Chapter 123: To make a baby bird fly, you must first drop it

Spring hesitated for a long time, smartphone in hand.

The time spent debating whether to press the call button under the name ‘Jina Mama’ on the screen had already exceeded minutes, let alone seconds.

Of course, just a moment ago, she had received a reply message from Jina telling her to call when convenient.

But her opponent is a very busy person.

She worries if it’s really okay to call, if Jina sent that message just to be considerate.

If it were other members, they would have called Jina immediately.

But the mature little leader, Spring, still finds it awkward to act childishly towards someone.

Eventually, mustering her courage, she pressed the call button.

After a couple of short rings, Jina’s calm voice seeped into her ear.

[Yes, Bom.]

A wave of weariness washed over Spring’s heart at the languid voice, heavy with fatigue.

“Ah! Um… Are you very busy, Mama? I’m sorry. I feel like I’ve bothered you again…”

[No, it’s alright. I just finished running an AI training and was waiting for the results, so I had a moment.]

“That’s a relief, but… I’m thinking maybe it would have been better to just message you…”

[Talking via message would actually take longer. My fingers are stiff too. Calling is more convenient.]

“Ahaha…”

[So, what’s on your mind?]

The subtle warmth in her voice eased Spring’s tension a little.

But that too was fleeting, and she soon fell back into contemplation.

Unsure how to bring it up, she just moved her lips silently for a while.

Jina, perhaps noticing Spring was choosing her words, asked again in a gentle voice.

[Whether it’s a concern or anything else, feel free to speak comfortably without any burden.]

‘Bom-nim, as the youngest, would be better off acting a bit more childish,’ Jina added in a languid voice.

At this, Spring mustered a little courage, took a slight breath, and muttered in a small voice.

“That’s… I don’t know how to get good at games…”

For a moment, a very faint sound of breath was heard over the smartphone.

A stifled sound, as if trying hard to suppress laughter.

Her face flushed hotly, and Spring unknowingly bowed her head low.

‘Uuuugh… Why did I say that! Too mean!’

After a brief silence, Jina carefully began to speak.

[…Is it really necessary to be good at games? It doesn’t cause major problems in life.]

‘There’s no need to be good, just keep working hard as you are now…’

Her tone was cautious, but the amusement hadn’t completely faded from Jina’s voice.

That’s right.

Being catastrophically bad at games was already practically Spring’s identity.

Countless teachers had taught Spring games until now, but no one could save her.

Now, even Spring herself had given up on being good at games.

However, this time is different.

“As for Jinro World, I want to do well. No, at the very least, I want to be considered average.”

‘I know Jina and Rosy stayed up for days and nights making it.’

‘More than that, Jinro World has a limited number of people who can play.’

‘The trailer released a while ago caused an explosive reaction, and I know that not only Pasta, but other broadcasting platforms, and even streamers overseas are sending inquiries, wanting to play it badly.’

One of the people who seized such a precious opportunity is Spring, herself.

Just because she’s a member of Cosmo Live, just because she has a connection with Jina.

She felt uncomfortable, as if she had taken a spot unnecessarily.

‘Other streamers might be able to show more interesting scenes…’

A deep sigh mixed with Spring’s lamenting voice.

Jina listened to Spring silently, then cautiously began to speak.

[Actually, gaming skill isn’t essential to enjoy Jinro World. Just look at Summer-nim during the beta test, right?]

Didn’t she attract tens of thousands of viewers just by wandering around the village all day?

Of course, if asked whether even that isn’t a skill in dating sim games, she has nothing to say.

“Still, even if I don’t know about other things, I want to adapt to the flight system.”

[Hmm… Bom-nim, do you perhaps have acrophobia?]

“It’s not like that. It’s just that the feeling of floating in the sky without a seatbelt feels somewhat unsettling…”

Spring’s biggest problem is that she unknowingly squeezes her eyes shut when the flight system activates.

Unfortunately, the flight system Jina developed works by confusing visual information. If she squeezes her eyes shut, she can’t maintain balance.

This isn’t a problem that can be solved by improving the control method.

Spring has to adapt.

[If she just gets used to the sensation of floating in the sky itself, it should work out somehow…]

“Is there, perhaps, no way?”

After a brief silence.

Suddenly, ttak- the sound of fingers snapping echoed.

As if a good idea had come to mind.

[Just a moment. I’ll quickly make a game and send it to you.]

“…Yes? Right now?”

