Chapter 26

Yoo Eun-ji didn’t immediately realize that the young girl in front of her was Arang.

If it weren’t for her friend Anna, who was pushing the wheelchair Arang was sitting in, Yoo Eun-ji might not have recognized Arang at all. Arang’s appearance—no, her condition—didn’t look good.

Her lifeless eyes, a small body that didn’t look like she was 15, and her emaciated frame made it seem like she barely ate anything.

Everything about her was terrible, but the most dangerous-looking thing was her eyes.

They lacked any vitality, focus, or will to live, and they made anyone who looked at her feel heartbroken.

“Hi… Hi… Hello…”

Arang’s greeting. Yoo Eun-ji knew she had to respond, but she didn’t know how.

“Arang, was the trip here okay? Was there anything uncomfortable?”

“…Yeah.”

Fortunately, Ihayan, who had met Arang at a gathering before, broke the awkwardness by speaking to Arang first.

Yoo Eun-ji quickly snapped out of it and approached Arang. She smiled brightly, just like she did in Leore, and took Arang’s hand, which was resting gently on her lap.

“Arang, nice to meet you! I’m—”

The moment she held Arang’s hand, Yoo Eun-ji remembered something she had forgotten until now.

The story about Arang’s boundaries that Ihayan, her party member, had warned her about so she wouldn’t be shocked.

The hand she was holding was hard, with no warmth at all—it didn’t feel like a human hand. Yoo Eun-ji realized it was a prosthetic arm.

Naturally, Yoo Eun-ji’s gaze drifted downward. Black stockings. Not just any stockings, but ones made of a material that didn’t reveal anything underneath. In other words…

“Eun-ji.”

‘Oh no!’

Snapping back to reality at her friend Anna’s voice, Yoo Eun-ji continued her interrupted sentence.

“In the game, I go by the nickname Sunhangchugyeogi. Nice to meet you, Arang!”

“…Yeah, nice… to meet you…”

“Let’s have fun today, okay!?”

“…Yeah, let’s… have fun…”

Yoo Eun-ji let go of Arang’s prosthetic hand and stood up, then looked at Kang Hangeul, who was still in shock.

Kang Hangeul pointed at himself with his finger, as if asking if he should introduce himself too.

‘Of course you should…!’

Yoo Eun-ji quickly gestured toward Arang with her head.

Kang Hangeul’s mind was a complete mess.

The moment he saw Arang in front of him, all the things he had said to her came rushing back.

The jokes they made while playing the game together, teasing her about her “edgy” persona, calling her a chuunibyou—all sorts of things.

Kang Hangeul liked Arang as a fellow gamer. Not romantically, but as someone who enjoyed playing the same game.

When he first saw Arang solo-clearing the Orc Chieftain, he was amazed. Watching her clear field bosses with just one healer in her party made him want to play with her.

When Arang suggested they form a party, he was thrilled. The Arang Arang group they formed while running dungeons together was more fun than any raid party he’d been in.

Kang Hangeul and Arang got along really well. It didn’t feel like he was playing with a 15-year-old girl, but rather with a male friend his own age, chatting and joking around while gaming.

Playing with Arang reminded him of the pure joy of gaming, something he hadn’t felt since becoming a famous streamer and YouTuber.

But now, that same Arang was standing in front of him.

In a form he could never have imagined.

He had heard about Arang’s condition from Pinkubelly before the gathering. But hearing it and seeing it were two different things.

Now, seeing Arang like this, he didn’t know how to act.

All the times he teased her about her chuunibyou, complimented her on her “well-crafted persona”—it all came rushing back, filling him with regret.

‘Stay calm. If I act awkwardly now, Arang will only feel worse.’

Kang Hangeul pulled himself together and approached Arang, who was sitting in her wheelchair. He greeted her as he always did in Leore.

“Nice to meet you, Arang.”

After clearing the second dungeon and running through several more, Kang Hangeul had naturally dropped formalities with Arang. He tried to act as naturally as possible, greeting her like he always did in Leore.

“Un…cle… Hi…”

“Huh?”

Kang Hangeul was taken aback when Arang, who usually called him “Hangeul” in Leore, suddenly called him “uncle.”

Thinking about it, he realized that from Arang’s perspective, calling him “uncle” wasn’t wrong.

After the awkward greetings, the Arang Arang group lined up in front of the Mom’s Touch store.

There was one problem: the Arang Arang group was way too famous.

Kang Hangeul.

The most famous streamer and YouTuber in Leore.

