Physical Test (1)

Park Hyun-sik—a capsule room part-timer with zero dating experience at 27—looked up at the sound of the door opening. A petite girl slipped through the door. She looked about 150 cm tall, give or take.

His eyes widened unusually as he took in her appearance. ……A foreigner? Blue hair peeked out from under her cap. Golden eyes gleamed above her mask. She was a blue-haired, golden-eyed girl unlike any you'd see in Korea. Sure, it could be dye or colored contacts, but the colors were too natural and vivid for that. Her snow-white skin, pure as fresh powder, only bolstered the impression.

She glanced around curiously.

Hyun-sik approached cautiously. "First time at a capsule room?"

"Ah, yeah…… Yes. First time."

He'd worried she might only speak English, but she replied in Korean—fluently, even. A bit halting, maybe. Foreigners struggled with polite speech, so the initial stutter might've been that. Anyway, her voice was beautiful too. So much so that he'd never cursed his own pitiful vocabulary as much as today. The only description that came to mind was that cliché of jade beads rolling—pathetic. He was already convinced her masked face was gorgeous.

No, her head's super small too…… and her eyes are pretty…… There was the whole magician vibe, but still. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hyun-sik's demeanor grew even friendlier.

"If it's your first time, sign up for membership first, then pay at the kiosk and you're good."

"Kio……sk?"

She tilted her tiny head. She clearly had no clue what a kiosk was.

Hyun-sik blinked in surprise. ……What? Why doesn't she know? Foreigner……? Nah, kiosks are in English anyway. Even elders know them these days. Not English-speaking? Puzzled, but he'd already decided to be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extra nice to this unusual customer.

"That unmanned order machine over there is the kiosk, but you need to register first……"

"Ah, press this?"

"No no, not that—click here……"

Hyun-sik guided her step-by-step: creating an Asteria Online account, kiosk operation, payment. ……This is tough. She was more of a tech noob than expected, but with his detailed help, she finished quickly.

Finally. "Capsule 13 is yours."

"Thank you for your help."

She thanked him and headed off. Whew…… Hyun-sik watched with a sense of accomplishment. As a nine-year vet in Asteria Online (in-game time), helping a total newbie felt good.

And soon after, she returned.

"……How do you turn on the capsule?"

"……."

Hyun-sik explained the controls in exhaustive detail. She nodded in realization and re-entered. Left alone, he pondered silently. Did she grow up in some remote mountain village……? Her vibe and looks screamed refined upbringing. Unaware he'd unwittingly hit the mark, he drifted into thought.

Like this, right? Meanwhile, Yuri lay in the capsule and powered it on as the kind part-timer had instructed.

—Vrrr……

The capsule hummed and flashed blue, vibrating. Her soul, her consciousness, felt pulled somewhere. She could have resisted, but Yuri surrendered to the force.

And then.

Flick. I closed my eyes, then opened them. The scene before me changed in an instant. No more cramped capsule. A vast white expanse. An empty room, pristine and featureless. A space evoking void, and I stood alone in it.

This must be the VR room. The personal space given to every player upon logging into virtual reality.

I marveled at it while checking my state. Let's see……

Sensations here were strangely muted. No hearing, smell, taste, touch—most senses gone. Only perceiving my surroundings remained, but not through 'sight.' Like sensing behind you in a dream without turning. As if only my mind existed here.

'Blinking' wasn't eyelids moving—it was briefly withdrawing awareness.

I'd felt something similar before. ……A spirit body state?

"Oh." A clear voice echoed. My new Asteria avatar had formed.

—Pop! A full-length mirror appeared on one wall of the empty VR room—a courtesy for inspection.

"Same as outside."

The mirror reflected a blue-haired, golden-eyed beauty identical to real-life me. Height and weight matched perfectly too. At least externally.

What about inside? I punched the air, jumped in place, flipped. Testing for differences.

"Hmm……."

The brief test ended. I groaned at the odd feedback from my body. The avatar itself was fine—lighter than my battered real body from endless battles and wounds.

But. More…… delay than expected. Signals transmit subtly slower than reality.

Response time lagged. Negligible for most, but jarring for the sensitive. Especially me.

……Yeah, it's awkward. I frowned, clenching and unclenching my fist lightly. Like a micro-lag between brain command and action. In combat where 0.1 seconds decided life or death, it was huge. Capsule hardware, probably.

Solutions existed, though. Temporary ones.

—Step. I paced the tiny room slowly. Extending limbs, hopping, sitting and standing. Pointless motions, repeated. Soon, the dissonance faded significantly.

If there's delay in response, preempt it. Simple as that. I'd adjusted via basic movements in moments.

I checked the prompt and selected [No]. Asteria Online's customization was limited anyway. No gender swaps, restricted height/body tweaks, facial adjustments capped. They called it assimilation rate—bigger real-body gaps meant more control dissonance. Hair/eye color changes were the main options. Faces tweakable slightly, but I had no interest.

I didn't love this face, but no need to ugly it up. If I wanted scars, I'd have slashed my own cheeks long ago. A few blade marks might've roughened the look. Beautifying further? Impossible anyway. Already perfect golden ratio.

……Not narcissism. Purely objective.

Nickname time. Not my first self-naming. Waking in a girl's amnesiac body, I'd ditched my old Korean name for a new one.

……

Staring at the prompt stirred a distant memory.

—Hey, what's your name?

I don't recall the man's face. I killed him myself. Chased by thugs in the slums for my cursed looks, I'd already slain two when he asked—throats slit with a broken glass shard. My first murders.

Gazing at the bloodied glass, I answered.

—Yuri.

……Hard to recall the emotion. Maybe the shattered, bloody shard mirrored me—gender flipped, original self lost, starving in gutters for over a year, beauty exposed leading to first kill. 'Yuri' from my old ID, fattened to 'Yuriel' later, with a surname. Real name? Nickname? Fitting either way.

Familiar world to me. Character creation done, a hologram panel appeared: [Login] to Asteria Online, internet, Netflix, YouTube, VR settings…… I ignored them all. Had other plans today. Only bought one hour anyway. Full dive next time.

"I'll take the Physical Test."

I shoved the hologram aside.

"Yes."

The scene shifted. Still white, but vastly larger than the VR room. School field-sized? Far off, inky darkness roiled. Weapons would fly from there, no doubt.

The alert made my heart quicken faintly. Not real life-or-death, but such challenges were long overdue.

How long since slaying the Demon King and falling? I'd clung to my crumbling soul in a remote cabin, swinging my sword alone, awaiting death.

Not bad for a twilight event. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Even if per the 'system's' design. Its goals didn't matter—my choices did. If they aligned, so be it.

As I'd said before, the karma from my actions was mine alone.