An Assault on the Senses
This was an assault.
Na Jia was the type of person who always arrived early.
She made it a point to arrive about twenty minutes beforehand to kill time.
Even if it meant waiting a long time, being late was absolutely out of the question.
She set this rule for herself not just because she disliked people who were lax with time, but also because she didn't want to hear people say things like, "She's arrogant just because she's popular."
No matter how careful she was, she couldn't avoid such talk entirely.
Still, her wish was to at least not hear it from the people around her.
As this habit persisted over the years, Na Jia grew accustomed to waiting.
To be completely honest, she even secretly enjoyed it.
She liked this time right before a meeting.
The anticipation of seeing a quiet space that would soon be filled with chatter.
The subtly chaotic atmosphere of the group chat.
A mix of slight boredom and excitement... and sometimes, an early arrival turned the wait into an unexpected event.
It seemed today was one of those event days.
With twenty-one minutes left until the scheduled time, the door to the private room opened.
A thoroughly terrified girl shuffled hesitantly inside.
"Oh? You're early."
"Ah. A-Ah... Hello."
So you're Nabi. Welcome.
There's still some time before the others arrive, so shall we just relax and wait?
The words she was about to say died instantly in her throat.
Na Jia's eyes widened.
Her gaze refused to drift away from Yu Nabi.
Bypassing her conscious mind, an exclamation slipped out of her mouth instead of words.
"W-Wow..."
Na Jia thought to herself.
This is an assault.
An appearance like that required no tedious, pedantic explanations.
It was an overwhelming visual that delivered a straight punch to the brain at very first sight.
A presence so striking that even a passing glance on the street would make her appear in one's dreams stood right before her.
She hadn't dressed up in anything particularly grand.
Yet, the lack of effort made it all the more devastating.
At a glance, Yu Nabi's outfit seemed plain enough.
A patternless white sweater paired with a neutral-colored cardigan. Her neatly braided hair gave off a tidy, calm impression.
Perhaps because she disliked exposing her skin, she even wore black tights, leaving almost no skin showing.
That was exactly why.
Why Yu Nabi's appearance felt so much more provocative.
Dressing plainly meant there was nothing specific drawing the eye.
Naturally, such clothing only served to highlight her raw, natural beauty.
While her characteristic shyness was written all over her face, it subtly stirred a sadistic urge to tease her.
What would it look like to see this fragile, beautiful girl on the verge of tears?
Na Jia would undoubtedly be wracked with guilt.
Yet, a strange, inexplicable sense of depravity threatened to well up inside her just as much.
After what felt like an eternity, the brief moment finally passed.
Na Jia barely managed to snap herself out of it.
There was one more thing she had to address.
"Y-You look exactly like you do in the game. Did you really not customize your face at all?"
People who saw Yu Nabi's avatar admired her beauty, but they didn't make a huge fuss about it.
Because they assumed it couldn't possibly be a real person's face.
They could marvel at the craftsmanship of some unknown designer, but there was no reason to direct that admiration toward Yu Nabi herself.
But now, the situation was entirely different.
Yu Nabi looked exactly as she did in the game.
No, without the artificial feel of game graphics, she actually looked even more beautiful.
Silver hair and blue eyes in the game. Black hair and black eyes in reality.
To think it was possible for someone to look so perfect with both.
Na Jia's breath caught in her throat.
I've never considered myself lacking in the looks department, but...
She felt like she wouldn't be able to hold onto that confidence so easily starting today.
"Ah, um... Well, I didn't really know how to change it. But I didn't want it to be completely identical, so... just the eyes and hair..."
"Yes, I think I understand."
The pieces immediately fell into place.
She had probably tried to adjust things at first.
But the more she messed with it, the stranger it looked, so she must have ended up just using her real face.
After all... the original was so beautiful that even a professional modeler would struggle to replicate it.
A clueless beginner trying to tweak it would only ruin the masterpiece.
Even if the one doing the tweaking was the person themselves, there was no exception.
Finally, Na Jia's eyes drifted down to Nabi's chest.
Not long ago, when she had been talking with Hanul.
Both of them had avoided mentioning her chest as if by unspoken agreement.
Partly because it could easily border on sexual harassment, but mostly because they had assumed she must have customized it.
It was, after all, in the realm of the completely unrealistic.
She had thought it was just a natural desire for a woman to want a larger chest.
But to think even that was her actual body.
In truth, that large chest was the crowning touch that completed Yu Nabi's aura.
A beauty that went beyond harmless and actively provoked a desire to tease.