His streams weren’t about skill, but his entertaining commentary, sincerity, good personality, and love for Leore made him popular.

Every time Kang Hangeul went into a dungeon with the Arang Arang group, he streamed it, making the group famous by default.

On top of that, Pinkubelly Ihayan uploaded field boss content and Arang’s Leore gameplay to YouTube, gaining even more fame.

Sunhangchugyeogi Sunchoo Yoo Eun-ji was rumored to be one of the best female tank players on the frontlines of Leore raids.

And since Ihayan and Yoo Eun-ji looked almost identical in real life as they did in the game, people couldn’t help but recognize them, just like Kang Hangeul.

Lastly, there was Arang.

Arang. Currently one of the hottest figures in Leore. She suddenly appeared, solo-cleared the Orc Chieftain, and then started clearing field bosses with just one healer in her party, showing insane skill.

But that wasn’t all. Her controversial and outlandish actions while clearing dungeons made one-third of all posts on the Leore forums about her.

At first, no one recognized Arang.

Even though she looked exactly like her in-game avatar, one of the things that defines a person’s appearance is their aura.

In Leore, Arang was confident, lively, and always had a bright smile while playing. But the Arang in front of them looked like a lifeless corpse.

However, with Kang Hangeul, Pinkubelly, and Sunchoo standing next to her, it was impossible not to figure out who she was.

==

[Leore Forum]

[3 Hours Before the Collab] [42]

(Photo)

Is it real that people are already lining up for the collab on a weekday, 3 hours before it starts?

[Does no one have work? LOL]

→ [Everyone’s jobless~ LOL]

[How can you resist when there are cosplayers with Ilmiho keyrings? LOL]

→ [True LOL]

[1 Hour Before the Collab] [158]

(Photo)

Isn’t that Kang Hangeul? LOL

With that build, wearing a hat, mask, and sunglasses, isn’t it obvious it’s Kang Hangeul?

[LOL, it’s definitely Kang Hangeul.]

[Wait, Kang Hangeul is at the Songpa branch? Isn’t today the day the Arang Arang group is having their gathering for the collab?]

→ [Huh? Really? Then maybe they’re here for the gathering?]

→ [If Kang Hangeul is here for the collab but isn’t streaming, it must be for the gathering, right?]

[Arang Arang Gathering at Songpa Branch Confirmed] [311]

(Photo)

(Photo)

(Photo)

Sunchoo next to Kang Hangeul. She looks exactly like she does in Leore. So pretty. It’s insane. I thought I was looking at a celebrity.

I mustered up the courage to ask for a photo, and she agreed. She said it was okay not to blur her face.

[Wow… So her Leore avatar is almost identical to her real face? That’s insane.]

[What? How is she that pretty? Is she a celebrity? A model?]

[Look at the brands she’s wearing… All luxury. Crazy.]

→ [The clothes she’s wearing now must cost hundreds.]

[This confirms the Arang Arang gathering.]

[Arang Arang Gathering at Songpa Branch Confirmed] [311]

Couldn’t get a photo, but Pinkubelly is here too.

Pinkubelly also looks exactly like her Leore avatar. Just insanely pretty.

And Kang Hangeul is cursed.

He’s so calm talking between Pinkubelly and Sunchoo. I’m so jealous.

[I saw her too, she’s so pretty. Pinkubelly gives off saint vibes, and Sunchoo feels like the popular girl at school.]

→ [You described it so well.]

[Wow, I’m curious how pretty she must be.]

→ [She’s just insanely pretty, like an idol.]

[But where’s the main member of the Arang Arang group, the chuuni Arang?]

[Arang can’t come to the gathering because of hacks and illegal mods LOL]

Who would show their face at a gathering after doing something like that? It’s a guaranteed run.

[Stop talking nonsense.]

[There’s still time before the collab starts, so don’t jump to conclusions.]

→ [It’s definitely a run LOL]

[She probably got plastic surgery and ran away.]

[Chuuni Arang?] [1360]

The Arang Arang group lined up at Mom’s Touch, and there’s a young girl between two women I don’t know…

I can’t even describe it…

It looks like chuuni Arang… but… sigh…

[??? What? Chuuni Arang came to the gathering?]

→ [I saw her too, it looks like chuuni Arang… She looks exactly the same…]

[I just saw her too… Sigh…]

→ [??? What’s going on? Tell us!]

[Chuuni Arang…] [214]

Is this real…? Sigh…

[Just tell us! What’s going on! Why!]

→ [I’m hesitant to even say it…]

[This is so frustrating. Just tell us!!!]