A Sunny Intrusion

Was this some kind of cruel joke by fate?

There is a word: compatibility. Or rather, a matchup.

In competitive games, it refers to an opponent who is exceptionally difficult to beat.

But these matchup dynamics didn't just exist within games.

For instance, extroverts and introverts shared a long, bitter history of terrible compatibility.

Even the history of class struggle spoken of by philosophers probably didn't go back as far as this.

Naturally, Yu Nabi and Hanul also shared a terrible matchup dynamic.

Checking his stream, Nabi's face turned pale.

They hadn't even exchanged a single word yet, but she already felt completely drained of energy.

He didn't seem to have any bad intentions, but there was one thing that absolutely flabbergasted her.

How does he talk without pausing for even a second?

His audio stream never, ever stopped to rest.

Hanul chattered away without a moment's pause, almost like a professional league caster.

Professional casters had a reason to do so, of course.

There were multiple casters, after all, and matches constantly required play-by-play explanations.

But Hanul could spin infinite conversation out of absolutely any topic.

To Nabi, Hanul felt like some kind of supernatural anomaly.

An S-rank anomaly named 'The Loud Man,' or something like that.

This only made her hesitate more.

If I accept his friend request... do I have to talk to someone like that?

Just the thought of it made her feel dizzy.

Nabi fell deep into thought.

If she kept ignoring him, Hanul wouldn't force the issue forever.

Over time, the public's attention would fade away too.

It would give her peace of mind, but it wouldn't help her career.

In truth, associating with Hanul wasn't necessarily a bad thing for her.

While popularity didn't guarantee turning pro, pro gaming was ultimately a career that thrived on public attention.

In the long run, there was no harm in getting her name out there.

Her trembling finger made a decision.

Nabi was easily frightened and pathologically shy, but she was dreaming again.

She knew all too well what awaited her if she gave up and let herself sink.

And so, she squeezed out every ounce of courage she had.

The friend request and whisper arrived instantly, as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.

Unlike his casual, stream-of-consciousness banter on stream, Hanul's chat messages were quite polite.

Come to think of it, it made sense.

The so-called extroverts might have terrible compatibility with Nabi, but that didn't mean they were bad people.

There was no need to view them as monsters and shun them.

This realization helped Nabi relax a little.

She had worried he might be as pushy as he was in the game, but it seemed he knew how to behave off-camera.

Nabi corrected her typos three or four times before finally sending a reply.

The response she came up with after much deliberation was this:

...After all, she didn't have to deal with everything today, right?

Although she had shut down the game as if fleeing, she hadn't actually lied.

She really did have something to do today.

Even a high school dropout shut-in could have plans once in a while.

There was no reason for her to stay cooped up in her room forever.

Well, actually, she did want to just stay cooped up.

But sometimes in life, unavoidable things happened.

Infinity Realm was a virtual reality game that replicated almost all senses to feel like reality.

A gaming console capable of such a feat was bound to cost a fortune.

Using the purchase of the console as leverage, Nabi had to agree to a favor for her mother.

To make matters worse, her mother was an elite who had graduated from a prestigious university's law school.

She had used a devilish tactic, as if reading Nabi's thought process like an open book.

"Since Mom bought you the console this time, let's go out together once later. Nabi can do that much for me, right?"

Instead of setting conditions before buying it, she attached strings after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the purchase.

Behind her mother's beaming smile, Nabi had felt a silent pressure.

Surely you wouldn't refuse to go out with me even once after I bought you such an expensive console.

Our sweet Nabi wouldn't be so ungrateful.

—Right, my daughter?

All she could do was nod.

Faced with a scheme that would make the devil blush, bargaining was out of the question.

Still, since she had already made the promise, she didn't want to break it.

No matter what state she was in, her parents' love had never wavered.

If this could repay them even a little, she had to muster up the strength to try.

"This stop is OO District Court. The next stop is..."

Nabi's first destination was the office building of the law firm where her mother worked.

Although today was Saturday, law firms weren't necessarily quiet on weekends.

Her mother had mentioned she had some quick business to handle during the day, so Nabi was to head to the office first.

Once her mother finished her work, they planned to leave together in her car.

Nabi had visited her parents' office a few times before.

The route wasn't difficult, so she arrived safely without getting lost.

And it turned out there were already guests at the law firm.

As she stepped inside, a familiar voice drifted over.

"Since we reviewed the contract terms together, there shouldn't be any issues. I believe we gave you plenty of time, but have you read through the contract thoroughly?"

