Chapter 25

Time flew by quickly, and the collaboration date between Leore and Mom’s Touch approached.

During that time, I cleared dungeons rapidly with the Arang Arang party. With each run, my equipment started to take shape. Looking at my gear specs now, it’s on a completely different level compared to when I first hit max level.

Just seeing my equipment makes me feel proud. But even this gear is said to be practically trash compared to raid equipment.

Raid gear, they say, adds extra options to class skills or even has skills embedded in the equipment itself. That’s why there’s no fixed setup, and multiple diverse setups exist.

Leore is said to excel at tailoring such gear to one’s taste. That’s why I’m really looking forward to the raid.

Anna solved the Mom’s Touch authentication issue herself, as she directly told me. So, on the day of the collaboration, I just need to head out with Anna and the doctor.

At this point, I can’t help but wonder what Anna’s family does. No matter how rich they are, I can’t believe Anna solved the access device authentication issue in Leore. Are they not just rich but incredibly wealthy?

Well, whatever it is, it’s a good thing. Anna said that as long as I comfortably wear the necklace choker she prepared at the store, the authentication will happen automatically.

I diligently wrote a post in the Arang Arang chatroom that Sunchoo made.

[Notice for the Gathering Tomorrow Due to the Mom’s Touch Collaboration]

We’re meeting in front of the Mom’s Touch Songpa branch by 8 AM tomorrow.

Click the link below for the exact location.

(Link)

No special preparations are needed. Please don’t be late.

As soon as I posted in the chatroom, Sunchoo read it and replied. It’s not a guild gathering, but a party gathering for those who cleared dungeons together. Plus, with the Mom’s Touch collaboration, it’s going to be a feast.

==

On the day of the gathering, I woke up and waited for Anna and the doctor without logging into Leore.

Not long after waking up, Anna and the doctor arrived. Anna was as beautiful as ever, and the doctor wasn’t wearing a lab coat but casual clothes.

Thinking about it, it would be strange to go outside in a lab coat.

Perhaps because we were going out, Anna came in pushing a wheelchair.

But what’s that?

There was a large box-like thing on the wheelchair.

Anna greeted me, logged me out of the access device, and brought me back to reality.

First, Anna and the doctor diligently washed and dressed me.

“Arang, these are prosthetic arms and legs. You know that, right?”

What came out of the box on the wheelchair was none other than prosthetic arms and legs. I was startled by their sudden appearance, but they looked quite good.

The prosthetic arms and legs looked like articulated doll limbs. They didn’t look like machines but rather like real human hands and feet from a distance. Of course, up close, you could see all the joints like a doll.

“These are synced with the choker you’re wearing for authentication. So, if you think about moving, you should be able to. Can you try?”

It makes sense that such prosthetic arms and legs exist in a world with virtual reality technology.

Anna and the doctor carefully attached the prosthetic arms and legs to my amputated parts.

Originally, prosthetic arms and legs were useless to Arang. Due to her illness, the nerves in her arms and legs were completely damaged, and her brain couldn’t even recognize them, so she couldn’t move them.

But now?

The choker around her neck and the doll-like appearance of the prosthetic arms and legs.

“Do you want to try moving…?”

At Anna’s words, I tried to move the prosthetic arm by thinking about opening a menu like in Leore, but it didn’t move.

My brain recognized it, but it felt like something was blocking it. Probably, what’s blocking it is Arang’s lingering emotions.

I ignored it, closed my eyes tightly, and concentrated on moving the prosthetic arm.

At that moment.

Twitch.

Very slightly, barely moving less than 1 cm, but it moved.

“Ah, Arang…!”

“It’s a miracle…”

The problem was that the brief twitch of less than 1 cm caused a sharp pain in my brain.

It was similar to the pain I felt when I overloaded my brain with information in Leore, but also different.

“Ugh…”

“Arang, are you okay!? Don’t push yourself!”

“Arang, take deep breaths.”

The doctor adjusted the choker around my neck, and the headache disappeared instantly. But the connection to the prosthetic arms and legs also vanished.

