Chapter 118: A senior with spirit

• Gasp

• Ayame ended her stream…

• Stream sniping? ㄷㄷ

• At this timing, it’s 100% intentional lol

• Run away~~~

In Voxel Craft, players appeared at their last location upon logging in. If Ayame had logged out somewhere else, like the village square, Leah would have had time to escape this vast house.

She quickly closed the chest and turned around—

“We have a guest. Hello.”

Leah’s eyes met Ayame’s, who stood right in front of the doorway.

“Hello, Senior Ayame. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

• Caught red-handed lol

• How is their first meeting at the scene of a crime lol

• Legendary situation unfolding lol

• Is it real that they’re both speaking so calmly?

• The silent battle of nerves begins.

“I don’t recall inviting any guests. Are you perhaps lost?”

Ayame’s RP was a combat maid. Her tone was soft-spoken, but there was a chill in her voice.

“I’m not lost. What I’m looking for is here.”

“Why here, of all places? I heard someone snuck in yesterday, too. Like a stray cat.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Such an uncouth person… By the way, could I see what you said you found here?”

• Declaring, “Show me what you just stole” lol

• Look at Ayame beating around the bush lol

• She knows everything, Leah’s busted.

• Leah’s audacity in this situation is amazing lol

• She won’t back down in this battle of nerves.

An ordinary thief would choose to resist or flee at this point, but Leah confidently took out the saplings and presented them.

“They look similar. Incredibly similar to the saplings I gathered myself today.”

“Yes. Because they are those saplings.”

“W-wait. Did you just admit it?”

“Did I?”

“Do you have no conscience at all, Junior Leah!?”

• Yeah… she finally realized…

• It seems Ayame was trying to banter with her by playing detective lol

• WWE takedown attempt failed!

• Leah breaks the rules… It’s like suddenly grilling samgyeopsal in the middle of a wrestling match…

• Ah, that’s a good analogy.

• Isn’t that just being a crazy b*tch?

• You see things clearly~

“Of course not. I didn’t steal, I performed a cycle operation. I simply helped the byproducts of nature find their rightful place.”

Her senior, dressed in a maid uniform with a red ribbon, leaned forward and bobbed her head vigorously up and down. The characteristic Voxel Craft nodding motion.

“It seems even my senior understands perfectly. Judging by the way you’re nodding.”

“Yes, I understand perfectly.”

Her senior suddenly stopped moving and declared firmly,

“That Junior Leah is beyond redemption and requires thorough maid-style ‘education.’”

• Ooh…

• I think I saw that on that website.

• Is it that thing where the maid reverse-disciplines the mistress?

• Oh, Pia comments…

Surely, she didn’t mean the vulgar kind of education being discussed in chat.

“How… do you intend to ‘educate’ me?”

“Politely. And with a touch of physical persuasion.”

As soon as she finished speaking, two silver daggers clicked out from her senior’s fingertips.

Leah took half a step back and calmly said,

“Even if you’re my senior, I can’t guarantee your safety if you resort to violence against me.”

After a brief pause, her senior took a large step forward without a word.

Flash.

And then, she charged.

Leah immediately drew her bow and aimed.

She fired the first arrow straight ahead.
Her senior ducked to dodge and immediately lunged to the left.

Leah quickly retreated. She nocked a second arrow and fired.

Thwack.

This time, it grazed her senior’s shoulder. But Ayame instantly pulled out a loaf of bread and took a large bite.

Meanwhile, Leah circled around, creating distance between them once more.

She continued to nock arrows.

One, two, three—Her senior fought much better than expected, skillfully dodging and persistently trying to close the distance.

But that was all. Retreating again, Leah fired an arrow that struck Ayame squarely in the abdomen.
From then on, her senior’s movements faltered. She kept pulling out bread, but…

Thwack—Thwack, thwack.

The arrows landed faster than she could heal.

When the last arrow pierced her leg, her senior collapsed to her knees.

And then, the next moment.

Poof—

Her senior’s body began to crumble into blocks, in the characteristic Voxel Craft way.

From head to toe, she dispersed into square fragments, items popping out with a clatter.

Iron daggers, a few loaves of bread, building materials, intricate equipment, half-used tools.

