Lody
Even if it was just the second-tier team, I was now an official pro gamer.
My registration in the league under the username Nabi was complete.
I had even played my debut match not long ago.
Regarding my username... I had agonized over it quite a bit, but using my real name seemed like the best option.
It wasn't that I didn't have other usernames in mind. But, well, I had also realized that my naming sense was far worse than I thought.
Besides, the name Nabi carried a sort of tribute to my other self.
The day I, who had died in the hospital, opened my eyes anew. It was no different from receiving the new name Yu Nabi.
Therefore, the act of giving myself a new name felt equivalent to starting a new life.
Furthermore, becoming a pro gamer was the dream I had yearned for so desperately. In such a precious moment, standing before my long-held dream, I didn't want to put on any clumsy, superficial airs.
No matter how much I thought about it, I didn't need any name other than Yu Nabi.
Honestly, it was a decent name anyway. Nabi. I thought it was pretty enough.
But... I couldn't possibly explain all these circumstances out loud. To begin with, I lacked the conversational skills to articulate such a complex decision-making process.
So, when asked, "Is there a reason you chose Nabi as your username?" I had to answer like this:
"Because... it's my name."
"I know. But I was wondering if there was a specific reason you decided to use your actual name."
"J-just... it just kind of happened."
Na Jia, my dedicated interviewer for the series Climb to Glory, stared at me intently.
Her gaze seemed to say, Is that it? Really? Is that all you have to say?
Feeling like a complete criminal, I hung my head. I was so miserable I had nothing to say.
I knew it too. My answer had been incredibly pathetic. Beyond just lacking eloquence, I must have looked like an utterly useless, hopeless case.
But what could I do when the words just wouldn't come out? Even that response had been squeezed out with everything I had. Recognizing one's own shortcomings is an important attitude to have.
"Well, it can't be helped. It's not like a username has to have some deep, profound meaning."
"..."
"Shall we head inside the gaming house first?"
Becoming a pro gamer brought many changes compared to my trainee days.
If my contract as a trainee was a trade of my potential, my contract as a pro gamer was a formal trade of my actual skills.
Now, as a member of the team, I had to embark on a year-long journey with them. In other words, my life living in the team's gaming house was beginning.
Pro gamers living together in a gaming house was a practice with a long history. It had started all the way back during the classic RTS games when esports was just beginning to emerge.
It was a tradition of sorts, and as games became more complex and demanded a wider variety of skills, the practice had never died out.
Normally, I should have started living in the gaming house even before my debut match. But due to various overlapping circumstances, I hadn't been able to.
My parents had worried a lot, and since there were no other girls in the second-tier team, it seemed they had to make some adjustments to the facilities.
To be honest, the prospect of living together was terrifying. I couldn't imagine myself, someone who was afraid of people, getting along well.
But my teammates weren't people I needed to fear. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they were the comrades I would be working with this year. Even if I had to force myself, I needed to get familiar with them and become friends.
"Come to think of it, this is my first time seeing your room, Nabi."
"There's really nothing to see. I only moved my things in recently."
"Oh, but that makes it even better. It means everything here is stuff you brought from home. It'll show more of what you're normally like."
"When you put it that way... it feels a bit weird."
My life in the gaming house was starting. Naturally, this shoot would have to capture that daily life.
It seemed today's plan was to film my room and go over my new training routine.
In a way, we were filming a sort of headquarters tour. Fortunately, they said I didn't have to be the one introducing the facilities. Not that I could have anyway, since I barely knew them myself.
I was the one who had agreed to let them see my room... but now that the moment was here, it was embarrassing. Besides, showing my everyday self? Was it really okay for people to watch something so trivial? I couldn't for the life of me understand why anyone would be curious about that.
"Anyway, let's get started."
SnowWitch was a team that invested aggressively. In common terms, it meant they had a lot of money.
Every player was provided with a private room, and the facilities were clean and excellent.
