Chapter 103

Have you ever been to a theater after all the actors and audience have left?

In this space where the dazzling sets, delightful music, and various lights have all vanished, I am faced only with myself.

The space I can now proudly call my home is filled only with silence.

Unwashed dishes piled high in the sink, chicken bone fragments with the meat cleanly picked off, and outerwear scattered across the sofa along with the underwear I just threw off.

I had just taken a shower.

Water dripped from my hair, dampening the living room floor, but I didn’t bother to care.

It would naturally evaporate in a day or two. In this dry weather, I remembered hearing from viewers who went to the military that sprinkling a little water on the floor could be helpful.

‘What is this…?’

Before entering the room, I stepped on a Polaroid photo lying on the floor.

When I picked it up to check, it was one of the dozens taken yesterday with the camera that Haru brought.

Since Yuna didn’t have a phone, she was delighted to receive the photos Haru had handed her.

And this must have fallen during the game of tag at home when she realized Haru had drawn a mustache on her face.

“I’ll have to return this at the academy tomorrow.”

Haru was taken away early in the morning like he was dragged by a guy in sunglasses, while Yuna made sure to send me home safely by morning.

Professor Cheon quietly woke me up earlier that morning while the kids were lost in their dreams.

[I think I need to go to America right now.]

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming, and the words ‘America?’ slipped out, but he calmly explained the situation to me.

It turned out that the technology to create potions in solid form included some that came from America, and the U.S. State Department hadn’t approved the transfer of technology.

Even though the domestic researchers diligently argued that it was not for commercial use, they still maintained a stubborn stance, so he said that he had to go himself.

[Don’t play games for too long. Make sure to eat properly!]

… Well, since he’s coming back by tomorrow evening at the latest, I could just think of it as a business trip to Busan.

The house, which had sent everyone away, felt too spacious for me to wander around alone.

I regretted not leaving at least Yuna behind.

I hadn’t drunk any alcohol, yet a profound sense of depletion washed over me.

Perhaps it was because I hadn’t felt the warmth of another person in a long time.

I still felt as though two girls were tightly hugging me on either side.

As if they had promised each other, they held me close like a pillow in the center. They had thrown their arms and legs over my body and had fallen asleep like that.

Just because they were children shouldn’t mean I underestimated their weight. When it lasted for hours, I could feel a subtle heaviness, occasionally feeling short of breath and coughing.

But in stark contrast to this feeling of depletion, I also felt remarkably refreshed.

I couldn’t tell how long it had been since I had a deep sleep without even dreaming.

Returning to the room, I quickly dried off the moisture from my body with a towel.

A smaller surface area was helpful at times like these.

When I wrapped the towel around myself, there were hardly any spots left that weren’t dried off.

I had the urge to step into the capsule naked but remembered I didn’t live alone.

Even if no one was watching, it seemed like basic manners to maintain minimal decency, so I nonchalantly put on a white dress that came down to my knees.

What I thought was a properly cleaned body might have been an illusion, as the silk dress clung to the moisture remaining on me.

Since I felt too lazy to change into another outfit now, I tossed myself into the capsule just as I was.

Before diving, I suddenly caught myself subconsciously preparing the broadcast setup and took a deep breath.

Setting the configuration with a few clicks of my fingers was more convenient than manually navigating through the setting window in virtual space. As someone who pursued extreme efficiency, I remembered I had to do this…

‘But I hadn’t pledged to start the broadcast right away.’

I originally only intended to do a light warm-up.

The current time was almost 11 AM, a bit earlier than the promised time with the viewers.

Since I had already finished the broadcast setup, it felt pointless to backtrack, so I decided to freeze the chat permanently and just stream the broadcast screen. It was a reasonable compromise.

There was no need to wear myself out dealing with viewers too early.

The title was…

[Starting the stream: 0:00:01 – No Name]

[Legacy of Legends – A Yearning for Warmth (No Chat)]

[Broadcast Time – 0:00:01]

[Viewer Count – 1]

* * *

The reason I chose Legacy of Legends was primarily because it was the only game I knew how to play.

The main hall, which I was visiting after a long time, was bustling with people.

As expected, the most crowded places were ranked matches.

However, my feet were heading towards the neighboring area.

[Custom Games]

[tag: 1vs1]

As I always emphasize, the essence of League of Legends cannot be considered a physical game at all.

When looking back at videos from decades ago when professional gamers played on computers, it seemed like a harmonious blend of physical skill and strategy, but now it leaned overly towards strategy.

It was increasingly rare for game results to be decided by differences in the laning phase.

While it’s exciting that the game allows for comebacks, it often feels overly reliant on luck.

But it was different in a one-on-one match.

I liked that all the complex concepts such as power graphs for each champion, matchups, and attack ranges could be summed up as just ‘physical.’

Especially evaluating individual strength and having the upper hand over the opponent was always exciting.

Moreover, a significant advantage was that it took less time than a regular League of Legends match.

Since it had been a while since I moved my body vigorously in virtual reality, I planned to start with the less demanding League of Legends and gradually acclimate my body.

[Room Title: PayMustardSauce Password 2-digit Number (1/2)]

[**]

While rummaging through several rooms and refreshing the page, one room title caught my eye.

It didn’t seem like a game made for friends, but oddly enough, there was a password set.

In the past, I would have ignored it and looked for another room, but the tier of the person waiting inside the room caught my attention.

[PayMustardSauce – Challenger]

Challenger. They were far above the Master rank I achieved a few months ago.

