༺ Why Are You Staring?! ༻
Habit was a habit because you couldn’t just break it whenever you wanted to.
Like, if you could turn it on and off like a switch, then it wasn’t a habit.
「Honestly, I think your friend yesterday is better than you, Oppa.」
Did Taemin oppa think I was a fool?
「…No? My rank is higher than him.」
What was higher?
You two were literally the same person.
All the evidence that made me realize Mr. lIllIIlI was Taemin oppa was provided by the person himself.
First of all, his summoner spells were on the same hotkeys.
Yes, you couldn’t really use this as a proof, because a lot of people were using the same setting, but there was another thing that supported it! His movement pattern!
Both in today’s and yesterday’s game, he kept dodging to the right. That was the reason why our opponent could read his moves.
No matter how close their friendship was, there was no way that they shared a similar habit, right?
I wasn’t usually this analytical, but because I was closely observing the ADC, just in case it was actually Oppa, I managed to spot his lie.
Well, maybe the reason why he lied to me was because he didn’t want me to see him as a toxic person.
Feeling a bit appalled, I suddenly had the urge to tease him a little more.
「But… That person is better at dodging skillshots…」
This kind of goading was one of the basic skills a streamer should have.
「That’s not true! C’mon, trust me! Give me one more chance, Doah!」
Maybe because he was feeling really wronged, Oppa uttered those words sullenly while begging me for another chance.
「Uhmm… But… I feel like I’ll lose again if I play with you, Oppa…」
Ahh~ So fun~
The sight of Oppa trying to compete with himself and clinging to me was so cute.
「What if you play in another lane instead, Oppa…?」
For a while, he went silent.
I clicked on the screen to check if he had left the Voicecord, but he was still there.
…Was he angry?
「…Fine, I’m jungling.」
The voice he let out was a cold, subdued one.
As if he was bidding me farewell in game.
Wait, it shouldn’t have turned out this way!
What should have happened was that he’d beg me one more time, then I’d tell him that I’ll go bot with him again!
「Huh? Are you serious?」
I asked him, trying to confirm that he wasn’t joking.
「Yeah. This time, I’ll be tryharding.」
When he said that, he had already picked a champion.
Now, I had no choice but to lane with someone else.
「I’m muting.」
「Huh…? Why…?」
Muting? Did he not want to talk with me anymore?
「I need to concentrate.」
Taemin oppa completely deafened without even waiting for my response, and then…
8/0/3
Hardcarried the game in just fifteen minutes.
Huh, wait, was he actually a jungler?
This Lee Sin’s outstanding performance made it hard for me to believe that this was the same guy who was floundering about next to me just a few moments ago.
With a single kick from him, the enemy’s ADC was bursted down before they could even use any of their abilities.
In just fifteen minutes, the enemy had already FF’d, and after the game ended, Oppa finally undeafened.
「…So, do you think he’s still better now?」
It felt like his voice was dripping with deep-seated resentment.
Taemin oppa seemed to subtly yearn for recognition of his skills.
「Can you even compare that?」
I had the feeling that he’d either stop playing with me or disconnect and go into a secluded training if I were to tease him again, so I hastily showered him with praises.
「Wow… Oppa was really cool this game. Even the kick you did there went like bam~」
– Diroring
When I heard the Voicecord disconnect sound, I became even more flustered.
W-Why did he leave…?
Like, I didn’t say anything bad this time, right?
Was this not the compliment he wanted?
Unable to understand his actions, I anxiously waited for Oppa.
* * *
“Eheh.”
Ah. Fuck.
“Eheheheheh.”
My laugh sounded like a lunatic’s.
After hastily disconnecting from Voicecord, I let out a maniacal laugh that I had been holding in.
Luka praised me…!
She said that I was cool!
Should I turn today into my birthday or something?
I shivered giddily.
Maybe it was because she teased and scolded me so hard for being so shit.
Thanks to that, I resolved to just quit the game entirely if I couldn’t win the match we just had now. So, I fully concentrated on my game, even as far as fully deafening the Voicecord.
My jungle clear was as clean as possible. No time wasted.
And finally, I managed to crush them hard like a real smurf.
I even received a sincere compliment from Doah as a reward, which left me completely stunned.
This is life! Ah~
My laughter showed no signs of stopping and continued to leak out like a bottomless jar.
Wait, I shouldn’t do this.
Doah was waiting for me, wasn’t she?
After coughing and clearing my throat, I reconnected to Voicecord.
