"Ugh, my head feels like it's going to explode!"

"Now, now, kids. When I was playing with Teacher Yu-jin..."

Madness.

It felt like the squad was being led by a completely insane person, and Harmony was driving them relentlessly through the main mission—"Very Hard" difficulty wasn’t even the worst of it. They were running endless training drills at the shooting range, pushing the limits. At least, that’s what the other three squad members thought.

By now, they had been logged into virtual reality for over 15 hours. It wasn’t an absurdly long time. Hardcore gamers or streamers easily racked up this amount of time in a single broadcast. After all, five hours of real-world time in VR was enough to cover those 15 hours.

But... maintaining that level of intense concentration, staring through dot sights and holographic scopes, constantly flicking their right and left index fingers to fire, until they had splitting headaches—it was exhausting.

And it wasn’t like they could just give up, because...

"Ugh! I can't do it anymore! I'm done! Just kill me instead!"

Stone, rolling around on the ground during the shooting range training, whining about how exhausted he was, got a quick glance from Harmony. And then she acted.

Click.

"AAAAAHHH! I get it, I’ll do it! Please don’t shoot me!"

"It’s better to listen while I’m still talking nicely."

Without a second of hesitation, she had pulled out a magazine, loaded it into her gun, released the bolt, chambered a round, and disengaged the safety. With that kind of iron-fisted leadership, Harmony kept the squad in line.

To be fair, she didn’t have much choice. With good friends, sometimes tough love was the only option. If no one stepped up to take charge and lay down clear milestones, this group would have turned into nothing but a friendly hangout until the tournament was right around the corner.

In other words, they wouldn’t have practiced at all.

And frankly, Harmony didn’t think they were skilled enough to let things slide. In her eyes, this group wasn’t capable of making great progress without strong guidance. They were certainly not the type of players who could perform well individually, without constant leadership from the squad leader.

"Alright, before we start the main mission, here’s your homework. I’ve done all of these myself, so it shouldn’t take more than an hour. Think of it as a warm-up."

"Teacher Yu-jin, what have you turned Harmony into…?"

Everyone had a similar image flash in their minds. Yu-jin's avatar, with that mesmerizing tail. It wasn’t just a VR avatar; it was a near-perfect copy of Yu-jin's real-life appearance, only rendered in virtual reality. Even after all these days, it was still shocking to see her walking around like that.

Honestly, the reason they talked about her tail so much was because it stood out the most. If she didn’t have it, they’d probably be talking about her top-tier looks instead—assuming they had permission, of course.

Anyway, time melted away like ice cream on a hot summer day. The saying, "time flies when you're struggling," always held true.

By 11 p.m. in the real world, after finishing their training and a brief debrief, it was finally time for some casual conversation.

"That reminds me, I’m scared I’ll accidentally spill something when we talk on Monday. I didn’t even bring up meeting Teacher Yu-jin. Did you guys mention anything during your streams?"

"I kept it brief and jumped right into the game. My editor even asked if I wanted to talk about it more, but I didn’t trust myself not to slip up."

"You too?"

"What about you, Harmony?"

Three pairs of eyes turned toward her, but she remained calm and composed as she replied.

"I just mentioned it briefly and then played some crappy game."

"…Right, of course."

"You’re… you’re really something else."

"What? It’s content."

"That’s not content, that’s discipline!"

They all wanted to shout, "How could you say 'why?' when we all know why!" but nobody dared. Limit subtly shifted the conversation instead.

"But you’ve got a personal connection with Yu-jin, right? I bet you got way more questions than we did, especially since she made that hologram appearance at the start of the Asia Championships."

"Yeah, but everyone understood when I said she barely managed to come right before the match started. I didn’t elaborate after that."

"Ah, I see."

As the conversations gathered steam, the conclusion was clear—they’d keep things under wraps until Yu-jin herself decided to reveal her true identity. And that meant a lot of self-control.

"Looks like we’re going to be agonizing over this for a while."

"Well, according to Harmony, there’s a good chance she’ll reveal it by the end of December. We just need to keep quiet until then."

"In that case, I’ll stop streaming until then."

"Seriously? You’re taking a break now?"

The four of them, now stripped of their heavy military gear and back in their basic VR avatars, sat around a virtual table, having a casual conversation. They didn’t need any formal orders to declare the end of their day. It came naturally.

As their talks meandered, the conversation eventually turned back to the tournament.

"Yu-jin hasn’t quit streaming, right? Would it be rude if I asked her to help us train, even just a little?"

"We should ask the organizers if it’s allowed. From what I’ve heard, most people reach out to pro teams they have connections with for help."

"Hmm… what’s Yu-jin been up to recently?"

With a quick gesture, Harmony pulled up Yu-jin's Triki page, checking her personal schedule. But before she could even glance at it, a prominent announcement appeared at the top.

Announcement: No streams on Tuesday/Wednesday.

A random massive steak picture.

To celebrate the end of the Asia Championships + reaching 900,000 subscribers on YourSpace, I’m treating the hardworking editors and thumbnail artists to a nice meal. See you all soon, 20000!

Harmony stared at it for a moment, then quietly said:

"Looks like tomorrow won’t work."

