Self (1)
Actually, even before they came to my hospital room in person, we hadn't been completely out of touch.
Lee Ga-eun could hop onto the streaming platform and chat with me anytime, and Chen Zuiyuan seemed dead set on becoming a big name in the ancient books gallery—he'd even changed his nickname and started posting more actively.
And not long after I was admitted, they reached out to me.
I asked where they'd heard about my hospitalization, and apparently Baek Seol-yeon had told them.
But she hadn't explained why I'd ended up here.
I could guess the reason for that. Lee Ga-eun wasn't the loose-lipped type, but you never knew how the world worked—rumors could spread in weird ways.
As for Chen Zuiyuan, he'd been right there in the thick of it with me, so he knew. But at fifty-six years old, the man had a mouth heavier than a thousand pounds.
Tap-tap.
I tapped out a message on the touchpad to send to the ward office. About three minutes later, the door slid open, and familiar faces appeared.
"Jia!"
Lee Ga-eun was the most excited, her face scrunching up like she might cry at the sight of me in my patient gown. She rushed over and threw her arms around me.
"Our little Jia princess can't be sick... You feeling better? No pain anywhere? Eating okay?"
It was the kind of barrage of questions a mom might ask. Not that I'd ever really had one in my life—not even for a speck of it.
And what was with that nickname?
Our Jia, Jia princess... As a (former) guy, it was really hard to swallow. But in this situation, what could I even say?
She was shoving her face way too close, peppering me with questions. I gently pushed her shoulders away.
"I-I'm fine. Almost all better. I'll be out soon."
Only then did she pull back. Chen Zuiyuan watched us from behind with a fond smile. Then he chimed in.
"You two look close."
Well, we weren't that distant, but we weren't at the "cuddle up and call each other princess" stage either.
Of course, I'd half-expected this. I'd watched a ton of Ria Ga-eun's streams from my hospital bed.
She was still killer at games, but she had changed a lot.
The last time I tuned in, I almost thought I'd clicked the wrong stream. Where was the trash-talking, game-serious pro gamer? In her place was this cute, sweet-talking heavenly girl streamer.
From what people said, she'd gotten hit with the "cuteness lighting" trend.
"Brought strawberries. Let's eat."
She pulled a pack out of her handbag. They were bright red and glossy—looked delicious.
Crunch.
Nice texture. Just the right amount of bite—exactly my style. I wasn't into mushy fruit.
"Good?"
I nodded at Lee Ga-eun's question. The sweetness was perfect too—ideal strawberry heaven.
Chen Zuiyuan stood quietly in the back, saying little more than the basics.
Still, I could read his eyes. He had something to discuss, but not with her around.
"So, how'd you two end up coming together anyway?"
I voiced the question I'd had since they walked in. Chen Zuiyuan and Lee Ga-eun exchanged glances.
"We ran into each other by chance."
Chen Zuiyuan answered, smiling softly. Her reaction confirmed it was legit coincidence.
"By the way, what exactly is your relationship?"
He asked cautiously. Lee Ga-eun jumped in this time.
"Just neighborhood friends!"
Her already sunny personality seemed even brighter. Chen Zuiyuan nodded at her reply.
After that, we chatted about this and that. All sorts of topics came up.
Lee Ga-eun had become an internet denizen since starting streams, so she knew the ecosystem pretty well—not as deep as me, but solid.
"They're doing Eternal Survival tourneys lately, collabs too... Skins have been on point, so logins are way up. Thought about competing as a player, but maybe just coach..."
Most of it was Eternal Survival stuff—her main gig—but it was fun anyway. Mid-chat, she checked her phone and spoke up.
"Oh, hold on."
She grabbed her stuff and stood. Had a schedule, probably.
"Shoot, gotta go. Time flew chatting. Wanted to stay longer, but next time!"
She bolted out in a rush. Chen Zuiyuan, who'd been waiting, came over.
"There's something I want to discuss."
He sat by me and pulled out a laptop. Not Chinese-made—Korean, from MG. The Kilogram model.
A high-end new one, by the looks—pricey.
"Please wait a moment."
He cleared his throat and set it on his lap. It was already on—no power button needed, screen lit right up.
Tap-tap-tap.
His fingers flew over the keys. Pro-level speed. Matched my old frenzy chasing gallery top ranks.
He was deep in it now, ignoring his own "wait a sec."
"……"
I leaned back silently, eyes dropping down.
New model—big screen. Easy to peek from behind.
Internet.
The same familiar UI I surfed daily.
Not weird—he'd battled in high galleries too.
But content's what mattered.
Honestly, as fellow net denizens and gallery rankers, peeking on someone's browsing was not cool.
But curiosity gonna curiosity.
My special brand of nosy kicked in.
Pretending to grab a strawberry, I leaned closer to his head, peering at the screen.
"……?"
I blinked. Nearly burst out laughing.
……
Hard to just watch. I got it on some level—the net was where you dumped your hidden inner self behind anonymity.
I glanced at his face. Still a wrecked mess, horrific. Patchy gray hair screaming "old guy."
Then I recalled what he'd shown me: thirst for knowledge, guts to face death proving his theories.
The passionate mage image I'd built was crumbling.
From bold old researcher... to concept-obsessed community troll.
And the concept? Bishoujo girl.
"……"
This mismatch was way too much. Mid-50s prof and cute girl act.
As his image tanked, he closed the nine or so community tabs and clicked a desktop doc.
"Ah, sorry. Lots to do."
He chuckled smoothly, lifting the laptop to show the file. It logged the lump's behaviors he'd collected—proving my gut was spot on.
Short doc. They'd vanished mid-experiment, no traces.
Couldn't contain them. Thought bodies couldn't be caged in the material world. They'd pop up somewhere again.
Still.
"……Pfft!"
Couldn't hold it—laughed out loud. "HuwalumaMiko" kept flashing over his face. Any second, this Chen Zuiyuan might start cooing cutely.
"……?"
He looked puzzled. Figured I was mocking his doc.
I bullshitted quick.
"N-no, not laughing at you. Just... suddenly. Yeah."
Lame cover, didn't fly.
"Did you see something?"
Layers to that question. I pondered my dodge.
Then, true netizen instincts hit: perfect counter.
"Didn't you post that paper on the community from the truck? Someone pointed out an error."
Brought up the past. Pre-meet IRL. I'd played dumb then—had to air it now.
Tap-tap-tap!
With Netizen-speed, I searched the thread and scrolled to his single 'lol'.
Still there.
"That's me."
Lotsa ways outta a jam, but one battle-tested across reality, forums, history:
"So, what's this 'lol' supposed to mean?"
Mutual assured destruction.