Chapter 42 – Hands…?

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I honestly couldn’t have imagined that Arang’s legs were prosthetic.

Maybe it was because I was so looking forward to touching her small, petite, and soft feet in real life, but when Arang’s prosthetic leg fell to the floor by my hand, my heart sank too.

When Arang saw the socks and shoes, I thought not only her heart but the world was collapsing. But thankfully, Arang wasn’t too hurt.

I put the socks I was wearing and the shoes I had personally chosen on Arang’s prosthetic leg.

As expected, it suited Arang’s radiant appearance so well. My eye for fashion never fails.

“Cu…te… Tha…nk… you…”

Thankfully, Arang liked my gift. Even if it’s a prosthetic leg, she still wears socks and shoes. I heard she wears them to look the same as others and for fashion.

Maybe that’s why Arang smiled ever so slightly when she saw the socks and shoes I gave her.

Good.

It seems like the awkward air caused by the prosthetic leg incident has completely cleared.

Contrary to what you see, Arang just isn’t good at talking, but the Arang inside is not much different from the Arang in LEORE.

“A…nother… favor…”

Arang said it was okay to ask for another favor, maybe because I wanted to touch her feet but couldn’t.

If feet are difficult, what’s left? The answer is simple.

“Ah, well, if feet are hard… then hands!!!”

I said loudly to liven up the atmosphere, and instead of touching her feet, I strongly grabbed Arang’s hand, which was neatly placed on my lap, to savor it to the fullest—.

Crack.

An ominous sound reached my ears.

A sound no different from the one I heard just before.

The same sensation as when I touched Arang’s feet.

Arang’s two hands dangling limply.

“……………………”

I stopped thinking. No, I couldn’t.

==

[Arang’s Foot Licker] was more impatient than I thought.

I barely managed to suggest touching my belly, and the moment I was about to say it, [Arang’s Foot Licker] grabbed my hands tightly. With that shock, my two prosthetic arms fell off my arms and collapsed limply on my lap.

Anna Unnie made them looser than I thought.

“……………………”

[Arang’s Foot Licker] opened his mouth wide and gasped.

“No, th, that is… I mean, hands, uh, I mean, ah… I can’t take it anymore…!!!!”

[Arang’s Foot Licker], holding onto my prosthetic arms, shouted as if in despair, hugged me tightly, and suddenly started crying.

I wanted to wipe away his tears, but I couldn’t because I didn’t have hands to do so, so I couldn’t comfort him.

After some time, [Arang’s Foot Licker] calmed down.

Now [Arang’s Foot Licker] is kneeling on the floor, burying his head in my chest and sobbing.

“Are you… okay…?”

“… Yeah.”

“Shall we… play… now…?”

“… Yeah.”

It feels like my relationship with [Arang’s Foot Licker] has been reversed, but playing is more urgent now.

The reason is because of…

The board game here.

I found out that the latest board game is in this lounge, so I looked up how to play it on RyuTube, and I was dying to try it.

As I thought, recent board games have excellent technology.

Now, there are board games that simply have components inside a box like in the old days, but there are also board game versions that work with tables that have hologram functions.

What I’m going to do with [Arang’s Foot Licker] today is play a board game through the hologram table in this lounge.

Board games that use hologram tables don’t have contents like before, but are in the form of plugging a USB into a computer.

There are so many types and various genres, so time will fly by.

Swoosh. Swoosh.

As [Arang’s Foot Licker]’s head slightly stimulated my thighs and belly, I felt ticklish because of my sensitive body.

“Enough… now…”

“Okay!”

[Arang’s Foot Licker] quickly backed away.

Come to think of it, what’s [Arang’s Foot Licker]’s name?

“Ah, sorry. I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Kwon Miae. Feel free to call me Miaeoneesan.”

“Okay… Miaeoneesan…”

==

I want to have fun with Arang without paying attention to her condition, but it wasn’t that easy.

But seeing Arang’s expressionless face showing interest like a child experiencing a game for the first time while playing board games, and her expression gradually trying to move, melted my heart.

The slightly visible snaggletooth whenever the corners of her mouth moved slightly was so cute that it made my heart stop.

“Unnie… your turn…”

“Sorry! Hmm… what could Arang want~”

The board game I’m playing with Arang now is Splendor.

It’s a simple board game where you use gems to get cards with points, and the first person to get 15 points wins.

I, who liked board games when I was young, know Splendor well and even have pride in my skills.

