Chapter 29: Lee Sohee

On the day of the school trip, it was good that I had arrived at school with my bag packed with all the essentials.

However, something was seriously off.

“Hey, Sohee.”

“Yeah?”

“Is it okay for just the two of us to go like this?”

I asked Sohee, glancing nervously out the window.

Right after we arrived at school, Sohee grabbed my hand and led me toward the school gates.

She didn’t say anything at all.

At the spot we arrived at, a shiny white limousine was parked, and that was the one we were now riding in.

While I was still in a daze, the limousine began to speed away.

This happened before I even had a chance to see the teacher’s face after arriving at school.

“I already told the teacher.”

“Oh, I see…”

She said she had already told them. What exactly did she say?

It didn’t seem like it was a casual conversation.

At that moment, Sohee took a Malang Jjeon Deuk Cow candy out of her pocket and placed it in my hand.

“What’s this…?”

“Wasn’t this your favorite?”

Smiling brightly—

I couldn’t bring myself to say no when Sohee smiled like that.

I nodded and popped the chewy candy into my mouth. It was sweet and delicious.

“By the way, why are we going just the two of us?”

Sohee tilted her head, almost as if asking if I really didn’t know the answer.

Then she smiled lightly and answered.

“Well, the bus is too cramped and uncomfortable.”

It was true that it was cramped and uncomfortable, but that discomfort would have become a memorable part of the school trip…

I mumbled to myself while hugging my bag.

“But last year, we rode together, right? Did you want to take the bus this time?”

Sohee’s sharp question came out of nowhere, like a knife.

I covered my mouth with my bag and just nodded slightly.

“Then next year, let’s take the bus.”

We didn’t talk much after that. Whenever Sohee would speak to me, I’d answer briefly, and the conversation would naturally come to an end.

Though I had gotten used to this body and wearing the school skirt, I didn’t share many interests with the other middle school girls, so our conversations didn’t last long.

I tried to match their conversation codes by watching some videos on YouTube, but I didn’t really find it fun.

“Hayeon.”

“Yeah?”

“Is Deron fun?”

“Yeah.”

I quickly answered Sohee’s question. She chuckled softly and continued.

“I thought it might not be fun since you quit playing as a wizard.”

A brief silence followed her words.

In that short time, a sharp pain began to fill my head, as if it were burning out all my thoughts.

“Ah, no… It’s just that the job didn’t suit me, so I started a new character.”

“I thought so. When you were playing as a paladin, you were as cool as a prince.”

“What was it like when you were a wizard?”

Sohee paused for a moment as if thinking about my question, then burst into laughter and replied.

“You were cute!”

After that, the conversation stopped.

The subtle and uncomfortable silence continued until we arrived at our destination for the school trip.

The Future Digital Complex.

It was the destination for the school trip.

I thought it might be a bit odd for a school trip destination, but seeing the reactions of the other kids, it seemed that the standards in this world were a little different.

The Future Digital Complex, or the Future Center, was a strange place.

I never thought I would visit such a large building in my lifetime.

The total area of this building is 205 km².

It was so vast that we had to ride a special vehicle to move around.

Unlike when we traveled separately in the limousine, after arriving here, we followed the teacher’s lead.

To be honest, I wasn’t really paying attention to what the teacher was saying.

I was like a country bumpkin who had just arrived in Seoul, gazing around with my mouth slightly open.

I thought I had gotten used to this world, but apparently, I was far from it.

Everything was new and fascinating.

“Hayeon.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“Did you hear what the teacher said?”

Sohee’s question made me quickly shake my head.

I hadn’t heard a thing. It meant I was completely distracted.

Sohee smiled lightly at my answer and extended her hand.

“Let’s drop our stuff off at the accommodation and then have some free time.”

“Ah, right. The accommodation. Of course, we need that…”

I absentmindedly nodded at Sohee’s words.

The accommodations weren’t co-ed.

It was standard to have separate rooms for girls and boys.

That meant I would have to stay in a room full of other middle school girls.

My heart started pounding.