‘Mama, weren’t you busy?’

Spring was flustered by the sudden development.

But Jina answered comfortably, as if it were no big deal.

[It won’t take long. Maybe an hour or two at most? I have something I made lightly for testing before, so I’ll just polish that up a bit and send it to you.]

A game made by Jina herself.

Those words triggered Spring’s PTSD.

It was only a few months ago that she fainted playing the VR horror game Jina made.

…Don’t tell me, this time too?

“Um… It’s not something strange, right? Like scary…?”

[Don’t worry. The purpose is solely to help Bom-nim adapt to the sensation of floating.]

“If so, that’s a relief, but…”

[Ah, but since it’s a game, I’m planning to make it somewhat fun. Thinking of using it for broadcast content too, so I’ll add elements for viewers to enjoy.]

“Yes?”

[I’ll send it to you later, so please check it out.]

Spring unknowingly let out a hiccup, hik-.

She started to feel a little scared about what kind of game it would be this time.

---

As soon as the call with Spring ended.

Jina immediately launched the game engine program.

“Ah… I’ve unnecessarily increased my workload again.”

Though she grumbled, she actually quite enjoys this kind of work.

To catch her breath for a moment, to relieve the stress piled up from busy work.

More than anything, when she recalled Spring making a crying sound, she couldn’t help but feel a mischievous urge welling up.

Jina lightly cracked her fingers and modified the project file name saved as ‘TestUse47’.

[Jump Up]

The intention was simple. Stepping on objects floating in the sky to go up, higher and higher, that’s all.

“If falling is scary, just fall a lot and get used to it.”

All objects were extracted using the 3D model automatic generation AI incorporated into the VR TRPG.

In the first place, this project itself was created to test AI performance.

“Anyway, since I’m making this game for Bom to adapt to the sensation of floating… there’s no need to make the level design too difficult, right?”

‘Still, both the player and the viewers should have fun, shouldn’t they?’

Therefore, she began to mix traps and gimmicks targeting some objects.

First, a slippery ice platform.

Designed to provide moderate friction, but to make one slide off very slowly if the center isn’t precisely maintained.

Next, a bouncy trampoline.

It looks like a shortcut because you jump high up when you step on it.

But if you make a mistake, the tension was set slightly strong so you fly off to a completely unexpected place.

Here, she also installed a few trap platforms where the floor collapses puk if you step on them lightly.

As a courtesy, she set it up so a warning sound would ring just before the platform falls.

Because it would be a big problem if Spring got too scared and fainted again.

Besides that, she newly extracted and placed 3D objects purely for fun.

Like a rubber mallet that suddenly pops out and bounces the player away.

Or giant windmill blades set to bounce you off if you don’t jump at the right timing.

Jina, from the perspective of a malicious viewer, created the game while imagining Spring screaming.

About 5 minutes of lightly testing it while wearing the VR headset.

“…This might be quite difficult for Bom-nim?”

It’s sudden, but Jina is quite good at games.

Even to such Jina, it felt quite difficult.

Of course, the fact that she was exhausted had to be taken into account, but still, it’s not easy.

“Still, it’s definitely fun, so I don’t want to change the map…”

It’s definitely not because she’s lazy.

She just thought it was already highly polished as it is.

Jina, after pondering for a moment, picked up her smartphone and sent a message to Spring.

[Bom, could you perhaps recruit one person to play this game with you?]

[It would be good if it’s someone who can quickly adapt to new VR games.]

[For instance, Fall-nim or someone like that.]

[Bom-nim: I’ll ask her once.]

[Bom-nim: If it’s Fall unnie, it’ll probably be fine.]

[Bom-nim: …But it’s really not scary, right?]

[Bom-nim: (Shivering bunny cone)]

Soon, a message arrived from Bomnamu (Spring Tree – nickname) saying she had found someone to lift her.

“In that case, I can raise the difficulty a bit more?”

Since it became a 2-player game anyway, she newly installed a gimmick that requires two people to cooperate to pass.

She placed the next platform in a location unreachable by jumping alone, and instead placed a few movable objects nearby.

As a finishing touch to the game creation, she slightly lowered the gravity acceleration value of the physics engine.

While artificially increasing airtime by making jumps and falls slower.

She intended to minimize the fear of floating in the air.

After all, she didn’t forget that the purpose of this game was to make Spring get used to the sensation of floating.

“Tomorrow, I should just do some mindless repetitive work and watch Bom suffer.”

…Probably.