Misunderstanding

The restaurant-exclusive background music flowing from the restaurant in Leore, identical to this cafe, is blurring the girl’s scary atmosphere.

Standing closer, the girl’s appearance had none of the feeling from within Leore.

If, from a distance, I just felt she was the same person with a different vibe, the girl right in front of me now is a completely different person from the Iarang user in Leore.

,Twins? Did someone else come on purpose? It was weird from the start. No matter how much Reina-nim is the Mead Guild Leader, suddenly making appointments and everything is just full of weirdness.

“Ah, Iarang-ah? Annyeong?”

Reina didn’t seem to notice my uneasy feelings as she approached the girl and waved.

Reina naturally speaks in English. But even to that English, the girl slowly nods, perhaps because she waved back.

,No matter how I think about it, I can’t believe she’s the same person. No, is she even a person to begin with?

Reina is just grinning like an idiot, muttering, ‘S, S-attribute…! M, masochist…!’

Reina is an idiot, so I’ll just ignore her and see thoroughly if this girl is really the Iarang user or if she’s a good person or a bad person. If she’s someone who negatively affects Reina.

I slowly examined the girl.

Iarang in Leore. Iarang in reality now. What comes in first for both is definitely the eyes.

The eyes of the Iarang user in Leore, who everyone thinks is a guild leader who brightens the surroundings just by looking and leads the raid.

I hate the Iarang user, but the 1-on-1 video from the last raid, even I thought, no, every user who plays Leore thought it was a heart-fluttering video.

Even three weeks after the raid came out, no one had cleared the 1-on-1 gimmick as a dealer.

The boss’s attacks, composed of a perfect system AI with no margin of error even of 0.01 seconds, could not be beaten by anyone, even with the same class and same skills.

All the dealers were impressed by the Iarang user’s video and challenged it, but they just ended up with the tank using survival skills and, since the tank’s attack power is low anyway, just wasting time.

But what are the eyes of the girl in front of me now?

No, is she even a living human to begin with? Is she even human?

Just making eye contact gives me goosebumps. On top of that, with what bad taste, everything is black, black, black, black.

Hair, eyes, clothes, gloves, stockings are all black.

The only things visible are her face, neck, and the white collar on her neck, and the rest is covered in jet black.

I don’t even understand why she’s wearing thick gloves in the summer, and the stockings are so thick that you can’t even call them stockings, made of a material that doesn’t even allow ventilation.

And there’s a sense of unease.

I feel a sense of unease looking at the girl. Why don’t I recognize this child as a person? Why don’t I feel like she’s alive?

The first is, of course, the eyes.

Eyes with no focus, no vitality, and not even a hint of a will to live. It’s definitely the bright and hopeful appearance of the Leore restaurant, but when I look at the girl’s eyes, it’s as if the surroundings are being consumed by shadows.

The second is…

I don’t know.

There’s definitely something different from other people.

But I don’t know.

No matter how I think about it, the girl in front of me now is not a normal girl.

She’s a dangerous girl somewhere. This person is that Leore Iarang user? Don’t make me laugh.

This is 100% a hidden camera or something made to prank us.

“Reina. Let’s just go.”

Emma grabbed Reina’s wrist, who was lingering around the ominous girl, to get away from her as soon as possible.

“Huh? Why?”

“That’s… not her. I don’t think she’s the one here.”

“Why? We came all the way here? I want to talk to Iarang-ie.”

“What are you going to talk about when you don’t even speak the same language?”

“Why? I have this.”

Reina tapped the connector on her neck.

As expected, idiot Reina doesn’t know anything about the current situation. That woman and her scary bodyguards, who had already come up, are settled on the second floor.

,So this was a trap…! To make Reina and me, who are the main pillars of the world’s number one Mead Guild, unable to play Leore…!?

Screaming for help here now? Impossible.

There was nothing around this building. Even if I screamed, it’s obvious that no one would hear me.

“Eung… connector… virtual… world…”

“Uwa…! Iarang-ie’s voice is daebak…! So cute!”

,To use the connector and meet in the virtual world… dangerous… dangerous…!

Virtual world through the connector.

