Part 4 – The Chatroom

Cowabunga.

Age 26, male.

Illustrator.

After posting a message in the group chat, he crossed his arms and stared at his phone screen with a serious gaze.

[Cowabunga: So, we’re really having the meetup this time, right?]

[AAA: I guess we are?]

[Southern Barbarian Cat Sister: Yep, we agreed to it.]

Although positive replies came from AAA and Southern Barbarian Cat Sister, Cowabunga didn’t relax his intense stare.

The two most important people had remained silent.

Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm.

The two who had met alone during the last meetup, which had been blown up by an unexpected incident.

Cowabunga tapped his upper arm with his fingers, waiting for a response. After about three minutes, he got his answer.

[Yellow Storm: Yep, let’s do it.]

[Outboxer009: Yep.]

Their replies.

The fact that they came almost back-to-back made Cowabunga narrow his eyes.

“Just as I thought. Suspicious.”

Suspicious.

No matter how he thought about it, it was suspicious.

Could it be that, just as his deduction suggested, the two of them were already a couple?

And that they lived very close to each other—say, next door—and were practically semi-cohabitating?

Could they be together right now?

[Cowabunga: Great, see you all on the day of the meetup.]

Leaving a final comment as if stamping a seal on a contract, Cowabunga put down his phone and took a deep breath.

It had already been about five months since the last meetup was canceled.

Normally, when a meetup gets derailed by unforeseen circumstances and doesn’t actually happen, a second one should be planned.

After all, this wasn’t just any simple meetup; it was an ambitious plan to see each other’s faces for the first time in years.

But reality was different.

The response from the members—or to be more precise, from certain members—had been far more lukewarm than expected.

“Aboki and Nopoki.”

The only two who had met at the canceled meetup were the first to show a half-hearted reaction.

How should he put it? It was like they were saying, ‘We’ve already eaten the best part, so why bother with more?’

The atmosphere was that since they had seen each other, that was enough.

In fact, Cowabunga agreed to some extent.

From the beginning, what he and the other chatroom members had been most interested in was the meeting between Outboxer009 and Yellow Storm.

“And Southern Barbarian Cat is suspicious, too.”

Southern Barbarian Cat Sister.

Yellow Storm’s other best friend.

The one who played the role of the de facto leader among the chatroom members—or more accurately, the mediator and the voice of common sense.

So, normally, the leader, Southern Barbarian Cat Sister, should have been actively planning the second meetup.

But she, too, had shown a lukewarm reaction.

“She saw them. Southern Barbarian Cat Sister definitely saw the two of them.”

Perhaps this is what happened?

Aboki and Nopoki, who had their own private meetup, developed feelings for each other. The tomboyish Nopoki, wanting to look good for Aboki, decides she wants to dress up.

But alas.

Being the tomboy she was, Nopoki, who usually just wore hoodies and jeans, had no idea how to style herself… so in the end, she sends an SOS to her close friend, Southern Barbarian Cat Sister.

‘Nopoki’s gender was revealed thanks to her VTuber debut… and anyone can tell Southern Barbarian Cat is a woman.’

If Southern Barbarian Cat Sister turned out to be a man, that would be the twist of the century.

In any case, Southern Barbarian Cat Sister accepts Nopoki’s request for help.

She takes Nopoki out to Hongdae… and there, they happen to run into Aboki, who was just passing by.

“Yes, that’s how she sees Aboki. She sees Nopoki getting shy in front of Aboki, and she sees Aboki getting embarrassed as well. Maybe she even saw Tanya Noona from Nopoki’s streams.”

In any case, Southern Barbarian Cat, who had already guessed the situation from the moment she received Nopoki’s SOS, would narrow her eyes and let out a series of knowing hums, while Nopoki and Aboki would squirm with even more embarrassment.

“And so, having seen Nopoki and Aboki and finding out they were dating, Southern Barbarian Cat lost her motivation for a group meetup.”

After all, they’d already scooped out the filling of the cake called ‘the meetup.’

‘Those insolent rascals…’

To have all the fun by themselves.

To exclude him just because they had their fun.

It was at that very moment.

[AAA: Dude, why are you so obsessed with the meetup?]

At AAA’s message, which came through Discord, Cowabunga quickly placed his hands on the keyboard.

[Cowabunga: C’mon, it’s infuriating. They think it’s all good just because they saw each other?]

[AAA: Well, you’ve got a point there.]

