Block

The moment I logged into Legacy of Raid, I opened the shop from the menu.

It was a little different from the shops in other RPGs. As far as I remembered, Legacy of Raid didn't sell anything that would seriously swing your build. The game was a monthly subscription to begin with. Fifty thousand won a month, wasn't it? Steep, but when I thought about Legacy of Raid—the best-made virtual world out there—it still felt cheap enough.

Anyway, I checked how much Mother had put in for me, and something about the number of digits was wrong.

One. Ten. Hundred. Thousand. Ten thousand... a hundred million?

I checked again, and again, and the number in front of me was still a hundred million. Our family lived well, sure—but handing a hundred million won to someone who was still a child and telling her to go play a game? Thank you, Mother.

There was nothing I wanted to buy right then, so I closed the shop, opened the menu, and went into my info.

"Heh."

Level 10, written there bold as anything. Killing the Field Boss, the Orc Chieftain, had jumped me five levels in a single go. Five levels at once sounds like nonsense, but level isn't all that important in Legacy of Raid. What matters is gearing up after the cap, so leveling itself is pretty generous. That was how I remembered it.

Anyway, what I had to do now was pick a first class. There were no walls between classes, but you still had to gear each one separately, so the first choice mattered. The front line was already settled.

The sweet feel of a parry still lingered in my fingertips, that good—the clash of our strength, the crisp sound, the clean impact, and the weight and vibration traveling through my hands. Now that I knew this, melee was locked in. Which left the weapon. One-handed sword, greatsword, dagger, dual blades. Plenty of options.

"I started with a one-handed sword. Might as well stick with it."

The moment I got back to the village, I changed to the most basic class there was.

Then I cleared every quest in sight.

In the RPGs I knew, side quests were meaningless time sinks. Was this what a virtual world was? Clearing them was genuinely fun—fun enough that I felt like the lead in a little short film. By the time I'd finished every quest in the starting village, I was already level 20.

I'd hunted every kind of monster around the village. Taking down ordinary monsters was fun, no question, but it wasn't the fight with the Orc Chieftain. Ordinary monsters were trivial now.

I looked around and found the people almost ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all gone. A check of the time said it was already four in the morning. A reasonable hour for sleep. I was different. This body ran an MDB deathbed connector, so rare you could count every user in the world on your fingers. Staying logged in for twenty-four hours wasn't a problem.

The level cap in Legacy of Raid was 60, and raids began at 60. I'd meant to climb slowly, but the showdown with the Orc Chieftain had set something burning in me—a hunger to reach the raids, and soon. My goal now was simple. Hit level 60.

That day, a video went up on the Legacy of Raid Gallery.

It showed a young-looking girl clearing the Orc Chieftain, a Field Boss that was supposed to be a raid. The headcount was wrong. A Field Boss usually took ten people at the minimum, and the smallest clear of the Orc Chieftain anyone had on video was six. In this one, the raid was a party of one.

Even the oldest veterans of Legacy of Raid only parried in a raid with at least two people, and only then with a buffer behind them. Parrying a boss's attacks alone? That had never happened in Legacy of Raid.

Maybe it was because this body had only just come back to life, but fatigue didn't quite register. It had been about sixteen hours since my parents left and I started Legacy of Raid, and I didn't feel tired at all. Even so, if I wanted to play for a long time, rest was mandatory no matter how little of it I felt.

I opened the menu and hit logout.

The pure-white space again.

It occurred to me that I had no idea how to take the connector off by myself. I didn't have arms. I didn't have legs. And at this hour, there was a good chance Unni was asleep. I was still turning it over when drowsiness drifted in—maybe because I was just standing there, doing nothing. I couldn't fight it. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, I was lying down in the white space. Eight hours had passed.

So you can sleep in the virtual world.

Anna's voice reached me, and a screen bloomed across the white on its own. The hospital room filled my view.

"Arang, you're awake?"

"Yeah. I'm up."

Unlike in reality, my mouth opened exactly the way I thought it. Because this was a virtual space, maybe. It was no different from living as a complete shut-in.

"Uh... ah... y-yeah. Nothing uncomfortable about sleeping?"

"Yeah. I slept great. Nu—unni, did you sleep well?"

I called Anna unni, and this time it came out naturally.

"Yeah! Unni slept great too!"

Anna looked into the camera on the connector, her face bright. If Arang had never fallen ill—if she'd eaten well and grown up right—would she have looked like that? Neat ponytail, a suit. None of the cold charisma from the first time I'd seen her. Just a woman, bright and unguarded.

"What are you doing today, Unni?"

"Unni has to go to work agaaain today... I don't wanna go."

She reached across the bed where I lay and stroked my stomach. I could feel Anna's hand on my belly. I hadn't logged into the game yet, and the sensation came through.

"Do you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to go?"

"Yeah... I have to go to work for you, Arang..."

Anna hauled herself up in little reluctant steps, kissed my stomach, said goodbye, and left. I logged straight back into Legacy of Raid.

I'd cleared every quest in the starting village, so I decided to move on to the next one.

Hm?

There were far more people in the starting village than usual.

Is there some event today?

Nothing to do with me. I was about to head for the next village when a man ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pointed and let out a stunned, empty sound.

"Huh?"

Someone who knew me? He wasn't anyone in my memory. I meant to ignore him and keep going, but he was only the start. Everyone around us turned to stare. Every single person in the plaza was looking at me.

What?

I felt, all at once, like an animal in a zoo.

Is it because I look young?

Legacy of Raid was virtual reality, rated fifteen and up. The problem was that even if you were generous, I was hard to pass off as fifteen. I'd been lying in bed so long I hadn't grown.

This doesn't feel great.

I started to move, trying to get out from under their eyes.

"Hey, you piece of trash. Play the game fair and square."

Someone said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something ugly. I didn't know who it was aimed at, but a fight had apparently broken out. Not my fight. I was slipping quickly through the crowd when a hand came down on my shoulder.

"Hm?"

I brushed it off and tried to go again.

"Where do you think you're going? Someone's talking to you. You listen."

The man put his hand back on my shoulder.

"...Me?"

"Yeah. You."

"What a weirdo."

I turned, checked the name floating over the man gripping my shoulder, clicked it, and blocked him.

Block a player in Legacy of Raid and contact became impossible. Their body turned into a mosaic, and you couldn't hear a word they said. What a convenient system.

I ignored the people staring and trotted off, already looking forward to the next village.

But why were they looking at me?