Back to Virtual Reality

“Writing numbers is so hard... Nami, help me!”

Baek Arin came into the room with a tearful face. Without even changing her clothes, she pulled out her textbook right away.

“It was homework due today, but I forgot yesterday! The teacher said to bring it by today, so I have to go back to school later.”

NoName took the math workbooks Arin handed her and flipped through them. It was hard for NoName to understand why she'd come all this way— an hour round trip— just to ask for homework help. Why not ask a classmate?

“I have to count up to 30, but how do you write from 17?”

The education system in this world moved fast. In her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠past life, runes were something only true nobles learned. Here, even first graders knew them as basic common knowledge. Numbers, Hangul, runes— kids had to learn three scripts at once. No wonder it was just a headache for them.

“Wow... Nami, you're so smart.”

Whatever. Arin's eyes sparkled with pure admiration as NoName's elegant fingers swiftly filled in the blanks. In Arin's memory, even the smartest kid in class couldn't write this fast. Was NoName even smarter?

Over the past month, NoName had been Arin's excellent tutor. She couldn't go to school for some reason, which was a shame, but according to the nuns, she'd start attending in the second semester. That alone gave Arin strength.

Arin was thrilled that NoName didn't treat her differently like the other kids. At school, kids avoided her because she was from the orphanage with the “bad kids.” At the orphanage, it was hard to fit in too. Especially lately, Hwang Bo-young's bullying had gotten worse, so it was a huge relief to be separated from her at just the right time.

“Nami, did you hear? Last week, Min-woo oppa got adopted into a rich family. And this time, that rich guy's uncle came and gave us capsules as gifts. Two of them!”

NoName had noticed the kids being extra noisy today. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Normally, at this hour, they wouldn't even think of coming back, let alone on time for the nuns' curfew. They must have rushed from school to fight over the two capsules first.

“Min-woo oppa's so lucky. Rich people don't have to work and can live in virtual reality every day. Playing VR all day, sleeping in it too— sounds so happy.”

“Not really.”

“You don't wanna get adopted? Or the games?”

“Both.”

NoName was plenty satisfied with orphanage life. The single internet PC was monopolized by the middle and high schoolers, so she couldn't enjoy proper modern amenities, but the books Arin borrowed from the library were enough.

It was a bit absurd when she'd asked for the hardest, highest-level book and Arin brought back an entire encyclopedia, but still.

'An encyclopedia isn't bad either.'

At least it explained words she'd seen online but didn't understand. Why memorize them? No reason. She'd had enough of charging toward one goal only to burn out spectacularly. She did it because she wanted to. That was NoName's philosophy. In her past life, and the one before...

“Thanks, Nami! Let's try the capsules together when they're free later! I'm off!”

And playing with this cute, innocent kid wasn't so bad either. Did Mom feel like this when she gamed with me? Hard to guess.

'Ah... Should've asked Arin to grab one while she was here.'

NoName eyed the Mana Potion she still couldn't open alone. Without it, food wouldn't go down. Force it, and she'd just puke. She decided to skip lunch and headed to the central living room where the kids clustered.

These kids had zero thoughts of lunch; they were buzzing only about the capsules. The high schoolers left for school regrettably due to classes, but the middle schoolers were different. They couldn't afford ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠PC bangs like the older kids with more money. These capsules were like rain in a drought.

“This is the brand-new model from this year, right?”

“Specs are so good, even Resonance full options keeps ping in single digits.”

“Insane.”

The two capsules went to a determined high school freshman ditching school entirely and the biggest-looking middle schooler. They logged in smoothly, clearly experienced, and jumped into the game.

“Jae-hwan, hop on LoL right now for duo.”

“Huh? Hyung, no Resonance?”

“Too hard, I don't know it. You know LoL, right?”

Under Yong-jun's implicit threat, Jae-hwan had no choice but to launch LoL. He suddenly remembered this hyung was a LoL fiend.

Jae-hwan scanned his champion list. Even after half were deleted in the massive update two years ago, 150+ remained— dizzying.

“Wanna see my rank? Cha Yong-jun, Warwick artisan, games played rank #3 descends.”

Of course, it was just games played ranking among high tiers, not overall tier, but no one argued.

“When'd you play 700 games? Skipping school every day?”

Diamond 1 alone made him enviable to normals. Amid the chaos, NoName, peeking from the back, locked eyes on the screen's bottom right.

NoName let out a hollow chuckle. Had I really played that many? That number probably wouldn't climb for a while. Maybe someone would finally dethrone the top spot this year. Fine by her. Unless she lost her mind, she wouldn't touch this game again.

It didn't feel real. She'd come back after all. To her hometown.

The trigger was entirely Arin's stubbornness.

“I heard it's a school trip.”

“I just decided not to go.”

Early morning— bus left at 10, but Arin got ready for school as usual. Early July: elementary, then middle, then high school trips staggered by a day each. Destinations changed yearly, but elementary was 4 nights 5 days, middle 3/4, high 2/3.

Arabyeol Elementary/Middle/High— same foundation, as the name suggested. Private school, so trips cost a lot, but for low-income kids like them, nearly free.

Arin had chattered excitedly to NoName for a month about it. When asked why she was skipping, she dodged, saying she just didn't want to go anymore.

“So anyway. Play games with me tomorrow? Everyone else will be gone. Pleeease?”

“Capsules aren't...”

“Ugh... Nami's mean.”

What could she do? Arin scampered to the first-floor bed and buried her face in the pillow, peeking back cutely.

“Um... Why does Nami hate games?”

“Sick of 'em.”

“Played a lot before?”

“Yeah.”

“How much?”

“All day.”

“How all day?”

Her endless questions stopped NoName cold. Instead, she pinched Arin's soft baby cheek and stretched it.

“Eeeeeek!”

“Just one game.”

“For real? Real real real?”

Arin's eyes went wide. That exciting? Just one game, under an hour.

Unfortunately, her interest was purely LoL. Could've been Fall Guys or BlockCraft, but orphanage kids were all LoL addicts— must've rubbed off.

“But I've never played LoL. What now?”

“It's fine.”

“For real, zero clue?”

“I'll carry.”

“Whoa, Nami was so cool just now!”

Arin tackled her. NoName lost balance and flopped to the floor. She kept forgetting— despite treating Arin like a baby, her own body was smaller. Hurry up and develop mana potions for growth.

She stopped Arin rubbing cheeks and helped her up.

“I'm sleeping now. You should head to school.”

“You just woke up and sleeping again? Sleeping too much stunts growth!”

“Then I'll stay small. Whatever.”

Couldn't sacrifice precious sleep. Arin, full of youthful vigor, wouldn't get it.

“School's empty anyway... Scary getting yelled at by gym teacher though...”

“Does Arin hate school?”

“I like playing with Nami more.”

“Not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what I meant.”

Arin bit her lip. Did she get it? Hard to tell. Either way, her situation wouldn't change. NoName just hoped she wouldn't get used to the loneliness.