Chapter 18: The academic consensus is that Rory is a leader.

Jinha-nim.

In the middle of a business map in VRChat.
Youngjun’s avatar, dressed in a monochrome suit, stood with arms crossed.

“I’ve scheduled individual interviews for the third-generation members, as we discussed last time.”

Though the avatar’s expression was clean and composed, his voice betrayed an undeniable excitement.
Working with Jinha was enjoyable.
He felt the same thrill as when he first joined CosmoLive and revamped everything from the ground up.

“The order is Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. You can start meeting them tomorrow.”

“The schedule was set up faster than I expected.”

“The sooner we schedule, the sooner the avatars will be ready, right?”

After all, as Winter put it, the Seasons were just a bunch of idle sentinels with nothing better to do.
If they wanted to escape unemployment even a day sooner, they’d have to cooperate.

“So, the first person I’ll be meeting is… Spring, correct?”

“Yes. She’s the youngest in this generation, but she’s a very sharp individual.”

“A cute leader type, then?”

“Haha. Exactly. She often takes on the role of leading everyone in place of Winter, who isn’t very talkative.”

“…?”

Jinha furrowed her brows, unconvinced.
Not very talkative?
…That little devil of a Winter?

She didn’t voice her thoughts, though.
There was probably some internal role-playing setup in place. She could only speculate cautiously.

“She should be the easiest to meet first. You’ll be able to assess the situation in a comfortable and calm manner.”

“Understood.”

Nodding, Jinha discreetly observed Youngjun.
For some reason, he was subtly avoiding her gaze.

‘…The rest must be a handful.’

Jinha, ever the graduate student, had already grasped the reality of the Seasons in an instant.

The next day, Jinha accessed the private VRChat map through a pre-sent link.

The atmosphere was quite different from the business map used for meetings.
A ‘Spring Garden’ theme unfolded before her eyes, bathed in vibrant shades of green.

A sky that looked like golden sunlight was streaming down.
Lush green grass.
Blossoming flowers in full bloom.
And even an effect that mimicked a gentle breeze swaying through the space.

It was a refreshingly bright map, one that instantly evoked the word “Spring.”

“There’s no actual scent of flowers, but… visually, this is fresher than real life.”

As Jinha murmured in admiration, an energetic voice rang out from behind.

“Right? I totally fell in love with this map when I first saw it!”

Turning around, Jinha saw an avatar in a pastel dress with a floral brooch, enthusiastically waving both arms.

“Hello! You’re Jinha-nim, right? Wow… I heard about you, but your avatar is really pretty!”

Spring circled around Jinha’s avatar, eyes sparkling.
Her tone was quite mature, yet her excitement revealed a girlish side.

“Thanks for the compliment. But I’d say the map you prepared is even prettier.”

“Hehe~ Well, actually, I didn’t prepare it myself. I asked the map design team to tweak it a little for me. It’s not a space that gets used very often.”

Spring gestured as if operating an invisible interface.
Moments later, a long pink sofa—matching her hair color—popped up behind her.

“I actually put together a simple schedule.”

Sitting on the sofa, Spring made a motion as if unfolding a virtual notepad.

“So, first of all, the flower field is the main attraction. We can take a light stroll here while chatting about various things. Then, when things start to feel a bit slow, we can play a simple mini-game.
After that, we’ll move to the benches inside the map for a talk show-style content. What do you think?”

Spring excitedly explained her plan.

Watching her, Jinha let out a short, impressed “Oh.”

“You’ve prepared quite a lot. Are you usually this thorough?”

“Well, I’m a capital ‘J’ kind of person.”

“I had a feeling.”

“Also, the older members… I mean, the other members don’t really bother with these things, so I naturally took on the role of organizing everything. Ah! By the way, did you have anything specific planned for today?”

“No, to be honest… I came here with no particular plan. I’ll be in your care for the day.”

“Alright! Then, shall we go?”

Spring bounced up from the sofa and reached out a hand toward Jinha.

As Jinha placed her hand over Spring’s, she quietly marveled.

She definitely gave off a leader vibe. Despite being the youngest, she was composed and capable.
It was a relief that Youngjun had given her a heads-up beforehand.
If she had underestimated Spring just by her avatar and voice, she might have been left speechless.

Following Spring’s lead, the two strolled through different parts of the map.
With each step, subtle flower petal effects bloomed beneath their feet.

The shimmering lake reflected the surroundings realistically, thanks to ray-tracing effects.
The highlight of the tour was a puddle in the middle of the grass where flower petals rained down.
Stepping inside wrapped the avatar in a swirl of blossoms, making one feel like a flower fairy.

“Jinha-nim, be careful here. I, uh… actually fell into this pit while testing yesterday.”

“A pit in a VR map? That’s interesting.”

It was probably not an actual pit, but rather an optical illusion creating a falling sensation.
Jinha didn’t bother pointing that out.

After all, she was a socially adept former engineering student—just a bit awkward in expressing emotions.

Spring glanced at an incoming message notification.

“Wait a sec… It’s from Summer?”

The timing was impeccable.
Spring whipped her head around, checking her surroundings as if someone might be watching.

“There’s no one else in this map but you and me, though?”

“R-right… Ahaha…”

Spring gulped nervously and opened her messages.
It was a voice message—on speaker mode, no less.

[Heeey~ Spring!! Are you having fun with Mama?]
[Just saying, but you HAVE to be the flat-chested loli. That way, we don’t overlap themes, got it?!]
[Big boobs are for me and Winter, no exceptions.]
[Also, my ass? It’s gotta be thicc. Like, so thicc that anyone looking at it wants to grab it immediately! Heehee~]
[Jinha Mama! You’re listening to this, right? Keep that in mind when designing me~]

It was 100% pure, unfiltered nonsense.

“…She’s at it again.”

Spring buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

“Haha. She seems like a fun person.”

“Fun? More like a walking disaster! I just know she’s going to get into trouble someday.”

Still fuming, Spring suddenly asked,

“Uh… If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me how our avatars will be made?”

“I’ll use your current avatar as a reference.”

“Really…?”

Spring gazed at her avatar with a slightly disappointed expression.
It was cute, but she felt something was lacking—particularly in the chest area.

“Of course, your current avatar is just a reference. There will be a lot of changes during development.”

“Really?!”

Her voice was now filled with excitement.
What a bright and transparent Spring.

Jinha smiled.
The day had been more fun than expected.
And this was only the beginning.