Offline Meetup (1)
Saturday morning, 8 a.m. A time when most people, except for the diligently early risers and students grinding away at their studies, were still fast asleep.
[Good morning~ papapapapapapapa Good morning~]
I rubbed my eyes and woke up.
"Ugh... gotta get ready..."
The appointment was originally at noon, but the destination wasn't exactly close.
"Broommm... take me to the bathroom..."
From experimenting, I'd realized the broom was way more useful than I'd thought. It could effortlessly carry around a lazy bum like me even inside the house.
Before I knew it, the broom had whisked me to the bathroom. I showered, shaking off the morning fog from my mind.
Wind Variant Incantation: Dry
Now I didn't even need five minutes to dry my hair. With access to all attributes, the ways I could use magic were practically endless.
I fiddled with my neatly dried silver hair and opened the group chat.
From the looks of it, she'd already booked the pension. It didn't seem too expensive, which secretly made me a bit happy, but I was also grateful to Sarea for covering the big expense.
"...Not just this, but the last incident too. I gotta repay her somehow."
Since it was a Saturday meetup, we'd planned for a 1-night, 2-day trip, but staying overnight at the pension and heading home Sunday was optional. I'd play it by ear—if the vibe felt right, I'd crash there.
That meant packing spare clothes. I grabbed a bag from the floor of my room and tossed in some basics: two spare outfits, toiletries, one extra set of underwear. That was it—no need for anything huge.
"...What to wear now?"
The biggest hurdle for going out. Normally, I'd throw on a comfy hoodie or something, but I had a feeling everyone else would dress up. Showing up casual would feel rude.
Plus, I'd bought a few neat-looking outfits online after browsing around. And it was peak summer heat right now.
After trying on several while agonizing, one thing hit me: summer was dangerous for someone like me. No matter what I wore, my chest bulged out, poking and prodding... er, stirring up male hearts. Paired with my killer face and vibe, every outfit looked like a photoshoot.
I sighed and finally settled on jeans that weren't too bad and a black short-sleeved tee. I'd never really dressed up like this before, but I could at least tell what looked good or not on women's clothes, so picking them out had been fine.
Not being a celeb, but still hating the stares, I threw on sunglasses and a mask. The mirror showed a woman who screamed "I'm a total celebrity, deal with it."
"Argh... maybe dye my hair?"
I tried changing it to black, but my skill level was too low—it reverted right away.
"...Whatever. Let's just go."
I picked up my modest packed bag and finally stepped out.
Right outside, a pretty black cat was grooming itself alone. Curious about the effect of my old skill [Night's Alliance], I called out to it.
"Kitty. Come here."
The cat's eyes widened, and it trotted right over. I gently stroked its head.
"Purrr... grrr..."
It melted under my touch, rubbing against my hand and acting all cute.
"...Might be even more useful than I thought."
Head, back, belly, butt. It purred no matter where I petted, pressing closer.
Cats are sensitive around their tails and ears, right...?
I lightly grasped its tail. It flinched for a second but soon wagged it happily, not resisting.
"...Gotta go now. Don't wanna be late."
"Meeeow... mew..."
I paused at its pitiful gaze but waved goodbye.
"See ya later, kitty."
Just like always, I drew stares as I boarded the subway to the meetup spot. Sunglasses and mask dulled it a bit, but my striking silver hair was impossible to hide.
Line 7 for 10 stops, transfer to Line 2 for about 8 more—plenty of travel time. I sighed, popped in my wireless earbuds, and queued up some music.
About an hour later, I finally arrived.
Lee Ye-rim. 27-year-old woman. The player known as Eumsiinjang in-game had arrived at the spot earlier than anyone, lost in thought.
Her long, wavy black hair cascaded to her waist—an objectively pretty face anyone would agree on. Due to the heat, she was sipping coffee at a nearby café, gazing out the window.
30 minutes before the appointed time. Her phone chimed.
"Cough, you're... cough cough!"
Ye-rim ignored the coffee going down wrong and peered out the window. Crowds emerging from the station. One person stood out especially, but she couldn't spot Noel.
Calming herself, she replied.
The café bustled with people coming and going, so she still couldn't pick out Noel, but she'd know soon enough.
