Fenrir Translations
Harmony's day was quite ordinary.
She struggled to wake up at nine in the morning, dragged herself to the gym squeezed into her schedule, and after just an hour or two of exercise, she would sweat profusely as she barely made her way home.
On the way back, several cafes selling refreshing and sweet smoothies caught her eye, but when she touched her still soft and squishy belly, she sighed and closed her eyes tightly.
Once she returned home, she would immediately take a shower, then pull out various side dishes and soup portions she had stored in the freezer to have lunch. The high-calorie delivery foods that used to overflow in her fridge were slowly disappearing as a result.
After eating, the fatigue from exercising combined with post-meal drowsiness would hit her hard, so she would spend some time dozing off until she felt her food had somewhat digested, then she would nap soundly for about two hours.
If there was a schedule requiring her to go out, this was usually when she would leave.
Upon waking up, usually around four in the afternoon, she would finish any unfinished tasks from before her nap if there were no other pressing matters.
These tasks were mostly related to videos uploaded to YourSpace or content for her associated MCN. However, since she had a lot of autonomy, it wasn’t something she stressed about too much.
Around six in the evening, she would have a light meal, brush her teeth, and then start her stream.
Her streams typically ran from seven in the evening until eleven at night—sometimes extending until midnight—which, when converted into virtual reality time, equated to twelve to fifteen hours. Naturally, after experiencing this compressed time, she would fall asleep like a rock right after her stream.
And so it went, on a late August day, when the heat was still intense.
She was streaming again, this time with an increased viewer count due to her involvement with Dark Zone.
As she was continuing with her "Just Chatting" session, a screen suddenly popped up in front of her.
JellyfishBox donated 7,000 won with a video donation: "Hey, Nocchi!!! Did you go around spreading weird games again?"
"…Heh."
It was a scene that didn’t require much explanation.
After a brief introduction to what had happened earlier, the video naturally transitioned to Yujin playing Jump Master. It was a sight that was very characteristic of her. Even when it came to herself, she would never do what others wanted if she didn’t want to.
Of course, it was Harmony who had taught her that method—which made it all the more amusing.
Her viewers, who had started to get used to it, immediately sensed who had influenced Yujin to start playing crappy games recently. And then there were those who were completely unrelated to all this, simply watching the chaos unfold like spectators across the river.
Harmony’s surroundings were operating as usual today.
There’s a saying that time flows in proportion to how busy a person is.
I’ve been deeply feeling the truth of that recently, and with my daily routine becoming increasingly fixed, time seems to slip away in the blink of an eye.
It feels like I close my eyes for a moment, and day turns to night in an instant.
A lot has happened in between. I’ve participated in daily scrims whenever there weren’t any scheduling conflicts, and in the meantime, I also finished discussions regarding the temporary coaching position Dice had proposed—specifically a contract until the Asia qualifiers.
Starting tomorrow, instead of participating in scrims, I’ll be working as a tactical advisor during that time.
…I had considered trying out this job if things didn’t work out after I returned here, but to think I’d be doing it in the cyber world instead of in a real PMC. It’s a bit surreal.
But the good thing is that I don’t have to bring my physical body into this. After all, the matches take place within virtual reality.
Anyway, putting that aside.
When you start something new, naturally, new concerns come along with it. Among them are relatively simple tasks like sharing my expertise with others, but there are also entirely different kinds of challenges.
For example, managing my own channel on YourSpace and finding an editor.
Or receiving offers to join an MCN.
Neither of these is mandatory, but at least in terms of running a channel, it’s something that quite a few people seem to expect, so it’s hard to ignore or dismiss it completely.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not fully prepared yet or if it’s due to a lack of preliminary research. Plans often go awry from the start, but I can’t just hire an editor without even deciding how much to pay them.
If I start discussing that, there’s no end to it.
I’d need to decide on the direction of the channel, the editing style, how many videos to upload per month, how to promote the channel… I’d need to think about video thumbnails too. If that’s the case, I’d have to consider those aspects as well.
There would also be changes within the stream.
I’m not bad at speaking, but uploading videos with the same content and format all the time would get dull. That would inevitably involve many interactions and changes.
Not that these are bad things.
But at this point, with the tournament approaching, it might be a bit too tricky to take on.
Honestly, it’s not a huge dilemma.
If I had to say, it’s just a part of my personality—if I’m going to do something, I want to do it as perfectly as possible. But if I think about it more simply, I could just find someone to do basic editing for me before I start worrying too much about it.
But the real reason I started seriously considering all this was something else entirely.
Harmony: Teacher~~~~ How have you been lately?? It’s still so hot outside ╰(´︶`)╯
Harmony: I heard a lot of news lately, so I’m stopping by to check in as usual ㅎㅎ! Did you beat Jump Master?
