Chapter 13 : Maybe

Tap, tap, tap tap.

Slender fingers flew across the keyboard, the monitor screen changing with each keystroke.

Various information sites and a video editing program.

A woman meticulously piecing together and editing a video.

Joo Seoyeon.

“Phew…”

Letting out a deep sigh, she opened a community forum.

[VR Game Forum]

A post caught her eye.

[Title: Is this movement even possible?]

(GIF of a black-coated Assassin darting across the desert, toying with a heavily armored warrior.)

[Upvotes: 872] [Downvotes: 2]

-Wow. Silver hair and a black coat, so cool… but what’s with the makeup lol?
└Still pretty though.
└Tribal makeup is sexy lol
-Black leather tank top and leather shorts… nice.
└This is why I play Assassin, right?
└Imagine a dude wearing that…
└Someone’s never played Assassin.
└Even the male Assassin outfits are mostly long.
└It’s the Warriors who go shirtless lol
-What is this lol?
└A skill?
└Looks like an assist move.
└Nope, it’s Demon King lol
└Ah, sh*t. That unoptimized crap game?
└The movement looks the same as with assists.
└Even with assists, it’s not easy to move like that in PVP.

Seolhwa’s clip was circulating not just in the Demon King forum, but in the general VR Game forum as well.

A clip of a player who hadn’t even started streaming yet.

And if Seolhwa was who she thought she was…
Then Seolhwa was truly a newbie who had just started playing VR.

For such a player to gain this much attention…

‘A genius.’

A genius with overwhelming talent.

Both as a gamer and in her ability to draw people in.

Seoyeon had no talent for VR gaming.

Perhaps that’s why she looked at skilled players with such admiration.

On her days off, she would spend the entire day watching VR streams.

Perhaps it was because of her major.

When she occasionally created highlight clips of famous players, the response was always positive.

She felt like she was living vicariously through them, but what could she do? She was already hooked.

Seoyeon knew firsthand why streamers were so popular.

Even to her, Seolhwa’s video was shocking.

‘It must be Hayun, right?’

The more she watched, the more certain she became.

The duel video against the streamer Night King sealed the deal.

After defeating Night King, Seolhwa took over the chat and had a brief conversation.

If she were a streamer…

She would have tags like “Just Chatting / Korean.”

Honestly, she was unsure because their impressions were so different.

But what was her major? Video production and editing.

She was confident in her eye for detail.

Their body type and height were similar.

And most importantly, her clear, gentle voice was captivating, even in casual conversation.

There couldn’t be another voice like that. But it was just a hunch.

If she told anyone, they would dismiss it as a delusion.

“Ugh…”

She really wanted to ask.

‘Are you Seolhwa?’

Just like that.

“Sigh…”

[Current Time]
-1:11 PM

She was working today.

If Hayun came to the Capsule Room…

Even if she didn’t…

“Should I ask her out to dinner?”

Her shift started in the evening, so she had plenty of time. Hayun had treated her last time, so it was her turn.

After washing her face, Seoyeon sat at her vanity and looked in the mirror.

Even without makeup, she had a pretty face.

She usually only wore light makeup to avoid standing out…

“Hmm. Pretty.”

After putting on her makeup with extra care, Seoyeon smiled in satisfaction.

She could hold her own against even famous celebrities.

They didn’t call makeup a woman’s weapon for nothing.

With a confident expression, she picked up her smartphone and typed.

‘I should keep it casual, right?’

After deleting and rewriting several times, she finally sent the message.

Me: Hayun, are you coming to the Capsule Room?

Hayun: The capsule at home is better.

Her joy at the quick reply was short-lived.

“You bought a capsule…?”

Seoyeon tilted her head.

Even the cheapest capsules cost well over 20 million won. It wasn’t something you bought on a whim.

VR game items were also ridiculously expensive. But to Seoyeon, who had no talent for gaming, it was a distant dream.

‘Maybe she came to try it out before buying one…’

That would make sense.

Seoyeon looked around her small studio apartment. Besides the bed, there wasn’t much space to even sit.

‘There wouldn’t be space for a capsule in a place like this.’

If you had a capsule, you wouldn’t be living in a studio apartment.

‘Well… I don’t know what kind of capsule Hayun has…’

If she said it was better than the ones at the Capsule Room, it couldn’t be a basic model.

The one Hayun used at the Capsule Room was a high-end model, even among the standard ones.

Me: I see…

The “read” notification popped up. Hayun was reading her messages.

Me: (Emoticon of a rabbit covering its ears)

She had so many questions. But it would be rude to pry into someone’s real life based on their VR persona.

Still, she wasn’t asking out of mere curiosity.

