Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Flower Viewing, and...
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I stared, mouth agape, at the scenery around me.
"Oh."
"What do you think? It's nice to get out like this, isn't it? The weather is perfect~!"
Chris craned her neck, grinning from ear to ear as she looked back at me. She was pushing my wheelchair from behind.
"So many flowers have bloomed."
"Spring and fall have gotten so much shorter, so this is a rare sight. We can't miss a beautiful time like this."
Today, Chris and I had come to see the flowers.
Not on the Astria Continent, but in the real world, in Korea.
The cherry blossom trees lining the road like sentinels seemed to stretch on forever. The path Chris and I were on felt like a pale pink tunnel. Besides the cherry blossoms, colorful flowers dotted the landscape. Forsythia? Azaleas? Hmm, I couldn't really tell just by looking. It wasn't as if I'd ever been interested in flowers to begin with.
A decade spent on the Astria Continent, living a life of battle. And before that, a past life that now remained only as a faint, gray memory. Either way, neither had anything to do with flowers.
Still, pretty was pretty. To think I'd be admiring flowers now... did I seem like a normal girl at this moment?
"That place is recovering its environment, too."
"Yeah."
Chris agreed with my absentminded words.
The Astria Continent.
A land of bitter cold.
I had spent a long winter in the northern part of the Astria Continent.
After the conquest of the 'Tree of the Abyss', the demonic cold vanished. The temperature itself remained low, fitting for a northern region, but it was returning to an environment where various plants and animals could thrive.
"I'm surprised you wanted to come out, though. You usually just stick around the house."
"We promised we'd go out together sometimes, didn't we? And go on a trip."
"A-ahem. We did. ...Ah! This doesn't count as our trip, does it!? Sob, that would make me so sad!"
"Hehe, don't worry. I'll properly join you for the trip."
*Squeeze.*
I took Chris's hand.
"Gasp...!"
*Fiddle, fiddle.*
Chris's expression immediately turned dopey. She began to fiddle with my small hand.
I watched her reaction with interest.
Crying one moment, laughing the next, then looking completely dazed.
She really is a funny person.
"Besides, I'm a bit more financially stable now."
The steady income from YouTube, ad incentives, selling legendary weapons, and carrying players through raid dungeons. After paying Chris back, the remaining cash and gold were steadily accumulating in my bank account and inventory. The plan for my 'Sweet My Home' was proceeding smoothly.
'Astria Online' was truly a dream job.
"Well, this is an age where people make a living in the metaverse. Hmm, was it 20,000 gold? Ehehe, I have plans for all the money Rain paid me back."
Marriage funds, mumble, mumble, something, something.
"......?"
As I watched Chris muttering to herself with a sly grin, I spotted a place where flowers were in full bloom.
I tugged on Chris's sleeve, pleading.
"Chris, let's go over there."
"Oh, look at all the flowers."
There were other people around the flower bed. Some were sitting on mats under the cherry blossom trees, chatting with each other, while others were crouched near the flowers, admiring them.
"Oh my, look at her."
"Gasp... Is she a doll? So cute! Her hair color is beautiful too!"
"I think I've seen her on TV. Is she a celebrity?"
"Is that her older sister behind her? She's gorgeous too."
"But... a wheelchair? Goodness, is she disabled?"
"Shh, she might hear you."
*I can hear everything, you know.*
I flinched slightly at the larger-than-expected crowd and their quiet whispers, but I mustered my courage and wheeled myself toward the flower bed.
"Chris, the flowers are so pretty."
I smiled brightly and looked back at Chris from among the tall flower stalks that reached up to my seated height.
I could hear people around us sharply inhaling. Before I knew it, everyone's gaze was fixed on us.
"Ah."
My face flushed slightly. I had spoken a little too loudly.
And Chris?
She was staring at me with her mouth hanging open, a dazed look on her face. It looked like drool was about to drip from her slack jaw.
"......?"
I can never predict Chris's reactions.
She's such an enigma.
"Oh."
Chris spread a mat under a beautiful cherry blossom tree.
So that's what she was carrying on her arm when we got out of the car.
"Here, I brought some food too."
"Wow."
It was kimbap. A little lopsided but colorfully rolled, it was clear this was Chris's handiwork, not a housekeeping robot's.
Looking around, I saw others who had also brought simple snacks. Wouldn't that create a lot of trash?
"Hehe, of course, you have to take your trash with you. If you don't want to get fined. Besides, there are sanitation drones flying around, see?"