[Cowabunga: We have the right to see Nopoki and Aboki in person and tease them too.]

[AAA: I don’t know about that, but it’s true that I’m curious.]

[AAA: Now that you mention it, I’m really curious. I think I’m even more curious about Nopoki since I’ve only heard her voice.]

[Cowabunga: Judging by her voice, I’d guess she’s a cute and cheerful girl, around 160 cm tall.]

[AAA: How can you tell that just from her voice? But it does sound plausible.]

[Cowabunga: The key is Aboki. Aboki. The fact that they both quit competing in the rankings, and that Nopoki suddenly debuted as a VTuber… no matter how you look at it, it’s suspicious.]

[AAA: They’re probably just dating… but I wonder what kind of couple they are. Maybe it’s a combination of the cold city woman Aboki and the cute girl Nopoki?]

[Cowabunga: ‘Cold city woman’? What’s with that term? You’re really showing your age.]

[AAA: Look who’s talking, we’re growing old together. Anyway, it looks like the meetup is really happening this time, so let’s see then.]

[Cowabunga: Yeah, see you then.]

After finishing their usual conversation, Cowabunga paused with his hands on the keyboard, lost in thought.

‘To be honest, it’s not just Nopoki and Aboki I’m curious about.’

Nopoki, whose gender was revealed through her VTuber debut.

Aboki, who, despite the ‘cold city woman’ comment, was almost certainly a man based on the circumstances.

Southern Barbarian Cat, who was 99% likely to be a woman based on circumstantial evidence.

Of course, besides their genders, everything else was still a mystery, so he was curious about everyone.

Indeed, the main reason for having the meetup was ‘to see the lovey-dovey Nopoki and Aboki in the flesh.’

But it wasn’t just those two.

‘I’m curious about AAA, too.’

If Aboki had Nopoki, then Cowabunga had AAA.

Their relationship was different, of course, but among the chatroom members, the one he clicked with the most was AAA.

‘I’m really curious.’

In the game, he was a total pervy otaku uncle, but what would he be like in person?

What if he was actually a cheerful older sister who enjoyed trash talk?

‘Even I can tell that’s an otaku delusion.’

It seemed the incident with Aboki and Nopoki had affected him more than he thought.

AAA being a woman?

No way.

‘Southern Barbarian Cat just feels like she’d be someone really normal.’

Maybe a web designer for a living?

“Well… I’ll find out the details when we actually meet.”

Muttering to himself, Cowabunga looked at his lightly raised right hand.

In truth, he had never told anyone, but Cowabunga had a hidden secret of his own.

Psychometry.

The superpower to read memories or sensations through touch.

That’s right.

Cowabunga was, in fact, a psychic.

*

[Wait, what kind of plot-hole-ridden nonsense is this?]

Cowabunga is a psychic?

At Cordelia’s incredulous remark, Yuder just shook his head and replied.

[Excuse me, we’re in a situation where we’ve traveled between worlds using magic, remember? And you’re a Heavenly Archangel?]

[W-Well, that’s true, but.]

In truth, a Heavenly Archangel or a demigod protecting Pleiades was a far more absurd story than some psychic, but still, that was that, and this was this.

[I-It’s just so sudden and random!]

A psychic.

Cowabunga is a psychic.

Do superpowers actually exist in this world?

[Hey, I’ll say it again, you’re a mage, you know? And there are mages in this world, too. They’re just in hiding, unlike in Pleiades.]

[What? Really? So the Templar Knights were real? And the Assassins?]

[I don’t know what game you’re talking about… but mages do exist in the form of secret societies. There are psychics, too.]

[Th-Then what about Captain America?]

[If you mean a super soldier… I’ve fought one before during my mercenary days.]

“What?!”

So Pleiades wasn’t the only fantasy world?

[Th-Then is this place some kind of modern fantasy world?]

[I don’t know what you’ve been talking about, but… in any case, there’s a high probability that Cowabunga is a psychic. I didn’t confirm what kind of power it is, but it seemed like he had an ESP ability.]

It was a fact he had discovered while carrying out a few operations to manipulate the first meetup into a meeting for just Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee.

At Yuder’s words, Cordelia, who was still blinking in bewilderment, haltingly continued the message magic.

[Then what about AAA? Does he have something too? No, first of all, what does he do?]

[That’s a secret.]

[What?]

[A secret. How about we save the fun for the day of the meetup?]