Someone like Hayun would have plenty of editors offering her work.

But… Seoyeon felt a thrill while editing Hayun’s videos, like when she had first entered college, full of dreams.

She had replayed those few video clips countless times.

Objectively, her behavior was… well, like a mosquito.

But she didn’t want to give up.

No.

She had no concrete evidence.

Me: If you have time, would you like to have dinner together sometime?

Hayun: (Emoticon of a rabbit with its hand on its chin, tilting its head with a question mark)

The emoticon gave her hope, but…

Hayun: Maybe.

“Ah…”

Seoyeon groaned and lowered her head.

She hadn’t expected to feel this disappointed.

She knew what this meant.

Seoyeon looked at her phone again.

Hayun: Maybe.

But the words hadn’t changed.

A clear rejection.

‘I was too hasty…’

She slapped her cheeks lightly and stood up.

“I should work on some more videos…”

In the end, she kept typing until it was time to leave for work.

…

…

…

Ding-a-ling.

Seoyeon rushed in, tucking her brown hair behind her ears.

“Phew…!”

“It’s pretty hot outside, huh?”

“…It’s scorching. 6:55 PM is practically 7 PM… it’s evening… and it’s still over 38 degrees…”

Three part-timers worked at the Capsule Room where Seoyeon worked.

It was a rotating schedule, with each person practically covering an entire day, so they usually worked twice, or at most three times, a week. The 24-hour shifts messed up their sleep schedule, but after two years, she was quite satisfied with her job.

However, she had recently been feeling a sense of crisis.

Some Capsule Rooms were already automated. There was still a preference for places with staff, but how long would that last?

“Noona, no makeup today?”
“Yeah, it’s too hot. Does it look weird?”

Jinho, the part-timer who worked the shift before hers, asked curiously as Seoyeon fanned herself.

“No, you look pretty.”
“Really?”

He had just finished his military service and hadn’t been working long, but she liked him because he was diligent, unlike Hocheol, who was always late.

“By the way, noona, is something wrong with Hocheol?”
“Wrong?”

Jinho frowned, as if just the thought gave him a headache.

“He’s been rambling about seeing an angel. He even came to me earlier, asking if I had seen an angel, and saying weird things.”

An angel.

She had a feeling she knew who he was talking about.

“I don’t know… I’m not sure.”
“Well, Hocheol is always a bit strange. Oh, right! We have a lot of customers today. Noona, you know Demon King, right?”
“Uh… yeah?”

Jinho continued rapidly.

Apparently, the first person to clear Demon King was a customer at their Capsule Room.

And since the highlight video was first released in their lounge, most customers were playing Demon King now. That was the gist of it.

And those words gave Seoyeon a sense of certainty.

Pew! A sniper shot from somewhere shattered a yellow-haired head.

“Ah, f*ck! What the hell is wrong with these guys?!”

The screen went black, and the familiar “You Died” message greeted him for the umpteenth time.

-Sniped again~
-Another snipe~
-Choowang, you’re so bad.
-Idiot, just give back sensei’s items.
-Seriously lol
-Ah, why lol? Tell him to hold out longer, it’s fun.

[Survival] Shall we have chicken for dinner tonight? [Night King]

[Viewers: 3,732]

[Battle Survival] [Korean] [VR Game]

Night King Info
Followers: 3,437

It was a bizarre sight.

-That guy’s sniping is insane lol.
-Definitely a veteran.

Battle Survival.

A 50-player battle royale game.

Kim Minsu was truly confused.

Even in this bizarre situation where his viewers outnumbered his followers, he tried to maintain his composure.

Switch to follower-only chat?

He had tried that.

His follower count soared momentarily, but the chat became even more toxic, and he had to give up.

Instant unfollows.

A drastic change for someone who averaged less than 100 viewers, all happening in just one day.

But most of them were trolls and troublemakers, throwing Molotov cocktails at him.

It wasn’t just a metaphor. In this survival game, several players rushed in, attempting suicide bombings with Molotov cocktails.

<Kamikaze!!>

As soon as he spoke, another player burst through the door and detonated a Molotov cocktail.

A suicidal attack, disregarding death. A play that wouldn’t happen in a normal game. Normally, he would have been caught in the blast, but Night King, who had been waiting, narrowly escaped through a window.

-Oh, he dodged?
-He’d be an idiot to fall for that again lol
-Seriously lol

He gritted his teeth.

-Oh, mister, are your teeth okay?
-He’ll need dentures at 30 lol
-No meat for you, no meat lol
-Meat is important.
-Seriously lol

Mocked whether he died or survived.

But Night King didn’t give up.