Arang is using a simpler strategy than I thought, to the point where I can see everything Arang is thinking right now.

Well, she’s only 15 years old, and considering what Arang said earlier—that she lived in the hospital—it would be quite difficult for her in games that require a mind for such strategic tactics.

It’s more of a physical thing than a mental thing.

“Okay~ I’ll eat this deliciously! Now it’s Arang’s turn!”

Like that, Arang and I were taking turns and playing the board game, but…

“Huh?”

Something’s wrong.

The situation that was clearly overwhelmingly in my favor started to be reversed every time it was Arang’s turn.

Arang took the card I was trying to get one turn faster, and the card I was trying to reserve in advance so Arang couldn’t get it was wasted without any meaning.

The difference started to widen little by little, and I couldn’t make up for the difference, so I ended up being defeated helplessly by Arang, who was playing Splendor for the first time.

I was defeated by Arang’s excellent strategy, as if she knew everything I was thinking.

Next is chess, which I’m more confident in than Splendor.

Chess is the board game that the most people have enjoyed since hologram tables became commercialized.

The reason is that the visual appeal is excellent.

Chess is basically a board game where you use your pieces to capture the opponent’s king. Why did such a board game become famous?

First of all, it’s a board game that many people have known since a long time ago, and it’s the board game that suits this hologram table the most.

The chess pieces that attack each other in the wizard movie based on a famous novel from a long time ago have been realized thanks to the hologram table.

There are orthodox chess pieces on the table screen, and chess pieces that you have customized with holograms are placed on the table.

The shape of the basic chess piece, the motion when moving, the execution motion, and the motion when dying, etc., can all be customized, so the visual appeal is quite excellent, and many people have come to like it.

“I’m never going to lose this time!”

Splendor was just a warm-up. It’s been too long since I played it, so my skills have deteriorated.

I’ve been playing chess since I was young, and I still play it in the virtual world whenever LEORE updates or when there’s ambiguously time left.

My skill is so good that I’m in the top 0.4 percent in the ranking.

Of course, I won’t put in my full effort.

If I show off my scary chess skills to 15yearold Arang, she’ll lose interest.

==

“……………”

Why did this happen…?

I felt a chill from the middle, like in Splendor before, so I gave it my all.

Every time Arang moves the chess pieces through the choker on her neck, she’s playing chess so sharply and scarily that I feel like my neck is being strangled.

When I first saw Arang, I thought she was a cute princess of a fallen kingdom who had become a hikikomori, but now, with the same expression as when I first saw her, Arang’s appearance is playing chess fiercely to the point where I feel like she’s emitting a murderous aura that’s going to kill me.

She clearly looked like she was playing chess for the first time at first, but as she made moves, her appearance changed, and Arang was playing chess to kill me one move at a time to win even in a situation where I was overwhelmingly advantageous.

In the end, I played chess with all my heart and eventually won.

But it wasn’t a perfect victory.

It was visible that Arang couldn’t concentrate fully as the chess play got longer.

“Unnie… so… good…”

“I was more surprised! Aranga, how can you be so good at chess…?”

“Am I… good…?”

“Of course! I’m not a pro, but I’m almost the strongest in amateur…!? Arang, you’re a genius!?”

“Oh… really…? But… this is… too tiring…”

“Shall we rest a little?”

“… Yeah. Hug me…”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah… the bed over there…”

There was a simple bed where you could rest lightly where Arang gestured.

‘Is it okay for me to hug this cute and soft Arang…? I’ve caused so many accidents…’

I swallowed hard.

“B…efore… that… take all this off…”

“Eh? R, really…? R, really…?”

“Yeah…”

Arang’s eyes went to the prosthetic arms and legs.

First, Arang asked me to do it, so I made up my mind and helped Arang take off her prosthetic arms and legs, and then carefully picked up Arang.

When I picked up the 15yearold girl, she weighed more than I thought a young girl would weigh.

I carefully laid Arang down on the bed.

“Chess… fun…”

“Really? Aranga, I was so surprised at how well you did from the middle.”

“First… difficult… but as I did it…”

“No, not only is your physique good, but your brain is good too…! As expected of our Guild Leader!”

“Hehe… that’s me…”

What I thought while playing and talking with Arang is that Arang is really amazing.

Even in this situation, she enjoys LEORE and doesn’t hesitate to meet people, and she has fun playing.

The problem is…

My heart hurts…

In a good way and a bad way…