Acceleration

Ellie smiled as she checked the post that made it to the top of the Deron Gallery.

She used the camera settings from a slightly distanced position to create a GIF, so as not to get caught that she took it herself.

She staged the situation as if someone else was watching and filming.

She didn’t forget to leave comments either.

Using 8 out of her total 20 accounts, she wrote the minimum number of comments needed to get to the top.

She learned all of this from the Soft Raccoon, the Blood Demon King.

Now, comments praising her would be posted.

It should have been.

However, reality differed from Ellie’s expectations.

[Comments]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[The sparrow won kekekekeke]

[I knew this would happen from the start. Jupiter is good, they say?]

ㄴ[lololol]

[Gallery Leader-nim gets a like kekeke]

Up to this point, Jupiter had been rotating through multiple IDs to write the comments.

The problem was the comments that started appearing below that.

[What game is this? It’s not Deron?]

ㄴ[Looks like VRS]

[Dude, you came to the wrong gallery.]

[Isn’t that Jupiter and the Blood Demon King?]

ㄴ[Looks like just the same character customization. Probably impersonating]

ㄴ[Do you share the customization? Give it to me]

ㄴ[Please]

[This is the Deron Gallery????]

[Isn’t this rigged? When I refreshed, suddenly 20 likes just exploded on it?]

ㄴ[Seems like it]

ㄴ[It went to the top post in less than a minute after being posted]

[What’s up, did both the Blood Demon King and that sparrow bitch quit Deron?]

ㄴ[Looks like just impersonating, the game is different too. How could Jupiter beat the Blood Demon King?]

The reaction wasn’t as favorable as she had thought.

Ellie swallowed a groan and kept refreshing the comments.

But no matter how long she waited, the comments Ellie was hoping for didn’t appear.

What, what’s going on?

People even started suspecting that she was rigging her top post.

Ellie was greatly flustered by the situation she was experiencing for the first time.

Soft Raccoon hadn’t taught her how to deal with these kinds of situations.

Ellie bit her nails, feeling anxious.

This, this isn’t it?

She beat her rival for the position of gallery leader.

Even though it was a different game, wasn’t it a clear demonstration of her skills?

As she continued to refresh the post, Ellie let out a short scream.

“Ah…!”

It’s gone. No matter how much she searched, even when searching for her own ID’s nickname, the post wasn’t visible.

The post had been deleted.

Ellie checked the notice regarding the Deron Gallery’s rules of use.

There was a warning that posts that didn’t match the gallery’s topic could be deleted.

That’s right. Ellie’s post didn’t match the gallery’s topic, so it was deleted due to the cumulative reports from gallery users.

Stunned by the unbelievable reality, Ellie gaped, then headed to the VRS Gallery this time.

VRS Galleryⓜ

If she had to write a post that matched the gallery’s topic, she could write it here.

Ellie started writing the same thing she had written in the Deron Online Gallery this time as well.

And so, the post was uploaded.

Ellie immediately used her phone to leave comments and spammed the like button to get it to the top post.

Naturally, the post made it to the top.

Other users started reacting to the post that quickly rose to the top.

Ellie checked the comment notifications and went to the post she had written.

But.

[The post does not exist or has been deleted.]

You will be redirected to the gallery list shortly.

It was deleted again. It was deleted before she could even check the comment reactions.

What’s the problem this time?

With trembling eyes, Ellie started writing a question post in the gallery.

It was a question asking why her post had been deleted, as she wanted to know the reason.

She had followed the gallery’s rules of use.

She had uploaded a screenshot of a VRS game, so she hadn’t violated the rules of use.

That’s what she was thinking as she pressed the post registration button.

[ㅇㅇ This ID has been blocked by the manager.]

Block period: 30 days / Reason: Rigging top posts and causing disruption

Available time: 2/22

“Th-this…!”

The ID itself was blocked.

Ellie, who had only been active in formal galleries, had never experienced anything like this before.

***

I let out a belated sigh as I got out of the capsule.

It was a sigh to cool down the anger that surged up, rather than the heat stimulated by the white pain.

My whole body is hot. I’m angrier at myself for not staying calm in that situation than at the fact that I was hit by someone I thought was weaker than me.

I fell into the water while bleeding. The problem was that I was too hasty.

If I had just held on, created distance, used my bow, and bought time, it would have been my victory.

But, getting heated up like this now wouldn’t change the outcome of the match.

Defeat is familiar. It’s not shameful. It was a natural result of arrogance.

“Iik!”

But being angry is being angry.

I jumped onto the bed and pounded the soft pillow wildly.

The relentless punch rush that stretched out, squishing the pure white pillow, peok peok.

Like this, like this!

