The Lying Counselor’s Eloquent Reasoning - Chapter 51
“What the hell is that! That’s cruel! You tricked me!”
“No, no. I simply forgot to tell you that the effect of the pack is only on your own vision. I was so careless, wasn’t I? Excuse me for this.”
Uroma laughed merrily at the furious Moeka.
“What are you laughing at! Do you even know what you’ve done! You’re the reason I’ve been looking like this for the past week! How are you going to take responsibility for this!”
“Responsibility? What? Did you have any trouble with your face this past week?”
“Eh…”
“Did someone make fun of your face? Or were you cried at by children when they made eye contact with you or laughed at by passers-by when you were walking down the street?”
“No, that’s??”
“Of course not. In fact, people around you probably complimented you for your face. They said you looked better than before.”
“H-How do you know all that?”
Moeka was startled. At the same time, she realized the oddity of his words. Why did her parents and friends praise her for looking good when she still had the same ugly face as before?
“Wait, you mean to tell me that everyone was involved with you to trick me?”
“No, that’s not the case. Rest assured. I’ve acted independently in this matter.” Uroma said it outright. “The reason why everyone complimented your face is definitely that your expression is brighter than when you were worried about your face, and that your true face is more attractive. Yes, rather than a weirdly modified face like this one.”
Uroma operated the stand mirror again. Within moments, Moeka’s social networking account popped up on the screen. Apparently, this spy mirror was also connected to the Internet. On the header was a picture of Moeka’s selfie. At the bottom left of the header were thumbnail images of selfies that had been posted recently. Naturally, they were far different from the pictures in the header. It was as if it was a different person’s face.
“Heck no! I’ve uploaded so much of my ugly face!”
Moeka was stunned again. That’s right, all of her selfies from the past week were still uncensored. She had assumed that her face had undergone a beautiful transformation. What have I done? I’ve exposed such an ugly face.
“Oh no, I want to die… Seriously, kill me.”
There was nothing for her to do but to hold her head in her hands and despair. It was the end of the world.
“Why are you so downcast, Tsubaki? Your recent unenhanced selfies look much more popular than your previous ones.”
Uroma grabbed the spy mirror and operated it by touching the screen like a tablet. He seemed to be viewing Moeka’s social networking site. Next to him, Tomomi also stretched her neck to examine the spy mirror tablet.
“You have a lot of likes. and the number of followers has surpassed 1,000 in the blink of an eye. A week ago, you only had about 600 followers, but you’ve grown rapidly. I bet the photos of your true face, without any pretense, are so appealing that they’ve been spread by many users.”
“Stop it! How can a face like this be attractive!”
No matter what Uroma said to her, Moeka couldn’t fathom it at all. Why does everyone praise this ugly face? I don’t get it.
“… Well, I suppose you’re right. Regardless of what I say, or how objective and fair the facts are when confronted with them, you will persist in believing that you are ugly. After all, you have a mental illness.” Uroma lifted his face from the spy mirror tablet and stared straight at Moeka.
“Mental illness?”
“Yes. You must have what is called body dysmorphic disorder, or dysmorphophobia. This is a new type, too. It’s commonly known as snapchat dysmorphophobia, caused by the constant manipulation of selfies.”
“Body dysmorphophobia? A new type?”
I’ve never heard that term before. And it’s a new type?
“What’s that? Suddenly you’re saying I’m sick, I don’t understand!”
“Well, don’t get so heated. I’m not a doctor, so I can’t officially diagnose your disease. I’m just saying that I think that may be the case.”
Moeka was very upset, but Uroma was still the same as ever.
“To begin with, dysmorphophobia is a disease that causes people to conceive of themselves as ugly. Most of the time, patients have a perfectly normal appearance to others. Nevertheless, they have a strong aversion to minor flaws in their appearance, and often try to solve them through cosmetic surgery??just like what you’re doing now.”
Uroma once again reached for the spy mirror tablet and directed it at Moeka. It was already back to being a mirror. Her own ugly face suddenly presented itself in front of her, causing Moeka to flinch and quickly avert her face.
“Haha, yes. That’s the reaction. It’s truly dysmorphophobia.”
Uroma laughed nastily. Moeka grew increasingly exasperated.