Help Me, Sohee-ya

,And so, Jupiter, the Knight of Light, was able to drive out evil…!,

I sat quietly, listening to Ellie’s adventure story.

Her adventure story contained the content of quests that anyone could experience in Deron.

Meaning it was a story that embellished quests that anyone could do.

But the unexpected content that occasionally came out made Ellie’s story quite interesting.

,The story is that a small light dwelled in the goddess statue every time you completed a quest, right?,

,Ah, yeah.,

Ellie.

Her name in Deron is Jupiter.

She has been playing Deron, immersed in the role-playing of a Holy Knight of Light.

According to Ellie’s settings, Jupiter, the Knight of Light, couldn’t stand injustice and couldn’t pass by those who asked for help. That was Jupiter’s general setting.

The detailed settings seem to change from time to time, but the basic framework is this.

Therefore, Jupiter, Ellie’s character, had thousands of quest items, and she couldn’t remember the Moon Force’s quest start item acquisition route.

,The Goddess Statue of Lunaris…,

I tapped on a small notebook and mumbled.

Ellie’s story often mentioned a small goddess statue.

My gamer instincts are telling me. That goddess statue must be playing the most important role in obtaining the Moon Force.

,Don’t you remember where you got it?,

,Th, that’s right…,

Ellie, who had been confidently telling her story, avoided my gaze with an insecure expression when I asked her to explain how to obtain the goddess statue.

Well, what can I do?

She says she doesn’t remember.

Judging from Ellie’s personality, it didn’t seem like she was intentionally hiding it.

It’s just that she’s done so many quests that she can’t even remember it herself, so this kind of thing happens.

,Thank you.,

,W, was it helpful?,

,It’s better than not knowing at all. Now that I’ve found out what the important item of the quest is, I’m going to look for information with this.,

I obtained the keyword: small goddess statue.

If I keep investigating this item, won’t I be able to obtain the Moon Force someday?

Of course, it was just wishful thinking.

That’s when it happened.

A seat slightly away from the table where we were sitting.

The lid of the large capsule there opened, and Seongshin-sunbae crawled out.

,Hoo, hoo… Everyone was watching my game, right? How was it…?,

Seongshin-sunbae, who came out of the capsule, asked us with a proud smile.

I gave an awkward smile at his gaze and turned my head away.

I actually didn’t watch it. How can I explain that I left Seongshin-sunbae alone in another game and the three of us did a Deron raid?

Even the shameless Ellie shut her mouth this time.

Sohee as well.

But Seongshin-sunbae didn’t know about our situation, so he came to the table with shining eyes.

,I, I think I did a little better this time… I want to hear Hayeon-i’s opinion. She’s a VRS master…,

,Hmm…,

I crossed my arms and closed my eyes.

I’m just showing that I’m thinking hard about what to say.

Actually, I was just going to babble anything.

,Well, you’ve gotten a little better than the first time.,

,Re, really…? Actually, I felt that way too.,

I didn’t see it, so I don’t know what it’s like.

But if he says so, then it is.

I nodded and continued.

,But I saw a lot of things that need to be fixed. Especially about swordsmanship…?,

,Ah, swordsmanship…!,

,Yes, should I say that you’re still awkward at wielding a sword? I think the only way to fix this is to gain a lot of practical experience or learn VRS swordsmanship professionally.,

,I see…!,

My advice ends here.

I didn’t watch Seongshin-sunbae’s game video, so I had nothing more to say.

When I closed my mouth, Seongshin-sunbae turned his gaze to Ellie, who was sitting next to me.

,Eek…,

,Ellie, what do you think…?,

,M, me… Well… Hmm…,

Ellie nodded with a flustered expression.

But that was only for a moment, she opened her mouth with an expression as if she was immersed in something again.

,Seongshin… You lack resolve.,

,Resolve…?,

,If you’re a VR gamer, you’ve probably heard this story before, right? The saying that you need your own settings to immerse yourself in the game.,

,W, well, I’ve heard it…,

,Yes. You lack that.,

,What’s the connection between resolve and settings…?,

,Rather, I want to ask. What is VRS in Seongshin-sunbae’s opinion?,

,Sw, sword fighting…?,

Ellie, who seemed to have no thoughts, started talking to Seongshin-sunbae, showing a fairly smart side.

Seeing them immersed in their own world, it didn’t seem like the story would end anytime soon.

I got up from my seat and said to Sohee.

,I’m going to go to the bathroom.,

,I’ll go with you.,

Was Sohee also in a hurry to go to the bathroom?

I nodded, took Sohee’s hand, and left the VR game club.

Since the afternoon classes hadn’t ended yet, the hallway was quiet.

I walked for a while, listening to the teachers’ 수업 (sueop = class) sounds coming from beyond the closed doors of the classrooms.

Finally, I was able to reach the bathroom I had been aiming for.

Just as I was about to enter the bathroom.