「…Doah?」
「Oppa…」
She answered my call with a very dejected voice.
「Are you angry at me for teasing you earlier?」
「Huh? No?」
「But why did you leave without saying anything?」
Because I didn’t want you to think that I was a lunatic!
「Sorry. I had to go to the bathroom in a hurry.」
「Ah. What’s with that!? I thought you were mad at me! That was really scary, you know?!」
「Of course not. Why would I be angry at you when you praised me?」
After a short silence, Doah let out a word coyly.
「…Whatever.」
In the awkward atmosphere, I wondered if we should play more games or not, but before I could come to a decision, Doah spoke first.
「…Oppa.」
「Hm?」
「Have you installed VRWorld on your computer?」
Right, Junseok did mention that we should try shooting in VR, so we decided to let those who were able to install it do it first.
…I’ve had it installed long before he asked though.
It was because I thought I might be able to participate in some of Luka’s stream, even though I didn’t have the VR headset.
「Ah, I have. Got it to work even.」
「You just tried it with the keyboard, right?」
「Yeah. Without the VR device, it feels like I’m playing Minecraft.」
You could run VRWorld without any VR device.
Of course, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the full virtual reality experience in that case, but as long as you had a mic, you could still talk with people and record some videos.
「All the gaming is making me tired. Do you want me to get the headset and show you some of the things I tried?」
…Oh my God.
Did this mean I could… Meet and greet… Luka-tan…?
A private meet and greet with her. The girl that I had only been watching through the monitor…?
「Ah… You have an avatar too?」
Swallowing hard, I asked in a nervous tone.
「I don’t know much about avatars, so I just downloaded a free one for now.」
Aah… It wouldn’t be Luka-tan then.
Well, there was no way that she would show me Luka-tan directly.
All this while, she had been really careful in hiding the fact that she was Luka-tan from me.
「Then I can just open it on the computer and log in, right?」
「Yes yes. Please tell me your user, Oppa.」
「It’s TAEMININI02.」
「It’ll take a while to set everything up, so please wait for a while~~」
When I heard her disconnecting from Voicecord, I felt my heart racing.
Woah. VRWorld… With Doah…?
– Diroring
After three minutes passed.
Doah rejoined the call.
「Hello? Oppa, are you logged in?」
「Yeah. I’m on the starting screen right now.」
「Okay… Let’s see…」
Doah told me to wait a moment and sent me a friend request.
「Accept that and enter the world I’m inviting you to.」
「Huh!?」
I had never done this before, but having seen Luka doing it many times, I was able to follow Doah’s instructions without any problems.
– Loading.
After a short wait, a Japanese-style map with cherry blossoms fluttering around appeared on my screen.
「Oppa!」
When I heard Doah’s voice in my ear, I turned the screen around to look for her.
「Doah?」
Since it wasn’t Luka’s avatar, I called out her name for confirmation.
A female avatar nodded her head in front of me.
Unlike Luka, the avatar didn’t seem flashy at all.
Rather, she looked more like Doah in real life. The avatar waved both her hands at me.
「Nice to meet you!」
Ah…
Fuck. Should I buy a VR headset?
Seriously, this whole thing felt really disappointing without the headset!
Like, if I had one, maybe this would feel more like a date… Ahh…
「It’s amazing isn’t it, Oppa? When I move my arms and body in real life, it traces my movements perfectly!」
No it wasn’t amazing.
I wasn’t amazed by this at all.
Like, I saw this thing often, so why the hell would I feel amazed at it.
Instead, I felt excited and ecstatic.
「Oh. This is the first time I’ve seen it in person. Really cool.」
「I also know how to change the expression.」
Doah’s wide round eyes turned into [> <] shape.
「Super cute, right?」
Luka-tan.
I’m dying.
Any more and I would really die.
「Uhuh… That’s nice…」
「Hmm… Your reaction sounds a little perverted, Oppa?」
「What? Perverted? What are you on about?」
Doah-ssi, I wasn’t that kind of person!
「Also, I can jump here.」
It seemed that she was trying to showcase how accurate the tracker was, but…
「See that?」
「Uh… Doah…?」
「Hm? What’s wrong?」
…In this situation… I had to say it, right…?
Even if this was VRWorld… I still had to, right…?
「I think your avatar is glitching…」
「Glitching? Huh? …Kyaaa!」
As soon as she checked her avatar, she let out a loud scream.
「O-Oppa! W-Why are you staring at me?!」
This was because Doah’s skirt, which had risen once after the jump, showed no sign of coming back down.
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