Chapter 35 : Famous(1)

There are two types of users in the world.

Mannered users and unmannerly users.

Among the latter, commonly called trolls, was that lunatic ranked 4th in PvP.

The man started gaining notoriety when a certain video spread on YouTube.

The video showed members of a guild, composed of average mid-to-high level users, forming a raid party and successfully reaching the boss

monster’s room.

Up to that point, it was an utterly ordinary scene for anyone who had ever been engrossed in an MMORPG or similar game genre.

The reason this video gained cult-like popularity was due to a brief moment of trolling that lasted only a few seconds near the end.

As the raid party was strategizing in front of the room of their target boss, the ‘Red Wyvern’, one melee class user suddenly charged into the

room alone, letting out a loud, bizarre scream.

It was essentially a meaningless shriek, but that very point drew attention, even spawning a meme and making him famous.

And, though he hadn’t realized it himself until then—it turned out he was an attention seeker to the core—that melee class user awakened to

the pleasure derived from receiving attention thereafter.

Thus was born one of the world’s most famous attention seekers.

The infamous unmannerly user ranked 4th, ‘MaxLevelGlassPrincess’.

For the record, according to him, he’s a man.

Despite having an incredibly rough voice and claiming to be a gym-rat musclehead, the reason for his ridiculous username was simple: ‘It’s

easier to attract attention if people think I’m a woman.’

Thus, with the fantastic combination of ‘star of a famous meme’ + ‘net-okama’ + ‘high ranking’, this person neared perfection as an attention

seeker, habitually engaging in newbie hunting and trolling using the Rogue class’s unique stealth skills and ambush-proficient passives.

For example, going to newbie zones and slaughtering users who just started the game and were hunting slimes, or showing up just as a raid

party was about to defeat a boss monster to steal the last hit and snatch the items, etc…

His trolling was so intense that he was famously known for having received death threats from several users.

That was the kind of guy he was.

No, wait, now that his body should have swapped with the female character he raised, should I call him ‘her’ instead of ‘him’?

“But I heard that person turned over a new leaf after their body changed.”

I heard that after the body swap, going outside led to retaliation due to her famous appearance, naturally causing PTSD and turning her into

a hikikomori who only stayed holed up indoors.

Since she was a user in a similar ranking tier, I had some contact and occasionally heard news through her acquaintances.

Although she became a shut-in, she seemed to be living well without bothering others, which was a relief.

Recently, I heard she was earning money by writing some kind of novel, and it seemed to be going well, so I even congratulated her.

I don’t quite remember the genre. T… something?

Anyway, since there was no news even after she regained her powers, I thought that friend wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

However, seeing the government officials bowing their heads and making requests, even offering bribes, it seemed something must have

happened to her.

“Did she cause some kind of accident? As expected, couldn’t shake off that attention-seeking habit even after all this time? Or did she make a

mistake due to PTSD? Like attacking civilians…”

“Ah, that person was originally pushed to the point of having mental issues… but sometime ago, they reportedly got better after starting to

live with a childhood friend they were always close to. After stabilizing, they became a valuable individual who greatly helped us by using

their powers as a user for public welfare and stability.”

“Wait, a childhood friend? Was that childhood friend perhaps… male?”

“When we visited to request cooperation, we met him. He was a handsome user with blond hair and dark skin.”

“Ah, that guy…”

I knew who he was talking about.

Although we didn’t interact often, we had some connection and had even added each other as friends in the past.

I’d seen them hanging out together occasionally; so they were childhood buddies.

I imagined the happenings that must have occurred between the two men and women living together.

A man with blond hair and dark skin, and a woman who was once a troublemaker but became docile while living with him?

It was painfully obvious what must have happened between them.

Offering a silent prayer of mourning for RabbitPrincess, who must have lost her precious female virtue to her closest friend, I continued my

delusion.

On a soft bed, feeling the touch of the man who, just a year ago, was nothing more than a childhood buddy, a dense, submissive female

transformation se—

“Excuse me, Ms. Gyeoul? Are you listening to me?”

