Chapter 20

After finishing farming, I logged out of Leore for myself.

As soon as I returned to the virtual world room, I jumped onto the bed. The moment I lay down on the soft bed, sleepiness washed over me, but I opened the menu and went online.

It had been a while since I last visited the Leore gallery.

Most of it was game talk, but here and there, I caught glimpses of my own story. With a pounding heart, I clicked on the most recommended post.

There were screenshots of me taken by people I had met while diligently farming in the dungeon today.

I knew I was cute and pretty, but seeing myself in screenshots, I looked cool.

The jet-black armor, the pure white cloak contrasting with it, and the stylish Tashim Sword. Anyone would think it looked awesome.

As expected, the comments were like—

“Huh? Why? You think this is tacky?”

Most of the comments called my avatar tacky. Seriously, this cool armor is tacky…?

Jet-black armor, a pure white cloak, and a Tashim Sword with a red aura. This is tacky? Are you all blind?

I immediately replied to the most upvoted comment.

*Tap tap tap.*

[The person who called this tacky has tacky eyes.]

Hmm, this should be enough. This way, they won’t know it’s me, and I’ve also called out their bad fashion sense.

If this is tacky, then what’s cool?

==

“Huh? You want to play Leore? Really? You…?”

Yoo Eun-ji, a college friend of Ian-na, couldn’t believe her ears when her friend Anna brought up Leore.

“Yeah. You said it was fun, so I thought I’d ask. I’m not saying I’ll play it, just that I want to know more.”

“Huh…? So you don’t plan to play yet, but you want to know what the game is about? You, who’s never played a game in your life?”

“Yeah.”

Ian-na sipped her Americano and spoke.

“In college, I was too busy studying, and after graduation, I had to work, so I couldn’t. But suddenly now?”

Eun-ji recalled their college days.

If you had to pick the most famous student at Seoul National University, it would undoubtedly be Ian-na.

From her looks to her figure, there wasn’t a single flaw. She didn’t drink, smoke, had no piercings or tattoos—she was the epitome of purity.

Guys tried everything to win her over, but she coldly rejected them all.

Both men and women were intimidated by her, but one day, Eun-ji heard someone crying in an empty classroom and found Ian-na there.

She was so shocked that she approached and asked if she was okay, but she never found out why Ian-na was crying. She just comforted her, and that’s how they became friends.

Eun-ji had loved games since she was a kid.

So, wanting to share her hobby with Ian-na, she suggested playing games together multiple times, but Ian-na always brushed it off.

But now, out of the blue, she wanted to know about Leore.

“Leore helped me get closer to my sister.”

“…Huh? Sister? You have a sister?”

“Yeah. So, Eun-ji, I’m really grateful to you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to talk to my sister.”

“Wait, wait, I can’t follow the story. So, you have a sister, and she started playing Leore, and you got closer? Did I hear that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“You got closer to your sister, so you weren’t close before?”

“Hmm… kind of.”

Anna told her a bit about Arang. She didn’t mention her physical condition but said they got closer through Leore.

“Wow… So you want to know about Leore to get even closer to your sister? To talk about Leore and stuff!”

“…Yeah.”

“Wow. Big deal. Did your sister like games?”

“Not really. She didn’t play games before, but she really likes Leore now. She’s always talking about it.”

Anna thought of Arang. In the virtual world, Arang was just like the pure, cute Arang from the past.

The problem was reality. When Arang returned to reality, she went back to being the Arang before she died.

A reality without limbs. No one would want that. But through Leore, Arang became the Arang she knew again.

“My sister seems to be famous in the game. She talks about what she’s done and how people praise her.”

“Famous? It’s not easy to get famous in Leore since so many people play. What’s your sister’s name?”

Anna, who had only ever played mobile games briefly in her life, didn’t know how famous her sister Arang was in Leore, so she said her sister’s name.

“It’s Arang. Such a cute name, right?”

“…? Arang? Arang!?”

