Chapter 12

As expected, being in reality makes Arang’s emotions surge greatly.

It feels like I’m being sucked into a bottomless swamp, sinking into the depths where nothing can be heard, and this sensation dominates my entire body.

Since it happened once before when I was with my parents and Anna, I wasn’t too surprised.

The doctor cautiously approaches me.

“Hello. This is the first time we’re meeting like this, right?”

“…Yeah.”

Another doll-like response. Arang’s emotions haven’t fully subsided yet, but I’m getting used to it and feel like I’ll overcome it soon.

But for now, I think I need to stay in this doll-like reality. The doctor seems to have prepared something for me.

“Arang, I brought you a gift!”

“…A gift?”

“Yes. I brought candy for you!”

“…Candy?”

The doctor smiles brightly, expecting my reaction.

“Yes! Close your eyes and hold out your hand, and I’ll give you the candy…”

The doctor, who had prepared something to comfort me in my doll-like state, made a slip of the tongue at the end.

When she naturally asked me to hold out my hand, I shook the remaining stump of my arm, and the doctor’s eyes widened.

Seeing her expression, I burst into laughter. Arang’s emotions were still strong, so I laughed inwardly, but the doctor, unaware, started trembling and began to gauge my reaction.

“I-I’m sorry, Arang. I-I didn’t mean to… I mean, it’s just…”

“…Hic!”

“Ah…”

I feel sorry for the doctor. If I had fully overcome Arang’s emotions, I would have reassured her and laughed to lighten the mood, but since Arang’s emotions are still lingering, tears started flowing uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry…”

The doctor hugged me, tears streaming down my face, and patted my back.

It’s kind of funny seeing the doctor flustered.

==

Somehow, today’s check-up ended without any issues.

Now, I’ve entered the virtual world with my terminal. Limbs that move as I wish. The virtual world is truly the best.

After her slip of the tongue, the doctor spoke as slowly and carefully as possible to comfort me.

As Arang’s emotions gradually seep into me, I plan to tell her directly that I’m okay when I overcome them.

I’m fine and perfectly normal, and I found the doctor’s flustered expression amusing, but the doctor felt guilty all day about her slip of the tongue.

“Ugh~”

I stretched out, releasing the tension in my body, and with a light flick of my hand, I opened the window and logged into Leore.

Once again, my vision was filled with darkness, and I returned to the place where I had logged out yesterday. The clear sky was gone, replaced by gloomy weather.

The falling rain slowly soaked my body.

“I can even feel this…”

The sensation of the rain is so perfect that it’s indistinguishable from reality. I can’t even imagine how advanced the technology is.

Anyway, that’s that, and play is play.

For now, I set a goal to reach max level by tomorrow.

Basically, leveling in Leore is fun, but Leore is especially famous for its combat content at max level.

From raids to PVP, sieges, guild battles, and more, there’s a lot of content waiting. That’s why I want to reach max level as quickly as possible.

“Let’s see. Pinkubelly is… oh, she’s online!”

Thanks to Pinkubelly, I’m saving on potion costs and leveling up quickly. Plus, she helps me with confusing quests, making her a great party member.

I still don’t know why she’s leveling down to party with me. Pinkubelly says it’s for fun, but leveling down doesn’t seem fun…

“Well, if she says it’s fun, then it’s fine!”

I sent Pinkubelly a whisper.

Soon after, the pure white healer Pinkubelly arrived. But Pinkubelly doesn’t look too good. Does she seem a bit unwell?

“Pinkubelly, did you not sleep well? Oh, did I contact you too late? Sorry. I forgot I had something to do today.”

“No, it’s fine. I woke up late too. But what happened suddenly?”

“Hmm… it’s hard to explain, just some stuff?”

“Um… this might be rude, but Arang is 15, right?”

“Yeah? She’s 15 now? But how did you know? Oh…”

I was curious how she knew, then I looked down at my body.

Thinking about it, Leore is rated for 15 and up, and looking at my current appearance, anyone would think I’m 15.

“So, you’re in middle school, but you’re not going to school?”

“School? I went to elementary school, but I’m not going to middle school.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve never been to middle school.”

Arang got sick just before graduating elementary school, and soon after, her limbs started rotting and had to be amputated.

Since then, she hasn’t left the hospital.

But thinking about it, shouldn’t I be able to go out now? My current condition is the best it’s ever been.