Moments later, a woman with long silver hair, sunglasses, and a mask climbed the stairs, holding a vibrating pager.
"...No way, right...?"
The woman approached Ye-rim's table and removed her mask.
"Eumsiinjang...? That's you, right?"
Her stunning lower face came into view. Ye-rim just stared blankly.
"...Guess not? Sorry, wrong person..."
"N-no! It's me...! You're... Noel...?"
"Ahaha... Yeah, that's me. You look even prettier in person than in photos."
What was this unreal beauty saying? It almost felt like a prank.
When she took off her sunglasses too, her gorgeous purple eyes shone through.
"You...! That look... Did you base your character on yourself for the recent customization?!"
"Er... Let's say that."
"How'd you get the hair and eye color? Dye and colored lenses?"
"Nope... Both natural."
"Whoa... crazy... Mixed race or something?"
Getting more embarrassed, I changed the subject.
"Anyway, should we introduce ourselves properly? Can't keep going with Noel and Eumsiinjang forever."
"Oh, yeah... I'm Ye-rim. Lee Ye-rim."
"I'm Kim Juwon. Nice to meet you."
After that, Ye-rim and I chatted easily, closing the distance without much effort. Her natural sociability shone through.
"Ahaha, I've dropped the formalities, but you're still using them with me, Juwon?"
"I dunno... how to switch to casual..."
"C'mon, just call me unnie. Ye-rim unnie!"
I laughed, sweating bullets. Unnie? I knew I had to, but the word still felt awkward as a woman.
"I'll get used to it slowly, unnie..."
"Such a pretty dongsaeng... Unnie's got no regrets in life now..."
One by one, the raid party members trickled in. Their reactions weren't much different from Ye-rim's.
"...Noel-nim...? This is you?"
"Gasp..."
Serinsel's was especially delicious.
"Noel-nim...? Is this really Noel-nim...? Oh no... I knew you'd be pretty, but not this pretty..."
I hit it off with Serinsel easily too. We were the same age, for one. Her E-type MBTI was 100%, and online, the three of us—me, Ye-rim unnie, and her—had been especially close. We'd played other games together, chatted a ton (me via text).
9 out of 12 showed up: the 7 from the tournament, plus 2 more. The extra 2, along with Sigang and Daeje, had said they'd do a day trip.
I approached Sarea, one of the organizers.
"Um... I wanted to apologize for the stream warning last time too... And thanks for setting this up. Sarea-nim."
"Oh, no need. I'm the thankful one. And... my name's Sun-woo. Kim Sun-woo."
I smiled and thanked Sarea—no, Sun-woo.
"Got it, Sun-woo. Let's have fun today."
"Y-yeah...!"
His face was red for some reason—probably the heat outside.
We had conveyor-belt sushi for lunch. I'd never touched fancy stuff like this much, and since turning female, my appetite had shrunk, so 8 plates plus a mini udon filled me right up.
"Haa..."
"Hm? Full already, Juwon?"
Sun-woo glanced at my barely stacked plates, surprised.
"Yeah... stuffed. Haha..."
"No wonder she's so skinny... Jeez."
Ye-rim unnie eyed my plates disapprovingly from my left, while Serinsel devoured sushi happily on my right. I nibbled a bit more, waiting for everyone to finish.
"No, unnie! I have money...! It's really fine!"
"Pfft, enough. What kinda place makes you pay after eating."
We'd agreed to split the group costs excluding what we each ate, but for some reason, Ye-rim unnie pulled out her card and paid for me.
"Ah, no... Then I'd feel like I'm just mooching..."
"Consider it payment for helping kill the legion boss together. Okay? Unnie's treating."
She even made up excuses to convince me. It eased my mind a little, but the nagging guilt lingered.
"...I'll pay you back later for sure..."
I quietly plotted my revenge(?).
After paying, we headed to the pension. It wasn't far from the restaurant—we arrived at the huge place in 30 minutes.
"Whoa... it's big."
"Yeah... huge."
"How much did this cost? You rented it for the whole day?"
"Ahaha... If we're doing a trip, might as well go all out for max fun."
Brimming with excitement and gratitude toward Sun-woo, we stepped inside.
Today was shaping up to be a blast.