask me why?"

"No."

He didn't like to think deeply. He believed everything happened for a reason, so no matter how big the pain is, he accepted it without a doubt. He once wondered if he might be a masochist. But when he had 'exploratory time' with his peers, he'd keep his problems to himself. Doesn’t even know why he would do that.

When Ragnar ended up living in Skadi's room, he thought it would be the most memorable of the "48 hours of stimulation" he would receive this year.

Yet there is another one.

“Shit”, he said. And this was right before Skadi's Metal rock audition. Ragnar had never been into music, but Skadi was being so coddling (he hated Skadi, but he had a weakness for coddlers) that he was forced to come along, and moreover, he even auditioned as well. For whom? That is the question Ragnar could not answer.

Before he knew it, he was standing at the piano.

"Do what you know, Ragnar."

Skadi laughed in the distance. She…really did have the same face as Rusalka. Ragnar wondered if it was Skadi's ploy to intentionally embarass him, and if it was, he was willing to play along. What he hated was unannounced pranks, not regular pranks. They were just fine.

One of the judges (even if they were reckless Sophomores, they were a lot younger than Ragner, and we mustn't forget he was 28) yawned at Ragner, which was good, because the guy next to him was even worse. He was rapping.

Ragner’s fingers were on the keys, oblivious to the irony for taking the time to wipe the sweat from his hands, "Young people these days are so unfocused.”

Ding-.

And that moment, the red hair said "Again”.

He hadn't done anything yet, so what was he supposed to do again?

"I haven't started yet," Ragnar said to the redhair(not the rapper who still had a soul).

He even said it again.

"I haven't started yet."

Then the redhead said.

"Start over."

Ragner frowned at the bluntness, but he did as what he said.

He put his fingers back on the keys, because Skadi watches from a distance.

Yes. Skadi is watching him, holding an instant film camera. These moments are just dots on a timeline that will one day disappear, so Ragnar must play the piano.

And he hit the keys again.

Forte, smooth. Not a smoothie, but a smoothie. Avocado, Skadi's favorite, no. Avocado smoothie.

Forte again, no.

Forte.

Forte smoothie.

Pianoforte......

"Stop."

Ragnar stopped like a child caught stealing the family seal.

"You can go back now."

Skadi ran up from the distance. Her high-pitched voice was a pitch Ragnar knew he didn't like, but he spoke nonetheless.

"You too."

He didn't take a bite of the strawberry roll cake Skadi had bought him as a kind reward but fell asleep ignoring Skadi muttering right next to him, "This is so delicious, and you are definitely missing out. what are you doing?”

Sleeping.

Even before he wanted to answer, he fell a sleep.

And the next day, he woke up to the news that he got in to the audition.

"I'm not going."

"Why! You have to go!"

"I'm not even a student here, and by the way, do you even realize that I shouldn't have even auditioned in the first place?"

Yet here we are. Ragnar couldn't resist the Skadi's trademark 'poor duck' look. Damn it, he thought, walking beside Skadi, imagining what kind of trouble he'd get into by next 28 hours.

"They must be really nice people."

‘Maybe for you. Not me.’

He waited for the 28hours to pass. It would remain high on the list of unique events, but after few more hours, he'd lose interest. But no matter. He would acept it as a fate like a good valkyrie.

Often Ragnar thought about the adults who said"Time will take care of everything," when Ragner found his fishbowl tased. Now, he was certain that Skadi would remain Ragnar's taser, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be a good feeling.

By tomorrow, he would have forgotten about these damn sophomores anyway, and he mourned in advance that any ‘unexplainable anxiety’ he had had yesterday would be extinguished into the abyss. And he would look forward to tomorrow's Exploratory Time meeting. Like he did for last 20 years.

Knock Knock-

Skadi knocked on the door, and the redhead from yesterday opened it in a slightly less paler face.

"You're here.”

Ragnar couldn't remember the redhead's name, so he wanted to ask Skadi.

But he couldn’t since the redhair was looking at him, and whispering seems like too much to show.

“Sit.”

Ragnar sat down on the pink couch. It was the color of vomit from a bad Valentine's Day chocolate, but the faux fur was glowing, which made him convinced to sit with pleasure.

The redhead (let's call him B as a blueberry) looked like he was going to brag about his hidden talent.

"Have this," he said, and handed him a root beer, and Ragnar swallowed his ungratefulness and took the uncapped god damn root beer. Yet he never took a sip of it.

Instead, he looked at his watch like a well educated spie, wondering when the 23 hours would end, and this sort of ritual felt as if it is a self harm.

He spent eight of them listening to man who Ragnar would name B as a blue or B as a Bad or even B as a bye, succeeding in getting the flatter "You're a good listener, as Skadi said," as the stained glass looked orange due to Sunset.

"We're doing our first show tomorrow at seven, so be on time."

Fuck.

Ragner, who wasn't upset that Blueberry (Ragner's favorite fruit) had slammed the door yet he said to Skadi,

"You're right, he's a good guy”.

Then Skadi casually said "He killed my friend”.

He killed my friend.

He killed my fridge.

He killed my shit.

Ragnar, who managed to get three syllables in after whatever it was, looked at Skadi's face. It was the same puppy look would say, "Me?"when someone shouts "she stole my pants!”

Aha.

Skadi, You clever.

'I've got a bombshell waiting for you. You're trying to help me with that innocent meerkat look. It's so lame, Skadi. But I think I am sold.

I said calmly to Skadi, "You mean the one went to Valhalla, right?"

And suddenly, Skadi started to laugh. The laugh was so loud that Ragnar almost thought she was a laughing machine. Ragnar was somewhat relieved and proud that he had handled it well.

Skadi's voice got a little lighter and said

“No, not really. She opened a shoe store because the shoes for entering Valhala didn't fit.”

Ragner was somewhat happy, thinking that he should introduce Skadi to the Explorers meeting as a new member.

He felt like the purple pub he went for that meeting was so new even though he'd been there more than thousand times.

While he saw Skadi drank a strange merlot soda with a cherry floating on top, he felt weird about himself. He was not certain where this ‘weird feeling’ comes from, so he thought maybe it is because 48 hours are coming to an end.

He also thought about whether Skadi has been letting him ‘win’ for making her laugh, but that was just too much to think about.

‘Weird.’

He drank lemon ginger beer ulike how he never drank the beer the redhead offered him.

And before the dawn, Ragnar woke up with red stain on his hair, realizing that

‘Blueberries are red when you step on them.’

In his hand, a piece of root beer bottle wrapped in tissue paper with a little message written

"Do what you know, Ragnar.”

And when he saw a meerkat drawn on his palm,

Ding-ding.

Someone knocked on the door. Wait, it was just tapping. Nevermind.

Ragner wrapped around his head with a towl and opened the door for whom knocked again and again in the same rhythm.

"The show's at 7:00," Ragner said. And he heard from the visiter that she heard it was the right time.

Aha.

This must be Skadi’s shit.

Trying to surprise him before the 48hr cycle ends.

‘Clever.’

Ragnar then said "Just a moment," taking the towel out.

Then he received a dull thud.

Bang.

Ragner slowly fell, and the object that the visitor left came into his view.

It was an electric pole. With a fishbowl drawn on it.