“Just moving a little is a good sign. It seems the pain comes because your nerves aren’t fully healed yet. You still need more rest.”

Hmm… It seems like it’s going to take a long time before I can use the prosthetic arms and legs as I want. I can at least talk, but this is really unpredictable.

But with the prosthetic arms and legs, I finally started to look like a person. Honestly, without limbs, I looked so inhuman that bad thoughts came to mind.

Anna dressed the prosthetic arms and legs with black opera gloves and black stockings that reached up to the shoulders.

With all the clothes on, I looked quite decent. Now I don’t just look like a person; I really look like a person.

But the last remaining issue is my face. Except for my face, I’ve become a person, but when I see the expression on my face, it’s so blank that I think of myself as a doll.

Anyway, after finishing the preparations to go out, with the help of Anna and the doctor, I, sitting in a wheelchair, headed outside the hospital for the first time since waking up as Arang.

==

On the day of the Leore and Mom’s Touch collaboration.

7:30 AM.

Kang Hangeul arrived at the meeting spot 30 minutes early and checked his phone. He was looking for Sunchoo, who had already arrived, as posted in the chatroom.

Even though there was still an hour and a half before opening, perhaps because it was in Seoul, there was already a line of people in front of the Mom’s Touch store.

While pondering how to find Sunchoo, someone tapped Kang Hangeul’s shoulder.

Turning his head, there was a very beautiful woman. But her face was oddly familiar, and after a moment of confusion, he immediately recognized her.

“Are you Sunchoo?”

“Hello~ I’m Yoo Eunji! Nice to meet you, Hangeul~”

“Hello. But how did you recognize me?”

“No way. You look exactly like in Leore. Who wouldn’t recognize you?”

“Even with the sunglasses, hat, and mask on?”

“That’s why I recognized you! There aren’t many people with your build here.”

“Ah… True. That makes sense.”

While Kang Hangeul and Yoo Eunji were talking, Ihayan, who is Pinkubelly, approached.

“Ah, hello…”

“Ah! Hayaan, come here!”

“Uh, unni, hello. Hangeul, hello too…”

“Hello.”

Kang Hangeul bowed his head in greeting and looked at Yoo Eunji and Ihayan. They were all beautiful people.

They looked almost the same as they did in Leore. Especially the women, who often change their appearance in Leore, but they looked the same in reality and in Leore.

‘Viewers would be jealous.’

Kang Hangeul was famous as a streamer and YouTuber, but he didn’t have many connections with women.

Basically, the number of women who seriously form raid parties or join raid parties to play Leore raid content is very, very small.

Even when it was announced that the Arang Arang meeting gathering was happening, everyone was so angry.

Ding.

An alarm sounded on everyone’s phone at the scene.

It was a message from Arang. But the sender was Arang’s sister, Ian-na. The message was simply that they were almost there.

Kang Hangeul and Yoo Eunji swallowed their saliva and tensed up at the message.

After the meeting was confirmed, they heard about Arang’s shocking situation from Ihayan. It’s still hard to accept that Arang is in such a painful, difficult, and terrible situation.

A 15-year-old girl in such a painful, hard, and horrific situation.

==

Wow… As soon as I left the hospital, I felt both amazed and familiar.

Even though there was a big difference in the years since I was last here, the surrounding streets and people hadn’t changed much.

What surprised me were the various billboards on the buildings. They were clean and gave a futuristic city vibe. But other than that, not much had changed, except for the cars.

All the cars passing by were ones I had never seen before. Are those the cars of the future?

“We’re here, Arang.”

At Anna’s words, I looked ahead.

A man and two women were in front of me.

Kang Hangeul, who looked bigger than in Leore, Sunchoo, Anna’s friend, and Hayaan, whom I met at the first gathering.

I put on the brightest expression I could.

“Ev… ery… one… hel… lo…”

I greeted them with the longest sentence I’ve ever spoken in reality, and the faces of the Arang Arang party members twisted at my welcome.

==

Leore

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