Frontier (5)

Sunlight spilled into the wooden house. Inside a room that looked worn yet warm, Eldrin tidied her bookshelf.

She tipped the last book at a slight angle, then laid a beige fabric runner along the side of the shelf. A contented smile soon curved her lips.

"See? It's nothing special, but it completely changes the feel, right? These little details are what— huh? There's a lot of people today. Is it some ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kind of holiday?"

She calmly checked the chat window. The crowd flooding in was far larger than usual, and most of them were talking about Gawol. Every so often, someone brought up Sulbbang as well.

The connection between those two and Eldrin was obvious enough. Before long, the chat filled with demands that she tell them about the meetup.

Why all of a sudden, now?

It threw her a little, but she didn't dwell on it. These things happened from time to time—some old topic dug up from somewhere, resurfacing long after the fact.

"Stories from the meetup, huh. Come to think of it, I never did go into detail, did I? We're almost done here anyway, so how about I tell you now?"

A library of memories opened in her mind. That gathering had been Eldrin's first meeting with Gawol—and with Sulbbang, too. Just because you were fellow streamers didn't mean you had to meet in real life.

Sulbbang had looked surprisingly normal. Given his clownish image, rumors had circulated that he was bald, or grotesquely ugly. For all that talk, he was just an ordinary-looking young man.

She'd known, of course, but the image problem was serious. How on earth had that guy ended up like this?

While she was still giggling, a brilliant idea struck her. A photo she'd taken in advance filled the stream screen—a red wig that looked like it belonged in a cosplay kit.

"You all went on about it so much that I even brought a wig as a gift for him, you know? I just took it back home, though."

She'd talked about Sulbbang, but of course what most of the viewers really wanted to know about was Gawol. If she kept it a complete secret, the chat would erupt into a wall of fire emojis.

A little information, within the bounds of good manners, should be fine. So—where exactly was the line?

She had no intention of showing anyone's face, but mentioning that she was pretty seemed acceptable enough. That was just Eldrin's personal impression, after all.

But maybe her enthusiasm got ahead of her.

"D— ahem ahem ahem! Almost slipped up there. Gotta be careful. Anyway, if you ever meet Gawol, you're all going to be shocked."

She tapped her lips, which had nearly called her "Daeun" out of habit. Thankfully, she hadn't said anything that would actually cause a problem.

"Wait, he told you guys about that too?"

The problem was that she had no idea how much the viewers already knew. Then again, her stream had started a bit late. The meetup had been a few days before the patch, and by now the emergency maintenance was already over. She hadn't delayed on purpose, but Sulbbang had almost certainly weathered the interrogation in her place.

If she'd known it would turn out like this, she would have watched his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stream first. Assuming the issue had already blown over had been a careless mistake.

"Well, first of all—Gawol is pretty. I'm not just saying that; she's genuinely pretty. Honestly, enough to make me jealous. She could've been an actress or an idol if she'd wanted to."

"I'm serious. You won't believe me, so how am I supposed to convince you?"

"Photos? We did take a few together… Hang on a second. I saved them."

Her fingers moved as if adjusting an interface. The tidal wave of chat quieted for a moment, settling into anticipation. A blacked-out, censored photo appeared on screen.

And the instant Eldrin grinned and revealed it—

A peal of laughter burst out of her, pure delighted mischief.

The photo showed Eldrin with an arm around Gawol's shoulders. The silver-haired, red-eyed assassin everyone knew had her face half-hidden, looking bashful. In other words, it was a screenshot taken inside the game. More precisely, a commemorative shot from after a party hunt.

The chat had turned considerably more aggressive than usual. She guessed a lot of Sulbbang's viewers had flooded in—and at the same time, she thought that if Gawol ever started streaming, these were the kinds of viewers she'd be stuck with.

Real-life Daeun was gentle and soft-hearted, but in-game Gawol was quite the little troublemaker. Eldrin hoped that tender heart wouldn't get hurt. Female streamers, after all, had a way of attracting gossip—the unicorns whose horns ached at the slightest provocation, the toxic shippers who sketched out wedding plans the moment two people so much as interacted. It would clearly be a rough road.

Eldrin hid her true thoughts behind a smile.

"What can I do? I can't just go showing photos she hasn't agreed to make public. Just trust me, okay~?"

Personally, she was worried. It felt a bit like watching a little sister you couldn't leave alone. That sense had been there for a while, and lately the image had only solidified. The Daeun she'd met in person had seemed rather unstable. She'd put on a happy face at the meetup, but even that had looked to Eldrin like a child left by the water's edge. Children could laugh right up until the moment they fell in, after all.

And mental fragility wasn't the only concern. As a gamer, Gawol's assassin playstyle was something to admire. But evaluating those flashy movements as a woman—well. There were moments that felt a little embarrassing. If she ever started streaming solo, she'd need to be careful about her posture and camera angles. Just in case, Eldrin figured she'd float the subject next time they met. An awkward screenshot circulating by accident would stick in someone's head for a long time.

"As for the cheek-touching… Gawol's body is just incredibly soft. My little sister used to be like that, too."

"No! Not like that! I meant her skin is like a baby's. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And her cheeks. Her cheeks were soft, okay? Ugh, I can't say anything around you people."

She was just barely managing to put out the fire before it flared up again when a donation, arriving a beat late, caught her eye.

The attached image was Gawol doing the I-challenge. The pose was so mortifying it crossed into the sublime, and Eldrin's entire sense of reality collapsed. Shock and horror froze her thoughts completely. She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again, and despaired at a world that refused to change.

In a trembling voice, she had no choice but to ask:

"Why… why is she doing that…?"

I caught up on sleep and logged in to match the party's schedule. Even though I'd come in earlier than we'd agreed, everyone was already gathered. The atmosphere was… not great.

Uncle Dolgwol was awkwardly scratching his head. Eldrin was fidgeting. Sulbbang had his head bowed low in front of Sansae. And the moment I logged in, every gaze in the room swung toward me.

Right. I knew exactly what this was about. I had a pretty sharp sense for these things.

I quietly took a spot beside Sulbbang and lowered my head, hands folded demurely over my stomach. Even so, there was no need to go full kneel, right?

"……"

Sansae's sharp gaze fixed on me. It wasn't actually that sharp—if this had been real life, maybe, but here Sansae was just a cute little halfling bard. Still, I was being scolded, so I didn't let it show.

If you caused trouble together, you got scolded together. That was the code among men.

Sansae stared at me for a long moment, then burst out with a little snort of laughter.

"You won't do it again, right?"

"Of course not."

"Be careful. Even if it's just a game, people can still get hurt."

"Yes……"

Somewhere in the back of my mind, a thought surfaced: I didn't even hurt anyone—do I really need to be scolded? But the fact that someone was lecturing me for my own sake made me happy. So, impure as it might have been, I listened to the scolding with a glad heart.

Fortunately, the punishment didn't last long. Sansae had only brought it up out of concern; she clearly had no intention of really raking us over the coals. Sulbbang, though, got a few extra words about why he hadn't stopped me sooner. Uncle Dolgwol stepped in to mediate, and that was the end of it.

We had work to do, after all.

Our first dungeon expedition on the new continent.