[But you know.]

[I do.]

[Grr. It’s been a while, but I suddenly feel like hitting you.]

[Hit me all you want. I’ll gladly take it.]

It wouldn’t hurt one bit, anyway.

As Yuder teased her with a sly smoothness, Cordelia playfully slapped his arm a few times, as if to say she couldn’t stand him.

And at the same time, in the same place.

Natasha, who had been watching Yuder and Cordelia face each other, communicating without a single word as if they could read each other’s minds, only to suddenly start acting all lovey-dovey, felt a deep frustration, a sense of futility, and even a slight feeling of being left out. She spoke with eyes as cold as the Siberian plains.

“Anyway, that’s enough of that. Care to resolve this matter over here?”

The story of how Yuder and Cordelia could be the same people as Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee.

Since Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee had been sent back, only three people remained in Natasha’s house: Yuder, Cordelia, and the homeowner, Natasha.

At the sight of Natasha’s pouting face as she rested her chin on her hand, Yuder and Cordelia smiled awkwardly, and Cordelia was the first to speak.

“Alright, here’s what happened…”

And so followed a long, long story.

Cordelia seemed ready to narrate the entire story, which spanned seventeen volumes, from beginning to end, but thankfully, thanks to Yuder’s intervention, they were able to convey the situation in a reasonable summary.

Pleiades, ravaged by Heaven and Hell.

Yuder, who couldn’t save Pleiades and Cordelia even after several regressions.

The decision made by the young god, Athalia, as they headed toward complete annihilation.

And the events that followed.

“So… in the end, we were able to come back… and Pleiades got its happy ending, too.”

When Cordelia’s story ended, Natasha closed her eyes for a moment and composed herself.

Honestly, it was a difficult story to believe.

But Natasha had also been educated by Alexei.

With Yuder and Cordelia right in front of her, she knew very well that denying reality was pointless.

‘Of course, the existence of Yuder and Cordelia doesn’t unconditionally prove the truth of that story, but…’

This, too, felt like a needless suspicion.

Because it was Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee.

Because it didn’t seem like Yuder and Cordelia would bother to lie to her.

Accepting their story deep in her heart, Natasha let her shoulders slump slightly and spoke with a faint smile.

“I’d like to meet Maia sometime.”

Yuder’s Natasha.

The woman who played a similar role to herself in Pleiades.

“She’s really kind and incredibly pretty.”

At Cordelia’s praise, Natasha smiled sweetly and looked at Yuder. Seeing his cheeks flush slightly, likely from shyness, she smiled again.

“Yes, I’d like to thank her for taking good care of our Jino.”

She was also a little curious if that Maia had also suffered the pain of being rejected before she could even confess.

‘Maybe we could bond over our shared pain?’

Of course, it was possible that Maia hadn’t harbored such feelings for Yuder.

In any case, she truly felt that she wanted to meet them.

Not just Maia, but Dahlia and Count Chase as well.

“Anyway, let’s call it a day. Do you want to sleep over at my place?”

“Hmm… we could, but let’s go to a hotel.”

After all, they were uninvited guests and might make her uncomfortable.

Cordelia had said it out of consideration for Natasha, but as if she’d had some strange misunderstanding, Natasha’s expression grew quite complicated again before she nodded.

“Alright, then. See you tomorrow.”

“Yep, see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Natasha. And happy birthday again.”

At Yuder’s sincere voice, Natasha nodded and stood up from her seat.

About twenty minutes later.

As she entered the hotel room, Cordelia suddenly hugged Yuder’s arm tightly and began to act cute.

“Hey, hey. Yuder.”

“Yeah, no. It’s a secret until the day of the meetup.”

The stories about Cowabunga and AAA.

At his firm reply, Cordelia immediately pouted, but it was no use.

After all, to Yuder, Cordelia pretending to pout like this was the cutest and most lovable thing in the world.

“Anyway, you’re looking forward to the meetup, right?”

“Uh-huh, I’m really looking forward to it.”

It wasn’t just the identities of Cowabunga and AAA, but the sight of all the chatroom members gathered in one place.

“Shall we wash up and go to bed, then?”

“Okay, let’s do that. Want to shower together?”

To Cordelia’s slightly shy question, Yuder responded with a subtle smile and took action.

And two days later, in the afternoon.

The second meetup of the chatroom members began.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon or donate to my Ko-fi if you like this work or to get early access to chapters