Mother Bird and Fledgling: Where Am I? Who Am I?
Where am I? Who am I? The sun isn't out, so it's a bit cold. The wind is blowing. My right ear itches. What does cold even mean? What about wind? Where's my right side?
"Ah... hello?"
A girl greets me shyly. Her clear, long straight hair, looking just barely twenty, flutters in the wind. Her cheeks are flushed red, probably from the chilly weather.
"Y-you. You? You... yeah, who are you?"
"Ah...? Haha, right, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Seola. As you can see, I'm a gamer just like you."
"Gamer?"
"This is inside a game! I haven't played many rounds myself, so I don't know everything... but I'll teach you! Wanna come with me?"
The succubus girl who introduced herself as Seola grabbed my hand and led me toward a spot glowing red. She was quite the chatterbox.
"I'll explain just once, so listen up! Actually, if you forget and ask again, I'll kindly tell you, so no worries... but yeah, better to memorize it all at once!"
"This is the starting village. Check your pocket—there should be a few coins. Give money to the merchants here, and they'll give you items matching the price. It's a game, so no scams. What items should you buy? Hmm..."
"This is our team's fortress. You have to protect it above everything else! With all your might! Hwaiting, hwaiting! How much effort? Well? As much as your life?"
The place she led me to had other people around.
"Before going to your lane, stop by the forest like this to help the jungler. But absolutely don't kill that monster yourself! That friend will get really mad."
Leaving behind the friend whose words I couldn't understand at all, we joined a fierce battle. On the opposite side, figures like ours were knocking down our soldiers one by one.
"Let's do the same. See the fox bead in your hand? Throw it as hard as you can over there!"
"But don't go too far forward! Run away from the scary monsters!"
"Hehe. I got caught too. It's okay, it's okay—as long as we don't die next time. Let's fight again!"
"This game... seems tough."
Back then, I was foolishly passive. Unless Seola specifically told me to do something, I didn't step up. I could never catch up to Seola darting busily everywhere, so I always ended up isolated and dying first. Every time, Seola encouraged me not to give up, but in contrast, her expression wasn't all that bright. A shadow of anxiety lingered.
"Again... yeah, let's try from the start. No one gets good right away, right?"
How many hours had we played together? After yet another string of losses piling up, we returned to the waiting room. Seola stared blankly at the brutal losing streak.
Red. Crimson. Blood red. Fiery red.
"Ten losses in a row..."
"You tired too? Still, it was fun today, right?"
"Let's head home now. Sorry for pushing you on the first day."
We had a home. A stark white, bland room. The only furnishings: a bed, a table, a chair each, and a fancy carpet.
"Gotta sell this carpet. I liked it, though."
Seola fiddled with a few buttons, and the carpet vanished without a trace. She sat me on the bed and showed me the screen she was operating. Wavy characters floated in the air. I easily recognized them as hanja. But what were hanja?
"Every time you win a few games, they give you titles like this. Then you can sell them back like so. See, click here... raise the title, set the price... yeah, this one's worth a thousand won. Hit that last button, done. Easy, right? I'll show you again."
"It's hard, and you probably don't get why yet... but you have to do it after every game ends! Sell 'em all, then queue up again."
"Tired? Then sleep, and we'll play tomorrow? Promise you'll game with me tomorrow too!"
Seola was always optimistic, but she had competitive spirit too. She'd wail if she blew a sure win. In 2v2 battles, she never let her guard down. Sometimes she'd even forget to breathe. But whether I was gaming or sleeping, she was always in-game. Only at dawn, when footsteps woke me briefly, could I see her finally asleep.
"Seola."
"Yeah?"
"How long?"
"Today feels like the day we'll win for real! Wanna do just a bit more together?"
"Okay."
Today's record: 2 wins, 19 losses—better than day one. But after 19 straight losses and two miracle wins, her energy was sky-high.
"Just one more, till we lose."
Today she was more desperate than usual. But her skill hadn't improved much. The change was me—after two weeks of grinding, I was starting to understand the game. I could follow her orders, and even act without them. I'd internalized RS generation mechanics, risk exposure by lane position, even how to adjust lines on the fly. Fourteen minutes in, I realized spreading attacks across multiple forts beat focusing one. Little things piled up into real knowledge. In this game, trivia was the path to growth, and we built our wins step by step.