“Ah, yes! I’m listening!”

I gulped down cold water to erase the indecent thoughts from my head.

A side effect of my intelligence increasing along with my body change was that whenever I had such useless imaginations or delusions,

unnecessarily detailed scenes would pop into my head.

It was literally like I didn’t need a computer; lewd manga or illustrations appeared in my mind exactly as I imagined them.

The elf user, who had reprimanded me for drifting off, cleared his throat once to reset the mood and naturally continued his explanation.

“Anyway, the most important thing in this situation is that those two were the linchpin of the moderate user faction cooperating with us, and

now, for some reason, we cannot contact them.”

“What? You can’t reach them?”

I found something strange in their explanation.

Being ranked 4th in PvP is no small feat.

Although it’s a rank limited to one season, PvP rankings are ultimately determined through battles between users of similar skill levels.

Considering that a small-to-medium guild of 10-20 average users is currently treated as having combat power similar to an army infantry

battalion, you can tell their skills are far from ordinary.

It’s not for nothing that various experts and military generals say in interviews that dropping a top 1000 ranker into the capital to start a

massacre would be more efficient than a nuclear bomb.

Unlike using nuclear bombs or various military equipment, deploying professional users allows for capturing an entire city intact, without

destroying buildings or industrial infrastructure.

But a skilled user like her, who used to sweep through ordinary players like massacring sheep and vanish effortlessly, suddenly went missing?

“Couldn’t they just be on a honeymoon or something? Or maybe they’re spending some intimate time together somewhere in the house. That

seems more realistic.”

Objectively, this was the most likely possibility.

The famous top 10 rankers within the country who could pose a one-on-one threat to her were me, ‘MaxLevelRabbitPrincess’, and Yejin –

just the three of us.

Even Yejin and I weren’t confident we could catch her if she decided to run.

Unless she made a mistake, or deliberately let herself be caught.

Besides, Yejin and I knew exactly what each other had been doing since our bodies changed.

We were always together.

We could provide alibis for each other, so the two of us were completely off the suspect list, not even worth mentioning.

‘There is only one user who could possibly catch her speed if she fled with all her might.’

The man who had held the Rank 1 position since the beginning of the season.

Called a legend by many Fantasia users, literally the greatest, strongest player of all time.

However, even for him, unless his class was also Rogue, catching RabbitPrincess one-on-one would require several conditions to be met.

Most importantly, the Rank 1 user is American, and I heard he’s under strict surveillance after receiving a request for cooperation from the

Pentagon, so he’s also off the suspect list.

That leaves no domestic suspects capable of forcibly capturing her.

Then the remaining possibilities were only two: either she couldn’t overcome her old habits and is playing games again to get attention… or

she voluntarily handed herself over to someone.

However, judging by what these people were saying, the former seemed unlikely.

Then the latter? Did she voluntarily hand herself over to another organization or country? If so, why? Hostage? She described herself as an

orphan, an outcast loser, socially maladjusted. I had also heard her say she had virtually cut ties with society in the real world, except for one

friend and the owner of the store where she worked part-time.

Thinking that far, I could finally deduce a small clue about her disappearance.

The answer was that the one person who was always precious, but became even more so after their relationship progressed to lovers following

the body swap – that blond, tan-skinned male user – must be involved in this incident.

“…A honeymoon… We initially thought so too. Considering that person always insisted to us ‘I am a man,’ and that it’s hard to believe

someone of that caliber could be taken by someone without even an emergency contact to us. So we waited for contact. That person never

forgot to check in with us at least once a day. Although whether it was a honeymoon or personal matters, we were confident that contact

would come within a few days.”

The elf user in the suit, breathless from speaking nonstop, composed his breathing and then drained the cold water I had offered in one go.

“The problem is, the period of severed contact with us exceeded four days, and when we finally dispatched agents to ascertain the situation

and visited that person’s residence…

Bloodstains, presumed to belong to the man living with that person, covered the entire inside of the house.”