A quiet sigh of relief echoed from somewhere, but Harmony never figured out who it came from. Even after the Asia Championships ended, their days continued like this.

"Hiccup!"

"Wow, hiccups? That’s new."

Meanwhile, Yu-jin was slowly preparing for the day when she would reveal herself.

—Ssssss!

"Whoa, wow…."

"There’s plenty of meat, so feel free to eat as much as you want."

Was this a dream? Or was it real?

Five people—three editors and two thumbnail artists—sat on the rooftop of a glamping site in Hongdae, enjoying a feast. They were part of Yu-jin’s YourSpace team, and they couldn’t help but wonder if this was really happening. Or maybe they weren’t just thinking about the food, but about Yu-jin herself.

The gathering had its small twists and turns, but it all started with a message a few days ago.

[Yu-jin: Are you guys free early next week?]

In the middle of the Asia Championships, Yu-jin had sent them a rather random message asking if they had two days free. Of course, they could all accept the request with no issue. As editors and thumbnail artists, working from home was the norm.

They had a good sense of what was coming—a casual team retreat, maybe a bonding event. The invitation was open, so anyone could decline if they felt uncomfortable.

Within no time, the five-person YourSpace team—three men, two women—had packed light and gathered in Hongdae, ready for whatever was coming.

Their first meeting was a bit awkward, but as they shared stories about working with Yu-jin, things loosened up. As evening approached, they waited for Yu-jin to arrive, knowing she would bring food.

And just as the sky turned crimson, they finally met their boss in person.

The one surprise they hadn’t predicted?

"Nice to meet you all in real life."

"…Huh?"

Their boss wasn’t just a VR avatar. Yu-jin was the same in reality as she was in the virtual world.

Back to the present.

"Oh wow, this is really good!"

"I’m glad you like it. I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had much chance to treat you guys. Make sure to eat while it’s hot."

"Ah, no worries! We’ll dig right in!"

"Don’t hesitate. It’s not every day you get a chance like this, so relax and enjoy. I can handle the grilling."

How?

How was this possible? Their employer—an EM-class manifestor with only two known in Korea, a massive YourSpace star on the verge of a million subscribers, the overwhelming champion of the Asia Championships—was standing in front of them, grilling meat and serving it on their plates.

How were they supposed to relax?

Silent screams filled the air, but Yu-jin seemed blissfully unaware as she fanned the flames on the grill.

"This one’s for TailEditor. You’ve been such a big help with the FanSpace community, and I’m sorry I couldn’t reply sooner. It’s been great working with you, though. Any issues?"

"N-No, none at all! Just, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Wow, I wasn’t even that nervous when I was saluting my commanding officer."

Even military veterans would find themselves floored by the sheer surrealism of this experience. For a freelance editor, the idea of personal bonding time with their employer was practically unheard of. The only way to earn trust was through hard work and consistent results, not social interaction.

But none of that mattered right now.

Because Yu-jin... was real.

‘Why didn’t I even consider this possibility?’

It was such an obvious blind spot.

Even when something is highly convincing, if the outcome seems far-fetched, it’s hard to take seriously until you’re faced with reality. And now that they were seeing it with their own eyes, they realized just how true it all was.

There were so many questions they wanted to ask, but—

Fsssst!

"I’ll help with that. Were you going to make ramen? How many packs?"

"I’ve got the ramen bags—woah, what was that?!"

"I’ll toss them over. Catch?"

"W-Wait, what?"

Rustle.

In a swift motion, Yu-jin’s tail coiled around a five-pack of ramen. Then, with a flick of her tail, the noodles seemed to hover mid-air before landing perfectly in one person’s arms. Within seconds, they were tearing the packs open and dumping the contents into the large pot of boiling water.

Steam began to rise as the powerful heat worked its magic. Yu-jin, still flipping the meat on the grill with tongs, added:

"Go ahead and throw in all ten packs."

"Uh, can we even eat that much?"

"I’ll be eating more than half of it, so don’t worry about it."

"Ah..."

The rumors about Yu-jin’s massive appetite, often teased on her streams, were now proven true in the simplest way.

As the noodles boiled away, Yu-jin effortlessly flipped the meat with her tail, leaving everyone in awe. Even though they’d seen it countless times before, it never failed to impress.

The rate at which the meat was disappearing also skyrocketed once Yu-jin joined in.

‘I’m so glad I’m an editor and not a streamer.’

For the first time in his life, one editor was genuinely grateful for his freelance role. If he’d been a streamer, there was no way he could’ve kept this experience under wraps.

Meanwhile, Yu-jin’s smartwatch—eerily reminiscent of the Icarus Gear—suddenly began glowing. It caught everyone's attention.

It was similar to the one she’d unboxed in a recent stream, a gift from Icarus.

Curious, someone finally asked.

"Wow, is that really from Icarus? It looks amazing. Does it actually work?"

"Of course it does."

"Ah, so... what’s it for now?"

Yu-jin chuckled, her laugh laced with a strange satisfaction as she replied.

"Looks like a package has arrived."

Understanding washed over them as Yu-jin casually hid the flicker of another emotion on her face.

Old friends were on their way.

They were crossing a bridge that didn’t exist, following invisible threads to this very spot.