Finally, a maid uniform ribbon fluttered down and landed on top of it all.

• Did… did she kill her??

• Lol

• A robbery scene turning into a murder scene…

• Congratulations! You’ve been promoted from thief to robber!

• She’s too much ㅜ.ㅜ

• Boo~ Trash.

“My senior has spirit. She didn’t surrender until the very end… I ended up getting a little serious.”

• To be fair, Ayame attacked first lol

• You can’t challenge Leah to a physical fight~

• She dropped a lot of items…

• Time for some thorough looting.

• Shall we exercise our victor’s rights?

“A battle should end with the battle. Taking spoils turns it into plunder. For my senior’s honor, I’ll leave the dropped items as they are.”

• Yeah, taking everything from her inventory is a bit much lol

• For once, she’s saying something sensible…

• But isn’t the sapling she’s holding spoils? (Genuinely asking)

• That’s true lol She killed her to get it.

“…When did I take the saplings? My senior attacked me while I was holding them.”

• True lol

• Do you… perhaps not remember what happened before that?

• Life would be so easy if I lived like Leah lol

Leah left her senior’s unfinished palace and returned to her chosen building site.

From the deepest slot in her bag, she pulled out four small, light green saplings.

Jungle saplings.

Life she had found, discarded somewhere.

On the flat ground, half a step away from the center of her building site, she planted the four saplings in a 2×2 grid.

One corner at a time, as if performing a ritual.

[Jungle Sapling] has been placed.

She stepped back and looked at the four corners.

Nothing had grown yet,
But she felt as if the presence of a giant tree was already breathing beneath the earth.

• She planted them after all lol

• Once planted, they can’t be retrieved lol

• Legend has it that the roots of the saplings are soaked in the tears of a maid-clad someone. I love this story.

The biggest hurdle had been overcome. She could finally begin building her sanctuary.

Since she’d spent a considerable amount of time today, she decided to postpone the actual construction until tomorrow.

Saying goodbye to her Pias, she concluded her second day in Voxel Craft.

The next day.

Leah planned to stream Voxel Craft again today.

She wouldn’t play it exclusively for the entire duration of the server, but in the early days, there was a sense of ‘everyone playing together,’ so it seemed better not to miss out.

During her personal time before the stream, she resumed her three-game Ori training, which she’d skipped for the past few days.

She’d been a little embarrassed during the last lecture stream… And even though she’d maintained focus for a long time, catching a cold for the first time after playing Ori bothered her.

The training to control her entire body and finely adjust every muscle, so as not to lose herself in complete immersion during battle—was now more or less on track.

To reduce the strain and smoothly conduct broadcasts, she felt she needed a moment of ‘enlightenment,’ in addition to repetitive training.

The body wasn’t a mindless machine. It was a conduit for transmitting information and energy.

She’d experienced breakthroughs simply by changing her thinking or resolving psychological issues.

Of course, there were no spirits here, but that principle applied everywhere to a certain extent.

But since enlightenment was as elusive and unpredictable as grasping at clouds… she ended her training today with the same exercises as before.

After showering, she checked her email, which she did every few days. There was a message from Cradle.

For a moment, she thought it might be a proposal related to her partner streamer activities, but upon closer inspection, it was a direct email from the headquarters in America.

It was written in both English and Korean. She read the English version first.

Choeun-nim,

This is Gideon Vance, CTO of CRADLE, whom you met previously through my business card.

Your gameplay data is currently serving as a crucial reference point for the technological direction of the ARCUS Project. We are contacting you to request a confidential proposal discussion at the headquarters level.

This is an official proposal directly from CRADLE headquarters, bypassing the Korean branch.

Due to security policies, details can only be accessed through the portal below.

▶ [Secure Access Portal Link]
Access Code: REFRACT-01
Expiration Time: July 5, 2029, 11:59 PM (KST)
※ The portal can only be accessed once and requires user verification.
※ Project details and related information are protected under CRADLE headquarters’ security protocols. Unauthorized sharing may result in revocation of related privileges.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Gideon Vance

The expiration date…

If she hadn’t seen this today, she wouldn’t have been able to access it.