Next time I see you, Jupiter, I’m going to beat your stomach like this.

“Ehyu…”

I sat down and slowly began to review the battle that had just happened.

The beginning was equal. We both used our talents and entered a state of thought acceleration.

I thought as our swords clashed. Why couldn’t I overwhelm Jupiter?

Even thinking about it now, it was a strange thing.

But, the fight in an equal state didn’t last long. In a very fleeting moment, right after Jupiter’s atmosphere changed, I started to fall behind.

As if reading my attacks in advance, they blocked the direction of my sword and knocked it away beforehand.

Why? Why does Jupiter know my swordsmanship?

Why was Jupiter moving faster than me?

Think. When did Jupiter start to change?

At that moment, I was able to recall the face of a woman I had been with at the Future Digital Complex Center.

“Sohee…!”

That’s right. It was after meeting Sohee that Jupiter started to be active in the game with her own appearance.

To be exact, it was from the point when she started learning how to control her talent there.

Now that I think about it, there were a lot of strange things.

A place to control Jupiter’s talent.

But why did I have to be there?

Why did I have to take the test first, before Jupiter used the test machine?

I didn’t think deeply. I just approached it with the intention of doing a favor to help a small, soft girl.

I didn’t pay any attention to what was happening inside, or to the data that Sohee was collecting.

It felt like fragmented puzzle pieces were being put together one by one.

There’s something there. Something that Sohee didn’t explain to me.

I hurriedly took out my phone, and the Light Seeker, my secret friend, was desperately looking for me.

But I didn’t have the time to answer his call right now.

I quickly called Sohee.

After a short ringing tone, the call connected to Sohee.

“Sohee-ya?”

[Ah, Hayeon-ah…? What’s wrong?]

“Can you meet me right now?”

[M-meet…? Now?]

“Yeah, there’s something I want to ask you.”

[Something to ask…?]

Sohee’s listless voice came from beyond the phone.

It seems like she was expecting me to ask her to hang out.

I chuckled softly and added.

“Yeah, what kind of test did Jupiter, no, Ellie, do inside that test machine?”

I didn’t expect to get an easy answer.

It was something that Sohee was secretly doing, keeping it a complete secret from others.

That’s probably why she insisted on storing the information in analog format.

[That? You wanted to know?]

“Can you tell me…?”

[Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with it?]

But Sohee’s answer was different from what I expected.

She can tell me? That easily?

Is it okay to just tell me like that?

“Is it okay to just tell me like that?”

[Yeah, it’s okay if it’s Hayeon-ah.]

“Then why didn’t you tell me all this time?”

[Because Hayeon-i didn’t ask. You didn’t seem particularly curious, did you?]

Ah…

I nodded blankly at Sohee’s words.

That was true. At that time, I was only thinking about going home quickly and logging into Deron.

I didn’t think there was anything particularly important there.

[But, why are you suddenly interested?]

“Th-that’s…”

I honestly told her what had happened earlier.

That Ellie, who had become able to control her talent, had started fighting me on equal terms, and that at some point she had surpassed me and started overwhelming me.

I even asked if Sohee was secretly telling Ellie something special without me knowing.

Sohee, who had been listening to me quietly, asked cautiously, as if puzzled.

[Is that true?]

“Ah… yeah.”

[Ellie surpassed you?]

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.”

[That can’t be…?]

That can’t be, it was an undeniable reality.

If I played back the shadow play inside the capsule, I would be able to see the scene clearly.

[First, I’ll go to your house, okay? Wait for me?]

“Ah, yeah…”

The call ended, and Sohee really drove to my house.

I was starting to get used to seeing her waiting in front of my house.

I put on my coat and walked out of the front door.

As always, the driver ahjussi was sitting in the front seat wearing sunglasses.

It’s getting dark, wouldn’t it be very dangerous to drive with sunglasses on like that?

As I was staring blankly ahead, Sohee, who was sitting next to me, poked my shoulder.

“Did you bring that?”

“Ah, yeah.”

I nodded at Sohee’s question and took out my phone.

The gallery on my phone contained the scene of me losing to Ellie.

“See? We fought similarly up to this point. But suddenly Ellie’s reactions got faster.”

“Hmm… did you two meet in VRS?”

“Ah, we just met by chance. I was matching and she popped out on the opposing team.”

Sohee watched the video on the phone for a long time.

Then she tilted her head and looked back at me.

“You really lost? You didn’t let her win?”

“That’s what I’m saying…”

“That’s strange…”

What’s strange?

Does she not believe that I lost?

I tilted my head and looked up at Sohee.

“It’s better to go and talk. The data is all over there.”

Sohee said that and winked at the driver ahjussi sitting in front.

Then the car started to glide forward.