After finishing the broadcast, I returned to the Private Room.
To respect Adella’s privacy, I knocked on the door two or three times.
Then, Adella, with a frown that could rival a thundercloud, came running and lifted me up effortlessly.
“What are you doing? My armpits are itchy, can you put me down?”
“Hey! No-Na-me Unni! Why did you come back now?”
“Hey?”
“Let’s go to the amusement park together!”
“What do you mean go to the amusement park? Now? At this time?”
“Yes!”
After gently putting me back on the floor, Adella turned on the beam projector.
I don’t know where she got those glasses, but she put them on and began presenting a grandiose presentation with a thin stick.
[Reasons We Must Go to Tokyo Desire Land VR World Right Now!]
“Go. I’m not stopping you.”
“No! Just listen to the end!”
“Fine.”
If she used a rainbow-colored background with a Bonobono template for her PPT, any desire to give permission would vanish.
So, I reluctantly granted her permission quickly.
Anyway, while quietly watching Adella explain passionately, I reached a conclusion.
“So you want to go out and see the fireworks tonight?”
“It’s a special show that only happens once a year! It’s supposed to be linked directly to reality in this world! Don’t you want to go?”
“What’s the difference between linking it and creating it in virtual reality?”
“Well, there isn’t really any difference… Seriously, you have no romance, Unni!”
Adella took off her glasses and placed them on the desk. Looking at it again, it was a pair without lenses.
“So you’re going, right?”
“Huh?”
“You’re not thinking of not following after hearing all this, are you?”
“I get it. You can’t go to the Japanese server due to the state firewall, right?”
I wondered why this kid, who used to play well alone, was suddenly clinging to me today.
“Tch! This is why quick-witted kids…!”
“Is that how someone asking a favor should sound?”
“Please, O-nesama! I really want to go to Japan!”
Since I had a strong backup in my family, documented by Professor Cheon, there was technically no problem for me to go to the Japan server.
However, to take Adella, I needed at least two guardians, and was there anyone besides me who had access to the Japanese server?
I scrolled through my limited friend list.
I had never heard anything about Shia Unni playing on another server.
Other clan members would be the same.
Suddenly, Kariri appeared online, having switched from offline.
If there were an unusually high number of Japanese viewers for this person, maybe she could help.
*
Yoonseul gasped upon hearing that they were heading straight for the Japanese server.
“I have time, but… uh, wait a minute! I need to change my avatar first…!”
“No way! We’re about to hit 50,000 people in the world! We have to go quickly!”
Adella kept urging her.
But Yoonseul was feeling much too anxious.
Right now, her body was not Kariri’s.
She was shorter, skinny, and had no special charm to her body whatsoever.
“What’s the problem?”
Na-me asked, perplexed.
“We’re just going to play, not broadcasting, right? Doesn’t staying in a different body for a while make it uncomfortable?”
Being a VR avatar doesn’t mean you’re invincible.
The human brain has a tendency to maintain homeostasis.
While users can create a variety of avatars in the VR world, the physical discrepancy caused by prolonged access would inevitably affect the user in one way or another.
Na-me tugged at Yoonseul’s sleeve while pointing this out.
“If we don’t take Adella today, she’ll surely be grumpy all day, so let’s hurry. And you’re pretty like an idol, so what’s the worry?”
“Quickly! The number is at 49,500 right now!”
Adella hopped about, leading both of us out toward VR SPACE.
[VR – Tokyo Desireland 20:00 ~ 22:00 (49,819/50,000)]
[IEEE 903.18: Approved.]
[Waiting…]
“Heh The line is so long!”
Just as Adella lamented, even in the VR world, the entrance line was stretching out.
In another server, you’d typically drop straight into the center of the world upon entry.
But here, that wasn’t the case.
If you’re wondering why identity verification in the VR world isn’t done digitally but instead by security officers checking each and every one, the answer is quite simple.
Because it’s Japan. Don’t question it; it’s Japan.
Na-me thought it was fortunate to be among the first 50,000.
Otherwise, I would have had to deal with Adella complaining for hours about not showing her around after our trip to Korea University.
On the other hand, Yoonseul couldn’t hide her anxious expression as she kept biting her thumbnail.
As the crunch sound reached Adella’s ears, she asked, annoyed.
“What’s up with you since earlier? What are you so anxious about?!”
“Uh… that’s…”
“What’s wrong, Unni? Are you sick?”
Na-me also looked at Yoonseul, who seemed completely different from her usual self.
At this point, she didn’t resemble herself at all.
“They might recognize me… Not with this face…”
Her gaze was jittery.
Adella and Na-me exchanged glances, both perplexed and tilting their heads.
“Everyone thinks… I was the one who caused Che-na’s death…”
“Che-na?”
Adella had no idea who that was, but Na-me recalled hearing the name before.
Last year, there was a report about a singer in the Republic of Korea who ended her life due to depression; where had I heard it? After racking my brain, I remembered it was in the Tree Wiki entry for Kariri.
