Three-Way Meeting
Three-Way Meeting
Her real name,
'Yang Bibi'
In Chinese pronunciation, it's Yang Feifei.
She is a cyborg from the planet called 'Terra', which is nicknamed the Pale Blue Dot in the galaxy.
Originally, she was a resident of the Neo Kowloon Walled City, but she was scouted by the captain of the Galaxy, who happened to stop by for supplies, and expanded her activities into the vast universe. That's the gist of her personal story.
In Star Beyond, she was a five-star character released quite early on. Thanks to her laid-back personality and unique appearance—a Chinese dress plus a baseball jacket—she once drained the wallets of countless captains.
Of course, that statement is in the past tense because, at this point, Yang Bibi is a character who is being treated as a has-been in the game.
...And why hide it now?
Yang Bibi is my favorite character in Star Beyond.
Of course, unlike Saori, whom I came to like because of her story, I liked Yang Bibi because she was a crappy character with some hidden potential in terms of performance. But I can proudly say that I've spent no less time on this character than on Saori.
To summarize my current situation:
I installed Star Beyond, a game I had quit long ago to escape reality, and suddenly a character popped out of the screen 'again'.
And that character, Yang Bibi, was staring at me from point-blank range inside a bathroom that's barely three pyeong in size.
"So where is this, Captain?"
"Uh... It's my house's bathroom."
"No, that's not what I mean."
As she said that, Yang Bibi skillfully tossed the smartphone that had been resting on my instep into the air, caught it with one hand, and corrected her question.
"I'm asking what backwater planet this is."
"Ah, that kind of talk."
Finally understanding what she meant, I decided to explain the current situation in terms of the Star Beyond universe.
"This is Earth. It's a fringe planet with a civilization similar to the past of your home planet, Terra."
"Ahh... No wonder."
Yang Bibi nodded as if understanding the situation a beat late.
"I thought the captain's personal terminal had a strangely retro feel."
Saying that, she handed me the smartphone she held in her right hand. She said it was fine to feel the joy of reunion, but there was no need to talk in such a cramped space—let's go outside.
"Ah, I guess so."
Actually, I was feeling a bit burdened by the position of sitting on the toilet with her standing right in front of me.
Thanks to her suggesting it first, I didn't have to maintain this awkward posture any longer.
Since I wasn't actually using the bathroom for its intended purpose—I had come in to secretly play a game—I decided to go outside as she suggested.
"Can you step aside for a second?"
"Uh, yeah."
When I asked that, Yang Bibi stepped aside with a strangely shy expression.
Finally able to get up from the toilet, I washed my hands briefly at the sink and opened the firmly closed bathroom door.
Dalkak!
But there was one thing I had overlooked: Saori was in the living room.
What would someone think if a person who went into the bathroom alone claiming a stomachache suddenly came out together with an unknown woman?
"Magic?"
"No, that can't be."
More importantly, how did she read my thoughts?
I stared at Yang Bibi, who had popped my bubble out of nowhere, with a dumbfounded look, but soon the expected voice reached my ears.
"Seonsaengnim, who is that woman?"
"Hmm, this is bad."
Me, Saori, and Yang Bibi.
In the living room, which suddenly felt like a Korea-China-Japan tripartite meeting, I shifted the primary responsibility of explanation to Yang Bibi.
Then Yang Bibi, with a joking tone, explained the situation up to that point.
"Imagine a portal suddenly appeared in front of me, and I saw the face of the captain, who had vanished without a trace three years ago. So I just jumped in without thinking."
Yang Bibi grinned with an awkward expression.
"...Elopement?"
After hearing Yang Bibi's explanation, Saori looked at me with a suspicious expression.
"No, that can't be."
Since I felt the story would go off the rails if I left the explanation entirely to Yang Bibi, I reluctantly intervened in their conversation.
"But Saori, why are you suddenly using polite speech you never use?"
"Because there's someone else present."
"...Is this your business mode?"
"I've decided to be rude only when it's just the two of us, seonsaengnim."
