Preparing with the Heavenly Demon (3)
“You’re not going to listen even if I try to stop you, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Fine. I’ll help you anyway.”
“Thank you, Enry.”
“Just wait a second. There’s a lot to think about. First, we’ll use the VR device you won as the prize for the broadcast equipment. Then there’s everything else.”
Technical terms poured out of Enry’s mouth. Broadcast settings, streaming protocols, management systems. I listened, but I only understood about one-tenth of it. To be honest, I was no different from a robot nodding along to her every word.
“Ara, you didn’t understand any of that, did you?”
After finishing her general explanation, Enry asked, and I nodded again. She frowned, then pressed her palm against her forehead and let out a sigh.
“I’ll come over later and help you set it up.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Whoa. There really is nothing here.”
Enry, who had come to my VR room, let out a dry laugh as she looked around the pure white space.
“How can a room be this empty?”
“Is there any need to decorate it?”
“Even so, this is a bit much.”
It was just a transitional space for playing games anyway.
“Ara, your actual house isn’t this barren, right?”
“It’s probably similar.”
After arriving in the modern world, I had barely brought in any furniture. The only things I’d bought were dishes. From the outside, my house probably looked exactly the same as the day I first arrived. If I cleaned it well, I could probably sell it in its current state.
“This is overwhelming. I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”
“Do I really have to decorate it?”
“Of course you do. You’ll be spending half the broadcast in here. Are you going to show the viewers nothing but this sterile white every single time? Like some kind of mental hospital?”
Her wording was a little harsh. A mental hospital? Did that mean I was mentally ill for coming here every day?
“Anyway, think about how you want to decorate it. I can help with everything else, but the design should match your taste, Ara.”
“You could just do it however you like.”
“No way.”
Enry’s answer was so firm that I had no choice but to think about it. Suddenly being told to come up with a design for this place… My aesthetic sense wasn’t sharp enough to instantly conjure up ideas. If I had that kind of talent, I would have become a painter instead.
“Just say whatever comes to mind. A space full of memories, or a place that left a deep impression on you.”
“Hmm. Give me a moment.”
Something that came to mind. Whenever I thought of any particular place, there was always one that surfaced first.
“I’ll just describe it as it comes to me.”
“Go ahead.”
“The floor was covered with oil-treated paper, close to the color of ocher. The walls were made of dark black wood, so at night it was so dark you couldn’t see an inch in front of you. Most of the furniture was either red or black, but both had the refined touch of a craftsman’s hand.”
The scenery of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult always occupied a corner of my mind. Whenever I tried to recall any landscape, the image of the Cult would always flicker through first. I don’t reminisce about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. I only remember it as a nightmare. But not everything about it had been a nightmare. There was one single place that remained a warm memory for me.
The person who had been my only support right after I was reincarnated into the martial world. The person who didn’t see me as material for the next Heavenly Demon but simply cherished me as her daughter. Even though she passed away less than a year after I became the Young Heavenly Demon, she left behind memories I could never forget in my lifetime. Since I had been an orphan in my previous life, she became my first mother.
The room where my mother had stayed while she was alive was the only place I could truly call a memory. How could I ever forget the shackles that had forced me to continue this damned life as the Heavenly Demon?
Enry, who had received permission from me, began decorating the space according to my description. The empty void transformed into walls of dark wood. Flooring was laid down, furniture appeared, and various ornaments settled into place. For the finer details, I created them myself following Enry’s guidance, and in no time at all, an entire room was complete.
“It really suits you, Ara. The wuxia vibe fits perfectly.”
I closed my eyes, leaving behind Enry who was happily admiring her own creation. For a martial artist who had reached a certain level, emotions were something that could be controlled at will. Calming the turmoil in my heart wasn’t particularly difficult. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again.
“Are you satisfied?”
“You made it well, but I can’t use this place.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not somewhere I want to show to others.”
I had created it based on the first thing that came to mind, but this wasn’t a place I could use lightly. This was the center of my memories and the center of my heart. I didn’t want to show it to anyone else.
“Hmm. Then shall we leave this one alone for now and make a different space?”
Enry didn’t ask any further questions. It seemed she had noticed that my insistence on changing the subject meant this place held special meaning to me. Sometimes she was shameless, sometimes she was considerate. She was impossible to predict.
“Is that alright?”
“There’s no reason it wouldn’t be.”
“Then let’s do that.”
The new space we decided to create was the main hall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. It was the place where my father had once reigned over everyone, and later the seat where I stood in his place. A position I had been forced into, worshipped as an idol, only to grow tired of it and cast it aside. If there was any place I could bring someone into, it was here. It was regrettable that my imagination couldn’t escape the Cult, but what could I do? Most of my life had been spent there, after all.