"Ah, you're right."
I could see drones occasionally flying around. Even in a natural setting like this, you could get a glimpse of life in the future.
Spreading a mat, eating from a lunch box amidst the beautiful scenery.
A scene from a faint memory—a picnic from my childhood in my past life—flickered in my mind before disappearing.
"It feels nostalgic for some reason."
"Hm? What does?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
I shook my head, erasing the image from my mind.
It has nothing to do with me now.
There was a time I agonized over the identity crisis between 'that' and myself, but now, I am simply 'Rain' and 'Iseulbi'.
*Chomp.*
I picked up a piece of kimbap with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth.
"It's delicious."
"Right, right? I woke up early this morning to make it!"
Chris puffed out her chest proudly.
The taste of kimbap is hard to define. The sourness of the pickled radish, the taste of ham, the rice, the savory flavor of sesame oil and seaweed. Various things combine to create a subtle, complex taste. It's the same with bibimbap. I wonder if Koreans just like mixing all sorts of things together? Still, food like this must exist because it's delicious.
As I continuously moved my chopsticks, stuffing kimbap into my mouth, Chris watched me with an adoring gaze. Then, she glanced around and brought something up.
"Isn't it strange?"
"Wha?"
With my mouth full of kimbap, I made a weird sound. *Gulp.* After swallowing, I asked Chris again.
"What is?"
"You can see far more beautiful scenery in virtual reality, yet people still come out to enjoy the real world like this."
"Ah."
Indeed.
Around us were families out for a trip and couples enjoying the view.
"It must be the sense of reality. Even with current technology, there are limits to the synchronization rate in virtual reality."
"......."
"My job is to make virtual reality feel more real. But seeing this sometimes makes me think. If everyone started living in a realistic virtual world, if they turned their backs on reality, what would happen to this world?"
I silently held my chopsticks in my mouth.
A sense of reality.
The thing I lacked.
The thing I couldn't find here.
The thing I regained on the Astria Continent.
These people are different from me. I felt a sense of reality there, but I couldn't find it here.
What about now?
After finishing the kimbap, I drank some water and lay down with my head on Chris's lap.
*Rustle, rustle.*
A gentle spring breeze blew. A pink cherry blossom petal softly landed on my silver hair. Chris's gentle hand brushed it away as she stroked my head.
Right now, this place isn't so bad either, but...
Savoring Chris's touch, I lowered my half-open eyes.
I looked at my legs.
*Whirr.*
On the way back to Chris's car in my wheelchair.
Perhaps because I was lost in thought, I hadn't spoken since our conversation under the cherry blossom tree.
"......?"
At some point, Chris had gone quiet too. I looked back at her.
Chris was looking at me with a worried expression. Had she sensed the slight shift in my mood?
I sighed deeply and pouted.
"Chris, what's with that face?"
"H-huh? What about my face?"
Chris hurriedly felt her own face. Her pretty features contorted this way and that. Seeing her ridiculous expression, I laughed out loud. Ahaha!
"Chris, your face is hilarious!"
"Heh, i-is that so? Hmph!"
Chris wiped her nose and grinned sheepishly. She looked like a complete fool. Where did all her charisma as a raid leader go?
Her facial antics chased away my distracting thoughts, and feeling much lighter, I moved my wheelchair forward.
*Dring, dring.*
Chris's phone rang, and she took out her smartphone.
*Woong.*
A hologram of a cute, pink-haired female mage appeared in the air.
Chris tilted her head and spoke to the hologram.
"Beimerung? What is it? A direct video call from in-game?"
- Chris, Chris! An event started in the Elf Forest! ...Behind you, is that Rain?
"Beimerung."
The holographic Beimerung gave me, visible behind Chris, a mischievous smile.
- What's this... are you two on a date? Flower viewing? Chris, you're so mean. You didn't even invite me!
"Uh, ahem! I just brought Rain out for some fun! ...I-is that so? Do Rain and I look like we're on a date? Anyway, what's going on? What event?"
Chris, who had glanced back at me with a slight blush, quickly asked for the reason for the call.
- Someone claiming to be an envoy from the emperor of the Alpharion Empire visited the Elf Kingdom. It seems to be a special event.
"An event?"
- They're looking for people from the attack squads that got the first through third clears of the Tree of the Abyss. The Red and White squad, No Name, and Skada's squad.
Chris and I looked at each other.
The Alpharion Empire? An event?
So suddenly?