Middle school girls… I was a middle school girl, too.

It wasn’t strange for middle school girls to hug and play together.

So…

“What are you thinking about?”

“Ah, nothing!”

I quickly shook my head at Sohee’s question.

I hurriedly adjusted the area around my mouth, trying to hide the faint smile that had appeared.

I almost let out a weird, awkward laugh.

As I started walking behind Sohee, a lot of students passed by us.

Their faces were bright with smiles, filled with excitement, as though they were looking forward to the events ahead.

It was starting to feel like we were really on a school trip.

While walking absentmindedly behind Sohee, I noticed something strange.

The direction we were walking in was different from the students heading to the accommodation.

“Hey, Sohee.”

“Yeah?”

“Aren’t we going to the accommodation?”

“We are. To our room.”

“Our ‘room’?”

“I told my dad. We’re using the room for when guests come over.”

Sohee’s explanation felt like a tricky riddle.

I wanted to ask something, but I couldn’t.

From Sohee’s reaction, it seemed like she and I were closer than I thought.

Asking something I already knew would seem strange.

“Really? Did he say it was okay to use it?”

“Yeah, he said there are no guests this week, so he told me to use it freely.”

Sohee and I took the elevator and arrived at the top floor.

When the door opened with a ding, a tall man in a black suit was waiting for us.

He nodded when he saw us and stepped aside.

The room we arrived at with Sohee was incredibly spacious.

The fact that only the two of us would be using it made me feel a little guilty toward the other friends.

In the center of the modern, all-white room, Sohee walked over and tossed her bag onto the sofa.

She acted so naturally, as if this was her room, which made me a little surprised.

After unpacking, Sohee and I started wandering around.

There were so many new and fascinating things to see that I couldn’t hide the excitement in my heart.

As I was tiptoeing and looking around, Sohee approached and spoke.

“Should we try that?”

The direction Sohee pointed to had already gathered many students.

Curious, I looked more closely and saw that if a student entered a large capsule, their image would be displayed on a big screen in the center.

The student inside the VR world was standing in a white space holding a lightsaber, and soon after, circular objects started flying toward them from all directions.

The speed gradually increased, and eventually, the objects flew so fast that the student couldn’t even react before they collided with their body.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a reaction speed test.”

“Do they give out prizes?”

“Yeah, if you get a certain score.”

The student who came out of the capsule was holding a large stuffed doll in their arms, smiling with their friends beside them.

They looked so happy.

Sohee and I joined the line to wait our turn.

It looked fun, and I wanted to try it.

How much time had passed?

After the previous students finished, it was finally my turn.

Sohee smiled brightly, with her hands behind her back, and cheered me on.

“Good luck!”

Listening to Sohee’s encouragement, I followed the staff’s instructions and entered the capsule.

A moment later, my vision went completely white, and I found myself standing in a pure white space.

[Welcome to GR Corporation’s VR reaction speed test. The user’s data may be used for the company’s benefits, and more details can be found…]

I half-listened to the system’s announcement.

It was probably saying they would collect the data for research purposes and use it however they wanted.

I quickly moved my arms and legs.

The restrictions of reality were gone.

While there were no stat bonuses like in a game, the body I now controlled could perform movements that were impossible in real life.

As I checked the length of my arms and legs, and the speed of my movements, a small handle appeared in front of me.

It was definitely the lightsaber I had seen earlier.

Reaching out, I grabbed the lightsaber, and a blue beam extended long into the air.

There was no sense of weight.

The feeling of holding something in my hand was faint.

Whoosh—!

I swung it lightly, but the sensation of the lightsaber moving without the slightest resistance was very unfamiliar.

As I moved lightly to get used to the sensation, the test began.

It started off very gently.

I swung the saber to slice through the slowly approaching spheres.

It was easy enough to handle just by lightly moving my wrist without any elaborate motions.

After cutting through about 20 spheres, the speed began to accelerate.

This was the 10-second mark—matching the speed I had seen in the previous tests.

But even this was simple.