Yujin: ( •᷄⌓•᷅ )
Yujin: How could you recommend a game like that….
Harmony: ㅜㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Harmony: Sorry,,ㅠㅠ
The reason was something mentioned after this routine greeting.
Harmony: I thought about making excuses, but I decided there’s no need to beat around the bush, so I’ll just say it straight,
Harmony: I’ve received a lot of help from you so far, but I feel like I haven’t properly thanked you
Harmony: If it’s okay with you, I’d like to treat you to a meal (｡•́︿•̀｡)
Harmony: It’s just a personal wish of mine, so it’s okay if you refuse….
Specifically, after seeing this, I found myself drifting into a mind map of what questions might come up if I actually met Harmony, which led me to spiral into other thoughts.
Honestly, not meeting wasn’t really an option I considered.
I’m not a recluse—there’s no reason to be afraid of meeting people. I can barely even remember my old body anymore. If we’re talking about physical conditioning, the 4 years and 8 months I spent in New York absolutely crush the previous 20 years.
Anyway, all this rambling started because of that message.
Summary over.
Yujin: Can I think about it for a bit?
Harmony: Sure!
This wasn’t an indirect rejection but rather a process of checking my schedule and making sure I had appropriate clothes to wear when we met.
It was a minor catastrophe that I only had flowy dresses and weird outfits at home. Of course, if I dug around, I could find something decent, but even those didn’t quite meet my standards….
It’s ironic that I’ve had to adjust to wearing underwear.
That aside, I should probably also prepare to explain my real appearance.
Yujin: Since the qualifying ranks open next Monday, it might be a bit difficult around that time.
Harmony: Oh
Harmony: Does that mean you’re interested?
Yujin: It’s not like I can’t meet, haha.
Harmony: Yay~~~~!!! ٩(ˊᗜˋ)و*
Harmony: Just let me know when you’re free! I can clear my schedule anytime!
Yujin: I don’t mind, but I should tell you something
Yujin: You might be a bit surprised when you see my real appearance…
Her response came back quickly.
Harmony: That’s okay! I’m mentally prepared… No matter how muscular you are, I won’t be shocked, haha ^^
Harmony: Should I book a BBQ restaurant…?
Yujin: It might be faster if I show you a picture.
Click.
I took a photo and sent it.
Identification Card: Species: Eunectes murinus Linnaeus Classification: Serpentia (Green Anaconda) Name: Lee Yujin Description: Multiple Physical Identifiers (Evident/Multiple) Identity Protection Needed Note: 010 - XXXX - XXXX (Human Rights Protection Center)
I pressed "Send."
There wasn’t much hesitation. I’d already passed that stage a while ago, and I wasn’t the type to refuse a kind gesture. To put it plainly, I’m the type who enjoys being treated.
Anyway, aside from that—Harmony’s reaction wasn’t far off from what I expected.
Harmony: !!?!??!?!?!?!!?!?!!?!?!?!?!
Harmony: Teacher?????????????????
Yujin: (•ε•；)
Harmony: If you’re a Green Anaconda, does that mean your avatar is…???
Yujin: (；◔д◔）
Harmony: Ahahaha, lolololololololol
The endless string of "lol" conveyed a whirlwind of indescribable emotions.
Thankfully, there’s such a thing as "Awakened" in this world. Considering that, there wasn’t much need to worry about outside reactions, and I was more curious about how Harmony would respond going forward.
How much time passed, I’m not sure.
Harmony: You tricked me!!!!!
Yujin: I didn’t intend to, but that’s how it turned out.
Yujin: I didn’t lie.
Harmony: Ahahaha, lolololol
Harmony: I’m dizzy just thinking about it….
But then, not long after, more messages followed.
Harmony: So, do you really have a tail? Can you show me your tail?
Harmony: Can you make a heart shape with your tail?
…Hmm.
I decided to grant her last request as a sort of commemorative gesture. It wasn’t easy given the structure of my tail, but since I’d done it a few times before, it didn’t take long.
After the flash went off again, I pressed the send button, and the "1" next to the message instantly disappeared.
Harmony: ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Harmony: This is the first time I’ve seen an E2-level Awakened….
Yujin: It’s not strange, right?
Harmony: I’m not really a fan of snakes, but your tail is beautiful!
Yujin: I’m glad to hear that.
It seemed a bit off-topic, but since the goal was to prevent any shocking surprises… in the end, the purpose was achieved.
Harmony: So, do you have a place you want to go?
Yujin: I eat a lot….
The conversation continued.
Lately, I’ve been feeling that my future is so dynamic that even I can’t predict it.