An Unexpected Guest

I genuinely could not figure out why I had died.

There hadn't been a single side path on the road I'd taken, and I had checked every blind spot more times than I could count.

"So why did a monster just appear behind me?"

I mean, why would a monster spawn just because there was no light? Even the world I used to live in hadn't been that much of a hellhole.

So what, was I supposed to sleep with the lights blazing in this block world too? But then my position would be completely exposed.

"No, I obviously know this is a game."

I skimmed the chat racing up the screen, gauging the mood, and kept going.

"But it still needs to be realistic. Realism, you know? I mean, if you died in a game just because you left a fan running while you slept, would that feel good?"

These people, I swear.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Everyone. That's all old news. What era is that superstition even from?"

"Well then, why don't you just go tell your parents the correct information?"

In the old days I would have gotten flustered and folded on the spot, but I was now a proud six-month veteran streamer. I could handle this level of viewer nonsense with complete composure. Which is to say, I had grown, in my own way.

"There's this streamer I watch who's really good at games, and that person said you don't die from sleeping with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a fan on, so."

"Hurry. Run to your parents right this second and tell them."

I leaned in close to the mic and whispered.

"There's this streamer named Luna who's good at games and smart. You should watch together."

In the flood of chat scrolling past, one message snagged my eye with a strangely ominous edge.

Apparently I wasn't the only one who had grown.

"No, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠waved a hand the viewers couldn't see and rushed the words out.

"And I'm an orphan too. Let's not do this to each other, fellow orphans. Okay?"

I quelled the riot with a simple gifted subscription, then asked about something that had been bothering me while I reread the earlier chat.

"Also. I don't even have a wiki. What exactly were you going to write on?"

To be precise, it was a silent demand. The conditions for opening a wiki page had been met for a long time, and it still hadn't happened. I wanted a wiki with my own name on it too, okay?

And then, at last.

Ohh.

So a page like that had finally been made for me too. Feeling the corner of my mouth lift, just a little, I pulled up the Hunter private network and started searching. According to the Association staff, it was some kind of magic program that handled everything from privacy protection to anti-hacking and a dozen other things besides.

It wasn't long before the results appeared on the screen.

Not this one.

This one.

Ohh.

It was written better than I'd expected…

"Wait. What is this?"

What even was this.

Disastrous? Wasn't that a little too harsh?

"No. No, that's not it."

The chat was drifting somewhere ugly, so I denied it on principle. Then I set down a clean, simple plate of facts.

"I'm still better than average, though. You people only ever watch the good ones, so your sense of average has been skewed upward."

"Ah, you knew what I meant. You people are really too much."

I let out a long, deep sigh. This was all a result they had brought on themselves.

"It's getting late, and the game is already wrecked, so I'm ending the stream."

"Yep. Good work, everyone."

And with that, I ended the stream. I, Luna, was a man— a woman who kept every word that left her mouth.

"…"

Now that my surroundings had grown peaceful, even the smallest things had started to feel strangely unfamiliar. It hadn't really registered in the world I'd come from. Back then I'd been too busy being obsessed with staying alive to notice anything like this.

"Haaah……."

I shut the game off with a sigh, then killed the last trickle of music still leaking from the speakers. The room fell silent in an instant.

I stood from the chair and went straight to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and poured myself a glass of cold barley tea.

"Hwah."

A sensation so cold it was almost dizzying slid down my throat. The modern world was this good. To think I could indulge in a luxury like this — a drink this cold, right here inside my own home.

I was still lost in that thought when it happened.

—Vmmmm.

A phone vibration hummed through the apartment as if it were ringing from inside the walls. There was only one person who would be calling, so I set the glass down and hurried back to my room.

Just as expected, Seo-ah's name sat on the screen. I swiped sideways with my thumb and picked up.

"Ah, yes. I finished it just fine. How about you, Seo-ah?"

Seo-ah really did work herself to the bone. The same F-rank as me… no, wait, she'd said she'd been promoted to D-rank now, hadn't she? Either way, watching her throw herself into her work like that always made me feel like I ought to be doing something too.

…Fried chicken.

It was a food I had eaten more times than I could count since coming back to this place. Just last week, Seo-ah and I had split an order together.

"Yes, yes! That sounds great. Let's eat together."

"Okay."

But every time I ate it, I felt the same thing. Fried chicken was delicious no matter when you had it.

I hung up and looked around the room, checking whether there was anything I needed to tidy before she arrived.

The bed was neat. The laundry was clean. Nothing sat on the table.

"Good."

The last thing that caught my eye was the chat window still up on the monitor. It was quiet now, but the memory of how furiously it had been scrolling just minutes ago was still vivid in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my head.

And then, suddenly, one of the viewers' comments floated back to me.

"……Torches?"

Turning that thought over, I sat back down in the chair. My fingers started moving on their own, tapping across the keyboard.

"……."

I glanced up at the clock on the wall. 7:40. Seo-ah had only just gotten off work, so it would take her a little while. In that case…

"Just a little?"

I took the mouse in my right hand.

—Ding-dong.

"Hah—!"

At the sudden chime of the doorbell I scrambled back to the menu screen. The last thing I'd seen of my character was a suit of gleaming white iron armor. I had only meant to craft up to stone tools…

"…This is not the time."

I bolted for the front door. I wasn't sure if the house was just that big or if my body had gotten smaller when it changed, but the distance from my room to the entrance was considerable. When I'd asked the Association staff for a room where outside noise wouldn't reach me easily, this wasn't quite what I'd had in mind.

"Just a minute!"

I shoved my feet into the slippers waiting by the door and undid every lock on the latch.

—Creeeak.

The door swung open, and—

"Guess who just came back from a gate!"

"H-huh?"

A golden-haired woman and a blue-haired one stepped inside.

"I'm sorry. I should have waited for you to answer, but you weren't picking up…"

"Between us, this much is fine. Right, Luna?"

"Uhhh…?"

She had barged in without a shred of hesitation, and now she casually slung an arm around my shoulders. It wasn't a regular occurrence, but it wasn't the first time either. I led her into the living room. She kept the arm around me the whole way and sat down on the sofa with me still attached.

"Did you and Seo-ah both come back from the same gate?"

"What? No, no. I ran into Seo-ah on the way to HQ, and when she said she was coming to see you, I tagged along."

Do Ha-rin — Ha-rin — was Seo-ah's friend, and someone who had helped me a great deal when I was deciding where to stay. She was a D-rank hunter like Seo-ah, and the two of them had been neighborhood friends since they were little.

"Is the streaming going well, Luna?"

Seo-ah asked as she set the packaged fried chicken out on the table.

"…Ah, yes. The beginning was really hard, but it's gotten a lot more comfortable now."

"Sob, sob. Luna's grown so much…"

Seo-ah was the one who had asked the question, but it was Ha-rin beside me who suddenly started welling up. I had talked with her plenty of times since we'd met, and she was still the most unpredictable person I knew. The present situation was proof enough. By the time I came back to my senses, she already had both hands on my shoulders.

"Luna. Hurry up and get treat— I mean, come outside and raid gates with me. Because of you, people around me keep teasing me about being D-rank—"

—CLANG!

A tremendous crash exploded right in front of my eyes. The precise point of impact: the top of Ha-rin's head. She clutched her skull and crumpled, and behind her stood Seo-ah, a frying pan in her hand.

That pan looks pretty bent…

"Ha-rin seems to have a bit of a headache. Shall we start eating without her?"

"Yes… ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠y-yes."

I walked quietly over to the table. Behind me, Ha-rin's whimpering drifted through the room.

…

I should at least get her an ice pack later.