Fueled by a sense of bravado, I typed in a random number.

If it didn’t work, I would just look for another room.

[P/W: 77]

[PayMustardSauce’s Game – Valhalla’s Battlefield · Private Selection · 1vs1]

‘This works…?’

It seemed like luck was on my side today.

In a corner of the waiting room, a seemingly ordinary guy waved his hand.

“Wow, you came in right after I created this again. Was the password too easy?”

“…?”

“Oh, you’re quite shy, huh? I understand. Then what champion should we go with?”

His overly friendly welcome felt awkward, but I shrugged it off thinking he was just playing the role of a reclusive master.

“Do I get to choose?”

“Hmm, let’s see your tier… Oh, Diamond 1? Even so, a Diamond 1 shouldn’t just pick anything, right? Haha.”

His respectful tone, ironically, dripped with nonchalance.

“Then Irelia versus Fiora. See you in the top lane.”

“Oooh, sounds romantic! Can I be Irelia?”

“No, I’ll play Irelia.”

Irelia, one of the 51 champions from the Genesis of Legacy of Legends.

Being a champion with a unique skill mechanism, she was one that had transitioned from an earlier version without any skill changes.

She was a champion I often used back when I had missions, so I believed my body would remember her well, even after not playing for a while.

“Even though I’m an ADC, that setup seems tough for you, right? You must not want to receive a chicken gift certificate?”

Ignoring the strange incoherent words he had been saying, I organized the runes I would take to the battlefield.

He squatted down next to me and kept talking.

“You know the rules, right? Two solo kills or 100 rs. You can go home anytime, but since you picked a difficult champion, if you get one kill, I’ll send you a friend request.”

“You’re quite confident.”

“Haha, it’s just a kind of occupational hazard.”

“Now I’m curious about what your job is.”

“Hmm…? You don’t know who I am?”

“Do I need to know who Mustard Seed is just to play one-on-one?”

“Really don’t know? How did you even find this room?”

“I was just browsing one-on-one rooms—”

“What a coincidence! Well, I’m looking forward to playing with you! You can just call me Mustard!”

“Uh, sure…”

[Welcome to the battlefield.]

The northwestern wind blew.

* * *

The background of the one-on-one battlefield was bleak.

It was a battlefield set against the backdrop of the setting sun below the horizon.

I glared at the woman wielding a blue rapier in front of me.

At the moment she moved even a single step, she would charge at me without hesitation and shred me.

Even while channeling a game character, her smile was annoyingly cheerful.

No matter how irritating her smile was, the only one I could tolerate was Hiasen. I couldn’t excuse the rest.

“Then let’s have a good match, okay? I’ll go easy on you, so don’t be too nervous and just relax!”

“…”

Six soldiers marched in unison toward the enemy formation.

But the same was true for the enemy.

As expected, Fiora stood way ahead of the established line, blocking the central path so that I couldn’t even earn experience.

It felt as if she was saying, “Come if you dare.”

Although I was level 1, the psychological warfare had already begun.

Fiora had to exploit weaknesses, while Irelia had to land her markings.

Fiora had the advantage in matchups. Even if Irelia used her E, Fiora’s W skill could easily counter it.

To disrupt the familiar standoff, I decided to initiate simple psychological warfare.

If Fiora’s dash misses, I could easily gain the upper hand from low levels, so I cautiously measured the distance and swayed my tail.

However, being the opponent they were, they did not waste their skills recklessly.

“Are you not going to collect experience?”

I wouldn’t fall for such a low-level taunt.

I was keenly aware of the range where I could gain experience.

Just as the enemy soldier was about to fall,

I dashed toward Fiora with my blade and struck her.

“To gain experience, you have to take some punishment!”

Her taunt was laced with mockery, but surprisingly, her response was sharp and lethal.

When we both engaged in skirmishes, Fiora had the advantage, and with the bone shield rune, while I lost 250 health from my 600, she lost not even 200.

This was within expectations. After all, with the rune ‘Wind of Regeneration,’ I was recovering health faster. The health difference would become negligible as soon as I hit level 2.

However, Fiora seemed dissatisfied with this, perhaps deciding to attempt another trade of basic attacks as she turned and faced me.

Irelia’s skill has an 11-second cooldown, which is 2 seconds faster than Fiora’s. Yet, the opponent was clearly trying to force me to retaliate.

If I used my skill to dash back at Fiora, she would be in a prime position to exploit my weakness.

Hence, we exchanged a basic attack once again and moved deeper toward the tower.

At this point, I was already convinced.

As she turned to land her fourth basic attack, I was certain the game was already over.

My allied ranged soldiers began assisting me, chipping away at Fiora’s health as she returned to lane.

“I’ve already won this game.”

“Are you being casual? I think you should take a look at your health…?”

“That’s why ranged dealers like you, Mustard, cannot escape the derogatory nickname of a spoon-feeder.”

“Wha…?”

He was undoubtedly a genuine ranged dealer user. During our transition to the battlefield, I checked his stats and said this.

The mechanisms between a lane fighting 2v2 and 1v1 are entirely different.

Unlike the bot lane where you can establish unilateral advantage by putting soldiers into the lane with attack ranges and early level 2 timing, Irelia was a character that actually got stronger when in front of the tower. As another melee character, there were no means to counter her effectively.

Mustard’s stunned expression was evident, and the rapier he held nearly fell to the ground from his grip.

“Wow, you’re really taunting me hard! So where do you plan to stand in the lane?”

“I can play any lane.”