18. I'm Not a Crazy Bitch - (4)
18. I'm Not a Crazy Bitch - (4)
***
After Jinseong left, Sua hesitated before finally working up her courage. She clasped her hands tightly and spoke.
"Um! D-do you know Another World!?"
"...?"
Serin was startled by the sudden mention of Another World, but her thoughts soon fixed on one thing.
She had become a hot topic on Another Level, a community site for veteran players.
And hadn't the game company's recent statement about the hacking allegations surrounding her been pinned to the top of that community site?
On top of that, she had appeared on the tweetie stream of the streamer Hana, which had been watched live by twenty thousand people.
Maybe. This person named Sua in front of her might know about her.
That thought crossed her mind.
But no matter how much of a hot topic she had become... even Serin couldn't imagine being recognized on the street.
No matter how famous the game was, it was still just a "game."
The idea that every ordinary person out in public knew about the game was close to a fantasy.
Living in the real world, even Serin, who had briefly experienced social life, knew that people didn't have time to play games.
So someone recognized her after she'd only stepped outside for a little while?
"That's... a virtual reality game, isn't it."
Serin, who had naturally softened her sharp demeanor, answered as if she couldn't believe it.
"Oh, you do know it. What a relief. Serin, in that case, do you happen to know about a user named Rin who's been a hot topic lately... oh, no, wait a moment!"
Even as she spoke, Sua kept glancing at Serin's expression. She suddenly stopped mid-sentence, frantically worked her phone, and began searching for a NewTube video.
She immediately opened NewTube, tapped the menu in the top left, and pressed the "Liked Videos" section. NewTube videos related to the user named Rin filled the phone screen.
And that meant Sua had recently watched "only" videos about the user named Rin.
[The insane-mechanics user "Rin," personally verified by the admins—the rise of a new ranker?]
[Is it real that they parried four times in midair? Is this person even human? Do you know the user "Rin" who's been going viral!?]
[Complete analysis of the user "Rin," suspected of cheating among countless Another World players—from skill to character customization!]
Every title was shamelessly clickbaity. Even well-known Another World NewTubers were among them, their determination not to miss the surge in views obvious.
But right now, none of that registered in Sua's eyes. She was simply mulling over which video to show Serin.
Depending on which one she showed her, Serin might think she was weird again. That made Sua surprisingly cautious even about choosing a video.
In the end, Sua clicked on the video that featured the user named Rin the most.
"Serin... I know this is sudden, but first... could you watch this video?"
Sua's voice was still trembling slightly as she spoke.
Even so, the fastest way to dispel the stalker suspicion seemed to be letting Serin see the evidence for herself, so Sua carefully held out her phone.
Serin, who had been quietly watching what Sua was doing, took the offered phone and looked at the playing video.
Then, without realizing it, Serin's eyes widened slightly.
—At this angle, dodging an Archer Class projectile with nothing but a turn of the head is a pattern the ranker Gosu often uses when toying with Ranged Class opponents. Rin probably copied it. If you watch Rin’s eyes, you can see they never leave the crossbow from beginning to end. That...
Serin had half expected that a video of herself would appear.
But the more she watched the playing video, the less she liked it.
'Copied it.'
It was honestly impressive to see Rin thoroughly analyze the player Gosu and reproduce the same pattern.
'The four midair parries were probably half luck.'
Everything she heard in the video sounded off.
"..."
"...?"
Sua blinked blankly as Serin continued watching the video.
She had expected Serin to glance at the video on the phone and say something like "Ah, they're so similar to me," or "What about it?" or "That's me," or any number of other responses. But none of those came. The silver-haired woman named Serin simply watched the video as if she found it interesting.
So Sua couldn't bring herself to speak first. She carefully lifted her cafe mocha and sipped at it, waiting for Serin to speak first.
—Honestly, in the duel scene with the streamer Hana, I think it's fair to say there's a significant skill gap between the two. It looks like they tied the cord attached to the Crescent-Moon Weight around the streamer Hana's arm to use a technique. What's surprising here is that they deliberately used the technique at a slower speed. Wow, you can really see the intent to toy with the opponent. Whether you'd call it toxic or not, looking at the revealed chat logs from the streamer Hana's broadcast, the user named Rin seems to have a pretty bad personality...
'Why is my personality suddenly coming up here?'
"No!"
Serin, who had been watching the video, suddenly exclaimed in disbelief without realizing it.