“Wouldn’t this be fine?”
After roughly completing it, I asked Enry. She made a small sound of dissatisfaction and added a few more lights nearby.
“It’s still a bit dark, but this should be enough.”
Then she positioned me in the center and began observing from a distance.
“It really suits you.”
“Then let’s finish with this for now.”
It had taken half a day just to create one space. It was a good thing Enry was skilled at this. If I had tried to do it alone, even several days wouldn’t have been enough.
“Now let’s start on the broadcast settings. Log into Turret and give me permission.”
“Wait a moment. I need to create an account first.”
“You still haven’t made one?”
“Why would I make an account when I have no reason to visit Turret?”
“...I’m almost afraid to ask, but you have watched my streams at least once, right?”
“I haven’t.”
When I answered firmly, Enry’s eyes widened.
“Why would I come home and look at your face again when I already see it every day in real life?”
“That’s so mean!”
“Enry, you’ve never watched yourself broadcasting either, have you?”
“That’s because you never streamed!”
Pfft. True. Since I never streamed, of course she couldn’t have watched. Enry pouted her lips and made it obvious she was upset about my indifference, but to me it only looked like a child’s tantrum.
“I’m joking. Did you really think I wouldn’t watch even once?”
“...Right?”
“But watching you do it makes my teeth grind, so I couldn’t watch for long.”
The last time I had gone to watch her stream, Enry had been playing a game where she fought people with guns. I had watched with the mindset of learning since she wasn’t particularly skilled with firearms either, but the more I watched her, the more frustrated I became. Simply put, she lived without thinking. She repeated the same mistakes over and over, made the same errors countless times. And when she lost, instead of acknowledging her own faults, she blamed everything else first. How could I not get angry? Even someone like me, who knew nothing about guns, felt that way. It was obvious what the regular players of that game must have thought. There had been more than a few people venting their frustration in the chat. If I had had an account, I would have joined them.
“I’m actually better than average, you know? If you tried the game yourself, Ara, you’d see how good I am!”
“Do you really believe that?”
That I would be worse than her? In a game that required moving the body? Even if firearms felt awkward, there was no way I would be worse than her. To be blunt, I was confident I could dodge bullets if I saw them coming.
When I asked her that, Enry couldn’t say anything in response. It seemed she still had a shred of conscience left.
“You’ve finished making the account now, right?”
Changing the subject because she was cornered? Heh. Fine. Since you came to help me today, I won’t tease you any further.
After I handed over account permissions to Enry, she summoned several windows around her and began manipulating them. Her hand movements were so fluid that I couldn’t even begin to understand what she was doing. How could she navigate through that flood of text without the slightest hesitation?
“I’ve finished the basic settings. You’ll have to adjust the rest while you’re actually streaming.”
It hadn’t even taken Enry a full hour to finish the setup. Her proficiency was astonishing. As expected, as long as it didn’t involve physical movement, she was completely reliable.
“Is there anything else you need? Since I’m already here to help, just tell me if there’s more.”
“Actually, there is one thing I wanted to ask.”
“What is it?”
“How do I change the customization? It’s been almost a month, so I should be able to change it now, but I don’t know how.”
In reality I still hadn’t received the hairpin, but inside the VR world I could change my hair and wear it. Did you know? I had been counting the days until I could wear the gift my mother had given me. If possible, I wanted to put it on as soon as I could.
“Oh. If it’s just changing the VR customization, you can do it anytime.”
“What?”
“The one-month wait was for game customization. You can change VR customization whenever you want.”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words. Had I been mistaken this whole time? I had been eagerly waiting for the day I could wear my hairpin, only to find out I could have done it from the very beginning?!
“Since I have permission, I’ll change it for you right now. How do you want it?”
“...Just make my hair long.”
Customization wasn’t particularly difficult. When Enry tapped at something with her finger, the hair near my shoulders instantly grew all the way down to my back. It was that simple?
“Is this enough?”
“Yes. That’s sufficient.”
I let out a deep sigh and summoned the hairpin. The one my mother had given me on my birthday still retained its beautiful jade luster.
“Do you know how to wear a hairpin?”
“I do. I was forced to learn it from someone else.”
The child from the Ice Palace had been an incredibly passionate teacher. She had insisted that I must know how to do this and forced the lessons on me. Come to think of it, this was the first time I had grown my hair out since then. In terms of years, it had been close to several decades. I wondered if I could still do it properly.