Saying that, Saori brushed back the hair by her ear with a prim expression, then asked as if it had just occurred to her.
"By the way, seonsaengnim, what does this person mean by 'captain'?"
"Ah, I was curious about that too. What do you mean by 'seonsaengnim'?"
"Uh... Well..."
This is bad. The worldviews of the two games are colliding.
How do I explain this?
Should I honestly tell them that they are characters in a game and I'm just someone who played the game?
But when I tried to say that, the words wouldn't come out easily.
Because I had no idea how the two would react if they found out the truth.
So I decided to use a setting often borrowed from many subculture games.
"Do you two know the term 'parallel world'?"
"Parallel world... you say?"
"You know, like the theory that when you choose what to eat for lunch, the world branches infinitely based on that choice."
Upon hearing my explanation, Yang Bibi said with a nonchalant expression.
"Even in the era of humanity's expansion into space, we knew it vaguely existed, but there's no case of actual observation. So why bring that up?"
"What if there's a way to interfere with those parallel worlds?"
"What...?"
At this point, I might as well go all in with the lie.
"The truth is, I have the ability to send an avatar to parallel worlds and 'indirectly' experience life there."
The moment I said that, the living room fell silent.
"......"
Was this lie too grand in scale?
But since neither of them showed any reaction, I couldn't judge easily.
Then, a beat later, Saori spoke with a look of realization.
"So that's why you said you only 'remember' from back then, seonsaengnim."
Unlike Yang Bibi, who looked half-convinced, Saori, who had spent quite a long time with me, seemed to convince herself.
'Times like this, being smart is actually helpful.'
Even without me adding further explanation, she thought it through and accepted it on her own.
But Yang Bibi, who was even more knowledgeable about quantum mechanics and such than Saori, spoke with a slightly angry expression.
"Are you telling me to believe such a far-fetched story?"
"No, it's not entirely far-fetched..."
"Stop!"
Yang Bibi abruptly cut me off.
"Of course, I know you were sick of fighting those bug bastards and went into hiding. But even so, you shouldn't lie to me, your former comrade!"
It seemed she thought I was lying to get out of the situation.
But at that moment, the helping hand came from Saori.
"No, it's not a lie."
"How do you know that?"
"I can read others' thoughts if I want to, so I'm quite sensitive to lies."
Saying that, Saori glanced sidelong at me.
"At least seonsaengnim didn't lie just now."
Well, it's true that he didn't lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either.
The ability to 'indirectly' experience the experiences of another version of myself in a different world—that was just a way of describing playing the game.
But Yang Bibi still looked unconvinced.
"What if you're lying?"
"Yang Bibi, born November 18, 2058 in Terra calendar. She grew up in a wealthy environment in childhood, but after her father's company went bankrupt when she was eight, she began working as a hacker to make a living. The reason she replaced nearly 50% of her body with machinery is because she hacked the financial assets of the Arakata faction when she was fourteen..."
"Stop! Stop!"
As Saori started rattling off her personal history, Yang Bibi was startled and cut her off, then sighed deeply.
"I get it, I get it. Please stop exposing my personal information."
"Very well."
As Saori readily agreed, Yang Bibi spoke with a slightly tired expression.
"Then why did you suddenly disappear three years ago? With you, the central figure, gone, the crew of the Galaxy scattered in all directions."
"Ah, that is..."
"It must be because the ability has a time limit."
"Huh?"
"There's no way such a powerful ability has no restrictions. Just as the captain disappeared three years ago in your world, seonsaengnim disappeared two years ago in our world."
"I'm right, aren't I?"
Saori winked at me as if to say that.
Thanks to her, I didn't have to fabricate a setting myself, but it feels like the fan fiction lore expanded in an instant.
Still, since she assisted me this far, I should finish the job.
To embrace all these settings that have suddenly piled up like a snowdrift, there's no choice but to use this line.
"That's right. In fact, I was using that ability to protect about ten worlds simultaneously."