The feeling of drowsiness and joy coexisting is something you can’t understand unless you experience it yourself.
Your eyes and body are nodding off, but your heart is eager to meet your friends soon.
The noisy voices coming from beyond the door.
[Transfer students?]
[Yeah. And I heard there are two of them?]
[Two of them transferring together?]
[And they’re super pretty, I heard?]
[Everyone, take your seats. You all heard we have transfer students today, right?]
[Yes!]
[Everyone, let’s welcome the new transfer students with applause. Come on in!]
The bodyguard gently pushed my back.
“Arang.”
“Uh, yeah…”
I sighed inwardly at the classroom door in front of me.
In an era where you can enjoy virtual worlds with access devices and hologram smartphones, why aren’t classroom doors automatic?
Thinking about it, shouldn’t all the stairs here be turned into escalators?
And by the way, are elevators still only for teachers? That’s annoying… Wait, no. Maybe I can use them?
If a student can’t use them, then what about me? I have trouble using stairs because I don’t have legs. Would they let me use the elevator?
I’ll have to test that.
Swoosh—
The door opened smoothly without any resistance.
As soon as I opened the door and stepped in, all eyes in the class turned to me.
“Wow…”
“Whoa, that cute kid is in our class!?”
“Wait, what? With that height and looks, she’s a third-year middle schooler, not an elementary schooler…?”
“Ah, she must have skipped grades. That’s totally possible at our school.”
The class instantly became noisy, and the homeroom teacher tapped the attendance book on the desk to quiet everyone down.
“Everyone, quiet. Quiet! If it’s this noisy, she can’t introduce herself. Arang, Najung, can you introduce yourselves to the class?”
The homeroom teacher looked at me with a motherly, pleased expression.
For someone who’s spent almost their entire life in games, this was pure pressure, but since Arang loves situations like this, I just opened my mouth and said what was on my mind.
“Hello! I’m Arang, transferring from Asan Middle School.”
Arang, whose mental age is still stuck at 10, bowed so cutely that even I found it adorable.
“So cute!!!”
“It’s really Arang!”
“She said she was entering middle school, and it’s our school!?”
The girls all squealed about how cute I was.
Some of the boys knew about me from playing Leore.
Arang, feeling even better from their cheers, looked around the class and smiled brightly.
“Let’s all have a fun school life together!”
After Arang’s introduction, it was the bodyguard’s turn.
“Nice to meet you all.”
“Uh… is that it?”
“Yes.”
The bodyguard didn’t seem too thrilled with the situation.
I get it. I’m also annoyed right now. I was working in the U.S. at 25, and now suddenly I’m in middle school. What adult would like that?
“Arang and Najung, your seats are the two front seats here. You can sit there.”
“Uh…”
Front seats? This is the worst. Isn’t the back seat the usual spot for transfer students?
Did they give me the front seat because of my height…?
This means I can’t sleep comfortably during class…
“Everyone, since we have transfer students, treat them well and help them if they don’t understand something. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“And Arang has some physical limitations, so everyone, be careful.”
This part was already discussed with my parents and the homeroom teacher.
It’s not something I can hide during school life anyway.
So I decided to just say it upfront.
At the homeroom teacher’s words, everyone’s gaze shifted from the teacher to me.
“Let’s have a good class today, and I’ll see you all in third period.”
“Yes!”
“Morning assembly is over.”
As soon as the homeroom teacher left, the class swarmed around me and the bodyguard.
The girls were excited about cute and pretty me and the bodyguard, while the boys already knew about me.
“Hi!”
“Nice to meet you, Arang, Najung!”
“Wow, Arang, you’re so cute! Najung is so pretty!”
“Princess! Princess!”
“Hey, the boys are making Arang uncomfortable!”
“What are you talking about, Princess?”
“Don’t you know Arang!?”
Ugh…
“Everyone, the transfer students are surprised. Let’s take it slow!”
A girl spoke up loudly, and things calmed down a bit.
Is she the class president?
“Then I’ll go first! Arang and Najung, what’s your relationship? You must be really close if you transferred together!”
“We’re childhood friends.”
“Wow, childhood friends?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s awesome. You two look so good together. Who’s the top?”
“Hey, you crazy girl!”
“Ow! Why did you hit me!”