"Yes. I've given it a lot of thought."

"Good. As you know, we don't normally need to notarize player contracts. However, since Seul-bi is a minor, we stepped in to assist."

"Yes! I know. I've really been looking forward to today."

"Great. Now, there are a few things you should keep in mind..."

Was her timing a bit off?

It seemed they were right in the middle of business.

Normally, contract signings would take place in a conference room.

But since it was the weekend and the office was empty, they seemed to be doing it right in the main office area.

Nabi figured she could just go hide in the breakroom.

She tried to move as quietly as possible to avoid interrupting her mother's work, but—creeeak.

The rusty door shrieked, drawing everyone's attention.

Nabi froze in place, feeling as though she had turned to stone along with the door.

"Oh, Nabi, you're here. You made good time. There are snacks in the breakroom, so go ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠help yourself."

"O-Okay..."

There were two people sitting in front of her mother.

A man with a stern expression, and a girl who looked to be exactly Nabi's age.

Their eyes briefly drifted toward her before returning to the desk.

While the girl wrote something on the contract, her mother continued speaking.

"That's my daughter. We're planning to go somewhere after I finish up here. She's also aspiring to be a pro gamer, so she might end up in your care someday, Coach."

"I will review the possibility favorably."

"Look at you, Coach, knowing how to say polite pleasantries. Ah, she's the exact same age as Seul-bi. She's extremely shy, so if you two ever run into each other, please be nice to her. Now, continuing where we left off..."

There was no helping the fact that she had been spotted.

Enduring the burning heat in her cheeks, Nabi gave a quick bow.

She greeted them silently and fled to the breakroom.

Although this was her first time visiting in person, Yu Nabi's memories contained a few visits to this breakroom.

Her favorite snacks here were cookies and instant mix coffee.

Since nothing else looked particularly appetizing, she chose the same things.

Nom, nom.

The best part about this breakroom was that almost no sound from the outside leaked in.

She wasn't sure why a breakroom needed such good soundproofing, but it was a massive relief for her.

It meant she could comfortably pass the time while munching on snacks.

By the way, the people outside seemed to belong to a professional team.

I'm jealous. I want to sign with a good team someday too.

But she couldn't interrupt her mother's work.

To be honest, walking up to them and asking questions was far too difficult for her anyway.

If she got curious, she could just ask her mother to look into it for her later.

After some time had passed...

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breakroom door opened quietly.

It didn't seem like her mother had finished early, though.

Instead, the girl she had seen earlier walked in, a bright smile on her face.

"Hi!"

"A-Ah, hello."

"I heard we're the same age."

"Yes..."

"I meant we should drop the formalities and speak casually."

The girl's first impression was incredibly vibrant.

She was like living sunshine. Just standing there, she seemed to radiate positive energy.

In short, she was Nabi's polar opposite.

Lately, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed to be getting tangled up with extroverts left and right.

Was this some kind of cruel joke by fate?

"I'm Lee Seul-bi. I just signed as a trainee with Blue Serpent today. If you're aiming to go pro, do you play IR too?"

"Yes. I... mostly play Berserker."

"A melee bruiser? That's unexpected. But I happen to play bruisers too. My main is Valkyrie. What's your name?"

"I'm Yu Nabi."

"Yu Nabi. Yu Nabi."

Lee Seul-bi repeated the name a couple of times as if committing it to memory.

With a sparkling smile, she grabbed Nabi's hand.

Honestly, Nabi was a bit startled.

And she was way too close.

"Tell me your username too! I'll send you a friend request when I get to the practice room."

"DoNotTalkToMe..."

"Ah, sorry. Was I too close?"

"No, that's not it! I-I was telling you my username. My username is 'DoNotTalkToMe'—ow!"

In her haste to explain, she had bitten her tongue.

Seul-bi looked worriedly at the groaning Nabi for a moment before letting out a soft chuckle.

"You're really cute. If you're going pro, I hope you join our team. It's packed with guys here."

"..."

"It was nice meeting you. Let's get closer step by step."

With those final words, Seul-bi left.

It seemed she had just popped in to say a quick hello.

The coach also glanced at Nabi's face before quietly heading out of the building.

Instead of those two, it was her mother who stood before her now.

Nabi received a brief scolding for being messy and eating with cookie crumbs all over her mouth.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."

"Okay. But where are we going?"

"Oh. Didn't I tell you? We're going clothes shopping. All the clothes you have at home are so worn out. Let's buy some underwear while we're at it."