"Cough! Cough!"
Sua, who had been carefully sipping her cafe mocha, startled and coughed as if she'd choked. She pulled a tissue from nearby, wiped her mouth, and cautiously glanced at Serin.
'Is the video really that interesting...?'
As if she had forgotten Sua's existence entirely, the woman named Serin kept staring only at the video.
Just as Sua thought, Serin was completely absorbed in the video right now.
She had only deliberately used the technique slowly and shown off her skill to prove she wasn't cheating.
But the video portrayed her as if she had done it to toy with the streamer named Hana, painting her as a genuinely toxic user.
Serin, who had been staring in sheer disbelief, suddenly glanced at the view count below the video.
—862,532 views.
The NewTuber had packed the video with personal opinions, yet it had this many views?
'Eight hundred thousand people watched this kind of video...?'
Then what did that make her image?
'Toxic?'
'A pervert who bullies newbies?'
All sorts of thoughts ran through her head.
On top of that, she couldn't even tell whether the NewTuber in the video was praising her or putting her down. The intent was hazy.
They spoke in a tone that seemed to cross the line but never quite did, subtly badmouthing her the whole time. Watching it just naturally made her angry.
But then again, when she saw her own chat logs that appeared in the NewTube video, Serin had nothing to say.
[Is this really worth being impressed over? Is this seriously worth 20,000 people watching?]
[If you're gonna swing twin swords like that, just quit, seriously]
[That greatsword swing is absolute trash lmaooo can't even control the center of gravity, are those muscles just for show]
[Is this really the best everyone's got?]
[No but if you throw daggers like that there's no force behind them]
She really had chatted like a toxic user, hadn't she.
'Wait, am I actually toxic...?'
Without realizing it, she wondered if she really was that toxic.
Her past self had definitely been far from the kind of user called toxic.
Back when she played Black Ark with a keyboard and mouse, she'd been called all sorts of weird things: "angel who helps newbies," "bastard who tries to help newbies," "bastard who gets horny when he sees newbies."
There had been plenty of strange nicknames, but in the end, she had been called a user who played the game as someone who cared for newbies.
Actually, that was because the game kept dying.
She had done everything she could to keep the game alive: answering newbies’ questions in the beginner zone as sincerely as possible and, because the game had no portals, even lending them the horse she herself needed to travel under the guise of a “rental.”
Before she knew it, she had stopped hunting and PVPing and was just living in the newbie zone.
It was like a final desperate struggle before the game died, but in the end, she couldn't stop that massive current.
There was a saying that a team destined to fall will fall. She figured games were similar.
A game destined to die will die.
She even thought it was simply fate.
"...What do you think, Sua?"
As Serin pulled her gaze away from the phone where the video had ended, those words suddenly slipped out.
"Y-yes?"
"I'm asking what you think about the user named Rin in this video."
"Um..."
What was that supposed to mean? Sua had no idea.
Serin's words were so far from "They look like me," "That's me," and the like that Sua blankly tried to organize her thoughts.
'What do I think about the player Rin...?'
And without realizing it, Sua answered with the first thought that came to mind.
"They're a god-tier player."
"...A god-tier player?"
That was an answer even Serin hadn't expected, so she blankly repeated it.
"Yeah. There are videos dismissing the four midair parries as luck, but those people are total AW-clueless types."
'AW-clueless?'
Uh... did that basically mean someone who knew nothing about Another World?
"Yeah. Anyone who’s actually tried parrying knows. Can you land a parry by luck? Sure. But several in a row? That can’t be luck. Anyone who’s done it would know."
"Ah... right."
Serin let out an involuntary sound of admiration and looked at Sua again.
Looking at Sua—a fresh-faced college student—Serin suddenly saw an overlap with the game-obsessed person she herself had once been.
"Then what about you, Serin? What do you think of Rin? You seem pretty interested, so you clearly know something about Another World."
Sua asked in return, inwardly hoping for an answer like "That user is me" or "They're an acquaintance."
Now that the topic of Another World had come up, her trembling had stopped before she knew it.
Sua herself could feel how easily the words came now that she was relaxed.
But even so, she still felt a sense of distance from Serin, and couldn't bring herself to directly ask, "Are you Rin?"
Serin, who had been about to answer naturally, suddenly hesitated as if at a loss for words.
"Well, I..."
What did I think of myself?
It was a question Serin had never been asked before.
'Me?'