“You can’t just say that after knowing them for less than a day!”
“Why not! I can say it!”
“Ugh.”
Will I survive this school…? Middle school girls are on another level.
They’re already overwhelming me with their chatter.
“Hey, earlier the homeroom teacher said Arang has some physical limitations. Can you tell us where—”
“Are you crazy too!? Why are you so clueless!”
“No! We need to know so we can help and take care of her!”
“That makes sense.”
“But still, you shouldn’t ask until Arang says something first!”
Ugh… my head is spinning.
Is this what middle schoolers are like…?
“Arang, should I say it?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll say it.”
The bodyguard offered to explain, but since I don’t really care about hiding my lack of limbs, I said I’d do it.
“Huh? Arang, are you okay? You don’t have to say it if it’s hard.”
“No, it’s fine now.”
I took off my glove.
“Uh…”
It’s a prosthetic arm, but it’s so advanced that it’s almost indistinguishable from a real hand, except for the appearance. The prosthetic arm appeared in front of everyone.
“I lost my limbs due to illness, but I’m fully recovered and healthy now! So please just treat me like a normal friend.”
“Don’t worry, Princess!”
At the boy’s shout, the girls snapped out of it and started chattering again.
“Okay! Got it! Just trust us!”
“Your prosthetic arm is cool! I didn’t notice it at all!”
“Right? It’s just like a real hand!”
“Wait, so Najung transferred with Arang because…!?”
“Wow! That’s so romantic…!?”
“A knight protecting a sickly beauty…?”
Ah… I don’t even know anymore.
It feels like I’m being sucked into everything so quickly.
Middle schoolers are scary…
“But why ‘Princess’?”
“Arang is really famous in the Leore game. She even has a YouTube channel with a million subscribers.”
“A million!? Wow.”
While the boys who knew me were explaining to the girls, a boy with a slightly red face approached the bodyguard.
“Uh, do you have a boyfriend? If not, can you give me your Instagram ID?”
“Ooooh!”
He almost confessed.
The surrounding kids cheered.
‘Oh…’
My dizzy head cleared up, and I needed popcorn for this scene.
A 16-year-old boy confessing to a 25-year-old woman is a rare and amusing sight.
The bodyguard, who had been calm until now, looked slightly flustered.
“Sorry.”
The bodyguard—no, Najung—didn’t even look at the boy and rejected him with two words.
“Uh… can I ask why?”
“Right now, I only want to focus on Arang.”
“Ooooh!”
“I told you!”
“This is like a romance novel!”
Najung, what are you saying…
==
[Leore Gallery]
[Princess has appeared at our middle school]
I can’t say which school, but Arang transferred to our school lol
And she’s in the same class as me lololol
Feeling so good.
[Comments]
-???
-You’re lying ㄴㄴ
ㄴOP: It’s true lololol
ㄴProof ㄱ
ㄴOP: I can’t say that, you idiot
ㄴLook at this middle schooler talking ㅅㅂ
ㄴOP: You called me a liar first, ㅅㅂ
-But if Princess is going to middle school, isn’t there only one middle school near Asan Hospital?
ㄴYeah, only Asan Middle School.
ㄴI hope weird people don’t go looking for her.
-I’m so jealous. Is Princess cute?
ㄴOP: She’s just super cute. Way cuter than in Leore.
ㄴDamn, so you get to see Princess every day? Talk to her? Eat together, attend classes together, and even go on school trips together? Damn, I’m so jealous.
ㄴBut thinking about it, I’m jealous too.
-Is Princess doing okay at school? I was worried when I heard she was going to middle school.
ㄴIs there no bullying?
ㄴOP: Nah, she’s the most popular in our class now.
[I miss Princess.]
With the crappy Brown Dust reducing Leore playtime, and now middle school, what’s going to happen?
If she starts studying and making friends in real life, won’t she naturally quit Leore?
[Comments]
-First of all, studying doesn’t mean she’ll stop gaming, right?
ㄴOP: Why do you think that?
ㄴWell, Arang has enough money to live without studying.
ㄴOP: True…?
ㄴThen why is she going to school?
ㄴDon’t you have friends? Arang has no peers. She’s spent most of her life in a hospital room. If I were her, I’d want her to make friends at school too.