The crucial part was that "private room" detail. That was the sole comfort that allowed me to even consider moving in.
If I had to share a room with someone... my brain would have already melted into a soggy puddle of slime.
For introverts like me, just being around other people drains mental energy. It isn't because we dislike the other person or find them uncomfortable.
We were simply born to recharge our energy through our own time and space. In gaming terms, we'd be a class with its own unique resource cost. Calling us a completely different race would be a bit too sad, after all.
"This is my room. There's, um, really nothing to it, right?"
In any case, a room was like a cozy nest to me. Even though we were just dropping in briefly during the shoot, I felt strangely healed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, the corners of my mouth tugged upward for no reason.
"It's very tidy. Did you not bring many personal belongings?"
"Just the things on the desk over there. I-I really told you there wasn't much."
"Hmm..."
However, there was one thing I hadn't anticipated. The intuition of extroverts was far sharper than I thought.
Social skills are a broad concept. If you look closely, they include stats like "situational awareness" and "reading the room." It's rare for someone who is good with people to be slow-witted.
So, in a limited space like a private room, where it's hard to rearrange furniture at will and places to hide things are scarce, showing any vulnerability meant getting caught immediately.
To me, Na Jia was a very comfortable person to be around. Making someone like me feel comfortable meant she was reading my expressions and accommodating them. It was impossible without excellent intuition and insight. In other words, I was busted.
Swish. Na Jia's head suddenly turned toward the underside of the bed.
"Did you hide something under the bed by any chance?"
"Hieeeek!"
"Oh, there really is something. What is that? Can I pull it out?"
"I mean, that's... Uh, um... Yes. It's fine."
Rustle, rustle. Along with the sound of plastic, whatever was hidden under the bed was pulled out. It was wrapped in packaging I had hastily put together this morning, worried it might get dusty.
Soon, the plastic was peeled away, revealing my comfort plushie. A white rabbit doll about the size of a regular cushion. It was an item of distinctly girly taste—one I couldn't even try to excuse as not being mine.
"It even has a name written on it. Yu Nabi."
"My parents bought it for me when I was little."
"Is it precious to you?"
"If I hug it, I sleep well. It makes me feel at ease."
"That's nice. This is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to see. It shows a girly side of you, which is really cute."
I gave up on making excuses early on. It would only make me look pathetic anyway, and it wasn't like I had done anything wrong.
Honestly, it was no big deal. I could have brushed it off by saying it was just part of my moving boxes and asking her not to take it out, but I didn't feel like doing that.
That doll was truly precious to Yu Nabi. Although I hadn't lived through those years myself, the feelings of cherishing and loving that doll still remained inside me.
That was why, just like the original Yu Nabi, I could experience the comforting effect of hugging it. In fact, I had spent quite a bit of time secretly hugging it myself. So, I didn't want to say anything that would disparage the doll.
Yu Nabi was not a stranger to me. What she cherished, I cherished too. The doll was slightly more important than a fleeting moment of embarrassment.
"Could you... give it back now, please...?"
"Ah, right. Here you go."
Since I was already caught, maybe I should just hold it for a bit. Actually, the size of this doll was incredibly perfect. When I hugged it tight with my arms and legs, my chest rested right against its head, making the posture extremely comfortable.
A doll that comforted both body and mind. How could anyone dislike this? As I sat there smiling softly, Na Jia teased me a little.
"Did you give that doll a name, by any chance?"
"W-what do you take me for?!"
"Why? I named mine when I was a kid. Mine was Whitey."
"..."
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was being a bit mischievous."
Na Jia apologized while pinching my cheek. I thought about pretending to be sulky a bit longer, but since she apologized, I let it go. Still, I turned my gaze away to signal her not to pry any further.
Its name was Melody. Shortened to its nickname, 'Lody'. I really wasn't the one who named it. So, I wasn't going to shoulder this embarrassment...