The curves of her body clearly outlined despite the lack of exposure.
All of these elements blended together to create a calm yet stimulating, modest yet strangely sensual atmosphere.
Na Jia had a premonition.
The moment Yu Nabi's photo was made public, the entire internet community would go wild.
This will definitely become a massive sensation. One way or another, it's bound to blow up.
At the same time, another thought crossed her mind.
She was incredibly glad she had met the real-life Nabi before Hanul did.
She didn't doubt Hanul's character.
He was a prankster, but he was by no means a bad person.
However, his lack of tact was undeniable.
Yu Nabi had said she aspired to go pro.
Which meant she would stand before the public one day.
When that time came, her looks alone would draw immense attention, which would be a massive blessing for a pro gamer.
But not right now.
Far from handling the attention her looks would bring, Yu Nabi seemed to struggle with even a normal social gathering.
That level of attention was too much for the current Nabi.
Even if they built up anticipation among the public, they needed to give her time to adapt and prepare.
Yu Nabi was a girl Na Jia had taken a real liking to.
She didn't want to see a girl like that get hurt and break down.
As she herself was somewhat aware, she was ultimately a good person at heart.
She couldn't just stand by and watch someone who was struggling.
Though it might not be exactly the same... it was even truer because she had experienced similar pain and suffering before.
Perhaps Na Jia was the person Yu Nabi needed most right now.
In my past life, I didn't have social anxiety.
I wasn't particularly outgoing, but I didn't have any memories of being mistreated by others either.
I didn't get so shy that my mind went blank just because a stranger appeared.
That was because everyone had always been kind to me.
They probably all pitied me.
I was someone who had been hospitalized since a young age.
I couldn't do any harm to anyone, and I lived a so-called 'pitiful' life.
Nobody was going to go out of their way to visit my hospital room just to be cruel to me.
Maybe that was why I had taken it too lightly.
Unlike the original Yu Nabi, I was capable of rational thoughts like, That person won't think badly of me for no reason.
I believed I could rationally filter out my instinctive shyness.
I really believed that.
But the world wasn't that simple.
As expected, reality was different from the game.
It hadn't been easy in the game either, but meeting in reality felt heavy enough to crush me to death.
The despair Yu Nabi had experienced was by no means light.
I thought I had managed well enough when I first met Lee Seul-bi.
But meeting multiple people I had only ever known in-game...
And meeting people whose attention was focused entirely on me was incredibly exhausting.
Just three minutes after the whole team gathered.
My head spun.
"...U-Um, I mean, I'm s-sorry. I didn't catch that."
Who did they say they were again?
I had definitely heard their introduction, but my brain had ground to a halt, and I couldn't remember.
Did they say Chain? Or was it Siz?
Did they ask for my age? Or what I wanted to eat?
It wasn't even a big deal, but my mind refused to function.
The world spun upside down, and my consciousness began to fade.
It wasn't like I didn't know these people at all.
I was the one who said it was fine to meet up.
IfthisgoesoneverythingwillberuinedbecauseofmeandeveryoneelsewillfeeluncomfortableandthisgatheringthatwasmeanttobesomethinggoodwillbecompletelyruinedsoIhavetopullmyselftogetherandactnormal...
In the middle of my collapsing world.
Someone suddenly grabbed my hand.
Beneath the table, I felt a gentle warmth.
"It's best to start with the milder flavors first. Why don't we all start with the striploin? Come on, Nabi, relax a bit."
"Is that so? Sounds good to me. I feel like anything we order here will be delicious."
"Since I'm the one getting treated, it'd be bad of me to complain about the menu."
"Oh, come on, don't be like that. Order whatever you want! Should we get some beef tartare too? Anyone want rice or cold noodles?"
It was Na Jia.
Even as she held my hand, she didn't look directly at me.
She naturally led the conversation so that I wouldn't need to answer, diverting everyone's attention.
Thanks to her, my distorted vision began to clear up a bit.
My heart, which had been pounding like crazy, calmed down slightly.
It felt as if my pulse was syncing with Na Jia's.
Only after the topic of conversation had completely shifted did Na Jia ask me in a quiet voice.
"Nabi, how about we share? We can get one order of cold noodles and one bowl of rice. I want to eat both."
"S-Sounds good..."
Even a fool could tell.
Na Jia was desperately trying to accommodate me right now.
How on earth did she know?
She was gradually drawing me in with questions that only required a simple nod.
It was as if she knew exactly how to handle me.
"Take a deep breath, slowly. The food here is really delicious. It'd be a waste to eat it while you're this nervous."