Chapter 69: The Unpredictable Dream Team

I entered the VR room.

It was a vast sandy beach map that reminded me of the Mediterranean Sea, one I had personally created.

It was meant to serve as a sort of meeting room during the competition.

The virtual office that every working adult once dreamed of had already become a reality.

Considering the level of performance VR devices had reached, this was only natural.

Yet, office workers still commuted instead of working remotely. How unfortunate.

I told you, the metaverse is a scam.

Just because virtual offices exist doesn’t mean companies would stop forcing their employees to commute.

That’s absurd.

Part of the salary bosses pay includes the cost of witnessing their employees’ suffering up close during their commute.

In other words, modern workers were being exploited at ridiculously low rates.

They were being tasked with additional, unspoken responsibilities that companies conveniently left out.

No way was I ever going to get a job.

“Unnie!”

Before I knew it, Bunnyrun had accepted my invitation and logged into the VR room, dashing toward me.

Her sudden tackle made me stagger momentarily before I took off the VR headset.

I had escaped the virtual world.

But for some reason, I was still making eye contact with Bunnyrun.

“……”

“Unnie, what’s wrong?”

I asked her in return, “Bunnyrun sis.”

“Yeah?”

“How did you get into my house?”

“Surprise!”

“No, that’s not what I meant. How did you find out my house’s passcode?”

“You told me, remember?”

I swear on the heavens that never happened.

“Last time, you entered the passcode right in front of me, so I figured you were showing me on purpose.”

“Get a grip.”

I lightly tapped Bunnyrun’s head with the side of my hand before speaking.

“This place is small since it’s a one-room apartment. How are the two of us supposed to use VR devices here?”

“We’re just going to talk today, not stream or anything, right? So it doesn’t matter.”

“Bunnyrun, you always have everything figured out, don’t you?”

“I always have a plan.”

Resigned, I sat on my bed and put on the VR headset again.

Bunnyrun immediately sat beside me, almost clinging to me.

I took off the headset and said, “Bunnyrun.”

“Yeah?”

“Please, move over.”

Even if we were just planning to chat in VR, sitting this close was uncomfortable.

At my words, Bunnyrun clicked her tongue and scooted over slightly.

Finally, things felt normal.

I put the VR headset back on. And then—

“What are you guys up to?”

Someone who had apparently already logged in stood nearby, looking at us with a tilted head.

It was Paepae.

Their avatar was identical to their real-life appearance, so it was easy to recognize them.

That’s the advantage of cam streamers—easy to identify.

Still—

“Making your avatar look exactly like you in real life… Are you a narcissist?”

At my comment, Paepae suddenly clammed up.

What’s their problem?

When I tilted my head in confusion, Paepae finally spoke up.

“Is that your introduction?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your avatar. It looks exactly like you in real life, doesn’t it?”

“Are you, by chance, one of those people who expect virtual avatars and real-life appearances to match? That’s a pretty niche preference.”

As I expressed my incredulity, Paepae calmly continued.

“Clue 1: Why doesn’t Bunnyrun object when you do AR filter collabs? Or Gajunsik, for that matter? It would be a total disaster if something went wrong during a stream.

Clue 2: Why Thierry? Surely you’re aware it could stir up controversy.

Conclusion: Han Yurim’s avatar isn’t inspired by Thierry but by something else. My guess? It’s based on her real-life appearance.”

“What kind of VTuber would make their avatar identical to their real-life appearance?”

“Clue 3: If it’s Han Yurim, it’s entirely plausible.”

“Are you Sherlock Holmes or something?”

Across the span of a century and an ocean, Sherlock Holmes had apparently reincarnated in South Korea.

I applauded.

“Amazing, Paepae. To think you’d figure out my identity so quickly. Normally, we’d meet at the post-competition celebration, where you’d say, ‘Han Yurim, your avatar looks just like you!’ But I guess we’re skipping that step.”

“I’m not Lumen. Why would I do that?”

As Paepae replied, Bunnyrun whispered in a serious tone.

“Master, this one’s a formidable foe. What should we do?”

“Bunnyrun, don’t worry. At the end of the day, Paepae is just a loser who lost to me.”

Click.

With a button press, an announcement echoed throughout the map.

[Han Yurim! I won this bet!]

Click.

[Han Yurim! I won this bet!]

Click.

[Han Yurim! I won thi—]

“Stop.”

“Understood.”

I turned off admin mode and checked the invite list.

Strange.

I’d sent out the invitations correctly, yet apart from Paepae and Bunnyrun, no one else had shown up.

Why?

“Well, the meeting’s in an hour, isn’t it?”

Oh.

“But why are you here so early, Paepae?”

“Me? I was relaxing when the invite came, so I accepted it without thinking.”

Well, that settled it.

In the meantime, I joined Paepae and Bunnyrun in playing some pre-prepared zombie and escape modes (to which Paepae commented midway, “What the heck are these modes you’ve made?”).

Soon enough, Moss logged into the VR room as a business-attired office worker avatar.

It was ten minutes before the scheduled time.

Moss glanced around at us and greeted casually.

“Am I late?”

“Malang Mapak-ssi, time is money. If you keep disregarding appointment times, society won’t like you very much.”

“I told you, Malang Mapak is hopeless.”

“Apologize to Unnie, Malang Mapak-ssi.”

“Haha.”

Moss chuckled lightly, took a seat, and asked, “So, when’s the meeting starting?”