[Idol Che-na Death Incident Related]
“Nobody here seems to know you, right?”
“No! They definitely will know…!”
The news outlets reporting Che-na’s death always plastered Yoonseul’s face across the articles.
The footage they streamed just before she and Che-na entered the capsule was still floating around illegally.
More than anything, there were way too many people.
Without Kariri’s physical form to protect her, Yoonseul felt suffocated in this atmosphere.
What if they recognize me? There were not just Japanese people here but people from all over the world.
If millions of people are familiar with Che-na, then half of those here might have seen her face at least once through the news…
If even one of them is a fan of Che-na, what kind of face should I show them?
Yoonseul couldn’t find any answer.
What pulled her out of her thoughts was Adella’s sharp voice.
“Hey, look. Look!”
Suddenly, Adella stood Yoonseul, who had been crouched down, up.
“Is your name Seol Yoonseul?”
A blue window opened in front of Adella.
She typed in ‘Adella’ and ‘Seol Yoonseul’ into the search bar.
[Extracting search volume data…]
“Ah…”
“You have a serious case of self-consciousness, huh?”
Adella swept her hand across the screen interface and handed it to Yoonseul.
Yoonseul stared blankly at the screen.
[Search Volume: Adella (83,103,380)
Seol Yoonseul (20,494)]
“Eighty million? No, eight hundred million? I’ve been searched by eight hundred million people? Compared to that, you’re only at twenty thousand?”
Adella wagged her tail back and forth, feeling proud.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but nobody here knows you. You’re not a star or something.”
“Ah…”
Yoonseul felt as if her head had been hit by a hammer at those words.
“Compared to that, I am a star! Hehe.”
Adella lightly rubbed her nose.
“Why all the self-praise when you were doing great?”
“That’s just how it is, you should agree!”
“Quickly apologize to Kariri Unni.”
“Why do you keep telling me to call you Unni while you call everyone else by their name? This world has a messed-up hierarchy!”
As Na-me and Adella bickered, passersby approached and asked.
“Um… Excuse me…”
“Yes?”
“Is that really you, Adella? Wow, it is! Awesome!”
“Hehe, want my autograph?”
“Really? Wow! I have to go buy Lotto Seven today!”
“Me too! Adella-san!”
The request from two men wearing white headbands led to an instant crowd forming around the three girls.
“Isn’t that right? The Wagal NPC has appeared!”
“She looks completely human!”
“Adella-chan is so pretty! Can I get just one autograph?”
“Wait! You guys, line up properly!”
The line immediately split into two.
One side was the line to enter Desire Land. The other was a long line for getting an autograph from Adella.
“Hey, look at how I live! Na-me Unni should recognize this, though… Hey, you guys, once you get into the land, I’m not giving autographs anymore, so sort yourselves out!”
Adella couldn’t hide her pride while waving her hands nonstop.
With a setup that looked straight out of a comedy show, Yoonseul appeared a bit dazed.
“My Adella can be a bit selfish, huh?”
Na-me held her hand tightly.
Her tiny hand felt absurdly small to provide any sense of comfort.
“I don’t know exactly what kind of experience Kariri Unni had before, but even if I do, I can’t fully empathize with her heart.”
Humans tend to be indifferent toward others.
You could use Yuna’s case as a simple example.
In the case of the Elementary Division in the Academy, most students were bound to be rich.
Since they’re more affected by early education than by innate talent.
Even so, no student knew that Yuna was a welfare recipient.
If all the students had shown a little interest, Yuna wouldn’t have had such a hard time.
Above all, Na-me had to painfully realize this fact through her seven years of experience.
Could she blame people for not noticing if she had played League of Legends for a whopping 50,000 hours?
Na-me herself had no idea who the person playing Wagal and Resonance the most was, so she had no right to complain.
“People are surprisingly indifferent to others, but there are those around who understand your situation well, right? Isn’t that enough for you? It’s not like you did anything wrong.”
For Na-me, it was Cheon Sae-min. For Kariri, it was her younger brother, Seol Taeyang.
“I’ve heard that even celebrities who were pretty famous go unnoticed when they walk out onto the street. So, I hope you don’t have to worry too much about what others think.”
Na-me scanned through Kariri’s controversy entry.
She couldn’t find any major faults in her conduct in any entry.
In fact, she even wondered if all the public opinion that said Kariri was entangled in too many incidents might be further stigmatizing her.
[The Desireland 7Wish Festival will be starting shortly. Please enter in an orderly fashion following the instructions of the guides on Main Street.]
“Shall we go see the fireworks? Is Adella still far away?”
“Wait, Unni! Hey, you! We’re supposed to sign before we go! Can’t you see this line ‘Adella is not an AI’? You can’t just snatch the autograph and run away!”
“Let’s ditch them.”
“Oh… sniff Okay…!”
“Really, you guys! Heeeey!”
