Chapter 82: We are all friends

The match with my Chinese friend ended surprisingly quickly.

For someone who challenged me so boldly, it seemed they weren’t such an extraordinary player after all.

“What? You’re weak.”

[Weak~]
[Messagaki Mollru ᄃ]
[I’m starting to envy the Chinese now]
[Could it be that the teacher is just really good?]
[ᄅᄋ Why are you so good?]
[VR has different controls, but you still crushed them lol]

I objectively analyzed the reason for my victory.

It was purely due to Ji-eun’s absurd physical capabilities.

A natural talent that allowed me to perceive time in finely divided frame units.

An instinct that let me predict exactly how much to move the mouse to get the cursor where I wanted.

On top of that, I could precisely see the trajectory of the falling pins, ensuring that even if I didn’t get a strike, I would always get a spare.

In the past, winning with such an unfair advantage might have felt like cheating and left me feeling guilty.

But not anymore.

Ji-eun is me, and I am Ji-eun.

If I can make good use of my own body, what’s the problem?

If you don’t like it, get reborn with better skills!

Same “not my problem” mindset.

-@_!%

My Chinese friend in front of me seemed unable to accept defeat.

“One more match? One more game?”

Well, it was understandable.

She was a skilled player too, and our score difference wasn’t that big.

She got consecutive strikes and never missed a spare.

There weren’t any clear mistakes in her play.

I was just better.

Her avatar wobbled, alternating glances between the scoreboard and me.

Just watching it made me feel dizzy.

-Yes, yes. One more. One more game. @:?%_

“Oh? You can speak English?”

[She starts speaking English when she loses lol]
[Look at her panicking, afraid you won’t play again]
[Kind of cute, actually?]
[Time to teach some manners]

She was so desperate that she stammered out an awkward English request for a rematch.

Honestly, I could’ve just taunted her with, “You’re bad,” and logged out.

Nothing is more frustrating than an opponent who hands you a loss and then never gives you a chance to redeem yourself.

But that would be too cruel.

I’m not that heartless.

“Let’s get it, bro.”

-!$@#@

And so, thanks to my frustrated Chinese friend, another match began.

I won that one too.

“This is ridiculous!”

Lin Xiaomei slammed her desk.

Normally, viewers would criticize such an aggressive reaction, but this time, they agreed with her.

This really didn’t make sense.

[That’s actually insane]
[Is this a bug?]
[Does VR World have hacks?]
[If it were hacks, there’d be lag or something, but their avatar moves just fine]
[Maybe they’re just that good? Xiaomei didn’t seem bad]
[Aah, Xiaomei, you have lost your right to be a proud citizen of China]
[You are exiled]
[Our great leader is disappointed]

The viewers analyzed her loss and mocked her, but Xiaomei had no time to care about that.

She lost. Again. And again.

After her three consecutive bowling losses, she also got crushed in billiards, ping-pong, darts, basketball—every game she could think of.

How was this possible?

She had never lost in VR World’s mini-games before.

At most, she might lose a single round, but even that was rare.

She had never suffered such a complete defeat.

[That person is an “Aeowar” ranked player—makes sense]

“Aeowar?”

Xiaomei had only heard of the game but never played it.

A hyper-fast FPS or something.

It was a massive hit, and fellow streamers kept recommending it, but it looked chaotic and disorienting—definitely not her style.

So what if they were an Aeowar ranker?

Being good at that game didn’t mean they could dominate VR World.

But the viewers thought differently.

For them, the fact that the user “Mollru” was an Aeowar ranker was proof of their exceptional skills, and they started acknowledging them.

[Xiaomei, they just called you weak]
[It’s true—go check their stream with a translator]
[Humiliating…]
[Disgrace to the nation]

“Urgh…”

Still, humiliation was humiliation.

Xiaomei clenched her teeth.

To think she would get hit with the same words she used to throw at others.

And the worst part? She couldn’t deny it.

There was only one way to redeem herself.

Her pride was shattered, but she had already crossed the point of no return.

Backing down now wouldn’t change anything.

She closed her eyes tightly and, with a trembling voice, said,

“One… one more game. Please…”

“Why are you like this? So clingy.”

She clung to my leg, begging me not to leave.