After the virtual world came out, everyone was enthusiastic. Because you can do anything in the virtual world that you can’t do in reality.

But crimes caused by connectors have increased like crazy.

The connector simply blocks the signal going from the brain to the body with the connector on the neck and retrieves the information.

So no matter how much you move your body in the virtual world, your body in reality doesn’t move.

Usually, when we see someone in the virtual world, we call them a person whose soul has left their body.

In other words, they are defenseless.

Of course, if there is an external shock, the connector sends a signal and informs you that it is an emergency.

However, it does not prevent sudden acts, that is, instant death.

This situation is clearly manipulated.

Using the broken and dead girl in front of me to entice us and connect to the virtual world through the connector so we can talk to this girl.

And kill our defenseless selves, put us in a drum and into the sea…!?

But even if I know the plan, what can I do?

Nothing.

No matter how much Reina and I are the world’s best Mead Guild in Leore, in reality, we are just women.

Reina was giggling and connecting the girl’s connector with a wired connection.

“Emma, let’s go!”

“You go ahead.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The guild leaders should talk first.”

“Ah! Okay!”

Reina put a chair next to the girl, pressed the connector button in that state, and dropped her head to the floor.

The first method I thought of.

Is to not enter the virtual world.

If I see any strange signs, I will immediately shake Reina’s body violently to use the emergency call function built into the connector.

“Emma-yang, you’re not going in?”

As expected, that’s how it’s coming out…!

“Ah, yes. This is a conversation between guild leaders.”

“Hmm… I see. I have a question I’m curious about, is it okay if I ask?”

“Euk…! Yes…!”

What on earth is she going to ask? Is she perhaps going to find out our families’ contact information and demand money!?

“What are some helpful life skills besides equipment crafting in Leore?”

“… Huh?”

==

As soon as I saw Iarang-ie, I knew it was Iarang-ie.

And I also knew that Iarang-ie wasn’t an ordinary girl.

But I, who has conquered all cuteness, saw Iarang-ie in that girl’s eyes.

Even if Iarang-ie is like this in reality, the reason she accepted my request without hesitation is because I think she wants to overcome her current appearance.

With the judgment I honed while playing with children a lot, I was able to speak to Iarang-ie without hesitation.

For comfortable communication, we connected our connectors with a wired connection and entered the virtual world.

“Annyeonghaseyo!”

Iarang-ie in the Leore video I saw waved her hand with a bright face and greeted me.

,Ah… I think I’m going to cry…

How long has it been since I saw Iarang-ie? Two weeks ago? It’s really a short time.

This is the first time I’ve seen Iarang-ie in reality, and it’s also the first time I’ve seen her in the virtual world.

But seeing Iarang-ie in the virtual world after seeing her in reality makes my heart swell.

How many sad things must have happened to her to make that expression? How much effort did she put in to overcome it? And is she really happy to be making such a bright expression in this world?

Tens of thousands of thoughts flashed through my head, but what’s important now is to raise Iarang-ie’s favorability first.

Cosplay activities will definitely be a great and enjoyable hobby for Iarang-ie, just like Leore.

Then Iarang-ie in reality will quickly regain her bright smile.

And if she likes cosplay… I’ll help her with this and that… Ahem.

No.

I need to have a serious conversation with Iarang-ie now.

Still, the meeting between our Mead Guild, which is still recognized as the world’s number one, and the Iarang Iarang Guild, which is becoming famous as a rising powerhouse while doing this season’s WFK!

And Iarang-ie said she has a lot of questions to ask. Of course, I also have a lot of questions to ask about Iarang-ie.

No matter how much Iarang-ie is a 15-year-old girl, her skills are currently top-notch in Leore.

No, her physical ability is number one.

“Wow! Reina-nim, you’re Reina-nim in reality too? You’re so pretty!”

Reina smiled and said at Iarang-ie’s voice, which was naturally translated and coming in.

“Iarang-ie is pretty too? I was so surprised when I first saw you~ It was like a cute doll was sitting there!”

“Thank you. I guess I do look like a doll because my eyes are dead. So I guess I like it.”

Ek… Did I… step on a landmine…?