Once I get used to Arang’s body and emotions, I can wear prosthetic limbs and… oh, right. Come to think of it… wasn’t it hard to use prosthetic limbs?

Her arms and legs had necrotized, damaging the nerves, and that’s why it was difficult, as I recall from Arang’s memories.

But now that I’m healthy, can I do it? No, there’s no need to go out. I can just stay in the virtual world.

“Isn’t middle school compulsory…?”

“Ah, really? Come on, what’s middle school compared to leveling up! Let’s go!”

I grabbed Pinkubelly’s hand and dashed to the hunting ground.

==

Ding!

[Level Up!]

While Pinkubelly went out for lunch, I leisurely hunted and reached level 45.

At level 45, new skills were unlocked.

This time, there were three active skills, so I was excited to see what cool skills I got. But suddenly, the sky darkened.

“Huh?”

As soon as I looked up, I saw a huge man.

With pomade-styled hair and a handsome face that you’d expect to hear compliments about, the man had a one-handed sword equipped at his waist.

LV: 60 Kang Hangeul

He looks huge, but maybe it’s because I’m so short. He seems about 180 cm tall.

“Who are you?”

I immediately prepared to block him.

Recently, after I appeared on the Leore gallery and the misunderstanding was cleared through an official notice, strange people kept approaching me.

Each time, I blocked them with incredible reflexes, and this time I was ready to block again.

“Hello. I’m Kang Hangeul, a Leore streamer.”

The man bowed 90 degrees, and I lowered my guard.

“Hello. What brings you here?”

“I came to apologize.”

“Apologize?”

“Yes. The video that was posted on the Leore gallery was due to my carelessness.”

“Ah… I see.”

So, it was this guy who recorded it.

Listening to him, it seems that while raiding the Orc Chieftain, all party members were recording, and when they saw me soloing the Orc Chieftain, they were so amazed that the video got leaked.

That’s why I was suspected of hacking and got flamed on the gallery, so he came to apologize.

I accepted the apology from Kang Hangeul, the streamer who came all this way to apologize.

“It’s okay. Leore officially cleared up the misunderstanding, and I don’t care anymore.”

“Then, would it be okay if I interviewed you?”

“An interview?”

“Yes. Many people are still interested in the videos of you soloing the Orc Chieftain and clearing the Corrupted Judge with just one healer. So, I’d like to post an interview with you on my YouTube channel.”

“Oh… how many subscribers do you have, Kang Hangeul?”

“1.2 million.”

“1.2 million!?”

1.2 million YouTube subscribers is like a major corporation. No wonder the video spread so quickly and so many people saw it. With a 1.2 million-subscriber streamer broadcasting this, it’s no wonder it got so famous.

“Okay. I’ll do the interview.”

“Really!? Thank you!”

I can’t remember the last time I did an interview. It was when I got first place in a world-famous RPG game like Leore and was interviewed by a site called Inven.

But this time, it’s an interview with a 1.2 million-subscriber YouTuber, so I’m quite excited.

==

[Leore Gallery]

[Arang Interview]

(Video)

In the end, he went to apologize and even did an interview. From afar, I didn’t realize it, but now that I see her, she’s ridiculously cute. It’s hard to believe she’s over 14 lololol

[Wow, with that face and body, she’s 15? Crazy]

ㄴ[I really want to say something bad]

ㄴ[You idiot, didn’t you hear her nickname and name are the same?]

ㄴ[Officer! Over here!]

[LOLOLOL the reason she’s good at parrying is “I just did it and it worked?” LOLOLOL]

ㄴ[Swordsman rankers are crying]

ㄴ[If Arang hits max level, won’t she immediately take the top rank?]

ㄴ[Does the top ranker look like a joke?]

ㄴ[Did that top ranker solo the Orc Chieftain?]

[Wow, I’m so jealous of that weapon. Isn’t that the Tashim Sword?]

ㄴ[Yeah, she got it from Tashim]

ㄴ[Wow, a level 45 has a weapon that even max-level swordsmen don’t have LOLOLOL]

[Is Arang a gold spoon? That costume is crazy expensive]

ㄴ[Right LOLOLOL that look is crazy expensive, I’ve only seen a few people wearing it]

ㄴ[Yeah, that’s the costume you get for free after reaching 10 million mileage]

ㄴ[Seriously? How much do you have to spend to get 10 million mileage?]

ㄴ[100 million]

ㄴ[Crazy, a 15-year-old spending 100 million? She’s insane]