After spending several hours playing together, I started to feel a bit attached to her.

But that didn’t change the fact that she was way too competitive.

Now, it’s less about competitiveness and more about sheer stubbornness. Anyway.

-NO. no!! ##%#$@

After playing together for a while, she practically became a native speaker.

She must have figured out that I react more sensitively to English than Chinese.

[English instructor Mollru ᄃ]

[How to turn a Chinese person into an American]

[They say everyday conversations are the best way to improve foreign language skills, and I guess that’s true]

That, too, made for a pretty good broadcast moment.

If I upload it to YouTube, I bet it’ll get a lot of views.

Of course, I’d need this Chinese friend’s permission first.

“I really can’t, I’m leaving now.”

My original plan had already fallen apart.

I initially intended to do a calm exploration stream today, but I never expected to get caught up in such a heated competition.

It was fun, and it wasn’t a bad experience, but once or twice is enough.

Dragging on a finished game any longer wouldn’t be entertaining—it would just look desperate.

So, I was ready to finally end my battle with this Chinese friend and leave.

-#^#^#@…

“Wait, are you crying?”

Where did that confident voice go? Now, I could hear sniffles in between her words.

This was an unexpected situation.

[This scene looks really familiar…]

[Mollru, you again?!]

[Teacher, you’re so consistent]

[It’s nice to see someone who never loses their original spirit]

[Professional tear-squeezer ᄃᄃ]

[Expert at making people cry]

-!@!_:?;

Mumbling through her tears, the Chinese friend seemed to have something to say.

“What is she saying?”

I asked, hoping there was still a translator in the chat.

But maybe too much time had passed—there were no translators in sight.

[Ah ᄏᄏ If you want to talk, just use English]

[She still hasn’t learned her lesson]

[Teacher, just beat her again?]

[If you don’t understand, you gotta get hit]

[A scene of collective madness]

[You’re getting beaten until you reach a TOEIC score of 700~]

[I got 650 on TOEIC and I’m scared ᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ]

“Where do you guys learn to say such mean things?”

[? From you]

[Nimi? Reporting for profanity]

[Sir, you are 방방상아’]

[Beating up Dae-shik and Soo-ah like rats and now acting innocent]

[Time to throw the washing machine~]

“That was a mutually agreed 1v1 coaching session, okay? I’m not that kind of person.”

Honestly, I was starting to notice that my viewers had a bit of a sadistic streak.

They say stream audiences take after the streamer, but come on, there’s no way I’m that barbaric.

For now, I had to handle the current situation.

I approached the crying Chinese friend.

Now that I thought about it, we’d played together for hours, but I never even learned her name.

What was it? How do I read this?

“Name.”

-@:?!%?

“Name.”

I was asking for her name.

[Name. ᄋᄌᄅ]

[Teacher, are you a thug?]

[Yeah, like she’s gonna tell you]

Ignoring the viewers’ sarcasm, I finally heard her name.

-@#$ Xiao, Xiao mei. Lynn Xiaomei.

“Lin Xiaomei? Is that right?”

She nodded in confirmation.

I spoke slowly, trying to reassure her.

“Lin, I don’t have time today, but I’ll come back later. I just sent you a friend request, so accept it, and we’ll play together again next time, okay?”

[Teacher, but do you really think she’ll understand that long sentence?]

Oh, right.

She seemed to get the gist of it, but actually understanding the whole meaning was probably too much.

In the end, I had no choice but to wave my arms and speak broken English again.

“We are friends. Today over. But next time, game together, okay?”

This is so embarrassing.

I should’ve studied English more.

But at least she seemed to understand.

“Friend?”

“Yes.”

“Friend, friend, okay.”

Her avatar nodded in understanding and accepted my friend request while waving at me.

The process was messy, but the result wasn’t bad.

Feeling relieved, I logged out of VR World and considered wrapping up my stream.

The chat was still buzzing about Lin, the friend I had just played with.

I tilted my head at their comments.

[Why is this so sweet]

[This fox preys on both men and women, be careful]

[As long as it’s tasty, who cares ᄋᄋ]

[Now even Chinese people… Mollru’s claws are spreading worldwide]

[I’m just scared. Mollru!!]

What are these people even talking about?