“Wow, you’re finally dropping the formal tone? Oh, by the way, I won the bet.”

“Honestly, the signs were there last time. Where should I send the money?”

“Unnie, you’re so good at making bets.”

“This is chaos.”

As Moss shook his head in disbelief, a notification sounded. A new participant had entered the VR room.

A small figure emerged from the cabin.

It was a frog wearing glasses.

Paepae, visibly taken aback, muttered, “What the heck?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s our team member.”

“Why a frog?”

“That, I don’t know either.”

I didn’t know why that person’s avatar was a frog. When I recruited them, they were a webcam streamer.

Well, being a streamer didn’t mean one had to make their avatar look like their real self.

The strange one here is Paepae for doing that.

The frog approached us confidently and bowed in greeting.

“Hello!”

“A guy, huh?”

“Of course! There’s no way a girl would use an avatar like that. You should’ve known at first glance.”

“Wow, you know a lot about girls, huh?”

“It’s Yoonkyung sis. What doesn’t she know?”

The frog naturally joined our conversation—it was no ordinary skill.

Seeing this, Moss shook his head in disbelief.

“Another weirdo added to the mix.”

“It’s not that they’re weird; it’s just that you can’t keep up with the flow, Malangmalbbak-nim.”

“Exactly, Malangmalbbak hyung.”

Moss sighed deeply and asked the frog,

“What’s your name?”

“ChocoBun, hyung!”

Hearing ChocoBun’s bold answer, Moss turned to me and asked,

“What’s ChocoBun-nim’s position?”

“They’re primarily a main carry.”

“So, this person is our team’s main carry?”

“If we used ChocoBun-nim as the main carry, even if I activated my SixPathsFullCowlingGearFifthRealmDeploymentManhae, we’d still lose. They’re a guardian.”

Paepae, who had been quietly listening, furrowed their brow.

“Is it that bad?”

“Paepae, you talk a big game, but you don’t seem to know much about Iron, do you?”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m just stating the facts. Look, let me show you.”

I opened a screen mid-air, displaying a video.

It was the one that had stunned me so much I was in a daze for a full minute.

Paepae also let out a quiet sigh as they watched.

“What… are they doing?”

“This is the mystery of Iron.”

“That… wow.”

This wasn’t about hitting or missing skills.

It was a more fundamental issue.

It made you question whether they even knew how to control the character.

“ChocoBun, right? How long have you been playing this game?”

“It’s my first time playing! Before this, I was just studying!”

“A first-year university student?”

“Yes!”

“Why did you bring this person on the team?”

Paepae, being from a major company, had a lot on the line. Losing in a tournament meant being criticized by tens of thousands of people.

No one would willingly put themselves through that.

That’s why they asked directly, even with the person present.

After all, Paepae was bearing the biggest risk here.

“This was the best option.”

“What?”

“This was the best option.”

My serious tone left Paepae momentarily speechless.

“That’s the best?”

“Yes.”

“A player who struggles to even control their character is the best option?”

“Still, they’re smart. ChocoBun, you’re from Korea University, right?”

“Me? Yes, I’m from Korea University. How did you know—”

“With intense training and getting used to controls, they might reach Silver rank.”

“Just Silver? If their limit is Silver even after improving, wouldn’t it be better to recruit someone who’s at least familiar with the game but hasn’t approached it like studying?”

[Scold!]

“Whoa, that scared me.”

With the First Uncle’s cameo, I continued speaking.

“Those people wouldn’t even understand basic instructions. I tested it by donating to tell them the order for taking objectives, but not a single person succeeded. Can you believe that? Objectives should be taken from the closest to the farthest point. Yet none of them understood this simple concept. At least ChocoBun-nim understood and attempted it but ended up executed.”

“Getting executed on a Tier 5 objective is serious, isn’t it?”

“But don’t you realize how valuable it is to have someone who can at least understand with their head?!”

“Calm down.”

Hah. The devil possessed me again.

I poked Bunnyrun in the side.

“???”

“No hypnosis allowed.”

“???”

I put the VR headset back on.

Taking a deep breath, I said,

“Anyway, we just need to assign ChocoBun to a clicker-like guardian role, where they only focus on using clicker abilities, and have them practice controlling the character during downtime. It’ll work.”

“Makes sense.”

“Right?”

“Okay, let’s consider the guardian role settled. But what about the main carry? If they’re as bad physically, I’m leaving.”

“No leaving. We agreed to stick together until the end. Just wait.”

I checked the time.

5 PM. Exactly the time we were supposed to meet.

Pointing to the cabin, I shouted,

“Let me introduce you to the monster who will lead us to victory: Che Narin-nim!”

“Woohoo!”

“Only Bunnyrun and ChocoBun are cheering, so it’s awkward. Everyone, welcome them with applause.”

“Clap! Clap! Clap!”

“Great, great. Now, Chae Narin, please come out!”

I adjusted the map to make it nighttime.

A spotlight illuminated the cabin entrance under the dark sky.

Bang! Fireworks exploded in the air.

It was a grand entrance befitting a superstar.

“……”

“But they’re not coming out?”

Chae Narin didn’t appear.

They hadn’t even logged into the map in the first place.

I switched the map back to daytime.

“Should we wait a bit longer?”

“Maybe they’re in the bathroom.”

Thirty minutes passed.

There were still only five of us in the VR room.

I nodded.

“As expected of our main carry. They’re just as I imagined.”

“Can I leave now?”

“No.”