Eun-ji slammed the table with both hands and jumped up.

“Huh? You know her? How do you know her?”

“Anna! Everyone in Leore knows about Arang, the middle schooler!”

“Really…? My sister is that famous?”

“Exactly! Arang’s impact in Leore is huge! She soloed field bosses and was the first to clear low-level field bosses with the minimum number of people! A genius among geniuses!”

Eun-ji frantically grabbed her phone and showed Anna screenshots of Arang from the dungeon.

“This is Arang, right?”

“Yeah, that’s Arang. She wears armor like that.”

“Wow. Unbelievable. Who would’ve thought Anna, who doesn’t even know the letter ‘G’ in games, has such a talented sister.”

“That sounds kinda offensive…”

“Anna, Anna…!”

Eun-ji grabbed Anna’s shoulders, her eyes sparkling.

“Introduce me to Arang…!”

“Introduce you…? In real life?”

“No, no, in the game! Just wait…!”

Eun-ji pulled out her diary from her bag, quickly wrote down her Leore nickname, and carefully placed it in Anna’s hand.

“This is my nickname…!? If, by any chance, it’s not too much trouble, could you ask Arang to send me a friend request…!? Please!?”

Anna looked at her friend and thought.

Eun-ji was her only friend in college.

Now, she runs a famous clothing store in Gangnam. Though it’s annoying when she suggests playing games, she’s a really good person with a great personality.

She was worried about meeting bad people in the game, but with a friend like Eun-ji by her side,

‘It’ll be a good influence on Arang.’

Anna herself had learned better communication skills thanks to Eun-ji, so she nodded.

“Alright. I’ll tell Arang.”

“Really!? Thank you!”

==

A woman working at the Legacy of Raid customer service center sighed deeply as she went through the countless inquiry emails piled up today.

Most of them were about accidentally deleting items, requests for restoration, questions about the Mom’s Touch collaboration, and balance and update issues.

She usually handled them with macros, but she noticed a strange inquiry in the Mom’s Touch collaboration emails.

“I can’t authenticate because I don’t have fingerprints. Is there another way to authenticate?”

The woman frowned.

Basically, access devices can’t be purchased or used without fingerprint authentication.

But there are people in the world without fingerprints. They can buy access devices by going to a store in person with a family register and ID.

That’s why it’s written at the bottom of the Leore Mom’s Touch notice. You can bring your access device for authentication.

“People can’t even read this. Ugh, I already have so many inquiries to handle, can’t they read properly before asking?”

The woman sent a macro response for the Mom’s Touch collaboration inquiry.

Then she immediately opened the next inquiry.

==

“What is this!”

I woke up and checked the response to my inquiry email before logging into Leore.

But the response was just a formal macro reply.

“People who can’t use fingerprint authentication can authenticate through their access device. Please visit the desired store and authenticate using the system in the access device to receive the keyring.”

Does this even make sense?

Carry a deathbed-sized MDB? Huh? Is that even possible!? That’s why I sent the inquiry!

Well, the MDB is one of only five in the world, so it’s a very rare access device.

Most people around the world use regular choker access devices, so it’s natural to get inquiries like this.

Hmm…

What should I do? If it’s just an authentication issue, I can go with Anna.

No. This time, it’s not just an authentication issue but an access device problem, so I’ll send another inquiry.

Leore helped me out during the illegal modification incident, so maybe they’ll help this time too.

This time, I wrote it properly.

[Hello. I’m sorry to send another inquiry.]

Starting with that,

[I currently don’t have limbs and am ill, so I can’t use a regular access device for authentication.]

Good, good.

[I’m not yet an adult, so I don’t have an ID, and I don’t go to school, so I don’t have a student ID. Instead, can I use a family register or certificate of residence?]

Ah, right. Can’t forget this.

[The access device model I’m currently using is [MDB]. Thank you.]

Perfect! If this gets a macro reply again, I’m calling.