…Ne?

“Uchacha!”

Paaang-!

A clear and cheerful parrying sound.

I swung my greatsword, cleaving through a massive plant as I charged forward.

The raid boss enveloped itself, and monsters began pouring out from the labyrinth walls.

The first time I saw this pattern, I was helpless and died as if swept away by a tsunami, but now I effortlessly swept up the monsters.

This raid was different from other raids, so everyone struggled at first, but now Reina’s Mead party’s strategy has spread and stabilized.

The way to overcome the final desperate pattern where many monsters appear wasn’t something to do at the final boss, but something you had to do while taking down the three bosses on the way here.

The important gimmick of this raid was to find and destroy the labyrinth cores when defeating bosses 1, 2, and 3.

However, using that method took time, and in the end, for parties with sufficient DPS, it was faster to just deal with the swarming monsters as before without destroying all three labyrinth cores.

So, the strategy became discussing how many cores to destroy based on each party’s DPS.

For public parties, destroying all three labyrinth cores was naturally the standard strategy, but our party is using a strategy that doesn’t destroy all three cores.

We cleared it without it even during the first WFK race, and now that we’re starting to acquire this raid’s equipment, we can clear it even more stably.

“Heuikㅡ!”

The downside is that it’s grotesque.

I’ve been seeing monsters pouring out like this for almost a month now, but the sight of thousands of cockroach-like monsters, almost the size of large dogs, pouring out is something I can’t get used to.

This is LeoLe’s problem.

LeoLe is too serious about monsters.

Of course, that’s what makes it easier to immerse myself in this world and get fired up, but they make caterpillars, spiders, centipedes, and things like that too well.

Aliens are okay, but bugs are a bit too much for me.

Still, it’s fun to sweep away those bugs with a giant greatsword.

“Good work, Arang-a.”

“Yeah. Soonchu-unni too.”

“Are you going straight to Brown Dust?”

“No. My parents are coming over tonight. I’m having dinner with them.”

“Ah, really? Have a delicious dinner with your parents.”

“Yeah.”

I finished the raid comfortably and handed over the equipment that dropped to the tanks.

The dealers had already set up their raid equipment, and it was the tanks’ turn.

After finishing the equipment distribution, there wasn’t much time left until dinner, so instead of going to Brown Dust, I chatted with the guild members for a bit and logged out.

==

“…Ne?”

Ttaenggeurang.

A clear and cheerful sound echoed from the ground like a parrying sound.

I had fun chatting with the guild members, and as the appointment time approached, I logged out.

While having dinner with my parents, whom I was seeing for the first time in a week, I dropped the spoon I was holding upon hearing my parents’ words.

“Arang-a, are you okay?”

The words were so shocking that I couldn’t organize my thoughts at all.

“Uh… I’m, I’m okay. I was just a little surprised because it came out of nowhere, Mom.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“So…”

I barely managed to hold onto my confused mind and asked my parents again if I had heard correctly what they had just said.

“So, you’re saying I have to go to… school?”

“Yeah.”

School. Why are they telling me to go to school…?

No. When you think about it, I should go. Right now, I’m a 16-year-old middle school third-year.

As far as I remember, middle school is compulsory education.

If I hadn’t gotten sick and ended up here, I should have been attending middle school.

“I know it’s still hard for you, Arang-a. But if it gets any later, it seems like it will be harder for Arang to become friends with kids her age.”

“That’s right, Arang-a. Your mom and dad thought and worried a lot about it. And so you don’t have to worry, we’ll assign someone to help you by your side.”

My parents noticed that I was confused, so they spoke to me slowly.

I was just surprised by the sudden mention of school. In fact, I understood everything my parents were saying.

It’s not certain about the illness yet, but my current condition is definitely healthy, I’ve been out a few times, and I can act like a normal person.

And the important thing is that Arang’s emotions, which were always calm except during her period, were pushing aside my emotions and coming out because she liked the word “school” so much.

Perhaps when Arang’s heart wasn’t dead yet, she told her parents in her hospital room that she wanted to go to school, play with friends, be with friends, and so on.

‘School… School is good, but…’

It’s good to play and eat with friends. It is.

But if that happens, I have to be in the virtual world for 16 hours a day, which becomes impossible.

School?

Having to go five days a week and spend almost half the day at school is literally an act that ruins my gaming life.

On top of that, my mind is currently mixed with Arang’s 10-year-old emotions, which have stopped growing, and the emotions of a middle-aged man in his 30s who has become like an old man.

And you want me to go to school with 16-year-old, still-youthful middle school third-years?