Just by observing the trajectory of the newly generated spheres, I could predict when they would arrive.

In the next moment, the speed increased again.

Stage 3 cleared, Stage 4 also cleared, Stage 5 cleared.

With each stage, the speed increased exponentially.

But even this was easily manageable.

Then, as I passed Stage 6, it happened.

A slight pricking sensation arose in my head, and by the time I reached Stage 7, I felt a familiar ache.

The sensation of honing a blade to razor-sharp precision.

When Stage 8 began, the spheres shot at me at an incomparably faster speed.

I moved frantically, but I couldn’t deflect them all.

Twisting my body, I dodged the spheres.

The test wasn’t over yet.

It was then that I realized I didn’t have to deflect every single sphere.

Dodged spheres would change direction and fly toward me again.

That’s when I could cut them down.

All I needed to do was react.

As the Stage 9 test began, my vision started to flash white.

I entered a state of extreme focus, a sensation I reached when concentration peaked.

Time seemed to flow slowly, and the spheres flying toward me appeared sluggish.

When the searing pain in my brain reached its peak, a pop—a new sensation—emerged.

This talent was like a blade.

The more I used it, the sharper it became, heightening my senses to their fullest.

I had crossed a threshold.

It felt like that.

Beyond the blazing white vision, spheres flew toward me.

With precise hand movements, I sliced through them.

Next.

And the next.

And the next.

My body moved beyond the limits of reality, posing no obstacles.

Leaping into the air, I spun, swinging the saber.

I couldn’t swing in time, forcing me to dodge a sphere instead.

What if it hadn’t been a saber but a different weapon?

The fleeting thought evaporated in an instant.

Failure awaited if I didn’t focus.

The finely honed sensation began to dominate my entire body.

I stopped thinking and started feeling.

As my eyes read the trajectories of the spheres, my body responded instinctively.

The saber’s path twisted to match my spinning body.

A single swing cut through three spheres at once.

I cleared all the spheres in Stage 9.

It was now time for the next set of spheres.

Catching my breath, I focused my gaze straight ahead.

But nothing appeared.

Despite my heightened tension, no new spheres materialized.

[Congratulations. You have cleared all prepared tests.]

Was this the end?

Was that all there was?

I thought I could go a bit further.

That’s why it felt so disappointing.

A sigh escaped my lips.

My strength drained away, leaving my body completely limp.

I disconnected and stepped out of the capsule.

My arms and legs trembled.

Sweat trickled down my back.

It felt as though I had expended a tremendous amount of energy in that short time.

“Ex… Excuse me!”

At that moment, a staff member with a flustered expression ran toward me.

He seemed about to say something, but before he could, Sohee suddenly stepped in between us, leaving him no choice but to back off.

“Wasn’t it fun?”

“Ah, Sohee. It was a little disappointing.”

“Disappointing?”

“Yeah, I felt like I could’ve gone one step further.”

Hearing my response, Sohee let out a peculiar laugh and turned her body.

It seemed like Sohee and the staff member were already acquainted.

Her words to him were cold and dry.

“I guess today’s record is unusable, huh?”

“Y-yes?”

“The equipment broke, didn’t it?”

“Ah, but…”

“Just say it’s definitely broken. Got it?”

The staff member nodded with a pale face.

His gaze shifted to the computer screen sitting on a large desk.

While the equipment malfunctioned and the record couldn’t be checked, I was still able to receive a prize—a large dolphin plushie.

Hugging the oversized dolphin in my arms, I left the booth with Sohee and asked,

“What do you mean, malfunction?”

“Well, during your test, the screen feed cut out completely.”

“Oh, really…?”

A deep sense of regret welled up within me at Sohee’s words.

I had hoped to impress her with my incredible performance, but it seemed she hadn’t seen any of it.

Come to think of it, there hadn’t been any reactions when I stepped out of the capsule.

When the previous participants posted high scores, everyone clapped for them.

“Are you disappointed?”

“A little.”

I answered Sohee’s question, hugging the soft, plush dolphin tighter.