Matching

"Hnn..."

Today was checkup time, one of the slots that came around twice a week. Until last night I had been the one striking down a maggot boss that looked ready to end the world. Now, aside from squirming, there was nothing I could do. I just wanted the exam to be over.

I was healthy. The doctors still didn't know why I had recovered, and of course they couldn't. I had been dead, and then I came in and turned into Arang. A fantasy like that was bound to give any doctor a headache. There was nothing they could do about it.

Reality was a little less comfortable than the VR game Legacy of Raid, but I didn't feel all that bad about it. Even if I did nothing, a pretty doctor looked after me. She massaged me, washed me, and ran the tests with a gentle hand. It was something like that easy, pleasant feeling of sitting in a salon while the stylist washes your hair.

There was one thing I felt sorry for, with the doctor who worked so hard to take care of me. I still hadn't been able to tell her I was all right about what happened last time. She talked to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me for my sake and told me funny stories, and I wanted to answer her. I couldn't. The moment I came out into the real world, Arang's feelings folded into mine, and speaking got hard.

Doctor, thank you. Always.

Once the day's checkup was finished, Anna came to see me.

"Arang. Nothing hurts, does it?"

"Mm... no..."

Even so, I could manage a little more now than mm and no. That was a huge step.

"The game still fun?"

"Mm... it's fun..."

Anna talked with me in the real world, even just a little, so I could overcome things here and not only in the virtual one. Maybe that was why I could say other words now. Even so, I still had a long way to go.

After we had talked about this and that, I slipped back into the virtual world and launched Legacy so I could log in again.

Legacy did not start right away.

There was a reason I had gotten the checkup today. I was the one who had asked for it, because today was a Legacy update day. I couldn't play while the patch was running, so I had put the exam then. By the time I got back, the timing was perfect. While the download churned along, I opened the update notice posted on the Legacy homepage.

It looked like nothing but minor bug fixes, until something I had never imagined showed up near the end of the notice.

"A Mom's Touch collab...?"

Legacy was collaborating with Mom's Touch. I knew the brand well. They ran game collabs all the time, and even before I became Arang I had ordered delivery from them more than once.

Order the Legacy set at Mom's Touch and you got a coupon. The coupon rewards weren't especially tempting. The problem was that certain stores were giving out keyrings, first come, first served.

Every game has a monster that stands for it. In Legacy, that monster is Ilmiho, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the cute little thing always up on the loading screen. The keyring was Ilmiho.

Back when I was a man, I hadn't wanted anything like that at all. Maybe because I was Arang now, I wanted one so badly it hurt.

Hnnn...

The way to get one was to go to the store in person and order the Legacy set. Extremely fussy. A normal person wouldn't have found it fussy. I did.

First, I had to leave the hospital room. That alone was hard. Everyone worried over me so much that I didn't know if they would even let me out, and I couldn't go by myself in the first place. I couldn't exactly roll there.

So even if I did get out, I would need Anna's help, or PinkBerry's.

Clear the first problem and the second one was waiting. Authentication. To stop resellers from flipping them, it said you could only get a keyring by verifying the fingerprint saved on your connector as your personal data.

Fingerprints. I didn't have a single one. Not on any of ten fingers. Ughhh... what am I actually supposed to do?

Forget fingers with prints on them. I didn't have arms.

So what, buy one off a reseller? Ask PinkBerry to get it? No. That would be meaningless. This only meant something if I went and got it myself.

But there was no way. Even if I completely lost my mind and rolled all the way to the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠store, I still didn't have fingerprints.

Wasn't there some way to get verified without them? There had to be people in the world with no fingerprints.

I'd ask. Send an email first, and if that didn't work, call.

I wrote the email out carefully and sent it, and by then the Legacy download was finished.

"Hoo~ Legacy really is the best."

Cool air, and the sounds of the wild coming in sweet. I stretched long and easy, then got my body moving.

Today I had to play Legacy alone. PinkBerry had business at the family home and couldn't log in until tomorrow. We needed at least about half a set of Underground Cave gear before the next dungeon anyway, so I had been told not to worry and just go. At this point PinkBerry was already wearing endgame-tier gear, so farming alongside me wasn't really necessary.

Which meant today I was going to the Underground Cave alone, through matchmaking!

In all the time I had played Legacy, I had only ever played with PinkBerry, Mr. Kang Hangil, and Mr. Mozzawapper. Playing with other users would be a first. Heart pounding, I pressed the match button.

"Huh?"

Uh... twenty-three minutes? Twenty-three minutes? Had I read that right?

Ah... was this real? What even... Oh. Right. Legacy had just updated. Was that why there were no tanks or healers?

What was I supposed to do for twenty-three minutes? A real headache. I had already cleared nearly every quest in the areas I could move through.

"Hmm. Should I ask for help in global chat?"

I opened global chat, and the endless flood of messages made my head spin. Legacy was an RPG, after all. People buying gear, guild ads, raids looking for bodies, parties looking for members, and plenty more besides.

I typed something simple.

It was scrolling so fast I doubted anyone would even see what I had written. Not long after I posted it, though, a bright little ching sounded, and I was inside the Underground Cave.

A party, at last, with users I was seeing for the first time.

I looked around. Two men, both much bigger than me, and one woman. The funny part was that the tank was the woman. They had been glancing every which way, and the moment they lowered their heads and found me, they jumped.

"Hah!"

"Whoa!"

"Oh my. It really is Arang."

"Hello."

I gave the party a neat little bow.

"Wow... I had my doubts, but I'm glad I queued."

The tank, a woman carrying an enormous axe, broke into a smile and dropped to one knee so her eyes were level with mine.

"How can a person be this cute...!?"

The other two men peeked at me from behind her and started taking screenshots.

Was I this famous?

I knew Mr. Kang Hangil was a famous person. I hadn't thought I was known like this. Don't tell me I've become a name...

I drew my beloved sword, Heartstrike, and struck a cool pose.

"Ooh!"

The party circled me, snapping screenshots the whole way. I ran through pose after pose and gave them my best.

To think I had been this popular.

While I farmed the Underground Cave, the queue collapsed into one-second matches. I was a DPS, and still, every time I queued, it grabbed me. Everyone who popped into those parties was queuing for the sole purpose of meeting me. Before we tackled the dungeon, I held a little screenshot session.

I had thought I didn't much care for attention. Maybe it was only because there were three of them, but it didn't feel like a burden.

Not to brag, but across five runs I never once lost a DPS race. Did that mean Sword Master was broken...? Or was I just that good?

Well, either way, the day's Underground Cave farm ended without a single problem. One chat, and one-second queues all the way until the farming was done. It finished fast.