It’s dizzying.

Butㅡ

‘Arang wants to go.’

Arang’s heart, which had to get sick and have her limbs amputated when she should have been running around and playing with friends, and which died while undergoing several surgeries that even adults would have a hard time enduring.

That Arang wants to go to school and make friends.

No matter how much I’ve become Arang now, the former Arang is also me.

That’s why I nodded at my parents’ suggestion.

“Study? Grades? We don’t need any of that, Arang-a. We just want to create an environment where you can play with friends, get to know them, talk to them, and even go on trips together.”

“Okay. Mom, Dad. Don’t worry!”

“Arang-a…!”

==

Arang’s fan cafe was noisier than ever.

That’s because everyone found out that Arang was playing Brown Dust.

When Arang asked to be introduced to collectible subculture games, I thought she was just playing a light game, but before I knew it, her Brown Dust playtime had exceeded her LeoLe playtime.

It’s not that people dislike Arang because she’s not playing LeoLe.

If Aring was playing another RPG game, it wouldn’t have mattered.

The problem is that Brown Dust is not a multiplayer game, but a single-player game.

Even if you belong to the same guild, you can’t meet.

In other words, there’s no way to see Arang.

As Arang played Brown Dust, the number of Arang-related videos uploaded to Yesol’s broadcast or Pinku Berry’s RyuTube decreased rapidly.

Now, the only way to communicate with Arang is through the fan cafe, but Arang doesn’t write well on the fan cafe.

Because of that, Arang’s fan cafe, which is full of people who want to talk to Arang, was more active than ever.

But in that situation, a post from Arang was uploaded.

[Author: Lee Arang]

[Title: People who graduated from middle school, come in.]

I’m going to middle school, what do middle schools do these days?

What subjects or what do I have to do, what’s the schedule like? Tests, etc., please tell me everything you know about middle school.

Arang’s post was none other than that she was going to enter middle school.

Everyone was moved by that post.

Everyone knew that Arang wasn’t attending school, and they all knew the reason why.

But the fact that she had finally recovered and was going back to school was a very happy event in Arang’s fan cafe, where people who liked Arang gathered.

-But will Arang be able to have a normal middle school life?

ㄴWhy are you thinking negatively? Looking at our Arang’s sociability and appearance, I think she’ll just be super popular.

ㄴThat’s the problem. First of all, she’s super pretty and cute. Don’t you know how scary kids are these days? What if she gets bullied or harassed?

ㄴBully Arang? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s like saying something that will get you buried alive in Korea.

ㄴYou guys don’t know, but kids these days are so cunning that they bully you in very subtle and secretive ways that you can’t even say anything about.

ㄴㄹㅇ I’ve been through it too. I still have social phobia because of that…

-I’m worried a lot. It’s not just that she’s pretty, but even if she’s wearing prosthetic arms and legs, I think the kids will talk a lot behind her back… What if Arang hears that and gets hurt?

ㄴDon’t worry. If Arang’s parents find out, they won’t be able to say anything.

ㄴThat’s also a problem. Then she won’t be able to make real friends;; Everyone will just be trying to get something out of Arang.

ㄴMiddle school is hard;;;

-Arang-a, if anything happens, tell us, we’ll solve everything for you!

==

Honestly, I regret thinking that going back to school wouldn’t be a big deal.

The reason is none other than that I’m going to school today.

I thought that going to school would naturally be around the end of February or March. So I thought I would have plenty of time to prepare myself.

But it was different in this era.

Winter vacation is in December, and after January 1st, they go to school from January 2nd.

No, does that make sense?

I thought I would have time to prepare myself, but without any of that, I received a proposal from my parents to try going to school and went to school in just three days.

Fortunately, today I’m just going to make a first impression and start going in earnest from tomorrow… I don’t know.

“Arang-a, we’re here.”

With my mom’s help, I got out of the car and thought for a moment that I had come to the wrong place when I saw the huge school in front of me.

No matter how I looked at it, it looked like a university, not a middle school.

‘Is this really middle school…?’

I didn’t think I would be attending a normal middle school.

‘But I never imagined a middle school like this…’

I know that this era is a future era, unlike when I was alive as a man.

The buildings and strangely shaped vehicles around me. The access devices that most people are wearing around their necks.

Hologram cell phones, etc., show that it is a future era.

But this is the first time I’ve seen a school.

‘Is the middle school I’m attending special, or are all middle schools like this… I don’t know anything.’

Sigh… I don’t want to go to school.

I want to go home and play Brown Dust.