A familiar yet unpleasant scent brushed past my nose.

,Cigarette…?

That’s right.

The scent wafting from inside the bathroom was cigarette smoke.

I reached out and stopped Sohee from approaching.

,Hmm…,

Cigarettes in a sacred school.

And in the 1st grade bathroom?

Are they brave? Or are they ignorant?

I stroked my chin and pondered.

,What’s wrong?,

,It seems like someone is smoking inside.,

,…In the bathroom?,

,Yeah.,

I said that and slightly opened the bathroom door.

The ventilation fan was running inside, but it wasn’t completely blocking the cigarette smell spreading in the air.

My eyes moved quickly and scanned the bathroom stalls.

,That’s the one…!

,Hayeon-i hates the smell of cigarettes, right?,

,Yeah.,

Cigarettes.

It’s not something I have good memories of.

I frowned and stared at the tightly closed bathroom door.

,What do you think we should do?,

,What do you mean, what should we do? Just…,

,Just?,

I stroked my chin and thought.

In this case, it would be faster to just tell the teacher.

That someone is smoking in the bathroom.

While I was thinking that.

Sohee, who was standing next to me, suddenly started walking and approached the tightly closed door.

A sudden straight rush.

Sohee opened her mouth while standing in front of the locked door.

,If you put out the cigarette now and disappear, nothing will happen.,

Sohee’s words flowed out calmly.

But the person inside didn’t answer.

They just made a rustling sound and a small noise.

,But. If you keep staying there, it might get a little uncomfortable.,

How long had it been since she said that?

The sound of the toilet flushing came from beyond the door, and a female student walked out as the locked door opened.

Judging from the name tag on her chest, she was definitely a 1st grader like us.

The female student, who came out with an annoyed expression, stopped moving and opened her mouth blankly the moment she saw Sohee’s face.

,You’re going to leave, right?,

Sohee asked with a bright smile.

At Sohee’s question, the female student who was smoking barely nodded and quickly ran out of the bathroom.

A body hurriedly passing by. At the same time, I frown at the subtle scent wafting from it.

The smell of cigarettes and the strong perfume used to kill that smell.

The two scents mixed together were making my head spin.

,Now the disturber is gone, Hayeon-ah.,

,Disturber…?

,Yeah. Now you can do your business to your heart’s content, right?,

Did she really, really have to say that?

I cleared my throat and went into the empty stall.

Just as I was about to close the door and pull down my skirt, Sohee’s question flew in.

,Hayeon-ah.,

,Yeah.,

,Is it big…?

It’s small, you bitch.

I didn’t answer.

Why are you curious about this?

***

A week has passed since I applied to participate in the competition.

Of course, I’ve only accessed VRS once during that time.

As a result, Seongshin-sunbae, who does club activities with me, started to have doubts.

,Hey, Hayeon-ah.,

,Yes.,

,Aren’t you practicing VRS?,

,Do you think I need practice?,

,W, well… Of course… I know you’re good, but…,

,Hmm…,

,But… If you’re not playing VRS, what have you been doing?,

What have I been doing?

When I think about it, I’ve done a lot.

I logged into Deron and did raids, logged into Deron and farmed, and even went on dates with Sohee in Deron.

So I could say with confidence.

,I played Deron.,

,De, Deron…? That’s the game my uncle plays… You were playing it too?,

Seongshin-sunbae asked back, surprised by my answer.

Of course, I know that students of this age tend to avoid Deron, but is the fact that I play Deron so surprising?

,Deron is fun, you know?,

,Ah, of course… I didn’t mean that Deron wasn’t fun. I was just surprised. But… We’re preparing for the competition, is it okay to play other games?,

,I’m okay. Because I’m a pro.,

,W, well, you might be okay… But our VR game club might not be. It’s been a week, so we have to submit some kind of performance to the school…,

,A performance…?

Do we have to show that too?

I opened my mouth blankly at Seongshin-sunbae’s words and asked back.

,It didn’t used to be like this… But seniors would only apply for the competition and skip classes often, so… That’s how it came about.,

Why are you telling me this important fact now?

I ran my hand over my face and let out a deep sigh.

I’ve been so immersed in Deron for the past week that there’s no way I could have such a performance.

,Ah… What does that performance mean?,

,The competition we’re participating in this time is an inter-school competition, right? So it seems like they contact each school’s teams and do scrims. They do scrim matches and submit the results to the school. Saying, ‘We’re working this hard!’,

,What happens if we don’t submit such a performance…?,

,They’ll probably ban us from participating in the competition, right?,

This is the worst.

If I can’t participate in the competition, it means I won’t be able to legally skip afternoon classes.

,No way…,

,I thought you guys had it all figured out… You seemed too relaxed…,

The problem is serious.

I jumped up from my seat, ran to Sohee’s capsule, and knocked on the door.

,Sohee-ya!!!