But it wasn't a solo game. Our miracle streak had to end eventually. It wasn't even a close loss. We were just worse, bad comp, bad luck in even fights. Just a game we deserved to lose.
Or so I thought. Not for Seola, apparently.
"We lost..."
"Yeah."
"Was it fun?"
I was tired, but if I had to say... yeah, it was. I nodded slightly.
"It was fun for me too. Being with you... snff... being together... it was really fun... sorry..."
"Why sorry?"
"We... probably can't game together anymore..."
She sobbed, dropping to her knees. Our eyes met head-on. She was pretty tall, I realized now.
"Now you'll wake up on your own. No sleeping past 7 a.m., okay?"
"Yeah..."
"No more me queuing with you—you game solo. Twenty games a day, minimum?"
"Yeah..."
"Love the game or not, don't stay up too late. You'll oversleep. Got it? Promise?"
"Can't... game together?"
She fell silent at my question.
"Yeah... I hate games. Hate 'em, hate 'em, sick of 'em."
"Why?"
"Duh... a game made for fun, but if you can't enjoy it? It's no fun. If you don't win enough daily to pay for mana potions, you die trapped in the capsule. Scary. Wondering if this game's another loss. Counting wins needed to survive the day—exhausting. When games drag on, feels like suffocating."
Seola went quiet for a while. The enemy breached our fortress for the final push. Her cheeks glowed red in the sunset glow. Chilly, maybe? Dew-like tears beaded at her eyes.
"Wanna call your name one last time."
"I don't know my name."
"That's fine. I'll give you one."
She started slowly. Her eyes drifted to my forehead.
"Nami."
[NoName]
"Don't know English well... but I can read it."
Seola hugged me tight.
"You're not nameless. You have this super pretty name: Nami."
"Nami... oh."
"Our Nami, live no matter what. Survive to the end, for Mom too. Someday, if you wait and wait... someone'll pull you out. I tried acting like a big sis... but... snff... can't. You're my daughter. Scared to die, but forgetting's scarier. Remember: your mom is only No Seola. Our proud daughter, Nami."
I'm still not growing. My mind matures, but this tiny body stays the same. I know why. VR capsules support from age 7. Locked in from birth via illegal access? Locks you at standard 7-year-old form. If I'd been born normally, would my body have grown by now, seven years later? No idea. Price to check was too high.
Seola never explained why we were trapped. Hoped I wasn't involved in something bad, maybe. Don't know details. Don't really want to.
But no growth has perks. Lying here alone with Mom feels like time stopped. Neither of us escaped six years ago.
Seola considered suicide at first. Our capsule: 'MEIMEI-2X', aka 'coffin'. A knockoff against high-mana US tech. Initially popular for solid performance despite low price. Full soundproofing, odor-proof, mana interference cancelation.
But soon explained the 'coffin' nickname. Client errors often locked the lid. Over-focused on performance, mechanical flaws. Hinges mana-based—no remote open. Firefighters had to pry it unless you were lucky. Recalled fully... but corps minimize losses. Sold cheap under table.
But bad actors exploit regardless. Perfect mana-block? Trap people inside. Everyone has biochips—no hiding on Earth. Destroying? No. But mana-proof capsule? Perfect till caught. No SOS, no death report. Find 'em? Cold corpse, perp gone.
Wreck language processor and protocols? No survival. But Seola realized I was trapped too, figured a way. Hacky title farming. Solo at first for potions, but two people? Limits. Bet on teaching me to play. With past-life memories, toddler brain could barely keep up.
Lucky break. But lightning doesn't strike twice—or so I thought. Till prince and princess showed—er, thorny turtle and ice eagle.
Spending sweet time with Kariri, game neared end. Tower crumbles, fortress burns. Allies routed. Foes dismantle keep.
But you three? Ignoring fortress for starting village?
My signals all along? Ah, finally. Mom's here. People are idiots. But a million fools? A couple smart ones.
No laugh or cry escaped—couldn't. But I blinked happier than ever.